Holiday in Bangkok n Phuket

Just got back from an amazing week in Bangkok n Phuket. It was wonderful spending time with family - Nani, Nana, Mom, Mamu, Diya, Chetan and Nivritti.

Pictures.....

Bumper Stickers - For Women, By Women

BEHIND EVERY SUCCESSFUL WOMAN IS HERSELF

OH MY GOD, I THINK I'M BECOMING THE MAN I WANTED TO MARRY!

A WOMAN IS LIKE A TEA BAG...YOU DON'T KNOW HOW STRONG SHE IS UNTIL YOU PUT HER IN HOT WATER

I HAVE YET TO HEAR A MAN ASK FOR ADVICE ON HOW TO COMBINE MARRIAGE AND A CAREER

SO MANY MEN, SO FEW WHO CAN AFFORD ME

COFFEE, CHOCOLATE, MEN. SOME THINGS ARE JUST BETTER RICH


DON'T TREAT ME ANY DIFFERENTLY THAN YOU WOULD THE QUEEN

I'M OUT OF ESTROGEN AND I HAVE A GUN

WARNING: I HAVE AN ATTITUDE AND I KNOW HOW TO USE IT

OF COURSE I DON'T LOOK BUSY...I DID IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME

DO NOT START WITH ME. YOU WILL NOT WIN!

ALL STRESSED OUT AND NO ONE TO CHOKE

I CAN BE ONE OF THOSE BAD THINGS THAT HAPPENS TO BAD PEOPLE

HOW CAN I MISS YOU IF YOU WON'T GO AWAY?

DON'T UPSET ME! I'M RUNNING OUT OF PLACES TO HIDE THE BODIES

And last but not least:

IF YOU WANT BREAKFAST IN BED, SLEEP IN THE KITCHEN

To-Do Lists

At some point or the other everyone's had a written to-do list. For some it gets more sophisticated with time. There are gadget to manage them. You name it and they have it - phones, computers, software programs.... the list goes on. Enough has been written about them... they are not my focus. Search for "to do list" on google and you get 1,480,000,000 results for it.....

NOTHING BEATS HANDWRITTEN TO-DO LISTS.....


Found a very interesting article on http://www.todolistblog.com/. It reads

Eight Surprising To-Do List Facts

While writing and compiling To-Do List I took an online survey to find out more about our common quirks , compulsions and habits as listmakers. Six hundred people participated, and full results are in the book, but I thought I would share a few of these stats with you now along with some of my other observations based on collecting lists. How do you compare?

1. Many people hang on to their lists for years, if not decades. A list is like a diary. It captures a moment in time. (Two of the lists in the book more more than fifty years old.) I was amazed when these people trusted me with these treasured keepsakes and sent them to me in the mail.

2. Most people (83%) still prefer the tactile experience of writing their lists with pen and paper. The visceral pleasure of crossing things off cannot be underestimated. And people often feel more accountable when a list is in their own handwriting.

3. 29% of people have written at least part of their lists in code. The most common codes were from women who don’t want the boss or co-workers to walk by and see they were buying feminine hygiene products. “Tampons,” “birth control” or “maxi pads” equal T, BC, and MP. I could not believe when these answers kept coming up again and again in survey answers! Uncanny!

4. 50% admitted to writing down tasks they have already done, then triumphantly crossing them off. That way, they have a more complete picture of everything they’ve done, plus another opportunity to cross something off. It’s sort of insane how much we love crossing things off, huh?

5. Ideal mate lists are more popular than ever. 51% have made a list describing their ideal mate. But only 38% think these lists are useful in finding or evaluating a partner. How good is good enough? Many of the people who contributed dream mate lists said 70% was the threshold. If someone fulfilled fewer than 70% of the desired traits, they would say, “Let’s just be friends.”

6. More people cross off tasks (66%) than check off (21%). 4% write a checkmark, and 5% do nothing at all (let it be). Very odd.

7. 96% say their lives are better with to-do lists. 89% say they enjoy making lists. 28% identify as obesssive listmakers.

8. 26% of listmakers at one point have written a "to-don't" list. According to the survey, most concern men not to date or sleep with.

Some online to do lists

To Do Lists

• Toodledo - On the more advanced end, Toodledo allows you to organize your tasks into different folders or projects, assign due-dates and priorities, and attach notes to tasks. There is also a pro package available.
• TaskThis! - You can create tasks with notes and publish them via RSS, or share them so that others can add/complete tasks on your list. Last I used it, it was running a bit slow, but great functionality wise.
• ListPool - A neat solution that allows you to build your own to do list selecting only the fields you want to add and share them when complete. You can select from preset types of lists or start from scratch.
• TaskFreak! - Although it’s not a hosted solution and requires you install it on your own server, it’s a great system. Features excellent organization, status marking, and priority control. TaskFreak requires PHP and MySQL/SQLite and installation on your server. Online demo available at site.
• Time Tracker - Keep track of the time you spend on any task. Add a task and record time-splits until completing the task. You can also view an overview of total time to complete your tasks.
• voo2do - Advanced task and priority management for busy, ambitious individuals. Features organization by project, deadlines and time tracking, collaborative functionality, and more.
• Tasks - King Design, makers of Feedlounge, offers Tasks, a commercial suite of web-based task management software. Tasks requires installation on your own server and comes in three packages: Tasks, Tasks Jr., and Tasks Pro.
• TaskToy - Todo list service with note taking, bookmarking, and projects. Also gives a lot of options for list items.
• e2doList.com - Allows you to create and manage multiple lists, add notes to individual tasks, share them with others, and set email reminders.
• Sproutliner - a “supercharged structured to-do list” that has the more advanced feel to it. Source is also available.
• Tudu Lists - Nice todo list that has a simplistic style to it and features sharing and cool priority functionality.
• Bla-bla List - Simple and sharable todo lists that uses Macromedia Flash. It also features RSS updates and private sharing.

Someone also complied a NOT to do list..... it's available here.....

http://www.52projects.com/52_projects/2005/09/a_nottodo_list.html.
it basically reads..... SHUT UP...STOP FOOLING AROUND..... N GET TO YOUR DESK AND START WORKING..... :-)

Some people who are more polite and civil would prefer to analyze it........

How to Actually Execute Your To-Do List: or, Why Writing It Down Doesn’t Actually Get It Done......
a lot of us don't get to our to do list cause

• “I feel resistance when starting work on something.”
• “I am terrified of certain tasks, or of working on certain projects.”
• “I start, but I get distracted and never finish.”
• “I often don’t feel like doing any work at all. The idea of work seems horrible and I never start doing anything.”
• “I make a list of things to do the next day.. and on that day, I wake up looking forward to a bad day, full of unpleasant tasks, I don’t feel like doing anything from the list.”

if you can identify with these thoughts...... check out this article. It really helps.

while writing this, i ticked off one item off my list - Apply for leave.... :-)


Does your list read.....
flower deliveries
Car detailing
Restaurant reservations
Clothes alterations.
Dry cleaning
Book tickets to a movie

Have a to-do list? Your company will help you get it done.. I hope Indian companies will wake up to these realities....... Soon.

My current list

Chak De and Me

Popular Cricket vs Obscure Hockey……

Abhishek….. arrogant vice captain for the Indian cricket team…… telling Preeti, weather u win or lose, you’ll still be my wife….. not that you’ll be the highest scorer and have India going crazy over you………

She proved him and lots of others all wrong…….

All thru school I had to grapple with Karate vs Taekwon Do.
Oh! You do karate? The word “Taekwon Do” never registered in people’s heads.

Can u break a table? If you are Taekwon Do champ, break this wall. Can you to a twirling kick in the air? Black Belt, can you fight with 6 boys simultaneously?

My reaction to such pompous asses….. Go take a hike…. You don’t effect us… we have even greater heights to achieve…….

“Humla samne wali team ke dimag par karo, field mein goal apne aap ho jayega.”
~ Something which was a constant my coach drilled into my head….. Never lose “eye-contact” during a match.

The result was

Boys vs. girls match
~ There weren’t any girls in our club when I started practicing at some 6-7 years of age…. I use to practice with boys my age. It gave me the advantage which stood me in great strength over the years. I was beaten up but then was tended to with utmost care too.

~ We use to have an event called “Group Sparring”. Any 5 member of a team competed with any 5 members of another team… Height no bar, weight no bar… Gender was no bar till I had entered this competition

Yes, I have made history by fighting a guy in a championship…… obviously I won….. It was difficult….. but it wasn’t sheer strength that won me that match. It was strategy with strength that helped me win.

Ache player ki kismet achi hi hoti hai…..
Black belt at 10 years 11 months….

That's Abhimanyu and me

Extremely hard practice sessions…..
This is what one of the sessions did to me but still took part in the championship and came back with a silver medal.

Australian Coach: which one of them is didi?????

~ LOLZ….

Arya Menon who played Gul in the movie was someone who embodied “The Chandra’s” syndrome. Our clan comprised of Abhimanyu, Tushar, Nivritti, Chetan and me. The Mehras were also closely linked as they are my Bua’s daughters: Akshita and Amrita. That makes 7 of us.

It was so essential to win… it was expected of you all the time.

Tushar and I sharing a fun moment in Goa

Injury in matches….

This particular match was crazy where I saw blood pouring from my nose……… a rivulet was more like it ;-)

Losing….
It’s not that you never lose….. I lost many matches in the beginning of my career to a girl called bindiya….. she was my cross… my albatross….. it just hung on my head. But then you have to come out of it. It’s like being a phoenix… rising from the ashes…..

Something this movie makes you live thru……

Winning Moments….

There were so many… I now wish I had more pictures and had archived stuff…..

Fun Time after matches…

Party time in Goa

Shreya and I
I

Fashion Show

Sattar(70) Minute, sattar min hai tumhare paas. Shayad yeh.. tumhare zindagi ke sab se… khaas sattar minute. Aaj tum aacha khelo ya bura khelo, yeh sattar minute tumhe zindagi bhar yaad rahegi. Tho kaise khelna hai.. aaj mein tumhe nahin bataunga.. Bas itna kahunga, ki jao aur yeh sattar minute jee bhar kar khelna.. kyunki iske baad aane wali zindagi chahe kuch sahi ho ya na ho.. chahe kuch rahe ya na rahe.. haro ya jeeto..lekin yeh sattar minute.. tumse koi nahin cheen saktha, Kyunki mein jaantha hu ki aagar yeh sattar minute is team ka har player apne zindagi ki sabse badiya hockey khel gaya.. tho yeh satar min khuda bhi tumse vapas nahin maang saktha. (This is one of the best scenes from Chak De India. Just before the Hockey Final)

The coach gave each girl the strength to believe in herself and do something really cool for themselves. Everyone had a personal battle to fight…… but they did it with a certain “togetherness”…. Everyone contributed to each other…..

Komal passed the ball to Preeti, who gave the penalty shoot out to Komal. Bindiya came around… Balbir was able to control her temper…. They were doing what a team does…. Play Hockey and nothing else…..

This is something only a coach can do… take all the pressure off the player… all the player has to worry about is playing his/her game.
Having a good coach/ manager makes the difference between a match won or lost.
I lost a cherished match against a seeded player in an inter-school only because of this.
Round 1: I was winning cause I was playing better. Half time – our coach gave her a tip….. I couldn’t make out till the end of the match what happened……

Interviews with the press after winning…..

Coach: you were all brilliant during selection but now you are all equal and as far as I know, you know nothing about hockey.
~ prove ureself all over again…. Unlearn n relearn to actually learn n advance.
The transition from school champ to noone in LSR was difficult in the 1^st year, where each one was a champ in their own space. I had to do it again.


Thank you Rana maam. You are the best. She was just amazing.

Shah rukh khan’s wanton eyes when he sees the field after being appointed the coach…..

~ Whenever I go back to the Talkatora stadium (where most of our championships use to be held) I can feel a tug at my heart.

Throughout the movie, every instance had me going back to 20 years of Taekwon Do…. The tenets of Taekwon Do have been ingrained in us from the very start....

Explanation of Tenets

1. Courtesy (Ye Ui)
Taekwon-Do students should attempt to be polite to one another and to respect others. Students should address instructors as Sir and to bow to the instructors before and after classes. Turning up early or on time for classes is also an aspect of courtesy.

2. Integrity (Yom Chi)
One who has integrity is able to define what is right or wrong and have the conscience, if wrong, to feel guilt. Taekwon-Do students should strive to be honest and to live by moral principles.

Shah Rukh ~ "team banane ke liye takat nahi, niyat chahiye"

3. Perseverance (In Nae)
Perseverance means having patience. One of the most important secrets of becoming a leader in Taekwon-Do is to overcome every difficulty by perseverance. Confucius said," One who is impatient in trivial matters can seldom achieve success in matters of great importance."

4. Self-Control (Guk Gi)
Without self-control, a Taekwon-Do student is just like any fighter in the street. Loss of self-control is disastrous both in sparring and personal affairs. "The term of stronger is the person who wins over oneself rather than someone else", Lao Tzu.

Balbir controls herself in one of the critical matches to save the team from loosing a player…..

5. Indomitable Spirit (Baekjul Boolgool)
A true student of Taekwon-Do will never give up, not even when faced with insurmountable odds. The most difficult goals can be achieved with indomitable spirit.

Eggs, Vodka, and a Kiss

A HEARTY YUMMY NOURISHING COCKTAIL SNACK

[Eggs, Vodka, and a Kiss]

Read more at vikramkarve.'s blog.

How to get out of DIFFICULTY....

Whatever your cross,
whatever your pain,
there will always be sunshine,
after the rain ....

Perhaps you may stumble,
perhaps even fall,
But God's always ready,
To answer your call ...

He knows every heartache,
sees every tear,
A word from His lips,
can calm every fear ...

Your sorrows may linger,
throughout the night,
But suddenly vanish,
in dawn's early light ...

The Savior is waiting,
somewhere above,
To give you His grace,
and send you His love...

Whatever your cross,
whatever your pain,
"God always sends rainbows ....
after the rain ... "

To get out of difficulty, one must usually go through it!!!

Just what i needed...... I am now free of my cross......

Rokne Wala Fail Rahega - Chak De India

I have so much to share. Let me first thank those people who have made this possible.

The Crew – for making this movie…..
Shimit Amin Director
Jaideep Sahni Screenwriter
Aditya Chopra Producer
Salim-Sulaiman Composer
Sudeep Chatterjee Director of Photography

My mom and sis for watching this movie with me the first time and a very dear friend for watching it with me the second time (her first…. Yes… I bullied her into it.)

I had caught the trailer of 'Çhak De India' when I went for Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix at priya. In that one minute piece, the shots of the hockey matches impressed me. Though it was still a Shahrukh movie, we decided to go for it because we wanted to see the 16 girls playing and see what the directors take on the topic was.

I did not go with as high expectations… but somewhere thru the movie I was jumping thru the roof…. It involved me totally……. It was like seeing 20 years of my Taekwon Do career flash in front of my eyes…..

Chak De had the entire hall cheering as if the match being played by someone in their family.

P.S.: My favourite scene in the film is the one where the team goes to McDonald’s where they beat the living daylights out of a gang of eve-teasers wihout any help from a male!! As shuklaji called it “Rakshason ki sena”
That moment taught a team to be a team….. we were rolling in our seats….

Yes, that was the yash raj studio canteen doubled up as a McDonald’s. Have u ever seen a real McDonald’s without an A/C????????

It is so deliciously fulfilling that you want to give the writer and director a clap on their back for depicting the gender war in an urbane recreational zone without trivializing the larger issues involved.

The 16 girls have bought alive the movie like noone else..... Preeti Sabarwal, Komal Chautala, Bindia Naik, Vidya Sharma, Gul Iqbal, Molly Zimik, Mary Ralte,Balbir Kaur,Aliyah Bose, Gunjan Lakhani, Rani, Nethra Reddy, Soimoi. They Rock. Their effort shows

The first match the Indian team wins in the international arena is against U.K. Not China or Italy or France, but England. We still have that subliminal ‘colonized no more’ point we seek to make.

Of course, now, Australia is a different league all together. Whether on film, or in life, that team is just something else. It doesn’t matter what sport they’re playing.

The only true villain in the story is narrow-mindedness and a limited outlook, personified in the holier-than-thou media, the apathetic hockey board, and characters such as the self-obsessed new vice captain of the Indian cricket team.

After a point it doesn’t matter whether the girls are playing hockey.

It’s not the sport. It’s the spirit that shines through in every glistening frame of this tale that needed to be told before hockey became as obsolete as films about people who play to redeem their souls.

I like this film more because it speaks about achievement, belief, faith, ambition, intent, commitment, selflessness, team work,… all good traits essential not just for a successful sportsperson, but for anybody in any walk of life.

Yes, you can use it in the corporate world aswell.

Favourite Chak De India dialogues:

• Jo nahin ho sakt, wahi tho karna hai.
• Mujhe states ki naam na sunayie dethe hai, na dhikaie dete hai. Sirf ek mulk-a-naam sunayie detha hai, I-N-D-I-A
• Humla samne wali team ke dimag par karo, field mein goal apne aap ho jayega
• Har team mein bas ek hi gunda ho saktha hai, Aur is team ka gunda mein hun!
• Vaar karna hai to mardho ki tarah aage se karo… Woh kya hai ki humari team me chakke nahi hote!!
• Chandi (Srk referring to his silver medal) Ko Sone Me badlne ki koshish kar rahaa hoon.
• Pehli baar kisi ghore ko Bharath ka jhanda leharate hue dekh raha hoon.
• Marr jaayenge - par haar ke nahi aayenge!!

Highlights:

• Srk wasn’t hogging the entire screen with his slurrrrrrrrrr,
• Awesome real depiction of Indian women's sports
• The hilarious though exaggerated scene in McDonalds….. Just brilliant J
• No songs with the women in sexy dressing dancing in clubs or around trees.

Songs - loved them.....

• Bad Bad Girls song lyrics Click here for the lyrics
• Maula mere le le meri jaan son... Click here for the lyrics
• This is the story of a team so... - Click here for the lyrics
  
• chak de india song lyrics - Click here for the lyrics
• Badal pe paaon hai song lyrics - Click here for the lyrics

Coming soon …. Chak De and me

Book Release of "The lives and History of the Dera Bagai's"

On Saturday 25^th august, I had gone for a book release function.
“The Lives and History of the DERA Bagai’s” written by Mr S.M.Bagai.

Why so? My paternal grand mother’s maiden name was Bagai….. Ms. Kanta Bagai. When she married my grand father (Krishan Chandra) she became Mrs. Kanta Chandra passed away 2 years ago.

To be honest, I wasn’t very keen on going for the function. Then I thought how important this would be for my dadaji. I had a holiday so I decided to take my dadaji accompanied by my mom.

We got to India International Centre at Lodhi Estate a bit late and to my surprise found the hall to be full. I thought “That’s a lot of Bagai’s”.

We were able to catch most of the introduction of the book by the author. What impressed me the most was that this gentleman had not even been to DERA (the native place of this generation of Bagai’s) even once and yet he had the passion and dedication to compile a book about them. He has traced the genealogy tree back to the 1800’s… now that’s some effort :-)

Another amazing thing he did which really turned my attention to this whole function was that he had traced the lives of even the Bagai daughters. Most books of this genre trace the family trees of the sons. This made my grandmother a part of this documentation of history and hence us.

He discussed that the objective of this was to “link people” and “people should know their roots”.

I felt like piping up and saying…all of you please register on brijj.com and linkedin.com for best results…. ;-)

The function was compared by Mr Atul Bagai who kept the humorous vein going throughout the event with various anecdotes about the family. He also spoke about “people to people contact” as the theme of the book.

The book was released by Mr. Jagdish Khatter (Ceo of Maruti Udyog Limited) The function was presided by Prof M.G.K.Menon. The speakers at the function were people closely associated with the Book, Author and Derewal.

Mr. Shobha Ram Lal – He delivered his speech in the native language, which totally reminded me to my grand mother.

Mr. Mohinder Bagai – (my grand mother’s brother) – His speech revolved around his parent and their contribution towards education and religion after they relocated from Dera to New Delhi and how he met Gandhiji when he was a small boy.

Mr. Jagdish Khatter – He spoke about how his father was associated with the author and this family very fondly and wished him all the best.

Dr. R.S. Garkal – He had stories to tell about how he was treated very warmly by the Derewal community when he visited them for a conference. He invited us all to his house to see photos of that era and a tea party with Pandit Nehru.

Mr Prem Piplani – He was introduced as a “Frequent Flier to D.I.Khan”. He is a radio commentator for cricket. He began in English but switch to the native language, which sounded like sugar to the listener’s ears. He spoke of the warmth, hospitality, brotherhood and unadulterated love and affection of the people of D.I.Khan.

Mrs Dolly Nanda – she has been very closely associated with the author and more so in the last 6 years when he was writing the book. She narrated incidents with a colonial touch.

Prof. M.G.K.Menon – I found him to be one of the best chairpersons at a book release function. He was oddly matched with the crowd here as he is belongs to Kerela. After he read the book he realized, he knew a lot of Bagai’s without knowing that they all belonged to the same clan. He also narrated his experiences of “community living” in the matriarchal system in Kerela.

When we left the function, I resolved to read the book.

The Jar of LIFE....

This is probably one of the best fwd I have ever received!!

A professor stood before his Philosophy class and had some items in front of him.

When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls.

He then asked the students if the jar was full.

They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar.

He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls.

He then asked the students again if the jar was full.

They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar.

Of course, the sand filled up everything else.

He asked once more if the jar was full.

The students responded with a unanimous "yes."

The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand.

The students laughed.

"Now," said the professor, as the laughter subsided, “I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life.

"The golf balls are the important things - your God, family, your children, your health, your friends, and your favorite passions - things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.

"The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house, and your car.

"The sand is everything else--the small stuff.

"If you put the sand into the jar first," he continued, "there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls.

"The same goes for life.
"If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you.

"Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness.

Play with your children.

"Take time to get medical checkups.

"Take your partner out to dinner.

"Play another 18.

"There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal.

"Take care of the golf balls first, the things that really matter.

"Set your priorities.

"The rest is just sand."

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented.

The professor smiled. "I'm glad you asked.

"It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there’s always room for a cup of coffee with a friend."

Please share this with someone you care about.

I JUST DID.

Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending. Maria Robinson quotes

Thought for the day.... "Commitment"

“There's a difference between interest and commitment. When you're interested in doing something, you do it only when circumstance permit. When you're committed to something, you accept no excuses, only results.”

“An ounce of performance is worth pounds of promises.” Mae West

“Commitment in the face of conflict produces character.”

“If you deny yourself commitment, what can you do with your life?” Harvey Fierstein

“Promises may fit the friends, but non-performance will turn them into enemies.” Benjamin Franklin

Trip to Bhimtal - Stars Who Won The Contest

In my earlier post "Nights spent in office making the new 99acres.com live" had mentioned that we were fighting time to make the UI revamp if 99acres live.

On the eve of 99acres.com's birthday we left for the trip to Bhimtal.

As usual, we left late. The journey saw many talents in "Dumb Charades" .... ;-) the most obscene talents obviously..... No, not everyone had put in capful of "u know what" into their system.

Reached Bhimtal at some 8am. Checked in, had breakfast. Some people went for a trek a swim etc.... I was still recovering from the bus journey.

Lazed around.... bugged the hell out of Abhinav, who poor thing had hurt himself playing cricket with a Photo 1 | Photo 2 | Video

In the afternoon, we saw die hard 4 courtesy movie man Bhaskar..... :-)

In the evening we went for a walk.... twilight fell, Umbrella man attacked me...... Photo 1 | Photo 2

Night was party time in the disco... we even had Deepali dancing ... here's a video.

We even had Amit playing the guitar and singing for us. THE most amazing time..... yes, we made him do Bheegey hoot tere... from Murder Photo | video 1 | video 2

Then we had lavesh, Tripti and Nipun cutting their birthday cake..... Photo
yes, unka make-up bhi kiya gaya that... Photo

The duckings...... Lavesh, Nipun and the SURPRISE.....

In the morning we took off for bhimatal lake . that's all of us at the lake.

and then disaster struck.... Photo | Video

All the rest is for you to see in the pics......



View all pictures on picasa http://picasaweb.google.com/nachiketa.chandra/TripToBhimtalStarsWhoWonTheContest

View all videos on picasa http://picasaweb.google.com/nachiketa.chandra/VideosOfTheBhimtalTrip/

Interesting Taglines in gtalk

Abhishek Prasad: See no evil, hear no evil, date no evil

Ąnмơl bhatia: We were born naked, wet and hungry. Then things got worse.

manishtyagi: The road to success is usually under construction.

Nishant Sharma: It's all about Mind & Matter, I don't Mind... U don't Matter !!

√ÏČĶ¥™ ╣ßĥäşķäŕ Đęνä ╠: ▐► Know ME Know Life - No ME No Life! I make the world and the world makes ME! ▐ ♪

Abhishek Prasad: Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until they speak

Puneet Chawla: Seems like time gets lost in space...

Priyanka Bedi: Judge me all you want, but keep the verdict to yourself.

Shiv Narayan: the difference between ordinary and extraordinary is the little extra that the latter has.

Alok: Progress is not made by early risers or hard workers, but by LAZY people, trying to find easier ways to do the same things

Alok: The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education.

Abhishek Prasad: Too many freaks not enough circuses.

Please fell free to contribute.....

Thought for the day...

Trust can take years to build, but only a second to break. Unknown

~~~~~~~

I would rather trust a woman's instinct than a man's reason. Stanley Baldwin

Kabhi kabhi masti bhi karni chahiye…..

Party @ Vivek Sir's House

Updated: Brijj.com - Naukri.com launches Business Networking site

Visit them @ Brijj.com

Read about it on

1. Brijj.com - Naukri.com launches Business Networking site! on www.watblog.com

2. Updated: Naukri Launches Professional Networking Site - Brijj on www.contentsutra.com

3. Brijj.com - Naukri.com launches Business Networking site! on www.indianpad.com

4. Naukri challenges techTribe with brijj.com on web-software.broadbandindia.com

5. Naukri launches professional networking site Brijj.com on www.startupdunia.com

6. Naukri Launches Professional Networking Website Brijj on www.vccircle.com

7. Is brijj.com really cool??? on http://vishalkamath.blogspot.com/

8. India's Biggest Jobsite launches Business Networking site! on www.digg.com

9. Brijj.com - Career and Professional Networking Site From InfoEdge Group on www.informationmadness.com/

10. Naukri launches business networking site Brijj.com on www.alootechie.com

11. Brijj -- Naukri.com's bridge to the new web frontier? on www.agencyfaqs.com

12. Skot’s world - Indian proffessional networking space heats up on skot.wordpress.com

13. Naukri launches Brijj.com - a new India centric Business Social Networking website on news.TekChakra.com

14. Brijj.com - A Social Network and India’s LinkedIn on www.blogowogo.com

15. Brijj.com - A Social Network and India’s LinkedIn on www.indianweb2.com

16. Brijj - One more player in the Social Networking arena on girishsprabhu.wordpress.com

17.
Have you started Brijjing????? on http://lateralsense.blogspot.com

Register using the link: http://brijj.com/profile/ShowRegistrationForm

Critique.. product discussion
A Brijj too far by shyam

Lambasting shyam:
Cross the Brijj only when you come to it by Manas Mishra

Fruits of labour

99acres.com
Do a property search and check out the results page.....
Finally we have moved away from a 3 column layout to a 2 column layout.... yippeee.... the ads are looking so much better.
we even added a video banner and premium projects in the larger cities.

City Pages -
Ahmedabad
Bangalore
Chennai
Delhi/NCR
Hyderabad
Kolkata
Mumbai
Pune

Search for property dealers in -
Ahmedabad
Bangalore
Chennai
Delhi/NCR
Hyderabad
Kolkata
Mumbai
Pune

For other cities log on to 99acres.com and search for property dealers

Nights spent in office making the new 99acres.com live

We had a contest running for us this time..... 2 day trip if we launch the new stuff till the end of july.

We've worked on this project for some time now.... as usual we slogged the most in the last over.

This was a new team i worked with. Have done this twice over @ naukri.com and made several large (read mammoth) projects live in the last 4 years.

We did it.... the team work was cool.

Yet... everytime it's the same butterflies..... the cushion however are the learnings...

There were many challenges for us. getting the concepts right.... implementing them and most of all having a well oiled coordination between all the departments without playing the blame game. [it's very easy to get into that trap :-) ]

It takes all types of people to make a team. A lot of it was Deja Vu ..... it's all coming back to me... just different people were saying it.....

Each one has their own concern.....
- it's not in the brief... where is the dropdown we wanted... it was not in the template.... Stop looking at comma and full stops, pl take out BUGS- REAl Bugs..... the new build destroyed the older fixes....
Top management wants new changes done...
not now, it will be done in august....

The idea so much wasn't a 2 day trip... the motivation was achievement and having the Best Site.....

But the best thing about this team was : The Client/User and Site was at the core of all this and the strain we could hear were "How can we do this better?"... ok let past be past and let's focus on what we need to get done and how best can we do it to make the site better.

There were no sides..... There was just 1 team.


99acres team... U Rock.

there were many a night we spent in office.... not going home... sleeping in office for a few hours... working 21 hours a day....

Our business head - Deepali and CTO - Vivek stood by us always......

My mind not only wanders, sometimes it leaves completely.

what r u looking for?????????????????







it's gone....

Info Edge Recognized as Tomorrow's Giant

I'm proud to be a part of this company for over 4 years now..... :-)

Jul 17, 2007
New Delhi, Delhi, India -- naukri.com (Business Wire India)
Info Edge (India) Ltd. has been identified amongst the Top 100 Mid Sized Companies in India. In a survey conducted by Business World Info Edge emerged at no. 43 on an overall performance rank, and was ranked 7 on total average returns in the Rs 50-100 crore category. In this bracket, 256 companies had made it to the final assessment.

According to Sanjeev Bikhchandani, Founder and CEO, Info Edge (India) Ltd , It feels good to be recognized as one of the best performing companies by Business World this year (a watershed year for the company in which we crossed Rs. 100 Crores and also listed on the stock exchanges). Info Edge has been consistently striving to deliver on the highest standards of professional governance and value creation through high growth and margin expansion. This recognition underscores our commitment to being the best in the industry.

The rankings were based on the holistic performance of a company. The survey included both public and private companies whose net sales was between Rs. 50 crore- 1,000 crore in the recent accounting year. Performance of a company over the past three years on five key parameters was taken in to account i.e. size, growth in net sales, growth in net profits, profitability and average returns. The companies included in the survey were those that ensured consistent performance throughout the year

The recent ranking by the Business World survey 2006 is a further reiteration of the fact that Info Edge has consistently delivered superior products and performance for its stake holders customers, employees and investors.

Social networking will supplement, not replace, job sites

Sanjeev Bikhchandani,
Founder and CEO, Info Edge India

Sanjeev Bikhchandani is one of the few people who saw the potential of the internet for value transactions. As a result, Naukri.com became a success story, defining the Rs 240-crore online jobs industry. His company Info Edge listed last year, and now has a mind-boggling market capitalisation of around Rs 2,400 crore. Tarana Khan and Kapil Ohri spoke to him about the Timesjobs controversy, Web 2.0, and whether Naukri has been successfully able to leverage the first-mover advantage

Q. Mr. Bikhchandani, Naukri had the first mover's advantage. How important, and sustainable, is this for you?

A. Being the first mover really helps, provided you make good use of it. So, for us, it really helped. We understood early on what it takes to create value for customers, what it takes to get revenue on the internet, what it takes to make a profit. In that understanding and knowledge, we were years ahead of the competition. So, it gets a lot easier to remain a leader. The fact is that we launched based on a deep customer insight. Others who came in took a few years to understand what it takes to build customer value -- and we were three years ahead. So that's the big reason why we succeeded.

Q. Now, the online job industry is pretty competitive. Times Jobs started a whole campaign claiming to be No. 1, to which you did respond, but they have continued with it...

A. We are actually quite delighted, because our resumes are up by a 20-25 per cent and they remain up. Currently, our resume acquisition rate is higher than ever before. What has happened is that Monster is actually No. 2, so our sales guys are happy. Because, that's like saying Monster is not No. 2. Look, we are in a market where results are measurable. If you do a job search on Naukri, you will know how many results you find, and if you do a job search on TimesJobs, you know the results. You will be able to evaluate which is the No. 1 site. Similarly, in the recruiter's side, you will know how many resumes you got from where. So, in a market where results are measurable, both the job seeker and the recruiter find it easy to evaluate competitive offerings. And when that happens, no amount of big ads can sell a lie. So, that's okay and we are pretty comfortable there.

Q. Do you think there is a lack of standardisation in terms of the definition of 'active resumes' or the numbers? Because people are quoting from different sources...

A. See, if you look at our IPO document and all our official communication, we rely more on comScore than Alexa. Having said that, we use all available data. No data source is perfect, so we use a combination of multiple data sources to arrive at conclusions. We use these data to look at trends to see if we are growing, if competition is growing faster and if the gap narrowing and the like. So it’s more of that kind of stuff rather than saying 'this is absolutely 100 per cent reliable'.

Q. Naukri is your flagship product -- how are you going to incrementally grow this business? There are numbers, of course, which can be added on, but what features or elements can you add to that product?

A. We have a very strong product and user-experience agenda. We have done a lot of work in the last 12-15 months on the product. A lot of the stuff that we do is not visible on the site, because it's in the nature of relevance ranking, algorithms and things like that. A lot of that stuff is working very hard for the clients. So, we are making serious investments there. What we realised is that if you do any feature, the competition can copy it very easily because it's visible on the site. But if you fix something which they can’t figure out, we believe that is defendable intellectual property.

Q. For the recruiters on your site, are you just concentrating on the display elements or are you offering them something more innovative in terms of exposure?

A. No, we are doing both . We have got resume database and listings products and display. Clients know what is working for them because we get 70 per cent of our business from repeat buyers.

One of the big problems in recruitment advertising online is applicant spam. So, if I put up a job and I get 500 applications, there's a large percentage of applicant spam -- junk people who are not suited for the job. Now, going through those 500 applications is a pain. Over the last two three years, we are working hard on how to minimise applicant spam. I believe we have made substantial progress through our job search algorithms.

Q. So, your focus is more on algorithms rather than cosmetic changes, like maybe video?

A. No, we will do whatever makes business sense. We don't believe video will take over all this and become mainstream in a hurry. We have been discussing video for the last couple of years and it's a question of prioritisation. If it looks like video resumes are taking off, we will definitely do it.

Q. Any other features you are considering -- maybe a networking tool – for the site?

A. I would not be able to discuss that, but we have a very strong product innovation agenda and you will see some of the stuff coming out pretty soon.

Q. Would that be a web 2.0-based innovation?

A. Yes. Everything we do, even the algorithms, are Web 2.0. We are not confident of social networking just yet. We don't believe there's a revenue model there. Having said that, if we do find a revenue model, we will definitely look into it. But we would like to get into businesses where there is at least some clarity of what the potential revenue model could be. As a company, it is not in our DNA to put up a site and say, `If it gets traffic, we will somehow make money’. We need to get the business idea before we launch a site.

Q. A lot of action is happening on social networking these days, and people are getting in touch with each other through these sites. So don't you think this is a challenge for you because people can now get job referrals through these social networks and companies can get in touch with people through them?

A. You have a point there, and if we see a revenue model, we will definitely do something. But we have to see a revenue model first.

Q. But do you see that as a challenge?

A. The challenge is that on social networking, nobody is making money. People may have valuations, people may have traffic -- but nobody is making money. Now, a lot of people are justifying this by saying that if you get traffic, you get to make money. That works for Google. It may or may not work for other sites. So, really, somebody has to show the way out for social networking. And we are not sure whether we are those people. The jury is out, and it will have to be worked out. Right now, there's some doubt.

Q. Some people we've spoken to in the industry say that classifieds will eventually die out. Do you believe that?

A. No. And I'll tell you why. Look at the history of any medium. When TV came, people said radio would die. That said, it's at least prospering. When TV came, people said print advertising would go away. But it hasn't. When internet came, people said the intermediary would go away. That's not happened. So, people generally tend to exaggerate or hype these things. Will social networking be used for finding people, whether for dating or marriage or jobs? It possibly will be. But will social networking replace them? I don't think so.

When you put your profile on a matrimonial site, you are announcing your intent that you want to get married. When you put it on a social networking site, you are not announcing that intent. So, the likelihood of a handshake happening is a lot higher (on a matrimonial site). When you put your resume on a job site to a client on it who has access to the database, you are announcing your intent that you are looking for a job. And therefore a serious conversation can be held. When you are on a social networking site, you are just saying who you are. Whether you are looking for a job or to get married...nobody knows. So the productivity of a recruiter is a lot higher on job sites. Now, can networking sites be used to find people who are not on job sites? As a support tool, yes. However, will it replace job sites or matrimonial sites? No, it will supplement. Dating...quite possible.

Q. Do you think localisation is the key to move ahead?

A. Yes. If you look at TV, when cable TV first came in, it was only English programming like CNN and Star. It remained a 'big city, upper-income' phenomenon. When did it really penetrate? When all the Hindi channels were launched on cable, starting with Zee. And suddenly, people figured that local language is the way forward. Now the vast majority of content on internet, globally, is in English. All the Indian content is also in English. So you don't have great applications if you don't have great content in local language and therefore it’s not going to drive a lot of people online unless they are English-speaking first. So, you'll have to do more than that.

Q. You also have an offline business -- Quadrangle -- a pretty old business of yours...

A. Well, actually that business is more recent than Naukri. We got into it in 2000.

Q. Fine. So that company is doing offline what Naukri is doing online, as I understand...

A. No. Naukri is a medium and a platform. A lot of recruiters use Naukri, including headhunters, and including Quadrangle. So, at Naukri we just we just enable handshakes. At Quadrangle, it starts from the first handshake and takes it to completion.

Q. So you felt it was important to have an offline business?

A. Yes. Quadrangle is a good business, it's growing well and it's cash positive.

Q. Would it continue to have a separate brand or do you want to take it into the Naukri brand?

A. As of now, there are no plans to change the brand name.

Q. And even Jeevansaathi and 99acres have potential for offline businesses. Would you consider that?

A. As of now, no. We believe that when you are not charging any high prices, there isn't enough money to be made by both the franchisee and you. We want to study the ability of a model to make money. Because if it doesn't make money, it is not viable. We can get into it only if we are convinced that the franchisee will make money, and this is the best move forward.

Q. Most of your revenue is coming from the recruitment business. How do you want to scale up the other businesses?

A. The recruitment business last year recorded some 88-89 per cent, and this includes Quadrangle and Naukri. We are not disclosing them separately but the bulk of revenue is Naukri but therefore it is less than 88 per cent. Maybe it'll be close to 80 per cent. The other businesses are scaling well, but the percentage will not change in a hurry because Naukri is also growing very, very fast.

Q. What are your plans for mobile? What's your opinion on using mobile as a medium?

A. Mobile is not a huge challenge; it's just small screen. There are two, three aspects of mobile. Nobody anywhere in the world, in my opinion, has cracked a really good model of accessing the web on the Net. Even Google. Why do you believe Google is the best search today? Because in a page of 10 or 15 results, if four are what you are looking for, you say it’s a good search and a good search engine. On the small screen, you will get three results and all three need to be the ones you are looking for. It's a very different standard of accuracy.

However, if you say that the mobile is not a tool to access a website or surf, it is a tool to communicate, then it makes sense. So, the user is already registered with me on the website and I am using mobile as a tool to communicate with him because he is not online all the time. That can work. And we believe that is route forward, at least in the short run. It's not a surfing tool, but it's a big communication tool. So, you can recognise that and say that the mobile is for communication not for surfing. And enabled with accuracy in the information inside it, you will find that mobile is working for you.

For example, we can send in job alerts. The recruiter can access the database and send an SMS. Those kind of things will work. SMS is a big one in India but as GPRS catches on you may want to get more than an SMS.

Q. You started off in the online industry when it was tiny in comparison to today, and you’ve been at it for about ten years. As an entrepreneur, how would map the transition?

A. The first big thing is that the penetration of the internet has increased substantially. So, when we launched Naukri in 1997, there were 14,000 internet accounts in the country. It must have been a couple of lakh users and in 2000 there were 4 million net users. Today, people are talking about 50 million or 70 million...those kind of numbers.

What this has done is that this has made a whole lot of internet businesses viable suddenly, which were not viable seven to eight years ago when the meltdown happened. And because of this, you are seeing investments coming in, you are seeing more and more start-ups and entrepreneurs. Therefore, a lot more action is happening, which is a good thing. When an industry grows and develops, you see a lot educational initiatives like training happening. You see companies growing and I think that will help in moving the industry. I think we are now an industry – earlier, we were a bunch a start-ups.

Q. So what's the mood, now that there is a resurgence?

A. The mood is back to being euphoric. However, this happens to all markets, which tend to over-compensate. So, there was a bust in 1999-2000, but today it's again euphoria. But I would say it is not like 1999 because today there is a real user base, real markets, real revenue happening. Therefore, I believe that a lot of businesses being created will be viable. Some will fail as it always happens, but many will be viable.

Thank you, Mr. Bikhchandani.

Source: AgencyFAQs

The Search for a Meaning…..

The post is not as profound as the title might perhaps suggest.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that Wikipedia, indeed carried an explanation of what my name means. Since it was a question that every new person I meet asks me at some point, I am posting the extract here

It’s pretty simple google it by clicking here

Or read on……….

Name: Nachiketa, meaning: Fire.

There is more about the name Nachiket. Nachiket means 'the Fire' which is a source of light at the dark hours of day. Nachiket stands as the source of knowledge. He was the only one who is appreciated so much by the god of death the 'Yama' that he offered him Greatest Knowledge the 'Bramha Gyaan'.

Who was nachiket?

The name of the grandson of Uddalaka, who was a young and famous Brahmachari noted for his great determination in pursuit of knowledge. He stands as the ideal seeker of Truth.

From Wikipedia:
Nachiketa (Sanskrit:नचिकेता, IAST: Naciketā) was son of a cowherd of the name Vājashrava, who was offered to Yama to find a place in Heaven by his father. Nachiketa with his wits learnt the wisdom taught by Yama (the god of Death), found the path of realising Brahman / Moksha i.e. emancipation of the soul from rebirth.

The story of Nachiketa and Yama is mentioned in Kathopanishad. There was cowherd of the name Vājashrava; desiring a gift from the gods, he made offerings of all he owned. But the kine he had were old, yielding no milk and worthless; not such a might buy the worshipper a place in Heaven. Vājashrava had a son; he would have his father make a worthier offering. To his sire he spoke: "To which god wilt thou offer me?" "To Death I give thee".

Nachiketa thought: "I shall be neither the first nor last that fares to Yama. yet what will he do with me? It shall be with me as with others. So Nachiketa went his way to death's wide home, and waited there three days; for Death was on a journey. When Death returned, his servants said: “A Brahman guest burns like a fire; Nachiketa waits three days unwelcomed; do thou soothe him with an offering of water, for all is lost to him in whose abode a Brahman waits unfed."

Then Death spoke to Nachiketa: “Since thou, an honoured guest, hast waited in my house three days unfed, ask of me three boons in return, I shall grant them". Then first he prayed: “Grant to my father peace and to know and welcome me when I return." Yama answered: "Be it so." Nachiketa asked again: “In Heaven-world the folk are quit of thee; there is neither hunger, nor eld, nor fear of death. Reveal to me the sacred fire that leads to Heaven." Then Yama described the sacred fire- what stones for its altar, and how disposed; and Nachiketa said it over, learning the lesson taught by Yama. Yama spoke again: “I grant thee, furthermore, that this sacred fire be known for ever by thy name; thine is the fire that leads to Heaven, thy second boon."

Nachiketa asked again: " The great mystery of what cometh after death; he is, some say; others say, he is no more. This great doubt I ask thee to resolve."

Yama replied: " Even the gods of old knew not this; this is a matter hard to be learnt; ask me any other boon only ask not of death."

But Nachiketa insisted to resolve mystery after death and no other boon.
Yama explained that the goal of sacred wisdom, of goodly works and faith, is Om! This word is Brahman, the supreme. He who doth comprehend this word, whatever he desires is his.

Thus having learnt the wisdom taught by Yama, and finding Brahman, Nachiketa was freed from death.

Some more extracts I found on the internet…. Read on.

Nachiketa’s Pitruvaakya paripaalana on Moral Stories

A tribute to the great Bharatiya Samskruti.

By Once upon a time there lived a braahmana named Vajashrava (Uddaalaka), who wished to accumulate punyam by performing a great yagnyam. The yagnyam was duly performed, but when the time for the daanams came, Vajashrava kept all the healthy cows for himself and gave away only those that were old and infirm. His son, Nachiketa, who was observing this, became very sad. He wanted his father to get the full phalitham for the yagnyam. He knew from shaastras that one must always give away things that are good, which will help others and the ones most liked by the donor. He went to his father and said: "O Father! Why are you donating only old cows that cannot give milk and cannot help the daana-grahitas? As you know, such an act is a great paapam. Your intent was to accumulate punyam. These gifts will have the opposite effect. Please donate your best of the cows".

Kathopanishad: The Mystery of Death and the Meaning of Life
by Swami Rama
From: Sacred Journey
This Upanishad is a beautiful, poetic explanation of the mystery of life and death, the law of karma, and how to attain liberation from grief and distress. It is composed in one hundred nineteen mantras and constructed around a dialogue between a spiritually minded young man named Nachiketa on one hand and Yama, the king of death on the other. Yama, unlike portrayals in Greek or Roman mythology of the king of death, is not something dreadful. He was the first man born on the earth to die and was a self realized master. In this scripture, Yama may be compared to the highest discriminating intelligence of the human being, while Nachiketa represents the lower mind, albeit with strength and courage.

The dialogue between the two reveals the character of a dedicated but yet unrealized spiritual seeker. Nachiketa is someone we can understand as well as admire. Though he has many doubts, his faith is indisputable. Above all he harbors a deep desire for the highest knowledge and ultimate happiness.

Nachiketa is tested by Yama to determine how strong his desire for truth is. Is it stronger than the attractions to the things of desire in the world? Yes. Nachiketa renounces everything for the sake of Self-realization. Above all else he wants to know Atman, the real Self.

The story of Nachiketa

This story about a Brahman hotra priests yagya and his son's propriety. One Auddaalaki "Vaajashravas (the gift giver)" Aruni by name decided to give away his possessions in order to earn some good Karma (He had the name Vaajashravas or food-giver). He had, however, at that particular ceremony called the vishvajit given only those goods which were defective. The cows were old and the skin barely hanging on their bony frames. The udders were not giving milk and the teeth could hardly chew. This was the sacrifice which Vajrashravas intended to give in order to get into heaven in the afterlife. His son called Nachiketa by name and a very astute young man saw his fathers dilemma. By way of rectifying the situation he suggested to his father that he be given away. In this way since the son was the prize possession his father could earn the necessary merits and would be absolved for his paltry offering which must surely have offended the Gods.