:: Sense - The Way I Sense ::

Just came across this one-month old entry on another site. The person in question received a Christmas 2003 gift sent thro’ Amazon and shipped via Deutsche post in April 2005 !!! We all hear of such stuff happening with mail that was sent a fifty years back, but considering this happened in the age of hi-tech logistics management systems is indeed strange !! Some speed this !!

Read the original entry here

PS: First time I ever saw one like this. A complete site by two individuals getting married..:-O Here’s wishing them a swell Married life In case you are also getting latched soon, get yourself a similar site here

A 1000 karma points to the person who correctly identifies whether this is a Dosa or an Omlette !!! The travails of having to involuntarily pick up culinary skills !!

In case you are in a mood to experiment and/or have lost interest in all things life, sure do drop in…..Shall make ya one of those exotic dishes that you always read of but never actually get to try !!
Btw, Swayampakam means Self-Cooked Food..Not really sure if its Telugu or Sanskrit…

Now, this might seem an extension of my previous blog where I mentioned that Online Journos might be accredited soon by the GoI. MIT’s TechReview has a very interesting piece on what has been labelled Collaborative Citizen Journalism. To quote ‘em, CCJ is one where ordinary citizens band together on the Web to write original stories and critique mainstream media stories, using the Internet to connect with each other and to make sure their thoughts reach the public. Something very similar to Community Blogging or Wiki News. But what I found pretty interesting after reading up further on the subject was about this site. Craigslist started out as a small list mentioning events in the bay area, CA. But then slowly expanded to, what TR says, a site that now garners revenues in excess of $10m annually!! Staggering, I would say. And checking up on the site reveals that Craigslist was pretty much into offline meets, as early as 99-00. Communities, historically, have rarely, if ever, been built so fast as they are being in this internet age. Now, taking forward the idea of our PG News Network , how easy/tough do you guys think it is in developing a CCJ effort directed, initially, at B-Schools and Community Initiatives in India. Am currently not aware of any CCJ efforts in India, and none that I could find thro’ g00gle. The closest that I could get was the blogs set up during the post-tsunami co-ordination. Do lemme know in case you come across any.

ps: Can’t help but admire the google folks for the way this looks. Read up a Y! employee’s take on that here.Good read that.

The Hindu has a wonderful magazine that comes out every sunday. Been a long time reader of that. This sunday’s issue had a very good piece on how the MBA, in an Indian context, has been diluted to such an extent that it has almost lost its relevance. The author comes up with a more than decent arguement in favor of reverting the path of the MBA as it is headed now. A few lines caught my attention…

The IIMs started by envisaging it as a mid-career, post-experience qualification, but chose to gradually ditch this one significant element critical to the success of the MBA as originally designed

What could be the reason for the IIMs to go this way…Is it because they fell for the invariable glamour that is associated with any program with miserably low admit ratios or is it, as the author pointed out, a logical adaptation of an academic program catering to a specific set of junta that puts academics before real life xp, atleast in the initial phases…

And he goes on to add, ironically funny,

The distance from the real world of business is further widened because business school teachers seldom have senior management experience. They have PhDs grounded in one of the disciplines such as economics, statistics, and accounting or operation research. With few exceptions, the average calibre of the student population in the top B schools of India would be far higher, by any objective test, than their teachers.

I just couldn’t control myself seeing this…I, for one, can vouch on the veracity of the statement in a few cases that i’ve seen Hell, i bet even if we were to generalize this across B-schools of all shapes and sizes, this statement would still hold true !!(Dont catch me on this :P) But then again, the test that the author is talking of is an objective test !! Objectivity be damned
Read the complete article here

And something for the new-age post-happy internet journos, The Govt. is actively considering accrediting dotcom scribes and bloggers…Anybody game for setting up a full-fledged dotcom news agency?? or better still, the PaGaLGuY News Network

Back from a trip to Mumbai and meeting up with many new faces and nicks !! The PG Meet there sure did rock…Something that really amazes me every single time is how absolute strangers (atleast in the physical world) kick off so very instantaneously…Hope this stays one of the unique characteristics of these wonderful forums

The day sure did rock with all those rides, and especially Thunder… Upto the very last minute, i wasn’t really sure it was a good idea. I had all along adored Newton and never really found any reason to go against his theories of gravitation….But then Allwin and Apurv left me no choice…But gotta admit, sure was one helluva ride…The view that you get there from the top, when you are standing ;), is, simply put, AMAZING. Yes, it does get scary at times, but then, what use getting scared when you do not control an event, and are just a part of the process..You can just make sure you dont become part of any unintended outcome :p

The car bumping part was fun too, but err, to a very limited extent. I was @ the receiving end almost all the time. Seems that was the result of my penchant for locking threads left, right and center ;)But neverthless good fun The icing was definitely the rink !! For the first time i realized some things definitely ain’t as easy as they look !! Literally had to drag my a$$ to complete a coupla rounds there, and for the most part was inches away from the support rods That sure is something that I am gonna remember for a l00ng time

Was staying @ Allwin’s place for the 4 days that I was there…Nice of him to put up with me…And yea, went on some real long rides on his amazing bike…Man that thing sure puts my ferrari to shame
All in all, was an awesome trip to Mumbai that was worth every penny and every second….Till the next meet……

Just in case somebody missed seeing it on the forums (highly doubtful though ) …..This is something that sure was coming for old boy Allwin ….A recognition as one of India’s “young Turks” and a 15 min intv to boot !! Big leap forward indeed !!

Presently lazing around in the sweltering Madras heat…So much so that it really takes a huge effort in forcing myself to go to the nearest grocery !! The other day, had to spend an entire night at the international airport…Came across what I thought was a representative sample of the face of the new India. Guys with jeans/t-shirts with a cap worn in the reverse and a vibhuti bottu (the tilak on the forehead), yapping away in what was a very, imho, an ungraceful mix of chennai tamil/american english…Talking into the mobile phones with their fingers right at the disconnect key…Their parents proudly standing by and feeling satisfied at what their offspring has achieved …Girls wearing “western” dresses replete with bottu and jasmine flowers in an oiled hair setup…..Talking in chaste tamil with their grandparents and effortlessly switching over to anglicised tamil with their friends to chennai tamil with airport staff !! The face of the New India or the New face of India ??

Past few days have seen me enacting one real survival act!! Staying alone at home, i never imagined, could be so inspiring !! Inspiring it surely is, but definitely in the wrong directions. My sleep levels are shooting thro’ the roof (or whatever existed of it)..And my culinary skills are improving faster than I learnt(?) the BCG Matrix ;)(Courtesy: Panda)..Same goes for my internet usage meter…The folks @ BSNL must be cursing why they are offering unlimited b/w currently