In no particular order:
Twitter (Am just out of the egg)
Springwise (Coolest ideas and trends to catch up with)
Quirky (Online product design community, brilliant!)
Name this (Crowd sourcing again!)
IDEO Blog (Phenomenal)
WARC (World Ad research council)
And oh, you’d definitely be on these:
NYT
Fast Company
Seth Godin
Dilbert
Disconnected with what am studying.
A people-less land drives me mad; solitude aint always bliss.
Realized I cant wall-gaze for more than two hours.
I completely believe in crowd sourcing and colloboration as much as I dont believe in corporate meetings with (or without) agendas.
The mind’s super cluttered, random and fast; unable to control.
I dont think I’ve learnt to structure my thought flow, its funny sometimes!
Friends, I truly miss you. Oh am getting back in a week. *evil grin*
I miss the heat (ok not the sweat). Dubai is ofcourse supremely hot, but the AC saves you everywhere, all the time.
Havent yet figured out what am going to do in the coming couple of years.
Am more tactical than strategic. Is it okay?
Social design excites me to no end. Will I be focused enough to churn excitement into action?
There’s so much weirdness happening!
I HATE jargons. And people who spew them out like pros!
Should talk of love now. I love Chandler, JD and oh yes Calvin (in ascending order, Duh).
Watching (sit/rom)coms/operas for the 56123rd time doesnt allow even half a pang of guilt to creep.
Am very VERY (cant stress how very) late on Twitter. Twitter Gods, do accept this lesser mortal.
Have been fast on Quirky though. *collars and chin up* Quirky (www.quirky.com) so rocks! Must do some evangelism.
The Do’nuts in Krispy Creme are the world’s best ones, without doubt!
Traffic across Sharjah-Dubai is bloody incorrigible. I sleep/eat twisties/watch Scrubs/Southpark/Friends on my way- good antidepressants, them!
I miss uhm mosquitoes?
Am so against the institution of marriage. It’s plain crazy.
Have I lost my madness? Okay cant be. *smug*
Beyond 5, they aren’t early. Neither are they top of mind!
1. As 9W 546 Jet Airways from Chennai, India to Dubai, UAE started its descent, one couldn’t but go gaping at the vast expanse of the desert, looking strikingly similar to a sandal colored satin interspersed with concentrated green locks here and there not forming patterns of any sort. The airport is nothing short of sprawling and advanced with an enviable signage system (so explicit that even a signage-challenged person (read me) could move around hassle-freely!) and technological backing. And yes, the airport was visibly empty. *was rolling eyes* To have been told about the super high volume of people thronging the Dubai airport, this was one of the first changes to be noted.
2. A car window at a particular instant sports a view of at least three cranes on an average. Statistics say that 25% of the total number of operating cranes is found at Dubai. This is indicative of the booming real estate business that helps the Emirate soar high and higher. At the same time, the seeming passivity of the cranes currently suggests the shelving of activities and there is this unfinished feel to the Emirate. “It’s not the number of cars that measures the growth of the economy but the number of heavy vehicles carrying construction material”, exclaims a friend who’s been around in Dubai for more than two decades. Golly!
3. Yin and Yang. While the cloud-kissing skyscrapers and towers make one appreciate the architectural finesse, the evident earthy charm that the other face of Dubai sports encompasses you with a certain haunt. It’s a truly elegant display of the soul of Dubai- the tall and bold Dubai exuding commercialization with tinges of elite glamour and a simultaneous display in the lines of a beautiful, shy and demure bride. Be it the Dubai creeks that makes you soak in its naked beauty or the Manhattan-like skylines that awe you oh so much, it’s always picture-undoubtedly-perfect out here.
4. The traffic’s crazy despite the supreme discipline followed. There are no unruly, brash truck drivers who drive as if they own the roads (Indians, am sure can so relate to such a genre). It’s the sheer humungous number of cars whizzing past each other and across Emirates, I tell you. And the speedometer of the cars flirting with 100 and beyond is definitely a first for me, am already feeling Schumacheresque! And oh don’t I miss my daily haggling routines with the autowalas back in India. No early morning disturbing conversations, no bargaining and all that jazz, it’s all smooth but for the.. (ah well you guessed it right!) traffic.
5. Dubai with much pride plays merrily with the spirit of globalization. Delightfully multicultural, a stroll round Dubai spanning for say half an hour, you’d have spotted Filipinos, Iranians, Chinese, Brits and of course Indians, the natives apart. The sheer bandwidth of varied demographics in a single Emirate translates into the number of options available practically in any sphere you name. Dubai has got the plush Atlantis and the Burj Al Arab donning one side of the spectrum and there are endearing Shawarmas and Gujju-oriented specialty restaurants catering to a certain niche on the other side. Fashion, design and pretty much everything. The number of ingredients in the cultural cauldron that Dubai is on a perpetual swell and why not.
So, that’s that. Nothing, absolutely nothing about mall hopping, you might wonder? Well, everyone waxes eloquent about them, don’t they? Hence, I chose otherwise! But really, there’s so much more to the soul of Dubai than just malls. And yes, I am mighty sure that the memories that I’d carry would evoke expressions and not just fancy, plastic words.
Bows to you!
Orit Gadiesh, Chairman Bain & Co. *Infinite Bows to your resilience*.
HBS was my introduction to the United States. I would read cases with my dictionary. I still remember the first case. It was eleven pages including the exhibits and it took me six hours to read. I was pretty desperate because literally every second word I had to look up in the dictionary. And the dictionary didn’t give any business meaning to most of the words. For example, the dictionary described the word “contribution” as being something about giving to nonprofit organizations. So reading the cases was extremely time consuming and hard. And then I would take my dictionary to the classes or to exams. Exams were the worst. It would take me three times as long to read an exam. I’d always sit in the first row and if it was a really long exam, I’d write at the end, “This took me three hours and twenty-five minutes to write, but here’s what I would have done had I had time to actually run the calculator.”
In class, I forced myself to speak even though that was difficult too because of the language. If I couldn’t find a word, I’d use six words to express the idea. I just had to force myself to do things like that and that’s how I learned English. I also had never seen television, but I’d heard about advertisements. We didn’t have TV advertisements in Israel; there were none. So I went to a classmate’s dorm room and I would turn on the TV to see what the ads looked like. I also had never been to a large supermarket. So I went to a supermarket to see what it looked like and how products were set up and so on and so forth. One time, we had a final exam on cereal, something that I had never tasted. I still don’t like it, but at the time, I didn’t know what it was and I couldn’t imagine there were sixteen varieties and why would you want more? I also had no idea who Johnny Carson was. So I was learning quickly about the United States and its culture, and I was learning the language. I had no problem when there was a case in Turkey or almost anywhere international. But I had a problem when Johnny Carson or cereal was part of the case.
It’s unbelievable to see from where todays leading lights have started from. Noone’s born a phenomenon. Though that’s a common fact, it hits you very very hard when you read something like this. It not only serves as your daily capsule of inspiration but reinvents you again, adding that extra dollop of vigor, which will definitely surface when it matters, I guess. It will.
I want to read three books at a time: The five people you meet in heaven (it’s a BOOK, currently skimming pg 21), David Ogilvy’s Biography (E-lib Book, on page 9), Jeff Archer’s A Twist in the Tale (His short story collection, the Quiverfulla arrows apart, 1 story done) and Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway(just read the preface 
). Oh, four books, I apologise. In the meanwhile, am already dying to read Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult (thanks to a beautiful review from a beautiful writer friend, Rehab) and The Undercover Economist. And from what blessed epoch of time will I get the orgasmic pleasure of reading Rushdie? This is a question that’s permanently in the background. Being the complete idiot that I was and I am, I have missed out on the most wonderful, mind-tickling, make-you-reflect-for-everyone’s-better kind of movies the whole of 22 years. Ok, not 22, but college was a brilliant time to catch up, you know. Friends who were/are otherwise as moronic as I am scored on this ground. Bloody big time. So, I’ve got this huge movie list (a couple of trees would have been felled had I made the list on paper, it’s on my brain’s slate) and I decide to catch up a tiny wee bit with the world by watching two movies a day. And unable to decide which to watch first, I unecessarily dilly-dally for two hours, watching bits and pieces of both the movies. Damn it, am anyway going to watch both- this magical spark of a thought never at the right time. And invariably, the first movie I watch after much nonsensical thought, gets stuck at some point where I begin to appreciate the essence of the movie. I bang my head against the nearest wall. Three times. Before even the titles roll (Oh, I inserted the next dvd), I would be nearly disgusted with the stream of thoughts flowing nastily on my mind and decide (for once rightly) that this might just not be a great time to watch any movie of immense intrigue. The tummy sends the hunger alarms every ten minutes, to top it all. So, in between I’d be shuttling between the kitchen and my computer room to appease my tummy. Every four minutes, I would do a maggi log in (read two minute log in) onto orkut to see if somebody remembered me and left a note. Or if some ugly ass had scrapped/sent those fraandship requests. This can be utterly hilarious or downright annoying, depending upon my then temperament. Every seven minutes, I’d be on my mini day dream sequel about my life for the next 15 months at MICA, about how am going to keep my promises to those who mean a world (and more) to me, about how I still wished if some comic transplant could get me revamped into the flesh version of Calvin and so on. These are four minute sequences, which means, after 2 minutes, another new mini dream sequel begins. Rememeber the four minute frequency on orkut for 2 minutes? The four books at hand? The movies am catching up with? The tummy alerts? I forgot msging, washing machining, the express-channel-surfing, the call attending (if any), the ceiling gazing and some more which I really dont remember.
After nearly a year, I’ve got time for myself. The previous year, I would sleep in the littlest of time I could supposedly claim was mine. Seriously, work tooka heavy toll on me. Within months, I was burnt out, frustrated and dead. I dont get depressed for reasons such as working on the trot sleep-deprivedly (oh neevr at all), what was irking was the bloody bare fact that I was doing what I’d never wanted to do. And now, though for a teeny weeny bit of time, I’ve got a lot of time for myself. And am all jumpy about it. When will I steady a little? Seriously, even a little would do wonders.
We build a million citadels and castles in the air
We conjure vibrant dreams out of many nights’ sleep
We think and envisage our to be celebrated future
We hope, we work and we nurture, we dream
We wait for our dreams to take tangibility
We crave for the castles to acquire the contour
We pine for the future we saw to be at hand
We then cry in joy, we endeavor to better.
From the pink sipper I never parted with
To the occasional glass of apple vodka.
Dreamily making circles with frilled frocks
And now, trying hard to get into my Pepe denims.
Infant years doused in delightful innocence
The innocence faded as I ventured into the world
There’s just one that transcends perpetuity
Change is the fixation, anywhere, all the time.
Even flawless blue sky canopying us aint eternal
Beautiful images of deep purple and mild orange.
It cries in agony,lights up the day,induces the will
And sometimes invaded by dense, almost opaque clouds.
The once baby skin gives way to the odd pimple
Fussing, fretting over and fighting the new entrant.
There’s just one that transcends perpetuity
Change is the fixation, anywhere, all the time.
The long tresses of hair chopped into plural layers
The moon shaping up every other day, unswervingly.
Ambition romance, dreaminess, lust, fear, success
The myriad figments of the soul eloquently exist
A couple in a season or all at a unique juncture
The soul is a live, brilliantly crafted kaleidoscope.
There’s just one that transcends perpetuity
Change is the fixation, anywhere, all the time.
The caterpillar flutters into a colorful butterfly,
The kid that was once, becomes a proud mother.
From a novice to a competent superlative
The autumn dies to fetch the season of blossom
The flavor of life is never a numbing constant-
It’s all that you expect and certainly not expect
There’s just one that transcends perpetuity
Change is the fixation, anywhere, all the time.
Drumrolls and applause please. This is my maiden blog from my desk at work. They (read my company) were brilliant in blocking blogspot and rediff blogs. And saved wordpress. And I, like an absolute nitwit used to complain (I was a sporadic blogspotter before) that they were infringing on my freedom to write and talk to the world. Instead of actually opening a wordpress blog. And lo, when I actually switched, am leaving my desk once for all. Sniff sniff. :’( 31st is the day when I say ‘tata’ to ‘them’. Ok, let me stop being so obvious. 
The ambience out here is so unblogphillic. You search for inspiration to write generally- be it anything, the people, the noises etc. I was searching.
1) Dim lights that might inspire a poor man’s romantic dinner. On second thoughts, it might not for the fact that its too bright against candle light. Come on, it doesnt even inspire the weasels to buzz around them!
2) I used to work on Mainframe Technology. Legacy systems, they are, using the most archaic of languages. I guess they are older than the Mahabharata. No, seriously. These screens are pitch black (no streaks, I said archaic!) with white/blue/red letters appearing as one codes. At the most, it can inspire a nervous breakdown or in more sinister cases, suicide.
3) The supposed centralised AC. There’s not even its semblance at present. It’s either a blast of AC or just the AC drone feebly groaning announcing that it’s functioning. The walls of the cubicle are like those that come in Dilbert. You know, the high walls giving you a prison-ish ambience?
4) The lack of coffee. Nothing’s as rejuvenating as a cup of strong, less sugared,frothy coffee. The new work place that we had to mandatorily move into has a vending machine (wow, no?) that churns the worst coffee/cappuchino/tea EVER. Watery, despicably sachharine and light. All the coffee must-not-bes! 
5) Silence. There are cliches that say ‘Silence speaks a million words’. It’s contextually true. Here, it’s eerie. I mean, the commitment can definitely be lauded but eyes into the black screens that I once mentioned? NO! Actually, it was unbelievably pathetic when I had joined some eleven months back. Then thanks to some synergising activities, team trips, the folks ‘came back to life’ from being ‘burnt and broken’. But still, I’d like some chirpiness around.
Did I just say I was searching for inspiration to write the blog? Desk, AC, and the otehr aforementioned things, I thank you all from the bottomest. Of my heart only. 
Am just slowly getting into the groove of getting away from boredom, monodrones and morbidity. Read: Am getting to know the activities, ventures and the people and all those and that is going to be my world for the next fifteen months. And beyond. In the midst of all the pleasantaries, cheers and the upcoming madness, the Fulmarxx became the most stand out thing. Ofcourse, there might be some more endeavours but there are quite a few things that has got me thoroughly gaga about this. Before I get into the details, for the uninitiated, Fulmarxx is a unique, thought-of-but-never-ventured-into, the first ever Integrated Filmed Entertainment Company that pinches a lot of disciplines. A LOT, I say.
Do visit their corporate website: http://www.fulmarxx.net/ for the details.
This ‘sapna’ was presented during one of those very many presentations one has to give during the course of the masters. Defying the paranoids, shattering the myths and taking the road less (or never?) travelled, the Fulmarxx Team charioted by an unassuming leader believed in themselves and with total conviction jumped into creating a phenomenon. The unbridled passion took them there. The first ever festival in India of its kind went International spanning 18 odd countries.
About the fest, read its souvenir here: http://www.fulmarxx.net/images/PAGE-84-CTRL-Q.pdf
Relentless dogged spirit and the colorful, astute minds of the team that make Fulmarxx got rave reviews. And the journey is becoming more ambitious and hence all the more challenging and gives us the neo-thinkers plethora of opportunities.
The next launch is the rolling out of a full fledged movie – Zindagi- 24 Frames per Second. Right now, at a nascent but anyway ebullient pre production stage.
For the fellow orkutters- Here’s the community’s link: http://www.orkut.co.in/Community.aspx?cmm=53281718
All this and many more concepts gushing, more than communication/strategy management, I wonder how they’ve managed to ace time management!They’re still students, to top it all. Or are they given assignment concessions. Interesting angle.
Any smart idea, any bright thought, constructive comments- be it anything, pour it here. We appreciate the effort!
Save the dead train journey (I despise AC coaches for the kind of dreary atmos it tunes itself and the people to. Once onto the train, the co-passengers invariably get under their rugs and get up just for the nature calls (I hoped) and for food? NO, the experience at Amdavad made for it more than in one way.
There’s more to Amdavad than just IIM-A, MICA and NID. The smell of mustard oil, perfectly round faces (as if God had a set of compasses with Him!) and green autos. Being in Chennai for a better part of my life, I found the color tad weird. Everyone had this Welcome- to- Gujjuland-wide-smile flashing across their faces. How kind, I thought, as I was getting into the auto. Being a die hard SRK fan helps you with meagre but sufficient hindi when most needed. Atleast we can manage with the ‘kitna’ ‘udhar jaana hai’ and all that you see. It seemed to be a happy city with beaming faces all around. My faint heart nearly fell out when I heard I had to pay eighteen bucks for a 6 Km ride! (an infinite more exclamations to follow). Again, coming from chennai where the auto guys demand you to will your lifetime’s fortune to them, THIS was a new high. Or a new low? My dad was deliriously happy. and why not?
After parking the minimal luggage at a cosy lodge, we decided to stroll around before dinner. It was normally busy and there was this light drizzle kissing my cheeks. Driven by the smell of the fried onions draped in oil, we were welcomed by the heavenly aroma and the people. The service was prompt and wonderful, personalised by the warm smiles all around. We had a fabulous dinner and walked back. The rain was still kissing me. 
Early day tomorrow and I had the final selection process for admission into MICA – EDC for my masters. MICA has been a dear dream for a couple of years. My friends out there told me stories about the life, the culture, the fests and the learning ways. I knew they were blessed. I wanted to be, too. The GLS campus is a modest one but it wasnt an issue one bit, atleast to me. The time inside, am sure was going to be uber-grand. There were quite a few road side shops with the typical gujju type of ghagras/cholis. I thought of buying myself one for the dandiya when I get back. Yes, I was praying that I get a chance to make Amdavad my home for the next fifteen months. Being at the heart (or liver is it? ) of the city, there were lots to see around. Branded showrooms, designer botiques and loads of khaana-ke-liye places. Now, the rain was slapping hard. Hence we got back pretty soon than we had thought and stayed indoors thanks to the persistent rains.
We had lots to narrate back home. The people, the autos, the interview, the food, the smell of the city and what not. Oh, am getting back soon. May the city rest in peace.
