Friday, October 26, 2012

உன்னாலே உன்னாலே

உற்சாகமும்
உன்மத்தமும்
உள்ளத்தில்
உச்சத்தில்
உன்னாலே

வேண்டாமெனக்கு
உற்சாக பானம்!

Monday, October 15, 2012

Law of diminishing marginal utility

In Economics, there is one fundamental law called as Law of diminishing marginal utility.

Before we go further lets set the premises. Marginal means small change. According to Austrian school of economics, Utility could be defined as the satisfaction of needs. [Wiki says, the contemporary mainstream economic theory defers this metaphysical notions and even quantify utility]

To sum up the law of diminishing marginal utility, more you consume a commodity, the marginal utility of the commodity decreases.

To use the food analogy, when you are hungry and eat your first idly, it tastes good, even it is awful and you value that idly way too much. When you are at tenth idly, you are no more hungry. The eleventh idly adds no value or serves no purpose. May be some more calories! This is law of diminishing marginal utility.

There are many places which i feel the most that this law of diminishing marginal utility doesn't holds good.
First, Money. Of course, the first million is always the difficult and hard to get by. Rest is easy. The point is do you stop making millions. Wouldn't you think a billion or two is cool after making few millions.
Oh yeah my most favourite one, sleep. No matter how long you sleep, don't you value the last five minutes of your morning sleep to be more valuable than the long sound sleep? Here the last unit is much more valuable precious than the first unit or all the other previous units combined!

Well there are other places where this law of diminishing marginal utility does not holds good? But I will leave it to your wild imagination ;)
N.B
It was a reference to books and knowledge. More the books you read more the knowledge you get not otherwise right. what were you thinking about? ;)

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Lawyers and the evolution of Technology

Many people do not like lawyers. They think no good can come out of lawyers. I beg to differ.

I would attribute the evolution of all technological 1.0 2.0 and 3.0 and all others yet to come to Lawyers. Even if not entirely the one and only cause, lawyer(s) was the biggest catalyst in making this happen.

The big bang evolution of Technology started with the PC. More importantly and precisely the IBM clones. It was the Windows that made the IBM clones possible. So where did the lawyers come in to this?

In the name of innovation and secrecy the IBM PC group was way secluded away from the rest of organization. IBM never leveraged the resources within their company. IBM never thought PC could be a game changer. So isn't it all about strategy failure of IBM throwing away the future? NOOOO.

Isn't it all about Bill Gates selling his software all over the world taking a free ride back of the giant IBM? Again I would say NO.

It was because Bill Gates was able to sell his software to all other than IBM too.

Usually when IBM buys software from a vendor, they ask for an exclusive agreement that they should serve as a sole vendor only to IBM. Considering it is OS to the PC, this should have been in the legal agreement. Some lawyer should have spotted this and should have included it in the agreement.

Oh, Would Bill have been bound by a piece of paper? Couldn't Bill have wiggled out of the agreement as he once did with Ed Roberts of MITS? Bill even found a loop hole in an agreement with Steve Jobs and announced the launch of GUI based OS well before the launch of Macintosh. Why not pull the same trick with IBM?

Well, either Roberts or Steve weren't as big as IBM. Bill could have gotten away from any iron clad agreement with Roberts or Steve, but not with IBM! May be Bill could have set himself free from the agreement, even it was iron clad. But then Big Bang of technology evolution couldn't have occured and even if occured, it would have been delayed.

Long live that lawyer who overlooked that clause of the century! 

Thursday, September 27, 2012

For Whom the Bell Tolls

Why should not this experience economics be called as nothing but a marketing gimmick?

Possible examples includes Disneyland and of course Starbucks!

I do not know anything about Disneyland but I do know something about Starbucks.

Yeah, Starbucks does provide good experience and Starbucks is Starbucks.

Didn't the Starbucks suffer during recession? Didn't they try to behave like Mcdonalds by selling starbucks in Subway?

Doesn't the decline in the growth during recession convey the success and sustenance of the experience economy depend on the disposable income of the individuals?

Recession or no recession, werent there other players in other segments who were relatively successful?

More over, doesn't the soceity will always contain the rich and the poor masses? How much of the population can really afford starbucks?

What percentage of the population can really afford to pay for the experience?

If only a relatively small percentage of population can indulge or afford in experience goods, then why should it be so relevant?

p.s
This post is not just due to craving for a good coffee or my inability to afford Starbucks right now. [Having a Starbucks right across the college doesn't helps]

p.p.s
If you had the patience to read about Experience economy and what i have written why not check out is Information economy reaching its overload as well as say hello to Feedback economy

Friday, July 06, 2012

மொபைலா மொபைலா

மருந்தா
மாத்திரையா
மதுவா

மதி
மயக்கத்தில்
மனம்
மகிழ்ச்சியில்

மங்கையுடனான
மொபைலரட்டை :) :P :D

Monday, June 25, 2012

சரித்திரக் குறிப்புகள்

பி.குமுன்பே ட்வீட்டப்பட்டிருக்கலாம். இருந்தாலும் வரலாறு முக்கியம் என்பதாலும் பிற்கால சந்ததியினர் படித்து பயன் பெற வேண்டும் என்பதாலும் தஞ்சாவூர் கல்வெடிர்டில் பொறிக்க முடியாத காரணத்தாலும் இங்கு பதிவு செய்யப்பட்டுள்ளது

  • நீ குட் மார்னிங் அனுப்பாமல் விடிவதில்லை என் காலை!
  • குட்நைட் என்னும் மெசஜ்ஜில் தான் ஆரம்பிக்கிறது விடியும் வரை தொடரும் நம் மொபைல் அரட்டைகள்!
  • நம்மை பயங்கரமாக கடுப்பேற்றுபவர்கள் மீது நமக்கு கொள்ளைப் பிரியம் வரும் மர்மம் என்ன!

Saturday, June 02, 2012

கன்னம் கன்றிய கவிதைகள்

கவிதைகளின் கதையும் காரணமும்!

ட்வீட்டரில் சொக்கரின் இந்த ட்வீட்டை பார்த்தவுடன் பசங்களுக்கு கவிதை கிறுக்க நான் அவனில்லையே என்று தான் தோன்றியது! பிறகு புரிந்தது இதைப் பார்த்தவுடன்

பி.கு
இனியாவது சத்தியமாக நம்புங்கள்! இங்கு நான்  இரகசிய சினேகிதிக்காக கிறுக்கியதும் சரி இரகசியமில்லா சினேகிதிகளுக்காக கிறுக்கியதும் சரி கற்பனை கற்பனையே

ட்வீட்-1
ரோட்டில் ஒரு ஜோடி, சிரித்தபடிதான் நடந்துகொண்டிருந்தார்கள், திடீரென்று அவள் அவன் கன்னத்தில் ஓர் அறை, பார்த்தவர்கள் வெலவெலத்துப்போனோம் :>

ட்வீட்-2
நடு ரோட்டில் கன்னத்தைத் தடவிக்கொண்டு அந்தப் பையன் பரிதாபமாக நின்ற காட்சியை வைத்து @zenofzeno ஏதாவது கவிதை எழுதிவிடுவார் :>
கன்னம்
கன்றியதற்கா
கவிதை
கேட்கிறார்கள்
கல்நெஞ்சமுமில்லா
கொடியவர்கள்!

கவலையில்லை
கலங்காதே
களிப்புடனே
கிறுக்குவோம்
கலக்குவோம்!
oOo

உன்
உதடுகளுக்கும்
விரல்களுக்கும்
வித்தியாசமில்லை

முத்தத்திற்கும்
மொத்திற்கும்
மட்டுமெதற்கு!
oOo

கையும்
கையும்
கலந்து
காலாற
காற்றையும்
கடலையையும்
கடக்கும்
காதலர்
கட்டியணைப்பதும்
கைநீள்வதும்

காலத்தின்
கோலமய்யா
கண்டுகொள்ளாதீர்!
oOo

கைகோர்த்தவள்
கன்னத்தை
கன்னாபின்னாமாக்குவதற்கு
கண்டவர்
கொள்ளிக்
கண் தான்
காரணம்
வேறில்லை
கண்டுக்கொள்!
oOo

விரலும்
விரலும்
உரசி
விளையாடிய
விநாடிகளில்
உணரவில்லை
உன்
விரல்களின்
வலிமையை

உணர்ந்தேன்
வலித்தபோது!
oOo

உனை
சிரிக்க
வைத்தேன்
நான்

எனை
சந்தி
சிரிக்க
வைத்தாய்
நீ!
oOo

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

கவித கவித

எனக்கே
என்னைப்
பிடிக்கிறது

உனக்கு
என்னைப்
பிடிக்காதா?

oOo

நான்
உறங்கிய பின்
உனக்கு மட்டுமென்ன
வேலை

வேறோன்றுமில்லை
உன் கனவில்
வருவதைத் தவிர!

oOo

அவளிடம்
பேசும் போதும்
பழகும் போதும்

இருப்பதில்லை
இலக்கணமும்
இங்கிதமும்!

Monday, May 21, 2012

The Reading List

After posting a review (if you can call that a review) of Polyester Prince, there were more than few mails and questions on suggestion for good books.

It also reminded me of the personal book list shared by a gentle man and reply sent by me as well as a reading list shared by one awesome guy.

So here is the list. Except for the first ten,the reco is from the folks above mentioned. Remember, I havent read all the books or authors mentioned here.Most of the authors are not even my type. Still, their 2 cents are worth it. If you like the list, say thanks to them. :)

My Ten:

Ten just happened to be a number. Again in no particular order. I have included only my non-fiction books.
In fiction, To name a few, Jeffery Archer, Sidney Sheldon, Robert Ludlum, David Baldacci, Tom Clancy and of course Harold Robins ;)

1) Barbarians at the Gate
Though it is a business book, far better than any of the thrillers that one could come across and more especially what the greed for money could do.

2)Straight from the gut
Jack Welch, at least for his competititive spirit

3) Who says Elephants cant dance
How IBM made a turn around

4) Made in Japan -Akio Morita

5) How to get what you want- Kopmeyer [ I have found the techniques mentioned here really works]

6) Think and grow rich- Napolean Hill [I am halfway through it but still i love it so far]

7)Competing for the future -C.K Prahlad [My all time favourite]

8)Future Shock-Alvin Toeffler [I still find this so relevant]

9)World is Flat [Thomas Friedman]

10) 7 Habits of Highly effective people -Stephen Covey [ This is one book i havent crossed more than 100 pages and i would say if you had read this all other self development books are unnecessary :)]

From the awesome guy a.k.a Gary
  1. Khaled Hosseini - Till data Kite Runner is the best book I've read
  2. Douglas Adams - Hilarious
  3. Thomas Kennealy - Vivid images of Schindler's Arc (not seen the movie yet)
  4. George Orwell - Could still taste the satire
  5. Karan Bajaj - Big fan after Johnny Gone Down
  6. Jeffrey Archer - The English wit and a master storyteller
  7. Michael Crichton - Philosophy and Technology floored me
  8. Simon Winchester - Story telling of true events
  9. JRR Tolkein - The master of imagination
  10. Joseph Heller - God level in Satire
  11. Orhan Pharmuk - Brings words to lives
  12. Leon Uris - Recommendation that I liked
  13. Vikas Swarup - Indian - more than the others
  14. Salman Rushdie - Impeccable but mostly too much work;For the dream scapes & for 'unbelonging'
  15. Jhumpa Lahiri - Although namesake was not as good, brings images
  16. Albert Camus: For the fall, & prose that hits like splashes of ice cold water
  17. Arundhati Roy:For God of Small Things,& the shape shifting hole in the universe that its absence would've left behind
  18. John Banville: For that striking mixture of cold, lyrical prose and dark, self conscious wit
  19. Jorge Luis borges: For redefining poetry & recreating allusions
  20. Gulzar:For those evocative word pictures and haunting 'trivenis'
  21. J.K Rowling: For humor and imagination
  22. Pico Iyer: For finding beauty in the banal
  23. Wodehouse: For incomparable wit & adorable characters
  24. Charles Schulz,Bill Waterson: For saying so much in so little words
  25. Margaret Atwood: For her subversive & clever word plays
  26. Fitzgerald: For the Great Gatsby
  27. Jack London: For wonder, wilderness and wonderful winters long ago
  28. Graham Greene: For deep dives into faith and doubt, and that stripped down, yet gripping style
  29. Ayn Rand: For that incomparably heady conviction (one must rise before one Falls?)
Honorable mentions of Gary :)
  1. The Great Indian Novel - Shashi Tharoor  (Mahabharatha of Indian Political History - Satire)
  2. The Palace of Illusions - Chitra Bannerjee Divakuruni (Feminist Mahabharat - thru the eyes of Draupadi)
  3. Wheels - Arthur Hailey (Heart of Car Industry) Any book of him for that matter :)
  4. Hitchhikers guide to Galaxy - Douglas Adams (Pure unadulterated fun)
  5. Open - Andre Agassi (Best Sports Autobio possible)
  6. Cold Steel - Byron Odyssey (Business Thriller of Mittal Arcelor Deal)
  7. Reluctant Fundamentalist - Mohsin Hamid (Brilliance of a narrative)
From the Gentleman :)

1)The McKinsey Way-( Rasiel)  -
Taught me the insider view of Fortune 100 corporate and the MECE way of problem solving

2) What the customer wants you to know - (Ram Charn)
Ram Charn the First Indian to become Harvard Phd, Who served GE for more than 30 years advises the business acumen that every one needs today, this book is an Enabler of my success at Honeywell

3) High -Impact Interview Questions - (AMACOM)-
All these 701 questions are really tough but good enough for one’s life

4)Tony Busan - Study skills handbook –
It is a must one to read for every one in school / college.. I have read it late and enabled me to read faster and grasp quicker

5) Param Vir Our Heroes in Battle - (Maj.Gen.Ian Cardozo) –
This is a biography of 21 people honored with Param Vir Chakra by government of India…It teaches every reader about the great purpose of life

6) Light the Fire in your Heart you can dare to lead - (Debashish Chatterjee) –
This book enlightens the reader to feel rather than think about whatever he or she do. Shares the experiences of Author’s Interaction with personalities such as Lee Kuan Yew, J.R.D.Tata, Mother Therasa, Richard Baranson,Kim Cambell,Anita Roddick, Dee Hock

7) Secretes of self made Millionaires – (Adam Khoo) –
Book Exhibits the mind of Asian millionaires. Learnt the power of compounding interest

8) The Story of Escorts (H.P.Nanda) –
The Most Terrific and inspiring biography I have ever read. It paints the picture of Lahoor, Simla, and Faridabad before and after freedom.

9)100 ways to improve your writing (Gary Provost) –
It seems it works because often people appreciate my mails :)

10)The Thank You Book (Robyn Freedman Spizman) – Saying Thank you to the author is not enough

11) Love Letters in the Sand – (Poems of Khalil Gibran) –
 Love is the language of leadership

12)The Circle of Love - (Debashis Chatterjee) –
It takes us to a dreamy world. If any one want to score top in Literature they must read it

13)Leadership Sutras - (Debashis Chatterjee) - It waves together the many strands of leadership wisdom in to a book that is both timely and timeless.

14)48 Laws of Power – (Robert Greene) - Jewish author explains 48 Political concepts with historical evidences. Though some concepts seem ruthless, the story narration is so nice.

15)INDIA 2039 – An affluent Society (Various Authors )- It is a book by authored by firms that offer financial support to governments.

16) Living the 80/20 Way (Richard Koch) –It is a very positive book exhibits author’s experiences on managing crises and how the 20% masters the skills that the 80% does not follow.

17) The millionaire next door –( Thomas J.Stanley ) - This book is a compilation of research done by the two authors about the saving and spending behaviors of more than 200 self made millionaires

18) The Entrepreneur book of Check Lists –( Robert Ashton ) – It is an excellent book compiling a 1000 over points that an entrepreneur must have a focus

Another recommended reading exclusively for Tamil books :))

Saturday, May 19, 2012

Maniratnam, Biographies and Biopics

There are too many good books out there. But, there are very few books which make you mutter Oh My God and Holy Cow every now and then! No, I am not talking about porn or soft porn books.
To me one among them was Barbarians at the Gate, the LBO of RJR Nabisco. I felt it was the mother of all books when it comes to giving the insider view of how the company works.  I also felt, never ever such a book could be written on Indian companies.
Well, only recently I read Polyester Prince, of course not written by an Indian! Though wiki says it is banned, Guha says it is just unavailable!

It is not just the biography of Dhirubai Ambani not the history of Reliance. In a sense, it is very much the history of India itself, its economy, stock market, politics, the mindset of the people.

The contents are much more explosive than any Hollywood and Bollywood movies. (at least for me)

It does explicitly names the people involved and the deeds done by them. At certain places, though author explicitly doesnt names the people, it is pretty obvious where he is pointing his fingers!

Though i was outraged and enraged at the things (allegations) Ambani has did, I do admire the sheer  Geniusness and the capability of Ambani to run the company, stock market and the Government of India itself.

I have heard personally from one of my friend who worked in building one of their plant, it was one of the best in the world. Best of the machinery, best of the technology in the world and No compromises on that. You could also conclude the friend who told me was also the best and he knew what he was telling me.He also did tell me the operating cost[the cost of converstion of one barrel of crude oil to other useful forms] was much more less than Shell by many factors.
I am very sure this was the guiding and founding principle from their early days and all their plants or operations would have adhered to the same standard.

If only Ambani did play the stock market as mentioned in the book all you wallstreet finance whiz kids, who couldnt avert Lehman or any other such crisis, go spend a fortnight on the grave of Ambani!

And for the influence, If only lobbying had been legal and structured in India, would we still consider what Ambani did was wrong?

I also couldnt help thinking if this much could be culled out by an Australian, how much dirt or as Ambani himself says, what else lies under the beautiful fountain he has built over!

Though the author washes much of the dirty linen and brings out the skeletons from the closet, I think he himself admires and applauds Ambani in a back handed manner. Also long back, he has pointed out at the possibility of rivalry among the brothers.

No one can better sum up about the Ambani and be the best jury rather than the concluding pages of the book!

Now to stay true to the title of the post :)
There have been times, I have held Maniratnam at awe. After watching English movies, started thinking, may be Mani doesn't deserves the hype he deserves.

But, after reading this book, Mani has been elevated back to the pedestal.

His Guru and Iruvar had been my all time favourites.
Iruvar, no one else could have actually captured the 40 years of history of Tamilnadu in Celluloid. The same goes with Ambani and his Guru movie. Mani has actually lifted references of Ambani from this book [Salam, Different slippers and Drinking to name a few]
Again as Mani himself as said, his movies are not biographies as he only draws inspirations from real time storis and weaves a story of his own.[Mani himself as admitted even his Agni Natchitram and Alaipayuthe were inspired by real stories of unknown faceless people] or make a few changes here and there for the revieweres to say, this is where it is not true to the reality.
Still kudos and three cheers to Mani.
If you haven't watched either of this two movies, you should, even if you are not a movie watching guy.[yeah i  talking to you :)))]

Full Disclosure: I have the climax of Guru in my lappy and watch it every now and then, whenever i feel low. :) :P :D

N.B
It is a best read to motivate you to acheive towards success rather than any of the other self development books. Remember Ambani says Never break the law :))

Monday, May 14, 2012

Annoying Airtel (Well Nothing new)

Nothing pisses me off like a bad customer service!

I pay money to your service and expect value for each and every paisa that i pay.

I am one among the many who use a touch screen mobile. Yeah that also happens to be the so called smart phone.Hence I also data services.

Along other spam messages i receive[Yeah i have subscribed to DND] there comes a message on 12 Apr-20.48
I have subscribed for GAMES MANIA_5
The reaction of yours truly was WTF! I dont play any games and have never played any games except for the occasional minesweeper and the legendary angry birds. [Yeah i am one of a rare specimen]

I call the customer care,blast at them. They take the request for deactivation[Ref #: F1037597005]
I raise the same same issue in twitter to @airtel_presence. I get a canned response share your contact details we will call back.
I get a call when i was in middle of something so asked him to call back later. Later,I get a call from broadband when the issue is with my mobile and one month goes away and i never get any call from any folks.

When i open my bill to pay, I see am being charged 5 per day from 12-Apr.
I call the customer care, unable to resolve, the agent volunteers to escalate to that the supervisor and i get the below response

1)The service was deactivated
2)But,The service was reactivated [Oh yeah of course by yours truly as he doesn't know how to use a smart phone and more importantly how to finger i mean use his finger]
3)Hence the bill.

He doesn't know how it got activated, he cannot assure that the activation will not happen again.
He doesn't know why i never got a notification, when i reactivated it.

I come back tweet to @airtel_presence praise(sic) them they are the best customer service and after asking them is it because of the lack of the SIM or the lack of network coverage that they are still not able to get back to me even after a month.

Now a person calls from Airtel takes a look at everything, when i ask him, why I am i billed day in day out even after the deactivation, he accepts, though the agent has made a note it has been deactivated, he never deactivated!

Now here are the questions:
1) Why does it gets activated when i havent activated? Why does it just notifies me with out getting a confirmation? How do you even let such a system exist in the first place?
2) If Airtel is just the content provider, why does it allow the vendor[GAMES MANIA] to behave in such a manner? Is the revenue cut from GAMES MANIA much important than a Customer?
3) Why is that in the customer service, no one monitors or tracks things properly?
4) Doesn't Airtel conducts audits or process checks with the customer service vendor now and then?
5) When the Airtel guy can answer me effectively and if a customer service vendor cannot handle me, why to have a third party service vendor?
6) When i will be fined 100/- for a late payment even by a minute, why should i pay my bill promptly and wait for a month to get a refund?  More importantly who will compensate for the time i spend with the customer care for such a long time and more importantly your time by making you read all these!
7) I did ask them, I need the mail id of Vice President for the Customer Service, he said it is confidential. Those folks have my phone number mail id and address and you are a publicly traded company and he cannot reveal the mail id of Vice President of Customer care!

The issues doesnt ends over there. I think they are first (hopefully the only one) to charge the customer for talking to the customer care!

When you pay the bills, online, Whenever i copy paste the number at number field it never accepts it as valid number
It asks for the mail id if it is mobile bill and sends the receipt but it doesnt asks for the mail id when i want to pay my broadband bill
God knows why such discrepancies.

No I am not alone, Please check the https://twitter.com/#!/Airtel_Presence to see how many complaints they receive in an hour?

Now,if only their process/service/systems were proper, what is the need for a customer service? Well if you buy a product and if the product is too good and you dont face too many problems will you worry much about the after sales support or service? Similarly if only Airtel had good systems or process in place, the chance for the customer to complain comes down, so out of that the complaint of bad customer service too obviously comes down. Just dont focus or worry about proper balances and checks ensure there is no need for balance and checks

I really wonder how they design their systems or the senior management folks do or manage the outsourcing but we get to see articles like these.
http://blogs.hbr.org/govindarajan/2012/05/telecoms-competitive-solution-outsourcing.html

Nope I am not against the outsourcing. All i am saying is manage the outsourcing properly.
May be the right question to ask rather than all of this "Why I am i still their customer?"

Sincerely,
Concerned Stockholder

p.s
If Airtel had been in US would it have been possible for me to get all the dissatisfied customers and file a class action suit against them and made lakhs #justasking

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

இரகசிய சினேகிதிக்காக


மீண்டும்
குழந்தையாகிறேன்
நான்

அனுதினமும்
அவளின்
அலுவலக
அக்கப்போர்
கதைகளைக்
கேட்டுவிட்டு
உறங்கச்
செல்கையில்!

Monday, April 02, 2012

வலி வழி விழி

வலியில்லை
வேதனையில்லை
விழுவதும்
வழிதவறுவதும்
உன்
விழிகளில்
என்றால்!

Saturday, March 31, 2012

உடை வினாவிடை

உடை
அழகா
உடையால்
அழகா
வினவுகிறாள்

உண்மை
உணர்வை
உடைக்கவா

உடைக்கு
விடை
கொடு
என!

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Let them Sleep

Every now and then, I happen to talk to bunch of people.  Not every one is so excited and eager to hear me out.  Sometimes, even they cannot be blamed. There are other external factors which overpower them and they just cannot concentrate for no mistake of their own.

 Well I am no martinet but still I would call myself a strict authoratarian enforcing a lots of discipline. In spite, I make exceptions, there are times, I let them have their way, if they will let me have my way. I just let them sleep rather than distracting me or disturbing others.

Not all of my fellow brethren agree with me on this. There are people who feel, I shouldn't let them sleep.

And for all those, who don't agree with me. Please read the following:

"Sleep is a fundamenta​l and basic requiremen​t without which the existence of life itself would be in peril. To disturb sleep, therefore, would amount to torture which is now accepted as a violation of human right. It would be similar to a third degree method whic​h at times is sought to be justified as a necessary police action to extract the truth out of an accused involved in heinous and cold-blood​ed crimes,” the bench said.

“A sleeping crowd cannot be included within the bracket of an unlawful category unless there is sufficient material to brand it as such,” the bench added."

This is neither the opening of the fictional book I am writing nor picked up from any other fictional book. The above is a part of the ruling from a Supreme Court bench.

So, all you people, Parents, teachers, trainers and managers, Thou shall not distrub or prevent the people from sleeping. You might be prosecuted!!

p.s
I try my level best not to preach what i don't practice. If i don't practice and if i still preach, I make it a point to disclose it. I love sleeping. I fall asleep during meetings as well as classes!!!

Friday, February 24, 2012

Another Announcement, Another Column

To Cut a long story short, I have started writing weekly columns on the business of technology in Tamiloviam.com.

You can access the articles here.

Hope I will be sincere and write it, week on week with out fail, keeping up with the spirit of last two weeks :)

Kanapraba, Satheesh and Ganesh Chandra are the people who made this happen. Now you know whom to blame ;)

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

இரகசிய சினேகிதிக்காக அல்ல

விழித்தும் விழிக்காத
காலையில் கைக்கு
எட்டியும் எட்டாமலும்
போதும் என்று
நீ அலற
நான் அணைக்கிறேன்
போதாது என

நித்தமும் வெல்லும்
நான் நினைப்பது
நாளையாவது நீ
வெல்ல வேண்டும்
அடங்கி போகாமல்!

ஆல் தி பெஸ்ட்,
அலாரம் டைம்பீஸ்!

Sunday, February 05, 2012

Steve Jobs Online

Phew, Finally the book is available online.

You can buy it from here

http://udumalai.com/?prd=stiv jobs&page=products&id=10815

Please note, searching it in the site is tedious and you may not find it in the listings.

The cost of the book is 100/-

Please note, the site does charge 20 as postal charges.

If you buy books for more than 500/- postal charges are waived off.

This site does contain many other tamil books :) :)

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Reviewing the Confessions

Once upon a time, I was an avid reader of English fiction. After sometime, I lost interest in fiction as a whole. There weren't too many authors whom i liked and whom i liked did not churn out too many books. The so called Indian authors (spurred by the Success of Chatan Sorry Chetan Bhagat) never appealed to me. Read few of them completely because, i bought them by paying money. Some in hope that at least some point of time, the book will have something worth while. From then on, I ran a mile away on the prospect of buying them.
A stroll in the Landmark stall (or is it in Westland) at the Chennai book fair, this book definitely caught my attention. The byline of the book,Confessions of a confused accountant  was the one that intrigued me. While I wanted to write the review, I took the book to check something, only then i realized the name of the book was scammed but not confessions.[As it appears in the title of the post]
[Yeah, now I (You) know how people buy the books, just a look and if it appeals they buy, no reading nothing.] I decided to order it online in Landmark. [Their Twitter folks are one of the best, I have seen. More on it later]

It is all about a nobody accountant who becomes a super star CEO. Nah it is not all about the rags to riches story but the dirty things that happen to you in the due process and later.

It definitely has a story. A narration that is good enough to get your attention and make it read in one go. Most importantly,no loose ends or logical flaws that laughs at your face. Above all, the final twist in the tale. Yeah, I love the story that has a surprise at the end!

As well, certain parts of the story are more predictable but it gels with the over all plot and the theme. So no complaints on that part.

The author is anonymous. May be it is a marketing gimmick or may be a real story where the author really wants to be anonymous. The story is so convincing enough to give you a make belief feel,that it might have happened for real but fat chance. At the same time i couldnt help wonder, whether has it took too many cues from the Satyam saga?

The story is being set in Hyderabad, a multinational audit firm, auditors jailed barred, missing promoters, political connections.Anything more, i would be telling you the story.

It also reminded me of the movie, "Fun with Dick and Jane" where Jim Carrey gets promoted only to be left holding the bag. The final interview part by the hero reminded me of the interview of the Robin Varghese in the Dork book. Above all, certain "very romantic" parts were so artificial and seemed like the editor suggested, "Hey why there is no sex at all? Can you add that up to spice as it is an important ingredient in the formula?"

You can buy the book here for 130 or wait and possibly spend 200 + to watch as movie in a multiplex ;)

Sunday, January 15, 2012

My Talkings

Three's a charm, Hence thought will create a page with links to all Radio talks.
Not to mention the hope, that there could be many such radio talks in future :)

Book Interview

Tech Biz Review for 2011

Tribute to Steve Jobs

p.s
I know, you can get all the posts by clicking the label RadioInterview

Book Interview in ATBC

Again Kanapraba was gracious enough to have me as an host in his Radio show for ATBC.
This time it was for my (first) book on Steve Jobs.

It might be a rehash of this post, still if you want to hear it from the horse's mouth err in my voice.Go Ahead. Listen Here :) :)

Sunday, January 08, 2012

ஸ்டீவ் ஜாப்ஸ் கதையின் கதை

முதல் முறை அமெரிக்க பயணம். ஆறு வாரங்கள் ஆனால் மூன்று மாதம் வரை போகலாம் என்று சொல்லி அனுப்பியவர்கள் ஐந்தே வாரங்களில் வரச் சொல்லி விட்டார்கள்.

அலுவலகத்திற்கு முட்டாய் போதும், வீட்டிற்கு அமெரிக்கா போய் வந்த பெருமை போதும் ஆனால் நண்பர் ஒருவருக்கு ஏதாவது வாங்கிச் செல்ல வேண்டும் என ஆலோசனை கேட்டேன்.

அதற்கு முன் பல முறை கடையில் நான் ஙே என்று விழித்த போது ஆலோசனை கொடுத்தவர். கார்டை ரொம்பவும் தேய்க்காமல் காப்பாற்றியவர்.
நல்லதாக வேண்டுமா இல்லை மொக்கையாக இருந்தால் பரவாயில்லையா என்று கேள்வி கேட்டார்.. நல்ல நண்பர், ஆகையால் நல்லதாக வேண்டும் என்றேன். அப்படியானால் ஐ-பாடு வாங்கிக் கொடு என்றனர்.

கடையில் பபிள் கம் அளவு இருந்த 1GB பிளேயர் 99.99 டாலர் மட்டுமே. மேற்படி 8.5 சதவிகிதம் வரி என்றனர். மத்யமர் மனம் 50 டாலருக்கு 2 GB வருகிறதே என கணக்கும் கேள்வியும் கேட்க, அழைத்துச் சென்றவர் காறித் துப்பினார். ஆப்பிள் என்றால் சும்மாவா என்றார்? நல்ல வேளை தலை முடியை ஒட்ட கத்திரிந்திருந்தேன். இல்லையென்றால் நிச்சயம் பிடித்து ஆட்டியிருந்திருப்பார்.

அறைக்கு வந்த கையோடு, அவரின் அறையிலிருந்து கை நிறைய ஐ-பாடுகள் கொண்டு வந்தார். ஒவ்வொரு வகையிலும் குறைந்தது ஒன்று வாங்கி இருந்தார். எல்லாம் நெருங்கிய சொந்தங்கள் நண்பர்களுக்காக என்றார்.

நல்ல நண்பருக்கு நல்லது வாங்க வேண்டும் என்றால் ஐ-பாடை வாங்கு இல்லையென்றால் வாங்கவே வாங்காதே என்றார். தெரியாதவராக இருந்தால ஆப்பிள் ஏஜண்ட் என்று நம்பி இருப்பேன்.

ஆப்பிள் என்றால் அவ்வளவு பெரிய அப்பாடக்கரா? அப்படி என்ன இருக்கிறது இதில் என்று தொடங்கியது உண்மையான தேடல் முடிந்த இடம் ஸ்டீவ் ஜாப்ஸ். அதற்கு முன் சிறு வயதில் பிசி பில்கேட்ஸ் எல்லாம் சும்மா, மேக் தான் மேம்பட்டது என சிலர் சொல்லக் கேட்டிருக்கிறேன். காதால் கேட்பது எல்லாம் பொய் என அவ்வளவாக அதைக் கண்டு கொள்ளவில்லை. தீர விசாரித்து நம்ப இவ்வளவு நாட்களாகி(வருடங்களாகி) விட்டது.

இந்தியா வந்திறங்கி, முதல் நாள் அலுவலகத்தில் இருந்து சீக்கிரம் திரும்பி. கிண்டி பிளாட்பாரக் கடையில் iCon புத்தகம் வாங்கினேன்.

ஒரு மனிதனின் வாழ்க்கை சரித்திரமா இல்லை, இரஜினி சினிமா கதையா என்று தான் தோன்றியது. ஸ்டீவ் ஜாப்ஸின் பைத்தியக்கார இரசிகர்களில் மற்றும் ஒருவன் சேர்ந்தான்.

அப்படிப் பட்ட ஒரு மனிதனின் சரித்திரம் தமிழில் இல்லையே என்ற குறை, அதை நான் போக்க வேண்டும் என்று எல்லாம்அப்பொழுது தோன்றவில்லை. பிறகு நானே எழுதுவது என்று எடுத்த முடிவு முடிவாகவே இருந்தது. சேப்டர் பிரித்தலும், இரண்டு மூன்று அத்தியாயங்களுக்கு மேல் நகரவில்லை. ஆண்டுகள் கடந்துக் கொண்டிருந்தன.

இதற்கிடையில் கூகிள் சாட்டில் அவ்வப்பொழுது பாராவுக்கு வணக்கம் சொல்லும் பொழுது எல்லாம் அவரின் :> சிக்னேச்சர் ரிப்ளை மட்டும் வந்துக் கொண்டு இருந்தது. ஒரு நாள் எங்கு இருக்கிறேன் என எல்லாம் கேட்டு விட்டு என் வீடு அவரின் வீட்டுக்கு கூப்பிடு தூரத்தில் இருப்பதால் வீட்டுக்கு கூப்பிட்டார்.

சந்தித்த போது,  ”நான் ஸ்டீவ் ஜாப்ஸ் கதை எழுதும் முயற்சியில் இருக்கிறேன் என்று சொன்னவுடன், அவனா நீ பார்வை பார்த்து ரொம்ப நாட்களாக எழுதிக் கொண்டு இருப்பது போல் இருக்கிறது என்றார். அசடு வழியும் புன்னகையை மட்டுமே பதிலாக தந்தேன்.

இன்னும் இவ்வளவு நாட்களுக்குள் எழுதி முடிக்க வேண்டும் இல்லையென்றால் அவ்வளவு தான் என்றார். டெட்லைனைக்குள் டெலிவரி என்பது சராசரி சாப்ட்வேர்காரன் அகராதியில் இல்லை என்பது அவருக்கு அப்பொழுது தெரியாது!

டெட்லைன் தாண்டிய பின், மீண்டும் அவரிடம் ஐயா இன்னும் சில வாரங்கள் தாருங்கள் என்று கேட்ட தருணம் அக்மார்க் க்ளையண்ட் மீட்டிங்! இனி மேல் வாரா வாரம் ஸ்டேட்டஸ் மீட்டிங் என்று தமிழ்பேப்பரில் எழுத சொல்லி விட்டார்.

அப்பொழுதாவது அரக்க பறக்க இல்லாமல் ஆற அமர எழுதி முடித்திருக்கலாம். பார்க்கின்சன் விதியை பின்பற்றாவிட்டால் என்ன ஆவது!ஹூம். புதன் கிழமைக்கு எழுத, செவ்வாய்க்கிழமை மாலை அலுவலகத்திலிருந்து அவசர அவசரமாக புறப்படுவேன். [இந்த சமயத்திலாவது என் மேனஜருக்கும் என் டீம் மக்களுக்கும் நன்றி சொல்லி விடுகிறேன்] இரவு இரண்டு மணிக்கு அனுப்பி விட்டு புதன் காலை ஏழு மணிக்கு லிங்க் எப்பொழுது வரும் என கேட்டதுண்டு.
இனிமேல் செவ்வாய் மாலைக்குள் அனுப்பாவிட்டால் புதன் கிழமை பிர்சுரம் ஆகாது என்ற எச்சரிக்கைக்கு பின் சில காலம் ஒழுங்காய் இருந்தேன். மருதன் காலத்தில் வேதாளம் முருங்கை மரம் ஏறி இருந்தது! வாசகர்களின் கமெண்ட்டுகளின் ஆதரவில் ஒரு வழியாய் வாரம் தவறாது அனுப்பினேன்.

இதற்கிடையி்ல் ஸ்டீவ் ஜாப்ஸ் மறைந்து அவரின் பயோகிராபி வந்தபின், அது வரை எழுதியதை எல்லாம் சரி பார்த்து, இன்னும் எதை எதை சேர்க்க வேண்டும் என்று சேர்த்து, தொடர் வடிவில் இருந்ததை புத்தக வடிவிற்கு மாற்றி இதோ இப்பொழுது புத்தகமாக சென்னை புத்தக கண்காட்சியில் மதி நிலையத்தில்(ஸ்டால் 18,19-ல்) 184 பக்கங்கள் 100 ரூபாயில்!

பி.கு
இன்று முதல் முறையாக சென்னை புத்தக கண்காட்சிக்கு சென்றேன். திருவிழாவில் காணாமல் போன குழந்தையாய் சுற்றிக் கொண்டிருந்த போது என் பழைய அலுவலக நண்பர் எதிர்ப்பட்டார்.

நானும் அவரும் அலுவலகப் பேருந்தில் சகபயணிகளாக இருந்த காலத்தில் பயண நேரத்தையும் தாண்டி தூங்கும் என் பிரசித்தி காரணமாக அறிமுகமானவர்.அவருடன் பேருந்தில் திரும்பி வரும் போது, “ஸ்டீவ் ஜாப்ஸை பற்றி எழுத வேண்டும் என உங்களுக்கு ஏன் தோன்றியது?” என அவர் கேட்ட கேள்விக்கான பதில் இந்தப் பதிவு!

எப்பொழுதும் அப்படி தூங்கி வழியும் நீங்கள் எப்படி எழுதினீர்கள் என்றும் அவர் கேட்டார். அதற்கு சொன்ன பதில் மிக விரைவில்.

பி.பி.கு
அம்பு எய்த அந்த நண்பர், ஞானியின் ஸ்டாலில் வாலண்டியராக பணிபுரிகிறார். அலுவலகத்திற்கு விடுமுறை விண்ணப்பத்திருப்பதாக சொன்னார். எல்லா நாளும் கண்காட்சிக்கு வருவது எனவும் அவர் முடிவு செய்துள்ளார். நானும் அவரும் ஒன்றாக பேருந்தில் திரும்பி வருவது என நாங்கள் முடிவு செய்துள்ளோம். நான் வழக்கம் போல பேருந்தில் தூங்க வேண்டும் என வேண்டிக் கொள்ளுங்கள்!

Friday, January 06, 2012

First of all Firsts

I am yet to hold a girl in hands as husband...
I am yet to hold my kid as a proud dad...
But here I am holding my first book :P :D


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Inspired by

Monday, January 02, 2012

The Year that went by

How did the 2011 fare in terms of technology business?
To know more, listen here . Ahem. The first one is by yours truly. :)

To know more about 2012, go here.