Thanks or No Thanks!!!

My first enduring memory of the United States was Thanksgiving electronics shopping... 


It was a crazy cold New England Friday night when my roommate woke me up at 4 am yelling that we overslept and that now we are going to miss awesome deals... Less than a month in the US, I was inadequately dressed for the occasion - just a thick leather jacket, nothing to keep my ears and hands warm - and could feel the bone chilling cold the moment I stepped out of the apartment... 


By the time the car reached the already full Circuit City lot at Nashua mall, there was no cold because the fingers and the ear lobes were numb... For the first time in my life, I wanted to be 4 feet tall so that I could fully wrap myself inside the leather jacket... 



There was a Dunkin Donuts outlet at the next intersection and we were taking turns to go and get coffee for the other friends... Never mind that the overpriced coffee would be cold by the time it reached our lips, the activity involved in running to the Dunkin shop and back triggered enough metabolism to keep us warm - our sole consolation on that cold night... 


The queue was crazy long already - there were ppl who were waiting in the queue before midnight... Everyone wanted only the selected items -- a laptop, thumb drive, digital camera, flash card -- and was hoping that by the time they get entry into the shop, there atleast 1 one remaining to grab... And it was not just the FOBs like me - but there were Americans, Chinese, Indians, African Americans - everyone was there... Some of them had even brought their aged parents and kids along and instructed them to "lay their hands on whatever they could" for scrutiny before checkout... 


After a long 2 hour wait in the queue, the doors opened... People rushed in as if this is their last chance to grab a seat in the last flight to heaven and by the time we could board the "flight", all the seats were taken - no laptops, no thumb drives, no digital cameras and no flash cards... We were supposed to rot in "cold" hell... Thats what we call in Mumbaiyya slang -- Khaya Piya kuch nahin, glass toda baraah anna...


This thanksgiving though, the picture was entirely different... There were no queues and rushing hordes of customers waiting overnight to grab that elusive item... I went with my friends to pre-screened stores at 7 am and yet the stores were deserted and full of goods... Even though a few stores were offering free breakfast, there were very few takers... Most the people came in with the intention of checking out the product and then going home and purchasing it online on a better deal... 


It was very disheartening to see all the stores have their full staff at work at dawn and then find out that customers come in, get all their queries answered and then say "let me think abt it a bit more" and walk out of the store... The few sales that actually happened carry a 50+% chance of returns... 


If this trend continues, how will these stores survive? These physical stores have real estate costs, staff salaries, benefits, insurance and still have to make enough profits to ensure survival and dividends to the shareholders... Compare this to the online vendors who need to maintain a website which can be done from a garage and only has to maintain a warehouse in the most remote town of US to deliver even better results... 


But this is an indicator that the rules of the game have changed -- its either perform or perish... if the game means that the store model is history now, and the online model is the in thing, then so be it... The stores have to scale up the new rules of this game or face extinction -- the Circuit City way... 


Everyone is going to play according to only one rule - survival of the smartest - and anyone who breaks that rule, will not survive to play for long... Thanks or no thanks... 

Well Said

This one comes from a fictional interview of a sportsman who is known for his clutter-free mind and uncomplicated game -- 
Hard times are like washing machines, they twist, turn and knock us around, but in the end we come out cleaner, brighter and better than before
Smooth roads never make you a good driver. Problem free life never makes you a stronger person. So never ask life, WHY ME? Instead challenge it & say TRY ME!
What a beautiful way of putting such a complicated line...

Hi Fi...

7 years ago, I saw her for the first time... 6 years ago, we agreed on something... 5 years ago, we got ourselves into a bond which we wanted to get stronger with every passing day... 


It has been 5 years since and the only words we repeat this day, every year, are "Cant believe that it has been x years"... And it is so true... 


Every year, this day, the near and the dear ones call and wish us a happier life... Every year, we wish each other the best in life... A life together... A destination and a journey in itself... 


But for me, it is a simple acknowledgement is that she is my biggest strength... and my biggest weakness... Thank you for every moment, every memory and every glimpse of this breathtaking journey... 

Runaway Jury...

After a grand Diwali party with near and dear ones late until Saturday night, where we almost witnessed the Daylight Saving end, and a fancy Sunday lunch, there was only 1 thing left to do on a cold Sunday afternoon... Yep, see another movie... 


This movie was in the queue for a long time... It starts with a bang and still, it takes a few minutes before the viewer can figure out the relevance of every character in the plot... The interim scenes do not let the pace slack and actually the climax is really very very good... 


The amount of mind work that goes beyond the scenes in a courtroom drama where vested business interests, personal vendettas, one upmanship and building / destroying reputations take higher seeding compared to meting out justice is aptly demonstrated in this movie... Again, I wish I had read the John Grisham novel prior to seeing the movie... 


Gene Hackman and Dustin Hoffman cast a vice like grip on the mind from their first scene in the movie... Rachel Weisz acted very well, especially in scenes when she confronted the proven attorneys inspite of being totally scared... But this movie belongs to John Cusack... He is like a chameleon in this movie and we do not know what color is he going to switch to next... This mystery is not reveled until the last few minutes of the movie... 


I love movies where there is a mental maneuvering  and manipulation going on... I love movies where you do not know what is going to happen next... This movie kept me guessing until the last minute... S is blessed with a sharp acumen at solving such mysteries but even she was left guessing until the climax scene... 


Definitely worth one watch!!!

Get a spine...

Scene 1 -- 
Manmohan Singh is visiting the states... The President throws a dinner party for the Prime Minister and 3 people breach all security protocols and manage to meet Mr. President... They clicked pictures openly with the dignitaries... On further investigation, it was found that these people actually planned to video shoot their adventures and actually came to the White House with a video crew... 


File:President Barack Obama greets Michaele and Tareq Salahi.jpg


Scene 2 -- 
Mr. Obama is planning to visit India, the first US President's visit since 1999... The President will be staying at the Taj and as a part of the security procedures, the actual staff at the Taj will be replaced by Obama's trusted staff... Anyone and everyone who will be meeting the President will first have to go through security clearance -- passport, PAN card, Driving permit everything needs to be approved... And no one is exempt to this rule -- not even the Chief Minister of Maharashtra -- even he has to go through the security clearance procedure... 


In spite of whatever happened at the Presidential dinner, in spite of the blatant mistakes there, the security of their premier is more important than the security of our premier... 


Scene 3 -- 
Mr. Obama arrives in Mumbai and guess who is there to visit him -- check out these pictures -- 








For all that your care, you are the god damn Chief Minister of Maharashtra... You may be puppet in the hands of Sonia madam, but atleast within your state, there is no one bureaucratically bigger than you... For the sake of the respect of the chair of the CM, he should have held his own... 


And what does he do? Get a spine man!!! 



Well Said...

I dont know who said this, but how true... 


There is no CTRL-Z in life... 

UDAAN... What a flight...

A physically and mentally draining week... Friday night... No mood to go out and eat... What to do? It does not take a genius to figure out the solution... Soul food and a movie... 


This time instead of brainless comedies, we thought of trying out something new... I had read a lot about this movie in the last few weeks and we decided to give it a go... And what an experience it turned out to be... 


The movie is about a kid who gets expelled from boarding school and has to return home to his dad... The dad has never visited the kid and vice-versa in the 8 years since the kid joined the boarding school... So, its a new life for him altogether... He also finds out that he has a half-brother who is equally dominated by the dad... This kid wants to be a writer and writes amazing poetry... The father wants him to be an engineer and take care of their factory... The uncle (dad's bro) is a soft corner but the father damages the kids way more than the uncle can mend... 


This movie is all about how the kids manage to live up to the tyrannical father and still keep the kid in them alive... So, no climax or thrilling scenes, no big stars, no songs and no super cinematographic excellence... 


But trust me, this movie is worth a watch... The way the script unfolds, leaves you (okay, only me, S never saw any hope in the father) with a touch of optimism every now and then... The more you see, the more you feel for the kids and more you hate the dad... 


Definitely worth a watch... 


For me, I had a realization while I was seeing this one... I found that I can appreciate poetry... The poetry in the movie are written by a 17 year old and I could thoroughly understand and appreciate it... Long way to go before I start reading poetry for my age...