Day in and day out, I keep getting telemarketing calls, not only from the banks where I hold accounts/credit cards, but from every tom, dick and harry, who has credit cards to tempt, insurance plans to offer, tax saving instruments to sell and sometimes even an alternate sim card to make me talk even more (not from my service provider, but from their competitor).
What surprises me is how these guys get our contacts.
My idle brain has been overtiming again and came up with four options...
1. My bank sells this data (isn't there a law against it?)
2. My investment adviser sells data
3. Cell phone operators sell it
4. The courier folks (who deliver bank statements to us)
Since each bank/cell phone service provider/ investment advisers have their own favourite set of courier services, I thought getting this kind of data from the courier folks, if true, is as innovative an idea, as any?
And now, if this is not true, I am elated, I might just have stumbled upon a brilliant business venture :)
Veggie power!!
India's bronze medallist at the Beijing Olympics in the 66kg Freestyle wrestling is a veggie!!!!
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080821/jsp/nation/story_9722385.jsp
:)
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080821/jsp/nation/story_9722385.jsp
:)
I was on Radio!!!!
Slogging it out for my cerrtification exam, but had to write this: "I was on Radio!!!!!".
Yeah...though not an avid contestant in radio contests, I do give in once in a while to the temptation of winning something...
It was exactly one such tempting moment today, when the RJ on radio asked: "Women take 3276 hours during their lifetime to dress up, men take only 1092. What is it that men take longer than women for?”
In a fit of inspiration, I picked up my cellphone and messaged “Men take longer to understand women than women take to understand men”... :)
But that was when I was aimlessly looking out of the window of my bus on the way to office. When no call came my way in the next 10 min (yeah! I thought that is all the time required to judge my entry as the most witty), I forgot this as one more of those 6 rs per min SMS that would show up on my next months bill, a sore reminder of another lost chance.
Reaching office in record time (thanks to the auto-rickshaw strike), I got down to the daily grind with renewed energy (all thanks to spending fewer minutes in the bus). The radio signal on our floor is pathetic (only static is heard), and so the moment I start climbing the stairs to the 2nd Floor, the radio is hastily turned off.
Going through the slew of overnight mails, I was surprised to see a call from some 40******* number. I was sure it was one of those touts offering credit cards for free, but picked up the call nonetheless.
Surprise surprise, it was the RJ, "Hi Pradeep, this is so-and-so from Radio so-and-so, I liked your answer, can I record it?"
You have heard it happen a 100 times on radio, but you are never prepared for this to happen to you.
I replied a hesitant "yes", he asked me if I spoke kannada, I told "Yes", then he hastily reminded me my answer, and yippie!!!! I was being recorded :)
I won a dinner voucher for my bravery... :)
With a smug smile on my face, I called, emailed, messaged people near and far egging them to listen to ME!!!!
But the irony of it all, I could not listen to myself on radio, thanks to the lack of quality signal ;)
Yeah...though not an avid contestant in radio contests, I do give in once in a while to the temptation of winning something...
It was exactly one such tempting moment today, when the RJ on radio asked: "Women take 3276 hours during their lifetime to dress up, men take only 1092. What is it that men take longer than women for?”
In a fit of inspiration, I picked up my cellphone and messaged “Men take longer to understand women than women take to understand men”... :)
But that was when I was aimlessly looking out of the window of my bus on the way to office. When no call came my way in the next 10 min (yeah! I thought that is all the time required to judge my entry as the most witty), I forgot this as one more of those 6 rs per min SMS that would show up on my next months bill, a sore reminder of another lost chance.
Reaching office in record time (thanks to the auto-rickshaw strike), I got down to the daily grind with renewed energy (all thanks to spending fewer minutes in the bus). The radio signal on our floor is pathetic (only static is heard), and so the moment I start climbing the stairs to the 2nd Floor, the radio is hastily turned off.
Going through the slew of overnight mails, I was surprised to see a call from some 40******* number. I was sure it was one of those touts offering credit cards for free, but picked up the call nonetheless.
Surprise surprise, it was the RJ, "Hi Pradeep, this is so-and-so from Radio so-and-so, I liked your answer, can I record it?"
You have heard it happen a 100 times on radio, but you are never prepared for this to happen to you.
I replied a hesitant "yes", he asked me if I spoke kannada, I told "Yes", then he hastily reminded me my answer, and yippie!!!! I was being recorded :)
I won a dinner voucher for my bravery... :)
With a smug smile on my face, I called, emailed, messaged people near and far egging them to listen to ME!!!!
But the irony of it all, I could not listen to myself on radio, thanks to the lack of quality signal ;)
Managers, I always thought were, as a rule, suspicious and inquisitive, not to mention hardly ever appreciated privacy.
My earliest memory is that of my pseudo-manager (coz he was a TL then but made us believe he was a Manager), suspiciously looking at us, keeping close tab on the number of hours our IE windows were open and how many (I know this coz, at one of the team meetings, we were told, "There are some who keep their browser windows open for 2 hours!"). That I attributed to his very delayed promotion, the prospects of which din't look too bright this time around either, what with 5 juveniles on his team.
Subsequently, I have run into a considerable number of characters, in comparison to whom, he would have been on the fast track to saint hood.
While I always thought this phenomenon was restricted to office (what with some managers giving a menacing look to weekend-working developers who dare to take a personal call on a Sunday afternoon), I was in for a shock, when I found this manager (must be one, because he had a laptop) sitting beside me and struggling to read messages on MY cellphone, over MY shoulder, in the only thing we share in common, the BUS!
My earliest memory is that of my pseudo-manager (coz he was a TL then but made us believe he was a Manager), suspiciously looking at us, keeping close tab on the number of hours our IE windows were open and how many (I know this coz, at one of the team meetings, we were told, "There are some who keep their browser windows open for 2 hours!"). That I attributed to his very delayed promotion, the prospects of which din't look too bright this time around either, what with 5 juveniles on his team.
Subsequently, I have run into a considerable number of characters, in comparison to whom, he would have been on the fast track to saint hood.
While I always thought this phenomenon was restricted to office (what with some managers giving a menacing look to weekend-working developers who dare to take a personal call on a Sunday afternoon), I was in for a shock, when I found this manager (must be one, because he had a laptop) sitting beside me and struggling to read messages on MY cellphone, over MY shoulder, in the only thing we share in common, the BUS!
Doordarshan and Olympics
Was watching the live telecast of the athletic events at Olympics 2008 on Doordarshan. The relay is pathetic. No postcard finishes for us, its only blurry, delayed images. The picture quality seems to have hardly changed since the days of Buniyaad in 1987.
The commentary leaves a lot to be desired, to say the least.
When a national anthem was being played and some of the players stood still as a mark of respect, all our bewildered commentator could utter was "That was a prize ceremony!!!"...yeah man...thanks for letting me know, God knows what I would have thought of it otherwise!
And then of course, there was the instance of the Mr. Commentator (Mr. C) who started talking on his cell (on air...must be "my life is an open book" types), most probably to his director. Mr. Director wanted Mr C to commentate a particular sport and after haggling over it for a while, our brilliant Mr. C realized that he was after all commentating the game in question!
It is just DD's monopoly on the telecast of the ongoing Olympic events in India that makes me rest my remote on channel no 24 for a few minutes.
It is the same DD, that opened up the world for us, gave us "Mile Sur Mera Tumhara...", Ramayan, Surabhi and Buniyaad, made our Sundays "SUNDAY's" with Grimms Fairy Tales, made Salma Sultan my favourite news reader and made Rangoli and Chitrahaar my window to Bollywood
With amazing reach deep into the rural hinterlands and its singular monopoly till the 90's, it has done little (or nothing) to keep up with the changing times :(
What with all the hype about India bidding to host the Olympics in 2016, were they to host it, I sure hope they are not planning to telecast it on DD!
The commentary leaves a lot to be desired, to say the least.
When a national anthem was being played and some of the players stood still as a mark of respect, all our bewildered commentator could utter was "That was a prize ceremony!!!"...yeah man...thanks for letting me know, God knows what I would have thought of it otherwise!
And then of course, there was the instance of the Mr. Commentator (Mr. C) who started talking on his cell (on air...must be "my life is an open book" types), most probably to his director. Mr. Director wanted Mr C to commentate a particular sport and after haggling over it for a while, our brilliant Mr. C realized that he was after all commentating the game in question!
It is just DD's monopoly on the telecast of the ongoing Olympic events in India that makes me rest my remote on channel no 24 for a few minutes.
It is the same DD, that opened up the world for us, gave us "Mile Sur Mera Tumhara...", Ramayan, Surabhi and Buniyaad, made our Sundays "SUNDAY's" with Grimms Fairy Tales, made Salma Sultan my favourite news reader and made Rangoli and Chitrahaar my window to Bollywood
With amazing reach deep into the rural hinterlands and its singular monopoly till the 90's, it has done little (or nothing) to keep up with the changing times :(
What with all the hype about India bidding to host the Olympics in 2016, were they to host it, I sure hope they are not planning to telecast it on DD!
1. My favourite packet of biscuits is now 90 grams instead of the earlier 100grams (and 225g instead of 250g). Not to mention they have become a couple of millimetres leaner to maintain their numbers
2. Tea leaves now come in packs of 450g instead of the 500g that we are used to (people still refer to them as "ardha kg")
3. Shampoos now come in 90ml packs instead of the earlier 100ml. The bottles have become sexier though.
Little surprise then, that even with the rising inflation, the cost of all these bare necessities have remained the same, bringing some superficial cheer into the lives of the ever-so-price-conscious consumers :)
2. Tea leaves now come in packs of 450g instead of the 500g that we are used to (people still refer to them as "ardha kg")
3. Shampoos now come in 90ml packs instead of the earlier 100ml. The bottles have become sexier though.
Little surprise then, that even with the rising inflation, the cost of all these bare necessities have remained the same, bringing some superficial cheer into the lives of the ever-so-price-conscious consumers :)
On the way back from office today, Radio One was playing Himesh Reshammiya's "Jhalak Dikhalaja".
And being as alert as ever, I noticed a very pronounced lisp when he sings "deedar ko tarse akhiyan"...then again subtle ones in " tere ehsaason mein" and "zare zare se". But the one that takes the cake is the "deedar ko tarse akhiyan" in the last stanza :)
Did no one ever notice it? Or am I imagining the whole episode....gotta listen to it again and confirm..;)
And being as alert as ever, I noticed a very pronounced lisp when he sings "deedar ko tarse akhiyan"...then again subtle ones in " tere ehsaason mein" and "zare zare se". But the one that takes the cake is the "deedar ko tarse akhiyan" in the last stanza :)
Did no one ever notice it? Or am I imagining the whole episode....gotta listen to it again and confirm..;)
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