Stocks on my ICICI Watch List

Banking/Finance	CMP
RELCAP	717.5
YESBAN	151.15
Cement
BIRCOR	237.55
JKCEME	153
Construction
HINCON	97.5
Consumer Durables
TTKPRE	120.95
WHIIND	27.95
Engineering/Capital Goods
BIRYAM	27.45
FMCG
ESSPAC	72.4
Information Technology
COMSYS	22.5
GEOSOF	129
KALCON	100.5
MASSYS	353
MOSBAE	357.1
SARELE	127
Media/Entertainment
BALTEL	165.55
PRIFOC	560.1
Others
ADHMET	47.95
HINFC	585
SANIND	78.05
TRIGLA	38.9
Pharmaceuticals
TASPHA	57.7
Power
POWTRA	56.65
Telecom/Telecom Equipment
VINTEL	90

Nice way to get Organized :))

Cartoon by Dave Walker. Find more cartoons you can freely re-use on your blog at We Blog Cartoons.

Poster in my Bldg Entrance.

As If the notice wasn't funny enough, some smartass decided to add his skills to the fun :))

Roadmap to Peace

I am a strong believer in the peace dividend between India and Pakistan, I blogged about The Road Map to Peace on a blog called The Pakistani Spectator

 

Check it out at http://pakspectator.blogspot.com/

 

 

Smart City to generate 90,000 jobs in Kerala

http://www.rediff.com/money/2007/apr/25jobs.htm

 

Forget the article juss Read the Discussion Board, hilarious comments and verbal duels.

 

 

 

 

Free Wi-Fi Connectivity at Sahar and Santacruz Airports in Mumbai.

Sahar and Santacruz airports to offer free Wi-Fi Internet access. There's good news for passengers using the Santacruz and Sahar airports in Mumbai. Now you can send and receive e-mails, chat with family and friends, download files and attachments, and access the Internet to browse and surf Web sites while resting at Mumbai's domestic or international air terminals. Mumbai International Airport (MIAL), in association with Bharti Airtel, has launched a wireless network that will provide *free Wi-Fi service throughout the domestic and international terminals. Passengers transiting through Bombay's Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (Sahar International airport) and Santacruz domestic airport can now access the Internet with a Wi-Fi enabled device like a laptop, PC, cellphone, or PDA when in the vicinity of a Wi-Fi access 'hotspot' point. This Wi-Fi service is offered free of charge for all passengers carrying Wi-Fi enabled laptops.  News via http://blog.mobissimo.in/

Movies I wanna watch..

• The Namesake
• Bheja Fry
• Mr. Bean's Holiday

The reviews and feedbacks from freinds have been good and hence I wanna watch them ASAP and before everyone bugs me with the storyline.

I am off to get hold of the DVD's :))

Aljazeera International Documentary Film Festival 2007

When : April 23rd to April 26th, 2007
Where : Sheraton hotel Doha, Qatar

What : http://www1.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/D3962F13-3693-4D6D-B78B-C3CAF9E1177C.htm

Why : Al Jazeera is quite bold and taken on issues normally untouched by the world media. I think its would a good experience to check out some of the documentaries.

I wanna watch Images you didn’t see by Anand Patwardhan, its banned in India. I tried calling on the Phone numbers given at the site for details but dint get any response so dashed an email to them for the Tickets rates.

You can try calling these numbers.

Tel: +974 - 4670049
Tel-Fax: +974 - 4651454
Email: festival@aljazeera.net

Update : Aljazeera just replied back, Entry is FREE :)

Gulf.. Points to ponder

Got this email forward :))

* Local calls are free
* Petrol is cheaper than water, Payment for drainage too
* Any building construction finishes in 3 months
* Unqualified get more salary than Qualified
* Show-off matters more than real quality & performance
* Laborers are paid less than what they can earn back in their own country
* Companies can kick out their employees without any reason
* Wastas (recommendation) are more powerful than money
* Cleaners have more Wasta than officers
* Watchman has more Rights than the Building Owner
* Office boy & Drivers have more influence on Boss than Manager
* Gulf climate changes so fast, in one hour u can see raining, dust storm, hot / humid / chilling weather
* Gulf is located in desert, still u find greenery everywhere
* If u can't earn money in the Gulf, u can't earn anywhere in the world * In Gulf, time goes very fast, Friday to Friday comes u never know, its sooo fast
* Every bachelor has a dream of getting married and buying a house in India
* U love your parents, friends, relatives 100 times more than when you were together
* Being at home is more painful than being at work
* Indians appear/pretend to be more religious/God fearing than they really are
* Theatres are full of Arab nationals whenever there is a movie of Salman / Sharukh
* Gulf girls sing Hindi songs but don't understand anything
* Prostitutes available, but cheaper than beggars
* Dance Bars and Pubs more than that in B'lore
* A ladies hair saloon every 5 meters
* Food/Grocery delivery to the car
* A Starbucks every 10 meters
* Hard Rock Cafe with no alcohol
* A Shopping Mall located every 5km
* Highway lanes differentiated for slow & fast drivers
* Getting a license is more difficult than getting a car
* Smashed cars are more than bugs
* Parking charge: 2 Dirham for 1 hour - 5 Dirham for 2 hours & so on
* No Queues for women
TRAFFIC SIGNAL IN GULF:
* GREEN : Signal to go for Americans, Europeans and Indians
* YELLOW : Signal to go for Egyptian

Exactly a month later...

The Explosion called Sivaji will be released on May 17th 2007.

Keep your thinking hats and brains at home and yenjaai the Audio Video, Spzl Fx Dhamaka of the Boss himself :))


Sivaji: The Boss - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Living Dangerously in Bombay

Living Dangerously in Bombay, originally uploaded by Expat from Bombay.

Dont have the details of the person or which station the accident happened but this guy survived the ordeal.

Update


Location Kandivli station, the guy was too shocked to say anything

Uganda: President's Statement On Mabira Riot

http://allafrica.com/stories/200704140116.html

Unlike in the 70's where Idi Amin asked his country to throw the Indians out , this time the government & President is sane and is calling for peace and restoring order.

The current conflict
The mob was protesting at the move by the Sugar Corporation of Uganda Limited (Scoul), part of the Indian-owned Mehta group, to expand its sugar estates by cutting the Mabira rain forest- one of Uganda's last remaining patches of natural forest
The government gave The Mehta group the Mabira Forest despite protests from Ugandans who say that large part of the forest would be cleared off creating an environmental problem.

Most Desis are well off compared to the locals which further fuels the crises, and the inaction of the Indian embassy and government make life for desis really difficult in Uganda.


Some Gyan
About Idi Amin, the earlier president of Uganda who expelled Indians after a dream where God told him to expel desis.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idi_Amin

S&P Launches Investable Indices For GCC

S&P GCC Composite index, which comprises 151 companies across five Gulf States, had an unadjusted market capitalisation of more than $110 billion as at March 27, 2007, representing nearly one-third of the total capitalisation of the five GCC member markets.

The market weightings in the GCC are as follows: UAE 20.2%; Kuwait 54.4%; Qatar 13.6%; Bahrain 6.4%; Oman 5.4%.

The five new country indices - S&P/IFCI Bahrain, S&P/IFCI Kuwait, S&P/IFCI Oman, S&P/IFCI Qatar, S&P/IFCI United Arab Emirates - in addition to a GCC Composite Index - include only stocks to which foreign, non-GCC residents have unrestricted rights to trade and hold.

I personally think that Indians inspite of being 50% of the population in the GCC region havent been able to participate in the Stock markets for reasons both legal and business wise. I think things will change for the good and I think the GCC stocks which are at thier lowest levels may see some good times soon afterall thier economies are speaking for itself, now its time for the indices to speak .

More info
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooperation_Council_for_the_Arab_States_of_the_Gulf

Melon Aids Rumour

In Qatar, a widely-circulated SMS text message spread panic amongst the population, claiming that over one million melons had been smuggled into the country, injected with the Aids virus, reports The Peninsula
After investigation, the The Ministry of Interior sent out the following statement. "During the past 24 hours there was a circulation of rumour through SMS text messages saying one million melons injected with AIDS virus have been smuggled into Qatar through Al Shamal road. The Ministry of Interior confirms what have been stated in the SMS messages is false and did not come from any official source. We think there is no justification for the circulation of this SMS or cause of worry because of this false rumour", the statement issued to media said. The Ministry also flashed its statement through SMS texts to the immediately available mobile numbers."
Update: According to Judeooscope, a similar text message is spreading through Saudi Arabia ,claiming melons entering the kingdom from Israel are infected with AIDS causes frenzy.

I'm sure this news would make all melon eaters happy now that Summer is here :).

Google Maps

Go to Google Maps http://maps.google.com  and enter a search from any
North America city (New York, Chicago, Toronto, etc) to a European city
(London or Paris work best). Let Google search out the directions and
then look on the list. Go down until you reach the part about crossing
the Atlantic Ocean.

Someone at Google has a sense of humour! ;)

Via Chirag's funnyjunta :)

Finally Iraq has something to cheer about.

 

http://www.arabianbusiness.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=10767

The kid who turned down $1 billion!

http://www.rediff.com/money/2007/apr/10face.htm

Nice article on Mark Zuckerberg, the 22nd yr old founder of Facebook.

Its high time we Indian made something real cool .. Sabeer Bhatia & Rajesh Jain seem so retro, we need to develop cooler products like those in Israel or Silicon Valley on a regular basis.

The only thing that came out of the Indian garage is Naukri.com

WTF is facebook : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook

My Facebook : http://www.facebook.com/p/Satish_Vijaykumar/741165363

Busybee Forever.

Everybody has come place called home This is my home, Bombay. I would not live anywhere else if I was paid five month's salary in a lumpsum
- Busybee

Like all Bombayites I read the Afternoon only for Busybee's article on the last page, after his death I stopped reading Afternoon except on the rareTuesday's when my Dad asked me to get one for the Stock Market Supplement.

What RK Laxman's Common man was to India, Busybee & Mario's Cartoon was to Bombay, He was an icon who truly personified Bombay. His articles were simple,funny and crisp and always a real Bombay feeling to it.

I have a book of his articles since the day he started Afternoon, a must read for every passionate Bombayite.

Its 6 years since he died, Afternoon has a tribute

http://www.cybernoon.com/DisplayArticle.asp?section=fromthepress&subsection=inbombay&xfile=April2007_inbombay_standard12583


Busybee lives Forever
http://www.busybeeforever.com/

Wiki on Busybee
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behram_Contractor

Bombay's Hero No. 1

Though I dont agree with Tehelka's findings but it surely shows who is in control in Bombay.

The Result

Bhavik's Atlantic Row - Journey of one Helluva Indian.

My freind Yo's(Harit) friend is rowing across the Atlantic.. SOLO... thought I'd forward his link in the interest of gathering some support!!.. feel free to drop in a message through his website. FYI.. some of his other mad stints include trekking through Siberia, 3000km bicycling through europe, wreck diving, reef diving, sailing... you get the point.

 

Feel free to cheer him up on free sms thru Iridium or drop him a mail, he is surely doing Indians proud. 

Bhavik's update

One month down.. two to go! Just in case you weren't aware, just over a month ago (28th Feb, 2007), I finally departed La Restinga after a few aborted attempts, and am now on my way rowing solo to Antigua. I'm about a third of the way across the Atlantic at the moment. To read my latest posts please visit; http://www.humanedgetech.com/expedition/bhavik/ Sincerely, Bhavik email: mail@bhavik.com web: http://www.emerginginterest.org

 

The Expat Dream Merchants

One of the most common topics that one hears from Expats in Qatar is that all want to do some side business to supplement their income due to lower or none savings due to risings rents and inflation. Everyone from a Pathan to Kasargod Malbari to Lebanese expat to Delhite has a business plan which he intends to do or already done it.
I am the usual suspect when my friends have ideas and offbeat business plans mostly over Sheesha, Alcool or Tea I respect everyone's ideas, dreams and I see to it that whatever lil inputs I can give makes common sense and doesn't sound disrespectful.

I can't share the names of my friends as it could hamper their current job profiles, I shall use abbreviations like all the Gulf Newspapers.

• S.A wants to invest in a Dairy Farm in Bangalore with 4 cows which hopes to give him income of 1 lakh per month.
• R.L wants to buy a trailer from Jordon, its dumper from Qatar and lease it to a Qatari Const company for 2 years and get regular monthly income of 7000 Riyals after paying the EMI on the trailer loan.
• A.Y wants to take a big loan from the Qatari Bank at a low interest rate and invest in the Indian Stock Market... Carry Trade's new avatar.
• R.B has invested in a 3 acre farm in Coimbatore to grow vegetables & fruits and export to Kerala.
• S.K wants to setup a MLM scheme for Laptop Computers at 500 Riyals.
• D.K wants to start a Jatropa refining plant in India.
• A.V has bought a small Rubber Estate to supplement his family income in Kerala
• B.T calls up his sources in India about latest mobile prices, buy the phones in Qatar and sells it at a profit on landing, which pays for his flight tickets.
• F.E has invested in a Taxi in Jordan giving him about 2000 Riyals per month.
• W.D is making a e-commerce site for Qatari population.
• JK has a Laundry Business at home which he operates after work in Doha.
• AK wants our company to start a Driving School in Qatar as he thinks the company can make much more in doing this than selling IT solutions :)

Its seems easy for someone for think hey India this stuff is so cheap lemme try to import this and flood the Qatari market & vice versa, then the million dollar question is if it was so easy why isn't everyone doing it are you the only wise guy in town?

But then there will always be arbitrage opportunities around the world including risky things like Blood Diamonds or Blood Cocoa , what the next El Dorado will be is anyone's bet :)

As for myself I am happy doing my lil stock investments but am open to small ideas like Buying & plying 4-5 Rickshaws in Bombay, Microfinance, Investing in a T-shirt Design Co, Doing an Online Flea Market to Re-entering the commodity markets after my earliar bad experience.

So many things to do & I've not even done half the journey thanks to the the vicious cycle of money-time-opportunity.

Something Doha can surely do with..

http://www.mid-day.com/news/city/2007/april/154663.htm

Doha needs atleast 5000 more taxis, I wish I could import some Khali-peelis from Bombay :)

Somethings wrong with the World today...

• US markets are down
• Housing pricing all over the world except the US are booming.
• Oil Prices are moving up
• Iran continues to invite trouble
• Hugo Chavez trying to revive Socialism that USSR couldn't deliver
• Hoshni Mubarak & Mugabe continue to rule in the name of democracy
• GCC economy is booming but their stock markets are at all time lows
• Many countries are moving from US dollar to Euros & Yuan.
• UAE invites India to use it as a Gateway.
• Karachi Stock market gave the highest return in the world.
• India's rout at the world cup means higher power saving and less load shedding this year.
• Cricket Betting is still illegal but horse trading is a norm.
• The Yen- Dollar Bubble continues to scare many.
• 200 anniversary of abolishment of Slavery but newer forms of slavery in 3rd world countries unnoticed.
• Dafour continues to become another Rwanda.
• LTTE gets its own AIrforce.
• In India Cement prices are frozen but not the Real Estate prices
• SEZ's and Info Parks cant be setup without killing 50 farmers and 6 days strikes by all political parties and a parliament walkout.
• Rajnikanth's Shivaji will drive Tam Land crazy next week.

Now the million dollar question is if you had money where would you put your money in this chaos... Or Would you not??

Else you can listen to "Livin' on the Edge" by Aerosmith, Things havent changed much since 1993 when Aersmith tried to tackle world issues :)

Peace . \w/

Can you indentify which are shadows of camels?

This is a picture taken directly above these camels in the desert.
It is considered one of the best pictures of the year 2005.
Look closely, the camels are the little white lines in the picture.
The black you see is just the shadows.

Whom to Blame For India's Early Exit !!!!!

Two most powerful personalities one from past history and other from recent history

Indira Gandhi (For creating Bangladesh)

and ........

Hanuman.... (Not destroying Lanka completely) :)

 

 

p.s Juss a joke, I have Gr8 Bangla and Lankan Friends, chill :)

 

 

Mega Biryani - Gulf Style

Indo-Pak Dosti

I just hope that Rahul's juss kidding :)

Things to do from Home.

My friend Veena who just moved to Chennai from Bombay wanted to do something from home on the Internet.  I couldn't think of any thing other than starting a Blog & adding Google Adsense to it ( which may or maybe give you any revenues)  &  Being a Merchant on Ebay, Buy stuff from X place and sell online at a profit.

The Net seems like a cool place to buy/sell/ hedge  for Stocks, Futures, Gambling & Investments but there aint much avenues for someone to sit at home and supplement an income.

In US they have the following categories of work
Data Entry
Document Coding
Virtual Assistants
Legal Transcription
Medical Transcription
Customer Service Reps
Freelance Writers
Proofreaders
Editors
Translators
Telemarketers
Online Tutors
      

I wonder how many of these are there or could be replicated in India?
I will try to  compile a list of things what  Net Savvy Person in India can do from Home apart from the above things ,Also I  would appreciate if you could  give pointers on the same.

Watch this space, shall put the list up soon.

 

I couldn't stop laughing.

Jayalalitha stages day-long fast over Cauvery water row

I nearlly fell off my chair with my Coffee.

Pakistan's reaction to the blasts.

Is it Mars? no its Doha.

Whole of Qatar looks like the Red Planet with thick reddish dust haze all around.. High speed winds with dust particles are a lethal forces and hurt your eyes and injure you with debris.

I shall post pics as I shoot them but risking my camera lens wont be so prudent :)

Satelite pic courtesy NASA, The lil peninsula is Qatar.

The richest city in the world. (No, it's not Dubai.)

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2007/03/19/8402357/index.htm?cnn=yes

Very Filmy Ad - Happydent

 

http://www.happydent.in/protex/viral/index.html

C. Sivasankaran - The Enter-Exit King.

I admire him for his ability to enter and exit business at great speeds, He is a future Dhirubhai in the making . He also holds substantial stake in Tata Tele Services and Idea, One might wanna buy their stocks and sleep over it.
I'm gonna keep a track of his futures games and investments.

Siva's games so far :-

• 1995: Applied for Tamil Nadu telecom licence
• 1997-98: Launched Aircel
• March 1998: Incorporated Dishnet DSL, the country’s first DSL internet provider
• Dec 2003: Bought 79% equity stake in RPG Cellular in Chennai for Rs 210 cr
• February 2004: Agreed to sell 33% stake in TN Mercantile Bank to the Nadars for Rs 130 cr
• March 2004: Sold the internet service division of DishnetDSL Limited to VSNL for Rs 270 cr
• April 2004: Bought 65.4% equity stake Barista coffee chain from Turner Morrison for Rs 30 cr and the Tata group
• August 2004: Dishnet Wireless bought Unified Access Service Licences for seven eastern circles at Rs 300 crore.
• 2005: Entered health food business with Aiwo - a health food chain were low-calorie food cooked in olive oil
• 2005: Bought out RPG Cellular Limited for Rs 208 cr and renamed it Aircel Cellular
• Dec 2005: Sold 100% stake to Maxis and Reddy’s combine for $1.8b giving Maxis access to 628 million subscribers in India
• Jan 5 2006: DTH television JV with Zee Telefilms Ltd (ZTL)
• March 2007 Sold Barista stake to Lavazza of Italy for Rs 480 crores


Not bad for a guy who started as a fabricator in Madras Refineries :)

Data : Wikipedia.org

ब्लॉगर अब हिंदी मैं :)

ब्लॉगर का नया फंदा

एकदम कूल , बोले थो एकदम ठण्डा... ई ऍम लोविंग इत !!

ब्लॉगर को एक जप्पी देना पड़ेगा :)

New Joke Blog

http://hahamasti.blogspot.com/

 

Simple Mission : 1 Joke a day, Laughter all day.

 

Contributors : Me, Chirag & CNB.

 

International Film festival - Mumbai- March 8- 15 2007

http://www.iff-mumbai.org/

100 movies for 500 bucks, register to get a pass.
Movies shown at Imax, YB Chavan and Fun republic.


Some highlights are Hrishida's Anuradha, Golmaal, Chupke Chupke & Anand, It should be fun to watch it on the Big Screen 70 mm experience.

Also showing are Mira Nair's Namesake and many other cool movies

The movie list
http://www.iff-mumbai.org/html/iffm/tempiffm.asp

Thanks DD

Only in Poona!!

Special Pune Signboard on Holi.
The signboard at Premier Supply Company says, "Please note that Wet notes with Holi colours won't be accepted. Don't argue." Typical Puneri (city) style. Sarcastic and in your face.

This is one of the many reasons I love Poona :)

thanks Chirayu.

The Games - Stock Market & Cricket

There is one thing the great Sunny Gavaskar used to always comment whenever our slip fielders dropped catches, whenever it was slashed hard by the opponent batsmen outside the off stump "Its the timing of the jump that's important.. not too early not too late.. Its the timing of the jump my friend"
I always remembered that even while standing lazily as a keeper or in the slip and even with the Stock Markets.

I entered when the Markets were at 3000 fell to 2500 and the roller coaster ride to 14500 and back now.... I have managed to get in and get out a few times lucky, Right now the market seems damn tempting to plunge but I'm reminded of Sunny's great words..
I will watch the action from the Pavilion and maybe enter in a few months.

What are your views on the markets and the Sexy Sensex do feel free to scribble in the comments.

Joke :)

Q:why are majority of south Indians are dark in color?

A; Because we watch Sun TV, Surya TV,Udaya TV without applying sunscreen lotion.......

Just got Stamped in Qatar :)

This is a cool service by QPost for 15 QR, you can write postcard to someone or fool your loved ones that you're some Big Shot Shiekh :))

Happy Holi.

May this Holi bring all the color and happiness in your lives.

Holi Hai !!
:)

Has Marc Faber got it right?

With the world Markets crashing Mr. Doom aka Marc Faber seems to have got it right, I think I also seemed to have done the right thing.

My DNA

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

Oscar Nominated Movies - My Target watch.

I've set my own lil filmy target of watching all the Oscar nominated Movies till the next Oscar, Some of the movies I've seen, rest are yet to be dekko.
If you have seen any movies or heard about them do feel free to put in your views or reviews on the movies in the comments section or at my mail id satish@bombaylives.com

And the Nominees are :-

“Blood Diamond”
“Half Nelson”
“Venus”
“The Pursuit of Happyness”
“The Last King of Scotland”
“Little Miss Sunshine”
“Little Children”
“Dreamgirls”
“The Departed” Seen :)
“Volver”
“Notes on a Scandal”
“The Queen”
“The Devil Wears Prada” Seen :)
“Babel”
“Cars” Seen :)
“Happy Feet” Seen :)
“Monster House” Seen :)
“The Good Shepherd”
“Pan’s Labyrinth”
“Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” Seen :)
“The Prestige”
“The Black Dahlia”
“Children of Men”
“The Illusionist”
“Curse of the Golden Flower”
“Marie Antoinette”
“Letters from Iwo Jima”
“United 93” Seen :)
“Deliver Us from Evil”
“An Inconvenient Truth”
“Iraq in Fragments”
“Jesus Camp”
“My Country, My Country”
“Water”
“Apocalypto”
“Click” Seen :)
“Poseidon”
“Superman Returns” Seen :)

Aj apun ka Daddy ka Happy B'day hai.

Daddy

He is one of the most selfless and hilarious person in the world. A person who left Kerala at 16 after a few attempts at Rice Smuggling, worked as tailor in Calcutta before coming to the City of Dreams. My Dad must have helped at least 20-30 Mallus to move to the Gulf which is ten times the Mallu average.

From selling Hangars at Dadar Station to working in a Mill to ditching a Kuwait Job offer to working in Birla Cement and raising me and my bro to what we are today inspite of all the hardships and long legal matters he has done it in style.

One of the few things I've learnt from him is Money isn't everything, Helping others is a great thing, Market is always there for us and Kingfisher is the greatest Beer.

My Dad turns 60 today, Happy B'day Daddy.

2 Offbeat Movies.

Banaras - A Mystic Love Story.

Cast:Urmila Matondkar .... Shwetambari,Ashmit Patel .... Soham,Naseeruddin Shah .... Babaji,Dimple Kapadia .... Gayatri Devi,Raj Babbar .... Mahendranath

This movie is about gifted modern day Guru Mata (shweta) and her love with another blessed singer cum mystic (soham) who has been influenced and blessed by Babaji (Nasseruddin Shah). Though this movie it nuttin great it at least tries to experiment and venture in uncharted territory for Bollywood i.e. Science v/s Mysticism and beliefs and faith in Devis and Babas. The movie is worth watch if have lotsa free time and believer in such arbit subjects. The movie has a few boring songs and good bhajan, All the performances were mediocre except for Nasser's that somehow stands out all the time.

Ratings : 1/5
Btw Urmila has an uncanny resemblence to the real life Anand Murti Guruma, wonder if the movie is inspired by her.

P.s I do believe in the faith and power of some of the Gurus and Baba's.

Being Cyrus

Cast : Saif Ali Khan: Cyrus Mistry,Naseeruddin Shah: Dinshaw Sethna,Dimple Kapadia: Katy Sethna,Boman Irani: Farokh Sethna,Simone Singh: Tina Sethna,Honey Chhaya: Fardounjee Sethna ,Manoj Pahwa: Inspector Lovely

A real neat movie on a screwed up Parsi Family, I dunno why I dint watch this movie all this time, Although many people have bad reviews of this movie. I think this is a sexed out movie, well made and decently directed by Homi Adjania . Boman Irani,Dimple Kapadia & Honey Chaya have done some gr8 work.
And yes its always fun to hear the way Parsis give gaalis, reminded me of my Parsi Boss Farrokh Khambatta in whose catering company we worked during our free times and kadki days :)

Rating 3/5

Carnival Floats - IC Colony, Bombay

Incase you dunno much about Carnival, my earliar post on Carnival in Borivli might just help .
http://bombaylives.blogspot.com/2006/03/rang-de-carnival-ic-colony.html

DJ Suketu - Live in Doha

Lil Publicity for Rehan's Co :)

Images from Doha Zoo

For more pics check out my Doha Zoo Set on flickr
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bombaylives/sets/72157594540205373/

The little groceries of Doha.

Life in Doha can be quite difficult as there aren't many to grocery shops like in India, Faisal's little shop allows us to keep credit and also makes sure that they are delivered quickly by Anna & Hero.

Anna is a righteous delivery guy who refuses to take tips and has been institutionalized in Doha like Shawshank. Hero is a guy who doesn't think Whiskey is Haram and will deliver soda in less than 5 mins whenever called.

As for Faisal he is a guy who was cheated by his own relatives in a business deal a few years and is now running the store, something what he did for over 15-20 years.

The grocery shop is a hangout place to know the latest gossip and happenings in our locality.

I think living in the Gulf would be really impossible without the local Malbari store.



(From left to right) Hero, Anna & Faisal (owner)

Joke :
Q :Marlboro kya hai ?
A : Malbari Cigarette... I know its a bit fcukall :))

Lonely on Valentine's Day?

Kya aap akele hai ?

kya aap lonely hai ?

kya aap udhas hai ?

Do you feel like beating the shit out of  Hallmark and Archie's?

 

Don't worry jus get a Bed sheet & sleep over your worries

Check out the ultimate bedsheet

 

Happy Valentines day to all :)) 

Fight at race course after jockey loses

http://www.mid-day.com/news/city/2007/february/151715.htm

 

WTF were these guys thinking Horse racing is like investing in PPF??
Derby races are always fixed like WWF wrestling.

save2phone.com, Over 3000 Applications Free Downloads

 My company Myzus has launched a Mega application download & Developer Portal , Save2phone.com

Save2phone has  an extensively cataloged library of over 3,000 mobile applications and downloads in different categories such as utilities, communication, games, applications, religions, techie, lifestyle, interest to men, interest to women, audio/video etc, running on the four main mobile platforms - Palm, Symbian, PocketPC and J2ME.

Developers around the world can upload their creations/applications and reach out to the global mobile audiences while users can rate and review the applications on the site.

The applications can be downloaded free of cost on Web, WAP, Email and SMS

Check out  www.save2phone.com 

 

 

Proto.in - Profiles of Shortlisted Companies of 2007

Here :-

http://www.proto.in/profiles2007/profiles2007.html

 

Hopefully a few among these will raise funds,  go public or get acquired and make the millions and the glory!! 

All the Best to start-ups.

 

 

WTF is Proto?

check this out

http://www.proto.in/about/

 

Secret liaisons@Rs 150

Nice investigation by the Mumbai Mirror on  The sad truth and reality about how the space crunch is impacting couples & how restaurants are converting their lofts into quickie joints.

It may look like every restaurant you stop by for a quick snack and fruit juice, but these joints sell something more — a surreptitious place for those looking for one. A small cubicle lit by a dim bulb, containing a fan and a bench on the mezzanine floor gets these outlets more money than their fast food business downstairs. Mirror reporters Dippy Vankani and Rashmi Rajput pose as a couple to find how much secrecy costs in our city

http://www.mumbaimirror.com/net/mmpaper.aspx?page=article&sectid=2&contentid=2007021002161232834b36e6b

 

 

My Friend Harsha's Comments on my post on the Cauvery Issue.

harshatel: yah sure i am proud to be kannadiga

as some naxalites from other states goospet karke hamara state ka naam barbadh kerne pei thula huvei hei , i condom their attempts

satish: pls put this in the comments section

its not condom

harshatel: cundom

is it so

satish: its condemn

hehe

mad u r

acha u put ur views inthe comments section pls

its always good to have all sides of the story

American touch to Vada Pav.

http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/ml.asp?Ref=VE9JTS8yMDA3LzAyLzA4I0FyMDExMDI=&Mode=Gif&Locale=english-skin-custom

Goli & Jumbo are Vada Pav Franchises in Bombay, they may have the money n
technology but they fall short in taste n flavor

World War III

Nostradamus said the World War III will be over water and it will lead to the end of the world. I think he meant Cauvery, With the Tams & Kannadaigas fighting like Itchy n Scratchy a war cannot be ruled out, Tams with America and Kannadigas with Chinas bombing and nuking each other to oblivion.
They are all set and getting their forces ready for C-Day.

Maharastra might side with Tam Land for its interest in Belgaum and the Rajnikanth factor. AP will stop exporting stuff to Karnataka and invite Infosys n Wipro to set up in Hyd, Secundarabad, Rajahmudhray, Vizag etc.
Kerala will have a hartal called by the Commies, BJP, RSS, Muslim League, Pentecostal Bishops, KCU, D(I)CK and wont take any sides.
Goans will get another reason to get even at Mangies.

If Gandhi whose dreams of National integrity said "Hindus and Moslems are my 2 eyes" , would have been really saddened to see the shit 2 so called educated states have done and would have surely said "Tams & Kannadigas are like my 2 balls".

The warring parties currently have a time-out thanks to the Aero India Show 2007 , http://aeroindia.gov.in/ and the lafda is likely to begin on 11th Feb when the show ends.

I wish better sense prevails and the Central Govt. imposes President's rule in the states and moves in the troops and fucks the happiness of all the rowdys and goondas in both states to prevent loss of any innocent life or property.

Jai Hind, Jai Cauvery!!

The Warring Parties
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karnataka
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamil_Nadu

Why?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaveri_River


FIghting
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Kaveri_River
http://www.rediff.com/news/cauvery07.html

Sorry.

Better Sense Prevails.
Moi Removed the Pondy Link.

P.s My Good Freind Andre is getting engaged this week, He is related to the Shetty's.

The world around me since I started this blog

Left Myzus, to work in Securities Firm then joined back.
Sensex moved from 6k to 14k
Property prices have doubled in Bombay
Visited Kuwait, Dubai, Doha, Muscat, Chennai , Tirupati, Poona & Alibaug.
Moved from PC- Video Games to PS2
Moved from Mobile Pics to 6.0 Mega Pixel Sony.
Started drinking more Whiskey than Beer.
Learnt to cook for 10 people rather than 1-2.
Made great friends from the blogging and blog reading community & in Doha.
Shiv Sena is still in power in Bombay & the Commies in Bengal.
We Indians have discovered budget Air Travel & Online Booking.
Gambled with stocks, cricket,commodities, real estate & relations.
Myzus is still fighting it out.
My sidey friend 'booze' hasn't returned my 3k taken 6 years ago.
Rakesh Jhunjhunwala is still clean and without any scams to his credit.
Home loans have moved from 8% to 10.5% p.a
The Borivali- Virar quadrupling of tracks is still incomplete.
Learnt to keep quiet and speak only when needed.
People have got married left, right and center and having babies.
Pranab is still searching for his soul mate...
Bollywood is still the number 1 draw for desis.
Delhi still is the rape captial and Bombay the bomb's captial.
Shady Ash moved from Salman to Viviek to Abhishek.


Maybe something's will change the next time I make a list of things around me.... I hope I can include many happy stories of me and my friends around the world.

If you think i've forgotten anything or anything changed around your world in the last three years, do freel to scribble in the comments

cheers amigos :)

India's answer to Terminator

More advanced than all T-800,T-1000,T-1000000 put together.

College Chics Nominated

Some real hotties and solid oomph value. total quik.

I juss wish they had a Bikini round or something :))

check it out
http://photos.bunkd.com/contest

Living costs 'hit QR29,000 for expat families'

  AN EXPATRIATE executive requires QR29,000 a month to maintain his family in Qatar now, a QNB report has said highlighting the exorbitant rise in living costs in the state in the recent past.

read more here http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=130553&version=1&template_id=57&parent_id=56

 

Now I know why some desis act super kanjoos  or send their kids n wives back home, the prime reason Qatar being the most expensive place in Gulf is due to the crazy rents and non availability of homes. Single men/women can find accommodation in sharing  and can manage out but families have to pay at least 3000-5000 Riyals for a 1BHK. If this equation is not solved soon you'll find many people moving back to their home countries.

 

U2 Concert

Bono is at a U2 concert in Glasgow when he asks the audience for some
quiet. Then, in the silence, he starts to slowly clap his hands.

He says into the microphone, "Every time I clap my hands, a child in
Africa dies." A voice from near the front pierces the silence, "Well,
stop fucking clapping then!"

Wonderful Postcard Collection - Old Bombay

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ajay_g/sets/72157594198041677/

courtesy - BombMan

 

Tiger Balm Attack

I have a burnt forehead thanks to Tiger Balm :(

Tiger Balm is one of the most lethal and khatarnak weapons of mass destruction.

It looks like I have a tattoo on my foreword.

 

p.s Please don't ask for a snap.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiger_Balm

 

Shamita does a Britney!

http://www.mid-day.com/hitlist/2007/january/150678.htm

 

Nice one.

Mallika sherawat was shooting for the cover of a magazine recently, when the photographer asked her the ‘position’ she was comfortable in. Without batting an eyelid, the quote queen immediately replied, “I am aiming to be number so I prefer being ‘on top’,”

 

Mallika is cool :), ... correction Hot :)

Hotel Keralafornia

Check out the cool song...  

http://spinningawheel.blogspot.com/2007/01/post-229-music-16-hotel-california.html

 

The song can be found at
http://iamitabh.com/temp_upload/Hotel_Kerala_fonia.mp3

India's Hottest College Chic Contest.

http://www.bunkd.com/   

 

Am Luvin it :))

 

I specially love this part

Presenting India's first ever online beauty contest India's Hottest College Chick contest! The one of it's kind all-online beauty contest hunts for the hottest college chick on the campuses nationwide! The contest is full of masala, attitude, back-biting, vote-outs, debates, games, interactions, interviews, clips and tons of prizes!

So get down, get dirty!  <===

I wont be surprised if time pass junta upload pics of their bhangis and kaamwali bais to generate mischief value and do general gandmasti.

I wish these guys put the pics on the sites asap and India begins voting:))

 

 

 

Vacancy - Linux Admins - Bangalore

My friend CNB's Co has some openings e

2 beginner Linux admins - 1+ year exp

1 Linux admin+programmer

knowing tcl/tk or Perl / shell scripting

 

For details ping freegeek@gmail.com

 

Golmaal Golmaal!!

http://www.mid-day.com/news/city/2007/january/150596.htm

 

This guy is so funny, I am never amazed by the Natwarlals in Bombay.

I'm Back in the Markets...

Well not fully but have taken small positions in Compulink, HindujaTMT & JKsyn.

 

 

The Great Mumbai Textile Strike... 25 Years On

http://specials.rediff.com/news/2007/jan/18sld1.htm

 

This article kinda glorifies the great strike of 1982 but infact it was one of the worst things to have happened in Bombay's history. The man responsible for the shit was Datta Samant, some say if the strike was a success  then Datta Samant would have been in the position what Bal Thackeray is today.

 

Datta Samant is still one of the most hated guys even after his death.

The Struggler's Guide to Mumbai

The road to success is called The Struggle..  The journey where millions try to make it to Bollywood, A nice article in DNA

 

http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=1075457

Dhirubhai & Gurubhai

I saw Guru on Thursday, Dhirubhai Ambani was my hero and will always be my Hero. He is the man who taught the Indian Middle Class what the Stock Market was, Its thanks to him people like my Dad entered the markets and passed on the funda to me.

I think if our nation has 4-5 people like Dhirubhai poverty and unemployment can become history.

Dhirubhai Always said about politicians and the system "We cannot change our rulers but we can change the way they rule us"

Here are some of his quotes (courtesy wikipedia)

"Growth has no limit at Reliance. I keep revising my vision. Only when you dream it you can do it."
"Think big, think fast, think ahead. Ideas are no one's monopoly"
"Our dreams have to be bigger. Our ambitions higher. Our commitment deeper. And our efforts greater. This is my dream for Reliance and for India."
"You do not require an invitation to make profits."
"If you work with determination and with perfection, success will follow."
"Pursue your goals even in the face of difficulties, and convert adversities into opportunities."
"Give the youth a proper environment. Motivate them. Extend them the support they need. Each one of them has infinite source of energy. They will deliver."
"Between my past, the present and the future, there is one common factor: Relationship and Trust. This is the foundation of our growth"
"We bet on people."
"Meeting the deadlines is not good enough, beating the deadlines is my expectation."
"Don't give up, courage is my conviction."
"you have to take the calculated risk,to earn something"


On the movie
Guru is a well made movie, neat shot.. The songs aren't that great and Ash looks damn annoying at times but the passion and sprit one can feel while watching the movie cant be expressed.
The movie shows his conflict with the Ramnath Goenka in his quest to create India's greatest company. The movie sadly doesn't show anything about his fight with Nusli Wadia.

Abhishek (Gurukant Desai) and Mithun (Manik Dasgupta) have given a wonderful performance. Vidya Balan and Madhavan could have been lil better utilised.

I liked the scene where the Taxi driver comes to GuruBhai when he is taken to the court and says "Gurubhai, apan taxi driver hai, roz wadala se churchgate chalata hoon, maine apni teen beetiyon ki shadi karvaya aapka company ka shares se, Gurubhai hum aapke saath hai" . This is so damn true Reliance might have acted as the Godfather for aleast 15 millions people directly or indirectly giving 45% compunded returns since 1977.

Its a must dekko. 4/5


More on the great man
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhirubhai_Ambani

On the movie Guru
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guru_%282006_film%29

Chilling Doha

The climate in Doha is so damn cold and wind so chilling that makes you laziest people in the planet. Its difficult to pull yourself out of the blanket in the morning unless someone yells n howls to wake you up.

 

The temperature is between 10-15 degrees but the cool wind makes you feel its around 5 degrees.  You don't see any bonfires or burning Ghamelas like in Bombay people or see any Chinese Stalls selling hot Manchow Soup. Those who are lucky have a few pegs or use the Heater in their Cars or you will find some guys standing next to the Chicken BBQ stand in hotels.

 

The temperature is expected to fall further with some rain... I want some more sunshine.

 

Weather

http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/5day.shtml?world=2162

Extrabed.in

My freind Kiruba has started this wiki to help bloggers help visiting blogger in different parts of India and the web wide world.
Though this is not an original concept but its surely an indian version of canicrash.org thru which Kiruba came to Bombay and I crashed at his place in Chennai.

If you believe in the power of the Internet and can spare an extrabed for the travelling blogger friend, then www.extrabed.in is something you would like to check out.
Also check out www.kiruba.com  to get all the gyan and reasons behind the initiative.

VC And M&A Deals In Digital Media In 2006

From Sahad from ContentSutra,

The year 2006 definitely hasn't been a bad year for the Indian digital media
business from the POV of venture capital and merger and acquisitions. There
were as many as 26 venture capital deals publicly announced. That has
brought in about $175 million in VC money alone in 2006. The M&A has also
been picking up with more than a dozen deals while the most of figures are
undisclosed. Here is a quick compilation.

Key VC deals in the Indian digital media and technology sector
1. iJive - (($4.5 million from Matrix Partners India)
2. TutorVista - ($10.75 million from Lightspeed, Sequoia Capital and SV Bank
in second round and $2 million from Sequoia in first round early this year.)

3. 4 Interactive - (Undisclosed amount Matrix Partners India)
4. MakeMyTrip - ($13 million from Helion Venture Partners, Sierra Ventures,
SAIF Partners)
5. Carwale.com - (Undisclosed amount: Seedfund)
6. Travelguru (Undsiclosed amount from Sequoia Capital in the first round in
February 2006, and $15 million in second round from Battery Ventures and
Sequoia)
7. Picsquare - ($75,000 from Angel Investors - Sanjay Swami, CEO of mChq,
Shripati Acharya, founder of Snapfish and Vijay Iyer, VP (Marketing), Portal
Systems)
8. Sulekha.com - ($10 million from Norwest Venture Partners)
9. JustDial - (Undisclosed funding by SAIF Partners)
10. Guruji.com - ($7 million from Sequoia Capital India)
11. Seventymm.com - ($7 million from Matrix Partners India)
12. BubbleMotion - ($10 million from Sequoia Capital India)
13. BharatMatrimony - ($8.6 million from Canaan Partners and Yahoo)
14. Cleartrip.com - (Undisclosed: Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and
Sherpalo Ventures)
15. Burrp! - (Undisclosed: unnamed angel investors)
16. BillDesk - ($5 million from Clearstone Venture Partners)
17. Naukri.com - ($4.6 million by Kleiner Perkins and Sherpalo)
18. Real Image Media - (Undisclosed: Intel Capital)
19. Sixer.tv - (Undisclosed: Linus Capital)
20. Shaadi.com - ($8 million from Sequoia Capital India)
21. Mauj - ($10 million from Sequoia Capital India)
22. jiGrahak - ($2.2 million JiGrahak)
23. Paymate - ($5 million from Kleiner and Sherpalo)
24. IMIMobile - ($10 million from Pequot Ventures)
25. OnMobile - ($27.8 million from Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs and Polygon
Investment Partners)
26. Yatra Online - ($5 million from Reliance Capital, Norwest Venture and
TV18)

Key M&A deals in 2006 (Aquired and the acquirer)
1. Jobstreet India - TV18 picks up 50% for $2 millions plus advertising
support.
2. Tachyon - Rediff
3. ITFinity - OnMobile for $15-20 million
4. Indiagames - UTV Software acquires 50% for $15 million
5. Bixee and Pixrat - MIH India
6. Enable M - Salora Group
7. Positive Comsol - One97Communications
8. NowPos- Bennett, Coleman acquires a small stake
9. CricketNext - TV18
10. CompareIndia.com - TV18
11. UrbanEye - TV18
12. Globe Travels - Sify
13. eToursonline - ezeego1.com
14. Pyramid Saimira - Bennet, Coleman picks up small stake