Category: General

@Trendulkar almost owned the internet!

~ Akshay ~ 4 Comments

Valay's avatarValayism

Yes, @Trendulkar had almost owned the internet today by trolling Pakistanis during Pakistan v/s Bangladesh match and also after that. He became all Nagarjuna and played the role of One Man Army at trolling. Thought of summarizing the whole trolling process. Here is how it all started:

  • Initially, during the match, he started posting some usual quips.

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  • He started jesting some more jokes further and finally came up with this ultimate photo which was circulated on Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp all over the country.

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  • Further, he gave a clarification about the same:

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  • When Afridi started hitting as a responsible Pakistani player:

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  • Meanwhile, he kept on posting some more puns:

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  • Trolling went on further and Pakistanis had already started abusing him:

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  • Some more quips:

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  • .. And, ‘below the belt’ stuff started..

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  • Here he goes again..

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  • Trolling continues and on its way to own the internet:

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  • ..And this:

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  • When none of the…

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Day 76/ 365 – Almost killed someone…

~ Akshay ~ Leave a comment

Last night after finishing work, I was driving back home listening to music, windows rolled down, enjoying the empty roads. I had just crossed the National Park flyover and there was a stretch of road where there were no street lights. I saw a small crowd gathered around a rickshaw on the left side of the road, but I was in the right lane didnt really care much when all of a sudden a man with suitcase who was crossing the highway came in front of the car and this wasnt even an intersection. The time to react for me very less and I hit the brakes right away and car swerved and skidded and I avoided hitting that person. I was in complete daze for the next few moments trying to understand what had just happened. At the same time, I realized I was shaking head to toe  in sheer panic. Since all this happened so quickly, I was already near the Magathane flyover when I decided to stop the car for a few minutes to calm myself down.

I just started thinking what would have happened if I had hit that person. He would have probably died or atleast would have been in the hospital for a very long time and I could have been arrested by the police for reckless driving or involuntary manslaughter, even though it wasn’t my fault. The problem in India is anytime you have hit a person, and even though you are not fault, you are assumed guilty. Why? Just because you were driving the car and the “poor” man was just trying to cross the road. Even though there is a pedestrian bridges and subway built at various points on highway, people still choose to cross the road. Just a few meters ahead of the spot where this event happened, there was a footover bridge which was built so that people can safely cross. However, the man chose to cross the road. Still the police would have held me responsible saying I was speeding, or driving recklessly or in worst case scenario would say I was driving drunk.

The problem with us is that we dont tend to obey rules and I dont why. The same person who has been breaking all the traffic rules in India will obey all the rules whenever he/ she goes abroad. The part of the problem is that rules cant be implemented in India looking at number of people vs. the number of traffic policemen we have. Plus our cops are paid poorly so bribing them usually ensures that people get away with any type of traffic violation. Anyways, I am just venting right now on what could have happened etc. I am just hoping that the person who was crossing today realizes that he is very fortunate to be alive today and hopefully does not repeat the same thing again.

Day 75/ 365 – Think Different

~ Akshay ~ Leave a comment

The first time I saw this advertisement,  I was absolutely blown away. I have always been a fan of Apple products and when I saw this advertisement I just felt it suited them perfectly because their products were just different to others. However, recently they have lagged behind when it comes to introducing new products, being taken over by Samsung and Google. I am not sure this advertisement has ever been played on Indian television, so just thought of sharing it here.

Day 47/ 365 – Internet sharing issues

~ Akshay ~ 2 Comments

Around a couple of months ago, I upgraded my phone and laptop from Windows 8 to Windows 8.1 and around the same time I changed my Vodafone 3G internet plan from unlimited to 2 GB. The two events occurred around the same time. Before the upgrade and change in the data plan, I was able to use internet sharing on my phone without any issues. However since the upgrade/ change in data plan, I am not able to connect to the internet. I am able to connect to the network, but when I open the browser, the net does not work. I didn’t pay attention to this problem since I always carry a 3G data dongle with me. But today, I had a presentation to make for my MBA classes and forgot to carry the data dongle with me. I really needed the internet connection to work. So I tried connecting through the phone and as usual it didn’t work. I called up the Vodafone call center, assuming that it could be a problem at their end as earlier internet sharing on the phone was working fine. After being repeatedly kept on hold, the customer service executive informed me that since I have a windows phone and windows machine, internet sharing would not work. I was extremely surprised at this answer and told her that everything was working fine earlier and only recently since the change in data plans, things aren’t working. She told me that there is nothing that they could do over the phone for this and it was a known issue and I could try my luck at the nearest Vodafone store. Not satisfied with the answer, I decided to connect through a Windows 7 laptop. The same issue occurred – I was able to connect to the network, but not able to use the internet. So it leads me to believe that this is a Windows 8.1 issue.

I am now trying to search through the issue on the internet to see if this problem exists and what is the resolution. I am also going to go to local Vodafone store to check the issue. Hopefully should be able to identify a resolution to this problem.

Day 36/ 365 – Happy Thanksgiving

~ Akshay ~ Leave a comment

All these posts were written earlier, but it didn’t have a chance to post hence posting everything now.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. Not sure how many of  you observe the Thanksgiving holiday, but it is one of the biggest holidays in the US. Since I have been working US holiday calendar (I know you all know about it by now), I have Thanksgiving holidays, thought why not write about the holiday. Thanksgiving is all about being with the family and celebrating with them. I remember one Thanksgiving where my roommate, Mark, had invited me and Samer for Thanksgiving lunch at his home somewhere near Chesapeake Bay in Maryland (This was around 10 years back – so my memory about the event is not too fresh). The drive down to his house was really awesome, though we did hit a deer on the way and the car had a big dent. The deer appeared all of a sudden and even though we were driving around 40 mph, couldn’t avoid the hit. We went to check on the deer and it lay whimpering on the side of the road. Since, there was no option but to go ahead we reached Marks dad’s house. I believe the house was entire built by his dad brick by brick and I was amazed to see that. Here in India, we have laborers’ to do all that work for us, so I was really surprised to know that his dad built the whole house himself. Anyways, we were greeted warmly by Mark’s parents and we informed them of the incident. For lunch, his mom had prepared a sumptuous meal of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes with gravy, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, sweet corn, various fall vegetables (mainly various kinds of squashes), and pie (not sure which type – mostly pumpkin). It was one of the best meals I ever had. This was the first time I had stuffing and since then I always used to go to the superstore and get stuffing and eat it as lunch – whenever there was no option. After the meal, we decided to laze around and watch some Thanksgiving parade before calling it a day. It was one of my best experiences ever. 

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Day 32/ 365 – Kaccha Limbu

~ Akshay ~ Leave a comment

Couple of days ago, me and a colleague were discussing about playing billiards over a cup of tea. I have played pool a couple of times, but am absolutely not good at it. I have always been confused about pool and billiards. Since I haven’t played much of either also don’t have much knowledge about it. So my colleague was explaining the key difference between the two games and how in billiards is played between two players or two teams and how he used to partner someone who was extremely good at the game in his previous organization. For his partner he used to be “Kaccha Limbu”. I had heard this term used after a very very long time and it immediately brought back floods of memories of my days as a kid.

A “Kaccha Limbu” is a term given to someone who is relatively new to the game and is allowed to have certain liberties because he does not know the game or is younger compared to the rest of the players. During my days as kid, when I used to play cricket with older players – I used to be a Kaccha Limbu. Others would bowl at me with slower pace, I was allowed to bat twice and sometimes I used to play from both the sides. It used to be fun playing with older kids and they really used to ensure that you were pampered and allowed to play but at the same time not at the expense of them losing. The best part about being Kaccha Limbu was you would get to do your favourite twice and at the same time get to learn so much. I wish this concept was applicable in our professional lives as well. If you commit a mistake, it doesn’t get held against you and you can redo the same task again. But that’s not how the real world works L and mistakes are held against you, perceptions are formed and you end up living with them throughout your tenure in the company or sometimes throughout your work life.

Day 30/ 365 – Security (or lack of) at ATMs

~ Akshay ~ Leave a comment

Yesterday we had a horrific attack on a woman who was using an ATM in Bangalore. The woman who happens to be working in a bank was attacked by a man with machete at 7 am in the morning. While the woman is being treated and recovering from the attack, the man who attacked her is still at large. This incident has raised heckles as far as banks providing security for ATM’s is concerned. When I has just returned from the US, I was surprised to see ATMs located in AC booths and security guards posted outside. My experience in the US was entirely different, where the ATM’s where just machines in the wall and there was no one guarding it. I always used to wonder why waste so much space, especially in a city like Mumbai where space is a limited and you have to pay through exorbitant amounts to rent or buy. The security guard who is normally stationed outside, does not have a gun. I think they have a baton with them (though, not sure how it helps when someone has a machete or a gun). Most of the time, they just keep whiling away their time sitting on a chair instead of being alert and looking out for people with suspicious behavior. I believe the above incident could have been avoided if the ATM’s are brick in the transparent booths instead of shops with shutters, so that alarm can be raised in case of such incidents. We will now probably have some regulation that the RBI will pass and make it mandatory for banks to have security guards 24×7 which in turn would increase the operating margin for the banks, reduce their profitability and ultimately be passed on to the consumer in form of limited withdrawals a month for free or some charge every time you use an ATM. On the lighter note, this would be the increase in the number of people employed through security agencies. This would also spawn new security agencies who only deal with ATM security. So thanks to the attacker, we will probably see a decrease in unemployment numbers in the upcoming quarters.

Thank You Sachin

~ Akshay ~ Leave a comment

After a successful career spanning 24 years, Sachin Tendulkar retired today. I was 7 years old when he made his debut against Pakistan in Pakistan. I don’t remember much of him then, except the time when he famously hit 3 sixes in an Abdul Qadir over and effectively bringing an end to the spinner’s career. I also read that on this tour Sachin got a bloody nose by Waqar Younis, but instead of rushing back to the dressing room, he got himself treated on the ground and continued playing. It was simply awesome a 16 year old taking on the world, at the time when Indian team was known to meekly surrender when going got tough.

I grew up watching Sachin play all these years. In some ways, I wanted to bat like Sachin – emulate his batting style, his strokes. Cricket for me was watching Sachin bat. Sachin out – TV off was the common thing in many households. What attracted me towards his batting was just the way he loved to dominate the bowlers, he was raw, intense and was willing to give a fight – not take no for an answer. He was a one man army – as long as he was out there batting – there was always hope. Hope that India could somehow pull it off, turn the impossible into possible, snatch a victory from the jaws of defeat. He taught everyone to be hopeful, that one man can make a difference.  People came to watch him because he gave them hope, gave them something to cheer about when things were not going their way. He showed them not to give up without a fight.

Sachin has turned out to be one of the finest batsmen of this generation, has achieved many accolades but at the same time has remained extremely grounded. You hear about so many sportsmen who take success to their head and become arrogant. But not Sachin. He still remains the same. There was a moment in the ongoing series – not sure if people noticed. MS Dhoni was having a word with the bowler, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, I believe at the end of one of the sessions. Sachin was walking a little ahead of them. He could have easily offered his opinion on whatever MSD was saying, but he did not. That’s the best quality about him. He does not have any airs about him. Have read about how he ensures that all new comers in the team are comfortable approaching him and if he sees that they are hesitant, he approaches them himself to make sure they are comfortable.

I know whatever I write about him is very less. There is nothing about him which isn’t already written. The chants of “Sachin Sachin” are going to be missed forever. All I can say is Thank You Sachin for the memories.

ThankYou

Day 23/ 365 – Mission to Mars

~ Akshay ~ Leave a comment

Yesterday India launched a satellite probe to Mars – first of its kind for India and on shoestring budget of Rs. 450 crore (equivalent to $73 million – less than some of the movie budgets and definitely less than the transfer fee paid by Real Madrid for Gareth Bale) and within 15 months of Government approval. If probe manages to reach Mars, it would be the first from an Asian country and put ISRO at par with NASA, European Space Agency. This is quite an achievement by ISRO. After the launch news was announced, I spent some time going through Reddit to see what the reaction of the users was. I was anticipating a lot of racist comments and a lot of comments about how this money could be used to eliminate poverty etc and to be honest I was right. The initial reaction of the Reddit crowd was very negative, however, slowly and steadily a lot of positive comments were sent across by the users which was really heartwarming to see. Lately India has became very popular among the Western world for the amount of rapes which take place and how women are being harassed and generally all things negative. Anything positive that India does also tends to get drowned out by the negative voices. So I was glad this feat got applauded by the community .

I would consider the entire achievement as a lesson in frugal engineering. I think we are the masters when it comes to frugal engineering. Ask any FMCG company or any healthcare provider and they would readily acknowledge this fact. Considering the amount of poverty that we have in India, a lot of companies have come up with ways to reduce manufacturing cost to ensure that the production costs are kept to the minimum which turn keeps the overall cost low, else people aren’t going to buy it. Same thing is applicable for the healthcare industry, a lot of low cost solutions have been devised to ensure that treatment is provided to people at affordable prices and at good quality. We have already seen a lot of citizens from the Western world come to India and get treated at a relatively cheaper cost than back home. I think the world can learn a lot from India as far as frugal engineering goes. May be one day they will.

Mars probe liftoff
Mars probe liftoff