Samsung Fold

Been quite a while since I have written a blog. And what better way of starting again than expressing my views about the new Samsung Fold. 

Have been a proud user of Nokia E90 Communicator phone and was heartbroken when I had to sell it off in 2009.. yes its been 10 years. Since then have been waiting for Nokia to come out with another flagship phone like the Communicator..but sadly Nokia itself went downhill.

Technology wise there was stagnancy in the phones...only bigger screens...better screens...bigger battery...better battery life...thinner phones... curved screen(which lost its use after certain time that you wondered why the screen was curved in the first place)... software changes...UI changes...but nothing of note.

Then came cameras...suddenly phones had Selfie cameras...and then two cameras...three cameras...

But still no major technology shift. 

And then came Samsung Fold. I dont want to get in what happened during its initial release. I just jumped at the first opportunity of pre-booking the phone without seeing it physically when it was released again. 

The phone came in yesterday.. and lets say... I was disappointed when I folded the screen for the first time. Over the years we are used to bigger screens...and here suddenly you have small screen ... my fat thumbs can hardly type over the keyboard ...which I am amazed they have been able to adjust in such a small screen... and herein lies the technology... you dont feel that the keyboard is bad visually.. you need to get accustomed to it. 

Folded...the phone brought back memories of carrying the chunky phones of yore...and even my favorite E90 Communicator. 

When open its like a normal tablet...but then knowing that I am using a tablet which can be folded is what gives me a high. A tablet which I can fold and pocket. The clarity is good... the touch is not as jelly like as I had feared by reading the earlier reviews...it feels quite sturdy. Transition from front screen to inner screen...and vice versa is smooth. With the kind of specs the phone has it is fast.

Yes I am extra cautious as of now while handling the inner screen... but lets see how it turns out in the future. 

If you want my opinion about buying this phone... I would say.. if you are ok with small outer screen.. and want convenience of a phone and a tablet in one gadget.... go for it... 

The Other Currency

Around 20 years back had shifted to Mumbai suburbs on rent. Here there was this one shop which was like a mini Big Bazaar of that time. Huge for that area. During the same period there was shortage of coins. What the shop did was put a round stamp on a small piece of paper and write the denomination of change due and give to customers. It was like an IOU. Customers were asked to use the same next time they shopped. 

Slowly one was able to use the same at small  businesses, eateries, etc. It was like a private currency being circulated. 

Then one day overnight the shop winded up. Nobody knew what happened. Just disappeared, lock stock and barrel.. and also with the cash the shop owed against the private currency. 

Technically the IOUs should be equal to what the shop owed to its customers, but who had an account of how many such IOUs were actually circulating? There is as such no account of how much the shop owners siphoned off. Some say that other shop keepers were also hand in glove on circulating the fake currency. But in the end it was the general public which was 'short changed'.

The reason for the blog? Without naming any particular app, I see a parallel private banking being promoted after demonitisation. What are supposed to be online payment facilities for shopping sites are now being promoted as online payment app for all business. But are they regulated? Once using this online app, the physical money lies with the app promoters at their disposal and mercy. I am not against this. I am only saying this needs to be regulated. Or the Government should come up with its own app under Jan Dhan umbrella. This way the public money will be with the Government to use for its various projects instead of with Private unregulated app promoters.

Mobile Swamiji Ki Mahakatha

Story of Shri Mobile Swamiji

Chapter 1:

Once upon a time while travelling the three worlds, Yogiraj Narad Muni reached Mrityulok(Planet Earth), he saw the human beings suffering immensely. He visited the abode of Lord Vishnu, who alone can relieve the mankind from the sufferings.

There he met the Almighty Lord Vishnu with four arms having Shankha, Chakra, Gadha & Padma, wearing Tulsi Mala (garland) in his neck. He started to pray & requested "Oh Lord!!! You are the supreme power, nothing can touch you, not even wind or mind can get you, your power is limitless, you know everything, you help your devotees to overcome their sufferings & sorrows." Hearing all the pleadings of Sadhu Narad Muni, the Almighty Supreme Lord Vishnu, knowing everything asked Narad Muni "Oh Narad! Why have you come to me & what do you want from me, tell me, I want to hear the same from you."

Yogiraj Narad Muni replied, Oh Lord! I just went to Mrityulok, where I saw all kinds of human beings busy on their mobile phones. They are communicating socially but there is not personal interaction. They are actually lonely.  Oh Lord! the Almighty, is there no way that their suffering becomes less or is it possible that they get complete moksha (relief) from their sufferings. If so, please let us know. The Lord, at once replied "Oh Narad! you have asked a very good question for the benefit of all human kind."

To free man-kind from all sufferings, & to ultimately reach Heaven , there is one virt (fast), & today I will tell you all about it. Anyone who does Shri Mobile’s vrat & Puja (prayer) in the right way; will get all the pleasures on earth & will reach his goal.

Yogiraj NaradMuni then asked, "Oh Lord!, has anyone kept this fast before? This virt is done on which day & how exactly is it done? Please do let us know all the details."

Whosoever does Bhagwan Shri Mobile’s Katha with Brahmin & with his family with full rites will be relieved of his sufferings & sorrows, will be bestowed with increase in wealth & wisdom; will be blessed with children; get overall victory & increased devotion.

For this prayer, one requires to switch off his mobile phone for a day. During and After the prayers, all present must switch off their mobile phones & then take their meals together, & then sing communicate and enjoy the true company of one another. By doing this, their wishes will be fulfilled. This virt in kalyug gives the boon (reward) very quickly.

This chapter of Shri Mobile Swami is over. All chant (say) Shri Mobile Swami Ki Jai.

Chapter 2:

The Lord said "Oh Narad! Now I will tell you about the first person who did this fast. In a place named Sunder Kashipur, there used to live a very innocent Brahmin who was addicted to Candy Crush. His work suffered and he made losses. In hunger & thirst; he used to roam for his daily bread. When the loving Lord saw the Brahmin in sorrow & begging daily; he took disguise of an old Brahmin & asked him, "Oh Dear!, why are you so sad. Please tell me all about your difficulties. Is there any way I could help you out?"

The Brahmin told the Lord, "I am a poor Brahmin & I roam daily for bread. Do you know if there is any way to come out of all this sorrow?"

The Old Brahmin (ie. the Lord ) said "Lord Mobile Swami grants all the wishes of all the people. Dear Brahmin, that is why if you switch off the mobile phone for a day you will overcome all your sorrow & get moksha."

After telling him all the details of the prayer & the fast; the old Brahmin ie. the Lord disappeared.

The brahmin could not sleep that night. He kept thinking of switching off the mobile which the Lord had asked him to do. In the morning, he woke up and switched off his mobile phone. On that day the Brahmin was able to concentrate on his work and  got a lot of money, he called his family & did Lord Mobile Swami Pooja. By doing so, the Brahmin understood the time wasted in mobile and overcame all his sorrows & became rich.

In this way, whoever does Lord Mobile Swami Vrat prayer will get moksha. Anyone on earth who does this prayer will be relieved from all sorrows.

When Narad Muni noticed that the people on earth were eager to know about the other people who kept this fast; he narrated another story.

The same Brahmin now a rich person used to advice about Mobile Vrat to every one every once a month. Once he was doing his prayer, a wood-cutter passed from there. This woodpecker cut pasted more whatsapp jokes than cutting wood. After keeping the bundle of wood outside the brahmin's house, he went in for some water. The thirsty wood-cutter saw the brahmin doing his prayers. He bowed down to the Brahmin & asked him, "Oh Brahmin, what are you doing, please tell me all about it." The Brahmin replied, "To grant all the wishes of human-beings, this fast & prayer is useful. I have acquired all the wealth & fame by doing this prayer of Lord Mobile Swamiji." After hearing about the prayer & drinking the water, the wood-cutter felt happy, he ate the prasad & left for his house.

Thinking of Lord Satyanarayanji in his mind, he said "Whatever today, I get from selling the wood, I will also do this prayer." So thinking, he switched off his mobile phone and cut more wood than he ever had,  he kept the bundle of wood on his head & left home-wards. On the way home he went roaming in Sunder Nagar for selling the wood. On that day, he got four times more money than usual, for the wood. Feeling happy and understanding his mistake, he deleted whatsapp and proceeded home-wards. On reaching his house he called his family & did the prayer with due respect.

The reward of the fast was that, he became rich & had all the pleasures of life on this earth & in the end of his life he went to heaven.

This chapter of Lord Mobile Swami is over. All chant(say) Shri Mobile Swami ki Jai.

Birthday..

Was in Dubai this birthday, with my sister who stays there. She
remembered a little dance jig we used to do when we were small and if any of our
family members birthday was approaching. On her insistence we did that little
dance… I guess after almost more than 25 years. We just used to count the number
of days left for the birthday and dance around each other… like “ its <family
members name> birthday in xyz day” “its <family members name> birthday
in xyz days.”

Now that I think about it, we never used to celebrate birthdays
then. It used to be just chocolates for us. My granny used to make Sheera(sweet
dish) and we used to cut that instead of cake.

Still we carried out that routine dance for every family
members birthday. It was only on reaching college did we actually start having
birthday parties.

Nowadays birthdays are special right from the first one… the
first one has to be massive, even if the little toddler does not understand a
thing. Maximum first birthdays I have visited have always seen the child cranky
because of so much noise and attention around.

Birthdays come and birthdays go, I have celebrated my kids
birthdays with great zeal, only to stop planning once they turned 10. After that
its their choice, how they want to celebrate.

We siblings never had that kind of birthday celebrations, but
come to think of it, don’t even have any regrets or complaints about it.

Travelogue

Lets begin with… wanting to write since long… wrote a few drafts…which did not make it here… so here I am … trying my hand on unchartered territory for me… a Travelogue…

Travelled to Dubai, was there for 12 days. Basically stayed in Sharjah, and commuted to Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Jebel Ali.

I seriously did not understand why people were telling me, that I had come there in the wrong season…the climate is bad … but I found the climate much much better and comfortable than Mumbai. Ok there is this missing cloud cover…but we were still able to roam around the streets in the afternoon…without sweating it out. People were telling me, yearend is the best time to visit Dubai. But … as I said… we found it very comfortable.

Second we found people in Dubai skeptic of travelling to Sharjah…but… one of the places worth visiting is Al Qasba in Sharjah. It’s a beautiful water front, with a Ferris Wheel – Eye of Emirates, boats, water fountains, nice restaurants with open waterfront seating. I would highly recommend the place if you are travelling to UAE. We visited it twice, and would have loved to spend atleast one more evening there, sadly could not.

The drive to Abu Dhabi is a beauty. UAE’s efforts in greenery has paid off well…and the roads are beautiful. The Grand Mosque – Shaikh Zayed Mosque, is a place to visit atleast once in life. If you don’t see it, its like visiting Agra and not seeing the Taj Mahal. A modern day structure, but a beauty. The wall decorations, the minars, the chandeliers, even the carpet is simply mind blowing. Its one place I would personally recommend to visit.

Jebel Hafeet…. the mountains, the drive along the road… took my breath away… and view from the top was wow!!! We drove there late in the night, and were able to see the night view…but am told that even the morning view has its own charm. A plaque over there informed us that this road has been voted amongst the top ten roads in the world to drive on… am planning to google on the remaining top nine and make a wishlist of seeing them.

Dubai…the land of Gold(though personally I found Sharjah Gold Souk better than Dubai Gold Souk).. there are many places you can visit… The Abra(boats to take you from one end of the creek to another), the Amphi buses, the Metro, the Malls .. all have their own charm. In our little time we had , we visited the Underwater Aquarium in the Dubai Mall, saw Dubai from the 124th floor – “On The Top” from Burj Khalifa. These are things which one should not miss there.

UAE has good infrastructure in terms of Metro and Roads, but like any other country it is plagued with traffic.. a normal 15 mins ride can take you over an hour during the peak time. Parking woes are aplenty, as most buildings were constructed without parking lots(lack of vision before?). One more thing which I did not like is that as a tourist, I am not allowed to use any Bus unless I have their smart cards, which are available at very few bus stops and every Metro Station. The vision to develop malls, buildings, structures to enhance tourism is one thing, but if I want to travel in Buses particularly, I found Dubai lacking a bit.

Shopping- Ok lets not get into that … that’s my wifeys domain

So why havent I mentioned any water parks, snow skiing , Ferrari world… we have our own over here, which we frequent, better to do things which we cant … right?

Catch the liars…

Have to deal with many kinds of people in my day to day working. Get to meet many. Today while dealing with one labour, whom I know since past 10 years, I happened to notice him twitching his eyes. This he does everytime he is lying about something. Have always caught him in this act and saved myself some money. We used to have one carpenter who had a similar habit. Whenever he would quote high for anything, his one eye used to start blinking, thereby giving himself up and leading to some good negotiations.

There are many such giveaways. I know of one person, who when lying on the phone, will start coughing, clearing his throat. Everytime this happens, I know I am being lied to.

Then there are some who have particular way of talking… one is like .. Arre Sirji…who kya hai na…

Some I know, have a habit of repeating the same sentence again and again, trying to bang in the lie into your head.

And then there are some, who are experts in lying. Impossible to catch them. But have to beware.

Anyways… had not blogged since long… and this labours act caught my attention and set me thinking…so just collecting the ways to catch liars as much as I could remember

Who is hoarding it… who is paying for it….

Got a chance to see a few BMC workers take down political hoardings. They then put the same in a vehicle which was already loaded with such more, which they seemed to have taken down from other places.

Political parties, Mandals and the likes, deface Mumbai with hoardings and then “conveniently” forget to take them down. And then BMC does the “job” of removing them.

But then was wondering of the expenses incurred in taking down these hoardings. Manpower, time involved, vehicle expenses etc. Does BMC actually take the charges from those who put up these hoardings? I hope so… but very seriously doubt the same. I doubt if all the hoardings are even paid for and official.

Why is the common man made to suffer by such defacement and also bear the expense of removing the same. After all BMC is not paying from its pocket but collecting it by way of taxes on the common man.

Why are such people allowed to go away with this… karre koi bhare koi…. who is hoarding it(and also reaping benefits from it).. who is paying for it !!!!

Happy New Year

Was not planning to blog about the movie. Seriously was not. But then took it up because of DV(SRK fan.. active on twitter only when SRK movies release).

The brother-sister-jija trio of Sajid-Farah-Sirish Kunder have already done lot of maa-behan of dimaag with their last few movies. Out of the three I believe Sajid and Shirish should stop making movies. Their idea of slap stick comedy makes them deserve slaps.

Farah is smart though… she knew a movie without SRK will lead her no way. So much so… that she “forgave” SRK for slapping her husband and decided to make a movie with him. Make a Happy New Year to be released on Diwali.

The timing of the movie, and the fact that there is nothing other to watch will make this movie earn. But then the question is .. Is the movie good?

I would suggest go and watch the movie. You can skip the first 30 mins. SRKs eight packs only make him look like a sadak chaap lookha. The introduction fight scene has got no relevance to the movie. The introduction of other other characters is irrelevant. Sonu Sood’s, Boman Irani, Vivaan Shah intros can be skipped. You can start watching the movie from Abhishek Bachchans “Nandu Bhide .. Dimaag main kide” introduction. And his comic timing in the movie is impeccable !! Deepika’s Mohini is one more reason to watch out for in this movie.

If SRK fans are looking out for his usual romantic self.. be in for a surprise.. because somewhere I felt he acted maturely.. the lovey dovey scenes between him and Deepika are more like one sided … from Mohini’s side than SRK’s Charlie.

The robbery plan is informed to the public beforehand, and every heist movie lover can predict that this plan is going to kaput. And Kaput it goes… but in a very entertaining way.. specially when Nandu Bhide undresses to claps in the theater.

People in the theater were even able to guess the “Charlie“ password .. but then not in a “oh this is so boring” … but avidly..

Frankly I did download the movie and see it again… but while doing so.. I fast forwarded directly to Abhisheks entry…and fast forwarded the “revenge” part. This movie deserved to be hardly 1.5 hours to be frank.

Indiawaale song might just become a regular like Chak De on 15th August, 26th Jan … but not as huge…

Overall watch the movie for Abhisheks Nandu Bhide… and yes Farah Khan is lucky that SRK said yes for the movie… because without him this movie would have been just another dimaag ki maa-behan from the trio !!

Guns and Roses

Daily reading in the news, on facebook, on whatsapp, on twitter, praises being heaped on our Army men for their great efforts in rescuing people stuck in Jammu Kashmir floods.

Our army men have been relentlessly working hard be it on the border or in Uttarakhand or Maoist areas.

But what bothers me is when they are accused of using harsh force while trying to control riots. Certain “intelligentsia” which is surprising quite in praising their efforts in the Jammu and Kashmir floods, go all out in blaming our brave army when they try to control riots. Those who have commented have smartly put their efforts across as “Duty”. Even during riots they are doing their duty of protecting the lives and properties of innocents who are being troubled because of stupid rioters. There they have to use their guns… and face brickbats instead of bouquets.

Never understood this double standard of our so called human rights activists.

Whatever the case, would like this opportunity to salute our brave hearts. They really deserve this .. and a lot more .. in terms of salaries, accommodations, retirement benefits… but they are not sitting in the parliament to have a “right” to huge packets… they are not sitting in the Air-conditioned cars and halls of power… but they are the first people to come forward and work hard for our country……

FB Photos

Yesterday as I prepared myself to click the Rakshabandhan photos of my 9 year old daughter tying Rakhi to her brothers, she warned me against posting them on FB !! “Click the photos if you want, but don’t post them on facebook” is what she said. My teenage son also supported her in the same.

Been thinking about it… the way we (I mean our generation) and our seniors are active on facebook, our kids are not very keen about it.

I get such warnings of not posting their snaps on facebook during every birthday party, outing, vacation.

Are they growing up to be unsocial? Nopes I don’t think so.

It is the ease of communication to the current generation which was not present during our time, which has made us so addicted to facebook.

For me the best part of facebook is getting an “Add friend” request from a long out- of-touch friend or relative. For me I get excited when out of the blue, thru one facebook friend I get in touch with another. When we were small, we did not have access to mobiles, whatsapp and other messengers, like todays kids. Most of us depended on keeping in touch with each other over phone calls, emails(at a later stage). Our elders were in touch with each other by writing letters… an art which I believe is missing in our generation.. let alone be present in our kids.

Communication and keeping in touch is far easier for the todays kids, then what we and our elders had.

Our kids will never know the fun of giving blank/crank calls thru landline numbers which were in our time very difficult to trace. Modern day  lovers, have direct access to each others mobile numbers.. they will never know the fun/excitement/fear of calling on the landline number, hoping that it wont be picked up by any other family member. Now they can directly call each other, message each other.

Just a few thoughts when I started thinking, am I overdoing it by posting snaps on facebook… but then I think our life was far far better…..

FAX it…

My office all in one printer conked off. So started researching around for which is good model currently. What struck me is the price difference of models with fax and without fax.

This started a thought process...how many faxes do we receive or send nowadays. I believe I get on an average 2-3 faxes per month and send hardly 2-3 in 4 months.

Scanned images in email have replaced faxes, which at one point of time were so important.

So it seems technology is slowing killing away one more technology which was a boon till a few years back.. FAX. Like typewriters in offices, guess its time to bid adieu to Fax machines too. No more saying FAX it … anymore…

P.S : I finally settled for an All in one without fax. Will handle the incomings by asking to email the docs ….

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.

Ab ki baar ……

Exciting Day...had expected a victory for Modi...but this one surpasses all expectations!!!

Congress....Mayawati...Farooque Abdulla...Kapil Sibal....all shown their rightful value by WE THE PEOPLE.

They all had forgotten that we have elected them as our representatives to run the country. But the 'elected party' became 'ruling party'.

In which other country can u witness a bloodless overthrowing of a 'ruling party' by more than 50 crore voters.

This is the Power of the Largest Democracy!!

Salaam India.

Kar bhala…ho lafda

Got a visit from police today at home. I am here sitting in the office, my dad met them. Way back in 2005-06(cant even remember the year now), saw a biker dead on the road, his bike besides him. My dad, my brother, and myself were in our car. We called the police and informed them. The next day we read in the paper that he was a policeman, and a truck driver was arrested in a hit and run case.

Now we three have to go to the court as witness. Seriously!! After more than 7-8 yrs… out of the blue they want us to stand witness? And what witness…we did not witness the accident…we just saw the biker. We did what we thought is our duty and informed the police by calling 100. They took our statement on the day of the accident.

Now having second thoughts of whether one should help an accident victim or no. Now will have to take a day off from work and attend the court. Not sure if by attending on a single day will be the end of it, or will have to visit court on more dates. Salaam India.

Privacy?!!

My son happened to show me what all access we are giving to the mobile app of Facebook after we install it..out of the many permissions to it which are wrong...there are two permissions which has left me wondering if we are right in allowing Facebook to access our data.....

It can access our call data

It can access our SMS and mms data

Now why the hell should we allow facebook to access that!!!

In a way it has access to ur bank, credit card spends. Ur insurance policy, light bill, telephone bill details thru SMS received ..

Just why exactly does facebook need this data. It might claim that it uses it only to show us advts on our TImeline...but what if it looses control over the data, if it falls in wrong hands?

As if our mobile operators don't have access to our data...why are we allowing a third party access to the same?!?

Being connected is one thing...but at the cost of invading our privacy?!

Death vs Life

How often do we hear... Poor guy suffered a painful death.

How can a person suffer painful death? The pain is felt when person is alive. So should not one say...painful life? Why blame death?

People are always afraid of dying. Infact why should  one be afraid of death...scared of death...has anybody known what is beyond death. Life on other hand can be scary....still we cling on to Life and fear Death.

Is Death really bad...and Life always good?

Candy Crush Life

I find a lot of similarities between the game and life. You are stuck on some level…you try …try …try and go ahead…or you just give it up.

You are on a particular level….and then when you look behind, you see the levels you have completed…and you see ahead … levels in which you dont know what is to come. You see behind and like your own achievements….and then there are some levels which you crossed…which you would not like to remember…and hope you dont get to play again. You just thank your stars that you are over with it.

Some levels you clear on your own…some levels you ask your friends for help.

Some levels you play for weeks together…. trying to end it…frustrated….not able to complete it…and then all of a sudden you have clear it out of the blue and proceed ahead to other levels.

Life is quite similar….just when you think you are down and out…you will realise that you have moved ahead…leaving certain things far behind….achievements…troubles….you know what you have gone thru in the past…you dont know what lies ahead in the future…..

All aboard the Chennai Express

Ok…lets be frank…when the promos released and I saw the heavy south indian accent by Deepika Padukone…I said to myself this is one movie I am not going to see.

But my daughter is a huge fan of both Deepika and SRK ever since Om Shanti Om, my wifey is a fan of SRK…and I knew I will have to see the movie. Then came the songs One two three four…and Titli…did not like the first…found the second so so….again made me not want to see the movie.

Then came Lungi Dance….now this was something I enjoyed….yes I did!! At last found something … a reason to see the movie…to get a chance to see Lungi Dance on the big screen.

So with not much expectations entered the theatre on the first day of the movie…and thus started a train ride which made me laugh and smile throughout. Deepika’s heavy south indian accent suddenly was the high point of the movie….and SRK…he was all of a sudden acting…and not hamming in the movie… kudos to the Rohit Shetty….because here was a brilliant performance by SRK …without his usual persona or ticks….SRK’s comic timing was brilliant in the first half and even though you could predict most of the picture, you still laughed at all the jokes.

Second half is something I believe where the director gave in to the Super Star called SRK….SRK with his mannerisms…his dialogue delivery….his ticks…was back…but….no complaints….

Overall enjoyed the movie…and frankly isnt that why you go to movies…to enjoy those two to three hours…all in all …I am glad I boarded the Chennai Express….

The RTI (Mis)Use….

Right to Information is one of the most powerful tool for Indians today. It has in its own way created a bit of fear in many departments.

But everything good thing has a bad side too. Wont go into generalising it. Will give an example I am facing in one of my Govt tenders. A tenderer whose tender was rejected because he was not eligible in certain technical criteria, first requested the department thru his political “sources” to allow his case. When it was refused he started using the RTI to delay the tender process, and in the meanwhile approaching the higher authorities to have the tender recalled.

Though the tender has not been recalled, the RTI has managed to delay the process of the tender by two months now.

In the meanwhile this gentleman has also filed RTI in various other Licensing Departments, asking to confirm if the licences of other parties are valid, thereby creating a waste of time for parties like us, who are facing various enquiries from various departments. Having running the Industry since so many years, we know our documents are in place. But its the waste of time during such enquiries which is frustrating. The Department people also rue the fact regarding such RTI’s which are being filed only for personal gain.

Some officers say, most RTI’s are also filed with the intention of blackmailing or troubling.

I am not saying RTI is bad, but there should be some action against wasteful RTI filers too. Like in courts, a court fee is fixed, here too there should be some deposit/fee, which should be confiscated if there are malicious intentions of filing the RTI

Magical IMAGICA

Visited the Adlabs IMAGICA yesterday. Conveniently located just off Pune Expressway. (you get off at Khopoli after crossing the toll, if travelling from Mumbai)

Comparisons with Esselworld are bound to happen, this place has far less rides compared to Esselworld. Whatever “little” rides are are there…are ENORMOUS!!

Major concentration is on Audio Visual rides against the Thrill rides. Unfortunately the pre-shows are too many, and repeat value is not there. Unlike Esselworld where one would run back to be in the queue for repeat ride, here you wont find people doing that, except in Rajasaurus which is an amazing ride.

Cost wise, one might find Esselworld cheaper, but when you consider the price you pay in Malls for individual IMAX experience(Prince of the Dark Waters), 4D/7D rides cost(Mr. India without 3D though), Haunted House(Curse of Salimgarh) etc, the ticket price is worth it, and the sheer size of the entire rides is amazing.

A lot of effort have been made to give you a Flyover experience over different parts of India via I-India, a one time must watch show….but here is a piece of advice…go for the first row of seats for best experience, the last row is best avoidable.

The staff was very courteous. Food is good. Family experience is fun out here. Must visit place, though unfortunately still not all rides are operational.

Magical…YES,  One time visit… A MUST, Repeat Value… I DOUBT…