Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Feb 10 Talent Vs. Attitude – Harsha Bhogle at IIMA






A must-watch talk on why attitude matters, not talent. Presented at IIM Ahmedabad by Harsha Bhogle, a well known cricket commentator in India.

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Indian celebrities on Twitter

Priyanka Chopra – @priyankachopra
Karan Johar – @kjohar25
Barkha Dutt – @BDUTT
Shashi Tharoor – @shashitharoor
Mallika Sherawat – @mallikala
Gul Panag – @gulpanag


For the sake of completeness, here are some Internationally known celebrities too:


Arnold Schwarzenegger – @Schwarzenegger
Britney Spears – @britneyspears
Oprah Winfrey – @Oprah
Janet Jackson – @JanetJackson
David Blaine – @davidblaine
Al Gore – @algore
Heidi Montag – @heidimontag
Richard Branson – @richardbranson
Pamela Anderson – @PamelaDAnderson
Serena Williams – @serenajwilliams
Venus Williams – @Venuseswilliams
Ricky Martin – @ricky_martin
Paris Hilton – @parishilton


I couldnt find Roger Federer & Rafail Nadal
If you find please put as coment..

Roundup of Tech TV shows in India

There are lots of TV shows to catch up with the latest technology and gadget headlines as well as interesting gossip and discussions. Here’s my roundup of the best ones I know-
1. Gadget Guru, on NDTV Profit, hosted by one of my favorite TV hosts – Rajiv Makhni
2. Tech Guru, on CNBC Awaaz hosted by Ankit
3. Cell Guru, on NDTV India (with re-runs on NDTV 24×7 and NDTV Profit)
4. Sony Style TV Magazine, on AXN hosted by Oli Pettigrew. Partially dedicated to Sony’s innovations but still a must-watch.
5. Tech Mantra, on IBN 7
6. Tech Toys, on CNBC 18
7. Click, on BBC World News
8. And do not forget.. Hose with ankit fadia at MTV...
If you watch any other TV shows which deserve a mention here, please add them as a comment.

Why the iPad is a #FAIL

The launch of the Apple tablet was possibly the biggest marketing hype I have seen in a long time. However, when I saw Steve Jobs holding the “iPad” for the first time, I could immediately sense that something has gone horribly wrong. Here are my top 8 reasons why I reckon the iPad will be a failiure:
1. As someone who owns both an iPhone and a Macbook, I wonder why I would want to carry a third “something in between” device with me.
2. The only possible reason i may want to use the iPad is to play App Store games on a larger screen. But why did this need arise in the first place? Because those games aren’t available on a Mac! Seriously people, if Apple really cared, they wouldn’t make you buy new hardware to play the same old games.
3. I’ve never used a Kindle and still don’t get the point of lugging around a dedicated e-book reader. There is a practical limit to the number of devices I can carry with me when I am travelling – and an iPhone + laptop should suffice most of the time. Hence, the iPad being projected as a “Kindle killer” may not be such a big deal afterall.
4. If the iPad screen is similar to a Macbook, why not read your e-books on your laptop instead? The iPad screen, no matter how good still cannot beat Amazon’s e-ink technology.
5. The iPad seems too big (and possibly fragile) to carry around all the time. Does the package include a casing?
6. A full fledged browsing device and no Flash? What were you thinking Apple?
7. Still no support of running multiple apps simultaneously. No way I’m going to close my browser each time I want to copy some text into my text editor.
8. (BONUS) The iPad is a silly name – Sounds like a feminine hygiene product to me!

AgaiN Sinhgarh....!!!

At SiNhgRh..!!
SuNshiNe..SunSet..!!!

At wIndpOint

At SinHgaRh HiLLBottOm

Its aLways goOd to be with nAtuRe


Tuesday, September 14, 2010

A LETTER FROM A GIRL TO JRD TATA IN 1974 (Worth a read..)

THE GIRL WRITING AS HERSELF.... 

It was probably the April of 1974. Bangalore was getting warm and gulmohars were blooming at the IISc campus. I was the only girl in my postgraduate department and was staying at the ladies' hostel. Other girls were pursuing research in different departments of Science. I was looking forward to going abroad to complete a doctorate in computer science. I had been offered scholarships from Universities in the US... I had not thought of taking up a job in India. 

One day, while on the way to my hostel from our lecture-hall complex, I saw an advertisement on the notice board. It was a standard job-requirement notice from the famous automobile company Telco (now Tata Motors)... It stated that the company required young, bright engineers, hardworking and with an excellent academic background, etc. 

At the bottom was a small line: 'Lady Candidates need not apply.' I read it and was very upset. For the first time in my life I was up against gender discrimination. 

Though I was not keen on taking up the job, I saw it as a challenge. I had done extremely well in academics, better than most of my male peers... Little did I know then that in real life academic excellence is not enough to be successful? 

After reading the notice I went fuming to my room. I decided to inform the topmost person in Telco's management about the injustice the company was perpetrating. I got a postcard and started to write, but there was a problem: I did not know who headed Telco 

I thought it must be one of the Tatas. I knew JRD Tata was the head of the Tata Group; I had seen his pictures in newspapers (actually, Sumant Moolgaokar was the company's chairman then) I took the card, addressed it to JRD and started writing. To this day I remember clearly what I wrote. 'The great Tatas have always been pioneers. They are the people who started the basic infrastructure industries in India, such as iron and steel, chemicals, textiles and locomotives they have cared for higher education in India since 1900 and they were responsible for the establishment of the Indian Institute of Science. Fortunately, I study there. But I am surprised how a company such as Telco is discriminating on the basis of gender.' 

I posted the letter and forgot about it. Less than 10 days later, I received a telegram stating that I had to appear for an interview at Telco's Pune facility at the company's expense. I was taken aback by the telegram. My hostel mate told me I should use the opportunity to go to Pune free of cost and buy them the famous Pune saris for cheap! I collected Rs30 each from everyone who wanted a sari when I look back, I feel like laughing at the reasons for my going, but back then they seemed good enough to make the trip. 

It was my first visit to Pune and I immediately fell in love with the city. 

To this day it remains dear to me. I feel as much at home in Pune as I do in Hubli, my hometown. The place changed my life in so many ways. As directed, I went to Telco's Pimpri office for the interview. 

There were six people on the panel and I realized then that this was serious business. 

'This is the girl who wrote to JRD,' I heard somebody whisper as soon as I entered the room. By then I knew for sure that I would not get the job. The realization abolished all fear from my mind, so I was rather cool while the interview was being conducted. 

Even before the interview started, I reckoned the panel was biased, so I told them, rather impolitely, 'I hope this is only a technical interview.' 

They were taken aback by my rudeness, and even today I am ashamed about my attitude.  The panel asked me technical questions and I answered all of them. 

Then an elderly gentleman with an affectionate voice told me, 'Do you know why we said lady candidates need not apply? The reason is that we have never employed any ladies on the shop floor. This is not a co-ed college; this is a factory. When it comes to academics, you are a first ranker throughout. We appreciate that, but people like you should work in research laboratories. 

I was a young girl from small-town Hubli. My world had been a limited place. 

I did not know the ways of large corporate houses and their difficulties, so I answered, 'But you must start somewhere, otherwise no woman will ever be able to work in your factories.' 

Finally, after a long interview, I was told I had been successful. So this was what the future had in store for me. Never had I thought I would take up a job in Pune. I met a shy young man from Karnataka there, we became good friends and we got married. 

It was only after joining Telco that I realized who JRD was: the uncrowned king of Indian industry. Now I was scared, but I did not get to meet him till I was transferred to Bombay. One day I had to show some reports to Mr Moolgaokar, our chairman, who we all knew as SM. I was in his office on the first floor of Bombay House (the Tata headquarters) when, suddenly JRD walked in. That was the first time I saw 'appro JRD'. Appro means 'our' in Gujarati. This was the affectionate term by which people at Bombay House called him. I was feeling very nervous, remembering my postcard episode. SM introduced me nicely, 'Jeh (that's what his close associates called him), this young woman is an engineer and that too a postgraduate. 

She is the first woman to work on the Telco shop floor.' JRD looked at me. I was praying he would not ask me any questions about my interview (or the postcard that preceded it). 

Thankfully, he didn't. Instead, he remarked. 'It is nice that girls are getting into engineering in our country. By the way, what is your name?' 

'When I joined Telco I was Sudha Kulkarni, Sir,' I replied. 'Now I am Sudha Murthy.' He smiled and kindly smile and started a discussion with SM. As for me, I almost ran out of the room. 

After that I used to see JRD on and off. He was the Tata Group chairman and I was merely an engineer. There was nothing that we had in common. I was in awe of him. 

One day I was waiting for Murthy, my husband, to pick me up after office hours. To my surprise I saw JRD standing next to me. I did not know how to react. Yet again I started worrying about that postcard. Looking back, I realize JRD had forgotten about it. It must have been a small incident for him, but not so for me. 

'Young lady, why are you here?' he asked. 'Office time is over.' I said, 'Sir, I'm waiting for my husband to come and pick me up.' JRD said, 'It is getting dark and there's no one in the corridor. 

I'll wait with you till your husband comes.' 

I was quite used to waiting for Murthy, but having JRD waiting alongside made me extremely uncomfortable. 

I was nervous. Out of the corner of my eye I looked at him. He wore a simple white pant and shirt. He was old, yet his face was glowing. There wasn't any air of superiority about him. I was thinking, 'Look at this person. He is a chairman, a well-respected man in our country and he is waiting for the sake of an ordinary employee.' 

Then I saw Murthy and I rushed out. JRD called and said, 'Young lady, tell your husband never to make his wife wait again.' In 1982 I had to resign from my job at Telco. I was reluctant to go, but I really did not have a choice. I was coming down the steps of Bombay House after wrapping up my final settlement when I saw JRD coming up. He was absorbed in thought. I wanted to say goodbye to him, so I stopped. He saw me and paused. 

Gently, he said, 'So what are you doing, Mrs. Kulkarni?' (That was the way he always addressed me.) 'Sir, I am leaving Telco.' 

'Where are you going?' he asked. 'Pune, Sir. My husband is starting a company called Infosys and I'm shifting to Pune.' 

'Oh! And what will you do when you are successful.' 

'Sir, I don't know whether we will be successful.' 'Never start with diffidence,' he advised me 'Always start with confidence. When you are successful you must give back to society. Society gives us so much; we must reciprocate. Wish you all the best.' 

Then JRD continued walking up the stairs. I stood there for what seemed like a millennium. That was the last time I saw him alive. 

Many years later I met Ratan Tata in the same Bombay House, occupying the chair JRD once did. I told him of my many sweet memories of working with Telco. Later, he wrote to me, 'It was nice hearing about Jeh from you. The sad part is that he's not alive to see you today.' 

I consider JRD a great man because, despite being an extremely busy person, he valued one postcard written by a young girl seeking justice. He must have received thousands of letters everyday. He could have thrown mine away, but he didn't do that. He respected the intentions of that unknown girl, who had neither influence nor money, and gave her an opportunity in his company. He did not merely give her a job; he changed her life and mindset forever. 

Close to 50 per cent of the students in today's engineering colleges are girls. And there are women on the shop floor in many industry segments. I see these changes and I think of JRD. If at all time stops and asks me what I want from life, I would say I wish JRD were alive today to see how the company we started has grown. He would have enjoyed it wholeheartedly.

My love and respect for the House of Tata remains undiminished by the passage of time. I always looked up to JRD. I saw him as a role model for his simplicity, his generosity, his kindness and the care he took of his employees. Those blue eyes always reminded me of the sky; they had the same vastness and magnificence.  (Sudha Murthy is a widely published writer and chairperson of the Infosys Foundation involved in a number of social development initiatives. Infosys chairman Narayana Murthy is her husband.) 

Article sourced from: Lasting Legacies (Tata Review- Special Commemorative Issue 2004), brought out by the house of Tatas to commemorate the 100th birth anniversary of JRD Tata on July 29, 2004 .


Monday, September 13, 2010

The enchanting smell of rain soaked EaRtH..(Geosmin)

No words to express what pleasure nature gives to you...

I truly LoVe that smell....
Just to walk outside and breathe in a deep breath of that refreshing smell....... mmmmmm

It smells so fresh and clean I love the smell of everything..
after it rains it leaves such a pleasant sent.....

Unforgetable...Priceless..umaaaahhhh

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

The Success Story- Good things Happens

A business executive was deep in debt and could see no way out. Creditors were closing in on him. Suppliers were demanding payment. He sat on the park bench, head in hands, wondering if anything could save his company from bankruptcy.


Suddenly an old man appeared before him. "I can see that something is troubling you," he said. After listening to the executive's woes, the old man said, "I believe I can help you." He asked the man his name, wrote out a check, and pushed it into his hand saying, "Take this money. Meet me here exactly one year from today, and you can pay me back at that time." Then he turned and disappeared as quickly as he had come.

The business executive saw in his hand a check for $500,000, signed by John D. Rockefeller, then one of the richest men in the world!

"I can erase my money worries in an instant!" he realized.Nonetheless, the executive decided to put the check in his safe first. Just knowing it was there, would give him the strength to work out away to save his business, he thought.

With renewed optimism, he negotiated better deals and got extended terms of payment from creditors. Soon he could close some big sales. Within a few months, he was out of debt and making money once again.

Exactly a year later, he returned to the park with that uncashed check. The old man did not appear for some time yet the business executive decided to wait for a while more. A while late

the old man came along the way but seemed to be unmindful of the business executive. He stopped the old man and was about the hand over the cheque with a few words of thanks as well as share his success story.

At the same time, he saw a nurse come running up and grabbing the old man. "I'm so glad I caught him!" she cried. "I hope he hasn't been bothering you. He's always escaping from the rest home and telling people he's John D. Rockefeller." And she led the old man away by the arm.

The astonished executive just stood there, stunned. All year long he'd been wheeling and dealing, buying and selling, convinced he had half a million dollars behind him. Suddenly, he realized that it wasn't the money, real or imagined, that had turned his life around. It was his new found self-confidence that gave him the power to achieve anything he went after. He understood that Confidence is nothing but the distant vision held positively no matter what comes in between. It comes from one's own commitment and dedication and entirely internal.

"Our duty is to encourage everyone in his struggle to live up to his own highest idea, and strive at the same time to make the ideal as near as possible to the truth"


- Swami Vivekananda

LuCky GuY