Ads : Short and expressive

Can you put across an idea effectively in less than 10 seconds with an audience that you have no connection with? Ads answers affirmatively to this. And that is the reason I have always believed that ads are the best form to show case one's talents if one is interested in fields like acting, direction and cinema.

Marketing in itself is a huge market and it is in-fact a science. It is as much science as math or physics is. But instead of studying static entities like geography and algebra, it ties to analize  the more dynamic entity namely human beings. With dwindling attention span of the current generation it is really a difficult task to capture the imagination of the you and old alike. But there are few marketing campaigns that achieve this feat seamlessly.
And the  marketing campaign of Kotak Mahindra on the eve of turning 25 is one such example.

This was their ad campaign in print

and these are there videos in the TV and internet.






and this is their website for the event http://25.kotak.com/

Why was I impressed with the ad campaign?

1. Marketing campaign spread over print, media and internet(you tube banner ad).
2. Print ad on TOI first two pages. Pleasing + Capturing the attention + User participation.
3. Youtube Videos. Short + Creative + Emotional appeal + No on the face promotion of products.
4. Over all : Celebration of 25th anniversary can easily connect with you and old alike.
5. Over all : Concentrating on the long term brand building rather than promotion of individual products.

3G : Mom is the world..

"Guys of your age should be going out with girlfriends and having fun, Shravan" she told. 

Shravan is her only son and her only hope in life. Two decades ago when her husband died, she lost all hopes and was crestfallen. Plans of killing herself crossed her mind too. But when she looked into the innocent eyes of Shravan, she knew she had to live and indeed she did. She got back to her life. But there was no life in her. She started to hate everything around her. She locked all the doors around her which would lead to the world outside. Her only connection to the outside world was Shravan. And Shravan made sure that his Mom didn't miss the world too much. Though he didn't hate the world like his mom did, he didn't find it interesting. His Mom was the world to him. He felt comfortable with him Mom and he was happy being that way. He didn't feel the need for extra love and care from others as his mom always made sure that he gets enough.

"May be thats true. But they don't have a Mom like you :) So they have to. I don't know Mom. Whenever I sleep on your laps, I feel so protected and get peace of mind. I am happy for that. I have no regrets of not having a Girl Friend" said Shravan. They hugged each other and he slept on her laps.

"Wake up Shravan, Its 7 you need to go office..", the sound brought him back from sleep. He woke up to see the smiling face of him mom. This had been the routine right from the day his Dad had expired. He never woke up without looking at his mom's face. The smile on her face was his driving force. He spoke to  his Mom for sometime and got ready for the office. He was having breakfast and the bell rang. It was the signal from his friend Sharath, who was waiting for him outside. "Ok Mom, I am leaving to office", Shravan said looking into his phone and he left. 

She (Shravan's Mom) had died 2 years ago. Shravan was in a situation similar to what his Mom was in a few decades ago, but this time it was more worse because he had no one else. Nobody ever imagined that he could cope up with the loss. Looking at the way he had  handled himself for the first few days after his Mom's demise, everybody felt that he would not last longer than a week or so.  But thanks to the new app 3G Buddy(Virtual simulation of your loved ones), which brought back his mother to life and hence saved a life (or should i say two.?).

There are many Shravans out there in the world. I wish 3G Life will being their loved ones back to life.

What is your October Indirank...?

The long wait for the October Indirank is finally over. And the results are here. And I am not happy with my results. My previous ranking was 50 and so is my current ranking. When life is all about growth, no growth : no life. And stagnancy stinks.....

Since I have blogged regularly of late and am having decent traffic, I naturally expected my rank to improve. And so I am disappointed :(

Guys please console and motivate me to keep blogging :) Hey did I tell you that I wrote my first 55er.

I like the way you lie : My first 55er

All I wanted was to hang around her and have some fun. But she was a serious kind. I looked deep into her eyes and said “Love you, dear” . "I like the way you lie", she said and walked away. As she was walking away, I heard the words “But still I love you”.

Highlights : Bangalore Indiblogger Meet

When     : 3rd October 2010
Where    :  Fortune Park JP Celestial
What      :  Indiblogger Meet
Twitter    : @indiblogger
Trending :   #indiblr








There are going to be a zillion posts on this topic. So i will only write about the highlights.

• Awesome location :  Fortune Park JP Celestial.
• Cave like entrance and lots of cavemen (read as indipolice)
• More than 250 bloggers.
• Live tweet streaming was great and innovative.
• Meet started 20 mins late.
• Girls to boys ratio was very low, and only few hot chicks :(
• Introductions were long and a bit boring. But a wide variety of folk were out there
• 3 lucky guys walked away with HP printers for theirs intros. I didn't get any though I deserved one
• Write on our backs : The comments galore, wish my blog had so many comments
• 15 mins wasted on mobile blogging, he could have as well just shared the link http://m.wordpress.com/
• Case study by Raghava(who called himself bling photographer) was inspirational
• Open discussion for guidelines of the forum.(Indiblogger teams attempt to portray themselves as democratic)
• Three winners for sprit of bangalore photo contest.
• A clean,simple,great  ppt on how HP is adapting to the new generation demands.
• Snacks and tea time. Samosas were worth loosing the sunday after-noon nap.
• Promotion of social causes in the meet was nice :)
• I mentioned about my sanskrit site
• Voila we got indiblogger T shirt...

Live Tweets

And few things off the record ....

• The most famous line : I write some crap stories on my blog
• The most innovative idea of the meet : IndiBRA
• The coolest chick in the house :  Indipolice chick at registration desk (man she was hot)

Who is she?

Of late I was thinking "Who is my closest companion.?"

Mom?.. Dad?..Bro?..(from the title you know it's a female) Colleague?.. Friend?...  Nope

Let me tell you about her

The first thing I do when I wake up is hold her in my hands gently and stare at her lovely face to see if she has got something to say to me. Most of the days I am reluctant to wake up and feel like sleeping again holding her in my hands. If I don't find her find on my bed when I wake up, I jump out  in a hurry, and start searching for her frenziedly. My heart beat becomes normal only after finding her. My day starts with her and ends with her, barring bath (I should admit that generally I don't take her along for bath, for some strange reason.) Barring that she is with me 24/7. She watches me getting dressed up, she is with me when I have my breakfast,I decide when to go office only after looking at her,she is with me when I ride to office, she sings for me when I am riding. She sits by my side when I work, she accompanies me when I go for lunch, she is there for me whenever I need her. Most of my friends envy me because of her. Some feel I don't deserve her while others while others feel she is too obliging. A few true friends feel that I give her too much attention. Some of my friends really get pissed off when I hold her close to me and start playing with her in-front of them;). But I can't help it. Well most of my day surrounds her and I enjoy every second of it. In fact my day ends with her in my bed. Sometimes I sleep just holding her in my hands. At other times when I don't I just wake up, stare at her for some time, play with her then get back to sleep.

Oops I forgot to tell you that I put her on charge before I sleep!!!. Don't be confused I was speaking about my phone ;) Yes indeed my phone is my closest companion and this is true for most people. And hence what I expect from my phone is what I expect from my companion.


The features I wish my phone had........... My favorite phone would be


A phone with a mood detector : I think this is what differentiates a companion from a phone. Our best friends are the ones who can read our moods very well. They know when to shut up and when to pull our legs. I wish my phone could do the same. A phone that can detect my mood and play songs accordingly.
Just imagine if your phone could play your favorite romantic song in low volume when you are thinking about the moments you had spent with your GF. Or just imagine if your phone can constantly remind you about your GF's birthday and suggest you the kind of gift you can get for her(This one would be an instant hit with the guys). 
Just imagine if your phone could suggest you with names of your best friends or autodial them when you are not in good mood.
Just imagine if your phone could cool your nerves when you are tensed.
Or at last imagine if your phone could search the net for a hot video of your taste and start playing it when you get horny ;)

A phone that I can converse with : Somebody please get rid of these keyboards from phone. I just hate them. Until and unless phones become interactive they are just machines. They can't become your companions if you cant talk to them. Touch phones are fine but phones with which we can converse will be great. I feel like we are still in stone age when I need to type, to convey my thoughts or do something. A phone should be your PA. You just tell you PA to do something. How to do it is her headache. You don't type for her. If talking with your phone is one part, the phone talking back to you to convey something is the other part. 


A phone that simplifies social networking : I get to know what my friends are upto through social networking. So sharing on a networking site has to be simple, easy and an enjoyable process. Just click a photo and say share it on facebook as my profile image. And dhuumm.. my friends should be able to see it in their updates. It should reduce the time lag :) 
And the other aspect is more social networking has to be incorporated into my phone. When I play a song on my player in the phone, I should know how many of my friends like the particular song. After all we the youngsters live our lives through social networking, sharing is a part of our lives and we share our lives. So why not through our phones?
    

In short a phone to me is 

"Somebody with whom you can SHARE your LIFE and something through which you can SHARE your  LIFE with others"

  

Tata DOCOMO OneTouch Net Phone promises to be one such phone. Let wait and see..... 

MBA is neither a necessary nor a sufficient criteria for being a leader.(written for TestFunda)

If you are still waiting for the answer of the question "Can an MBA alone make a leader?", the answer if definite "NO" in capital letters. I wish leadership had a clear definition like the one MBA has. But the truth is that it doesn't. MBA is an acronym for Master of Business Administration, and that is what it does.Make you a Master in Business Administration. But we all know that  Leadership is much more than that. There are innumerous masters in this world, but hardly a few leaders. 

MBA might have Leadership as one of the subjects in one of the semesters, but this in no way symbolizes that leadership is a part of MBA and having an MBA alone can make you a leader. I am not saying that an MBA doesn't instill leadership qualities but  my view point  is that "MBA is neither a necessary nor a sufficient criteria for being a leader."

Since Data Interpretation(DI) is an important requisite for an MBA, lets interpret the data at hand. 

Data : MBA is neither a necessary nor a sufficient criteria for being a leader.

The data consists of two statements. For the given data to be true both the statements have to be true. So lets verify the truthfulness of both these sentences.

Statement 1 : MBA is not necessary for being a leader

Proof : We have many leaders who do not hold a MBA degree.

Statement 2 : MBA is not sufficient for being a leader

Proof : We have many people with MBA degrees but not considered as leaders.

By proving that Statement 1 and Statement 2 are true, I have verified the given data and hence in the process justified my title which was the sole purpose of this article.

Retype Your Password : Why should I ?

I have created countless accounts online, needless to say that i use only a small fraction of them in reality. In the process of creating these accounts i would have filled hundred if not thousands of forms which say Type your password in one row and Retype you password in the succeeding row. But I had never ever seriously analyzed  as to what I gain and what I loose by Retyping my password.

Recently I created an account and happily filled the Type your password and Retype your password fields in the form. I browsed the site that day. Few days later I tried to login to the website. "The username and passwords don't match" the server scowled at me. Bingo!! I tried few combinations, but all in vain. Rather than trying to recover my password, I set about to understand what had actually conspired against me.

And here goes my story : (Read this paragraph at the end)

What had actually happened was that I had mistyped my password. That's fair enough as all of us make mistakes. But what saddens me is that i had mistyped while retyping the password. Thats also acceptable though rare. But what interests me is that in both the cases my typos were same. So the poor system assumed that, what I typed was the actual password. And there I was blissfully ignorant of the my blunder. It would have been a tedious process to regain my password, if I had tried. But I didn't as I was busy analyzing what had happened and I was content with what I was doing.

Now lets analyse all the scenarios that arise in this context and see whether the extra effort we put in retyping the password is worth  it. There are four scenarios.

	Password[P] Correct	Password[P] Wrong
Retype Password[RP] Correct	Case I (P = RP)	Case II (P != RP)
Retype Password[RP] Wrong	Case III (P != RP)	Case IV  (P = RP)  OR (P !=RP)    V                   VI

Step 1 : Enter your Password

Step 2 : Retype your password

After completing Step 2, we can't differentiate between case I and V. After step 2 we also can't differentiate between Case II, Case III and case VI

Case I : Both Password and Retype password are correct - OK Scenario

Step 1 : The password is correct. So there is no need of Step 2, but since we don't know that password is correct we go to Step 2. That is where are trying to eliminate Case II here. But in the process we are creating chances for Case III, which is an unfavorable one.

Step 2 : Retype your password is also correct.  Hence we ended up in case, but we could as well have ended up in Case III.

Case II : Password is wrong and Retype password is correct - Ideal scenario

Step 1 : The password is incorrect. So in the absence of Step 2, your account would have been created with wrong password.

Step 2 : Retype your password is correct and hence you catch hold of the error in Step 1. But we could have as well ended up in Case IV

Case III : Password is correct but Retype password is wrong - A bad scenario

Step 1 : The password is correct. But at this step since we don't know that, we proceed to Step 2

Step 2 : The Retype password is wrong. Oooops though the password in Step 1 was correct we ended up in Case III and we will have to create our login again.

Case IV : Password is wrong but Retype password is wrong - A good/dangerous scenario

Step 1 : The password is wrong. Good that we have step 2

Step 2 : The Retype password is also wrong. Shit how could we mistype in second attempt also.

Now this is where this particular case gets interesting, if the typos in step1 and step 2 are different then we are saved and we have good scenario. It the typos in step 1 and step 2 happen to be the same then we are in for a toss. That's dangerous situation. Because we end up in what we tried to avoid. We will be erring with more confidence that we are right, which i think is more dangerous.

This is just the common sense analysis, the mathematical analysis with the use of probability shall follow ...

Google instant : Change the way you search

The google instant was an instant hit. The proof was instantisation of google maps, youtube,bing so on and so forth. So now we have moved from instant coffee and  instant chats to instant search. Googling has easily become one of the things a internet buff does on a regular basis. Whether you are looking out for a location in a google map, searching for a nice hotel on burp.com or searching for an instant video on youtube what you are doing basically is search. So making google(read as search) instant definitely goes a long way in saving a lot of time.

But what baffles me is with bigwigs like google, microsoft and yahoo fighting for monopoly over search(as it is the gateway to the world of lucrative business namely internet), what took them so long to instantise search. The only reason that comes to my mind is lack of resources. In place of one hit/query on the server, the current instant google will hit the server more than 5 times for an average query. So that's like saying that the google servers must be five times bigger in capacity or five times efficient in handling the search queries. That might seem to be  asking for too much but still that seems to me like a lame excuse these bigwigs can give.

The unusual spin off of google instant is that Japanese addresses are showing more quickly on google instant maps than its counter-part western addresses. Let's find out the reasons but first lets understand the japanese addressing systems. Japanese addresses reflect the primacy of the group in Japan. They proceed from the general (the prefecture, or Japan itself for mail to Japan) to the particular (the addressee). So the general address looks like this

107 Tokyo-to, Minato-ku,
Akasaka 1-chome, 
10-ban, 5-go, 
Watanabe Kazuo

It starts from the generic address Tokyo and moves to the specific addressee name Watanabe Kazuo in the order. Japanese got lucky as their addresses work the same way as google instant does.

Google instant is a Progressively Refining Search(A term i have come out with). Put in simple terms, with each keyword enter your search gets refined. So you can see your search getting refined with every typing letter. There are two ways you can build your search query now.

1. Start with the most specific term and then move to the generic term.
2. Start with the most generic term and then move to the specific term.

The first method is the traditional way we use to search. An ex : The famous hotels in bangalore,India

This is how our search queries used to be till now. Lets analise this under the current google instant search. The moment you type good google is confused as to what get for you as there are many things which are good. then when you say hotels it tries  get you hotels from all over the world, whereas hotel in bangalore was what you were looking for. :( 

The second method is the query suited to google instant. Since google instant is a Progressively Refining Search, starting with the most generic term and then moving to the specific term goes with the flow and you can see the search results getting better as you type. So now our search query will be India bangalore hotels famous. So when you type india google will fetch results only from india, and as you type bangalore the results will be refined for banglaore, and when you type hotels it gets you the list of hotels in banglaore. So as you keep typing your query the search keeps getting refined. ("Hotels, India bangalore good" may be a more efficient query)

So the next time you are googling my name remember the query has to be India,Karnataka,Bangalore,Mindtree Gokul

Caveat : There are exceptions to this rule. Comment on this post if you want to discuss. But remember that it still holds good if you are looking out for a geographical location.

Well Done Omar

"When people hurl stones at you, convert them into your milestones" goes a quote.

But today Stone-Pelting(SP) has taken a completely different form.

• Today  SP symbolizes the unrest among the youth of a state in which it(youth) constitutes more than 50% of the population.
• SP proves that unrest among the youth of the state or nation is the last thing that a government can afford.
• SP symbolizes the way the weak protest against the mighty state that fails to connect with the people of the state.
• SP defines the culminating point of the downfall of a minister who was considered as the most successful young politician to one whose political future is in question.
• SP has become a menace which the army can neither face nor suppress. Restraining is the only option that they have. I can't even call it an alternative, since that is the only way.
• Now it is forcing the minister who had distanced himself from the crowds, to try so hard  just to get their acceptance.

I am a big fan of Omar Abdullah.( Don't ask me why? He was young, he was charismatic and he looked to be a promising politician in making) And I felt let down after his fall in popularity. :( 

But the way he handled himself when a shoe was hurled at him, reiterated my faith in him. 

Omar's response : "I am not upset that a person protested. The fact that he threw a shoe and not a stone, speaks for itself"

That was commendable. He used a thoughtless action of a person, to send a strong message to the people of J & K. Though it was a nice message that he sent across and in a very good way, that in itself is not sufficient. People of J & K expect a lot of actions from him. It is the time he deliver his promises.

 I feel that Omar got few things wrong in his journey and he definitely paid for them. But i strongly feel that has the ability to correct them and move on. And taking this as an opportunity to connect with the masses of the valley state and understand their situation and the problems they are facing(which no one has done till date) if he can work out an amicable solution that will be his way to stardom and immortality. And thousands of good wishes of the masses of the valley state which are genuine. 

And genuine wishes will never go un-realised.

Caveat : So does the genuine curses.....

ATMAON : A simple line that keeps you humble

ATMAON : Though this word sounds like a sanskrit word(In sanskrit atmaon means souls), it is just an acronym for my favorite phrase "According to me, as of now". Repeating these words in your mind when you are in a discussion, debate, fight, quarrel or when you are giving a lecture, advice, suggestion or when you are trying  to prove a point to someone keeps your feet grounded, mind sane and heart happy.

ATMAON has two halves ATM and AON. Both of which are equally important.

• ATM : According To Me

The first half (According To Me) says that whatever you are saying is your opinion. It reminds that what you are saying need be the truth but is only your perception of truth.(I am assuming that you are not trying to fool somebody with views which you consider are not true). It also reminds you that since it is your opinion, the person with whom you are interacting is also entitled to his view, which may or may not be same as yours. Anyone can easily handle a person who agrees with you. But handling a person who disagrees with you, is what separates the intellectuals from the lay men. It doesn't mean that you accept the views which are against your principles. It only says thats you should provide enough room for opinions which are not aligned to your views, especially the ones which are polar opposite of yours.

 Well,  before ending this let me say all these views are According To Me.

• AON : As Of  Now

If the first part makes sure that we respect others views and opinions, the second part(As Of Now) takes it ahead and points that the our own views and opinions change with time. Haven't you experienced this so many times? My views about two things has changed drastically over the time. They are divorce and abortion.

Similarly most of our views change with time and changing society. What you consider wrong today may become right tomorrow and vice versa. So just remember that your views are not going to be the same. But remember that your perception of what is good and bad may change, but your perception of right and wrong should not keep changing very frequently.

So next when you go about proving your point to somebody else, just say to yourself "According to me, as of now" and the person on the other side can definitely sense the difference. I pomise (sorry according to me as of now they will sense the difference.)

Language is an abstraction of thought

Expression of thought is what communications is all about. Language is an abstraction of thought. Language can never become communication as a thought can never be expressed completely. And if at all a thought can be expressed completely, the language used for it would be a perfect language, which would be nothing but communication. I came to understand the tight coupling between thought, language and communication very recently. It was a sweet coincidence. To do a profile picture for my website's fan-page, i was trying to create an image out of the introduction that i had written for an article titled Improve your vocabulary. The intro was about language and communication. I was amazed by the output I got. Here goes the image and it is followed by the introduction i wrote.

Click on the image or visit www.facebook.com/Aziteez to get a Tee of this image.

Language is an abstraction of thought. A thought in itself is of no significance in the real world, because it needs the support of language if it has to be appreciated or implemented . All these knols, articles, plethora of information available on the internet is an attempt(though an unsuccessful one) to catpture and express that thought. Language comes nowhere close to the actual communication of the thought from the person who conceived the thought to the person with whom he is trying to communicate. Man from the time immemorial has been trying to invent new words so that he can express his thought more clearly and lucidly, hence trying to communicate more effectively. But he is no where close to the actual communication.The Second Edition of the Oxford English Dictionary contains full entries for 171,476 words in current use and the list still keeps growing. We come out with a list of new words every year only to realise that there is a vacuum in the language for creating many more such lists. It is like space : the more you explore, you realise that much more is yet to be explored. But one thing is for sure, greater the number of words you know and deeper the unerstanding of them, better are your chances of communicating an idea or thought successfully. And hence better are your chances of succeeding in your workplace and life.

The first day in JEMS

As mentioned in my previous article, after getting the tips from my Dad I was all set to go to the much awaited school(It was called Jyothi Vidya Nikethan and I still prefer that name to Jyothi English Medium School). I don't remember how the days prior to the school-opening passed. All I can remember is that my mother had already started tutoring me. She would try to get the help from everybody and anybody whom she considered was better than her in tutoring me. But what she doesn't know is, even to this day I  consider her as the best teacher I have met tell date. My view is not opinionated just because I am her son, but rather my view is justified by the innovative ways she uses in teaching. Anybody who has been tutored by my Mom will readily agree to this. So I used to prefer my Mom over everybody else in tutoring me. 

I had looked up so much for the first day of the school. The kind of enthusiasm I had was contagious and boundless. But I also had an equal share of my own fears and apprehensions. In-spite of all this excitement I can't remember much about how my first day was. I can't recall how I spent much of the day or whom I spoke to. I don't remember what my parents asked when I came back from school or what I answered them. It feels so weird considering that the day was such an important one. But still one incident on the first day remains crystal clear in my mind. I was wearing the pink and brown uniform, a tie, a belt and shoes(I had never worn a tie,belt or shoe as a part of uniform in my previous school, so this was special to me). I sat in a bench not at the back but somewhere close to the back row. I was all into myself. That was my way of feel safe and secure as I was not able to understand a word of what my teacher was telling. It was all in English and english was foreign to me. The language was alien and so were the people. I didn't even feel like raising my head and looking at other students. I was scared. I felt what if they ask me something in English and I am not able to answer. I didn't even look at the teacher fearing she might ask me some questions noticing that I am a new student. To my luck (or rather the lack of it) , each period was spread over a span of one and a half hours. That seemed like eternity to me and I cursed whosoever came up with such an idea. 

It was at this time that shadow of somebody fell in the classroom as it blocked the sunlight coming from the door. The lady who blocked  the sun-rays was none other than my aunt. She might have blocked the rays coming from  the sun, but she gave rise to new rays in my heart and those were the rays of  hope. The silver lining around her formed because of the silhouette appeared to me like a silver lining on the dark cloud in my heart. She gave a reassuring smile when I looked at her which made me feel at home. She said something to the teacher in the class to which the teacher responded affirmatively nodding the head top to bottom. My aunt looked back at me, smiled and left the class. I felt a lot better then and felt comfortable. I could not understand what she told to the teacher in the class. But the very fact that she told it in english and that the teacher responded affirmatively to what she told, made me feel proud of her. I think she must have told "This is my niece. He is new to this class and he doesn't know to speak english. Take care of him". 

Whom do you consider as a role model in your life (Part III)

Part I  Part II

One major hurdle in my dad's mission  of making me an english literate man was cleared. But the actual test was a test of survival. I had read it somewhere that actual test was not getting into an IIM but surviving in one. And I think that appears to all the institutions.

 Everybody in my home were happy that I had cleared the test and I was going to join the school. But my dad not stop with that. Once again my dad proved that he was indeed a hero and why he is so special. He took me aside that day and told me "See  you know that reason why I wanted you to go to that school. Now that you have cleared the entrance test and you are going to the school, there is something I want to tell you. It may not be all that easy for you to cope up with other students. Remember that they have all been studying English for four to five years, whereas you are just about to start. Promise me that you won't feel bad, irrespective of what happens in that school. I am sure that you can top the class very soon. But be prepared to face the situation in-case you fail and loose an year. I want to you to know that loosing an year doesn't impact you in the long run, but learning good english definitely will....". That was a short(incomplete) talk. It did scare me a little, but it helped me get close to the reality. 

And that was my third lesson in management : When you motivate somebody to try something unconventional make sure that they are ready to face rejection and they are ready to face the burden of failure.

Once he was sure that I was ready to face the worst, he continued "In-spite of all this I want you to give your best shot and I am sure that you can top the class by the end of the year." Whether he had so much confidence in me I am not sure, but those words did encourage me and enthuse me. And that was my fourth lesson in management : Be prepared to face the worst, and then try for the best.


Now that I was all set, my Dad gave me a tip "Since you know that you are not the best(at-least as of now), make sure that you are the best prepared. Always be two chapters ahead of your teacher in every subject and that will ease your tension a lot. You will not feel left out even if you are not able to follow the teacher in your class. Work hard, be prepared and be ready to face the worst". And that was my fifth lesson in management : Fortune favors the brave mind. When you know that you are not the best, make sure that at-least you are the best-prepared.


I personally like the last line "When you know that you are not the best, make sure that at-least you are the best-prepared". Though I came out with this line , I would attribute it to my dad because it was from him that I learnt it.

Whom do you consider as a role model in your life (Part II)

Part I

The next incident came after a gap of 2-3 years. I had just completed Class 4. I had decided to switch to an english medium school(May be what that uncle in Part I told had an impact on me). But which school i should  join was still in debate. All the options were listed. The advantages and disavdvantages of joining various schools were brainstormed. We had even made a few visits to schools to get the first hand information. But nothing had materialized. It was at this moment that some-one recommended an ICSE school called Jyothi Vidya Niketan to him.

I had studied in a kannada medium school where English was just one subject(all other subjects were taught in kannada) and that too it started only from standard 3. I had just completed standard 4. So I had two years experience in the language of English. All that I had learned till then was A for Apple,B for Ball,.....Z for Zebra. And there was a chapter at the end of the text book in standard 4. It was the story of two sheep trying to cross a bridge. I still remember those days a small kid when I used to turn pages to the last chapter in the book, stare at the images of two sheep crossing the bridge, unable to read or understand what the random jumble of those 26 alphabets of English, in various combinations and permutations meant. But whenever I turned to that particular chapter I always felt that one day I should be able to read and write English in such a brilliant way that these words should appear to me like a piece of cake-walk.

Utopia : The search for a perfect society

Man is a social animal

This was probably the first quotation that had caught my attention as a school going kid. Though I hadn't pondered over this quote, it had definitely made an impact. It had left a scar on my mind, which I would come back and visit after many years. Here I am today trying to dig back, examine the scar again and see what it means to me now after so many years.(Thanks to the Time's Mock CAT passage which touched this topic and gave me some more insight)

Though the topic of this article is "Utopia : The search for a perfect society", I started with this quote because it tells us that the very definition of man is incomplete without mentioning society, and hence stresses the importance of society in man's life.

Whom do you consider as a role model in your life

This was the topic given to us during the English test that was given to us.That was an year back. I don't remember the essay exactly but the essay goes something like this.

Of-course my dad. Who else can it be. I am actually amazed at how fast i decided on the person who was my role model. I had not even completed reading the question but I had already decided on the answer. At every stage of my life i have been amazed by his nature and attitude. Most of the things that i have learned from him are not the ones he has told me, but the ones that i have learnt from him looking at him handle his daily situations.

What would you loose if you earn 300 Rs in an year for nothing ( mGinger : The concept of targeted marketing)

Welcome to the information age where information is wealth, time is money and customer is the king. Every second of customer attention is so valued as there are so many marketing companies out there who are competing to get your attention. Remember that you(the customer) are creating so many marketing jobs and you are the reason that so many marketing guys out there are getting fat fat salaries and bonuses. But the irony is that the same marketing guys makes fools out of you by making you buy something which is of absolutely no use to you. They are mocking at you by using Salman Khan's to image to sell a Wheel detergent powder and Hrithik's fan following to sell a hide and seek chota biscuit pack.

Its time that we the customers(cum ad viewers) show that we are smart enough. Its time we show those so called marketing gurus that our choice is based on the true brand value and utility. And not on the brand value that any Bollywood actor brings along. I see targeted advertisement as a way to do it. Targeted advertising is advertising to the prospective buyer. What happens in mass marketing is that most of the ads that you watch are related to the products which we might never intend to use.(Just remember the Whisper,Kotex..... adso we see gusy.. ;) ) Whereas targeted advertising is a selective marketing strategy, where you first decide who your prospective buyer is and then try selling your product to them. It doesn't take a genius to realize that this has better probability of succeeding and hence better ROI. When mGinger introduced this concept in India, I was still a student then, and I was pretty much impressed with the idea. The inherent beauty of this idea is that all the three parties in action get to benefit. 

1. The advertiser is happy because he get better return on investments. 
2. The middle men(mGinger) is happy because they are making money by meeting the other two parties meet. 
3. The consumer is happy because he is respected. (Salman Khan doesnt try to sell Wheel to him)

What makes it more interesting is that customer is getting paid for reading the ads. In an era where attention spans of the consumers are very less and loyalty is short lived, marketers had to find something to keep the consumers motivated. And they chose to go with the best motivation that man has always found very difficult to resist : money.  Though we(customers) always knew that our attention was always valued, getting paid for that takes it a step further and proves us with proof that indeed the marketers do really value our attention.

For  more details on mGinger click on mGinger

ಕುಡುಕ ಕುರುಡನ ಮೂಕ ಕಥೆ - ಭಾಗ ೧

ಕಲಾವಿದ(ಕುಡುಕ) ರಂಗ ಮಂದಿರದ ಮಧ್ಯಕ್ಕೆ ಬಂದು ಕೆಲವು ಸನ್ನೆಗಳನ್ನು ಮಾಡುವನು. ಪ್ರೇಕ್ಷಕರಿಗೆ ಅರ್ಥವಾಗದ್ದನ್ನು
ಮನಗೊಂಡು ಮಾತನಾಡಲು ಶುರು ಮಾಡುವನು.

ಕುಡುಕ :ಏನು ಅರ್ಥ ಆಗಲಿಲ್ಲ ತಾನೆ? ಸರಿ ನಾ ಮಾಡಿದ ಸನ್ನೆಗಳ ಅರ್ಥ ಹೇಳ್ತೀನಿ ಕೇಳಿ. ನಾನೇನು ಹೇಳ್ದೆ ಅಂದ್ರೆ, "ನಾನೇನೋ ಕುಡುಕ ನಿಜ. ಆದ್ರೆ ನಾನು ಕುರುಡಾನೂ ಅಲ್ಲ, ಮೂಕನೂ ಅಲ್ಲ. ಎರಡು ನಿಮಿಷ ಕಣ್ಮುಚ್ಕೊಂಡು ಸನ್ನೆ ಮಾಡಿದ್ರೆ, ನಾನು ಯಾವ್ ಕಡೆ ತಿರುಗಿದೀನಿ ಅಂತ ನನಗೆ ಗೊತ್ತಾಗ್ಲಿಲ್ಲಾ , ನಾನೇನು ಹೇಳ್ತಾ ಇದ್ದೀನಿ ಅಂತ ನಿಮ್ಗೆ ಗೊತ್ತಾಗ್ಲಿಲ್ಲ. ಬೇಕ ನಮಗೆ ಈ ಕುರುಡನ ಮೂಕ ಕಥೆ. ನಾಟಕದ ಹೆಸರೇನೋ 'ಕುಡುಕ ಕುರುಡನ ಮೂಕ ಕಥೆ ' ಅಂತ ಇರಬೋದು, ಆದ್ರೆ ನಮಗೆ ಅದ್ರ ಗೋಜೇ ಬೇಡ. ಸುಮ್ನೆ ಈ ಕುಡುಕನ ಕಥೆ ಕೇಳಿ ಮಜಾ ತೊಗೊಂಡು ಹೋಗಿ. ಕುರುಡನ ಮೂಕ ಕಥೆ ಹೇಳಕ್ಕೆ ನಾನೇನು Helen Kellerಉ ಅಲ್ಲ, ನಮ್ಮ ನಿರ್ದೇಶಕರು Annie Sullivan ತರಹದ Miracle Worker ಕೂಡ ಅಲ್ಲ. ಏನು ಹಂಗೆ ನೋಡ್ತಾ ಇದ್ದೀರಾ? ಅದೇ ನಮ್ಮ ಅಮಿತಾಬ್ ಬಚ್ಚನ್ ಮತ್ತು ರಾಣಿ ಮುಕರ್ಜಿ ಅವರು ಮಾಡಿರುವ Black movie ಇದ್ಯಲ್ಲ ಅದು ನಿಜವಾಗ್ಲೂ ಹೇಳ್ಬೇಕು ಅಂದ್ರೆ ಹಾಲಿವುಡ್ ನಲ್ಲಿ ಮಾಡಿದ Miracle Worker ಅನ್ನೋ ಚಿತ್ರದ ರಿಮೇಕ್. ಆ ಚಿತ್ರಕ್ಕೆ ಮೂಲ ಸ್ಪೂರ್ಥಿ ಈ  Annie Sullivan ಮತ್ತು Hellen Keller. ಆ ಚಿತ್ರದ ತರಾನೆ ನಮ್ ನಾಟಕ ಅನ್ಕೊಂಡ್ರ? ಇಲ್ಲ ಕಣ್ರೀ, ಹಳೇ ಕಾಲದ ಮೂಕಿ ಚಿತ್ರ ಅಲ್ಲ ನಮ್ದು ಈಗಿನ ಕಾಲದ ಟಾಕಿ ನಮ್ದು."

A macro in Office Outlook to export mails

There’s no honour in working hard inefficiently. Only disgrace.

I read this somewhere on net. So I thought, why not make my daily chores like sorting and clearing my inbox more automated and less time consuming. Hence I wrote a code snippet that saved me a lot of time and effort. And moreover it made me happy everytime i ran the script. ;)

What the script does : It send all the mails in the folder "Nice" under "Inbox" to an email id of your choice and then deletes them from the folder "Nice".



Steps to set up this in your Outlook
1.) Goto Tools->Macros->Macros or Alt+F8
2.)Type Macro name as ExportToGmail and click on Create
3.)Microsoft Visual Basic Editor will open up.
4.)Copy paste the below code in the appopriate place for the Sub ExportToGmail()

==============================================

---

Sub ExportToGmail()


Dim objOutlook As New Outlook.Application
Dim objNameSpace As Outlook.NameSpace
Dim objInbox As MAPIFolder
Dim objConvHist As MAPIFolder
Dim objMail As MailItem
Dim myFolder As MAPIFolder


'Get the MAPI reference
Set objNameSpace = objOutlook.GetNamespace("MAPI")


'Pick up the Inbox
Set objInbox = objNameSpace.GetDefaultFolder(olFolderInbox)
Set myFolder = objInbox.Folders("Nice")


For Each Item In myFolder.Items
Set mailToSend = objInbox.Items.Add


With mailToSend
.Subject = Item.Subject
.Body = Item.Body
.To = "ABC@XYZ.com"
.Send
End With


Item.Delete
Next Item


MsgBox "Your mails from folder NICE are exported to Gmail", vbInformation, Oops
End Sub

---

===============================================
5. Change the (.To =) from ABC@XYZ.com to your mail id. and save the code. (Mail Id should be in double quotes)
6. Create folder called "Nice" below inbox in your outlook. If you want to change the name of the folder, change the entry in the code respectively.
7. Move all the emails that you want to export to the folder "Nice" .
8. Now go to Goto Tools->Macros->Macros or press Alt+F8
9. Click on the ExportToGmail() Macro in the list and click Run

If you want to use this macro regularly just let me know. I will explain how to create an icon on Outlook for the same. So that you can export all the mails in the folder just by a click of the mouse.

ಏಕೆ

ನನಗೇಕೆ ಬೇಕು ಈ ಲೋಕದ ಹಂಗು?

ಲೋಕವೇ ನೀ ಆಗಿರುವಾಗ.

ಮಾತೇಕೆ ಆಡಲಿ ನಾನು ನಿನ್ನೊಡನೆ?

ನನ್ನ  ಮನದಾಳದ ಗುಟ್ಟು ನಿನಗೆ ತಿಳಿದಿರುವಾಗ.

ನಿನ್ನೊಡನೆ ಜಗಳವೇತಕೆ ಆಡಲಿ ನಾನು?

ನೀನೆ ಗೆಲ್ಲಲಿ ಎಂದು ನಾ ಬಯಸುವಾಗ.

ನನ್ನೊಡನೆ ಏತಕೆ ನಿನ್ನ ಅಹಂಕಾರ?

ನಾನು ನೀನೆ ಆಗಿರುವಾಗ.

ನೀನಿಲ್ಲದ ಬಾಳು ನನಗೇಕೆ ಬೇಕು?

ನನ್ನ  ಬಾಳು  ತುಂಬಾ ನೀ ತುಂಬಿರುವಾಗ.

ಚಿಂತೆ ಏತಕೆ ಮಾಡಲಿ ನಾ?

ನನ್ನ  ಚಿಂತಾಮಣಿ ನೀನಿರುವಾಗ.

ನಮಗೇಕೆ ಈ ಲೋಕದ ಹಂಗು?

ನನಗೆ ನೀನು, ನಿನಗೆ ನಾನು ಇರುವಾಗ..

ನಮಗೇಕೆ ಈ ಲೋಕದ ಹಂಗು?

ನಾವಿಬ್ಬರು ಜೊತೆಗಿರುವಾಗ. 

Lets go straight..

A boy and girl are at a crossroad(of their life?...)

Boy : You are a lesby.
Girl : You are a gay.
Boy : Leave it
Girl : Left
Boy : Right(Alright)
Both : Lets go straight.

ಕಲ್ಲಾಗಿದ್ದಳು ನಿಜ,

ಕಲ್ಲಾಗಿದ್ದಳು ನಿಜ,
ಆದರೆ ಆ ಕಲ್ಲನ್ನು ಕೆತ್ತಿ ಶಿಲೆ ಮಾಡಿ,
ಆ ಶಿಲೆಗೆ  ನನ್ನ ಮನದಾಳದ ಭಾವ ತಿಳಿಸಿ,
ನನ್ನ ಮನಸಿನ  ರಾಣಿಯಾಗಿ ಮಾಡಿಕೊಂಡೆ

What did the Diode say to me...? (Electronics and Life - Part II)

Part I

1.) In diodes current is directly proportional to the Voltage applied.

It says the output is directly proportional to the input. If Current is the results you get and Voltage is the efforts you put, it says Results that you achieve are directly proportional to the efforts you put.

Success is directly proportional to the efforts you invest.

2.) In diodes the current is not linearly related to voltage, like in a resistor.

In life the outputs are not linearly proportional to the input. And the type of non-linearity varies from one to another.

You cannot expect to get 50% of the results when you put 50% of the required efforts.

Success is not linearly proportional to  the efforts you put in.

3.) The combination of Property1 and Property 2.

The combination of Property1 and Property 2 is an important lesson to be learnt in life. If we know these two properties in separate and their impact when put together, we can lead a contented, successful life.

Success is directly proportional to the efforts you invest. But it(success) is not linearly related to the efforts you put in.

4.) When the applied voltage is less the cut-in voltage, no current flows through the conductor.

When you set out do something, don't expect the results right from the beginning. There is a time till which you have to just keep putting in your efforts, without looking at the results. Analising  your return-on-investments before that will only lead to you to develop a pessimistic outlook towards life.

For every assignment or enterprise, there is cut-in efforts value, below which you cannot expect any results.

5.) Once the applied voltage crosses the cut-in voltage, current flow through the diode becomes exponential.

Once the amount of efforts you have put crosses the cut-in efforts value, the results become exponential with respect to the efforts input. Though in real life the results may not become exponential, they are bound to increase drastically. This point is generally known an tipping point.

Beyond the tipping point, the Return-On-Investments increases substantially.

When the teacher was ready!!! (Part 4)

Part 3  Part 2 Part 1

I had got the job and I was all set to begin my journey in teaching profession from the next day. But the dean had not even mentioned about the salary. I actually thought that it was in my advantage, as i felt that i will have an upper hand in bargaining after proving myself than before proving myself. Money was never a matter of concern. But the pride of being able to bargain and get what you want, was. So I had to prove my mettle before the dean would call me for bargaining so that he would get the maximum of services at the cheapest rate possible. This was one thing that I hated. It might be meaningful in other business(even in business it doesn't make sense in the long term), but in education I somehow feel that it is not the right way to recruit.Why can't the management pay based on the competence showed by the individual., I asked myself. But I left, the question as it is.

What is the reason we don't have many good teachers today.It is not that there are no answers to this questions. It is just that nobody has bothered to find one. I feel the reason is that there is no competition in teaching profession. And there will be competition in any job only when people are paid aptly and based on their competence and not on experience. People nowadays take up teaching as a last option.

How can somebody whose last option is teaching bring about a change in the lives of the students.

How can somebody who waits for the month-end to collect the salary, can even think about bringing a change in students attitude.?

How can somebody who doesn't like the subject himself, create love for the subject in minds of the students.?

How can somebody who is not ready to accept his ignorance, can instill an attitude of inquiry in students.?

How can somebody who is not a good student himself, can become a teacher for other students.?

How can somebody whose thinking is limited to four walls teach the students about the world outside.?

How can somebody who doesn't like what he is  doing, make learning a happy and wholesome process for the students.?

I set out to find out my own answers for these questions. The answers that I found and my experiences while finding those answers form a major part of my later posts.

Next : Algorithm to open a door

When the teacher was ready!!! (Part 3)

Part 2 Part 1

The first interaction which I had imagined would be a cakewalk turned out to be just short of a nightmare. So my doubts and inhibition about the  demo class naturally multiplied as I sat in the office room with a computer science text book of PU I. The interaction I had was with PU II, and I was told by the dean to take my demo class for PU I. Sometimes you don't ask for logics, you just thank your luck and go ahead. Thats what I did.  I started going through the text book. I was happy because all the syllabus in the book was what I already knew and I hardly needed any preparation for lecturing. I was happier because I felt that by all possibilities, students of PU I will be  lesser daemons than the PU II. In less than five minutes, the clerk came over to me, called out "Sir", and offered me a cup of coffee. Though it was a small cup of coffee and  not a great tasting  one, the way it was served was definitely special. So I was considered as a lecturer and I was being served coffee in the staff room. That was a great feeling. The bell rang before I finished the coffee. 

When the teacher was ready!!! (Part 2)

Part 1
I had converyed my interest in working as a lecturer in my brothers college, i mean I had taken the plunge. But the actual "test" was yet to begin. And the demo class would be the most testing part of the "test", I thought. I had a few edited replays of the scene in my mind, but i had not done any hardcore preparation for the same. So on this fine day I plan to go and meat the dean of the college. I went to my brother's college and sat in the staff room. The Dean was having a discussion with one of the staff members. I felt so becuase the body language of the the person standing there was too obedient and he was full of respect for the man in charge. Once the Dean was done with the discussion he turned towards me and got to know from the clerk that I was the one who had come for the new Computer Science Lecturer Post. He was trying to behave very casual and he was successful till the moment I mentioned that I was from R.V.College of Engineering. "You are from R.V.College ? Our students will have lot to learn from you", the Dean Said. The change in his behaviour the moment he heard the name of my college, made me feel proud that I was an alumnus of the R.V.College of Engineering.

A Lonely Heart

"You are back home from a hard day's work. You are tired.  Lie back on a soft bed. Leave the lights on as you are afraid of dark. Keep your eyes open, staring at nowhere (shoonya drushti). Lost in your thoughts, you try to track what your mind is thinking. Its of no use. Your mind keeps on roaming. It doesn't reach anywhere, as it is travelling to a destination that even it is not clear about. Poor mind where will it stop when it doesn't know what is the destination to which it is travelling to.  Before you make a sense of all this, your eyes are too tired, your eyelids are trying hard to stay separate, but cant help moving towards each other. Within a few seconds they touch each other, shutting you off from this world or rather the world from you. Slowly your body starts resting and the mind follows. Your consciousness is lost, your metabolic rate goes down. You go into a state of sleep......"