Running log of Books I read in 2010...

1. What the Dog Saw: And Other Adventures by Malcolm Gladwell

2. SuperFreakonomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner

3. Digital Fortress by Dan Brown

4. Cell by Stephen King

5. Under the Dome by Stephen King

6. Asterios Polyp by David Mazzucchelli

7.Too Much Happiness by Alice Munro

Running log of movies I watched in 2010...

Up in the Air

Directed by
Jason Reitman (Juno, Consent, Thanks for Smoking,Uncle Sam)"
Cast
Ryan Bingham (George Clooney)Alex Goran (Vera Farmiga)Natalie Keener (Anna Kendrick)

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It's Complicated

Directed by
Nancy Meyers ( Something's Gotta Give , The Holiday)
Cast
Jane ( Meryl Streep)Adam (Steve Martin)Jake ( Alec Baldwin)Harley ( John Krasinski)

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The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3

Directed by
Tony Scott
Cast
Walter Garber (Denzel Washington)Ryder (John Travolta)

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District 9

Directed by Neill Blomkamp

Cast Wikus Van De Merwe (Sharlto Copley)

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Duplicity

Directed by
Tony Gilroy ( The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy, The Bourne Ultimatum)
Cast
Ray Koval (Clive Owen)Claire Stenwick (Julia Roberts)

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Extract

Directed by
Mike Judge ( Idiocracy)
Cast Joel ( Jason Bateman)

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Eagle Eye

Directed by D.J. Caruso

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The Hurt Locker

Directed by Kathryn Bigelow

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Beyond a Reasonable Doubt

Directed by Peter Hyams

अप्रेझल

ऑफिस मधील अप्रेझलच्या मोसमात आपल्यासारखाच मार खाल्लेला दुष्काळग्रस्त मित्र लाभणे यापेक्षा दुसरे भाग्य नाही. संध्याकाळी घरी आल्यावर मी माझ्या अशाच एका मित्राला फोन लावला.

"हॅलो. काय रे, काय सुरु आहे?" मी.

"काही नाही रे. तू बोल." तो.

सिक्स्थ सेन्स म्हणा किंवा काहीही म्हणा पण अशावेळी दोघांनाही बरोबर माहित असते की आता कोणता विषय निघणार आहे ते.

"आज रेटिंग समजले आणि डिसकशनपण झाले." मी सांगून मोकळा झालो.

"मला 'गुड' दिलयं आणि डिसकशन उद्या होईल." त्याने आपली पाने टेबलावर टाकली.

"सेम हिअर. मला पण तेच. आऊटस्ट्यांडींग, एक्सलंट, गुड, आणि अ‍ॅव्हरेज या क्रमाने गेलो तर 'गुड' म्हणजे 'बॅड' आहे. उगाच आपलं मोराल टिकून राहावं म्हणून गोड गोड नावे देतात साले........." बायको घरी असल्यामुळे मी जरा तोंड आवरलं.

" तुझा बॉस काय म्हणाला डिसकशनमधे?"

"नेहमीचचं. टेक्निकली तू स्ट्राँग आहेस पण पर्सनल इफेक्टीव्हनेस आणि रिस्पॉन्सिव्हनेस यात इम्प्रूव्हमेंट केली पाहिजे" मी माझी बिनपाण्याने कशी झाली ते सांगितलं.

"वाटलचं मला. हे बरायं, सॉफ्ट स्किल्सचा पॉईंट काढ्ला की आपल्याला जास्त बोलता येत नाही रे."

" बोलता येत नाही म्हणण्यापेक्षा धाडकन डिफेंडही करता येत नाही." मी जरा रिडिफाईन केले.

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"आता जरा तो फोन ठेव. पिल्लू उठलयं वाटतं. जरा बघ त्याच्याकडे. " बायकोने किचन मधून सांगितले.

आमचे तसेही बोलून झालेच होते. मी फोन ठेवला आणि आमचे तीन महिन्याचे बाळराजे ज्या खोलीत नुकतेच झोपेतून उठून खुसखूस आवाज करत क्रीबमधे पडले होते तिथे गेलो.

"त्याचा डायपर बदलायचाय. तेवढा नवा डायपर घे आणि बदल." बायको आतून वदली.

"हो."

मी डायपर्सचा खोका शोधू लागलो. कपाट उघडणे, ड्रॉवर्स आत बाहेर करणे, बेड जवळचे कॉफी टेबल उचकटणे आदिंचे आवाज एकून पाच एक मिनीटांनी शेवटी एकदाची बायकोच प्रकट झाली. काहीही न बोलता, क्रीबचा वरुन दुसरा कप्पा उघडून एक नवा डायपर तिने बाहेर काढला.

"तीन महिने झाले तरी अजून डायपर्स कुठे ठेवलेले असतात त्याचा पत्ता नाहीये तुझ्या बाबांना!"

कधी नव्हे ते वाटून गेले. बॉसचा सॉफ्ट स्किल्सचा पॉईंट खरचं बरोबर होता की काय?

Jail Reviewed

My regular readers, if there are any (!?!), might accuse me of posting one after another negative reviews of books I read and movies I watch.

But this time I can't help when Write-Director Madhur Bhandarkar goes rogue and sentences unsuspecting viewers of Jail - his latest flick - to two and half hours of rigorous boredom.

Madhur Bhandarkar is someone who can make prototypical negativity really entertaining. He proved that in Chandani Bar, Satta, Fashion, Traffic Signal, and Corporate. In Jail, he dares to go ‘behind the bar’ and fails to live up to the mark.

Even though Jail's receipe has all those 'Madhur' flavours - a main topic (our sluggish justice system), professionals engaged in malpractices (exploiting lawyer), near-factual story line (hardship in prison), main character's life going topsyturvy, and pseudo happy ending - it completely fails to satisfy viewer's entertainment taste buds.

I cannot describe this movie without giving away much of its plot. Parag Dixit, an innocent, well educated guy played by Neil Nitin Mukesh, spends 2 years behind the bars while being prosecuted based on circumstantial evidence.Navab, his fellow jail mate played by Manoj Vajpayee, acts as Parag's moral compass in those years.

Neil Nitin Mukesh portrayed stunned and flabbergasted Parag so naturally that, I think, he is just being himself in the movie. ( FYI - This is not a compliment!).

Manoj Vajpayee's natural talents go untapped in this movie. Same is the case with talents of Madhura Godse!

Final word. If you've already seen Jail, and are willing to redeem your mistake, please watch 'The Shawshank Redemption' without fail.

The Lost Symbol

What do you get when you cross a bunch of Wiki posts on Freemasonry with Brownism?
- The Lost Symbol

Just finished reading this book.

Dan Brown, author of Da Vinci Code, Angels and Demons, Digital Fortress, and
Deception Point, disappointed me by sending Robert Langdon, Harvard Professor from Department of Symbology - that, by the way, is nonexistent- on a dead-end mission to find something hidden somewhere in Washington, DC, in his new novel - The Lost Symbol

The plot, in addition to being a dead-ended one, is weak and predictable. Much has already been said and written about the Masons and their involvement in events that shaped U.S. history. To date, mishmash of legend and tweaked facts has obscured the reality to such an extent that finding a meaningful conclusion ,even in a fiction book, is as impossible as finding that something hidden somewhere in DC. The reference to Noetic Science feels ad-hoc and is totally uncalled for, so does the involvement of CIA. Readers of Da Vinci and A&D can easily point out that Prof. Langdon is not up to the mark in this novel.

Read/Skim/Toss? Just Skim.

अपॉरच्युनीटी कॉस्ट

रात्रीचे तीन-सव्वा तीन वाजलेले.

स्टडी ग्रुपचे पार्टनर्स आजची केस स्टडी सोडवून नुकतेच आपापल्या रुमवर परतलेले.याच्या डोक्यात मात्र अजूनही "अपॉरच्युनीटी कॉस्ट", आजच्या केस स्टडीचा विषय, याचेच विचार घोळत होते.

एक्सिक्युटीव्ह एम्.बी.ए. च्या पहिल्या सेमिस्टरच्या पुस्तकांच्या मधे कुठेतरी अ‍ॅश ट्रे सापडला.तुडूंब भरलेला.पर्यायच नव्हता. तो उठला आणि अ‍ॅश ट्रे रिकामा करुन आला.

गोल्ड फ्लेक शिलगावली.

"अपॉरच्युनीटी कॉस्ट", दोन पर्यायांपैकी एक निवडल्यावर, दुसरा पर्याय न निवडल्याने गमावलेला फायदा, ही निवडलेल्या पर्यायाची "अपॉरच्युनीटी कॉस्ट".

आजतोवर स्वीकारलेले आणि नाकारलेले पर्याय आणि त्यांच्या परिणामांच्या बेरजा-वजाबाक्या त्याच्या डोळयांसमोर येऊ लागल्या.

सहावी, सातवी, आणि आठवीत चित्रकलेत खूप बक्षिसे मिळवली.मी कोण होणार? तर चित्रकार, हेच डोक्यात.

पण डोके होते. बोर्डात नंबर. तो पण दोन्हिवेळेस. यू.डी.सी.टी. केमिकल इंजिनीअरींगला सहज प्रवेश. एफ.ई. चे ग्राफिक्स आणि एका वर्षीच्या कॉलेज मॅग्झिनचे कव्हर डिझाईन इथेच त्याच्या चित्रकलेच्या चित्तरकथेला पूर्णविराम मिळाला. एक पर्याय संपला.

कॅम्पसला पहिल्या दिवशी आय्.टी. कंपनी होती. हा विनासायास सिलेक्टेड. दुसर्‍या दिवशी प्रॉक्टर अ‍ॅन्ड गॅम्बल, प्रत्येक केमिकल इंजिनीअरची ड्रीम कंपनी. हातात ऑफर लेटररुपी पर्याय असताना प्रॉक्टर अ‍ॅन्ड गॅम्बलला अ‍ॅप्पीअर होण्याचा फारसा मूड असा नव्ह्ताच. एक पर्याय असा संपवला गेला.

पुढे मेनफ्रेममधे पोजेक्ट मिळाला. शिक्षण आणि काम यांचा अर्थाअर्थी संबंध कमीच पण "अर्थ" चांगले होते. बरेचदा रात्री १० ते सकाळी ७ अशी शिफ्ट. पहिली गोल्डफ्लेक अशीच एका रात्री प्रॉडक्शन सपॉर्टचे टेन्शन फुंकून कसे टाकायचे ते शिकवून गेली. कामात हा हुषार. दोन वर्षांनी यु.के. ला ऑनसाईट मिळाले.तिथे तीन वर्षे "बॅटींग" केली. क्लायंट साईटवर मॅकीन्झिचे बरेच टिप्-टॉप कन्स्लटंट्स दिसायचे. हा मनात तुलना करायचा.

पाच वर्षात सेव्हिंग झाले होते. लग्न-घरदार यात पडणे आता शक्य होते. किंवा ??? पर्याय संपले असे वाटत होते पण...एका वर्षाच्या एक्सिक्युटीव्ह एम्.बी.ए. ला अ‍ॅडमिशन घेतली. सेव्हिंग अकाऊंट निल झाले. पर्यायाने लग्न-घरदार हे आता पाच एक वर्षेतरी लांबणीवर पडले.

"चित्रकारच झालो असतो तर.. क्रिएटीव्ह लोकांसाठी खूप स्कोप आहेच की."

"प्रॉक्टर अ‍ॅन्ड गॅम्बल मधे गेलो असतो तर.. छान वर वर गेलो असतो एव्हाना."

"यु.के.त सेटल झालो असतो तर ..आधी प्रोजेक्ट मॅनेजर आणि मग अकाऊंट मॅनेजर झालोच असतो की."

"फॅमिलीमॅन झालो असतो तर बरोबरीच्या मित्रांच्या लग्नांचे इनव्हिटेशंस पाहून बोअर झालो नसतो."
"तसा धरसोड नाहीये मी. लाथ मारेन तिथे पाणी काढतो मी. पण प्रोब्लेम हा आहे की मी लाथा फार मारल्या. एकच सणसणीत लाथ मारली असती तर बरे झाले असते."
"सकॄतदर्शनी मी लाथ कुठे मारायची हे ठरवताना अजूनही चाचपडतोय. पण लौकीक अर्थाने..."
बीप्..बीप्..बीप..

मोबाईलचा साडे पाचचा अलार्म वाजला. ऊठून जरा योगा करावा म्हणून लावलेला अलार्म.

झोपायचा पत्ता नाही अजून. ऊठायाचा अलार्म काय कामाचा!

पुन्हा दोन पर्याय.. झोप की योगा?

"अशा पर्यायांची अपॉरच्युनीटी कॉस्ट काढणे सोप्पे असते!" डोक्यावर चादर घेताना तो हसत म्हणाला.

Ahead of Curve by Philip D. Broughton

In 2004, Philip Delves Broughton, 31-year-old journalist happily married and blessed with a kid, decided to put an end to boredom of daily journalism. Pondering over the option of change in careers, he applied to business schools and, to his surprise, was accepted at none other than Harvard Business School.

Broughton tells what happened next in Ahead of the Curve, a handy book for anyone considering a similar path, or just curious as to how Harvard churns out M.B.A. grads. This book assumes the reader, like Broughton, knows precisely nil about the corporate world.

The book doesn't work especially well as a conventional narrative. Ahead of the Curve offers a good sense of Harvard Business School's day-to-day workings, everything from what the other students are like to the merits of each lecturer to impressions of business titans such as Warren Buffett and Stephen Schwarzman, who revolve through the doors offering pointers on how to get filthy rich.

Broughton candidly shares his delightfully clueless days at Harvard. His math skills are crude, and he can't operate Microsoft Excel. When the other students flock off to Wall Street for summer jobs, he can't get one and is forced to spend three hot months in a Harvard library writing a novel. In fact, from the outset, he is entirely ambivalent about entering Corporate America. He doesn't really want to work that hard, he admits. He wants to spend time with his family.

As his two years draw to a close, Broughton wrestles with his next move. His classmates are all taking new jobs at McKinsey and Bain and Yahoo, but despite myriad interviews, he has yet to field an offer. Part of the problem is what he wants, as he writes in a "Help Wanted Ad I Sought But Never Found" : "Absurdly profitable company seeks journalist with ten years' experience and a Harvard MBA for extremely highly paid, low-stress job in which he can wear nice suits and loaf around in air-conditioned splendor making the very occasional executive decision. Requirements: acute discomfort in the presence of spreadsheets, inability to play golf, poorly concealed loathing of corporate life, knowledge of ancient Greek."

Broughton eventually draws interest from Google, but after 14 (yes FOURTEEN!!!) separate interviews, including an eight-hour marathon in a tiny conference room, he backs out, unable to reconcile his ambitions with life in a Dilbert cubicle.

Just out of my curiosity, I Googled a lot to know about Philip's post B-School life but nothing much came up.

Recently read non-fiction books

Just finished these two non-fiction books -

1. My Secret Life on the Mcjob: Lessons from Behind the Counter Guaranteed to Supersize Any Management Style

By Jerry Newman.

Jerry is a Management Professor & Consultant who took a 14 month long sabbatical to go undercover and work as a 'Burger guy' behind the counter. He shares his findings with readers.


2. Dispatches from the Edge: A Memoir of War, Disasters, and Survival

By Anderson Cooper.

Anderson Cooper -- the name needs no introduction. In his book he looks back on his experience as a on-site journalist, reporter, and host of show 'Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees' on CNN. He also draws a parallel between sadistic part of his personal life and the events he reports on.

Recently read books

Just finished reading these three books ...each on a different topic altogether

1. Unsafe at any altitude

By Susan B. Trento and Joseph J. Trento

Unsafe at Any Altitude made me think on the flight security, 9/11, and terrorism.

2. Damnation Street

By Andrew Klavan

I read this author for the first time. I must say his style makes you feel you are watching a Hollywood flick!


3. The Innocent Man

By John Grisham

Perhaps the only work on non-fiction from John Grisham. It is about a small town guy Ron Williamson who gets trapped in the mess created by justice system.

Summer Weekend # 4 - American Museum of Natural History and Central Park

A visit to Museum of Natural History (http://amnh.org ) was overdue so I planned a visit this weekend. I did shoot some of the exhibits in this museum using my Canon ZR 200. A link to my recording will be posted soon!

In the evening Mandar and I just could not resist our temptation to visit Central Park which was just across the street. When I saw the snaps taken by Mandar, I could not resist my temptation to make some graffiti :)

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चाकोरीमधे सुदधा सुंदर आयुष्य जगता येते.

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ओल्या पालवीची मी वाट पाहते!


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झाडावर प्रेम करा , झाडाखाली नको!

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फोटो काढायचा म्हटले की मी एका पायावर तयार!

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Summer Weekend # 3 - Cycling in Central Park

In Central Park one can rent cycels and have some fun. Rental cycles are available near Boathouse. I got off at 81ST West subway stop, entered the Park, and headed for Boathouse. The rent is $9 for first Hr and then $5 for each subsequent half hours.
The bikeway circles entire Park. Important point to note is that bikeway is oneway so literally there can be no looking back! The ride was real fun. After I long long time I had a chance to ride a cycle.

Summer 2007 Weekend #2 - Hershey's Park

One is only happy in proportion as he makes others feel happy
-Milton Hershey

Hershey's Chocolates used to make me happy long before I came onsite. The mails with subject line " Chocolates at my desk" were harbinger of hopes that one fine day I would also get a chance to go onsite.

I spent my last weekend in the Hershey's park.
The amusement park was good; enjoyed almost all the rides and water sports. The fireworks were really spectacular.


Pune Vs America :)- I often get Fwd mails with "Puneri patya" .Now look at this "American paty" which I saw near the 'Kissing Tower''in this park.

Summer 2007 Weekend #1 Brighton Beach

On a chilly weekend back in December, I had been to Coney Island. The beach and boardwalk both were almost deserted and I didn't feel what I typically feel whenever I visit any beach.
So I went there on a sunny weekend. I think, it was a fun to visit the same place in summer .
There is a beach called Brighton Beach near Coney Island beach. This one is less crowed and much cleaner than Coney. So first I went there and then to Coney Island.

I took subway line 'B' and got off at Brighton beach. Spent around 2/3 hrs there and came back.

More info can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brighton_Beach

DayLight Saving Time Explanined!

Thanks to Daylight Saving Time (DST), last night I hit the bed a little early, snuggled myself under the rug, and kept wondering how exactly DST helps save energy.

This is what I thought.

Let us assume that the Sun sets at 6.00 PM in March. Mr. Raghav leaves his office at 6.00 PM, takes 1 hour to drive back home in his car. He keeps his car's headlights on while driving in the dusk per rules of DMV.

Thus Raghav spends energy for 1 hour.

Now Day Light Saving starts - it "makes" the Sun to set at 7.00 PM. Raghav still leaves the office at 6.00 PM ( That's the catch!). He drives back home in his own car in broad light of the day( or evening) without having to turn his car's headlights on.

Thus Raghav saves energy for 1 hour.

Now you may ask what happens when he drives to his office in the morning. He , anyway, does not use headlights in the morning.

Bottom line:

DST helps save energy for a small fraction of the day near sunset ( or sun rise in some cases)

Following note is a high fundoo theory; read at your own risk:

We follow two Times - A. Clock & B. Cycle based on sunset / sunrise. Some activities we do are mapped to Clock while some are mapped to Sunset / Sunrise.

e.g. Working in office from 9 AM to 6 PM is mapped to a clock while putting your headlights on while driving is indirectly mapped to avaialibilty of the Sun light. If we change the overlap between these two mapping we can re-map some activities to do them more efficiently and effectiviely.

Feel free to comment/argu.

Oracle Buys Hyperion

There are two types of players in an uncertain business scenario --- shapers and adapters. Shapers are aggressive leaders trying to shape the future by exploiting uncertainty. While adapters wait,watch , weigh their options, and then carefully choose the right mix of proven or semi-proven or likely to be proven strategies.

Oracle is a clear shaper in Enterprise Application domain. Oracle is on a buying spree aimed to consolidate first ERP and then BI market place. Recent acquisition of Hyperion makes the whole thing more interesting.

Anonymously famous

Jeremy Blachman .. a Harvard grad turned lawyer turned anonymous blogger turned famous author! So far so good.

This afternoon I just picked up his book "Anonymous Lawyer" kept on New Arrivals rack in my library with absolutely no idea what this freaking thing is all about.

This guy anonymously started writing a fictional blog . He kept writing and posting until his blog became so famous that he published a book!

Thanks Jeremy, I have atleast something to read over this long weekend :-)

मावसबोली

वाट चुकते ते पाऊल

टाकतो तो माणूस ....

वाट चुकली बिकली नाही .. पण एरवी मावसबोलीत असणाऱ्या माझ्या या ब्लॉग वर थोडस मायबोलीत् .....

This is it, one BIG game

THIS IS IT, ONE BIG GAME, THAT YOU CANNOT MISS
NO MATTER WHO YOU ARE – EVERYONE'S ON THE LIST
THIS IS THE GAME OF LIFE AND WE ALL ARE ONE

-- The official song of ICC World Cup 2007

New teams such as Canada, Bermuda, Scottland, and Ireland are all dressed up for this one event for the first time ever!

So who is gonna lift the cup? The most anticiapted Men in Yellow or most desired Men In Blue :-)

Count down has begun ..!

Ski ...amazing experience!

Enjoyed Ski - a game which is worth playing & a risk worth taking!

We hit the slopes of Blue Mountain, PA. Consumed some extra calories by eating french fries, nachos, cheese sticks, and hot chocolate only to burn them in the snow flakes!

At the end of the day, I could say that -

1. I can use various accessories ( shoes, boards, poles)
2. I can get up if I fell down ( sometimes)
6. I can side-step
4. I can make a 'C' using my feet
5. I can walk like a duck
6. I can ski for 100 meteres before coming to a safe and proper halt.
7. I can ski in a 'S'. Making consecutive 'S' is something on my
'To Do' List.

Not bad for a fresher ... Huh!

Here comes Lil' Miss Sunshine

She is Olive, a seven year old chubby girl who loves ice-cream and dreams to win a beauty contest.
Her family -
Dad - a professionally flop motivational speaker
Mom - a chain smoker lady bogged down by her own life
Brother - a rebellious 16 year old guy who has been mute by choice for 9 months
Grandpa - a cribbing old bone who is on drugs.
Uncle - a frustrated scholar with a recent unsuccessful suicide attempt on track record.
Enough!

A family of five... common thing is all are big time LOSERS! Few of them admit that they are losers. Few of them hate that they are losers... few of them hate that they need to live with losers ...the only ray of hope is ...Olive' twinkel in her eyes or God knows perhaps the reflection from her specs.

They have one more thing in common ... in spite of being 'loser individually' the urge to make their road trip to Olive's beauty contest a success...! Simply put , 'Success is not a destination but a journey!' And they make it only to lose ... but that does not matter... in the end what matters is the ray of hope in her eyes and the fight to be successful as per one's very own definition of success!