ब्लाह ब्लाह ब्लाह.......

किलर जेंस, मक डोनाल्ड'स, स्पघेट्टी, रीबोक आणि ब्लाह ब्लाह ब्लाह.... This is what you will see, in the sign board of all the European brands around the city. Many many boards, have been changed. All the English brands are now, showing Hindi name board. All just to amuse the on looker.

For a second, I felt hang on, how will the guys who cannot read Hindi find out which shop is where. Aren't we down grading our public value. Outside India, the whole world thinks in English. Is English so bad that, we cannot use it on the name board, on our own shop? I agree to the fact that, speaking in English does not make you great person, nor does it get you money. But it makes someone understand what you are exactly saying.

It is the language the globe is meeting out. India is no longer a under-developed country. It is one of the strongly developing countries, which the world is looking out for. More and more foreign companies are investing here in India. It is growing by the day. Just yesterday, I saw a English guy, in his tuxedo, trying to cross the road. I don't know how they wear a tuxedo, in the humid weather of Mumbai and when it looks like it will rain.

Tell me how will he read a shop with a Hindi sign board on it. I am not against the fact that vernacular language should be used. Nor am I against people thinking in their mother tongue or people being thought in mother tongue. All I want to say is, English is what will make you reach out to masses and make them understand you as you. Yes, there are always exceptions, you can do business and earn the money you want speaking just Hindi or Marathi. But your sphere will always be limited.

But all in all, I guess asking shoppers to change the English name board into Hindi or Marathi was taking the discussion too much into orbit. Having, both Hindi and English is fine; but not just Hindi. Raj Thackeray had commented that, "if the shops don't have a Hindi sign board, they will be demolished by his men." some days back. The changing of name board at many places also shows that, in mumbai, how many people who want to play safe and don't want to get into any kind of trouble. I wonder, what I would have done, if I were a shop-keeper!!

Rubik's cube solved!! :) :) :) :)

Hey guys!! I did it. I formulated some algorithm's of my own and solved this rubik's cube!! check out this snaps!! Yipeee!! I am very happy!! Yes I got some help online and hints, which helped me a lot, but patience is virtue for this......

It is not that bad; but you need to work out on the algorithm a little bit. I would need to perfect these algorithms, which I have formulated. For now I just sit back and enjoy this moment. :)

The last picture here is a video; don't miss it!! :):)

Rubik's cube!!

Ernő Rubik is the Hungarian who is the inventor of Rubik's cube, which is the 3*3*3 cube. Considering the fact that, there are six colors which has to be grouped on 6 sides respectively. It seems rather simple at the start, to get one of the colors grouped. Then it is kind of tedious and becomes rather a head ache to complete it, as and when one color is grouped, the other goes away.

Last week, I saw the movie "Pursuit of Happyness"; very good movie that. Will smith plays the role of Chris Gardner, who is a homeless salesman-turned-stockbroker. Based on the real life story, with his own son acting as his son in the movie, Will Smith comes out with a splendid act. There is one scene in which; to prove his intelligence, Chris Gardner has to solve Rubik's cube in a matter of minutes. Even the mathematicians, take some time to get the hang of it.

Chris Gardner must have been a real intelligent guy. The very next day, I had been to my cousin's place, where in I had a great meal. I never knew my cousin sister was such a great cook. Well seems like very are going on aberrant from the topic. You see, I have a weakness for good food. So coming back to, I found this Rubik's cube, which they had gotten. I tried my hand on it. Trying many permutations and combinations. But finally I gave up. I could get only one side filled with the same color!!

I was looking for solutions to solve the Rubik's cube online. I got some pages, but could not quiet get the hang of it. Now I will buy the cube and practice to fill more than one color!! These are some you-tube links I got!!






Wish me good luck to get all six colors!! :)

Men with Golden Arms and legs

To be frank, I am aquaphobic. I have been like this, right from my childhood. Quiet a guy who runs away from water. During my childhood, my dad used to play with my fear, when he used to take me to the beach. He used to deliberately take me inside the water and drop me in middle of no wear. I get those spine chilling feeling and run like hell towards the shore. So I am not good when near water, and don't know how to swim.

So coming from me, you should think over this. I marvel this guy, Michael Phelps. Getting a gold in Olympics is as they say, very difficult (From an Indian). So getting 8 in the same Olympics should be (very) raised to eight times difficult. There is something special with this guy. Just some days back I read an article, which said, an IITian Rajat Mittal, has been researching Michael Phelps style of swimming. He says, "Phelps is able to use his body in a way that is very, very different from the other athletes...much closer to dolphins than we have seen for any other swimmer’’.

He says, "Phelps is able to straighten his massive size-14 feet to a greater angle (about 15 degrees) than any other swimmer to reduce resistance. Almost 90% of all the thrust is coming from the foot,’’ Mittal explained. “And the flatter and bigger your foot is, you essentially have a bigger paddle. Michael’s foot size and the angle he generates with it plays a big role in his ability to swim very well.’’ The irony of a IITian from India studying, swimming patterns of a guy from some other country.

Whatever he does, he must be an expert at that. He has 8 Olympic gold medals to show for that. He might eventually end up as a great Olympian ever. I have been greatly blessed to be born in the same era of such an awesome swimmer. Before the Olympics started, Michael had quoted that it is his dream to win gold in all the 8 events that he participates in. Well isn't that apocalyptic. I would say it is a complete devastation and dilapidation of gold medals, which gave the other swimmers very little time to even grasp, what has hit them.

Only one could even come close to Phelps, he came so close that he was one hunderth of second late. Milorad Cavic of Serbia, would be tearing his hair out for losing out on chance to upstage Phelps. The Serbian team even protested about the judgement. But the officials were spot on with their Omega clock. To add to Cavic's fury, Phelps just 2 days back had said, “There are still three races to go and I am not unbeatable. No swimmer is unbeatable,”.


Truly, this man has been born with a golden arm. He has made a complete mockery of these medals. He is very close to his mother. I came across this video from ESPN, an interview of his mother after the Athens Olympics 2004. You should look into this one. This video was taken before this Olympics. Just look at, how much training goes in becoming a champion.

http://sports.espn.go.com/broadband/video/video?id=3511562

They say Athens Olympics 2004 was just an start to his swimming career just at the age 18. Phelps won 6 gold in that. Now at the age of 22, he has 8 in Beijing Olympics 2008. He will be 26 in London Olympics 2012 and raring to go. All I would say is he has ignited interest in me to join swimming. Not many can do that, my dad tried. So I would be behind him in London, to win 8 again. Go Phelps Go.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYdmo8DMIuQ

Just to complete the legs, Usain Bolt. A man with legs which can run 100 mtrs at 9.69 seconds. Well, just imagine what you can do in 9 seconds. You can use the oven and set it to get your coffee warmer. Try to catch a fly. Thinking about changing the channel on the TV. Opening a can, which is very badly closed. The door which has self closing tag to it, after it is open fully, closes in 9 seconds. Trying to remove a knot. Man this guy must be fast.


Closer observation shows that, Usian Bolt had come without his shoe lace done. And he lost composure, in the last 3 strides, as he was holding his arms wide and pumping his heart. Otherwise, they say he could have done it in 9.6 seconds. The people with golden arms and legs are surely too quick to catch.

Who is King?

It was kind of a off season for good movies. No movies could have been categorized as it will go down the memory lane. Bored of the routine life, it is these movies that give us entertainment; show us something new to revive some fresh energy. Refreshing our minds about some real life story, or a fantasy story. Never will we forget out action heroes. The spider mans, the super mans, the fantastic fours and the new mutant heroes like the x-men. These characters have not only etched our memories, but also made us watch the movies made out of these characters, some of which have made down the memory lanes.

The Dark Knight, was one such movie, which has made the characters from DC comic series of Batman alive. The back ground score has been made with elegance. The story has got great twist and turns, which makes Batman always shift his gears. The bike and tank car are in the class of their own. The Batman movies are always dark, set in the night with amazing picture clarity. This one is no exception.

Heath Ledger, has done a once in a lifetime role of the Joker. Mindboggling stuff this. He has completely blown away everyone. He has not performed in the movie, rather he has turned himself into a joker. I would say, you should watch the movie for the joker instead of the batman. Morgan Freeman, has shown his sarcastic brilliance. The Batman, Christian Bale, with all the gadgets, is good. Always the movement and expression of the Batman are minimal due to the suite and masks.

Amazing story line, complete bass background score for batman, Heath at his best, amazing cinematographies and best stunts. I know the stunt double for Batman could never been seen, even if he is right in front of the camera. All these make 'The Dark Knight', really a great movie to watch during any dark night. I saw it on the big screen at IMAX wadala, worth the money I spent.

From million dollar hollywood movie to a bollywood movie, 'Singh is king'. I watched this with no expectations. One thing was totally different from the other bollywood movies was, the dressing sense and the songs were unusually very short. Only the title track went the distance for some time duration. All the other songs were very small. A comedy movie, which has a little bit of emotion. The best was the dance from Javed Jaffrey as "Mikha Singh".....


A comedy movie that can be given a slip I guess. Not a great story line, but Neha Dhupia and Katrina Kaif, make it a good reason to give it a try. I have never seen Neha, being so stylish in her movies. Meanwhile, I got hold of a old movie, 'Notting Hill'!! Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts, with a very simple movie.

I have seen this movie before, but in parts. The spellbinding romantic movie, with julia starring as a heroine 'Anna Scott' and Hugh Grant playing a character of a guy with a travel book shop. Each and every scene has been made so wonderfully done that it goes into that memory lane of the brain.

The costumes, not to say the sarcastic comedy in almost all the scenes and above all the supporting cast have given a brilliant performance in tickling the laughter bone, quiet so often. In all I would consider Notting Hill, as one of my favorite movies off the 3. But the Dark Knight will surely go down the memory lane!! The batman, does not want him to be called as the king. So I would go with Notting Hill.

Where are the Real Olympians?

India a land of so much culture, so much brilliance around, should defray the fact that Real Olympians from India are more or less like the Apollo 13 mission. (Successful failure) From the fact that we don't take Olympics seriously as compared to a Cricket world cup, is because we don't have a Olympian. Why can't India with all its Adonis and Dhonis come up with an Olympian, who can match the ever elusive Olympics standard.

Every time, the results come up, we can see a lone Indian with a bronze medal or a silver medal. Then comes the celebration in all the news channels, with a spine chilling questionnaire to the athlete's mother. "How do you feel after your son's performance?" Till then the name of the athlete is a complete puzzle. Over night he becomes a legend, as he has done something that no one can ever imagine, a medal in Olympics. And after all this Marion Jones of US, quietly walks away with 5 gold medals. As per Indian mythology, she must be legend of legends. (Like the ammas of ammas).

Why can't Indians think about getting more than just one silver medal? Is it so impossible that we have to just be happy with just one medal? What is the nexus between a Indian and a Olympic gold medal. When I say gold medal, it is not one; many. Indians are very well trained, in giving reasons for their failure. If they use the reasoning brain, as a performing one, they will get all the accolades for their efforts. Just the mindset has to be like a Micheal Phelps or an Ian Thorpe.

Indians are more into cricket. The famous quadrilateral, best test middle order in the world, failed more than once in the current test series in Sri Lanka. The Little master, Prince of Bengal, The wall and Nawab of Hyderabad all failed in the first test. India had to score 400 runs to avoid the follow on. The famous quadrilateral never even made 360 let alone 400, which is the sum of all the angles in a quadrilateral. In the second test, it was the top order of Sehwag and Ghambir who made all the runs. Even then they failed.

We have to keep asking the questions to ourselves. Where are the Titans? Where are the Real Olympians? The mindset, training equipments, training coach and above all individual desire to grab hold of an Olympics gold, is completely missing in today's middle class Indian families. The swimming gear for Ian Thorpe was designed as per his expectations by his sponsors. The cost of the gear, is as good as buying a flat some where in Navi mumbai!!


Unless, there are proper equipments, thinking coaches and compromising sponsors, it is very difficult to breed champions. Champions can be created by a developing and nurturing the mindset of winning; infrastructure is always other side of the coin. Instead of just engineers, doctors and cricketers, there should be a different breed for Olympians!! Lets see how many medals we win in Summer Olympics Beijing 2008.

Once in a while~~

Once in a while, we meet strangers, who are totally different from what we consider ourselves to be. Just look at these people all around you. Everybody is having his own problems, his own world in which he/she lives. As we have our own temper arousing problems, we never think about them. There are a lot of strangers whom you will never meet again in your life. Online friends, pen pals, friends from a different country, wherever you go, what ever you do, there are stranger aplenty.


Once in a while, when you feel you are alone and lonely. Even a stranger can make a great friend, only if we have the time to speak. Some are very flashy, with fancy hear gear or dresses. The pretty girl walking next to you. The bald man with a big fat tummy. The busy executive formal guy with a bluetooth headset in constant conversation. The attitude guys, direction seeking moron's, typical chinese guys, not so pretty girls showing attitude, guy speaking loudly on the phone with a paan in his mouth.

Once in a while, we get to know people, through work and through friends. We meet so many people that, we don't remember names of many. How often do we store a number in our mobile phone, and afterwards wonder whose number that was? Unless you have good memory, it is pretty difficult to trace it out. Sometimes there are these elderly strangers, who give some advices as to how to fill a form, how to solve a certain problem. There are many things in life that we get help from strangers.


Once in a while, we meet with an mishap, while I was riding. Just as I always do, I raced my bike to the front row of the signal. When the signal turned green, I was off like a unstoppable river, slushing and gushing through the roads. Like a nightmare, a cyclist came on my way from no were. I thought of bypassing him, but he came right in front of my bike. So I had to break all of a sudden. That was an example of a sudden break!! Everything came to a screeching halt. I lost control of my bike and had to taste the ground.

Once in a while, I took the ground for a change. I lot the next 5 seconds, I did not know what happened. I lost consciousness, I was there, I was awake, but could not trace the thought process of my mind. It was a complete blank. The next thing I saw was, 3 complete strangers, got my hand, lifted me up. As I could get my bike up, stand, nothing had gone wrong, just that my mirror was broken, with its impact to the holy earth.

Once in a while, comes God, in human form of strangers. Gives us good will, protects and helps us to stand on our own foot. Strangers, come and go. They have life of their own. If only we can see them from their point of view. After all they are also human beings, whom God has summoned in this world to help us.