Sai Man Sez

Movies calling SainPri and Away they go.

2010-02-27T22:06:00.000-08:00

It's just Saturday night and I have already watched 4 movies this weekend..whoa! That's almost a record. It started fairly innocuously last night with Blades of Glory on ABC family... Surprisingly good for a Will Ferrell movie. And it got over fairly fast too. So fast that we had time for another movie...we decided to finally watch Ishqiya, and that was very good (reviewed in the previous post).

Well, today started with some guitar practice and a lunchtime movie: Away We Go. John Kratsinski and Maya Rudolph star in a fresh, romantic comedy that looks at parenthood from the eyes of soon to be parents: Burt and Verona. It all starts with the sudden need to settle down somewhere when Burt's parents, their only family in the area, decide to move to Belgium. Verona thinks at 34 they are bunch of f-ups for not having settled anywhere yet in life. Burt keeps assuring her that is not so, but without a convincing reason.

They come up with an implausible itinerary and along the way meet: people who have had the life sucked out of them by parenthood, people who are not fit to be parents, perfect parents unable to have kids of their own and a recently broken home. Along the way through a series of realizations they come to the conclusion that there is no right/wrong way to parenting and have an impromptu wedding ceremony with a set of extremely cute vows.

John Kratsinski perfectly plays his Office-Jim nice buy(although unshaven) role with great conviction. His boyish concerns, though they belie his age, are extremely genuine and convincing. Maya Rudolph's Verona certainly wears the pants in this house and gradually leads Burt from husband to father.

Overall a 4.5/5 movie with an extremely convincing plot and a poignant message. We loved it.

Once the movie was over I had to rush off to guitar practice. Almost as a last minute plan we decided to go the movies (again!). I actually bought tickets for Amitabh's Teen Patti, but after looking at some bad reviews online and with a stroke of great luck, we switched to Karthik Calling Karthik which is the subject of what follows:

I don't want to reveal any part of the plot, so as to not spoil the experience for you. The movie is touted as psychological thriller. While the thriller experience is there in parts, it is certainly a movie anyone can watch. Farhan shines as Karthik the lead protagonist and portrays his inconsistencies, self doubts and failings extremely honestly. Boy, this man can sing, act, write and direct. He is truly the one man film industry of 2010 and seems to get better with every movie.

The movie has parts of what made me like Rocket Singh: portraying the contemporary without going overboard with cool. Their characters are certainly not made of cardboard. This growing list of movies that belong to new age Indian cinema show real people, whom you can almost reach out across the screen and feel. Karan Johar and Shahrukh Khan should seriously watch these movies, take notes and try to improve their stuff.

Deepika as the female counterpart of new age Indian Cinema's Farhan/Ranbir and plays her part with consummate ease, neither hogging the screen nor playing the bimbo.

Overall a 4.5+/5 for a tight storyline and a "highlight of a career" performance by Farhan. Go watch it....

Dil to bachcha hai jee

2010-02-27T11:48:00.000-08:00

Bahut sune hum is picchar ka baare mein, par saala dekhan ka taim ich naahi mila.

And then yesterday I finally got around to watching it. I'd rate it a 4/5 for the originality of the story line and the treatment and depth of its characters.
Naseer as Khalujaan, the romantic, "culchured" and overtly optimistic father figure and Arshad as Babban, his "wham bam thank u ma'am", uncouth and pragmatic bhanja both fall for Vidya as Kisna, a "widow" who is very much the femme fatale under a damsel in distress garb. While Khalujaan and Babban are on the run from Mushtaqbhai (played by Salman Shahid, Pakistan's Naseer) , a villain to love, and seek refuge at Kisna's place, she has plenty of plans of her own. And in the end like any old Hindi picture each of them has a happy ending.

So where's the originality, you say? Literally every frame from start to end is original. Be it the ajeeb dastaan hai ye @ the start, the tota toti joke (btw if you hadn't heard it before, the end of that joke has the 2 pious totas [on seeing the toti] remark "Our prayers have finally been answered"), nandu and kaaki's characters and lines, naseer and arshad's onscreen chemistry and lines, naseer's flirting with vidya, ku-ku and the "beauty parlour" phone call irony, to name a few. And the very fact that the end is kept ambiguous is so unlike any Hindi triangle, where one guy has to get the girl. And they all seem very human and flawed, noone's willing to play the Rajendra Kumar of Sangam, if you get my drift.

The songs are nicely mixed, a good reflection of new age rural India. The commentary on Hindu caste war as a backdrop to the movie is also very subtly done. Overall the director, Abhishek Chaubey does ample justice to Vishal Bharadwaj's script, and largely tries to stay out of ur face and let these amazing actors weave magic on screen (pretty much what every director should do).

Last but definitely not the least: Dil to baccha hai jee is "the" song. Raahat sparkles yet again. I'm so looking forward to his concert @ Oracle arena in May. All in all I absolutely loved this movie.

There is this distinct possibility however, that you may not love the movie or it's pace and think that I'm smoking dope. If you do then I have only one thing to say to you
Bus na: aapka ishq ishq....aur humaara ishq.....

The haircut

2010-01-21T17:08:00.000-08:00

Blog posts with resolutions are jinxed. Many a well meaning blog has reached its untimely demise with a post that says: "...and blog more often". There are various versions of that line: and blog at least X times in a week/Y times in a month/Z times in a year...etc..etc... All of which create this pressure to blog, and boy does it get to you. The resistance varies directly with time...and before you know it....your blog is dead.

Apart from writing a blog post, one of the things that I resist the most is going for a haircut. If only one could set the hair fall rate to be equal to the hair growth rate (obviously after an initial condition to trigger this control system, for all u smart alecs out there), we would never need haircuts. Without haircuts we would never have bad hair days that last for over a week (after a bad hair cut). I guess it's the fear of this probable bad hair phase that adds to my inertia.

It wasn't always like this. As a kid, you can very easily be dragged by your parents to the barber shop, and before you know it, it's over (actually it used to be a boring 20-25 minutes preceded by an even worse 1 hour of trying to read torn and outdated film magazines and trying to watch the 14 inch black and white TV perched high on top of a shelf above the mirrors). But at least you didn't do it of ur own volition, and could always blame your parents for the bad hairdo: "You told him to cut it this way!!!"

Later every alternate Sunday, my Mom would kick me out of the house with a written list of instructions to tell the barber. By the time I would reach the chair I'd be so bored (and having lost my instructions list) I would randomly come up with my own version. Once home, my Mom would be like: "Did you even go?".

Around this time, the barber having graduated to the more fashionable hair stylist started using a mirror to show me if the back was alright. I had seen the barber ask my dad that several times, but never me. So I felt all grown up and would try and imitate what my dad did in that situation. Squint a little, turn your head a little bit and then say: "Theek hai". Obviously I did not care to what exactly it was that I was supposed to see in that double mirror combination (till this date), but it felt like the grown up thing to do. Certain times the barber would ask me: "Round ya Step?", and having no idea again I would randomly choose one....By this time, however I had learnt the magic words: Crew Cut Karo. (Finally, A hairstyle that would never fail and just 3 words at that)

That strategy just went out of the window, once I came to the US. The hair stylists here always ask: "What number?". Now it took a couple of tries at a couple of places to figure out if the number varies directly with what's left behind or what's on the floor, but I finally got the hang of it, or so I thought, until the bad hairdos started returning and with it returned my resistance.

About four days earlier, Priyanka told me that it was high time that I have a haircut. (Incidentally she has dragged me a couple of times to a hair salon and instructed the stylist). I have promised to go today. She has given me a set of instructions too: Short on the back and sides, a light trim on the top and no side burns...whoosh...hope I got that right...cos that's how its going to be for the next 3-4 weeks!!!

Post script:

This post skips over about 2 years of my life when I had long hair (or was growing them long) and painstakingly maintained them. Otherwise it is pretty much spot on!

Resolutions

2010-01-04T21:55:00.000-08:00

After the first work day of 2010, i have mixed feelings. And here as I write my first blog of the year, sitting next to Priyanka on the couch watching "The Incredible Life" on PBS I'm going to do something that I haven't in a long time....make resolutions :) and also hopefully follow up on them

1) Lose weight and exercise more often. Actually there is no often right now. Last night I weighed in at 188 pounds. While at 6' 2" that is certainly a good combination for a football player, I guess.... I'm sure it isn't a good combination for a football watcher :P. Target: Maintain my weight between 160-170 pounds, and exercise at least 3-4 times a week.

2) Learn to play an instrument and jam with others. Improve my singing voice and range and perform for an audience: Have been putting this off for a long time.

3) Commit to a weekly class on Math/Math related topics.

4) Take a badminton class.

5) Eat out not more than once a week.

6) Not work more than 8 hours a day.

7) and yes, blog.

Winter trip 2009

2009-12-26T18:25:00.001-08:00

Itinerary

SFO (12/25) - > NYC (12/26) - > DC (12/30) - > SFO (1/3)

The particpants: Prajakta, Priyanka and Sai

Objectives: Priyanka and Prajakta's first trip to NYC and the first trip for all of us to DC.

Expectations: Visiting a big city like NYC (and trying to get a Mumbai type feel) and a well planned and politically significant city like DC (and trying to get a Delhi type feel) provided the weather holds up. There are always the museums and the in winter feel to look forward too.

Challenges: Add a new blog update everyday. Not lose my temper :) and having a good time before a hectic q1 2010.

1 Idiot or Why There Can Never be another Dil Chahta Hai

2009-12-24T01:50:00.000-08:00

So I watched it today.. the 10 pm show at NAZ8 Fremont. And no, contrary to probably what is going to be popular opinion, I did not like it.

To be honest I did like it in parts: Madhavan's character, Sharman Joshi's totally unrealistic job interview...I did not agree with it one bit, but admired the conviction with which he delivered such BS, the Millimeter character.

The hydel power plant of this movie, to take an analogy from Swades (my major gripe with that movie...but that's a totally different blog post) is the birthing machine Aamir devises to help (a very irritating) Mona Singh deliver her baby. Obviously engineers have no idea about the life sciences and Kareena Kapoor had to demonstrate via flash video and charts what everything meant. Also the HD video quality on Cellular network based Internet was an amazing scam, but as Indian film makers time and again assume that the Indian cinema going audience has the lowest IQ, we will lap that Rajkumar Hirani, the true Idiot of this movie. (and I use that word in its true sense, not some dumb acronym)

That's not my main problem. My biggest gripe is that of all the things Aamir could do to redeem himself (for stealing exam papers) Rajkumar Hirani picked the birthing machine.....and I absolutely hate the over use of the jaadu ki jhappi of this movie (which BTW I liked in MBBS) "aal iz well". It started really well, but the baby kicking everytime it hears that was just lame.

Other lame things about the movie: the Javed Jaffery storyline, the total insensitivity with which they handled Sharman's paralytic father, and the names of Madhavan's books. Also show me one Indian (no matter from what part of the world) who speaks Hindi like that Chatur Mahalingam. South Indians either speak Hindi really well, or they don't at all.

There were some exceptions to the lameness: Viru's opening speech about cuckoos (although his character pretty much drifted to unbelievable insanity as the movie went on), the last scene when they realize Aamir's real name and Madhavan and Sharman reacting in one way, while Kareena being on a total tangent worrying abt what it would imply for her own name, Millimeter's opening scene and the ragging scene for some part of it, the spontanienty of dialogues at times. I even felt guilty about laughing (so much that I almost messed myself) where they switch words in Chatur's Hindi speech, but this was humour more of the slap stick kind.

Overall the film lacks the spontaniety and down to earth ness of Dil Chahta Hai, something all film makers should aspire to while making a youth cross over comedy. That movie will be among the greatest movies I have ever watched.

This one sadly (and much contrary to a review I just read where this movie has been hailed as the best of the decade!!!!!) does not even come close :(

Phases

2009-12-17T15:50:00.000-08:00

My life (and pretty much anyone else's life, I believe) has always had these phases where I tend to do one or two or three things more often than others.

I would say as a kid, playing games and sports were the best things ever. What I played at any given time was decided by the season: The rains meant "hand tennis" on the basketball courts, winter meant cricket in school and badminton at home, the summers meant cricket in the morning and badminton in the evenings. Then as I grew older (in the higher standards) my performance at school competitions meant phases of Chess (I used to play 20 match championships with my sis and friends and stay up late to watch whoever Gary Kasparov was playing in the world championships then).

At all other times it was either TV/books. I took up to reading at a very young age, partly because there weren't so many people my age to play with as a kid and partly because there wasn't much on TV. Then satellite television and cable entered my life and changed it forever. Books were kind of relegated as something to be read when there is nothing interesting on TV or on a train trip (but never on a bus/car trip with all my motion sickness). I also started playing video games at my cousin's place and thought of how nice it would be when I could move into the "video games" phase.

School also introduced co curricular activities and cultural activities in which I was particularly good at quizzing. So obviously there was a quizzing phase and towards the end of secondary school even a dramatics phase.

As I entered high school, there were very few ppl my age to play with, so I used to play imagine cricket (either pretend as a bowler in a purple patch taking all 10 wickets, discover a new delivery/pretend as a batsman facing deliveries bounced off a wall and score the fastest century to save your team from collapse) all alone/invent board games based on sports. I entered the video games phase at this time, where I would try to one up my sister at Mario and try to team up against the game at Contra.
Also at this time, I hit the "music phase", where I started to develop a sense of music and bought a lot of audio cassettes.

So by this time the playing went from playing sports to video games, TV was still going pretty strong and Reading was beginning to co exist with music.

And then computers happened. And life was never the same again... Actually at that time..all this meant was more games and movies on VCDs and later DVDs[:)] and some programming and some photoshop....

So now I'm in college and in the "Music+Reading+Games+Videos" phase. This phase pretty much continued thru my work life and thru grad school, and my transition to a sedentary worker was completed [:)]. Also I had moved from PC to PSP at this time for games.

In 2007, I played my first euro game. (I had played board games before and had been in that phase at some point of time but this was limited to Monopoly, Scotland Yard, Mastermind and some of my own invented board games.) I was instantly hooked, this was my true calling. Although I never played a single game of Ticket to Ride since, I jumped in with both feet and now own more games than all my friends combined:
Settlers of the Stone Age,
Power Grid (most played),
Clue,
Thurns and Taxis,
Space Alert,
For Sale,
Dominion (Original + Seaside + Intrigue)
Several card games,
Power Grid Factory Manager

Not a lot of my friends (not even my wife) share this enthusiasm of games, which has caused me to play online starting at YourTurnMyTurn.com and more recently BSW.

I have also moved on from PSP to PS3 and this also includes playing RockBand (my usual set is WonderWall + Jeremy + Don't Speak + Pretty Fly for a wise guy + Uncle John's band)

My reading has graduated from plain text literature to graphic novels and experimental books.

Observations

My phases have actually all stuck with me. Some of them have merged:

Music + Reading + Puzzle/mystery solving -> Video games
Reading + Videos/Games -> Graphic Novels
Music + Video Games -> Rockband
Video games + need for interaction + strategy - > euro games

At this point of time, I spend my average day (what's that?) (and yes my day starts after work ends) either playing video games (Arkham Asylum/Rockband) or playing boardgames (Dominion/Power Grid on BSW) or badminton or table tennis. Sometimes I play a tune on my keyboard or watch free to air TV / hulu. And sometimes I even read a graphic novel or two.

Hobbies you say. Just phases according to me. So many options, such few hours.

Disclaimer:

I do the things mentioned above only when I'm not doing the more important things in life: spending time with my wife, eating/cooking, talking to my folks back home in India, watching cricket or watching college football. Sleep, as always, is optional.

Rocket Singh Movie of the year

2009-12-16T22:55:00.000-08:00

This is definitely the movie of the year. Although, it may not have the big names, it has just the right "partners" that succeed in making this 35% to 200% story very believable.

Ranbir Kapoor is amazing as HP Singh Bedi in this career defining movie. He gets into character so effortlessly, it's difficult to imagine the Ranbir of Wake Up Sid, or Ajab Prem.... or even Bachna Ae Haseeno. Most importantly he plays a honest goody goody, utopian guy without irritating even a tad bit. Shahrukh Khan can't do such a good job...man this guy is here to stay.

And all the others with maybe the exception of his "easy to fall for the surd" girl friend play an equally amazing hand in this "team work" of a movie. Special mention to the porn loving engineer, the sales manageresque receptionist, the shaana sales manager and the PC assembling chaiwalla cum peon. Even Prem Chopra on his seemingly tottering last legs does a commendable job. HP's friends are practical (unlike his wake up sid friends) and resemble people like you and me and try their best to keep him on his two feet.

There is a lot of honesty in this movie, no double meaning jokes, no unnecessary sound effects to make you laugh, no marginalizing of any community, no terrorism, no bombs, a movie that I can relate with...and maybe you too can.

Pocket main rocket hain...pocket main

Kurbaan ko Kuro ban

2009-12-12T00:29:00.001-08:00

The only thing this movie has going for it is its so bad, it made me feel like writing a blog. I mean I have watched a few dumbass movies in my life, and Kaminey was one such recent movie. But none of them were this bad.....

I don't know where to start.

First of all this movie by Rensil produced by Karan Johar doesn't know where it stands.
If its trying to be pro Islam and peace...it makes such a hash of it...
If its trying to portray life from the other side.... it's made an equal hash of it too....
If its trying to be all post modern and yuppie, well it sucks there too... there are so many inconsistencies and gaping idiocies.... man are we seriously catering to a dumb Indian audience...

the same audience that knows how tough it is to get an American resident visa...let alone a job at NYU.... Saif manages to do that so easily

the same audience that knows to call 100 in India and 911 in America in case there is a threat to life.... The smart Kareena that gets called back to NYU and teaches at DU can't string these 3 digits together when in danger

the same audience that is very much aware of 11/26..and is tired of pro or anti terrorist movies... tired of watching train stations blown up by blind fanatics....stop giving them any propaganda...good or bad.... terrorists are inhuman and have no religion. And they kill only innocent people....

When will our film makers realize that there is no other side to this story... at least none that we want to listen to.

Why do our film makers talk about all this oppression for a certain religion, when almost every Asian undergoes the same oppression. And is turning to terrorism the only answer to combat this oppression? At least that's what the director has tried to justify. Mumbai has been under attack since 1992. Do you see Mumbaiikars turn to terrorism? Should they? Aren't there any other topics left to discuss under the sun?

The movie shows women as mere puppets and child making machines. Seriously? You want us to believe that, something you could easily overlook, while you were making your movie "techincally" strong.

At the end of the day, I believe the director should go back and watch his own movie and see if this is really what he set out to make. The actors should go back and see if they really want to be asociated with such crap. And most importantly the reviewers, whom a lot of people blindly follow, should check if this is the very movie they reviewed.

Kurbaan ko Kuro Ban!!!!!

Chinese Bell Pepper and Corn or Chinese Chilli Corn

2008-10-13T19:07:00.000-07:00

I've always wanted to post about my culinary exploits... I must admit that I'm extremely fascinated by the folks at the numerous cooking blogs like Aayi's recipes, Dalitoy, as well as youtube channels such as Show me the curry and Wah re wah.

This post is kinda like a tribute to them...

I have learned cooking mainly by observing my mom and the rekdiwaalah's of Mumbai. Although I had never cooked a lot as a kid, or even when I started working, it came to me quite naturally when I tried it for the first time after coming to the US for my graduate studies. I would just try standard stuff initially, like chhole, pav bhaji, daal rice, batata bhaaji, rajma... the works... The problem however, was it tasted the same day in day out.... and when you are with a group of boys...also cooking for the first time.... u get the same stuff week in week out....

So I started experimenting.... most of my initial experiments failed.... but the few that succeeded were extremely tasty... (tasty, by my definition is something I would love to have a second helping of.... and I do not crave for everyone to find it tasty, if I like it.... that's all that matters)

To cut a long story short... some of my experiments became crowd pleasers.... and that inspired me to learn more from the cooking blogs and the video shows...

The following is a dish that all the vegetarians in my family love...

I've tried it about 10 times now... and can now make a "tasty" side dish that tastes like indian chinese :P

Chinese Chilli Corn/ Chinese Bell Pepper and Corn
Serves 4 (as a side dish)
Ingredients

1 Red Bell Pepper
1 Yellow Bell pepper

(Note that this is just the current avatar of this dish... and it tastes yum... although you can substitute with green bell peppers/capsicum)

1 11 oz can of Green Giant corn niblets (You get it in bulk at costco... and other places too, I'm sure)

3 pinches of ajinomoto (absolutely essential to make Indian chinese)

5-6 cloves of garlic finely chopped (You can add more, another indian chinese essential)

2-3 chillies (cut along their length)

1/2 tsp of red chilli powder
Salt to taste

1 tsp of green chilli sauce (I use Chings' Secret)
2 tsp of soy sauce
a dab of tomato ketchup
a dab of sriracha sauce

The above sauces are as per taste, I personally do not make any strict measurements.

1-2 tbsp cooking oil (vary based on how health /taste conscious u r)

Fresh coriander (for garnishing)

Preparation

Heat the oil in a wok... you can use any non stick pan, with enough volume to cook one can of corn with 2 bell peppers, without spilling.

Put 1-2 pieces of garlic in the oil, when they start turning brown, the oil is ready, add the remaining garlic and chillies and stir-fry.

When the garlic is fried nicely (it turns brown), add the bell peppers, stir-fry
Based on how you like ur bell pepper (over cooked or slightly crisp) stir-fry for 4-6 minutes on a medium flame.

It will reduce a lot in volume, losing the water it naturally contains...

To hasten this process, add a bit of salt and 2 pinches of ajinomoto. Mix thoroughly.

When the bell peppers are cooked as per ur liking, add the sauces (chilli, soy, tomato and sriracha).Add red chilli powder and some more salt. Stir-fry

When the sauces are evenly mixed, add the corn (you may or may not add the water in the can, which is sweet. Adding the water (stock) makes the dish less spicy).

Let the corn cook for sometime on a high flame, this will evaporate any water and the sauces and stock will combine to make a glue like gravy(sauce). Reduce the flame to medium and let cook for 2-3 minutes. Add one more pinch of ajinomoto. Stir-fry.

Garnish with chopped coriander.

And Chinese Chilli Corn is ready...best served when hot, as a side dish, with fried rice or noodles... or as an appetizer.

Bubble Bath

2008-10-12T15:09:00.000-07:00

It's been a long time....But I don't want to talk about that in this post

Ever since I was a kid, I had this strange fascination for bubble baths and bath tubs... Maybe the effect of TV... Maybe I saw the tub at someone's place... I don't exactly know... but I would crave that someday I will have a house big enough... so that the bath room will be big enough to have a bath tub... strange ambition right? But I think, as a kid I thought of having a bath tub as a status symbol (by the above train of thought)....

As a kid... I used to play in this small tub.... u know it was so small I don't think all my dinner plates would fit into them now...but when I was a kid... I could sit in it... cross legged... and have water come up to my waist... and if I bent over I could get my head in too... I must have been 3 or 4 years then....but that was a cool activity :)...

...That and a hose pipe... (which we employed to fill a big tank, the municipality water in Mumbai being as fickle as it is....) dark green in color... it often became symbolic of summer....

Now, I suffered from asthma as a kid... and somehow my parents would always worry that I'd catch a chill, if I took a cold water bath... so it was warm water day in day out....

But summer would change the rules... it was so warm outside... and we, my sis and I would need a wash every evening, after play time.... and the hose pipe was a double-whammy... more fun after play.....Isn't it strange... that as kids... small utensil tub and a simple hose pipe... can bring us so much fun.... and now... as grownups we need a million diversions to give us a semblance of happiness...

When I first came to the US, I was pleasantly surprised to find a bath tub in every apartment I stayed (except when I was at Google)... but I would somehow never take a bubble bath... maybe because I was sharing my apartment with roommates... maybe coz... I felt it to would be perceived as slightly panzoid to harbour such wants....
nevertheless, when I moved into my own apartment in San Jose, I made it a point to take a bubble bath at least once a week... (usually on the weekend...) listening to some soothing lounge music...During this time...I had stocked up several "Bath and Body Works" samplers... as well as some aroma therapy ones....

As I soak myself in a warm, sweet smelling bubbly bath, my mind clears up, I lose most of the stress of the previous week, and I'm both calm and energized to take on the world for one more week...

But I guess...more than all that.. it kind of brings back a lot of childhood memories... and a sense of satisfaction and achievement.

I'll end with one of my favorite PJs on this topic...

For his final project in a statistics class, a student decided to conduct a
Survey. So it wouldn't be a boring project, he chose to find out peoples'
Favourite pastimes.

The teacher required that he sample at least 100 people, so he started out
His project visiting a fairly large apartment building near the university.

He knocked on the first door and a man answered. "Sir, what is your name
?" asked the student "John", replied the man.

"Sir, I'm doing a school study and would like to know what is your
Favourite pastime ?"

"Watching bubbles in the bath," came the reply.

He liked the esoterical answer and continued down the hall, until he came
To the next door, when he asked again. "Sir, what is your name?"

"Jeff !", said the second man.

"Sir, Would you please tell me your favourite pastime?"

"Watching bubbles in the bath,! " was the answer.

Quite amused and confused he went on to ask a good number of people in the
Building and all of them had the same pastime "watching bubbles in the
Bath".

He left the building and walked across the street where there were several
Row houses to continue the survey.

At the first house, he knocks and an attractive college girl opens the
Door. Our surveyor starts again - "What is your name?"

"Bubbles"

The Price of Donuts

2007-12-30T23:41:00.000-08:00

The most recent time I had a donut was at CS Tea Time: A weekly gettogether of fellow CS nerds at the department of Computer Sciences at UT Austin. Surprisingly this is one of the few times when the samosa is valued more than a donut. Although unverified, a samosa may be bartered for as much as 2 or 3 chocolate and cheese filled donuts. Not that I am any different, I am one of the first to grab a samosa, then one for Priyanka.... but then while I wait for a second round of samosas, I do justice to the donuts, pick a glazed one up, and relish it reminiscing the days when that very bite was the best thing in the world....

My first memories of eating a donut was the "Monginis Doughnut" that amma would get. Amma would get it for chai naashta almost every Saturday, on her way back from work.. along with some veg puff pattice/chicken puff pattice.... I would wait with great anticipation....and after finishing off my share of chicken pattices, would relish the doughnut... telling amma how much I love them...

She would often tell stories of her first job, when the doughnut was her favorite snack... a means of celebrating the little joys of life... a commendation by her superiors... a small raise... a totaling error found.... Amma would spend about a rupee a day on traveling and food... The train and bus tickets would cost maybe 50 paise and she would spend the remaining 50 paise on donuts sometimes... it was a great luxury in those days for her... and she would enjoy every bite of that subtly sweetened cream in between the softest of O shaped bread, pretty much my reaction as a kid.

I remember buying donuts as a 10 year old kid... for about Rs. 5 and then later as a college kid for about Rs 8, which was about 16% of my Rs 50 daily allowance. As I've grown up, I have picked up a lot of my parents' traits... cherishing food and using it as a form of celebration...

The donuts we get here in Austin cost between 50 cents and a dollar (about 25-40 INR)... the prices have come a long way for me... but donuts are and always will remain special... One high calorie bite... and I'm that kid again...waiting for my hardworking mom to return from work, on a warm Saturday afternoon. Now can there be any high-enough price for that?

Inactivity

2007-06-27T15:57:00.000-07:00

Not much to do
Rather haven't done much
Over the last few days

Happens with me
Around the time I take a holiday
The days before and after
Are just filled with inactivity

So I think, is this idling
Due to peace of mind, or contentment
Maybe I have done enough work already
Maybe I'm going too fast and need to rest a bit
Before I go any further
Inhale the temporary serenity
Breathe in and revisit
What I need to do
What I must do
What I want
Strange
But shouldn't all those be the same?

Maybe inactivity and procrastination
Is not so bad
Maybe its the design phase
Before we actually code
Maybe its where the plot
Is put in place

Most of all
It makes me think
From a different perspective
And remind myself
Of my insignificant role
In the scheme of things
That is this universe

And that takes a whole load off
Of me
And makes me happy
In spite of everything

Now isn't that a good thing to have
Maybe that's what they teach you in meditation school
To let go
Or rather to remind you
That you can

Till Kingdom Come

2007-06-27T11:18:00.000-07:00

This song is just amazing. Its strange, how many times a song can say exactly what one feels.

Till Kingdom Come

Still my heart and hold my tongue
I feel my time
My time has come
Let me in
Unlock the door
I never felt this way before

And the wheels just keep on turning
The drummer begins to drum
I don’t know which way I’m going
I don’t know which way I’ve come

Hold my head inside your hands
I need someone who understands
I need someone, someone who hears
For you I’ve waited all these years
For you I’d wait till kingdom come
Until my day, my day is done
And say you'll come and set me free
Just say you'll wait, you'll wait for me

In your tears and in your blood
In your fire and in your flood
I hear you laugh, I heard you sing
I wouldn’t change a single thing
And the wheels just keep on turning
The drummers begin to drum
I don’t know which way I’m going
I don’t know what I’ve become

For you I’d wait till kingdom come
Until my days, my days are done
And say you'll come and set me free
Just say you'll wait, you'll wait for me
Just say you'll wait, you'll wait for me
Just say you'll wait, you'll wait for me

Coldplay

Why I write the way I write

2007-06-26T15:01:00.000-07:00

I like writing as if
I were writing a poem
It helps, cos' unlike prose
There is no commitment to complete the sentence
To plan out new arguments
Or carry on a single one
The same reason why I have never
Consisted with blogging
So I plan to write in bursts and lines
Cos this is how I think
This is what I am
Impulsive and at times hopefully poetic
This is how I see life
In fits and bursts

Microsoft Interview Questions

2007-04-08T22:12:00.000-07:00

Finally, they are here.....

A tad bit late, but here nevertheless....
I was worried initially abt revealing the questions....cos I was all set to go there... but now that I have changed my mind.....it doesn't matter....

I reached Seattle on February 1, 2007 at arnd 8 pm. I reached Courtyard by Marriott at around 8:35. Settled in, had a light "junky" dinner, and practised some code till abt 12 am, I guess.

My interview was scheduled to start at 11:30....a bit lucky cos that meant an easy start to the morning and the lunch interview to begin proceedings... I had a heavy breakfast, stocked up on some cereal bars, and practised some more code and left for One Microsoft Way at 10:30. The cab ride was just 10 minutes....and I reached the main reception at Building 19 a whole 45 minutes ahead of time. The receptionist gave me a lowdown of the administrative and infrastructural stuff and then I waited for my recruiter to come and meet me in the lobby. My friend kept me company on phone...and helped me a lot with some useful last minute prep....

11:15 first interview... type : HR, with the recruiter.

Just verified some stuff off the resume, asked if I had any offers....then asked why Microsoft....gave me a goody bag. Explained the day's schedule, asked me abt all the hype surrounding the interviews...and then directed me to the recruit shuttle. On the way we talked a lot abt life, my hobbies, sports I play and stuff....I decided to be extremely friendly with everyone I meet that day....

Aside: The interviews are well planned....but it's a relay setup. I just knew my first interviewer and his location, he would tell me abt the next guy and so on....

11:30 Recruit shuttle to Building 50 something....

11:40 Interview 1 At building 50 something...wait till Mr Mn Fg meets me in the lobby. All the waiting actually hepled me calm my nerves, but cd work the opposite way too. Very genial and welcoming Asian 45+ man. Test lead/manager for the Windows admin team. Amazing guy to have as ur first interviewer.... plus a Lunch interview...the atmosphere was very laid back and friendly. It was almost like a homecoming, interacting with him. The interview was a hybrid tech HR one with loads of pauses for eating. I could choose anything I wanted, but I went for a simple Indian rice+subji combo. If I had to redo this, I would have eaten only fruits. Now I'm a slow eater...especially wen I'm talking...so my meal was not ending at all....Mn Fg was extremely patient and we interacted like team mates
Questions: Strengths with examples/illustrations. Weaknesses with examples/illustrations. Team work experience. Life at Microsoft....suddenly out of the blue difference between int ** ptr and int * ptr. Then teh difference between NULL and empty string. Then back to some stories....and I was extremely attentive...also helping him complete some sentences... geeky techie discussions.

We then went up to his cube/office where he realised that there was very little time for a full fledged techie interview and asked me one simple question: Write a complete C program to find string length. Wow.... a sitter for q1... it really felt like my day from then on in....

I kinda cracked that q.....the key understanding was being able to differentiate between null and empty strings....which he really liked. He then asked me to write test cases for the same. I did that...and then he said, well if u had to use just 3 test cases which ones wud u use....and if u had just 1 which one wud u use? I guess I answered that satisfactorily too...and that was the end of interview 1...I'd rate it as a 85-90/100. On my way out he showed me a trophy with all the releases he had been a part of engraved on it (14 in all) and handed me a Vista frisbee....

1:30 Interview 2 Same building, 6/7 offices away from Mn Fg, Mr Ml.... he is another guy in Mn Fg's team, same age as me....another extremely friendly guy, started off with questions on my projects.... then the tech interview started

Q1 Write a program to find the number of 1's in the binary representation of an integer. Is there a faster method if we use characters instead of integers.

Q2 Implement a lease and release mechanism. When the caller calls lease it returns the smallest avaialable integer from a range. On release the number become available or leasing again. So for eg if 3 clients call lease thrice it would give 0, 1 and 2. Then if the client recieving the 1 releases it and some one calls lease again it shd return 1 and not 3.

I took some time on Q2...but I finally nailed it. He also asked me test cases for both questions as well as a way to automate the testing....

I would rate myself a 75-80/100 on that one.

3:00 Interview with Mr Ai Ni

Started slightly late....another impressive personality... Test lead of the Windows Update backend pipe team. We went right into the interview:

Q1 Why Microsoft? Does the test team play a major role....how can they have a stake in the ownership of the product. Give an example where u fixed a bug...that stumped several ppl....and how u debugged it...(working in the industry gives u an edge ...with such questions....) this part went well

Q2 I have a process which gets a lot (several thousands) of numbers in the night...I need to store it in some data structure, I have the whole night to do it...(so enough time for insertion) but I need to retrieve it the next day in very little time, how do I go abt doing this? Answer Obviously hash table...discussed hashing and rehashing..... we were heading toward a dead end...so he decided to give me some more time for retrieval...so I said binary tree....then he said what's the worst case... I said linear for a lopsided tree, so then wat? Balance the tree....so he gave me some test cases and made me write a balancing algorithm, which I think I wrote well....and he was quite happy with it....then he asked me if I had any questions...and I asked him if they use low level tree implementations in code at all....and he said well yes and no....and it was more a test of my thinking abilities rather than knowledge.....

I'd rate myself a 70-75/100, due to the hash table impasse

Interview 4 4:30 Mr Ty Ln, Ai Ni's manager.....probly one of the nicest ppl I've met....

I was tiring by this time...and it was 4:30 on a Friday...I remarked to Ty as we walked to his office...that I was sorry to keeping him from leaving early on a Friday evening....and he just laughed it off....we entered his office and almost immediately he drew an AND OR and X-OR gates on the white board and asked for their truth table.....now I'm a EE undergrad and I teach Logic to undergrads.....even if I were asleep....I shd be able to answer that....so I did...then he drew an opamp and fumbled with the inverting and non inverting configs....I corrected it for him... i remembered stuff that I'd done almost 4 years back....and the he asked me...wat wud happen if there were no feed back...and I said it wud be just liek a gate...and that was the answer he was looking for....he smiled bk almost mischievously....'are u surprised'...and I say of course I am....and he says well he has a EE back ground too....so we start off the interview on a good note....

Q1 Test the travelling salesman problem...Given a set of input coordinates, return the optimal path covering all points and back. i worked up some good test cases....actually all except one which I briefly alluded too...I knew I had forgotten something....and he sensed it and asked me if it wud be a problem if we just went ahead without it...and I said well yes and no....so he told me that one shd consider positive and -ve infinity as 2 points....

Q2 Write an optimal program given an array a of integers and length l to remove the duplicates and return the new length... I nailed that...and he did not ask me to speed it up...

it was almost 6:30 now...and he said 'well that's the last question I will ask u today'.... and he called me the shuttle to go back to Bldg 19...and then I went back to my hotel....after almost 7 hours of interviews....

I wud rate that interview a 85-90/100

So my overall rating would be arnd 82....which I wud say was pretty good for a non CS undergrad...with little preparation....I was pretty confident...and when I reached Austin...I was mailed by Mn Fg (instead of the recruiter) on Tuesday asking if I had heard from the recruiter abt his team's offer. Later that dy I was mailed by Ty Ln, that he was coming to Austin, and wanted to know if I cd meet him over dinner....

Well that meant an almost yes...and I did get an offer on Friday, a week after the interviews from my recruiter....

Everyone....each and everyone of my interviewers impressed me....and I feel sad at having missed the chance of working with such brilliant individuals.... but then Google is Google....my dream company....and I know I will be happier there....

Well more abt that interview some time later...for now its good night and shabba khair...and please take good care of urself....

Wellness

2007-04-07T13:15:00.000-07:00

I had written this quite sometime back (4/7/2007), and I believe the power of posterity always allows you to show emotions you din't mean to express at the time they originated...so here goes...

Pull and Push
To and Fro
We go

At times loud
At times silent
On and off

Strangely still
We manage to steal
Our share of happiness

A laugh here, a pout there
A warm word expressing care
Time well spent

Wellness
Is a thing of body and soul
They say

For me though
Its with you
At this moment here

Achievements, rewards, credit and gain
Make me happy, but then again...
Matter little for I know its true

I'm truly well with you...

Surreal

2007-04-03T00:15:00.000-07:00

This feeling that I get
When things seem as if in a dream
When yearnings come true
As if they were always meant to be
Complications simplify
Leaving me to wonder why
They were ever a worry
I'm scared...though
All ups have downs
Lurking nearby
Hope I don't get carried away
By this dreamy phase
And have my feet on the ground
With joys abound
Surreal
It's what I feel

Google today confirmed the receipt of my acceptance of their offer. Complicated line rite. They also asked for my preferred user name, computer name and tee size.
Surreal
Is what I feel....

This moment

2007-03-14T08:20:00.000-07:00

We shall never be here again....
this moment will never be here again
Life shall never be the same again...

What if I had nowhere to go, no care in the world...about how I'd look with my clothes all wet, about what people would think about me....if all I wanted was to be in the current moment and live it to the fullest, to gambol in the rain, what would I do? And why I am I waiting? After all i'm just a speck on an uninteresting orb, in a far corner of an insignificant galaxy....

Gotta keep walking

What if this is as good as it gets

2007-03-04T10:53:00.000-08:00

I might be the only person on the face of the earth that knows you're the greatest woman on earth. I might be the only one who appreciates how amazing you are in every single thing that you do,.......and in every single thought that you have, and how you say what you mean, and how you almost always mean something that's all about being straight and good. I think most people miss that about you, and I watch them, wondering how they can watch you......and never get that they just met the greatest woman alive. And the fact that I get it makes me feel good, about me.

Is that something that's bad for you to be around, for you?

Melvin Udall
As Good as it Gets

Isn't it strange...

2007-03-01T00:00:00.000-08:00

Isn't it strange
How we move our lives for another day
Like skipping a beat
What if a great wave should wash us all away
Just thinking out loud
Don't mean to dwell on this dying thing
But looking at blood
It's alive right now
Deep and sweet within
Pouring through our veins
Intoxicate moving wine to tears
Drinking it deep
Then an evening spent dancing
It's you and me
This love will open our world
From the dark side we can see a glow of something bright
There's much more than we see here
Don't burn the day away
Is this not enough
This blessed sip of life
Is it not enough
Staring down at the ground
Oh then complain and pray more from above
Greedy little pig
Stop just watch your world trickle away
Oh it's your problem now
It'll all be dead and gone in a few short years
Just love will open our eyes
Just love will put the hope in our minds
Much more than we could ever know
Don't burn the day away
Come sister my brother
Shake up your bones shake up your feet
I'm saying open up
And let the rain come pouring in
Wash out this tired notion
That the best is yet to come
But while you're dancing on the ground
Don't think of when you're gone
Love love what more is there
We need the light of love in here
Don't beat your head
Dry your eyes
Let the love in there
There are bad times
But that's ok
Just look for love in it
Don't burn the day away
Look
Here are we
On this starry night staring into space
And I must say
I feel as small as dust
Lying down here
What point could there be troubling
Head down wondering what will become of me
Why concern we cannot see
But no reason to abandon it
Time is short but that's all right
Maybe I'll go in the middle of the night
Take your hands from your eyes, my love
All good things must end some time
Don't burn the day away
Come sister my brother
Shake up your bones shake up your feet
I'm saying open up
And let the rain come flooding in
Wash out this tired notion
That the best is yet to come
But while you're dancing on the ground
Don't think of when you're gone
Love love what more is there
We need the light of love in here
Don't beat your head
Dry your eyes
Let the love in there
There are bad times
But that's ok
Just look for love in it

Pig
Dave Matthews Band

Believing in Java -1

2007-01-07T13:13:00.000-08:00

My most long awaited post series is finally here....
actually i don't know if many people were waiting for this :P
at least I was :)

So how do I start?

or rather how do you start?

If you are here then you must be:
1)a software junkie/nerd wanting to start with Java, but did not know where to start.
2)someone who knows the syntax, but never actually tried writing any code
3)a C++ programmer who finally realised that it sucked (actually just joking)
4)A forgetful 25 year old graduate student who must do this, so that he can immortalise his knowledge (provided blogger.com will survive the next ice age)

i am not explicitly going to teach OOP here....so if u are here for OOP purely...you must google something else....altho if you are patient....and iff i do not forget...there will be some examples

Let's start at the very beginning, a very good place to start....

Java is write once run anywhere...which means that the only requirement to run a java app on ur computer is to have a Java Virtual Machine installed on it. That's it. It doesn't matter what kinda hardware/OS u have, just make sure u have a JVM and u r good to go. I guess this is of the most powerful features of Java, a feature that makes it portable...the other stuff that i really like is:
1)Me no understand pointer speak.....(actually this is not very true)...but java does not require you to explicitly manage memory, which means on the upside, extremely programmer friendly...but on the downside could cause memory leaks...and is also considered by it's critics to be slow. Garbage collector settings are tweakable at the system level.
2)Extensible and hence infinitely powerful.
3)Relatively simple to program in.

To get a lowdown on other stuff....you must check out the wiki on Java (Programming Language)

However just having the JVM, which is part of the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) does not allow you to develop applications in Java. You also need a Developer's Kit..... a JDK. Both the runtime and the JDK are freely downloadable here

You may also download an IDE. IDEs make life really simple for a programmer, because of the on-the-fly compile feature among others. But its always better to start learning the harder way, using command line...that's how I started. 2 IDEs I believe in are Netbeans and Eclipse. Remember an IDE is just a development environment. It may not necessarily have the runtimes and other tools that come with a JDK.

Your first Java Program

Yes this is it, the Hello World you've all been waiting for


public class Hello
{
    public static void main(String args[])
    {
        System.out.println("Helo World");
    }
}

Wow so much code, but what do we do with it.

Step 1:

Using a text editor, (Word pad or notepad or editplus are pretty good editors if you do not have an IDE/don't know how to use one), create a file Hello.java. The default extension in Notepad is .txt. So don't create a file Hello.java.txt....instead change it to all files (*.*) and save as Hello.java. Copy paste the above code into the file and save. The source contains one class named Hello. Even if you might be deviating from my instructions, please ensure that the source code file name must be the same as the class.

Step 2:

U have the source file now. All that remains is to compile it. To compile a source all we need to do is to pass the file name with location to the javac tool. This and several other useful tools that are bundled with the JDK are available in the /bin folder. So a good idea would be to add this location to the PATH environmental variable.

also add this to the CLASSPATH variable

/lib/tools.jar.

In case you do not have a classpath variable create one and add this.

To add an entry is equivalent to appending to the existing text a semi colon and the new entry.

To compile type

javac /Hello.java

if you followed everything correctly uptil now, the command terminates succesfully and the prompt is on a new line.

There could be 3 kinds of errors.
1)A compilation error if you did not copy paste the code correctly or mistyped some syntax. Or you did not add the tools.jar entry. In case you cannot modify the classpath variable add a -classpath flag and provide the tools.jar entry after it.
2)A file not found error if the source code file does not exist, or the location specified is incorrect.
3)A command not found error, in case you did not add the bin location in PATH. In case you can't change the environmental variable don't worry. Specify the complete path for the javac command.

The class should be created at the location you are currently running the command.

Step 3:
To run the class type
java Hello.

If you get a similar error as 1 or 3 in Step 2, do similar work arounds.

You should have been able to see a Hello World.

Congratulations....you've just written your first Java application. Now rest for a while and wait for my next post.

Back from Arizona

2007-01-07T12:57:00.000-08:00

Well, almost 4 days since I'm back, actually....so this post is a tad late.....
anyways...better late than never

As for the trip, I was quite apprehensive initially, but I guess it was really uncalled for...... made some really nice friends...... and met a most wonderful person..... We had great fun, watched so many movies, biked around, lazed around, let our hair down.........

A most amazing and refreshing break I would say. One that I never wanted to end....

Coming back is always tough... coming back to work...starting up again....leaving back memories of time well spent....

But then one must always come back..... and stay happy.....For life is just a collection of memories, both happy and sad....and its always better to focus on the happy to overcome the sad....

Actually the new year brings in a new start for me.... to overcome my inconsistencies, my shortcomings, to exceed and excel, to assert myself and achieve my true potential...to fulfill my dreams....and its been good I guess till now....

Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind ?
Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and auld lang syne ?
CHORUS:
For auld lang syne, my dear,
for auld lang syne,
we'll take a cup o’ kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

And surely you’ll buy your pint cup !
And surely I’ll buy mine !
And we'll take a cup o’ kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.
CHORUS
We two have run about the hills,
and pulled the daisies fine ;
But we’ve wandered many a weary foot,
since auld lang syne.
CHORUS
We two have paddled in the stream,
from morning sun till dine (dinner time) ;
But seas between us broad have roared
since auld lang syne.
CHORUS
And there’s a hand my trusty friend !
And give us a hand o’ thine !
And we’ll take a right good-will draught,
for auld lang syne.
CHORUS

Happy New Year
and God Bless [:)]

Binary Life this

2006-12-09T17:18:00.000-08:00

Strange
We feel that binary is probably the most primitive of things. We degrade ppl by saying they are binary, unable to make finer decisions, unable to change in a more granular way. But then aren't we all at any given moment in one state out of a possible 2. Stranger still we don't find that degrading...we find that individual.

I have no qualms in saying that I'm binary....and sometimes even unary [:P]. Either overtly optimistic or masochistically pessimistic. Smart or dumb. Conflicting between 2 extremes.

But then isn't life and everything in it binary, u either get something or you don't.

You are either always trying as hard as possible to get something, or trying as hard as possible to lose it. One way u try to get motivated, try to find a purpose and the other way u try to get detached, try to rehabilitate. Well you try, but you truly never succeed, at least never completely. U just keep giving yourself a comforting notion, that you have succeeded.....and move on to another game of get and lose.

True or false, that's upto you to decide.....but it won't make me any difference.....coz i already know.....or rather I think I already know .