If I were to die today..

If I were to die today,
I'd be fine with it;
I have no choice but to be fine with it,
but I'd even be satisfied

Because I have lived, loved and lost,
failed, passed and succeeded,
driven a car and ridden in it,
I've flown, ran, walked, sat, slept,
talked, yelled, cried, whined and moaned,
I've even been silent at times

I've lived in cultures from both sides of the spectrum,
the semi-conservative, and the liberal,
I've drowned in depression and risen from it,
I've experienced immense joy and immense indifference;

I've created sites for the web,
videos for youTube,
songs for SingShot,
even blogs for Blogger.

I've researched and learned,
Worked with the best of the best,
acquired knowledge from the very creator of it,
I've even been inspired by the great leaders.

I've ventured on my own and failed,
but the lessons learned were invaluable
I've been angry, mean and even evil,
I've even gotten into arguments, fights and brawls.

I've sung, danced, and have gone into euphoria;
I've performed, acted, even played the guitar
I've had a fan base, even a posse at a point
I've been silly, serious, and sentimental

I've rejected a couple and pursued one
putting my reputation, belief, and principle on the line
I've even had to courage to get drunk
But I was pulled up high in bliss,
then dropped on my own accord

I've set goals and achieved them,
I've set goals and fell short
I've felt proud and superior,
I've even had a bit of an inferiority complex

I've set my expectations too high to be met,
I've applied to places I probably shouldn't have,
but some lessons learned in the application process have changed my life.
I've taken those lessons for a ride,
they've literally taken me places.

I've realized the 'power of now',
I've meditated and have been thoughtless,
I've prayed, I've sung, I've performed all sorts of rituals,
I've even felt the heat coming out of my palms.

But Alas, I haven't kissed, had sex
or even had my 'Upanayanam'
I haven't graduated, haven't been married, haven't had kids,
I've never told an age-old story to my grandkids

If I were to die today,
I would be fine with it,
I have no choice but to be fine with it,
but I'd even be satisfied

Because I have lived a good life,
A life of ups and downs,
goods and bads, happiness and sadness,
this and that..

Now, i am even more content because,
If i were to die today,
you have this poem/blog entry to read,
and hopefully reminisce your own life..

Don't worry.. I have no plans to go yet. I just wanted to put my life in perspective,
but if I WERE to die, I wanted to leave something from "beyond the grave... MUHAHAHAHAHAHA".. just kidding.. didn't mean to freak you out there... (I'm not suicidal ;)

and don't ask my why I crossed over to writing poems from blog entries.. i was thinking about it this way, so I simply wrote it this way.. (Any attempts to brand me as a fruit will be immediately dismissed by my rugged good looks)

Money, Money, Money

It is very generic to say that "Money isn't everything.. Best things in life are free.. Money doesn't bring you happiness, etc, etc, etc".. These cliches are the expressions of the shallow and the ignorant. Money has everything to do with life. Infact, money is probably the one thing that gives many people a purpose to live. They choose their career, their education, their day-to-day lifestyle based on this one supposedly "insignificant" part of life. Clearly, there is something in the power and luxury to acquire anything we want in life. There is this want of becoming "financially free", i.e. free from the burden of money, and our pursuit of acquiring it. I've heard many people talk about starting a business and acquiring enough money to retire and live a life of luxury and do-nothing relaxation. Is this the ultimate success in life? Do we simply live life to make money and then spend it on things?

Let me start at the root of life: our childhood and conditioning (i.e. The "ego"). Since birth, we have been brought up in a society where a successful person is one who is powerful, rich and is able to buy anything s/he wants. We are taught to get a good education and become honorable citizens of the world, etc. and their purpose is simply to end up with a good job with a comfortable salary. Ultimately, money gives us a purpose in life and every superficial thing we do has to do with money.. The implicit rules set by the society of an honourable individual is as follows: Person must be honest and hardworking, which leads to good education and development of knowledge, which can be used to acquire a good job/ start a business, which is how we make a living. After that, for the rest of our life, we are stuck "making a living" through our work. Work=Money.. Hence, we are forced to work and get things done. The paycheck at the end of the month gives us motivation to do better...

So, in the current world, money IS everything. Without it, we have no drive, no purpose, no satisfaction in life. Now, there are levels to how significant money is in ones life. At the high end, are people who put money at the utmost of priorities and are willing to sacrifice their health, their integrity and relationships for money. A simple example is a businessman who spends most of his time working on his business ignoring his family and friends. On the low end of the spectrum, are people who don't care about how much money they have. Ironically, these are usually people who have lots of money at their disposal..They've never slept with an empty stomach, or have had their wants unsatisfied, so they've never experienced the significance of money.

Where am I going with all this? I simply wanted to define financially free for what it should be. It should be a state of mind where our lives are no longer dictated by money. We should always do what we want to do at the time of doing it. We should not do anything in expectation of a reward (monetary or otherwise) at a later time. The focus should be on the NOW and what we have NOW. And at this precise moment, (not 1 second ago, not 1 second later.. at this point in time as you are reading this statement..), we are not doing anything related to money. I am writing this blog and you are reading it. It's as simple as that. You have no expectation of getting a reward at the end of this.. you are not getting paid to read this.. nor are you dissatisfied with anything in your life as of this moment. Life is simply the present. The past and the future are creations of the mind and it leads to greed, ambition, unhappiness and dissatisfaction. So ultimately, money should not have any value in the quality of our life.. I do recognize that I am myself a person who is fairly satisfied with my financial situation and I've never "experienced" the significance of money either. I suppose the poor will always have that worry and curiosity of the other side of the lawn, so I can't speak for them, but I will say that it is a great feeling to be free of monetary conditionings because you are no longer constrained.. you are indeed financially free..

Half a brain

They say there are two sides to the brain. One that is for math and logic, and the other that takes care of creativity, articulation, etc. So, in this fashion, the world is split up into two. Even in universities, there are the cool artsies and the nerdy engineers always battling it out. At UofT, we even have cheers and slogans to put down those artsies like "You're an artsy, youre an artsy, you're an artsy drinking beer.. you're a loser with no future, don't you wish you were an engineer!" If there are two mutually exclusive parts to the world, which one is better? Can one survive without the other? I, as an engineering student am biased and obviously think we are better. After all, we have created every tool, instrument that exists in this world. Without us, there are no computers, no ipods, no internet, not even the wheel. So the progress of the world should be attributed to engineers doing what they do best.

On the other hand, artsies tend to think that they are the better creed. They understand human nature, relationships, psychology, etc. and they tend to analyze every expression, sentence, in great detail. I went to a fairy artsy school (the coordinator of my program was an english teacher) and all I ever heard were comparisons between logical thinkers and "analytical" creative thinkers and how the latter is obvioulsy better. At that time, I agreed with that because after all, English is a subjective subject and to get a good mark, you have to agree with the teacher. Anyway, their reasoning was that artsies think about things and are more "enlightened" in the world as opposed to the procedural thinking mindless engineer who goes on making things without thinking about their consequences.

With all things said and done, I think creative thinking is a great attribute to have and it can open wonderful doors in life. (By the way, I am writing this blog instead of working on my digital systems lab which is due tomorrow.. what do you say to THAT!). Human nature drives us towards creative/artsy thinking, but without logic, we would simply all be sitting under a tree admiring the colour of the apple. I am obviously biased, but this is how I see the world (As of now). Also there is something to be said about the notion that guys are more logical and girls are more creative (I ain't gonna open that can of worms now.. I'll save that for a rainy day ;))

Nonetheless, we need you artsies to show us the lighter side of life. Without you, we would prolly never "stop and smell the roses". I think I've swayed back and forth for a while now, never really expressing an opinion.. perhaps its to politician side of my brain that is the strongest now. My end statement about the world is that I don't think it should change. There is nothing wrong with it and this is prolly the best it gets. So stop whining, splitting the world, and fighting about it.. Just sit back and enjoy the ride!

Paul Godfrey shares his views on life

Paul Godfrey, The current president of the Toronto Blue Jays (that's right.. Toronto has a baseball team!) came to our school and shared with us his life story and important lessons he learned. I wrote an article about him in our engineering paper and I think some of the lessons he talked about are worth mentioning here as well. Truly, if you want to do anything in the macro level, you have to recognize that it cannot be done alone and you need people. With the right people, and the right management of these people, you will succeed and therefore, people skills is a very important skill to have.

Also, another point worth mentioning is the fact that no matter where he went in life, be it politics, management, or life in general, he always used what he learned in engineering.. Whenever you are faced with a problem, break it down into smaller pieces, and think through them logically. This skill is very easily said but no doubt, it takes four years of engineering education to understand. If well understood, there is no telling how far you can go!

Paul Godfrey, the president and CEO of the Toronto Blue Jays visited UofT to speak to engineering students at the first weekly f!rosh Friday seminar. A proud graduate of Chemical Engineering at UofT, class of 6T2, Mr. Godfrey gave an inspirational speech about the lessons that he has learned in life.

Paul Godfrey is a Toronto icon. As the chairman of metropolitan Toronto (equivalent to Mayor), he had many contributions to the city including building the Metropolitan Convention Centre, the Skydome (now called the Rogers centre) and was also responsible for bringing the Blue Jays to Toronto. After a successful career in politics, he became the publisher and CEO of the Toronto Sun. Then, as he decided to retire, Ted Rogers from Rogers communication approached him and asked him to take over the Blue Jays baseball team. He is currently the CEO and president of the Toronto Blue Jays team.

Paul Godfrey was born in Kensington market in 1939. During his speech at the f!rosh Friday seminar, he admits that he was a very poor student and he struggled through high school and first year of engineering at UofT. After just barely making into second year engineering, he somehow started to focus and fared well in the next three years of chemical engineering. At the seminar, Mr. Godfrey recalls his very last exam at the university and admits to students that at the time, he didn’t know where to go next. After graduation, he landed a job in CIL, which was where he worked for a year. After about a year, his mother, who was a well reputed election campaign manager in North York asked him to run for Alderman/Coucillor for North York. Surprised and confused, Godfrey accepted the offer and decided to enter into the world of politics.

Mr. Godfrey confesses that it was due to his mother’s excellent coaching and reputation that he won the election by about 200 votes. At the time, he was only 25 years old and had made headlines for being outspoken, aggressive and angry. No one ran against him in the next three terms and he was the councillor from 1964 to 1973. In 1973, one of the deputy mayors in the municipal assembly passed away and he became a deputy mayor alongside Mr. Mel Lastman. At the same time, the chairman of the Metropolitan Toronto Council, Albert Campbell, contracted cancer and was forced to step down. Encouraged by his colleagues, Paul Godfrey decided to take on the job of the Chairman of Metropolitan Toronto (Mayor) at age 34. During his time in office for 11 years, he did many great things for the city including bringing the Blue Jays baseball team to the city, building the convention centre to attract tourists, and building the skydome for all the baseball games.

“It is better to quit 2 years too early, than 2 minutes too late” –Paul Godfrey

After 11 years, he decided to step down from the position and found himself in the same position as he was when he graduated from UofT. The field of engineering had changed and it would’ve been impossible for him to go back. At this point, Douglas Creighton, the publisher of the Toronto Sun approached and asked him to become the publisher and the CEO of the reputed newspaper. Dumbfounded, Godfrey reluctantly took on the job after a few arguments and discussions with his wife and friends. He surrounded himself with talented people, who taught him the tricks of the trade and eventually, he became a very popular person among the editorial staff and the public.

Mr. Godfrey recalls the reporter who handed his resignation because in the past, he had written some nasty things about Mr. Godfrey. Godfrey refused the resignation and told the reporter that he understood the circumstances and was proud that the reporter was able to speak his mind and express his opinion.

“You pass the same people on the way UP the ladder of life as you do on the way DOWN the ladder of life. The way you treat them on the way UP is the same way they would treat you on the way DOWN” –Paul Godfrey’s mother

Throughout the talk, Mr. Godfrey stressed the importance of people skills and ability to make friends. Some people who are incredibly smart have failed because they lacked people skills, and at the same time, some people who are incredibly stupid have succeeded in life because they had people skills.

Also, as one can see from a small glimpse of his life, it is indeed full of twists and turns and one must do the best with what one has in the present. Mr. Godfrey was pulled towards several unconnected careers due to the particular situations and circumstances at the time. Mr. Godfrey admires the impact that his engineering education had in his life. Among other things, it taught him to approach a problem. Whether it is in politics, publishing or business, every problem can be solved by breaking it down in smaller parts and approaching and reasoning with each part logically.

After a successful career in publishing, Mr. Godfrey tried his hand in business and bought the Toronto Sun along with his management team. The Sun, of course later got acquired by Rogers communications for $400 million, at which point, Paul came in contact with Ted Rogers. After working with him for a few years, he decided to retire. Two days later, he received a call from Ted Rogers who asked him to run the Toronto Blue Jays!

Once again dumbfounded, Mr. Godfrey accepted his fortune and took on the job and in 2000, he was named the CEO and President of the Toronto Blue Jays, a position that he still has today.

At the end of his talk, he once again stressed the importance of people skills and stated that “Doors were open for me, not because I was smart, but because I had good people skills.” When asked about his future plans, Mr. Godfrey announced his plans to build an aquarium at the foot of the CN tower (look out for the official announcement in the next couple of months), and he also wants to bring another sports team to the city of Toronto. This time, it is not baseball, but football! He intends to bring an NFL team to the city and hopes to do so in the next few years.

The first F!rosh Friday seminar this year was very inspirational as it showed the significance of good fortune and people skills in life. It was very pleasing to hear that despite the various career shifts in Mr. Godfrey’s life, he always used his engineering education in one way or another.

The Frosh guide to First Year Engineering at UofT

Here's an article that I wrote for my university newspaper that is meant to be as a friendly and fun guide for incoming first year engineering students to the University of Toronto. The first week is meant to be an orientation week, which is filled with crazy activities such as going to the Eaton Centre (popular mall in Toronto) and singing engineering songs, leapfrogging across a major intersection (leapfrogging is when you have a bunch of people in a line and they're all sitting down. The person in the back has to jump over each of the people and sit in the front, then the next person goes, and so on), and trying to fit as many people into a bus stop as possible. It is a great week.. the f!rosh (first year students) enjoy it, the upper years enjoy it, and it is indeed the best week of the year. Anyway here's my article. Even if you're not in engineering, you may wish to read it as it has a few ideas of life that I learned in my first year of engineering. Enjoy:

F!rosh week, as you all know, is the first and best week of university life. One may expect it to be some sort of orientation event where you get to meet other first year students and play some fun games. It is all that and much much more! The entire week is a series of unexpected events each more shocking than the last. F!rosh week is the best week of university life and I’m sure you will agree. For those silly frosh that didn’t attend this unforgettable week on their own accord; you have made a foolish decision! I won’t mock you any more and let you wallow in your own self pity! But fear not because Cannon comes to the rescue! this article will explain all there is to know about SKULE life.

F!rosh week is merely just the beginning as you get integrated into the Engineering community of SKULE. SKULE is merely a name given to the faculty of engineering. It defines who we are and identifies the great community that we are all part of. The catchy “jump up and down” and “drop your pants” phrases will become a part of your lifestyle as you will soon realize how important they are to all major engineering events.

One, not so secret, purpose of f!rosh week is to make you aware of the different things that are available for you to get involved in. There are indeed, hundreds of ways you can show your skule spirit and get involved in this great community. If you need a detailed list of all the different clubs and events, best source is http://www.skule.ca. It is a go-to site for all your skule related information. Here’s my two cents on this concept of ‘getting involved’:

Some say one must get involved to meet new people, develop character, become outgoing and gain all sorts of invaluable experience. Some say it is the contacts you make that are most valuable when joining a club. I believe university is about trying out new things and getting to know the world around us. The best way to do this is by experiencing it first hand. If you’re into robotics or other technical nerdy stuff, join the Solar racing club or the Mechatronics Design Association. You learn about all sorts of cool technologies and get to make things you’ve only seen in movies. Kindle the artsy that lies deep within your engineering soul by joining the Crumpled paper magazine or one of the many orchestras and bands. You may join an engineering sports team if you are the sporty type. The bottom line is to get involved in all the great engineering opportunities and become part of SKULE. These activities are very important to developing into an overall individual and that’s what engineering is all about!

At times, the workload becomes unbearable and you will feel incredibly stressed. I’m not saying this is the time to join the bungee jumping or scuba diving club if you have never done that before. During times of stress, it is extremely important to relax and take your mind away from all the work and stress. If you are part of a club, this is nicely integrated into your psychological needs.

With the clubs and other extracurriculars aside, the most time-consuming activity that you will be doing is obviously your academic work. First year is a fairly large leap from the laid-back and lethargic classrooms of high school. No matter how hard you thought your high school was (I’m talking to you AP, IB and gifted kids..), first year engineering will beat that. Do not get alarmed but if you do not keep up with the work, things will start piling up and come exam time, you will be scrambling. Therefore, it is very important to keep up with the work, attend most, if not all, lectures and do the homework. A major difference between high school and university is the amount of freedom one has in university. The homework is not mandatory and they are not checked. However, if not done promptly, the assignments (which are mandatory) will be impossible to do. The best advice is to simply follow the professors’ advice and you will do fine.

Be sure to look out for UTEK competitions and several conferences that are held throughout the year such as the Canadian Undergraduate Technology Conference (CUTC) and National Business and Technology Conference (NBTC). These are great events to meet potential employers, CEOs of companies, Inverstors and other great personalities.

Also, several development workshops such as resume and cover letter writing are offered from time to time at the university. Those are important events to check out. No matter how good you think your resume is, there is always room for improvement. These workshops help you keep your goals focused and convey professionalism through various communication mediums.

Finally, the frosh Friday seminars are specifically for you. They are designed to help you learn about various topics that will help you later in life such as going into medicine, business, or law after engineering, motivational lectures, entrepreneurial talks, and several others. There is a reason why you don’t have any class on Fridays at 12 noon and that is to attend these seminars. If that didn’t convince you, there are also free coffee, donuts and cookies for all those who attend! So I suggest you check those out.

The most important thing to remember about engineering and life in general is that you must have an open mind and try new things. Also, remember that there are several opportunities to get involved, but they definitely should not have a higher priority than academics as truly, that is why you are here. The extracurricular activities supplement your education and make it a more enriching experience. However, one must not go overboard and consider them for what they are, which are an addition to the great academic education you are getting at the University of Toronto. And finally, and most importantly, “[(we are) x 4] the engineers, [(we can) x 4] demolish forty beers, [(drink rum) x 4] and come along with us, for we don’t give a damn for any man who don’t give a damn for us”.. GO SKULE!

-Chirag Ravishankar

Oh My God! Paris Hilton Got a Haircut?!?!?! Who the HELL cares?!

On digg.com, the TOP rated article is a one paragraph story about Paris Hilton losing her inheritance. That article is getting about a 1000 hits every hour and it is still going pretty strong. Exactly why is Paris Hilton this popular?? Is she a good actor? no. Can she sing? absolutely NOT; Has she done ANY good for the society or the people around her? definitely no. Is she even beautiful to look at? In my opinion, she most definitely is NOT! So why are people going gaga over anything to do with Paris Hilton?

There have been many days whereupon I have pondered about this question and am yet to find an answer. In this article are some of my thoughts about Paris Hilton and her popularity. Please leave a comment and let me know what you think. The most recent news about Paris Hilton is the ever popular jail story and her interview with Larry King on CNN. So, she got caught driving drunk and was told to stay put for a while (I believe a house arrest).. but her being the arrogant and shameless party animal that she is, decides to break her curfew and drive carelessly through the night. Of course, she gets pulled over by the police and gets sentenced to a couple of weeks in jail. During her time in the prison, a wax statue of hers with jailbird clothing was erected in New York City and was placed there until her release. America went nuts over her and it was all anyone could talk about. After her release, she decides to refuse all offers of interview except Larry King and does an "emotional" interview with him on CNN's Larry King Live. The interview was extremely opaque with her pretentious demonstration of emotions and her claim that she has "changed". One reason for her popularity may be the amount of wealth that she has inherited and her views towards money. I suppose all lower class teenagers would look at Paris Hilton as somewhat of a gifted individual who has all the wealth that she needs without working a single day. It is surprising however, that they are not angered by her values and views towards money. I suppose they simply wish to become like her and are merely observing her characteristics and understanding the lifestyles of the rich and famous.

Paris Hilton has attained so much popularity that she gets paid to attend certain clubs. Rumors state that she gets paid $50 000 for a single night at a club. On top of that, she has several movies and albums under her belt. I think it is the tabloids, internet videos and articles and those "Fabulous life of the Rich and Famous" shows that have contributed a whole lot to her ever increasing popularity. Those shows give the people a taste of her lifestyle and how easy money and popularity comes to such and undeserving (if you will) brat! Curiosity is probably the biggest contributor to her popularity. People are simply surprised and even shocked by her popularity and simply want to know more about her, thus ironically increasing her popularity even more. Even this article, even though is supposed to make people re-evaluate their role models, is ironically increasing Paris Hilton's popularity as we speak (or read, rather). After reading this, you may want to read more about this princess and what makes her so popular, after which you will probably discuss with your friends about her and how undeserving she is. The next time a show comes on about her lifestyle or any new controversies that she is involved in, you will naturally tune in and watch it with the utmost interest! Hence, one can conclude that her popularity is nothing more than fluff that has exaggerated more than its limits and has given rise to a new word: "socialite".

Socialite is a word used to describe Paris Hilton as she is popular neither by her acting, nor her singing (or any other "talent" that she has). It is merely through socializing and creating publicity stunts to make people talk about her. It really takes a genius to make socializing their profession. So this leads to our next question.. Is Paris Hilton a genius? Well, the media certainly portrays her as somewhat dumb, spoilt and arrogant brat. However, there must be more than just arrogance in her that has made her this popular. It is merely the timing and the good fortune that she has been having with all her antics. I think there are definitely a team of people working behind the scenes to promote Paris Hilton (there obviously has to be). So hats off to them for all their success! How long will this last? I imagine this phenomenon to be more of a bubble that has reached its peak of bursting. People are really getting tired (or I hope they are ;)) with the antics of her and all the other pop princesses and socialites out there like Lindsay Lohan, Nicole Richie, and the rest of them. Hopefully it will all blow over and people will finally come to their senses and be concerned about more important issues. All topics about World and Business, Technology, and Science are much lower in the ratings when compared to celebrity and entertainment. I think this is high time for people to re-evaluate their preferences and concern themselves with higher matters of consequences. As for Paris Hilton, my hats off to her and all her undeserving success. She better enjoy the fame while it lasts, after which the only thing she will have is unlimited money (aww.. poor her :() If you can think of any other reasons why she is soo popular, please leave a comment!

The Simpsons Movie

The highly anticipated Simpsons, The Movie is set to release worldwide on July 27, 2007. Personally, I love the Simpsons and I think they have forever changed our perception of animated television series. Simpsons was the the first animated television series (started in 1987) to become successful worldwide. With the outset of their big movie premiere, their popularity is higher than ever...or so, it seems.

Like many great television series, the Simpsons also had a peak in popularity, which I believe was from 1999 to 2002. This was the time of some of their most hilarious episodes where writers like Conan 'O Brien, Matt Groening, Mike Scully, James L Brooks, and others brought their best material forward and created some of the most memorable and hilarious episodes ever. However, now, they seem to have reached the other end of the peak, where everything is going downhill. They seem to have run out of material and are unable to cope up with the high expectations that were set during their peak. This decline, however, could be attributed to the movie that is set to release in 2 days.

The cast and crew of The Simpsons started work on the movie in 2001 and have been making hundreds of revisions, time after time. Matt Groening commented that they have enough material for two more movies from all the cuts that they've made. Much of the manpower and creative juices were sucked by this movie, which may be one of the causes for the slow decline in The Simpsons television series. Apparently they have been writing and rewriting the script well into 2007, even after the animation had begun. Apparently, "Camp Krusty" was supposed to be a movie, but the creators did not have enough to pass it as a feature film. I remember watching this 3D film, where there was a small 10 min (roughly) episode of the Simpsons where they venture into the 3D world. It was later made into a halloween episode, which I'm sure you all remember (Homer: "This is some place I've never been before". Selma: "The Shower!" HAHA). So there has been a lot of experimentation while making this movie and we can only hope that the final product is one for the ages.

The plot has been closely guarded under the name "Yellow Harvest"(Similar to "Blue harvest", which was the codename for Star Wars: The Return of the Jedi). However, from the trailors and speculations, it seems fairly random (like most Simpsons episodes). Homer gets a pet Pig, Lisa tries to save the environment, Bart goes skateboarding naked and adopts Ned Flanders as his father, and Marge is a nagger (as always). Homer apparently drops the pig feces in a lake, which drowns the popular Band Green Day, killing them. Thus the whole town is enraged and run Homer and The Simpsons out of town vandalizing their home and property. The family moves to Alaska, and I guess later comes back to prove their position in the town of Springfield, etc, etc... Anyway, the plot is not important at all. How many times have you watched the Simpsons for the plot? It is the jokes that are embedded within the plot that makes The Simpsons a great show. If you think about the plot, you will notice that all episodes start with some topic, but end with something totally different. This movie, considering all the changes, writers, and anticipation, is sure to be a hearty laugh from beginning to end. Afterall, the writers, who are able to produce amazing episodes every week, have been working on this for 6 years. It is bound to be one of the most hilarious movies you have ever seen!

One thing that concerns me is the animation. The characters now have shadows and are much more technically advanced. In my opinion, they should have stuck with the original animation of the television series that has made them this popular. Hopefully, it is not too different to be distracting to the audience. Well, at least they didn't do anything too different such as 3D or CGI animation or even like real people or something (that would be a flop for sure, you cannot put a real face, or add realism to a cartoon).

The marketing for this movie has been excellent so far. Several 7-Eleven stores in the US and one in Canada are converted to Kwik-E-Marts with special products such as Simpsons Donuts, Duff Beer, etc. The sales at those stores apparently increased by 30%. Burger King has been giving out Simpsons Toys with their kid's meals and have this website where you can upload your image and it simpsonizes you! I tried it, and it doesn't seem to work very well. It requires images of fairly high resolution, and I'm yet to succeed in simpsonizing myself. If you want to check it out, the link is www.simpsonizeme.com Several dummy simpsons are put up in movie theatres everywhere and there has been a lot of speculation in the internet. All in all, the marketing strategy for this movie is fairly unique and creative.

What's the final verdict? Definately, watch this movie. It is going to be the most hilarious and talked about movie this summer. I know I will be talking about this forever :P

Check out this trailer:

Bollywood Review: Awarapan

I saw this movie the other day staring Emraan Hashmi and Shreya Saran called "Awarapan". The trailers looked good and the songs are amazing. After watching the trailers, I expected the movie to be somewhat of the generic Emraan Hashmi film where boy meets girl, boy loses girl, and is all lonely with some excellent music from the upcoming Pakistani bands. After I saw the movie, I was content as this was exactly what it was about.

The storyline is nothing great. Shivam (played by Emraan Hashmi) is a gangster in India who falls in love with a simple village girl. He vows to leave behind his crooked past and follow a life of simplicity and love. All his dreams are shattered as her father finds out about their affair and attempts to kill Shivam. Shivam dodges the bullet, which kills his lover. Heartbroken and guilty, he moves to Hong Kong and becomes a feared gangster working for Malik (A big gangster in the city(Ashutosh Rana)). The setting of Hong Kong is apt for this gangster film as Hong Kong is infamous for its triads and what not. But anyway, its nice to see a Hindi movie that is not set in generic foreign settings like Switzerland, Mauritius, America or the UK. Malik assigns Shivam to spy on his mistress (and is very paranoid that she is cheating on him. When Shivam finds out that she is indeed cheating on Malik, he must kill her. Shivam, who never hesitates to kill, is reminded of his dead lover by this girl and is unable to kill her. His ideologies change as he decides to oppose his boss which leads to the climax (which I will not reveal).

The best thing I liked about this movie was the music. It seems that these songs of loneliness and "Tanhayi" sung by Pakistani bands like Jal and Strings are becoming very popular these days. They use western instruments and have a western flavour to their songs complemented by the traditional Pakistani ghazal type lyrics. It makes you wonder if more and more people are getting heartbroken and are able to relate to these songs. Well, no doubt, the South Asian countries are becoming ultra modern with the advent of the Information age, outsourcing and what not. So, I assume people are going on dates and having a lot more pre-marital affairs than they used to. When a relationship is simplified to being something "casual" or "just for fun", heartbreak is inevitable and the result is a large pool of youth listening to songs like "Tere Bina", "Aadat", etc. I will talk about my idea of relationships and the current status of society sometime in my future articles. Now, back to the movie!

There is also the added mix of spirituality in the movie. Shivam is an atheist who lacks faith in humanity. It is interesting that the lover repeatedly tries to bring faith into his life, but is unable to do so in her living state. It is only when he decides to free the mistress from his boss that he realizes that the meaning of life is freedom, and being able to live it the way one pleases. The lack of freedom becomes the main theme of the movie as it is apparent in the lovers life and the constraints placed on her by her father, the mistress and the constraints placed on her by the abusive and violent Malik, and finally Shivam, who is constrained by his own lack of spirituality and faithlessness in humanity. He is freed from his constraints in a Buddhist temple, where he realizes the importance of spirituality and freedom. It is also interesting that the monk who helps him during this transition is the same person that Shivam once freed in India after being convinced to do so by his lover. The audience realizes that life comes in a full circle as Shivam is ultimately vindicated from his crooked and immoral life by his ambition to free another.

All things said and done, this is a generic flick fit for the youth of desi background. It is a good one time watch and you get what you expect from a typical Emraan Hashmi film (minus the kissing). I give it bonus points for not following the bollywood trend of happy endings and unrealistic action sequences. The realism and the subtleties of the themes are quite appreciable. Finally, I would recommend this movie giving it 3.5/5 stars.

I tube, Me tube, We all scream for YouTube!: How does YouTube make money and what's the point of Google's acquisition??

In early October 2006, Google acquired YouTube for $1.65 BILLION DOLLARS!!! This is the largest acquisition of Google to date. My question is a simple one: WHY??? What is Google's interest in YouTube? How does it plan to make all that money back from YouTube? What's YouTube's business plan? How the hell does YouTube make money?? If you've ever been on the site (that is a stupid clause as anyone who has lasted 10 seconds on the internet world would know about YouTube), you would know that it is a website where you have your own profile and you are able to upload videos for your friends, relatives and random public to watch. That is pretty much it! That is the magic of YouTube. Over the past couple of years, it has gotten really popular. People are addicted to it and it gets millions of hits a day. There is a lot of bandwidth required for videos which cost millions of dollars. So the question is: How does YouTube do it?

There isn't a doubt that YouTube was started as a hobby with no interest in the money it could yield. It was created by Chad Hurley, Steve Chen and Jawed Karim who all met through their employment at paypal. Story has it that YouTube was formed one night when they became frustrated with trying to email each other video clips. So here is a problem that they personally faced and wanted a solution. And thus, they created a program (similar to a basic RSS feed) where you can upload videos and view them instantly. YouTube was launched on February 14, 2005 and it was an instant hit. The use base started exploding and there was an increasing need for a bigger server and more bandwidth. After securing some funding, they were able to provide all the new features and add-ons to the site that would eventually hook the people onto the site.

In October 2006, a little more than a year after its launch, it was sold to Google for 1.65 billion dollars! Ever since, YouTube has become an example in the world of business. All I hear about these days is "How do we become the next YouTube?", "How did YouTube do it?" "YouTube? what is that?!" (hahaha.. just kidding, I haven't met a single person who has not heard of YouTube).

So the point is this: YouTube has nothing special that a lot of similar sites don't have. It was simply well timed and they had a lot of luck. Their presentation (i.e. the site) was deemed to be the most user friendly, and thus the most popular. They did not create it to make money, sell out to Google, or even to gain popularity. They simply had a problem in their hands and they found a solution for it. To create a successful business ("The Next YouTube"), one should focus on the problem and solve it in a way that they would like it to be solved. The rest should be left to fate (just like many things in life).

So what's Google's interest in YouTube? It is simply to gain media attention and expand their hold on the internet. With this acquisition, Google pretty much has control on every internet application that exists. Their image is based on simplistic applications that are informative and popular and YouTube fits the bill. Sure, they are making some money from their AdSense program, but is it really enough to even make up the $ 1.65 billion? frankly, No.

Is this a bad decision on Google's part? absolutely not! This was merely a bidding war to prove their dominance on the web. As publicly known, yahoo was also competing for the acquisition of YouTube. By paying such a HUGE price for this site, Google has proved its dominance and has created a brand for itself. This brand puts them on the top of the web ladder, which will help them make money from other applications. Furthermore, YouTube is one of the most popular sites on the web. You can virtually get every video ever made within seconds (I will not go into the copyright issues and the law suits). It has become the entertainment central and has the potential of replacing the television!

One may argue that it is not the current position of YouTube that attracted Google, it is the future potential. It can be implemented in cell phones and other mobile devices which will give you access to any video you want at your fingertips. It is already being implemented in various websites where YouTube videos are one of the features of the site. The possibilities are endless... Google has recognized them and has made a great move with the acquisition.

The real winners here are the three lucky founders of YouTube. Within a year, they have made enough money to buy their own island and start a country of their own! I do not think that even with all this money, they would not be able to reproduce the success they had with YouTube. In contrast, if they hadn't sold their site at the right time, they would not be able to go anywhere with the site and its popularity would slowly disintegrate. Google, on the other hand, has the resources, credibility and the reputation to take this concept to new horizons that man could only dream of! Isn't it funny how the world works? This acquisition and the precise timing of it affects all of us in ways we would never imagine...

Please leave a comment about this article.

India - Mission #1: Getting There

Well, my "wacky adventures in India" actually begins in Canada . So here's the scenario.. my flight leaves at 7.. boarding is at 6:15.. so I have to check in by like 5:30, which means I have to be there at around 4:30... We were supposed to have a car and my dad's friends Pickup truck to get there (we had 4 HUUUUGE suitcases, a guitar and 2 backpacks)..but my dad's friend couldnt make it and he told us the last minute!... So at 4:30, we only had one car and about 15 minutes to get there... My dad pulled a mission! He made two trips, got 2 suitcases and us 3 in one trip.. We got off and took a cart and went to the check-in counter... The Air France check in counter looked surprisingly small.. So we were standing there, chillin' when we realized that it wasnt the check-in counter but something else!.. so we scrambled around looking for the check-in counter, finally found one, asked if we can take the guitar, they said they will have to ask the supervisor, but we stood in the line... Meanwhile, I took the cart back to the parking lot, where my Dad would've made the second trip... (btw, we didnt have any toonies for he cart, so we had to pull a mission with a loonie!) so I get there, my dad comes, we come back.. my mom and sister have moved up in the line significantly.. I asked the french check-in lady if I can move ahead.. she was one of them Ezhari types (Ahahaha... funny how horrors from french class always comes back to bite you in the 'derriere') She said, "ok once, but people might object".. then she changed her mind and said in that copyrighted Ezhari tone: "Im sorry, you cant"... I was like 'WTF is Ezhari doing here' (I didnt really say that, i was thinking it).. anyway, but I aint taking no lip from no french lady! Ahahaha... I asked my mommy for help.. she asked the passengers if they had any objection, they said they didnt, so I moved up... Then some Asian lady came! AHahaha.. they're everywhere.. but this one spoke french! she took our cart and moved it to the counter, I dont know why.. we could've done that ourselves...

We asked the lady if we can take in the guitar.. she said thats upto the air-hostess.. she may let it, if she doesnt, we will check it in with the baggage... I didnt wanna take any risks with my baby, so i decided to let it go (If you love something you let it go... Ahahaha I just wanna add some romance and tragedy to my story) But i had packed my guitar bag with like clothes and stuff, so at the spot, we pulled them all out and stuffed them in the backpack. Now, after weighing the huge suitcases, one of them was a kilogram extra and they only allowed 23 kgs.. so we opened the bag, and took out random stuff... And i mean random (this is like on of them cartoon's where you pull out everything but the kitchen sink!) like cutting boards, chocolates, a blender, etc. and finally, the weight worked out and everything was in this backpack that we took just in case somethign like this happens.. Finally after the check-in.. we go into the security check.. they didnt DO ANYTHING!!! we walked through the metal detector and thats it.. they didnt even check us individually, they just let us go.. Its funny.. two days ago, i went to a movie theatre and they checked us like no tomorrow.. we walked through a metal detector and they had guys feeling people up as well.. I felt soo violated.. but standard procedure, they said, so there are no terrorist attacks IN THE FREAKING MOVIE THEATRE.. but thats a story for another day... there is still a lot to be said about getting there first.. so, no security check .. and they let us through.. after this, it was smooth sailing till paris.. Except...

Well, it was like 7:15 when the flight departed, they gave us dinner at like 9, then at like 1am, it was morning and they gave us BREAKFAST! then we arrived at paris, at around 2 am canadian time... I was really excited.. I had 5 Euros in my pocket and I was ready to paint the town (rather.. airport) red with it! my sister bought a pizza and I ate a chicken sandwich (it was horrible.. but i dont throw away food... 'If it's edible, YOU eat it"...that's my motto!) even at France, they did NO security check, the guy just motioned us to go! I was getting paranoid at this point, but other than that, I was really excited.. I had to show off my French skills and try to chop some French Gs... but I was dissapointed, as there were none! I saw like one.. but I dunno.. maybe it was a dude...nonetheless, i started saying stuff in french like "Ce aerogare est incroyable" and such... or, if i dont know how to say it in french, I would say it in English with a french accent, like "Zhere it is..." and such.. it was quite hilarious.. cuz the frenchies didnt know what hit em.. i would say bonjour, they start rambling something in French... then I would be like.. "Je ne parle pas francais.. seulement, 'bonjour' et ce phrase que je parle maitenant".. something along those lines...

Ahahaha.. in the three hours that I was in the french airport, they didnt know what hit em... it was excellent... so I get on the plane, I believe this was like 5 am Toronto time... and about 2 or 3 hours later, they give us LUNCH! being the pig that I am, i gladly took it and ate it.. I even ate some of my sister's... then it was quite chillin for a while.. but i started having stomach problems... i was sure it was nothing more than air sickness or something (I mean, what else could it be?!) LOL... i was ok though, the ache came and went.. it was chillin' still.. The entire time, I listened to James Blunt, ahahahaha... I felt nostalgic and some slight melancholy as well... after a while.. I dunno, if it was lunch or dinner, or breakfast, or whatever, but they brought food again... you know me.. I never say no to food.. i took it and ate a little of everything.. then I was chillin' still.. so w/e I finally arrive in India.. i was quite excited... I was dieing to hear some Kannada...but NOOOO... i heard Italian, French, English, Hindi, two other languages, but no Kananda.. i was like WTF.. where am I.. anyway the baggage claim took a while, then some random porters started helping us. I said NO i dont want help, but they wouldnt listen, WTF!!! the good old days were coming back.. it really is survival of the fittest..if you have money, or they think you have money, they come at you like me on free food! anyway.. then they started asking for money.. all they did was pull the freaking cart for literally 30 metres... damn.. w/e my uncle gave them like 10 rupees and they were good to go.. after that.. i came home at like 3 am Indian time and that concludes the first of many more to come missions/adventures/crazy experiences/ whatever you like to call it...But I'm looking forward to whatever wacky adventures and missions that are yet to come!!!

"It happens only in India"

Before I say anything, I must write this disclaimer so here it goes: My entries in this blog are in no means meant to mock or degrade the Indian culture, traditions, life, or the people. They are merely a bunch of hilarious stories that happened and told by an Indian guy, who has come back to India after 6 years (well, I was here 3 years ago, but that doesn’t count as it was only for 3 weeks and I didn’t really do anything). So there… now I guess I can say anything without feeling guilty;)

It has been more than a week since my last entry and so much has happened that I don’t think I can do justice to them all. Alright, I guess I will write about things that are most vivid in my memory… like the time I almost got attacked by a bunch of MONKEYS!!! That’s right… monkeys… My cousin took me to one of those spiritual places we always think of, when we think of India… You know, a place with a guru and his followers and they meditate, do yoga, figure out the meaning of life, etc. It was an awesome place.. the cleanest and purest place I have seen in India. So my cousin, my sister and I were just walking and taking a tour of the place. There were a lot of trees so in one place, there was a huge group of monkeys chilling, jumping from tree to tree, doing what monkeys do best.. AHAHAHA… I saw two monkeys fighting too.. it was excellent.. It was like those monkey fights where they fight with knives and such… The expression on their faces was exactly like one of those ;). So, this place was like a circular building with like trees in the middle and the side, so there were monkeys everywhere… But that didn’t stop us! (You gotta remember, In India, we believe that animals are nothing to be afraid of… Humans and animals can coexist without any problems… this reminds me of another story, that I will save for later :P) So anyways, we were walking around that building, and then the monkeys were fighting in our way, so we couldn’t walk past them.. We come back (remember it was a circle) and there were three more monkeys just fighting and playing around.. So we were trapped! But after a while, they went to the side and just ran past them, lol… Then we were going back and we hear a loud screech of all the monkeys on the tree that was right next to us and above us… Like the tree was shaking and we were right there… We knew they were’nt happy.. So we ran away and got the security guy.. The guy laughs and says that the monkeys like to tease outsiders.. They wont hurt anybody… This was true... WTF… the monkeys didn’t do anything.. they would just block our path and watch the fun as we squirm to get out of the place… How I wish I had a camera to capture this :(


Speaking of Monkeys, let me tell you about something that happened to me a long time ago. This was when I was here (about 6-7 years ago)… I had some chocolates and there were a huge group of monkeys.. of course, they wanted it… I saw a monkey coming towards me, so I gave the chocolate to my aunt (AHAHAHA… I was a sneaky biatch)… the freaking monkey climbed on top of my aunt, took the chocolate and left.. LOL…that was hilarious… Its great…Indian monkeys are harmless but they like to have fun ;)

So, that was a little experience that happened at the place… Now, getting to and from the place was a mission.. A mission, I tells ya… We took the freaking city bus and those get crowded as hell. The place is in some village so the people that get on are all villagers… There was something about them that I couldn’t figure out.. They were all staring at me and my sister… I was like WTF… then I figured that it was prolly cuz of my unbelievingly dashing good looks ;) (AHAHAHA… they were all like wearing raggedy clothes, while I was pimpin’ it out in my Lacoste shirt…lol.. I even popped my collar).. So while getting back.. we climbed the bus while it was freaking moving.. It stopped for a while, when we started to get on it, the guy started to drive off.. WTF.. so we got on a moving bus from the back.. and the guy who sells tickets sent my sister to the front. (In India, Girls are supposed to sit at the front of the bus and Guys at the back… (Rosa Parks, where are you??? ;)) The bus was crowded and there were people fighting, jumping off the moving bus, then getting back on the moving bus… I was starting to get scared as the staring had not stopped yet… I unpopped my collar, but that didn’t work.. at this time, I was more worried about my sis. Only my cousin knows where to get off…my sister and I are clueless as to where we are… The result was pretty anti-climatic. Nothing really happened. She came to the back when the crowd had cleared out a but and we got off at the right place.. phew… I decided to never use public transit, ever...


So, to get to places, we have this thing called the “auto”... it is a three wheeled vehicle that is much more expensive than a bus, but cheaper than a cab.. India is overrun by these three wheeled munsters… So I would just use that. But if you were to be rich, you would have your own car with a chauffer.. like my aunt.. LOL whenever I go anywhere with her, the driver takes us wherever we want to go.. He drops us off at the door… and just disappears off somewhere… When we are done, we just walk outside and he appears out of nowhere.. so we just get in, lol… my grandparents also have a maid to clean the house, wash the dishes, etc… it is soo great.. I never felt this pampered in my life.. The maid comes to my house at like 5 am everyday and cleans the house.. the first day that I was here.. I didn’t know that we had a maid, and I still had jet lag… so I didn’t really sleep much.. I wake up around 5 am and I see this woman sweeping the floor... I was like WTF…but I just went back to sleep as too many crazy stuff was happening at the same time :D.

‘WTF’ would prolly be the phrase of this trip ;) But dudes and dudettes… If you have money in India, you are King! If you don’t, you’re nothing! Now, let me talk about the people in Bangalore a little bit… In general, they can be categorized as western wannabees… especially the middle to upper class kids… They all speak English now… and when you go into a store, they would exhaust all the English that he has ever learnt to sell you his product.. Like the other day, I went to a Reebok store, the guy’s English was horrible, but he wouldn’t speak in English no matter how much I speak to him in Kannada. But when I AM speaking in English, I try to hide the little bit of American accent that I have and try to speak in an Indian one… LOL… I never thought that would happen… Everyone has become brand conscious and they all wear nice Reebok, or nike, or w/e… And everyone has gone cell phone bananas… they don’t even talk anymore.. they just send text messages to each other… It takes like 5 mins for me to type hello on that thing… but these kids are super fast with it!

At the other end of the spectrum, there are really ignorant ones too… Like the guy from my street that I used to chill with all the time and still do.. He asked my why I am still brown! He expected me to become white and come back as a blondie :S He’s like WTF, how come you are still the same colour as you were when you left? People there are soo white, how come youre not like that? All I could say was… “well, nothing happens overnight.. you gotta live there for several years to turn white”… I didn’t know what else to say. But in general, my expectations about the people were shattered. I was expecting some nice, pretty, and semi-conservative Indian girls… But here I am and they all are talking in English, dressing like Americans and to my surprise, some even have boyfriends! So here’s what I am thinking right now… If Indian girls become American, then there is nothing special about Indian girls anymore…BUT.. then again, I’ve only been here a week so I cant really say anything as its too early… this is just what I’m thinking right now :P

Remember in by previous blog entry, I told you that there was absolutely no security check at the French and the Indian airport.. At the Indian Airport, something showed up on the metal detector and they asked me what it was… My mom did the packing, so I was forced to say that I don’t know… I volunteered to open up my suitcase but the guy said that its ok.. and he let us go… Now, I go to the movies right.. and the security there is soo tight.. WTF!!! They had us walk through metal detectors and then they had individual checking with the metal detector and with hands… WTF… I felt soo violated. But the thing about this check was that the metal detector beeped everytime anyone walked through it, but they didn’t really do anything… So, only in India would they have intense checks at the freaking movie theatres and none at the airport!

I think I have rambled on long enough.. If you made it this far, I congratulate you… You now know only a fraction of the hilarious things that happened to me in the one week that I was here. But let me end of with some food talk… That has been the best part of this trip. THE FOOD IS SOOOOOOOOOO GOOD…. My grandma’s cooking is excellent… The other day, I went to the bakery with my grandpa and we bought these butter cookie type things… It was sooooooooo good.. they were just bringing it out of the oven and it went straight into the mouth.. Sure it was HOT! But I didn’t care… it was soo good… Then we went to this other store (In India, you gotta know the right places for the right stuff.. other places have these foods too, but there is only one store where you get the best foods… like the bakery we went to was famous for the butter cookies).. So, we went to this other store that sold these sweet things called “Gulkhan”… Let me tell you about how its made… It made from ROSE PETALS and HONEY… that’s right… its unlike anything I’ve ever had before in my life (well, ive had it when I was here :P) So they mix the Gulkhan with like Butter and then if you want they can add ice cream, or fruit salad, or dry fruits, w/e… I took the one with Ice Cream… Holy SHIT… I am unable to write about it.. I am drooling as I am typing :P… it is SOO damn good. So, that’s some of the foods that I’ve had so far. If you had the patience to read this entire entry, I congratulate you and for each reply that I get.. I will bring you ONE bite of this Gulkhan that I speak off… I’m off to have some more wacky adventures.. My only regret is not bringing a camera :( So… Im Offf.. Cheeeeerag Up, Up, and Away………