Huh?

Always wanted a career in Consulting? To be a 'thought leader'?
Check this out!

Still on the WC

Nothing annoys me more than people cheering for England to win the World Cup.
England's a fairly ordinary team. Its just that the English Premier league is the only one junta in India are able to follow, with the real leagues - Spanish, Italian etc being played late at night (India time) and not being covered well by our channels.

So they get to see some English players dominate other ordinary players, esp defenses (Remember, the real good midfields and defense are in Italy and Spain) and they think these English players are actually the best. So the England XI is like the EPL all-stars and our ppl think they are a really competitive, difficult-to-beat unit. Wrong! Thats just the best of the mediocre. And thats why they always lose before the semis, and thats wat will happen to England this time also.

Sidin had a post where he imagined Rooney scoring the winner for England against Brazil in the Final. Dream on!

Viva la Italie!

I couldnt let the World Cup just pass without a single post about it, could I?!

Most people were pissed about last night's result. I agree that Australia were the better side on display. I agree that the penalty was unreasonably harsh. I partially agree that Italy didnt deserve to go through last night. But then I'm a die-hard Italian fan (pronounced Eye-tally-un). I loved it. I especially loved it when my dad cribbed that the result wasn't fair and I could smile wickedly.

Now comes the why. Borrowing a Christian funda, Italy's the 'anti-Brazil' (like the Anti-Christ). They dont attack. They dont mesmerize. They try instead  to squeeze the life out of a game . They are defensive, they are tough, they are messy (Messi? I thot he was an Argentine... he he.. sorry couldnt resist the PJ...). They are often offside, they dive, they mislead the referee. And as it now appears, they fix matches also. Not quite ambassadors of the beautiful game.
But they are effective. You'd see them shut out oppositions and score once or twice on the counter-attack and confound the opponents, just like they did yesterday. They love killing the encounter and taking it to the penalty shootout, where Buffon is God. Its a different school of thought, and not a pretty one, but I love it :)

My fascination with Italy goes back to France 98 - when i started following football seriously. I saw a replay of the Divine Ponytail single-handedly creating magic and taking an ordinary team to the Final, only to squander it all by shooting over the bar. My heart went out to him. It was the epitomization of 'So close yet so far'

A great, creative player - reduced from 'divine' status to anonymity and infamy ... for one mistake. You gotta feel for Roberto Baggio. And his luck didnt get any better. The next World Cup, Italy had one star player - and Del Piero played the same position, so Baggio had to sit out. The irony is, by the next major tournament, DP had been sidelined by Totti - Italy's new star, who also played Left out, ensuring that DP was now left out just like Baggio (nice pun no, aint i brilliant :) ) I loved Roberto Baggio and DP, but Totti's an ass

Italy has suffered due to their own philosophy in the past. in all major events i can recall, they've lost sensationally - in shootouts or to Golden goals. They dont look like getting too far in this world cup. But I'll be cheering for them. To pain the shit out of everyone and go out in typically agonizing fashion - there'd be nothing more unimaginable than Italy losing a shootout with Buffon in goal - but i somehow feel thats exactly wats gonna happen.

Till then, cheers and cheer on!

Bloggin abt bloggin

Excerpts from my first blog post:
Ok I never thought I'd actually get down to doing this. I didnt think I had the patience to write regularly, especially when I'm not certain that anyone - myself included - is ever gonna read the junk i put down here. I still dont think so. So this may well be the first and last post here... (irrelevant crap)
My apologies to any1 who thot this might be worth reading. I hope one of these nights im inspired (probably by vodka n orange) enough to write something that actually is! Cheerio

My view has gone 180 degrees. Lets take one point at a time.

- Time for blogging : if u have an awlays-on broadband connection at homeor at work, u will surely find the occasions!

- Any1 reading wat u write : its up to u.
Some people write only for themselves and ill get to the benefits of that later.
Some write for the world to read. I guess they derive a lot of satisfaction from receiving loads of responses and comments. it takes time and effort to make ur blog a famous one, but if u want to disseminate and discuss with the world at large its worthwhile
Most, like me, write for myself and a few close ones to read. Its a good way to keep in touch and discuss interesting subjects.

- Stuff not being worth reading : the same reason for which ppl blog for themselves. It helps to crystallize ur own thots. eg U may not be in favor of reservations. But when u try to blog abt it, u'll find urself thinking abt the facts and implications, doing some research and rationalizing with urself. At the end of it, u hv gr8 clarity abt wat the issue really is and how u feel abt it. This is even more powerful when writing abt personal issues and incidents. U can put ur feelings into words and it gives some peace of mind. and u create records of memories that come in handy later in life.

All in all - i'm a big supporter of the blog movement. everyone should blog. ideally everyone should do yoga and meditate a bit also, but bloggin will do for now.

while on blogging, i must mention my role model blog - Amit Varma's India Uncut takes the cake. Hes a journo so he has time to maintain a blog like that and i'm a consultant so i dont. but i love his blog - several short, smart, funny posts abt all kinds of things. hv listed several blogs on my blogroll (somewhere on the right hand side of this page), but i dont hv the patience or interest to follow all of em. Hitler's soul's My dayz with myself is another one i vist every time he posts - outrageously hilarious and honest. Sidin's Domain Maximus is almost as good.

Also visit each post by nakul and bikash - but thats coz i know them well personally.

Thoughts? opinions?...

Johnny Blogger White Label... Keep Blogging!

The 4 B's

Kotler attained immortality in the world of Management by coming up with the '4 Ps of Marketing'

I dont think I'll get there, but here are Smoochy's 4 B's of bachelorhood:

Bike
Babe
Booze
Business

The first three are self-explanatory and all fulfil basic needs. For those who arent sure how business fits in, you've got to have a sense of purpose, think big and start early (read this)

And thats basically all there is to it!

10 reasons why...

a beer is better than a girl:

(in no particular order)

- A beer does not feel insecure. You can stay away and come back whenever you want

- A beer does not straighten or color its hair and ask you for an opinion.

- You dont need to bathe and shave before u hv a beer

- 60 bucks and a beer is urs. No strings attached. No emotional involvement. No time invested

- Fosters, Royal Challenge, Haywards, Kingfisher... you can have whichever u want on any day.

- If you see another guy with the same beer you have, u feel happy not jealous

- No matter how many years its been, it stays in the same shape

- A beer doesnt mind if you take its top off and put ur mouth to its mouth in public

- Your parents will not mind if your beer isnt Punjabi

- A beer doesnt ask you abt marriage. If it had feelings, it'd probably be happier the longer u stayed an uncommitted bachelor

Any1 got more? Post em in the comments section

Review on M:I 3

In one word, avoidable!
In two words, what fart?!

The most disappointing sequel ever. You wouldn't realize it was M:I but for the theme music that plays during the credits (and not even in the movie - i thot the theme was a key part of the M:I identity, but then so was action - but this one had neither)

You pay good money to watch Ethan Hunt pull off some amazing daredevilry. Gravity, logic and credibility - defying stunts. Not to get married and get senti. What the hell will they come up with next?

Imagine going to the next James Bond movie and to find him married, and playing in the garden with his 4-yr-old girl and 2-yr-old boy for the most part, while his plain-lookin wife cooks inside. And if he goes on some fairly short and uncomplicated mission in the second half only to save his captured family. ANd its his wife who shoots the bad guy in the end while he lies unconscious.

Sheesh! I'm so disappointed I'm almost angry. One should spend good money only on beer - at least it doesnt throw up any unpleasant surprsies, unlike movies and girls.

Funny moment

I actually witnessed this first hand in the John at Forum mall yesterday.

Guy, relieving himself, "Ah Hi!... I was thinking of you only... In the bathroom {smiles mischievously}"

Suddenly his other phone rings...
"Hi Sheila!... Ya I'll be up in 2 min" (Im assuming he meant PVR - which was the only floor above us. Even if not true, it makes things more interesting ;) )

Back to line 1 "Oh Sheila, she works with me, just a friend... really.... No... No"

As the people at Mastercard would say:
"2 Cell phones : 11 thousand rupees,
Tickets at PVR : 300 rupees,
Caught two-timing with ur zip down : Priceless!"

Guy-who-wanted-to-see-funny-posts : Dude, I've rediscovered my sense of humor. Cheers!

Good times

The horo said the horrid period would last till 12 Jun, and boy have the last few weeks been bad.

Now is when 'good times' r supposed to begin. I hope there is a hidden message in 'good times' that I'll be hittin upon a large free supply of Kingfisher! Hope floats, and as Freddie Flintoff says 'Boola la la la weee-o!'

Cheers.. to the good times...

Whack!

U can get hit by a truck, train, or tsunami... but nothing hits harder than the truths of life! Whack!

My horo said i'd hv a horrid time between 22May and 12Jun with no clarity of thot or happiness. During my first week in B'lore, I was totally livin it up and thot horoscopes wr a load of crap after all. Then Whack! Ive run out of cash and my credit card dues r up to an astronomical 80k. Ive ordered a bike that hasnt arrived and Ive realized my license is valid only for driving cars (!?!) Ive got a TV but no cable connection yet and the world cup begins tomorrow. Having a tough time with a steep learning curve at work... the crib-list wouldnt end and the only respite is the one-hour swim every night. And now my ex-GF of 5 years tells me she likes some1 else and he's likely to propose to her soon. Gotta give credit to that horo after all.

'If you love somebody, set them free. If they come back, they are yours. If not, it was never meant to be'

I took too long and was too tentative 'coming back'. And now it emerges that it was never meant to be anyway. I continue to push the limits on being tough...

Btw - when i wrote yday that I'd be resuming bloggin, I had NOT planned to start with a cribnote. Dude-who-wants-humor-here : Sorry boss, I fail to see any in the current situation. Will soon try tho

Tomm, or soon... Sootta paradox Pancham

Dont give up!

I guess the number of people visiting this blog has dropped to below-survival levels. It was probably in single digits (per day) in the first place, and is laboriously 'tending to zero' now.
However, i intend very much to revive this blog, so dont give up on me just yet.

Was disconnected with the cyber-world for the past couple of weeks. My comp arrived from Bhopal yesterday (almost intact - my beloved DVD writer has gone bust tho). Will be getting it 'broadbanded' asap and will resume writing.. thr is a lot to blog abt now, apart from the long-pending Hitler-ian and other philosophical posts.

A friend recently observed that my blog was 'too serious' and should incorporate some humor for readers' sake. Point taken. will try.

Adios for now