Excellent beach on the scenic pacific coast highway in Malibu.
Very famous for its sunset.
Access to beach not very easy. One needs to climb down two old stairs.
Beach front filled with rocks. Not recommeded for.swimming.
One would see many photographers camping & capturing the scenic sunset.
Parking per vehicle $8.0
Google el matador pictures.
Worth a visit....
Sunday, May 27, 2012
El Matador beach
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Discovered in Velacherry!!
Our maid took 2 weeks medical leave for her operation & so we have been eating out these days. N & I were thinking about a good joint to have lunch. Lots of restaurants came across our minds, but nothing that gives us Value for our money!
Suddenly remembered G saying that there is an Andhra Mess in Velacherry , just opposite Latta stores. We thought we will give it a try. We landed up there, looked around Latta stores, actually all around. But we could not find a board with the wordings “Andhra Mess”. Perplexed we checked with a near by shop keeper, who then showed a small gully just opposite Latta store. There we found a flip flop board kept in front of the gully.
We walked in the gully for 20 meters & found out a rather big hall with lots of bachelors having a great time. We had to wait for some time, before we could get a seat. A lady in mid thirties was managing the show. Her kids were playing around her. Probably it is a typical family managed business. All the employees of the mess were conversing in Telugu. The owner mistook me for an Andhra-ite & started asking me something in fast in Telugu. Reading my face she understood & rephrased in Tamil.
The food was good & was typical Andhra style. It had pappu, ladies finger-potato fry, subjis & all the usual stuff. It was a big hall that could seat 50 at one shot & it was jam packed. 99% were bachelors. Even non veg is available. Coming to the price, unlimited meals at Rs 30 & omlette at Rs 7 was real value for money.
We came out wondering why we didn’t try this earlier! If you are an Andhraite & if you are in Velacherry , you know where to go to satisfy your appetite.
Suddenly remembered G saying that there is an Andhra Mess in Velacherry , just opposite Latta stores. We thought we will give it a try. We landed up there, looked around Latta stores, actually all around. But we could not find a board with the wordings “Andhra Mess”. Perplexed we checked with a near by shop keeper, who then showed a small gully just opposite Latta store. There we found a flip flop board kept in front of the gully.
We walked in the gully for 20 meters & found out a rather big hall with lots of bachelors having a great time. We had to wait for some time, before we could get a seat. A lady in mid thirties was managing the show. Her kids were playing around her. Probably it is a typical family managed business. All the employees of the mess were conversing in Telugu. The owner mistook me for an Andhra-ite & started asking me something in fast in Telugu. Reading my face she understood & rephrased in Tamil.
The food was good & was typical Andhra style. It had pappu, ladies finger-potato fry, subjis & all the usual stuff. It was a big hall that could seat 50 at one shot & it was jam packed. 99% were bachelors. Even non veg is available. Coming to the price, unlimited meals at Rs 30 & omlette at Rs 7 was real value for money.
We came out wondering why we didn’t try this earlier! If you are an Andhraite & if you are in Velacherry , you know where to go to satisfy your appetite.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
What can halt terrorism?
When we were casually browsing through channels yesterday night, we came across the Islamabad Marriot bomb blast breaking news in NDTV. It was a really bad explosion. 40 people killed & 100 injured. The real figures might be more. Today morning in papers I saw the 25 feet deep crater that was formed at the site. Also it seems the terrorist had a used a truck full of explosives (1000 kg) for the blast.
This set me thinking about a solution to terrorism & what is lacking in India. I feel POTA / COTA can’t be a solution to terrorism. These acts will only serve in inducting new terrorists on board. Someone suggested death sentences for such terrorist acts. Yes, to a certain extent this will create fear in the minds of public at large, but when you closely observe, when these terrorists are open to killing themselves ( suicide attacks), I don’t think a death sentence will stop them.
For the near term solution , I think what we need to have is set-up like the SSN in USA, wherein when you type the SSN of a citizen you get to know everything of that person right from his/her DOB, Schooling, College, Work , Credit history & stuff like that. Though this might not directly deter terrorists, we might get to unearth the network really fast with most of the information from just one guy. Also whenever any citizen gets in touch with any kind of government service the details of the transaction must be tagged on to his/her SSN. This helps a lot in crime scene investigation. This will definitely deter all first time crimers. Implementing this will take some years (atleast 3 – 5 years to cover 80% of populace depending upon the staffing thrust) , but India can make use of its IT prowess here.
Critics might say this is like invading one’s privacy, but in the larger scheme of things if you weigh that against the lesser crime rates, one will understand the benefits. Needless to sat that the SSN information must be regulated & access controlled only to organizations like CBI , RAW etc.,
The longer term solution is to ensure compulsory education till a bachelor degree to all Indians. Only education will bring maturity to an individual to judge for oneself about the benefits of terrorism & violence. Social reforms to decrease regional / religious divide would also help.
This set me thinking about a solution to terrorism & what is lacking in India. I feel POTA / COTA can’t be a solution to terrorism. These acts will only serve in inducting new terrorists on board. Someone suggested death sentences for such terrorist acts. Yes, to a certain extent this will create fear in the minds of public at large, but when you closely observe, when these terrorists are open to killing themselves ( suicide attacks), I don’t think a death sentence will stop them.
For the near term solution , I think what we need to have is set-up like the SSN in USA, wherein when you type the SSN of a citizen you get to know everything of that person right from his/her DOB, Schooling, College, Work , Credit history & stuff like that. Though this might not directly deter terrorists, we might get to unearth the network really fast with most of the information from just one guy. Also whenever any citizen gets in touch with any kind of government service the details of the transaction must be tagged on to his/her SSN. This helps a lot in crime scene investigation. This will definitely deter all first time crimers. Implementing this will take some years (atleast 3 – 5 years to cover 80% of populace depending upon the staffing thrust) , but India can make use of its IT prowess here.
Critics might say this is like invading one’s privacy, but in the larger scheme of things if you weigh that against the lesser crime rates, one will understand the benefits. Needless to sat that the SSN information must be regulated & access controlled only to organizations like CBI , RAW etc.,
The longer term solution is to ensure compulsory education till a bachelor degree to all Indians. Only education will bring maturity to an individual to judge for oneself about the benefits of terrorism & violence. Social reforms to decrease regional / religious divide would also help.
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Life after Great Lakes...
Time has come for me to change the name of my blog from “My MBA at Great Lakes” to “Life after Great Lakes”. This is more to reflect the current state. I remember when in my first job there was a name change from Tata Engineering to Tata Motors. Most of us were apprehensive about that name change ( It costed in crores to change the Corporate Identity boards of Sales & Service outlets of the company all over India), but now I think we need to change with changing times to reflect the current state of affairs.
Off late, I have been seeing a lot of movies (Tamil & English) & I feel my blog has kind of become a Tamil movie review blog, which I want to change. Hence forth I am planning to write about social & business issues.
Many of us would have heard about Right To Information Act. For people who are not aware of it , this is a law that mandates government officers to disclose information to public when demanded.
This can be effectively put to use when you just don’t receive your IT refunds or in situations like Police is not acting on your complaints etc. As a citizen of India we have a right to demand information from government officials.
Here is a personal story of my friend who got back his IT refund after three years!
Off late, I have been seeing a lot of movies (Tamil & English) & I feel my blog has kind of become a Tamil movie review blog, which I want to change. Hence forth I am planning to write about social & business issues.
Many of us would have heard about Right To Information Act. For people who are not aware of it , this is a law that mandates government officers to disclose information to public when demanded.
This can be effectively put to use when you just don’t receive your IT refunds or in situations like Police is not acting on your complaints etc. As a citizen of India we have a right to demand information from government officials.
Here is a personal story of my friend who got back his IT refund after three years!
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Can violence win ?
This question has been answered well in couple of movies that I saw recently. The first one was Bheema. Everybody in the plot is killed. The film’s songs were good, but the screenplay was a huge let down. The film could have been made better.
The other on similar lines was Pattiyal. Starring Arya , Bharath , Pooja & Padmapriya. Bharath could not carry his role to perfection. His inexperience shows. Arya has done a good job. The screenplay is decently done. The director gives us the message that any body who takes the path of violence will only lose.
The path of violence is very emotional & people can easily fall into that trap. Later they realize it is not easy to come out. Some of the warring organizations are one such real life example.
Gandhiji’s non violence proves the point !
The other on similar lines was Pattiyal. Starring Arya , Bharath , Pooja & Padmapriya. Bharath could not carry his role to perfection. His inexperience shows. Arya has done a good job. The screenplay is decently done. The director gives us the message that any body who takes the path of violence will only lose.
The path of violence is very emotional & people can easily fall into that trap. Later they realize it is not easy to come out. Some of the warring organizations are one such real life example.
Gandhiji’s non violence proves the point !
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
December movies !!
Just back from Devi theatre, watched the movie “Oram Po” with Vimal & Sudarshan. The movie is total time pass. The first half was really too humourous. The second half also was decent. Arya has done well. On the negative side the film had too many blunt & indecent swear language. They could have cut down that. But overall a decent time pass.
Last Saturday I had watched “Kallori” at Devi with Hari. Kallori was a really good film. Very thoughtfully made & couple of songs are good. The film has a shock ending. The director has skillfully delivered a social message in a love cum college setting. This is a must watch movie.
In English , I saw Forrest Gump last week. Cool movie. Tom Hanks’ acting is too good. He proves that he is class actor. It is a simple tale, rivettingly told. This is must watch movie.
Catch you all later !!
Last Saturday I had watched “Kallori” at Devi with Hari. Kallori was a really good film. Very thoughtfully made & couple of songs are good. The film has a shock ending. The director has skillfully delivered a social message in a love cum college setting. This is a must watch movie.
In English , I saw Forrest Gump last week. Cool movie. Tom Hanks’ acting is too good. He proves that he is class actor. It is a simple tale, rivettingly told. This is must watch movie.
Catch you all later !!
Friday, August 31, 2007
August Update !
August was an eventful month. The following things are worth mentioning
My 28th birthday celebrations at Besant nagar with Cognizant colleagues was a memorable event. Some hotel called Clay. I don’t remember the exact name. Food was really good & we found it economical. It came around to Rs 170 per head for seven of us.
Other activity I was busy in August was with flat searching. I have visited around 10 sites till date & interacted with close to 30 builders. I also saw a couple of second hand flats too. But still undecided where to buy. Hope in the coming months things will be clear.
We had a meet the uncle session for Alumni in Chennai. We had really good turnout for the event. Another event in August we Shankar's marriage. It was a old cinema theatre converted into a marriage hall. It was a great function.
Krishna is driving his Pulsar to Madurai.Hope he will have great tales to tell when he comes back.
C U All !!
My 28th birthday celebrations at Besant nagar with Cognizant colleagues was a memorable event. Some hotel called Clay. I don’t remember the exact name. Food was really good & we found it economical. It came around to Rs 170 per head for seven of us.
Other activity I was busy in August was with flat searching. I have visited around 10 sites till date & interacted with close to 30 builders. I also saw a couple of second hand flats too. But still undecided where to buy. Hope in the coming months things will be clear.
We had a meet the uncle session for Alumni in Chennai. We had really good turnout for the event. Another event in August we Shankar's marriage. It was a old cinema theatre converted into a marriage hall. It was a great function.
Krishna is driving his Pulsar to Madurai.Hope he will have great tales to tell when he comes back.
C U All !!
Thursday, July 26, 2007
July Update !
I have watched Sivaji twice. First time with college mates in Sathyam & second time with brothers Aravindh & Yogan in Santham. This perhaps is the first movie I am watching twice in a movie hall. Sivaji is a feel good film. Anybody who just wants to chill out should definitely watch it. Rajni Kanth has done his role perfectly. Shriya has been very cleverly used by Shankar in the film. Vivek stands out with his one liners.The songs have been shot really well. It is not a kind of movie where you sit and analyse the movie. If you did you won’t find any logic. But Rajni’s movies are just felt & not analysed. Sivaji is a perfect movie for the average Rajni fan.
The IT industry is facing tough times these days. Looks like the honeymoon period is over & conditions are toughening. I am referring to the appreciating value of Rs, which is brining down the “cost arbitrage” advantage for Indian IT firms. This has been proved by the fall in growth of profits in the first quarter of FY 07 08. To overcome this Indian IT companies should come out with innovative solutions, which are tough to be copied by others. Such solutions only will give these companies a temporary competitive advantage over cos in low cost nations. As an immediate action cos are taking about improving utilization & hedging. Only time will tell how the industry comes out of the problem.
Developmental issues in Chennai need a special mention. IT industry has spurred unbelievable growth in the last 5 years in Chennai. Moring from 07:30 till 10:30 roads are choked with the various IT company buses. Especially in OMR the condition is very bad. This is because of the road repairing work that is going on. Hopefully with 2008 we would have congestion free OMR !
The IT industry is facing tough times these days. Looks like the honeymoon period is over & conditions are toughening. I am referring to the appreciating value of Rs, which is brining down the “cost arbitrage” advantage for Indian IT firms. This has been proved by the fall in growth of profits in the first quarter of FY 07 08. To overcome this Indian IT companies should come out with innovative solutions, which are tough to be copied by others. Such solutions only will give these companies a temporary competitive advantage over cos in low cost nations. As an immediate action cos are taking about improving utilization & hedging. Only time will tell how the industry comes out of the problem.
Developmental issues in Chennai need a special mention. IT industry has spurred unbelievable growth in the last 5 years in Chennai. Moring from 07:30 till 10:30 roads are choked with the various IT company buses. Especially in OMR the condition is very bad. This is because of the road repairing work that is going on. Hopefully with 2008 we would have congestion free OMR !
Monday, June 18, 2007
Vaastu !!
Hi All
Vaastu looks complicated to strangers & I thought I could demystify it. Hence this post on the science of Vaastu Sastra !! Here it is goes !!
5 Commandments of Vaastu :
1. The house plot needs to be a square / rectangle. In case of rectangle the length should not be more than twice the breath. The plot needs to have a compund wall on all four sides.
2. While constructing the plot, ensure that is more freespace is left on east than west. Similarly ensure more space is left free on North than South.
3.The building should be a square or rectangle.
4. NE corner needs to be 90 deg or less ; SE corner can be 90 or more than 90; SW corner has to be exactly 90 deg; NW corner can be 90 deg or more. Four corners stand for four Gods - NE - Esaniyam ; SE - Agni ; SW - Kanni or Nairuthi ; NW - Vayu
5. The master bed room of the home shoul be at the Kanni (SW) corner of the building.
I will post the other commandments in the subsequent posts !!
Cheers !!
Refer : http://www.shrifreedom.com/vastu_vastupurusha.shtml
www.punditravi.com/vastu_shastra.htm
Vaastu looks complicated to strangers & I thought I could demystify it. Hence this post on the science of Vaastu Sastra !! Here it is goes !!
5 Commandments of Vaastu :
1. The house plot needs to be a square / rectangle. In case of rectangle the length should not be more than twice the breath. The plot needs to have a compund wall on all four sides.
2. While constructing the plot, ensure that is more freespace is left on east than west. Similarly ensure more space is left free on North than South.
3.The building should be a square or rectangle.
4. NE corner needs to be 90 deg or less ; SE corner can be 90 or more than 90; SW corner has to be exactly 90 deg; NW corner can be 90 deg or more. Four corners stand for four Gods - NE - Esaniyam ; SE - Agni ; SW - Kanni or Nairuthi ; NW - Vayu
5. The master bed room of the home shoul be at the Kanni (SW) corner of the building.
I will post the other commandments in the subsequent posts !!
Cheers !!
Refer : http://www.shrifreedom.com/vastu_vastupurusha.shtml
www.punditravi.com/vastu_shastra.htm
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Interesting site !!
http://www.google.com/trends
The analysis provided makes it really interesting. Hope they come out with regional versions soon !
Cheers
Prasadh
The analysis provided makes it really interesting. Hope they come out with regional versions soon !
Cheers
Prasadh
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Last presentation @ Great Lakes
07 April 07
Today we had an early morning class. 8:00 – Prof. V K Murti & Subject : Small Business Marketing. Arun,Ashok, Rajesh & Myself were part of the group. Our topic was “Mercedes”. We made a good presentation.
Evening Kamal & myself watched “American History X”. I liked the movie very much. “Life is too short to be pissed off with everything” is the punch dialogue said by Edward Norton’s brother in the movie. Really gripping movie. Liked it !!
21st April 2007
Memorable day in my life !! This day was my last day at Great Lakes. We had a day long workshop on Market Research & Integrated Marketing Communications. Faculty was Mr. Aditya Kaushik . He is IIT Madras & IIMC guy. Ex P&G. Lives in Toronto & runs a BPO called Red Tree. Red Tree is into Analytical Marketing Research.
The first session of the workshop was on focus groups. The next session was on Information Pump. IP is a variant of a focus group which in quality discussions carry incentives. After that he gave us a case on “Nintendo’s Game Boy Color Launch” at 11:30 & asked us to present the solutions by 13:15 hrs. The case was a tough read. Also as we were not familiar with the gaming industry in USA, it took us some time to understand the context.
Arun & myself presented the case. The prof appreciated the clarity of the presentation. We had recommended that Nintendo must target only kids, should not decrease the price & remove the old B&W game boy. Most of our predictions were true & we were happy to close the life at Great Lakes on a personal high.
22nd April 07
Sriram Iyer of Pioneer batch & myself were in the airport waiting for Uncle Bala. Today happens to be our convocation & that is the reason why uncle is in town. Also with us were Praveen, Keshav of JP, Sahoo of JC, Jagan, Vikranth & Bala Pradeep of our batch.
We saw Kalanidhi & Dayanidhi Maran at the airport. Uncle was full of energy & told about how he happened to interact with TN Governor Dr. Surjit Singh Barnala, who is the chief guest at our convocation.
Expect interesting posts after convocation !!
Today we had an early morning class. 8:00 – Prof. V K Murti & Subject : Small Business Marketing. Arun,Ashok, Rajesh & Myself were part of the group. Our topic was “Mercedes”. We made a good presentation.
Evening Kamal & myself watched “American History X”. I liked the movie very much. “Life is too short to be pissed off with everything” is the punch dialogue said by Edward Norton’s brother in the movie. Really gripping movie. Liked it !!
21st April 2007
Memorable day in my life !! This day was my last day at Great Lakes. We had a day long workshop on Market Research & Integrated Marketing Communications. Faculty was Mr. Aditya Kaushik . He is IIT Madras & IIMC guy. Ex P&G. Lives in Toronto & runs a BPO called Red Tree. Red Tree is into Analytical Marketing Research.
The first session of the workshop was on focus groups. The next session was on Information Pump. IP is a variant of a focus group which in quality discussions carry incentives. After that he gave us a case on “Nintendo’s Game Boy Color Launch” at 11:30 & asked us to present the solutions by 13:15 hrs. The case was a tough read. Also as we were not familiar with the gaming industry in USA, it took us some time to understand the context.
Arun & myself presented the case. The prof appreciated the clarity of the presentation. We had recommended that Nintendo must target only kids, should not decrease the price & remove the old B&W game boy. Most of our predictions were true & we were happy to close the life at Great Lakes on a personal high.
22nd April 07
Sriram Iyer of Pioneer batch & myself were in the airport waiting for Uncle Bala. Today happens to be our convocation & that is the reason why uncle is in town. Also with us were Praveen, Keshav of JP, Sahoo of JC, Jagan, Vikranth & Bala Pradeep of our batch.
We saw Kalanidhi & Dayanidhi Maran at the airport. Uncle was full of energy & told about how he happened to interact with TN Governor Dr. Surjit Singh Barnala, who is the chief guest at our convocation.
Expect interesting posts after convocation !!
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Learnings from my travelling experiences !!
Dear All
My experience in Bombay local trains has been a great learning.
I will tell you some stats about the trains in Mumbai. every train is designed to carry 1000 passengers. But in reality each train carries around 5000 passengers. Frequency is 3 minutes.
First thing that I have gained from travelling in electric trains is punctuality. If you are late by a minute you will miss your train. I used to take the 7:20 local from vashi to VT. This train starts from Vashi, so I will get a place to sit. If I am late & miss the 7:20 local, then I need to take the next train at 7:30. In this train I won't get a place to sit, because it starts from Panvel. It comes jampacked. Suppose you miss the 7:20 train, then you are in for hardships the whole journey. You will be made to bend in all possible degrees.You will get free massages in all parts of your body. people will walk on your shoes as though that is their birthright. Most difficult part is you need to protect your mobile phone & purse from pick pocketers. One my friends has lost his mobile phone in a train.In crowded staions like Kurla & Dadar, if you by chance get into the way of the crowd that is getting down , they will ensure that you also get down at Dadar along with them. Young slum children throw stones at trains. So if you stand on the entrances then you might get hurt by the stones. The whole compartment will be smelling like rot because there is no air circulation , as people get only one feet across one feet to stand.
After such a wonderful journey you will finally get down at VT. For a moment you will not recognise yourself!! Your shoe would have changed its colour. You actually should be happy if you were wearing the shoe in the firstplace. Your trousers & shirts will all be totally crippled. To add to that you will be profusely sweating & your shirt will be totally sticky.
While walking into office, your receptionist will give you a laughing look & will ask why you had missed the regular train.Then you will think all this because of you not being punctual.
Bombay locals make you disciplined !!
My other travelling experience...
Nagarajan & myself were travelling in Dadar Chennai after we finished our training. My friend had come earlier to the station. He had come around 6:00 PM for the 9:00 PM train. He was sitting alone & at that time a stranger had started talking to him. The stranger introduced himself as Sundar, a Film Director & son of famous film director S P Muthuraman. Moreover he said that he had come to Mumbai to book Ayesha Takia as the heroine for his forthcoming film. He told that he lost his money (Rs 25 lacs) , laoptop & mobile phone & train ticket in the taxi. So he did not have any money to board the train. He told that however he had booked the ticket in III AC. He asked for Rs 2000 from my friend. He told this amount will help him to pay the fine the TT will levy for ticketless travel. The guy was speaking to my firend for around two hours regarding various cine actors & actresses. My friend completely believed that he indeed was son of SP Muthuraman & handed over Rs 2000.00 to him. The train started. I told my friend you should not have paid the amount. He told me that this guy was genuine & will give back his money the moment train reaches Chennai. My friend went to the III AC compartment , to chat with him. He returned back taking all bad words against him. I could understand what had went wrong. The guy was missing. There was some other SUndar in that berth. He had escaped with 2000. Hehad planned the whole operation very meticulously to an extent that he had first found the name of a passenger travellin in III AC & then used that as his name & cheated my friend.
To sum it up....
The two main points I wish to state is that one needs to be punctual when commuting in Mumbai & when travelling to a new city it is better not to trust strangers.
C U all !!
LIFELESS TALK
LIFELESS TALK
LIFELESS TALK
My experience in Bombay local trains has been a great learning.
I will tell you some stats about the trains in Mumbai. every train is designed to carry 1000 passengers. But in reality each train carries around 5000 passengers. Frequency is 3 minutes.
First thing that I have gained from travelling in electric trains is punctuality. If you are late by a minute you will miss your train. I used to take the 7:20 local from vashi to VT. This train starts from Vashi, so I will get a place to sit. If I am late & miss the 7:20 local, then I need to take the next train at 7:30. In this train I won't get a place to sit, because it starts from Panvel. It comes jampacked. Suppose you miss the 7:20 train, then you are in for hardships the whole journey. You will be made to bend in all possible degrees.You will get free massages in all parts of your body. people will walk on your shoes as though that is their birthright. Most difficult part is you need to protect your mobile phone & purse from pick pocketers. One my friends has lost his mobile phone in a train.In crowded staions like Kurla & Dadar, if you by chance get into the way of the crowd that is getting down , they will ensure that you also get down at Dadar along with them. Young slum children throw stones at trains. So if you stand on the entrances then you might get hurt by the stones. The whole compartment will be smelling like rot because there is no air circulation , as people get only one feet across one feet to stand.
After such a wonderful journey you will finally get down at VT. For a moment you will not recognise yourself!! Your shoe would have changed its colour. You actually should be happy if you were wearing the shoe in the firstplace. Your trousers & shirts will all be totally crippled. To add to that you will be profusely sweating & your shirt will be totally sticky.
While walking into office, your receptionist will give you a laughing look & will ask why you had missed the regular train.Then you will think all this because of you not being punctual.
Bombay locals make you disciplined !!
My other travelling experience...
Nagarajan & myself were travelling in Dadar Chennai after we finished our training. My friend had come earlier to the station. He had come around 6:00 PM for the 9:00 PM train. He was sitting alone & at that time a stranger had started talking to him. The stranger introduced himself as Sundar, a Film Director & son of famous film director S P Muthuraman. Moreover he said that he had come to Mumbai to book Ayesha Takia as the heroine for his forthcoming film. He told that he lost his money (Rs 25 lacs) , laoptop & mobile phone & train ticket in the taxi. So he did not have any money to board the train. He told that however he had booked the ticket in III AC. He asked for Rs 2000 from my friend. He told this amount will help him to pay the fine the TT will levy for ticketless travel. The guy was speaking to my firend for around two hours regarding various cine actors & actresses. My friend completely believed that he indeed was son of SP Muthuraman & handed over Rs 2000.00 to him. The train started. I told my friend you should not have paid the amount. He told me that this guy was genuine & will give back his money the moment train reaches Chennai. My friend went to the III AC compartment , to chat with him. He returned back taking all bad words against him. I could understand what had went wrong. The guy was missing. There was some other SUndar in that berth. He had escaped with 2000. Hehad planned the whole operation very meticulously to an extent that he had first found the name of a passenger travellin in III AC & then used that as his name & cheated my friend.
To sum it up....
The two main points I wish to state is that one needs to be punctual when commuting in Mumbai & when travelling to a new city it is better not to trust strangers.
C U all !!
LIFELESS TALK
LIFELESS TALK
LIFELESS TALK
Friday, March 16, 2007
Movies & Movies
Hi Folks,
Got to see lot of movies in the last two weeks. I am giving my ratings for each one of them.
On 19th Feb I went to Patchai Kili Muthu Charam a movie by Goutham Menon. It was the Sathyam complex. I liked the film very much because of the amazing screenplay & good acting by Sarath, Andrea & Jyothika. Music is very good too. Worth a watch !
We went to Sathyam complex again. Movie was Mozhi. It had really good songs & the theme was different & worth watching once.
I saw a lot of films on my lappie. Shawshank Redemption , The Departed, American Pie V, Scent of Woman & Derailed. Outstanding movies were Shawshank Redemption , The Departed & SoW in that order. Pls do not miss them.
Went with Vimal to Six Degrees for watching “The pursuit for happiness”. Amazing movie & Will Smith has proved that he is a class actor.
C u in the next post!
Got to see lot of movies in the last two weeks. I am giving my ratings for each one of them.
On 19th Feb I went to Patchai Kili Muthu Charam a movie by Goutham Menon. It was the Sathyam complex. I liked the film very much because of the amazing screenplay & good acting by Sarath, Andrea & Jyothika. Music is very good too. Worth a watch !
We went to Sathyam complex again. Movie was Mozhi. It had really good songs & the theme was different & worth watching once.
I saw a lot of films on my lappie. Shawshank Redemption , The Departed, American Pie V, Scent of Woman & Derailed. Outstanding movies were Shawshank Redemption , The Departed & SoW in that order. Pls do not miss them.
Went with Vimal to Six Degrees for watching “The pursuit for happiness”. Amazing movie & Will Smith has proved that he is a class actor.
C u in the next post!
Monday, March 05, 2007
AGLOCO
Dear Friends,
I recently joined AGLOCO because of a friend recommended it to me. I am now promoting it to you because I like the idea and I want you to share in what I think will be an exciting new Internet concept.
AGLOCO’s story is simple:
Do you realize how valuable you are? Advertisers, search providers and online retailers are paying billions to reach you while you surf. How much of that money are you making? NONE!
AGLOCO thinks you deserve a piece of the action.
AGLOCO collects money from those companies on behalf of its members. (For example, Google currently pays AOL 10 cents for every Google search by an AOL user. And Google still has enough profit to pay $1.6 billion dollars for YouTube, an 18-month old site full of content that YouTube’s users did not get paid for!
AGLOCO will work to get its Members their share of this and more.
AGLOCO is building a new form of online community that they call an Economic Network. They are not only paying Members their fair share, but they’re building a community that will generate the kind of fortune that YouTube made. But instead of that wealth making only a few people rich, the entire community will get its share.
What's the catch? No catch - no spyware, no pop-ups and no spam - membership and software are free and AGLOCO is 100% member owned. Privacy is a core value and AGLOCO never sells or rents member information.
So do both of us a favor: Sign up for AGLOCO right now! If you use this link to sign up, I automatically get credit for referring you and helping to build AGLOCO.
http://www.agloco.com/r/BBCG8322
Thanks
I recently joined AGLOCO because of a friend recommended it to me. I am now promoting it to you because I like the idea and I want you to share in what I think will be an exciting new Internet concept.
AGLOCO’s story is simple:
Do you realize how valuable you are? Advertisers, search providers and online retailers are paying billions to reach you while you surf. How much of that money are you making? NONE!
AGLOCO thinks you deserve a piece of the action.
AGLOCO collects money from those companies on behalf of its members. (For example, Google currently pays AOL 10 cents for every Google search by an AOL user. And Google still has enough profit to pay $1.6 billion dollars for YouTube, an 18-month old site full of content that YouTube’s users did not get paid for!
AGLOCO will work to get its Members their share of this and more.
AGLOCO is building a new form of online community that they call an Economic Network. They are not only paying Members their fair share, but they’re building a community that will generate the kind of fortune that YouTube made. But instead of that wealth making only a few people rich, the entire community will get its share.
What's the catch? No catch - no spyware, no pop-ups and no spam - membership and software are free and AGLOCO is 100% member owned. Privacy is a core value and AGLOCO never sells or rents member information.
So do both of us a favor: Sign up for AGLOCO right now! If you use this link to sign up, I automatically get credit for referring you and helping to build AGLOCO.
http://www.agloco.com/r/BBCG8322
Thanks
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
My blog is one year old !!
Celebration time !! My blog is one year old !! I think it is quite an achievement of sorts. I had planned at the beginning of the year that I would not a miss a month while blogging & at the end of the year I look back & see that I have blogged on all the months that too with an average of two posts per month.
The weakest of all weak things is a virtue that has not been tested in the fire - Mark Twain. Yup, this was my Toast Masters table topics session. It was a good experience.
My friend from MIT days, Senthil is currently in Berlin, Germany. Senthil in fact was my roommate in MIT. He is doing his Doctoral Programme there. I am linking his blog here. His first post is very impressive. He writes about his experiences in Germany. Do not miss it !!
Bye for now !!
The weakest of all weak things is a virtue that has not been tested in the fire - Mark Twain. Yup, this was my Toast Masters table topics session. It was a good experience.
My friend from MIT days, Senthil is currently in Berlin, Germany. Senthil in fact was my roommate in MIT. He is doing his Doctoral Programme there. I am linking his blog here. His first post is very impressive. He writes about his experiences in Germany. Do not miss it !!
Bye for now !!
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Movies !!
Feb 4th was a very memorable day at Great Lakes. The day of campus placements & I got through in a good company. Details in later posts……..
I have identified four areas around which I am going to write in future. Movies, Music, Books & Great Lakes. Expect tagged posts.
Movies
I saw two Hindi movies & a Tamil movie yesterday. Guru, Dhoom 2 & JOK.
Guru
Abhishek Bachhan stands out as a great actor. I never thought he could act this way. The way he was portrayed in the screen was very natural. I am saying this because in Dhoom 2, I didn’t find him attractive / handsome. In that way Mani Ratnam is doubtless a perfect caster & knows how to get the best out of his cast. The songs were good & cinematography was very good too.
On the negative side I felt the movie itself did not have a captivating charm. The story was more or less known & hence there was no interest that was built from frame to frame. Also Ash’s initial scenes gave a feel of Madhubala of Roja. Overall I would rate it as OK types.
Dhoom 2
Next, got to see 3/4th of Dhoom 2. 3/4th , because my friend did not give me the final part of the film. The producer & director have slogged to make a Hollywood action film out of Bollywood. I must comment that they have succeeded to a large extent. The Namibia train sequence or the AB, Uday Chopra fight in the water shed have been shot spectacularly. Ash looks stunning in her costumes. AB unfortunately is not cast well & doesn’t look smart. Overall the movie is OK types.
JOK
Third movie was “Jillendru Oru Kadal” . The songs stand out. Bhoomika & Jyothika both look really beautiful. Surya does his part of acting. The reason why it did not click is the fact that Tamil audience are conservative & the fact that the heroine “donates” her husband to his ex-girlfriend for a day is bit of far stretch. It is kind of a radical thought. Overall I would rate the movie worth watching once.
Bye for now.
I have identified four areas around which I am going to write in future. Movies, Music, Books & Great Lakes. Expect tagged posts.
Movies
I saw two Hindi movies & a Tamil movie yesterday. Guru, Dhoom 2 & JOK.
Guru
Abhishek Bachhan stands out as a great actor. I never thought he could act this way. The way he was portrayed in the screen was very natural. I am saying this because in Dhoom 2, I didn’t find him attractive / handsome. In that way Mani Ratnam is doubtless a perfect caster & knows how to get the best out of his cast. The songs were good & cinematography was very good too.
On the negative side I felt the movie itself did not have a captivating charm. The story was more or less known & hence there was no interest that was built from frame to frame. Also Ash’s initial scenes gave a feel of Madhubala of Roja. Overall I would rate it as OK types.
Dhoom 2
Next, got to see 3/4th of Dhoom 2. 3/4th , because my friend did not give me the final part of the film. The producer & director have slogged to make a Hollywood action film out of Bollywood. I must comment that they have succeeded to a large extent. The Namibia train sequence or the AB, Uday Chopra fight in the water shed have been shot spectacularly. Ash looks stunning in her costumes. AB unfortunately is not cast well & doesn’t look smart. Overall the movie is OK types.
JOK
Third movie was “Jillendru Oru Kadal” . The songs stand out. Bhoomika & Jyothika both look really beautiful. Surya does his part of acting. The reason why it did not click is the fact that Tamil audience are conservative & the fact that the heroine “donates” her husband to his ex-girlfriend for a day is bit of far stretch. It is kind of a radical thought. Overall I would rate the movie worth watching once.
Bye for now.
Monday, January 01, 2007
My new year resolutions ...............
Straight to the point, I wanted to make my New Year Resolutions. I have been thinking about this the whole day & here they go………..
1. Read 24 good books in 2007
2. Learn a new language
3. Make four speeches at Toast Masters
4. Exercise half an hour everyday
5. Weigh around 75 - 80 kgs at the end of the year
6. Read news papers everyday
7. Make 100 new friends
8. Blog every week
9. Keep talking to relatives
I am sure I will live up to the resolutions. We will however revisit at the end of the year to find out the effectiveness of the resolutions.
Sunday, December 31, 2006
New Year is here !!
I am getting ready to welcome the new year. I am sure it will be a great year for me & Great Lakes. With Uncle Bala around there is lot of excitement here. We are awaiting to hear C K Prahlad on Jan 3rd.
Wish all of you who visit my blog a happy & prosperous new year !!
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Ms Indra Nooyi in all praise for Great Lakes !!
Chennai, December 25, 2006: The PepsiCo Chief Ms. Indra Nooyi, emphasized that everyone should cultivate a global mindset and a local insight in order to make a mark in this globalized economy. Ms Nooyi, who is acclaimed by Forbes magazine as one of the world’s powerful women, made a special appearance and delivered key note address at the Yale – Great Lakes Center for Management Research’s International Conference on “Global Mindset, Indian Roots” held in Chennai. Ms Nooyi, who epitomizes the theme “Global mindset, Indian Roots”, felt that it was time for academia and research to come with more contemporary methods of ‘predicting future behavior’ of consumers by observation, by cultural focus and by ethnography rather than using the traditional methods of qualitative research.
Ms Nooyi commended Great Lakes Institute of Management for having an excellent international focus. Ms Nooyi said she was very much impressed to see Chinese language being a part of curriculum, a feat which even eminent universities doesn’t have. Ms Nooyi, alumni and also a Board member of Yale, commended Great Lakes Institute of management for partnering with Yale. She said that ‘Yale’ is very dear to her heart and she would extend her support for strengthening this initiative.
Dr Venkat R. Krishnan, the Director of Yale - Great Lakes center for Management Research, speaking on the occasion, said that the center aims to promote, facilitate and advance India-centric management related research which contributes to the development of basic and applied knowledge in the field of management. He said that this conference will act as a bridge that links scholars around the globe with India as a common interest.
Apart from Ms Indra Nooyi, several illustrious thought leaders and professors of the world shared their views in the conference. Dr Seenu V. Srinivasan of Stanford University, who is regarded as world’s foremost authority in marketing research, expounded the technique of a using ‘conjoint analysis’ as a method to predict future behavior. Prof Paul Prabhakar, Dean of FSU spoke about the DNA of a sustainable business enterprise. Dr Sudhakar Balachandran, who was awarded the outstanding faulty award at Columbia Business School, spoke on Share holder value maximization. There were many interesting case studies/talks by Dr Suj Krishnaswamy, Dr Sridhar Moorthy, Dr Rama Shankar, Dr Siva Nathan, Dr Ashok Vasudevan and Dr Neharika Vohra. Paper presentations from many well known schools like Indian Institutes of Management – Ahmedabad & Bangalore, Indian School of Business-Hyderabad, IIT-Khargpur, IIT- Chennai etc also attracted the audience. Prof Sriram, Executive Director of Great Lakes thanked Ms Indra Nooyi and all other distinguished professors for making such thought provoking speeches.
Friday, December 01, 2006
We have got land !!
Memorable day at Great Lakes !! Read below for details.............
Great Lakes Institute of Management Announces setting up of own Campus
~ Great Lakes Setting up own campus on ECR road ~
~Announces New Chair professorships~
Chennai, November 30, 2006: Great Lakes Institute of Management, a leading B-School, with an objective of offering world class education, has announced setting up of its own campus on the East Coast Road of Chennai. The three year old B-School is currently being run in leased premises. The B-school invested huge money in acquiring the 14 Acres land in the serene East Coast Road which is the new knowledge corridor of Chennai.
The new campus will be a sophisticated, full fledged one with all modern amenities. The institute plans for a total built up area of 1,80,000 sft and out of it 1,25,000 sft will done in the first phase. The campus would be a complete residential one with facilities like hostels, amphitheatres, electronic classrooms, auditorium, staff quarters and spacious playgrounds. The design of the building is ready and The Institute plans to start the construction activity in couple of months and wishes to start complete operations by 2008 academic year.
New Chair Professorships
Great Lakes Institute of management, which was started by illustrious academicians of US along with the support of Indian Industry bigwigs, aims to become an Institute of excellence in Management education in India with in 2 years. While the new campus infrastructure catapults the learning ambience, the institute is also focusing on the enhancement of its knowledge capital by taking new faculty on board. In addition to the existing chair professorships, Great Lakes announced few more Chair professorships. Mr Gopal Srinivasan, MD of TVS Electronics and Mr KB Chandrasekhar, Chairman of Jamcracker Inc donated Rs 1 Crore each for setting up the prestigious chair professor ships in two domains. Three more chairs in the areas of Finance& Banking, Infrastructure, and technology are also on the cards.
Marketing Focused school
The Institute, during the visit of the marketing legend, Dr Phil Kotler, announced that it has identified its core competence in the area of marketing and that it aims to become a marketing focused school. With this, Great Lakes is following the footsteps of premier US B-Schools which are known have focus in one area. Its no wonder that Great Lakes, which is closely associated with Kellogg chose to become a marketing focused school.
Giving the rationale for focus on Marketing, Prof Sriram, executive director, said that Great lakes has an unparalleled intellectual support from the illustrious marketing professors of the world. The legendary Dr Philip Kotler visited Great Lakes and will be associated with research for the next 5 years to support the center in all forms. Dr Seenu V Srinivasan, the Adams distringuished professor of Marketing Research of Stanford University, regularly teaches here. In addition to them, Dr Paul Prabhaker, the Dean of the School of Business and Economics. Fayetteville State University, North Carolina, has keen involvement in the operations of the institute.
To take marketing focus much further, Great Lakes, along with DrPhilip Kotler, announced setting up of “Kotler-Srinivasan Center for Marketing Research” for enhancing marketing based research in India. This center receives financial as well as Knowledge support from both the stalwarts on which the center is named. A member of the Academic Advisory Council of Great Lakes, Dr. Kotler is involved with their key research projects at this B-School. This center is the second research center for the school which already houses Yale-Great Lakes Center for Management Research, promoted jointly by Yale University.
Great Lakes Institute of Management Announces setting up of own Campus
~ Great Lakes Setting up own campus on ECR road ~
~Announces New Chair professorships~
Chennai, November 30, 2006: Great Lakes Institute of Management, a leading B-School, with an objective of offering world class education, has announced setting up of its own campus on the East Coast Road of Chennai. The three year old B-School is currently being run in leased premises. The B-school invested huge money in acquiring the 14 Acres land in the serene East Coast Road which is the new knowledge corridor of Chennai.
The new campus will be a sophisticated, full fledged one with all modern amenities. The institute plans for a total built up area of 1,80,000 sft and out of it 1,25,000 sft will done in the first phase. The campus would be a complete residential one with facilities like hostels, amphitheatres, electronic classrooms, auditorium, staff quarters and spacious playgrounds. The design of the building is ready and The Institute plans to start the construction activity in couple of months and wishes to start complete operations by 2008 academic year.
New Chair Professorships
Great Lakes Institute of management, which was started by illustrious academicians of US along with the support of Indian Industry bigwigs, aims to become an Institute of excellence in Management education in India with in 2 years. While the new campus infrastructure catapults the learning ambience, the institute is also focusing on the enhancement of its knowledge capital by taking new faculty on board. In addition to the existing chair professorships, Great Lakes announced few more Chair professorships. Mr Gopal Srinivasan, MD of TVS Electronics and Mr KB Chandrasekhar, Chairman of Jamcracker Inc donated Rs 1 Crore each for setting up the prestigious chair professor ships in two domains. Three more chairs in the areas of Finance& Banking, Infrastructure, and technology are also on the cards.
Marketing Focused school
The Institute, during the visit of the marketing legend, Dr Phil Kotler, announced that it has identified its core competence in the area of marketing and that it aims to become a marketing focused school. With this, Great Lakes is following the footsteps of premier US B-Schools which are known have focus in one area. Its no wonder that Great Lakes, which is closely associated with Kellogg chose to become a marketing focused school.
Giving the rationale for focus on Marketing, Prof Sriram, executive director, said that Great lakes has an unparalleled intellectual support from the illustrious marketing professors of the world. The legendary Dr Philip Kotler visited Great Lakes and will be associated with research for the next 5 years to support the center in all forms. Dr Seenu V Srinivasan, the Adams distringuished professor of Marketing Research of Stanford University, regularly teaches here. In addition to them, Dr Paul Prabhaker, the Dean of the School of Business and Economics. Fayetteville State University, North Carolina, has keen involvement in the operations of the institute.
To take marketing focus much further, Great Lakes, along with DrPhilip Kotler, announced setting up of “Kotler-Srinivasan Center for Marketing Research” for enhancing marketing based research in India. This center receives financial as well as Knowledge support from both the stalwarts on which the center is named. A member of the Academic Advisory Council of Great Lakes, Dr. Kotler is involved with their key research projects at this B-School. This center is the second research center for the school which already houses Yale-Great Lakes Center for Management Research, promoted jointly by Yale University.
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