Caught in a Virtual world

A computer can do things to you. Wasting long hours just manipulating files, playing games, surfing the net, watching movies, listening to music,etc has made computer our one and only center of entertainment in the leisure time. Leave that alone, even if you consider the IT jobs which employs millions of people,they need to do work on a computer making programs, softwares, trouble shooting etc.So for these people, computer has become an integral part of life.Let me hypothesise the long term effects of the computers.

• The number of obese people will increase, owing to the sedentary lifestlye thanks to the computers
• The number of people wearing glasses will increase
• People will be more worried about getting a computer fixed rather than getting their child admitted to school.
• The price of computer will be taken more seriously than the price of petrol
  
• Census will be taken online
• The Olympics will be played online
• Terrorists will destroy files by creating a suicide file
• The main headlines in the news will be like:
• " A computer found unplugged at an internet cafe"
• "Two computers caught touching each others screen"
  

• There will be no more newspapers circulated beacuse people will get so much used to the computers that reading newspaper will be considered obsolete.
• With younger and younger people using computers, evolution will have its effects and time will come when the first thing a child needs to be shown is a computer screen image of his /her parents who otherwise will be unrecognisable.
• Parties will be conducted online with people from all around the world
• People will visit places only through computer, capturing the beauty of that place, only differece it being a virtual world.
  

simple marketing strategies

I visited the city's main market today, T. Nagar.I needed to purchase household footwear and some fruits and snacks.I boarded the govt. transport bus outside the campus( Bus stop being the IIT)and purchased a ticket for T Nagar.It cost me Rs.3.Collecting a ticket is important. Sometimes the municipality inspectors do random checks for tickets while unboarding. There wasnt much crowd in the bus when i boarded, but my oh my, when I unboarded,the bus was fully flooded with the humans.It was normal as the time was around 10 am which is when most of the shops and offices open up and hence the resulting rush.

After unboarding I walked along the market road and it was then my mind started observing some things and relating them.As I walked down the road, I came across a few temples with some shops and street hawkers,just in front of them.What was interesting about these shops and hawkers was that they all sold things somehow related to temple. Things like photos of Gods w/o Calendars,wood and incense, flowers, mud lamps and other things that may be offered in the temple were being sold.As I passed the temple region, the scenario changed and I found hawkers and shops selling a wide variety of retail items from comb to TV. The market has both huge malls and small unnoticeable shops.The most crowded regions in the market are supposedly the most popular.

however there is a great concentration of shops selling fruit juices in some areas.I thought it was totally absurd. Why have so many shops selling the same item at one place when they can be dispersed in different areas? The simple answer to this is that different regions have different concentrations of buyers. And as a result these juice making shops marked the boundary of the region where they can access many potential customers.These localities may include Bus terminals and Extremely popular shops. However one disappointing thing was that sparing a few, these shops did not sell bottled water.

So as I went deep into the market, I felt hungry, I had my breakfast in one of the most popular fast food store " Saravana Stores" ( the Indigeneous Wal Mart)in the market.What makes it popular?
Well this store goes by the rule of sell more charge less.This simple logic has not only attracted the customers but it has also created a mark on customers.This ultimately leads to high popularity and enhances the companies prestige and profits. This strategy may not be suitable for the low budget shops, so an ingeneous idea they have adopted is to locate their shops near the fast food store.Also some shops appoint salesmen for selling the things.This gives them greater penetration and chance to lure the customers.

Finally,a funny but very tactical observation.The malls are mostly air conditioned and they are always crowded by customerss and relief seekers. It is in such places you find hawkers selling snacks and simple 'on the way' items, making most of the time the potential customer stands there for seeking the cold air from the air conditioned mall.These hawkers rely on the " product pheromones".
Showcasing and manipulating items to ensure their quality in a way to tempt the customer. Temptation yields most of the time and it is there the profit comes in.

Simply put, you dont need to be some hard core marketing strategist to understand some basics, simple observations and the desire to learn from them can make you understand the perennial market.

just do it

How does it feel when something you do makes you feel embarassed in front of others?As Gandhiji said" fear is the man's biggest enemy".You do something because of these main reasons:

• you are obliged to do it( includes the case when you become helpless and have no other option)
  
• you like do to it(includes the experimentation of doing the thing irrespective of whether it is right or wrong)
  
• you are so routinely used to doing it

Experimentation is an important part of life. The more you experiment the more you learn and add to your experience.I think even sitting idle and doing nothing is an experiment as long as the results are different. People do job(that same old routine work), marry and try to enjoy life.Well it is the only experiment that the majority of the world performs( doesnt include researchers,professors,good sportspersons,mentors and entrepreneurs,).

Think about it, if a scientist keeps doing the same experiment getting the same result everytime, it is fruitless. Consider this, a spin bowler keeps bowling the same kind of ball. Well I dont think he will be effective at all.Similarly, it is important that we experiment just to give variety to life.

One of the major problems in experimenting is the part when you feel embarassed with your experiment.There always lies this part within your mind the "what others will think" factor(in short WOWT).This is a mental blockage and is very difficult to overcome. Every normal person succumgs to it at some point of the time or the other. I want to try smoking, I want to shave my pubic hairs, I want to shout in the library, I want to put a night out, I want to talk to a girl I saw.

Well I say go ahead and just do it without bothering about others. But remember, an experiment should be done with utmost safety considerations. It shouldnot harm you in the long run.

So what are you waiting for, just explore the world.Even this blog is an experiment. :)

khaike paan banaras waala

Saw this incredible movie of Amitabh Bachchan as DON.The plot is too good and the songs are well sung and directed. "DON" was released in 1978 and was the Chandra Barot's maiden and only film as a Director.The producer nariman Irani had died before the completion of the movie and it was dedicated to him.


I was particularly impressed by the song " Khaike Paan Banaras waala" (sung by kishore kumar), the expressions and dance of amitabh bachchan and the lyrics of the song are a must watch.The movie was way ahead of its time in terms of the typical Bollywood movies made then. Here are some of the dialogues:

"Don ko pakadna mushkil hii nahin, namumkin hai." - Don(punchline)

English: "It is not only difficult to catch Don, it is impossible"


"Mujhe pata hai kii pistol mein goli nahin hai, tumhe pata hai kii pistol mein goli nahin hai, par police ko nahin pata kii pistol mein gole nahin hai" -Don to Kamini


English: "I know there are no bullets in the revolver, you know that there are no bullets in the revolver, but the police doesnt know that that there are no bullets in the revolver"

It remains one of the most influential cult films of all times.

The movie has been remade this year by the Original Don's scriptwriter, Javed Akhtar's son Farhan Akhtar.It has Shahrukh Khan playing as the Don.I am very excited about the movie.

V for Vendetta

I saw this remarkably well made and inspiring movie "V for Vendetta"
Tha dialogues are absloutely amazing.It has good rating too( http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0434409/ )Check it out:

V says

1)
"Voilà! In view, a humble vaudevillian veteran, cast vicariously as both victim and villain by the vicissitudes of Fate. This visage, no mere veneer of vanity, is it vestige of the vox populi, now vacant, vanished, as the once vital voice of the verisimilitude now venerates what they once vilified. However, this valorous visitation of a by-gone vexation, stands vivified, and has vowed to vanquish these venal and virulent vermin van-guarding vice and vouchsafing the violently vicious and voracious violation of volition. The only verdict is vengeance; a vendetta, held as a votive, not in vain, for the value and veracity of such shall one day vindicate the vigilant and the virtuous. Verily, this vichyssoise of verbiage veers most verbose vis-à-vis an introduction, and so it is my very good honor to meet you and you may call me V."

2)VI VERI VENIVERSUM VIVUS VICI.

remember remember, the fifth of november,
gunpowder treason and plot,
I know of no reason, why the gunpowder treason
should ever be forgot

3) people should not be afraid of their governments,
governments should be afraid of their people


4)ood evening, London. Allow me first to apologize for this interruption. I do, like many of you, appreciate the comforts of every day routine- the security, the familiar, the tranquility, repetition. I enjoy them as much as any bloke. But in the spirit of commemoration, thereby those important events of the past usually associated with someone's death or the end of some awful bloody struggle, a celebration of a nice holiday, I thought we could mark this November the 5th, a day that is sadly no longer remembered, by taking some time out of our daily lives to sit down and have a little chat.
There are of course those who do not want us to speak. I suspect even now, orders are being shouted into telephones, and men with guns will soon be on their way. Why? Because while the truncheon may be used in lieu of conversation, words will always retain their power. Words offer the means to meaning, and for those who will listen, the annunciation of truth. And the truth is, there is something terribly wrong with this country, isn't there? Cruelty and injustice, intolerance, and depression. And where once you had the freedom to object, think, and speak as you saw fit, you now have censors and systems of surveillence coercing your conformity and soliciting your submission. How did this happen? Who's to blame? Well certainly there are those more responsible than others, and they will be held accountable, but again truth be told, if you're looking for the guilty, you need only look into a mirror. I know why you did it. I know you were afraid. Who wouldn't be? War, terror, disease. There were a myraid of problems which conspired to corrupt your reason and rob you of your common sense. Fear got the best of you, and in your panic you turned to the now high chancellor, Adam Sutler. He promised you order, he promised you peace, and all he demanded in return was your silent, obedient consent. Last night I sought to end that silence.
Last night I destroyed the Old Bailey, to remind this country of what it has forgotten.



5)There's something terribly wrong with this country isin't, Cruelty and Injustice, Intolerance, Depression and once you have the freedom to object, the thing can speak is you saw fit. You know they have census and systems of survillence cohersing your conformity and soliciting your submission. I know you are afraid,[chukling]'who in be' War, Terror, Disease, Fear got the best of you. In your panic you go to the now high Chancellor Adam Sutler, he promised you order, he promised you peace and all he demanded in return was your silent obidient consent.
[Changing to low pitch]But if you see what I see, If u feel as I feel and if u would seek as I seek and I ask you to stand beside me and together we shall give them a fifth of November that shall never ever be forgot. [reception static]

6Behind this mask, there is more than just flesh and bones. Behind this mask is an idea, and Ideas are bullet proof)