Flop Show...Flop Show......

Perhaps you know you are growing older  when you see  your “childhood heroes” keep dying on you!

Yesterday was shocking for me to see the NEWS of Mr. Jaspal Bhatti dying in a road accident.

Though he was not my hero but  there is  something about his legacy which struck my heart.

His legacy is nothing but my memories of my childhood.

 

I remember Jaspal Bhatti right from my childhood days. His jokes meant nothing too me , I was too naïve  to understand anything.

I used to see “Ulta-pulta” (upside down- Jaspal Bhattis 2-3 mins satirical comedy skit ) just because in those days you did not have the luxury to change the channel .

By the time I gained my senses “Flop-Show” started airing on DD national. If humor is the indicator of any nations progress, India would probably come in last few ( obviously above middle eastern countries). India would certainly have bottomed the list if it were not for Flop Show.

 

Flop Show was a comedy about day-to-day life of a Bharatvasi. Those were the times of restrictions, nothing was abundant (other than mouths to feed)

We were a socialist country and this was a silent revolution in comedy.

I remember his episodes of “the chief guest” where he arrives to a venue as a chief guest half an hour early and nobody recognizes him.

Chief guests are still expected to be at least 1 hour late to the venue.

The PhD episode, where the guides manipulated the students to do the house work (A story very similar to my Dad’s story- as a PhD student)

Telephone Episode, which reflected poor quality of infrastructure in India pre 1991. Now It’s so amusing to see that it used to take years to install a telephone line.

Now it is done in minutes.I loved the parody of the government officials in which they appoint a parrot which says “Metting bulalo committee bithalo” ( Call meetings and establish a committee to probe the incident). At the end of each episode was the parody of some Hindi song.

 

Though Flop show was for only 13 episodes it left a big impact on me. We recorded all the episodes on a VCR (it was so prestigious to own a VCR!- Our neighbors had a second hand VCP-So embarrassing). Watching prerecorded episodes was  my pass-time for a long time. The Flop show cast was mostly the same with different characters. His real-life wife played his reel life wife. After the success of Flow Show there was obviously a big expectation form Jaspal Bhatti to deliver a better content. Unfortunately this never happened.

But this doesn’t make Flop Show less great. The Theme song sill plays in my head “ Flop show….. Flop Show….” Youtube link below!

 

 

Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan......

Today is 15 August 2012, India’s Independence Day. It’s hard to believe that its 66 years that we got our Independence ( for most of the part of those 66 years I was missing)

We are a relatively young country, we are as restless as we could be. Angry with the system, angry with the political class. We want things done quickly.

Unfortunately our political class does not understand the nerve of people.

 

 

Congress:

Lack of alternatives is the problem of our generation. Congress which has ruled our country legally (directly or indirectly) for more than 60 years

and is not only corrupt but has also become arrogant. The tainted ministers don’t step down even when pressurized and proved. Many of the MLA’s

have criminal record right from Rapes to Murder

 

Even though deep-down I believe that Manmohan Singh is not corrupt but obvious evidence is pointing towards him.

Keeping quiet when you see a crime happening is not  honest man’s trait. I don’t believe that he did not know of the scams going on in his own government.

Charisma is something that is lacking form our PM. He is not a good orator, Nor a good leader.(although we had a host of PM’s lacking personality e.g. H.D. Devegowda. He is the worst)

I feel sad that such an intelligent human being is being misused.

I am sure he does not want to continue as PM especially not as puppet PM.

He has not only failed to curb corrupt practices but also ruined the economy. He surely is “under achiever” (Not that we need it pointed by lobbyist) .

 

Politics behind making Mr. Pranab Mukherjee, President of India is obvious.

This is a ploy to clear the way for Mr. Rahul Gandhi to become PM , even though Rahul failed miserably in UP elections.

What gives him a right to become a PM of our country of 1.2 Billion people? Just having diluted genes does not entitle him to be one. 

Worst thing that could happen to us is Mr. R Gandhi becoming a PM, without proving his mettle in anything.

 

Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP): It is the only actual alternative to congress at national level. But the party is apparently in shreds.

Elections are close and they do not have enough maturity to portrait a leader!

Narendra Modi is a guy which one cannot ignore. It is really hard to look away from the way he has developed the state of Gujarat.

But personally I am not very comfortable with a guy who has dictatorial attitudes and was involved in communal violence.

(Imagine, how would you feel if your family members were burnt alive in front of you!)

But to be fair, even congress is not impartial from communalism (1984 riots: Sikhs were targeted in Delhi. Media remains mum)

The only reason that they will fail is infighting. This is their best chance to win the elections. Anti-incumbency is in the air and they must take advantage of it.

They should soon come up with a leader.

 

Team Anna (disbanded):  He is  for sure a social worker and now a politician.

I felt the campaign for which he gartered large support mostly came from “educated middle class” like me. I whole heartedly support Anna.

But just being honest is not important. The biggest challenge for Anna is to garner support from masses not just “educated youth” influenced by social media.

The immaturity shown by this team really makes me think are they good enough to run our country? Surely, I don’t doubt their honesty, but calling on and off

hunger strikes at ones need will not help their cause. With Mr. Hazare coming up with a political alternative is probably the best thing to happen to our politics.

in recent times. But will they get the support they need? 2014 is just 2 years away! Time will tell, but most likely they will fail the elections for 2014.

 

Why do we need a change?

The consequences congress coming to power again will be enormous. They will be more arrogant, more corrupt.

I know that BJP is equally corrupt  or perhaps more corrupt. But we need cyclical changes between the governments.

 

 

What do people want?

To live a  life with self-respect and dignity. This can happen only with creation of wealth, Jobs and Education.

Our country was growing at a miraculous pace and I hope it would continue.

I am a firm believer in progress but if a class of people like our farmers, gets left out where is the progress?

We need to learn from our neighborhood giant lot of things, especially social equality . Yes we have progressed but whom do we compare our progress to? Pakistan?

We need to have a holistic approach to progress and not just follow a standard western definition of progress.

We don’t want our governments to run useless behemoths like Air India, but provide us with infrastructure, Healthcare and Law and order. 

We want our government to control inflation. I don’t want to spend more than I earn.

The growth should be inclusive of everyone the disparities should be less. At one end we have Mukesh Ambani living in his $1 Billion Attila and at other

end we have poor farmers who eat mud to fill their stomachs and commit suicide. This is so shameful.  At least we should not feel ashamed to say “ Jai Jawan! Jai Kisan!”

 

Pralaynath GendaSwami is Here!

Original Mr Pralaynath From Tiranga

If you don’t know who is Mr Pralaynath , you obviously live on Mars! Pralaynath is (or rather was, before being killed by Brigadier Suryadev Singh and Inspector Wagle) the iconic villain from the Movie “Tiranga” starring Nana Patekar and Rajkumar.

Now coming to the point - Why is “Pralaynath GendaSwami  here”?

Well, Pralaynath is the name of my new motorcycle. It is the iconic Triumph – Bonneville.  The motorcycle that comes from England with a “Made in England” tag(not UK).

When my wife (who is oblivious to Bollywood except for Mr Shahrukh kan) saw my post on Facebook about Pralaynath, her detective mind couldn’t help but asking me “Who is this pralaynath?”

She was shocked to know that he is the villain in a Movie - Why name your bike after a villain? Don’t you like your bike?

Triumph 2012

Well, I love my bike, that’s why I named it Pralaynath GendaSwami. The name has many literal and figurative meanings. Let’s come to literal meaning. Pralaynath comes from ancient Sanskrit word “Pralay” means destruction, danger, tornados and everything with negative connotation. Genda is the, almost extinct, horny animal, Rhinoceros. And Swami is the name of a boy that used to stay above my house. He used to eat a lot. It’s a tribute to him. And above everything Pralaynath rhymes with Aadinath. Why wouldn’t I name my bike Pralaynath GendaSwami  - PNG for short (should sound cool right- I am in California)? My wife, still not convinced of the explanation, goes on with her life suspecting a massive fraud in naming my bike.

My 2nd Love

 

 

Coming to Specs of the bike:

 

It is just 100 cc lesser than 1 Ltr Coke.

Air cooled or Leg burned engine. My lower half has become dark because of the heat and burns (not that upper half is very fair)

4 gallon gas should take me around 200 miles.

Has around 70 horses, grunting the time u start the bike

Here it is

 

Compare this to Dhanno: Yamaha YBX

Engine is just above 100CC

My baby never burnt me.

It has 12 horses jumping up and down.

 

Dhanno was a nice dame. She never complained except puncturing at every corner in the city of Pune. Initially it was so frequent that I was well known to all puncture guys. I grew up on that bike. I remember I had to fight with my dad to get a Yamaha YBX 125, cause it was YAMAHA (even though it was “Fake” as - only 2-strokes were classic not 4-strokes). My dad was opposed to that because it has higher horse power (12hp) and lower mileage (51km/l) over Hero Honda Splendor (8hp and 67 Km/l). Now he would surely faint at Mr. PNG’s mileage (16 km/l). Dhanno gave me the freedom that I wanted. It was not an object of luxury like PNG but an object of need.

It is what made me spend my pocket money of Rs.500 on ever expensive petrol. It is what made me go Mahabaleshwar in rains (a hill station 150kms north of Pune) bunking my college and even office at times. It shared my joys, my pains, my heart breaks, my crushes, my friends everything.  I still cannot believe that it was (or rather is) with me for last 12 years.

 

 I am sure Dhanno is waiting for me. See you soon……But for Now...

 

Nokia Lumia 900 Review

Nokia Lumia 900 Review: 

Verdict: Buy it if you are medium to simple User, Want to be different and Hate iPhones

Its win for Nokia and loose for Windows!

 

User: I am medium to Complex user. I have shifted from HTC EVO android to Nokia Lumia 900 last month.

 

Design:  The design is no doubt one of the best designs in the market currently. The smooth side edges makes handling it easy for your palms compared to iPhone. It is bit wider for my small hands to hold. There are 3 buttons on the side viz Volume, Camera and Lock-unlock. It’s a simplistic design. There is an audio 3.5mm Jack for headphones at the top and a “mis-placed”  MicroUSB connector. I had huge problems with the same connector for my EVO. It was the single biggest point that made me switch over to realize it had same connector. The screen is protected with Corning® Gorilla® Glass which supposedly makes it tough but there are already scratches on my glass… damn you coins! There is a hidden SIM Card holder at the top. I do not see how we can remove the battery.

Sound is good loud and clear as expected of Nokia , so is the Camera(not a big fan of camera phones). Battery goes on 2 days without charging.

 

OS: The biggest thing which makes it different is the smooth Windows OS. 7.5. The UI is the best ever I have seen.I have used both IOS and Android. It leaves both way behind in coolness factor! It is the way next windows 8 will look like. Its integration of Mail and Facebook is Superb!

 

Now that we are done with Good things time for little eye opening!

Windows 7.5 lacks 1000’s of things which makes me believe were designers high on something before they went ahead and designed it!

For beginning you will notice there is no desktop style front page!

No weather/Time app to clearly display weather/time. This is a real big turnoff. The front page of metro style icons are so big you feel it’s done so for blind people!

 

Though FB integration is good MS should understand that people like to see FB in its original white and blue color!

 

Coming to Maps: MS really thinks it can compete with Google maps with what it has? NO-WAY search is as bad as a Garmin GPS for e.g. if you search “Zenith Insurance California”

It gives you California as an address! I have never seen a dumber application!

Over that you have to buy an app which can be found free on Android!

Though I have to admit that “current location” is more accurate than Google maps

 

Applications: This is no doubt the biggest turnoff! You hardly find any apps in Marketplace.

If you are freeloader like me you will be in for surprise. Most of the free apps are crappy!

The applications come always in the list format not in icon format , Was MS asleep while designing this? 

 This phone is make or break for Nokia. I hope it makes it.

2011: An year gone by...

As with every year, 2011 held many lessons for me. If I could describe this year in one word it would be "Uncertainty". Everything was uncertain studies, grades, internships, relationships, jobs.... All.
The year started with my previous disappointments. I had screwed up last year (and YES I should also not forget to ad the adverb 'ROYALLY' before the screwed). I didn't know where I went wrong. Everybody screws-up but you qualify as 'stupid' only if you don't know why (u are screwed)!

The year started in winter, cold. I had just returned from a long trip and was ready to face the new semester with added responsibilities. I had never been so busy in my life. Working 24 by 7 taught me many lessons in time management.  Managing two assistantships was indeed difficult. But it offered me lots including financial freedom. I got to learn what it is to have the best and worst boss in the world. How to answer even if you dont know what the question is ! An most important lesson : UofA girls are indeed hot beyond belief!

Curriculum was tough too. Few subjects were totally incomprehensible they clearly distinguished dumb from dumb-asses. I got to know that we can actually increment an integer by 1.2! An assignment can actually make you sweat with no output..... Nights in Ecomm Lab were like never before. Trips to 7-11, Kabab-e-Que, Jack in the box and Subway will never be forgotten. Few friends I made during those times are still close to me. The subjects also taught me how good or how bad a professor can be. Clearly teaching is an art that can be mastered only by few.
 
Then Search for many relentless searches of the year started.....Competition is what makes better out of you.

On the personal front  things were in equal upheaval. I was glad to make new friends and did not forget old ones...can never forget. I was happy to get a close one so close. I knew my life is going to change. There are only few milestones in a man's life. I was about to reach that. It surely made me nervous anxious and made my palms sweat!

Summer trip to India was obviously life changing. Meeting old friends is better that anything else in the world. Returning US not alone was  weird at the best.
Summer's in Minneapolis made me realize that loneliness is not my cup of tea. Quality of work matters a lot and you can end up stuck in a place which you ll hate later.

I never thought Tucson would be that inviting. But I knew that battle had begun and had to be won. Sleepless nights with butterflies in stomach.   I realized my weaknesses and improved a little. This semester was the mother of all searches and disappointments. There were many underdogs...I am proud of them! there were as usual the dogs and few overdogs too! Comparisons and Jealousies flew across everywhere. We have to ask ourselves "is that what you want?". I got to know that getting a job first does not necessarily mean its the best!

Now I took a chance. Avoided questions...time to face them....I am amongst strangers with the things that I wanted. I am ready to face tomorrow no matter how harsh it is. I know it wont be easy. I am out in open against the warmth of Arizona.