Physical and Digital Books

While I wander in the streets of NY...hunting for a building less than 5 storeys high...here is a fantastic quote i read this morning...

"People loved their horses, too. But you don’t keep riding your horse to work just because you love it.”
–Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos on the difference between physical books and digital ones

Some more quotes

Take care...will see you soon..

~a

PS: Am approaching 1000 snaps on this trip...and am awesomely excited to see all of them..!

Update and appeal

Actually...let me begin with the appeal(s)...

1. I appeal to all the thousands of visitors to my blog...averaging 23 in number per day...out of which 19 spend 0.00 minutes on the blog...plz forgive me for not being regular with the blog...!
PS: The facts above are real...but am surprised...how can anyone measure the time as 0.00...?? i mean..am sure it takes atleast a second for people to realize that they are in shit...right...? Its like...someone intends to tell me that the time taken from the enter button to the top right button on the window takes less than a second..! Darn...thats depressing...

2. Can airlines please come up with a weekly magazine...reading the same thing 8 times a month is no fun..trust me.

3. Can vijay mallya please concentrate on improving the food on kingfisher...rather than blasting 11 individuals who have been running 23 km marathons for all their life...for not winning the 100mtr sprint..!

4. Can aaj tak please read the business description under which it is listed...! Last I checked it was meant to be a NEWS channel

5. and finally...can i please appeal to myself for not writing crap...even if it happens only once a month...

Updates - several!

1. www.gaadi.com
Its launched...plz check it out. We all are proud of it...and believe it is one of the strongest products in the car category in the indian space. and lo behold..within a month of its launch...gaadi.com is already India's No 2 Car website. And I am convinced that we shall be No. 1 by end of the year...!

2. Am off to the US for 2 weeks...business trip. Ruchi is accompanying me...on vacation! Will be in NY..(which i hvnt been to...ever) and it shud be a fantastic photo opportunity. I jst believe that the US holds a lot of potential when it comes to portraits...! So lets see how well I do...really excited. Meeting a whole lot of people whom I hvnt for years...yuuhuuuuu


So well...i will keep writing...hopefully...and will share my pics soon...! Take care everyone...

~a

Kuch Is Tara

I have to thank SL for the song...its truly the best gift she could have given me...



at 12.49am...after you have been up for 20 hrs...and have gone without food for 8 hrs...the power of music is such that it forces you to write...to express...to feel...



i never knew i would say this so soon...but i hate consulting when it comes to staying away from home...it just doesnt feel worth it....but i know that something will make me wake up tomorrow...all charged up...willing to conduct interviews with CEOs and then eye excel sheets till the sun drops dead...



such is life...



btw...i have decided to start a series by the name of "Mornings with Sunday". Wherein R and I will head out for a location...wherever we are...every other Sunday, for a photo expedition and a general 'get to know the place' kind of trip.



We started last sunday with Surajkund, Haryana. Will share the snaps and the experience soon...once am home.

life's good...kuch is tara...

~a

Alienwan 2008 - the 10 point YES

Before anyone asks, let me give you the answers

1. Yes, the marriage did happen...check out the snaps at www.picasaweb.google.com/warikoo

2. Yes, married life is actually good...and there is nothing to be scared of. However, you should be fine with the fact that there no longer exists the concept of 'sleeping on the bed as if you own it' or 'i am just going to surf porn for the next 2 hrs cause i got nothing better to do' or 'i will only watch NDTV cause that the only channel with a brain' or 'no one read my sms - do you get it?'

3. Yes, I watched Taare Zameen Par and think it yet another confirmation on the phenomenon called Aamir Khan. Needless to say, the movie has and will continue to move a lot of people...including the baby girl in the bus who will grow up to realize that Aamir Khan himself helped her mum change the nappy. Its surely an entry for the Oscars this year and I wont be surprised if karan marries Shahrukh...err...delete delete...the movie wins..!

4. Yes, life has been crazy ever since we have come back from the honeymoon...both work-wise and personally. After much deliberation we decided to stay with my parents, but not before we had bought everything for the new house. So a distress sale happened...some people got lucky and some people just realized why a distress sale is called so...

5. Yes, we have tried to get our marriage registered...but the government still believe that a gazetted officer is required to attest the photo...cause heck...the passport with the snap just isnt enough...! and there are still some people who think citizens will pay 2K to get the certificate done in a day. Did anyone tell them that the certificate is not so much required by the couple than by the government???

6. Yes, I did get promoted! which felt great cause I wasnt expecting it.

7. YES...YES...YES....i am broke after marriage...at one point of time i had exactly 69 bucks in my account...and the only position that should come to your mind reading the figure is bankruptcy and not something else...

8. Yes...secondshaadi is doing fantastic....has broken even...and we are right now in profits. TV campaign scheduled to start soon...and our new venture is coming up on feb 2008. watch out for it...

9. Yes, I have decided on a few to-dos for this year...get some lessons in photography, go on atleast 3 photo-expeditions, start seriously thinking about quitting work and starting something on my own, get a car for parents, get working on my house and yes...blog atleast 100 posts this year...

10. yes...yessss...yessssss...yesssssssssss....ooops..sorry...got busy with something else...

enjoy 2008 folks...!

~a

auto pilot mode....

just one piece of advice my friend...just one piece...

dont question anything...they think its a fantastic idea to have shehnai playing next to the DJ...heck it is....they think that you cant meet her entire next week till the actual wedding day...so be it...they think flowers on the ground will look better than flowers on the table...oh you bet they would....they think getting a kashmiri singer to sing for 6 hours and paying him 13 grand is all fine...yes it is..

...they think they know better...ofcourse they do....

...just be in the auto pilot mode...drive...dont direct....

so be it....

am off people....marriage is knocking on my door...and the parents of all single women in this world are hosting a global party to celebrate the occasion..

everyone's invited...

catch you in november...

~a

yeh to bada toin hain....

belive me if you wish to...but this is actually the motto of our new project...! its a tough piece to work on...data is as scarce as images of rakhi sawant hiding her assets and instances of bappi lahiri adressing himself as bappi lahiri and not Mr. Bappi Lahiri...

so basically...yah...the project bada toin hain...!! i am sure you are not one of who those doesnt hv a friggin clue of what i am talking about...

which brings me to a few ads that i have seen/heard lately...and hv got me questioning the fundamental of mankind. ok...whatever...not as far...but definitely questioning some fundamental...lying someplace...

1. Laxmi Chachi

some dude told me that its Reema Lagoo in there....and i was like....bullshit...get out of here....she is like...mom dude...she is Mother India. there is no way in hell that she would be seen on national TV stretching panties...

but holy friggin shit its true...its really true...

i mean why....why woudl anyone....anyyyyyone...do this..!! it couldnt be possibly money....especially not reema lagoo...she is friggin mom everywhere...! omnipresent....! jst like himesh bhaiya...! u think of celluloid moms (why doesnt this sound right...?? nevermind)...and you think of her..! and here she is...going through rounds of elasticity to such gory details...!! eeessshhhh...in utpal dutt style....

2. Ravi Nursing Home

so..i admit...i am a convert....! from believing that indian radio sucks real BIG TIME...i hv atleast started dedicatig office driving time to Fever 104...and quite like the channel and the RJ lokesh. but no..it wasnt his ad...

i believe it was world heart day sometime back...and i hear this marvel of an ad on radio...

"celebrate the world heart day with a 20% discount on bypass surgery at the Ravi Nursing Home. SMS heart to 5 something something"

WTF..!!!

so lemme attempt to enter the mind of the patient here...and gather his internal response on hearing the ad

"oh wow...20% discount...awesome shit...i have to get that long postponed bypass surgery now...darling chale???"

"toooooooo much...20% discount...joy to the world...i better cancel my apollo hospital reservation and check in to the ravi nursing home. consumer is the king..."

"OMGGGGG...i mean...OM friggin GGGGG....i had to hear this right on the day after my by pass surgery...here i am ...wasted all my savings on a stupid operation...and this gem of a deal comes and goes bham...!! right in my head...shit shit....shitttt....a..aaahhhh...aaahhhh...mera dil...koi hain...koi hainnnn....dil mein dard...koi hainnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn"

moronic material man...moronic..!! my to-do list before 30 has another item...meet the creator of this ad...

any other masterpieces from the indian land...??? please share...

~a

a new piece....

i can see SL nodding her head...when i say that i love to use the word 'piece' for my projects..!! so yeah...i started on a new piece last week...and its been crazy since then. its not like the ones which gives you an orgasm...but ok...with only 3 weeks to go before i take off for marriage...i dont mind collecting hotel and frequent flier points....

PK and KM got married...and it was a blast of a week...i mean awesome fun...! i can almost see that my marriage wont be even half as much fun...PK was actually with us all the nights...except for the first night ofcourse....chatting away to glory...drinking happily...and just generally having a good time. while i will be thrust upon relatives..who will not only want to apply mehendi on me..there will also be the quintessential "khushi ke aansoon" at every 12 nanoseconds....

the only saving grace will be the fact that loads of people are coming down for the wedding...so a mini reunion of sorts is expected...right from school, college...to ofcourse isb....

life is expected to be busy for a long time now...so lets see when we catch up next....

till then...

...life's good...

~a

Srinagar...chak de...and 203...

went for a fantastic vacation to srinagar (after 20 years) with family...from the 15-19 of August.

some memories from the place...

http://picasaweb.google.com/warikoo/JKTripAug2007
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during my recent engagement, there was a time when we were trying to understand the film business in India. typically the first response of anyone would be...its a gamble...no one really knows what will work. which seems obvious....i mean cmon...Himes bhaiya kicked everyone's ass with his debut...and no one has ever attempted a murder attack on bappi lahiri...and ofcourse...KJo (or karan johar for the straight population) still thinks that KANK was his best attempt at maturity...!!

so yeah....at first glance...the industry seems to be not driven by any logic...! what works...what wil work...no one knows...so people jst continue making films in the hope of that pot of luck...

but then...being consultants...with the word anal used as a prefix....it didnt make sense..! a frggin USD 2Bn industry...running on zero logic...! is there no way to ensure atleast a high probability...

and thats when the last week...threw the answer...

last sunday...i watched Chak De
yesterday...i watched Victoria No. 203...

and the difference....wow..!!


Chak De India

i admit...for the first time...SRK wasnt himself. people said that it was the same in Swades too...but frankly i didnt see it. The movie completely rested on him...and he had his moments of 'pulling back his free flowing hair in the midst of a storm'...! i mean...why the f does he need to run all the way upto the water tank...take off his shirt...and plunge into it to discover that the opening had been choked..there were fifty friggin people standing next to the tank...and all with their shirts off already...! lekin nahi...main to SRK hoon...main hoon naa...

anyways..so yeah...the first time that he wasnt himself. the story was simple...yet unique and powerful. and the director did full justice to it. each and every shot was there for a purpose...the editing was crisp...and we didnt get to see too much of SRK..! the girsl were ofcourse...yes yes...preeti sabharwal included...awesome. komal chautala was an absolute gem...

ofcourse SRK had to piss me off at some point of time...but surprisingly that come through in the movie. rather in an interview...where Mr Khan states...
"the movie required me to wear a beard all the time. it was really stressful for me"
we understand Mr. Khan...we totally do....! not only would the beard have ensured that KJo didnt come close to you for the entire period...it mst have been torturous for your fans to not see your dimple...and your oh so cute cheeks. we understand...

but the main point is...i loved the movie...every bit of it...! its those types whose DVD can be bought...and stored...maybe never watched...but you have that solace that its there...and you can watch it anytime...!

so there....a powerful production house...(YRF)...fantastic direction and editing...perfect placement of songs...powerful performances....and u have a winner..!

now you would want to believe that everyone knows this...but heck...no....


Victoria No. 203

And the best performance in a supporting role...goes to Dora's bra...!!! and you have to watch the movie to know what i am talking about...!

why...why on earth...would a woman agree for such a role..! money cudnt be jst it..!! but anyways...so this lady...with the screen name dora....apparently a ninja in the movie...steals these diamonds...but not before she decides to show the world her cleavage...all thru the robbery.

you know...i dont understand much of camera work and direction...!! but i sure know somethings that i am convinced everyone does as well....

1. when you rapel down a building....its NEVER...face down...
2. when the artist approaches the camera...and even comes within 12 inches of the camera...the camera shud ideally move back as well....

ofcourse...the reasons why the 2 didnt happen in the movie are obvious....even to women for a change..! in short...disgusting..!!

the movie apart from this....horrible. it had its share of good laughs...thanks to Om puri and Anupam Kher...who are masters in their field but were clearly made to underperform...! but overall...no concept of editing...no concept of song placement...or for that matter song lyrics...(imagine the actors trying to find the lock which fits the key they have...and they burst into a song on the road..."help me please...to find the locker...find the locker...help me please...")

and some actors were born to overact..! i think kamal sadanah is one of them...or maybe even heads that organization...! imagine producing the movie (its his production) and then sealing its fate by acting in it as well..! crap..!!

so there...another piece of garbage...
...almost twice the size of hollywood...and 1/10th in value...!!!


~a

games people play....

since the day i was born...i have been observing people. i noticed the mole on the doctor who gave birth to me and the fact that her stethoscope's left earpiece was bigger than the right one..! but then thats not observing people...so nevermind...

i find it as a good pastime...! even mre so when i see some dudes doing stuff that i just dont get...

for instance...picture this...

4 elevators in my office building..! 9am...5 people waiting on the lowest floor to go up...! a gentleman arrives from behind...makes his way through the 5-body crowd...and presses the up button...AGAIN...and AGAIN...!!

wtf was he thinking..! that the 5 of us are long lost buddies who are staring at the elevator walls trying to remember the day we played football in the rain...? or we are just zombies who have been working so hard that we stand infront of elevators wishing and praying that it comes down...u never know...u seee..!!

bugger...!!

and picture this....

mumbai airport...the new delhi flight is ready...all lining up to the bus that shall carry them to the machine of tight haristyled women and emotionally poisoned food...! and there you see Aamir Khan...! note that he is not trying to hide him....so if one has been born in the last year...there is no way that you cant recognize him...

a gentleman...mid 40s...comes up to him...and goes...

"are you aamir khan?"

no sherlock...i am bappi lahiri and i have been gyming for the past 6 months. but the friggin gym was so expensive...(bipasha basu also comes there u see)...that i had to sell off all my gold and thus u see me now in a body tight tee...and jeans...and no gold..

this is worse than the pre-historic habit that has engulfed motherkind...of asking..."tum aa gaye" when she saw er son come back from work...

people...i tell u....

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work has been crazy lately....but awesome fun. helping shape the future of media and entertainment in india...and its somehow orgasmic to sit back and think that the room you just stepped out of...after your discussion with the CEO...was witness to something that will change the entire landscape forever...

and u urself will get to witness it...

bliss...

____________________________________

lately i have been itching myself with a lot of b-plans. dont know when and how to take the plunge...cause at some level you know that inaction right now can be suicidal...someone else will surely pick up your idea...and there....gone....

any people who wanna fund me...?

~a

shootout at lokhandwala...

good acting....tight storyline...no time wasted in unnecessary details...not many songs...(can they please do with none!)...and if you ignore the sequence wherein sanjay dutt says no to the bullet-proof jacket when there are atleast 100 rounds being fired at that precise moment...the movie was overall quite good...

but the real question lingered...especially once i saw the parting comments...

• crime in mumbai declined by 70% in the 2 yrs that the ATS (anti-terrorism squad) was in operation
• it was abolished in Jan 1993
• dec 1993 were the mumbai blasts...

the real question...is an encounter a preferred way of handling terrorists, even when you have caught them alive...precisely because their relationships with the 'decision makers' will ensure that they are out on the street the very next day....

personally...i am in favor of the theme...jackshit to human rights and jazz...! they didnt show any mercy when dealing with their business...and we will show none instead...

but am sure the arguments will challenge my chain of thought...let them come if you have any...

~a

crap...where did the month go....

no seriously...where did it jst go.

shit loads has happened in the last month...and each time i reached out the the laptop to blog about it...darn...forget it...how am i kiddin... i jst didnt feel like writing...thts it....! :)

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Media and Entertainment totally sucked me in last month...work was awesome...and painful...long hrs...no social life...weekends jst went by trying to think of how i cud hv used them better....and weekdays jst didnt exist. as my Gtalk status once said..."its like pregnancy...lots of pain but you like what comes out in the end" (courtesy PM)

but tht was then. things changed last week....when we met the client...and he was like...superb...sold...very well done...why dont u start working on the vision now. think of something that has never been done before...

and we were like...WTF

now dont get me wrong...these vision-mission stuff are good...companies hv survived on them...and am sure bal thackeray had one too when he ordered his warriors to storm cafes in protest of orkut...! but after 6 weeks of high rigor...and market interviews and business modelling and what have yous...when one asks you to start thinking of vision...it sucks...

or in other words...the phase of 'intellectual masturbation'...begins...

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was reading a newspaper article on the environment day. if the screw up that we humans indulge in isnt enough...the paper had conducted a survey...with some startling results...

witness this...

Q. A shower for 5 mins consumes more water than a bucket of water

a certain section of society (naming them cud hv a bal thackeray lookalike run after me...and i am too young to die!) had 55% replying yes. which is good...! however...45% said no...! whattttttt?????? half the population in that particular area thinks that a bucket of water and a 5 min shower are equal..?????

i really hope that their showers are the ancient ones...u know th sorts wherein some shit dirt particle has blocked all but one pore in the shower..!

there is more...

Q. Brushing your teeth with running water consumes less than a litre of water

55% yes...45% no...and you know what. THE SAME FRIGGIN SECTION...!! what retards live in this world that believe this shit...and screw not jst their life but the rest of the world's too....and then if the government says that we are raisin water bills...go on a violent bandh....kill some people...and continue to bloody brush under running water..

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but then the government is not the best either...

a hate community on orkut gives some bastardos the right to barge into cafes and destroy private property. and if that wasnt enough...the government sets up a committee to decide whether orkut should be banned or not..

why dont we do something simple. create a separate world for them. i know of some reclamation experts...who can easily recreate land on water. there is lots of space in the arabian ocean. lets jst build a sweet sexy world...where guys and girls are never together...15th feb comes right after the 13th...there is no internet and thus no hat communities...and oh...a news channel that always talks of the indian cricket team winning...so as to keep them under control. now that would work..

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and hey you guys...tell me something...whenever you apply for a competitie examination...do you call yourself 'general' category...? how are you sure..? can you show me a certificate proving that you are general...! if not...i suggest that you pick up the nearest kerosene tank...and burn your neighbour's cycle. control dude control...the bus will be next...but jst practise before...!

everyone is fighting for a community status dude...i think we should too..!
what...what...national damage...? social inconvenience..? death...? dude...what are you...a moron..??? jst call some news chanels later and ask for an apology. over..!

and hey...if any news channels attempt to cover your violence...dont feel ashamed..! smile right in the face of the camera...

there...now u deserve the general status...jai hind..!

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strange thing happened today...was on my way back home talking merrily on the phone...when the traffic cop stopped me. now...i admit...my car is a traffic cop's dream come true. i always talk on the phone...(its a long story why i dont use a handsfree...but hey...am still a nice guy!)...hv dark tints...and play decently loud music.

and plus...i am an honest tax-paying citizen

so this guys stops me...and starts off...2K for cellphone...2K for tints and 1K for pollution certificate. am keeping ur RC...plz come and pay this at the traffic center within 15 days....

whooaaa....hold on mate...! so first...show me the fine sheet...tht states the amt...

he didnt hv tht...

ok...fine...i will trust u on the amt...and am ready to pay it right now. give me the receipt for tht and let go off my RC

no sir...cant do...u hv to pay at the center. we dont accept challans here. this is not haryana law. i will hv to keep ur RC.

give me the number of ur ACP traffic..will ask him abt this law.

dont hv...cant share...

show me ur ID card

haryana govt stopped issuing them in aug 2006...

which means that i too can wear the same shirt / trouser as urs and start collecting moolah...

what do u mean moolah...u think we are here to take a bribes something...

oh u r not...great...so either u take the entire challan right now and give me the receipt..or u jst get the big shit out of my car...

i wont...

fine...let me take you to the traffic headquarters there...we will discuss the matters there...

ok ok..leaving...but get these tints off in 2 days...


Conclusion:

1. Most of these guys...i was later told by a frnd...do not position themselves on the location they ought to be. which is why they dont have those challans books with them. So always ask for their ID...always ask for the challan...and plz use bribe as the last resort...not the preferred one..

2. I did commit a mistake...and i ought to have paid. but i didnt...! and i cudnt care less...because of the way he conducted himself...! dont if i am wrong here...comments invited...

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went to naukuchiatal for the weekend...fantastic lake place 25 kms frm Nainital in North India. stayed in an awesome private cottage...and had a much needed break.

here are some snaps...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/warikoo/sets/72157600321509929/

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will be back soon...surely within a month...

~a

hrithik shud start wearing a.....

So life has been pretty hectic for the past 10 days. Took a day off to attend a friend’s wedding which eventually turned out to be quite a hectic and an enjoyable experience. I can see why the director ever thought of coming up with a “hum aapke hain kaun”story line. Marriages are quite fun in their own way.

And then work has been quite involving…and orgamiscally exciting. I never knew I would enjoy marketing, the way I am right now. Am leading the marketing strategy implementation for our client…and its awesome. The thought behind brand development…interacting with agencies…and hearing them share their perspectives on how we should position ourselves. All of it is quite fascinating…and quite new…to me. Am loving it.

However, in this welcomed madness the last thing I wanted was a crappy movie. I guess god was traveling with ear plugs on when I was praying not to get me into that one bad show.

So last night I watched Dhoom 2

Now now…don’t get me wrong. Its slick. Definitely. Slicker than most bollywood stuff I have seen. But for god sake…I mean…gimme a break…what is it…? James Bond magnified?

Frankly I had expected more. The action scenes were just overdone…and OH MY GAWD…with logic taking a long ass leak while those were being shot. Friggin cop jumps off the cliff…when the thief has done so 3 seconds back as well. But hey…thief has parachute…cop just has biceps…! So lo behold…cop jumps…and no…he is not trying to land on the parachute…no no…that too feminine for such a shot…he jst tries to position himself so that he lands right on the back of the thief. And after some hot gay romance…they kiss…and live happily ever after…!!

and some things were like....wtf...!! what is the queen doing in the middle of the desert of namibia....and WITH THE CROWN...??? and entry of abhishekh...toooooo much. the dude emerges from underwater on a sea scooter...wearing leather jackets..!! wuuuhuuuuuuuuuu...!! i can understand why he would do something like this...!! cmon...with all the female fish hittin on him...he cudnt be at his worst...!!

i think he should simply start acting for a change...!! ummm...and shaving as well..!!

My biggest takeaway…hrithik should start wearing a bra..!!
My biggest observation...i think aish can wear the same bra...if u know what i mean...

and does everyone think that the kabul express trailers are quite awesome...????

~a