2008...and 2009

Jan 03, 2008

....

Yes, I have decided on a few to-dos for this year...

get some lessons in photography - NOPE

go on atleast 3 photo-expeditions - YES

start seriously thinking about quitting work and starting something on my own - YES

get a car for parents - YES

get working on my house - YES

and yes...blog atleast 100 posts this year - NOOO

...

not a bad year huh...i guess i have checked a yes to most important things in life...and to be honest...the photography lessons are not really needed now! :)

Yah...blogging would have definitely made it a perfect year...but then you cant get everything...

The year has been awesome...in all sense of the word. Spent a good time in Dubai yet again...have had a brilliant married life so far...and Accentium is exciting like never before...

2009

This blog is being shut down. Somehow I feel the need for an integrated space...and so I am going to start my own site. Looking for the domain right now, but it should be up and running soon...

Photography will continue...and I am loving every bit of it. 2008 saw quite a few excursions and I hope the same continues next year too. 

Am hopeful that this year I will step full-time into Accentium and bid goodbye to ATK. Will surely keep you updated on the same

Take care...and have a great 2009... 

Long Long time...

and with a purpose...

Pahwa has been nominated as one of Asia's Top Young Entrepreneur...which is a proud moment for all of us...! :)

Follow the link below to vote for him:

http://images.businessweek.com/ss/08/10/1008_asia_young_entrepreneurs/22.htm

~a

Am proud to be an Indian....

As long as DUDES such as Manmohan Singh continue to exist...

this is by far the best speech delivered by an Indian politician...
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/3265909.cms

"...I have often said that I am a politician by accident. I have held many diverse responsibilities. I have been a teacher, I have been an official of the Government of India, I have been a member of this greatest of Parliaments, but I have never forgotten my life as a young boy in a distant village.

Every day that I have been Prime Minister of India I have tried to remember that the first ten years of my life were spent in a village with no drinking water supply, no electricity, no hospital, no roads and nothing that we today associate with modern living. I had to walk miles to school, I had to study in the dim light of a kerosene oil lamp. This nation gave me the opportunity to ensure that such would not be the life of our children in the foreseeable future.

Sir, my conscience is clear that on every day that I have occupied this high office, I have tried to fulfill the dream of that young boy from that distant village..."

This is it....

THIS makes me happy...really really happy....!!

Circulate...share..post...blog...do whatever...let the world know that I have clicked this...! :)

Well...comments plz...before anything else...

~a

NY...finally...

Here is it...

http://picasaweb.google.com/warikoo/NYTripMay08

~a

The Purest Form of Art

Since writing on the walls is done neither for critical acclaim, nor financial rewards...it remains the purest form of art

discuss

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

Mornings with Sunday Part 4

Went to this fantastic place last weekend - Shaheen Bagh. Its a resort about 10 kms off Dehradun...! Beautifully done...quite majestic...and decently affordable. Rooms are available starting 4,500 (all meals included).

If at all you go...make sure you pick up the poolside room. Its somehow the cheapest but the best in terms of location.
For families, pick up the suite in the other cottage. Charges only 5,000 and can accomodate 4 people.

Lovely place to spend 2N/3D..maybe even more if your schedule permits! We spent only a night there...and felt it was a trifle too short...moreso given the drive to the place which can easily stretch to 6.5 hrs from Delhi in peak hours...!

Check out the place..

Shaheen Bagh Apr 08

and do go there...

~a

Dubai

My exploits over a lonely weekend..!! :)

Dubai Mar 2008

Choki Dhani

Visited the place in Feb. Fantastic weekend getaway for Delhi. But it would be best to go there for 2 nights instead of just 1. We felt it was a little tiring to attempt a sat/sun escapade...!

some exploits
http://picasaweb.google.com/warikoo/ChokiDhaniFeb2008

enjoy

~a

Am back....

In Dubai for a week....the place hasnt changed much...but the feeling is so great...! I personally didnt think that I get attached to places...(it is people alone, used to be my explanation)...but I guess things are not so....

Great to be back...

PS: I know I was supposed to write 10 posts in the last month...and yeah...i hvnt written any. But lots to share...coming up right away...

SecondShaadi.com TV Campaign

...is on

SecondShaadi.com TV Campaign (Woman)
SecondShaadi.com TV Campaign (Man)

~a

Mornings with Sunday - Part 3

Mornings with Sundays continues...we went to the Lotus Temple on Jan 27. Have been there multiple times before...and though it doesnt really offer a whole lot of photography opportunities...it was still a pretty good spend of time...
Also, clicked some really impromtu snaps of Pihu and Sarthak - Ruchi's Neice and Nephew...they have come out decently well...do let me know how you find them...!
Check out www.picasaweb.google.com/warikoo

___________

life hasnt been life of late...the project is killing...late hours...lack of sleep...i think my hair is graying faster than before...am not putting on weight as easily...have started to dislike paneer tikka...even pineapple has lost its charm...

anyways...the module is coming to an end...so lets see what shapes up after that...

__________

Planning on the TV Campaign for SecondShaadi from Feb 15th..so really looking forward to that...its quite exciting to see your product come live on TV...! We are also working towards our new product scheduled for a beta launch in April. Quite a challenging exercise...keeping our minds decently busy all along...!

Baaki sab mast hain...life is good...

~a

ISB is the world's 20th best school

http://rankings.ft.com/global-mba-rankings

..am 1/4th of the average salary quoted there..

such joy..!!

~a

PS: Work is crazyyyyyy...this has been by far the deadliest project at ATK. in every which way...! am just praying for a calm end...

Project Departure

At the airport...right in front of the departure screen

Capturing faces...staring at the screen...

great time...

http://picasaweb.google.com/warikoo/ProjectDeparture

~a

Mornings with Sunday - Part 1

So consulting is taking its toll...i just had a straight 40-hr stint at work last week....40 straight hours...nothing gay abt tht....no bath...no brushing teeth...no (yes..) shitting...and yeah...just 40 straight hrs infront of the laptop....

this project has been tight...plus it sucks to be away from home...yet continue to pay the friggin bills!...

so...to have more time by ourselves...R and I have decided on something that I call...

"Mornings with Sunday"

Every (ar atleast every other) Sunday, we will pick up a destination...wherever we are...and scan that place. largely monuments, maybe temples...(though i doubt she would go..)...maybe parks...whatever..! the idea being...

1. we get to spend time by ourselves...away from cellphones and people who call up and ask "sir do you require a personal loan"...and i reply.."yes yes...thank god you called...i need a crore in the next 2 hrs"..."sorry wrong number, sir"...!

2. i get to click the place...which is oh so relaxing...

3. she gets to do her morning walk...and scan new places...


So...its been 2 weeks since we have been doing so...and the first visit was to Surajkund. The preps for the craft mela were on...so part of that has been captured...! lovely experience...

I share the snaps

http://picasaweb.google.com/warikoo/MorningsWithSundayJan06Surajkund

Enjoy

~a

Mornings with Sunday - Part 2

This time it was the Tughlakabad Fort

Here are the captures
http://picasaweb.google.com/warikoo/MorningsWithSundayJan13TuglakabadFort

Enjoy

~a

Hold on....

Again on our way to Koh tao...

~a

Beauty Breeze

Taken on the cruise boat that took us to Koh Tao. Love this for some reason....or probably I know the reason...!!

~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