Beware when you fuel your vehicle

One needs to be very careful while fueling your verhicle at the bunks. Most of them con you by not filling the right amount of gas as you pay. Here are some tips that can help you.

1. Avoid using a bunk you are not familiar with. Keep to the ones that are known to be honest. To help this aspect, one most spread news about honest bunks by word of mouth. For example, the petrol bunk on Koramangala 100ft road (just besides Coffee Day, opposite BlueStar office) is definitely one that belongs to the honest category
2. If the integrity of the bunk is an unknown entity, you need to be double careful. Do not take your eyes of the petrol meter reading for even a second.
3. If two people are attending you at one of these unknown entity bunks, it is a sure shot indicator that they are trying to con you. The common modus operandi is that one tries to engage your attention by asking for the payment, while other is filling your tank. In this scenario, insist on making the payment after your vehicle is re-fueled. Revert back to point 2: Eyes on the meter reading.
4. Another common method employed to con is the following. For example, assume you have asked for petrol for Rs. 200/-. The attendant will just fill your vehicle for Rs. 50/-. Then he will feign innocence that he hasn't heard you properly. You need to be alert at this point. If not, he will just continue filling from there until meter reads Rs. 150/- and argues that he has reset the meter to zero before the second re-fill. I would recommend you either insist before hand that he resets it to zero or just leave the bunk by paying off Rs. 50/-.
5. I found myself in the above situation yesterday. I forgot to check whether he reset the meter to zero once he stopped at Rs. 50/-. So, I was suspicious when he filled Rs. 150/- and said I had to pay Rs. 200/-. I very convicingly said that I saw that he hadn't reset the meter and he needs to put petrol for another Rs. 50/-. My ploy worked and he filled the remaining petrol. This is not a approach that is bound to succeed every time. So, avoid landing in such a situation.
6. If there are more than one person travelling in a vehicle, it is very easy to follow tip 2. One of them can always have his eyes on the reading.
   

Snakes on a Plane

I watched the much talked about movie Snakes on a Plane today. There was a lot of discussion in both print and electronic media about this movie. So, I was expecting a great thriller. It turned out to be a bag of cheap humour and thrills.

For starters, the snakes turned out to be sexually oriented. They start of their kill by biting a female on her bare breasts. Then they move on to bite a male on his penis, when he is trying to urinate. A third snake (there were tons of them) gets into a sleeping woman's garments and the woman is aroused, by the movement of the snake on her body. Hats off to the person who came with these brilliant(sic) ideas. There were some really gross moments too, when they show a boy's hand being cut open to clean the poison.

Overall, not a great movie. One can watch for the sheer experience of watching such (I don't know how to describe) movie.

Great Day and Movie at Last

Just had a wonderful day here in US. I have managed to finally watch a movie in US, something I have tried since the first visit here and never succeeded. My friends were always against watching movie in US. They felt there are better things to do here. I came to US alone this time. Luckily, my old friend VA lives nearby. He drove me to San Fernando Valley (just north of LA -- couple of hrs drive from where I stay), and we watched a telugu movie -- Bommarillu -- along with some of his friends.

The hall, though, was not upto the mark. It was very small and apparently there is no numbering system in US. We have to hunt for seats. We entered the theatre just before the movie started, and had a tough time finding seats. We had to sit at different places. To compesate, the movie was very good. Siddharth and Prakash Raj were good. Music was good. Comedy was great. A definite must see for anyone. I bet it will be re-made in other south indian languages.

After the movie, spent some time at VA's friend's place in LA and headed back home. A nice end to a great weekend.

A Place That Defined Me

Couple of weeks back, I had been to Pune University Computer Science Department on behalf of my company. Now, this place is very close to my heart. I strongly believe that this place made me, whatever little I am today. The education is by far the best one can get..move over the IITs. Maybe I am attached to this place, because this was the first time I stayed away from any of my nearest kin. Not just education, this place helped me realise about myself.

It was a great moment when I went back after all these years. I reached the place around 4pm on Friday. Some of the professors who taught me are still around. And what else, they remember you. It was fantastic. Our company threw a party to all students (all three batches).

The next day there was the yearly Rajmachi trek. Now, this is a 13km trek to the Rajmachi fort, and back. The trek started greatly.But, it soon took a turn to the miserable. There was continuous downpour throughout the 7hr of trek. We were completely soaked. I was prepared for some rain, but not for this deluge. I had severe cramps on both legs by the time we reached our hotel. Caught a flight and back to Bangalore on Sunday.

A trip that will remain in my memory for a long long time.

The Power of Twelve

We finally have the line-ups for finals. Italy and France came through in their battle against Germany and Portugal respectively. It was bag of mixed feelings for me. I loved Italy beating Germany, but France getting through was a bitter pill to swallow. I can only hope now that France will lose in finals.

Germany tried valiantly to defeat Italy. They have the home advantage, but their tide broke against the Great Wall of Italy and The Power of Twelve. Italian defence was great, especially Cannavaro. I became a huge fan of him watching this world cup. Everytime Germany looked dangerous, Cannavaro was there to control the threat. He was simply amazing. He stood like a Wall before the Italian goal. Italian also had Power of Twelve to their advantage. Every twelve years since 1970, they make it to World Cup finals, and this time was no exception. The goal in the end by Grosso was a master-piece. This game was easily the best one in this world cup.

Though, I donot like France's game, they deserved to win the semi-finals. I was surprised by the performance on Portugal. They didn't seem to have confidence that they can score a goal. Everytime they reached the 'D' near France's goal, they just dive and appeal for penalty. It was ridiculous. A player like Ronaldo, who has immense skill, should try to score goals in legitimate ways than using such devious means.

Statistics do not give a clear verdict to either teams in the finals. I can only hope Italy can beat France. If they play anywhere close to what they did against Germany, France has no chance.

Portugal's cup

We are through the quarter-finals of world cup. As I expected, Brazil got knocked out. They appeared complacent most part of the match. They attacked after going a goal down, but it is always going to be a tough task with experienced defenders like Thuram before French goal. England on the other hand, played well and created an array of chances inspite of being 1 man down. I thought it was a strong decision to send away Rooney. He didn't deserve a red for what he did. After all Ronaldo and he were team-mates at their club, and a bit of pushing is acceptable. It was painful to see England knocked out via the penalties. I thought it was a bad decision to start penalties with Lampard. Lampard never came close to the goal in this world cup inspite of a record number of attempts. This should have been a sufficient hint not to try him with penalties.

I have a strong feeling that it is going to be Germany vs Portugal in the final. Luis Scolari is going to be the difference between France and Portugal. This guy is a master tactician and knows how to make the best use of available resources. This could very well be Portugal's first world cup.

Whoa!! What a cup

Another long layoff before I am blogging. And what a time to blog?? We have just entered the quarter-finals of world cup football 2006, and the first match was superb. The match set the tone for the rest of the world cup. I was rooting for Argentina and was disappointed after the loss.

Over the years, I always preferred to watch Latinos play football rather than Europeans. There is a lot of flair in the way South American countries played their game. My favourite team though is Netherlands. This might seem contradictory, but Dutch football is very much like Brazilian way. It is unfortunate that they had to loose in pre-quarters. Another European country that I donot mind rooting for is England. This is due to the EspnStar coverage of Premier League.

We had a great time watching today's match, though. There was a huge screen put up in our office cafeteria today for the match, and it was fun watching it with a large crowd. This looks like a European dominated world cup this time. What else can one expect with world cup in Europe. Brazil is the only Latin country left, but they have a tough match ahead with just peaking France.

Autos rule the roads in Chennai

I have been to Chennai this week on official work. I had to travel a lot in Chennai during this trip. I had to resort to autos for transport. For those who haven't visited Chennai before, you will have to depend on the whims and fancies of the autowalla when you use them.

The autowallas will quote some random fare to reach the destination. These prices are usually some nice round numbers like 100, 150, 200 etc. You either take it or leave it. The meters on these autos are just for decoration. Donot commit the cardinal sin of insisting on the use of meter. You will end up paying more than what he quoted.

I can only hope to live to see pre-paid autos with reasonable rates in Chennai.

Possible only in India?

This incident happened between my friends. One of them, RK, had an opportunity to go to US on behalf of his company. He had gone for visa interview, where they rejected a visa for him. We were very disappointed when he told this. One of my friends, AK, reacted differently. He demanded from RK whether he tried to give something *under table*. Everybody burst out laughing as we had no words to say. When RK said that it is not possible as there are no tables there, AK retorted that RK should have taken the interviewer aside for a *small chat*.

I wonder whether is possible in any other country. Why do we always think of shortcuts in life? We need to change our thinking if India is to grow to next level.

Story time

I s(h)uddenly had this story telling bug and concocted this story. The story is related to software.

AK and RS are two roommates. RS is happy with his life, and A is struggling to find a good job. AK has a bad memory.

One day, AK comes running to RS. He is clearly in agony. RS asks him "What happened? You look terrible". AK writhes in pain. "I forgot my password. You are the only one who can save me". RS is puzzled and says "Be more specific. I donot understand". AK narrates this painful episode.

"Couple of months back, I posted my resume at an online site. I required an email-id for this process. The email-id would be used for intimating me about any openings. Yesterday, I had to update critical information on this resume site, and alas, I forgot my password. You need to do something. Help me".

RS consoles him and says "Don't worry. It is not a problem. Do you remember your login-id?". AK answers in affirmitive. RS logs on to the site and starts the password-retrieval procedure. The procedure requires one to answer the secret question. The secret question was "What is your father's name?". AK is relieved. He enters his father's name, retrieves the password and updates the data. The site informs that some information has been sent to the provided email-id.

AK tries to log-on to his email account. As fate would have it, he forgot the password here too. His face turns ashen as he looks at RS. RS asks him not to worry and for second time in ten minutes starts the password-retrieval procedure. The question this time was "What is your pet's name?". AK was flummoxed by this question. He didn't have any pet. He tries answers like cat and dog, which obviously didn't help. He pleads RS to help. RS shrugs his shoulder and says "I cannot help you here. Try to remember the answer". He then go out.

RS returns back after a couple of hours and is stunned at what he sees. AK is still sitting at the computer trying to find the right answer. Iguana. Porcupine. Platypus.......

My popularity at office

A and S are my colleagues. S just came on-board the project and A was expected to ramp her up. Today, when they were having some discussion, I informed A about S being unhappy with his mentoring. Ofcourse, I said this in a humourous vein. We had a laugh at this. Later when A left, I had the following conversation with S.

S: Why did you lie? He would think bad about me.
Me: I know him. He will not bother about this.
S: Does he know you well?
Me: Yes.
S: Then, it is fine. He will not think much about what you said.

So much for my popularity at office.

Blood Tests and Twelve hour fast

I was required to take medical tests for insurance. The doctors indicated that I need to fast for twelve hours prior the tests. Today, during the tests I enquired about the reason.

The results of some tests change following digestion of food. For example, when we eat lots of sweets, the sugar quantity in blood will increase. This means we will see different results depending on the time from last meal. By fasting for twelve hours, we provide doctors with base results that can be compared over time.

Aeroplanes and crazy rules

I had been to Hyderabad during the Republic Day weekend. I had flown this time. There was an argument between air-hostess and a passenger on the flight back. As on every flight, the air-hostess requested everyone to open the window blinds while landing. The sun was falling right into the person's eyes. So, he didn't want to open the blinds. There was some discussion for sometime. This got me thinking as to reason behind this strange request. I did some googling and found the reason.

The passengers can act as an extra set of eyes for the crew and report things such as an engine fire if the blinds are open. If flying at night it also lets the passengers eyes more easily adjust to the dark should the aircraft suddenly be plunged into darkness, as happens while landing and take-off.

Seems reasonable. I think it would serve better for carriers to educate the passengers about the reasons behind such strange requests.

Talent hunt and Voting

There has been a flurry of talent hunt programs on television these days. "Saregama" and "Indian Idol" etc. are very popular. These shows judge the participants based on the voting by the public. Though democratic, I am not sure this is the right way to judge talent.

It appears people vote based on locality of contestant rather than the person's talent. I have been a culprit of this myself. But, I donot see this as something wrong. I voted for candidate from AndhraPradesh irrespective of his talent. I am not qualified enough to rate the skills of the top-tier contestants. So, the nearest criteria for differentiating is his locality.

The organizers need to understand this and bring in the talent factor into consideration while filtering out the contestants. I like the program "Nach Baliye" in this regard. A qualified judge's rating is also taken into account while filtering the contestants.

My Intelligence Quotient

I gave the Classic IQ test at Tickle and my IQ score turns out to be 131. An excerpt from the results:

Congratulations, Rajasekhar!
Your IQ score is 131

Your Intellectual Type is Precision Processor. This means you're exceptionally good at discovering quick solutions to problems, especially ones that involve math or logic. You're also resourceful and able to think on your feet. And that's just some of what we know about you from your test results

Right vs Wrong

Consider this scenario:
Suresh walks into a super-market to purchase some things. He stands in the queue for billing/payment. The cashier incharge of the queue is clumsy and takes a long time to serve each customer. Further to accentuate the irritation, he starts serving customers out of the line. This pushes Suresh across the limit and he shouts at the cashier. The guy aplogizes, but continues to be very slow with his work. Finally, it is the turn of Suresh. In hurry to finish fast, the cashier only bills for certain items which Suresh purchased. Suresh realizes this, but doesn't ask the cashier to bill for the missed items. He cooly walks out of the shop paying only half the money of what he purchased.

Now, was Suresh right or wrong in deciding not to correct the cashier? Clearly, the cashier was not upto his job and he was wrong at serving customers who weren't in the queue. Will Suresh's decision be a good payback for his mistake?

Books and your personality

I had an interesting discussion with my colleagues during lunch today. I am not sure if I can call it a discussion. It was more like my colleagues schemed against me and it was me Vs them. The debate was around the learning from a book, and how it improves one as a person. I was against this idea and everyone else were for it.

I donot think there is much to learn from a book. It is purely an entertainment channel, and a matter of your habit. It is like having fishing as a habit. You donot improve as a person just because you fish when you have some free time. Before I proceed, let me make it clear that the discussion was about fictitious novels. I completely agree that one learns a lot from technical books. These books make you knowledgeable, improve your confidence and help in progessing in your career. One might also learn from self-help books and management books, although I never read them and have no taste for them.

So, what am I supposed to learn from these novels and how I will become a better person by reading them. I cannot comprehend this. My colleagues insist that I might face similar situations as mentioned in the book, and then I might react in ways mentioned there. This seems silly to me. The decision taken by a character in book is a figment of author's imagination. It is what the author would have done in that situation. Why should that be the correct decision? Why should I do what the author has suggested? I donot understand any of their arguments.

The discussion ended with them making a decision that I have agreed to their views (Don't know how). I asked a couple of them to give an example of the learning they had from a fiction. They did not manage to come up with an answer. I think that explains who had the right view in the discussion.