- October, 2007
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my first mumbai visit
Spacious, clean and clear signboards - these were my first impression of the Mumbai airport. This was quite a nice change after the Delhi airport. I landed in Mumbai at 2230 on 14th October. I called up my sister who came to pick me around 2300. We took a taxi back to her place. I was quite tired after the flight and I crashed at her small apartment soon after we reached there.
Next morning I had to visit one of my father's contacts. I was also introduced to something that might come across as an oddity for a Delhi/Bangalore guy - You get into a auto rickshaw and tell the driver "Go to location XYZ". You do not need to ask him first "Will you go to location XYZ? How much will you charge?". You just get in, tell him where to go and the driver start his meter and takes you to location XYZ. No haggling. Strange, but nice!
The Mumbai roads are smooth, there are very few speed-breakers and the drivers are somewhat disciplined.
However, let me get to the point that I liked the most - NIGHT LIFE. Mumbai is truly the metro city of India. It simply has no competition. I was out in the streets till 5 AM in the morning and the city was still bustling. I went to the Juhu beach and the shops there were still open past midnight. I am not really a night-person, but I sometimes like to go out for junk food around midnight. There were plenty of auto rickshaws available even at 5 AM in the morning.
What are the downsides of living in Mumbai? I would say - the high cost of accommodation and peak hour traffic. Everyone I met complained about both these things.
I can now understand why people from Mumbai do not want to move out of it. I had a good time visiting the city. In the end, thanks to cray3 for the fantastic idea of going to Juhu at midnight, movie at her place and a nice dump of trance music.
- September, 2007
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Praise for the Bangalore Police
Some 2 days back, I was returning home from work. On that fateful day, the narrow street of Bangalore was further narrowed by a truck carrying a huge idol of Ganesha being taken for immersion.
The street was totally jampacked and I had given up all hope of getting back home in less than an hour. However, much to my surprise the Bangalore traffic police did a great job of clearing a way through the street packed with dancers and devotees so that the people returning back from the office could pass through. Had this been in Delhi, the police would have simply given up and waited for the procession to clear up on its own accord. Given the limited road space in Bangalore and the heavy monsoons here, it is really great to see the traffic police managing the resources so well.
I hope the Bangalore traffic police keeps up the good work.
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3 fast movie reviews
- Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag - Eminently avoidable. In no way does it compare to Sholay. Don't watch.
- Chak De! India - Nice movie. Shah Rukh Khan does not go overboard with his theatrics. The flow never slackens. Nice photography, nice music, nice story, great acting. Watch.
- Heyy Babyy - Neither good, nor bad. Average comedy, not much of a plot, average music. Good way to pass time. If you can avoid watching the movie, avoid it. If not, go in with zero expectation, and you will not be disappointed.
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recipe to success - job, not demographics
Companies make a mistake by segmenting markets by demographics or product characteristics. Instead, write Christensen et al. in "Finding the Right Job for Your Product," "Customers' purchase decisions don't necessarily conform to those of the 'average' customer in their demographic; nor do they confine the search for solutions within a product category. Rather, customers just find themselves needing to get things done." The advice is 3-fold: segment markets by job, identify the job-based structure of a market, and let innovators understand how to accomplish the work.
The above is the gist from a Harvard Business School Note written by Professor Clayton M. Christensen.
That has been my approach for solving problems for a long time. When I start a startup, my product would be centered around solving a problem or doing a job and not around demographic. It makes me feel good that I might have been thinking along the correct lines for a long time.
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w00t!
I cleared the Certified MySQL 5.0 DBA (CMDBA) certification exam yesterday. To put it politely - MySQL 5 is my bitch!
- August, 2007
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The Simpsons Movie
The movie starts with Homer saying 'I can't believe we're paying for something we get free on TV!'. However, not for one moment did I regret coughing up the money for the movie tickets. It has lots of jokes and, as always, it also bites the hand that feeds by making jokes on the Fox Network. The best part of the movie is obviously the Bart Simpson skateboarding to Krusty Burger scene.
Final verdict: Watch it!
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exploding nokia batteries
If you are a nokia phone user, be warned that Nokia warns consumers of battery overheating risks. A Nokia battery will have "Nokia" and "BL-5C" printed on the front of the battery. On the reverse, the Nokia mark appears at the top and the battery identification number (consisting of 26 characters) is found at the bottom.
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