Disconnect to Connect

Am a self confessed Facebook, twitter, whatsapp addict. Have in the past many a times taken a break from Fb for a week or month…but have always come back.

Whatsapp is one addiction which was very easy to deaddict myself from. Whatsapp works on a the basic rule…you send one ..u receive many. So if you stop sending those jokes around… people will also stop sending the same to you.

So what remains was Facebook and twitter. Last week I had to move out at 1 pm from my office for some urgent work. In my rush, I forgot my mobile at the office. The ghost rings in my ear, the ghost vibrations in my pocket were so disturbing. Every now and then, I would put my hand in my pocket to remove my non existent mobile phone.

By evening however, I was beginning to enjoy my “disconnected” world. Spent some good time with the kids without the phone ringing or pinging out a notification, watched a movie without having to talk on the phone in between. Loved the evening. It was like those times when mobiles did not exist in the world.

Next day morning however was a shock. When I came back to the office, had 124 missed calls. Though a few were repeat calls from many… but still was shocked to realise how much time we spend in staying connected.

I made a decision then that I would disconnect my self to connect to the real world. Now daily my phone goes in Quite mode from 6 pm to morning 7 am. No phones calls, no social notifications, no emails. I do cheat on the social media part by going online, but a few of my friends keep reminding me of my decision… and trust me it actually helps me off it.

Now I am disconnected from virtual world…but connected to real world. I like it that way. Hope to keep it that way.

One more for my collection :)

Aap Log rakh lo.:) Rakhi @jayantgajria: Sharmaji…aapke aakhri bacche ka naam to aapne movie main bataya hi nahin :) gr8 acting #special26

— Anupam Kher (@AnupamPkher) February 18, 2013

Just Like That

One more for my ego boosting...Roshan Abbas replies back :)

@jayantgajria same principle applies! The gender doesn't change the lack of character
— roshanabbas (@roshanabbas) January 15, 2013

The feel good factor…

Not on an ego trip…but over the years…have found my certain tweets being mentioned on some site or other. In the past I have always tweeted the link or put it up on facebook…few I bookmarked…but then thought of trying to get them together under one roof. I have lost a few a them…whatever I could salvage from here and there..I am putting them up….also adding a few “replies” from celebrities…

Tweet regarding Saif Ali Khan – Kareena marriage in October 2012 got mentioned in Funny Tweets about Saifeena on Indiatimes.com

Click here to see the site 

Kalmadi arrested due to CWG scam tweet got mentioned on in.com in April 2011

Kalmadi Tweet

Mumbai Rains have always been a headache for me specially when travelling. And I am always trigger happy and tweeting about it. Two of my snaps were put up NDTV

Snap 1

Snap 2

Aamir Khan and Kiran are blessed with a baby….and me like usual shot off the first thing that came to my head….

Tweet mentioned on India Wires Site

Aishwarya Rai gets pregnant and twitter is on fire….tweeted to The Ramesh Srivats who in turn tweets it on his TL with a twist of his humour and also acknowledges me on the tweet..needless to say the tweet caught on like anything…with people sending it across on BBMs and whatsapp…nothing beat the feeling of getting it on the messengers from friends who did not know where it originated from

BayB

King of Bollywood – Shah Rukh Khan replies back

His reply to my tweet

India ke Sirr pe do singh…a tweet sent to Pritish Nandy … and retweeted by him

As I said…have a few more…maybe I will have to search for them on my TL in twitter and facebook…and no this is just not an ego trip…its just getting my collection together :) Will add more once I have more time

Whom to follow…

Nowadays I often tell my friends to start a twitter account. Some do…but then they feel lost over there….their next question is whom to follow?!?!?

Now every person has got an individual choice of celebrity to chose from be it movie, tv or sport. Somehow I refrain from advising on whom to follow because of this very reason. I personally prefer following mostly non celebrity twitters…who tweet about their day to day thoughts…no its voyeurism for sure….but I prefer it that way.

Celebrities….they can be categorized into

PR Celebrities : Their tweets appear only when they are launching a particular movie or product. Otherwise you will find them missing for long periods. If the movie is a hit, they will be there for another few days….if its a flop…they just disappear…only to resurface on the next launch

Showoff Celebrities : They tweet about everything…about the script …about the roles…about their car…about their shoes…about their watches….about their vacations….its like reading a movie magazine for free. Then there are celebrities who will put of photos of what they have worn …….. or what they have not worn!!! The latter have a lot of followers to be frank…more for such photos……

Social Celebrities : They will protest about everything….from the poor dog who has come down under some unknown Indians car …. to page 3 parties being cut short by the police. They will compare their high society problems with the 3rd world problems and complain about it ….

Genuine Celebrities : These are the best to follow….they enjoy tweeting….tweet like normal people do…about their thoughts…about other issues..about their movies or products too but in a subtle way(they have every right to )…they voice their opinion…and also respond back…unlike the first three categories…which respond back to only those tweets which are in their favor….

Twitter Celebrities : These are common people like everybody….and they are the best to follow….they have a knack of tweeting….and can be fun to follow too….Follow them…blindly!!!

I would say…just start following people whose tweets you find comfortable to read…you will get the knack of it…

Kya Super Fool Hai Hum

Facebook statuses have undergone a transformation…..now they are being put up as pictures on the walls. Quotes, Jokes…u name it…u start your account and they are right there…staring in you face.

Infact Twitter and Facebook have actually killed the punches, the jokes have been repeated so many times, that they have lost it totally.

Add to it BBM and Whatsapp and the likes….and there u have it…overdose of jokes, quotes.

Kya Super kool hai Hum has taken it further, it is a movie on all the jokes which we have been subjected to again and again on social networking and messengers. I guess the filmmakers decided not to have a dialogue writer and just asked their people to a research on the most shared and liked non-veg and double meaning jokes and asked her characters from the movie to mouth them. And thats that….thats how you have Kya Super Kool Hai Hum.

The movie is good to make you laugh…but then it lacks one basic ingredient…a storyline. Kya Kool Hai hum had the serial killer angle to a give a definite story to the movie, while this one is just depending on the jokes to keep the audience engrossed. The previous movie had its strong characters like Inspector Urmila Martondkar and Dr.Screwwala, but here most characters are like your normal characters from Laughter Challenge Frankly I am sure than many people just did not get the BJ and DilDo la Re punch.

Come to think of it.. DilDo la re has given a totally new perceptive to the original song of Devdas….I will be foolishly smiling the next time I see Madhuri Dixit and Aishwarya dancing to that song from Devdas….after all Kya Super Fool Hai Hum ;)))

P.s If this movie is ever shown on Doordarshan, expect a 30 min movie for sure :)

Am I ever serious....???

A friend asked me "Are you ever serious. All your posts on social networking sites are so funny". I retorted back....if i start posting my problems, will you follow my posts? Sorry for being crude mate...I know u are going to read this and understand.

For me being on a social networking site is like physically sociallising. One doesnt carry his troubles to a party or a social get-together. One goes there for enjoying. Ok you may discuss your problems on and off..but then there is a time and place for everything.

I do put up my serious thoughts....but then sometimes...what might be serious for me...might be light hearted humour for others, and when they comment back in  good humour..it lightens up the  mood further. So there you are. I am serious also..but open for nice and light chat, wherein the mood does not remain serious. One can even put it as ..... Online socialising is my de-stress media.....

Again recently I was asked what do I get from posting so much on Facebook and Twitter..my reply was simple, I know that somewhere someone might be smiling on reading this, not necessary that I get a like or comment for that, but it makes me happy...

P.s This post was lying in my drafts since more than a year...posting it today while cleaning my drafts :) The last para was added today....

The Wolves are prowling on Twitter

The format of Bigg Boss is simple, put in a bunch of page 3 people who for the first few days behave as if they are on page 3 but slowly find it difficult to remain goodie goodie.

Not that they are bad. It human nature to be angry, to protest, to err.

And then the true facets which they keep away from the public are visible to all.

Same is the case with celebrities and politicians on twitter. Here they have to take bouquets and brickbats. Sometimes these brickbats get out of hand and celebrities hit back only to have more brickbats if the celebrity goes overboard in replying. A few people who come in late latch on to the fact that a celebrity has used certain abusive words without verifying the start of the conversation.

Twitter thrives and actually its thriving on criticism. Any topic will have its bunch of jokers and criticizers. There are supporters but the human nature likes to thrive on spice. There is no spice on good news..the wolves are out waiting for the celebrities for one small slip... And then they will pounce....

Twitter an uncontrolled bane

In the past there have been trends on twitter like RIP Jackie Chan, there have been other rumors which circulated more faster than before even Media could get hold of it.
There was a bridge cavein in Mumbai recently…and Mumbaikarrs were tweeting about it like an entire bridge had fallen down…..
Yesterday Twitter was abuzz with tweets regarding possible end to Anna Hazare’s fast by use of force by the Government of India. There was nothing on NEWS about it….but slowly media started picking up the NEWS after more than 20 mins of this coming up on twitter.
My point is : Is Twitter faster than Media and is Media also just picking up titbits from Twitter. There was a lot of controversy later with both the Police and GOI denying any plans of forcefully arresting/ending Annas fast.
Twitter has become a very powerful medium. But it can also create a lot of problems. Some people who are used to passing out chain mails, or unverified information on emails, just start retweeting or posting on their on profiles about things they read without verifying.
It is difficult to control so many tweeters, but the only request is to verify the facts before passing out any information and not resort to spreading rumors……
IT IS GOOD TO BE SOCIALLY ACTIVE BUT BE SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE TOO……

The Emperors New Clothes

We have all read or heard the the story of Emperors New Clothes. Indian Governments current situation is similar….everybody is able to see the corruption around except our leaders. Even a small child is taking part in the support of Anna Hazare and know that corruption is bad, but our shameless politicians are still undecided over the future of Lok Pal Bill.
Anna Hazare has acted like a small child in the story of Emperors New Clothes and raised his voice by declaring that our Government System is Corrupt…….and now everybody has come out into the open by supporting him.
In the story the Emperor realized his folly but will our Government do the same????????
I dedicate this blog to Mr. Bimal Maskara who tweeted this to me…

Random thoughts

Wanted to open my windows live mail…some how my live writer got opened……
Now sitting and staring at the many posts in which are there in the Drafts but I have not completed them or just typed and not posted…..
Blogging was an outlet for my thoughts…it has now been replaced by twitter.
8 out of 10 times a thought converted into a 140 character tweet is responded to or retweeted……compared to blogs which are random being read(i think)….
but that doesnt mean i will stop blogging…..if a certain topic needs more than 140 characters and which i think will be injustice if tweeted will certainly find their way to my blog….till then cyao…have a nice day :)

My tweet birthday

Yes today is my tweet birthday….thanks to @tinucherian who tweeted the link to @twbirthday on Twitter. I am also sharing my tweet birthday with Mr. Pritish Nandy @pritishnandy and Mr. Cherian TinuAbraham.
Found that I had joined Twitter on 30th of June, 2009. Here is my Twitter Birth Certificate…certainly better than the one Municipality gives ;)

So here’s a Very Happy Tweet Birthday to me and @tinucherian and @pritishnandy :) May we have many more tweet days ….

Main karoon to saala character dheela hai…

Recently on fathers day, author Chetan Bhagat wrote a tweet which drew a lot of flak. His tweet was :
"Mothers give birth, but the coke belongs to the guy who puts the coin in the vending machine. Happy fathers day"
Personally I read the tweet, laughed and ignored it. It was an old joke heard many times. But then by evening Chetan Bhagat began to trend. Like every “coin” this too had two sides….those supporting him, and those against him, but most people started abusing him to the extent that in the end he had to delete the tweet.
It makes me wonder, I see so many people just shooting off anything they like, but just because they are not being followed much or unlike Chetan Bhagat who is in the public eye since long, their tweets are ignored. But when a person like Chetan Bhagat or any other well know person puts in such a tweet he is crucified!!
Ok..you dont like his books…he never asked you to like them. He writes, people who like his books read them. If they dont like it, they will trash it..if they like it its good for him. Not every author’s every written book is liked by one and all. So why the hell start abusing him about his books. about his social thinking?? He is an individual with his individual rights like every other tweeter.
And why just him, every few days our timelines are full of celebrities facing trolls. So should celebrities tweet actually what is in their minds or just tweet what their followers will like. Is this what twitter is about? Why do tweeples just jump at an opportunity to crucify the celebrities?
Every Tom, Dick and Harry posts some post which might be offensive to others once in a while, but when celebrities do it …..unka Character Dheela hai!!!!

Overdose of Social Networking

Lately I find myself just staring at my social networking web page, wondering what to do. Facebook or Twitter, I am just not able to know what is to be done. People have been asking me about where are my new posts, but frankly my mind is blank.
Infact, I am even tired of all new mobile phones being more inclined towards Social networking applications. Its making me sick now. There was a time, when I could not do with Facebook or Twitter, but now I dont even log on to them for hours together, without having to worry which friend is doing what. Being updated is good…but being constantly updated…………………………………
Maybe an overdose of being on the social networking sites has killed the fun, or maybe they are really losing their charm as time is going by……….
Whatever it maybe, but I have decided today to stop my mobile live updates of both Twitter and Facebook…….maybe the previous system of checking them once in a while will be worthwhile……….

Some mobile applications I cant do without

It took me more than 5 years to shift to Nokia phones, since i found them very common then, and then I have been using Nokia phones since past 8 years after my wifey gifted me one. What kept me attracted to them were the number of applications Nokia has and the ease of usage. So thought of jotting down the application which I have been using over the years…..
Nokia Sports Tracker : Very good application for recording your walks/cycling exercises. Needs GPS enabled phones. After shifting to touch screen mobile was saddened by the fact that there was no application available for it. But last year they launched the touch screen version and since then it has found a place on my cell.
Maps : Frankly I hate Nokia/Ovi Maps. They take too long to load, and most of the times are inaccurate. Been using Google Maps since past 4 years. Amazing accuracy. Though I wish it was intelligent enough to chose the shortest route possible, which many a times it fails to do.
Quickoffice : Seriously cant do without it and it needs no introduction over here.
Whatsapp : This is one messaging software which incorporates Blackberry, Android, Iphone and Symbian 60 phones. It doesnt require you to have a new messaging user id and password, just your phone number is sufficient for it. All the above phone uses just need to register their cell numbers once, and the application will go thru your contact list, find the people who are using the application and you are connected with them. The application doesnt hog the battery of your cell and is very useful.
Socially : Sadly for me, Nokia is having some issue with social networking applications for my current cell. I know they are working on it, but no results yet. So after going thru various other third party applications, I settled down with an application called Socially. It incorporates Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare and Linkedin. The only disadvantage with the software is that its not real time, the minimum time for auto update is 30 mins, which i feel is too much. Otherwise it has all the features one requires for social networking sites.
There are many other applications…….some I delete over the time…some I use randomly……….

Tweet or blog

Less action nowadays on my blog. I would blame it on tweeting actually. It much easier to express your thoughts sometimes in a single line. It helps in two ways…one ..its like a dairy you are maintaining…two…sometimes you express your feelings and the load is off your head.
Many people ask me if anybody reads the blogs or tweets…for me its just like noting down what is in my head. Sometimes friends/relatives read the blogs/tweets and give their opinions, which are always helpful.
Whatever it is….I am continuing with whatever is possible with me….tweet and blog………