flux

If a tree falls in the forest, and no one is present, does it make a sound?
I was flipping through my old books on advertising and i found the above line underlined in pencil. I must have liked it pretty well to have done so.

I sometimes wonder how people can write such philosophical lines which make you actually pause for a while and think, and make dumb people like me go - wow, solid man!

I wonder a lot actually.
It would have been a compliment, if it was said in a more positive way. Some great thinker once said - all philosophy begins with wonder.

The other thing i wondered about a few days back is how people like Richard Branson could be foolish enough to go on a balloon ride risking such precious life... but again, i got the answer after a pauseful think, to satisfy my own wonderings.... which i found on the title of his book - Screw it, Just Do it! , and my dumb mind said - that's why he went up on the balloon.

Those are big things i wonder about...but the small mind as i have, sometimes wonder about the smallest things...

food:
why do tasty food make us fat? or is it tasty becasue it makes us fat? or more probingly, why don't we like being fat? isn't it just the social norm to be slim and trim? why is the social norm like that? is it because it's more healthy to be slim and healthy? then why do people make tasty food that make us fat? shouldn't it be banned?
like movies which are not shown publicly
or books which corrupt the mind
or political opinions that are too leftist?

Give up at this point. you can continue if you like... it's just the question upon question. wondering over wondering.

Vegetables:
one of my friends term those people who don't stop-by-to-think as 'veggies' - which precisely remind me of bringles - you can think of any vegetable u like, i think of bringles because it's not my favorite food item... ... and i wonder whether it's justified to call these people who don't think on common sense issues as veggies - because you never know - maybe vegetables do think!!

Give up at this point, you can continue if you like ... but it's absurd... it's so absurd that i feel like deleting the whole thing so as not to embarass myself.

Oranges:
the other thing i wonder about are oranges.. and why there are not enough of those in the world.

Now "world" here refers to only 'my' world...
who cares about ROW anyways... ?? it's just for CNN or BBC ... or, say those whose business is directly affected by happenings in ROW - like maybe international marketers or manufacturers...
small people like me, have my own world.
Ya, so why not more oranges? i only think of oranges because i like oranges.
i so much like it, that i even wrote a piece on it - it's a different matter that the whole point i was trying to drive home had nothing to do with oranges... and i so much used oranges in driving home the point, that at the end, the only thing people remembered about the piece i wrote was oranges.
ya, so why not more oranges in the world? it's oranges for me but think of anything you like or want? it's always less of it - time, for instance and good company or for some, more money... peace of mind... or for the miss universe kind - world peace!... whatever,
you like it? you don't have enough of it. Or, do you like it because there's not enough of it? Wouldn't you like it if you had enough of it?

Give up at this point... you can continue if you like... and so on and so forth....


By this point in time, i must have sufficiently suceeded in convincing you the kind of mood i am in today - in a flux!
point conveyed. you can continue if you like...but there's nothing more to convey further than this. Goodnight.

! express urself ! type it out

the terms and conditions change...
it matters whether your fren has an exclusive folder in your name in the mailbox...
everytime my mobile set falls on his hand he checks what's the name i have on his number...
whose snap do you keep on your desktop...?
which colors do you use on the background... or which fonts do you use mostly...?
which sites do you visit most and how oftern do you go to them... do you surf from one site to other more oftern or are you the stagnant type to a few sites?
what are your behavioural patterns of using the keyboard while typing a piece? do you look at the keyboard? how oftern do you go to the backspace key... can you type the number on the second row without any mistakes?
how often do you go through a piece once you've typed it out?
do you read all the fwds: ? where do all the fwds: go once u've read or not-read them - personal folder or the trash...?

All the answers to these could say who is important in your life... and find your psychographics...
your behavioral patterns and how your mind is made up...
hmm.... i don't know where i am headed to .... or where i am coming from.... i just know -- that i am on the right track...

con-versations

table talks to chair all day... where is the sitter gone?
has he disappeared inside the cupboard while taking out the morning cups...
did he get lost in his wardrobe when deciding on clothes?

the jeans asks the zipper open
why you getting all rusty
where are those legs gone...
in some cotton suit?
has the tie stole them ?....
or a shiny black leather boot?

floyd asks morrison in awe....
where are the wires to connect me...
to the world a wide... and stations abound
morrision replies dazed as dumb...
some new headbanger... borrowed them...
for a while he said... until i saw his poster there...
where used to be mine...

-sucky poets number: do sho gyara

the customer is the queen!

I walked into a sweet store today – bright and nice – and I observed.

----- the shining white marble floor being constantly mopped-to-shine by an elderly looking gentlemen.. Bright lights all over – it hit the eyes so bright you couldn't make out wherefrom the lights are being thrown at you. Beautiful cakes of a variety of sweets – symmetrically arranged in their own stacks – apart from the bland square, round and the rectangle, I find the cylindrical, the diamond shaped, the apple shaped and the multi-colored more interesting. I find the usual pyramids of yellow and white shorter today, some popular ones finished to their last few pieces.

I go to the longest counter in front of me. The bespectacled look of the pot bellied gentlemen behind it makes me feel uneasy – he doesn't look like a typical salesperson – cheerful and welcoming. His appearance gave me an impression of an accountant – thick glasses on his nose – difficult-to-smile thick lips –like the one who would constantly pore over dull, dry numbers all day and bingo! be happy to find the unbalanced figure of five rupees twenty-five paisa amongst the pages and pages of printed data.

Anyways, I estimate my pieces of gulab jamun and barfi cubes to mutter out over the counter. Six gulab jamus, six pieces of kaju barfis and six buniya laddus I say pointing at the bright yellow balls with little white skirts. Haan he nods with a hindi whisper, and packs off for the lady before me – aur kya rakhu medam – his hand half way up in the air to take the single brown note the lady is offering. I repeat my order again - Six gulab jamus, six kaju barfis – missing out the buniyas purposefully – Dad reminded me to get as little mithais as possible – I like swiss rolls and some fruitcake maybe – not much mithai – he'd said. I wait as the literal gentle man, slowly and unwillingly pick a small branded box of his - while I get impatient. I feel him lulling over something.

One more customer hustle bustles in with her bored-by-shopping hubby, which I could see from the look on his face and more prominently the heavy white polythene bags slung on both hands. Two kilos please, I would order the variety, and you pack please, she orders in English as she surfs the well lit display. The lousy old man keep down the small box he'd opened for me and is energized to fill a kilo in each of his large boxes.

I throw both my hands in air with disgust and walk out of the place.

Two buildings down, I walk in another sweet shop, order my stuff, have it packed nicely and come back home satisfied – with the extra buniyas I had dropped off the list. But I'd never go to the brightly lit irritating store again which had gained my trust and confidence on my last visit. I'd stop few of my friends from going there. And I'd not order a few kilos if I wanted it some day. Rather, I'd walk to a smaller store two buildings down.

This made me reflect back to my marketing lecture days. And I conclude how true it was that we studied - it's the attitude and the warmth that differentiates and not the product you sell or how big your store is. It’s because I can get the chef, and I can get the right ingredients – to make the best buniyas in town - it's copycat-able ----- but just think – if I swagger to you as a customer each time I pass a buniya ball over the counter – how many of you would come back to me again?

This is what they teach us at B-schools and they teach us right. Customer is the Queen! If you walk into big names like Wal-Mart and Mc-Donald's they say, every customer counts – because you never know!

At last, it is not a good laddu, not a good chef, not bright white lights, not the colorful display, not the free welcome drink that brings in the customer – it's her state of mind when she leaves the store that brings her foot naturally back to your door to get that feeling with the product again – mind you, not the product – but the state of mind – the perception – and the feeling, is what gets the customer back. If she has that satisfied curve on her face when she walks out your door, go home my friend and sleep tonight – she's will come back again!

The question each salespeople need to ask themselves before the customer walks out that door of his - with or without a purchase is – will she come back again? Will she refer me or my product to one more friend? Because it all makes sense - and a very relevant business sense - it would not just reduce your cost line in saving money to reach new customers, it would definitely add value to your Brand and ultimately hit the more critical revenue numbers.

Note: I have used a she throughout this write up to refer to the Customer – as from a recent survey I read in one of the papers, more and more of the wallet share is moving to the gentler and the more emotional hand. In this new scenario, I strongly believe that we need to touch the feeling, the minds and the softer side of the customer sentiment ever more so often and more deeply than we have ever done before - because whatever preaching we give of new fundas in marketing, the base reality remains - - - the Customer is the Queen!

eyecandyVSblackteeth

i have a guest writer tonight.... i present ..............

when the dust settles, when the noise ends, when everything comes to an end for a new beginning, as everyday we go into the past, when it's perfectly useless to theorise about the future, arises the hero of the dark light, to brighten your teeth.

interlinked bullets

• My mind is in a state of flux with all the day's happenings flashing in front of me in micro seconds of thought - a slideshow as if being checked before the final presentation - phat...phat...phat...
• no rain.............
• started my day off with recalling yesterday's dialogues:
• what keeps a person going?
• what is that you seek in life? asked a friend of mine
  
• He gave me some time to think
  
• - happiness - i said in a monologue.
• then thought process on it:
• I have been thinking a lot of this question with a slight philosophical tilt...
• a little psychological tilt and a slight practical inclination too...
• and it does boil down to happiness and peace of mind basically ...
• no rain.......
• went through today's paper (out of: habit, interest and to avoid sense of miniscule guilt if i miss a major article or newspiece)
• There was an article on Spinoza and i was wondering what is this ancient guy doing on today's paper? But it was nice reading that his revolutionary thoughts are as new as they were when he first propounded them.
• put it aside and ...
• went to my old college notes to refer to some old numerical problems i may have done.
• Sums... and doodling went together then... dialogues exchanged between rows of seat under the unassuming eyes of the madam, neatly drawn landscapes, portraits, song lyrics, party plans...
  
• I look at the half scribbled financial problems and stare at the neatly printed balance sheets on pinkish pages of ET... would i have done something different so that i could have taken in more of the BS today?
  
• hmmm.....(thought)
• nay... i took in what i cud... i am taking in what i can... and i would what i can tomorrow...
• it's all boils down to happiness and peace of mind ... nah??
• drowsy...
  
• phone calls... traffic... phone calls...
  
• computer... phone calls.... laughter... drowsy... conversation.... drowsy... notes...
• calculations...drowsy... computer....phone call....
• Lunch time!!
• caught up with nidhi .... talk...talk ...talk... (i don't talk so much as i repeat those words here)
• nidhi is fine... she's enjoying... it's nice meeting her up after some long time... made few plans for weekend... nothing fixed...date, time..venue...plan....
  
• we have a superstition - A plan always fails... it's bad..
  
• but it does .... and it's proved us everytime...
• rush back... conversations... computer..phone calls...
  
• repeat....
• met up with frens for coffee... but we had coke... coke is universal... coffee is vague... brand!!
• drizzling rain....
• share with dad...share with mom... conversations
• nice day? nice day. what happened?
  
• blah..blah...blah...
• oh!!
• sneha calls up... chat...
• call up soni ... chat...
• i don't chat so much as it appears in here...
• full stop.
  
• m tired of remembering wot i did today. But it's said it's nice remembering a day's happenings sequentially... gud for memory power re....let's c if i can b a lil more specific with fresh grey cells tomoro....
  
• we shed so much skin that we are a totally new physical being in a year's time re... dat's what i hear!
  

corrupted minds

Many days have past... when i come after rambling here and there...
to this place again... i feel ... what is this place.... where have i been ...
as if returning to your home after a month's trip... you get a strange feeling of lostlessness and affinity in a remote way and happiness and that comforting feel...

This country needs help... serious help....a vacancy should have come in all the dailies by now:

Vacancy Announcement

A country rich in water and other natural resources needs as many young citizens between 16 to 35 years of age to steer around the fate of the country to peace and development. Candidate should possess following skills to take up developmental activities in all parts of the country and in later stages of career should show potential leadership skills to compete for top ministerial positions in the country.

Qualifications:
* can be educated or uneducated
*should know what a country is and what love of a country is
* can be of any nationality until he/she has proven concern for the country
* should not have previous record of destroying public property in any demonstrations
* should have clean record on bribery and corruption
* should not be affiliated to any leaders or names previously uttered for any kind of contradictions on bribery and corruptions

Positive attitude, lot of energy, and fresh ideas for cost saving and productivity will be an added advantage.

Note: The country believes in fair practice and does not discriminate in the selection process on grounds of sex, caste, or economic background.

Young, intelligent brains who have left the country are encouraged to apply

Prohibition: All citizens associated at any age and time with bribery or corruption related cases are prohibited to apply even with a fake certificate proving liable age.

alu paakeko

kalu went to buy alu.... and said to the shopkeeper "give me alu in a jhola"
shopkeeper said "i have no jhola for alu"
so kalu went to another alu ka dukan to buy alu... the shopkeeper's name was saalu...
this is not a continuation of the previous story... FYI...
it seems BAU makes life boring from one cell to other and from one cubicle to other... but no one is bored from one cubicle to other nor from one tubelight to other... they all enjoy changing work environ from one day to the next... and one color to other... chaning shades and changing music...

so kalu was frustrated wen he cudn't find the alu and went bac home to eat only dal and bhat which he ate in front of the TV. The TV was showing only news today with old people with caps on the mikes... it was budget budget they kept saying... now, what is budget kalu with no alu at the moment wondered because he had bought that TV 55months ago to watch 'dhishum dhishum' fight of sarukkhan like on movie 'koila'. But they didn't show saruk like on koila... it was all laila laila only... he was with yellow and red shirt around girls or on trains or on green nice picture like fields only... anyways there was no charuk on the channel, it was some old guy drinking water from time to time disturbing everything and giving long long speech ... reading it out from the paper because he cudn't memorize it all and some at the back of the audience were yawning... and some clapped the table from time to time .... they were very naughty...

since he could not see rani dancing on screen, he missed alu with his bhat even more... kalu had thought a lot about buying a bicycle recently. All his friends - bhalu and saalu had bike and he was the only one who had to run behind buses to get on the backside and get off with a lot of danger to skip the bus fare...but he thought - i will buy a bike in a few weeks... but first the alu in a jhola...
...not to be continued

flabbergasted

The clock hands flicked to 5, 21 as she descended the stairs with a sense of freshness - after a cool bath, perfumed talc, deo spray and a dab of roll-on - it made her look and smell fresh. Taking the keys from the floor where she'd let them fall last evening; she massaged the dog's head behind its ears as it hid its eyes already in a deep slumber. She came out of the house, looked left and then right, bit her lower lip and headed left. She didn’t know where she was going or where she wanted to go. She wanted to move and go somewhere, but the destination was unknown – the process was clear.

She walked, increased her pace slowly and in matter of about ten minutes she was jogging past the other early risers on the street. She could hear the heavy breathing and could feel her muscles flick as she threw each sneakered feet faster than the one before. Nothing stopped her now – the sweating, the breathing, the tiredness that slowly seeped up from her feet – nothing seemed to have a control and the feet moved forward like a train chugging without brakes. She slowed to a jog when she saw the familiar sign boards raised high above the others and panting heavily out of breath she entered the building.
(to be continued...)

prt

error

banana lassi

i order banana lassi from the list of drinks... others have coffee...
on my second sip... the glass slips between my fingers as i desperately try to control it ...
the glass topples over the table ... on my fren beside me...
b4 n e of us realize wots happened... she is on her feet ... her pants..shirt...bag ... n most of her stuff inside the bag ...now, in a different flavor...banana!!!
we dab pkts of napkin on her pants, her bag and inside her bag...
after the initial commotion we sit back quietly with the kathi rolls.... we take a few bites to roar up laughing our heads off at wot happended...

now that i think of it.... it was the day we got our appointment letter...
but more that it... banana lassi reminds me of a new bonding n a new life that we started off that day... all of us....
wot a 'food item' on the list to associate oneself with....
banana lassi!!! i order everytime i enter...

lunch

caught up with an old fren after abt 5 yrs... i called her up for lunch...
i don't think she understood n e thing i said in that one hour chat ... except a few comments on the sandwich, momo and banana lassi i was passing...
we parted- each wondering... which world does she live in??

freshen the start

5:30 every morn' i run and feel my own breath... panting...
it's good to jog in the fresh morn' air...
and am sure this is possible in n e part of the world...
yet, wen i take the fresh air early morn...
i realize wot i av been missing all this time... n n joy all the more...
a fresh start ........... every day.

jus a thought

Is it the lyrics of the song that matter? or the music? Both...
wen both of them are gud... it makes wonder... an analogy to everything in life perhaps...

sweet home alabama

Well, one more fren leaving for US this August... Alabama...
there's a song on Alabama.. i jus can't remember at the moment... hm..hm..hmm...
and the update is brain drain continues...

WC fever continues and is shooting high with fav Brasil and the British team out...
whoever's predicted the odds b4 the games shud be beating his head against n e wall available ...

If Portugal was to win the WC, there are a few odd-men-out who have put their sums on them... well, boys all the best!

flip flop

There is this lady - my neighbour... she is singing all religious songs from 6 in the morning for a whole hour or two with her prayer bells and everything possible ringing around ... she is not that old to be getting so much into prayer n that kind of stuff... as we have that notion - only the old people pray...she's middle aged lets say... and i respect her 'respect for god' and all the all mighty thing...but pls yaar one should think about the neighbours nah? in the spirit of Love thy neighbour...at least... otherwise when i am here in my room thinking of something to write ... all that enters the mind thru' open ears are the words... om jaigadisha haree... n jai jai jai mahadev... if i complain to elders in the house... it's definitely a +ve thing for them that some gud stuff going in my head 'stead of some jumbled words of a rock song or the constant striking of fingers on the keys... my logic is... if you praying... u pray silently nah why all the noise...

n e ways catching up on life... m back to work from a short training... had some substantial input from all day learning and lil work... took me back to college days for sometime... but snap back to reality... n dats wot we always do...

when we write ... n at some days or some points in time we have nothing to write on... or there is a wall which stops all flow of thinking to put words on the screen... it's called a Writer's Block...
for a change someone could come up with a Writer's Blog...

so, some may think i am back to my plop-plap... click clack kinda title again.. but i have flip flop for a very valid reason here.... which has been quite elusive till now...
ktm is all wet with rain rain and more rain.... so flip flop are your sandals on the wet streets... which go extra hard on those flipping and flopping.... n the catch is... only "u" hear and feel the flip flops of your own shoes or sandals... if you just stare at the people beneath you on the streets to get some of that flip flop sensation...no madam... sirjee, "you" need to be on the streets with a pair of sandals yourself for that cool new sensation f your sandals... flip flop... flip flop... flip flop... on the streets of cat-man-du... go get a pair NOW... wet it with all the puddles dats there... squeak it a lil... slip a lil n flip flop on... ...
so this wet season.... happy flip flopping to all... ...
smts i wonder... (read it as: at all times)... who gets my jokes? does n e one ever? or do i jus ramble on ... for the heck of it... question mark.

quack-quack

No comment on my posts for months and months… and yet I keep posting… I keep posting… and yet I keep posting… and I wonder from time to time… hmm…but I will keep posting and still will keep posting… so if you got the mood… pls read along… and I will happily keep posting. Be yourself, enjoy posting…oops reading.

This undated photo provided by the International Bird Rescue Research Center, shows an X-ray taken Sunday, May 21, 2006, of an injured duck with a broken wing. The International Bird Rescue Research Center in Cordelia. Calif., plans to raise funds with an unusual duck X-ray, which they say shows the clear image of what appears to be the face, or head, of an extraterrestrial alien in the bird's stomach. Unfortunately, the duck died quickly and quietly of its injuries. (AP Photo/International Bird Rescue Research Center, Marie Travers)

This-May

To be very apolitical, May saw the solid outcomes of the April movement. A lot has happened in the month of May… at least for the Nepalese… we got a PM after such a long time… but we got the same old PM… whom many shunned for his avarice. The peace talk was historic… the points agreed on were good… ceasefire, no bandhs, no chakka jams, no disturbance on the movement of food and essential goods. It all brings so much optimism in people's mind. We saw much more historic and truly amazing changes … royal powers were brought down to almost nothing… monarchy had never been so much diminished… the aura of the King never been so challenged. May saw some heartwrenching accidents… and spine-chilling robberies – three robberies in a week. Two banks looted, a house attacked…all daylight robberies in the heart of the capital.

Women's rights got some solid boosting in the HoR – Citizenship by a mother's name and a third reservations in state mechanisms...had been a long longed dream. All Nepalese had some take or the other… yet the euphoria doesn't seem to have seeped everywhere. Is it because we saw some extremely peaceful rallies on the street? Or is it just the heat creeping up our senses - or, has the senses got so creeped, the system's got heated? why are we yet not happy?

Its bad to end up with a question - especially on an issue like this. But i just wish someone had the answers - and i wish that someone to be the ones who take us forward... who are giving us these changes... where are we headed sir, please give direction?

98degreesFarenheit

World Cup Wall chart needs to be sent tomorrow with the probable wins, and i could win a Ferrari... at least it'd feel like i'd just won one...
it's intelligent gambling... we guess who wins... i get it right, i win... nice.
First time i laid my eyes on the schedule.. i chuckled to see Trinidad playing against Sweden... that land of Naipaul... interesting.
Serb&Mont... Togo... Ghana... does seem like some fresh play. Anyways, not a safe bet though... Would the cup go to Brazil? Spain? Argentina? France or stay home - Germany? Whom should i bet on? hmm... ...