About: Steve Jobs and Apple

Steve Jobs is the modern day Leonardo Da Vinci. He has influenced technology world like no one else, I know there have been many a stalwarts in tech-world, but Steve Jobs has made an indelible mark on many different verticals of tech-space. The tech-world as we see it, computers, laptops, mobile phones, computer accessories/peripherals, media players, animation movies, multi media hardware and software, e-Commerce, Internet - all have had imprints of Steve Jobs. He is a milestone in technology world. The pace of innovation in digital world was never to be the same after Steve Jobs advent on the scene.He has taken competitors head on and thoser are big guys, Microsoft, Sony among many others.

He is a genius. He like most geniuses seems to be an absolute freak. He has had his tough times in life. He with Steve Wozniak revolutionized the world of computer only to fall out in later years. He was the youngest tech wizard to find himself in limelight. He at times has pulled the rabbit out of the hat and at times made himself a bunny, all in one life, He is a bible of marketing. He is a marketing genius like no one else and probably Kotler may agree. There have been so many mails floating around about his not so good times. He is the face, the brain and the shear pull of cult called Apple. He has made Apple delight of every ones eyes. The products from Apple have just spin out of this world. The mania  at every launch of a new apple product is amazing

He has been a rebel and stood out at most times in the crowd of his peers. He is one of the few who have influenced the electronic hardware and software in equal measure and set standards for both. Steve jobs made a niche for his company, products of the company, it shares and for himself. He is the king of geeks today. The products that apple make push the technology further and they are almost a benchmark for their competitors.

It is very difficult to simple love him or just hate him. The awe of Steve Jobs arouses contrasting emotions from individuals. There are so many things we have been told. I read his biography iCon and this aura of Steve Jobs increased manifold. The biography shed different lights on his persona as a shrewd, cunning executive, a tech visionary. He is an abrasive and sharp professional as a boss he would often push people deep into the corner. He has come a long way. He was shunted out of the company, Apple which he had found with another Steve, Steve Wozniak and after a boardroom coup he had to leave Apple. He went to setup NExt  a venture into electronic hardware, and then came Pixar, he bought from George Lucas, then those animated movies, Toy Story, and rest as they say is history. 

Steve Jobs was the come back kid of the Silicon Valley. He is someone who really had it in him to have a bold vision and the boldness to pull it off for real. He has seen all the ups and downs in personal and professional life and kept coming back when he was down.

He came he saw his conquered or perhaps as the iConic Jobs may say something like this -  iCame, iSaw, iWon.

Cricket: India England Tests

This is the review of England vs India test series

If anything can go wrong, it will.

About: Straw & Camels back

Anna Hazaare is the straw that broke the camel’s back. The camel is the Sonia led MMS Government (if you  can still call it one) and the other straws are plethora of corruption charges that caught the glimpse of the morning sun from the headlines of the newspaper. There are more corruption frauds waiting to be exposed (conditions of TRP apply). I wonder no news channel or investigative journalist explore one of the more bizarre corruption scandal. It could be NREGA, Sonia G dream project, it could be Rs 77,000 Crores highway project, there are so many schemes that Gov seem to be running so hallow and decadent to the naked eye. The CWG mess couldn’t be a fiasco if there wasn’t any tacit approval of sitting Delhi CM for all the mess. After being indicted in Shunglu report and wrapped on the knuckles by the CAG, she enjoys to rule the state with the blessings of the top brass. As a famous sms is going around, government may think of passing the Anna’s version of Lokpal Bill if someone pays the bribe for it.

The UPA government is headed by Dr MMS who fathered the deregulation and helped India unwind the rigid and rugged Nehruvian jacket, which withered away all hope between 1950 and 1990. As a result, only 1% hundreds of million people who are earning are paying taxes. I think economic reforms bought us where we are, now we need to do more. The Congress had CPI with them to keep the boat floating so that they can isolate power. The congress really doesn’t want to get us out of the straight jacket; they continue to induce a mindset where status quo should not be changed. The alliance with Communists was the excuse for not doing any reforms earlier, now the alliance with other members is the excuse. It seems that Congress seemingly doesn’t want to deregulate and reform because they think their political prowess will dwindle. The incapability of this UPA government to reform and lead the poorest people and uplift them to have a secure life and robust future is hampering India on the path of growth. The governments inclination of not wanting to reform has been a major setback for this government. The reforms in the last decade or so have gone no where. The money for public spending has gone everywhere except fot the benefit of the public.

The Cabinet ministers seem to squabble about something irrelevant or how innocent someone like Raja is when the writing is on the wall. The Congress wants a few to be rich by making sure most of us a poor. They have polluted and undermine all possible institutions CAG, CVC, CBI, Judiciary, various other departments  (the list is pristine and prestigious). There are scandals coming out from India's most revered institutions the Armed forces. 

There is corruption everywhere then why is government trying to hide something instead of fighting the problem and cleaning the system and punishing the guilty. I mean they did everything to cover up; Sibal the esteemed minister came out and said there is no loss in Government reveneues in the 2G case. I wonder then why the previous Telecom Minister is in jail. Didn’t the Prime Minister know what Raja was cooking? If he knew, then the PM (hence Congress) top brass (I mean Sonia Gandhi, Ahmed Patel and others) are equally culpable. He should resign and give up his post. If on the other hand he didn’t know what was happening which means the Prime Minster was being led or kept in the dark then all the more reason for him to resign. Other cabinet ministers are equally corrupt in their practice and way beyond correction.

Its know value of money and the interest on principal rather than value and principles which formulates guidelines, policy making and Ponzi schemes that this government runs. The lazy unwillingness to address the issue and trying to misled the people repeatedly will hurt our society in the times to come. The means of livelihood and health are fast dwindling away.

This blog post is a patchy one as best. I think I would want to blog on this a little bit more.

About: Suave smiling Shammi

Shammi Kapoor breathe his last earlier today. He was my favourite hero. The songs from those movies which he starred are still remade ,redone and remixed again and again. He was perhaps the most handsome among all the movie actors across the ages who came to don the silver screen Hindi film world. He was suave and had lot of class, surely a gourmet if not a connoisseur. The songs from his movies were collector’s items. He was never to be choreographed, he was just told about the camera angles and he did his own stuff, did it pretty well. The characters he played were full of panache and gusto. He romanced the most glamorous heroines on the silver screen of his times from Vyjantimala, Sharmila Tagore, Mumtaz, Saira Bano, Geeta Bali and so many others. He was reputed not to feature with the same here heroine more than once. 

Junglee, Janwar, Budtameez, Professor, Boyfriend, Raj Kumar, Prince, China Town, Teesri Manzil, An evening in Paris, Kashmir ki kalli, Bluff Master, Brahmachari These were some of the movies which he starred,most of them were musical hits and popular movies. His movies were so good,so easy to watch in the sense, there was no sleaze and nothing loud and unsavoury. The stories consists, boy meets girl, pop corm love stories, but romance changed for good once Shammi Kapoor touched fame. He teamed up Rajendra Nath, Mehmood, Tun tun and other leading comedians and comedy was a permanent fixture of his movies. Rafi lend his voice to most of Shammi’s songs and there was magic on screen. Pran often played the villan in many of those movies. He did thrillers apart from romanctic movies. There was a sense of intergue in many of his movies, lot of drama and thrill. He often played a character wanting to make a mark of his own,often the rebel but those movie were sans chaotic action. His sense of style and persona was hard to miss. He would portray characters that stood out from the character that other actors played in their movies. The other actors were busy doing melodramatic, emotional roles, while Shammi was playing a flamboyant, yet sensitive comic-romantic hero. No other hero could match him for style, jackets, caps, t-shirts etc. 

When it comes to romance people go on roof tops to sing and yell their stories. He did it better and crazier. He did it on roof tops, mountain slops (Yahoo!! – Junglee ), river banks (Lal chadi maidan khadi - ), Lakes (Deewana hua badal – Kashmir Kalli ), waterfalls ( An evening in Paris), boats (Kashmir ki Kalli),elephant back (Yahan ke hum hai Raj kumar – Rajkumar), helicopters (Aasman se aaya farishta – An evening in Paris), cars,trucks (Kashmir Kalli) pubs( Teesri Manzil) , while trekking (Deewana mujhsa nahi – Teesri Manzil). He did it all and did it wish class and style. The few songs out of these were outright to woo some more just to flirt.

Shammi Kapoor will remain my favourite actor of all times.

Cricket: Preview of third test

There are a few possible reasons, which cause teams to lose test matches. It is the inability (a combination of form, fitness, or skill) to bowl out the opposition teams or to bat out sessions in order to collect runs (co-incidentally a combination form, fitness or skill).It is hard to pinpoint the possible reason or combination of reasons to justify the current performances of Indian team. The couple of tricks were missed in West Indies; a full team should have played there. Gambhir, Tendulkar, Zaheer. It would have given the team management a headache of plenty rather than dismay of dearth. The pace bowling looks a decent attack. Praveen Kumar and Ishant are in good touch. Praveen Kumar finds himself bowling on pitches to be cut out for him. He has bowled a lot of overs. The question over Zaheer still lingers. I don’t know if he will play the next test, if he plays will he bowl 100%, if he does bowl 100% will he last the entire duration of 5 days. Will he last the whole test? If he does last the whole test, will he be available for the next test? Only time will tell.

Men in form

The form of PK, Dravid, Laxman and Bhajii’s no more available for selection could be some of the few positives Indian team may wish to take forward. All eyes are surely on Sehwag. But Sehwag wont be 151 not out when he comes to bat. The rules of games are such that he would walk out with a big O against his name and he will have to come out and start his innings from there. He doesn’t come with assurance that he will score. At this point in time, we can all wish that he has recovered from his injury and has enough fitness to last a test match.

International sport is increasingly a function of fitness. A fit cricketer will prove to be more valuable than one with higher skill and a dodgy fitness. The Aussies ruled the roost because they were supremely fit team. SAfs may lack panache and skill of teams from the sub-continent but they have been a very good team since there re-admission. Rahul Dravid can give a run for the monies to all the youngsters in the India’s ODI XI. Rahul Dravid is the leading sun scorer for this series. It is too good to be just a coincidence.

The least likely scenario

There is a lot of intrigue lot of un-answered questions and lot of ordinary display of cricket we have seen in last couple of test matches, including the ones in West Indies. The excuses and alibis will be complex. The easier thing to do would be to just play the time. We must field our fittest XI and just play. The batsman should look to bat five sessions. If Dhoni and Raina are to come at say 450 for 4 or 500 for 4 after say 160 overs, next 20 overs can make up for the meagre run rate. I hope this tour dust turn out to be something like the tour of Australia in 98-99 when Sachin was the captain, the one in which he was given LBW when stuck on the shoulder.

Its been only once that a team was 2-0 down and came back to square and series and then won the fifth and final test to win the series. Don Bradman was the captain of that team. I was hopping for a 1-1 result. Shane Warne suggested 2-1 in favour of England. I hope things fall in place for Indian team, Sachin, Sehwag Scores, Dravid grinds out, Laxman flicks them along the ground, between the fielders, Dhoni tonk the bowling. Zaheer takes wicket virtually under stealth, Praveen Kumar keeps gliding in. Ishant makes a few batsmen hop and every one plays well to pull one back and make the final test a fitting finale.

I wonder when I last crossed the boundaries of optimism and step into utopia.

Spirits and Exorcism.

So this is what I happened. It was the last delivery before the tea interval, Eoin Morgan played a stern clip off his pads towards square leg, Praveen Kumar ran and dived to keep the ball in play, mean while the batsman, Morgan and Bell had ran three. The ball was hurled to the batsman end, the bails were dislodged when it was seen that batsman was not in the crease and defending his wicket. The appeal was made and the third umpire was consulted. He declared Bell out. A lot of it around that time is open to interpretation and sources. Bell was out. He has agreed to that. I think the spirit of cricket saw that and flew into haunt the fame while the game was in recess for the tea interval. Dhoni withdrew the appeal. The spirit was happy after that. I think he did the right thing. Anyways Bell early dismissal would have no bearing on the result of this game, considering the margin with which we were beaten. Boycott said that we looked like Bangladeshi’s in disguise.

Its time to get all things right and justify our abilities and our rankings.