Yesterday evening on my way to Gym, i found the traffic at Paradise Circle completely out of gear. No one is bothered about the lights and so are the traffic constables. One can imagine the situation especially at that time when people return from their work and the policemen are completely mindless in minding the traffic. When I tried to search for the policeman, I found one busy chatting with the security guard of Paradise Take-Away counter.

have you ever wanted to know the day a particular date falls on.. Here is the trick

SERIES--> 0336 1462 5035

If you want to calculate the day the following date falls

20-08-08

2008

- 1900 Subtract the year by 1900

----------

= 108

+ 27 Add the quotient of 108/4 (no. of leap years from 1900)

--------

= 135

+ 20 the Date

-------

= 155

+ 2 Aug is 8^th month, 8^th number in above series is ‘2’

------

159

Now divide it by 7, the remainder is 3

1-->Monday

2-->Tuesday

.

.

.

.

0-->Sunday

All you have to do is to remember the above Series. Think logically when you are finding out the day of dates of January and February in a leap year. You have to subtract ‘1’ from the final Sum.Why??

i have been following some quiz blogs (Rohit Nair, Moving Hands, quizkreig etc) quite lately just to get equipped for the next year' TATA CRUCIBLE.

here are the list of questions which i found interesting in this week:

1.
Contrary to the popular belief, this brand of Ice-cream is American and not European. It was established by a Polish named Reuben Mattus in The Bronx, New York in 1961. Mattus used a tactic called "Foreign Branding" in marketing. He came up with a name that was made of two fictitious words meant to look European to American eyes. He used the spelling system that is mostly used in the Scandinavian countries. He even included an outline of Denmark on early labels to reinforce the Scandinavian theme. Ironically, of the 700 outlets in 54 countries, none of them is in any of the Scandinavian countries. Which brand?

2.
This word in the English language means 'a fresher/new- comer'. It takes its name from certain pieces in Chess that are almost always played towards the end of the game. Which word?

3.
This cup is the most 'jinxed' cup in the history of Soccer with no holder ever defending it successfully. The first competition was held in 1960/61 season and Fiorentina won it. However, it was abolished by UEFA in 1998/99 season and Lazio was the last winner. Which Competition?

4.
The song "Aayegaa, aayegaa, aayegaa aaane waalaa" is considered to be one of the biggest hits in Lata's career but Lata is yet to be paid for this song. What is the funda?

5.
In test cricket, which batsman holds the record for most runs in his career without a hundred?

7.
Warner Bros advertised this movie on the Red Bull Racing Formula One cars for the 2006 Monaco Grand Prix. The advertisements were there along the rear wing of the car and even the dress of the drivers was according to the theme. David Coulthard, one of the Red Bull drivers, managed to get the team's first podium that day as well. Which movie?

8.
Contrary to the popular belief, kissing in Bollywood movies started long before Murder. This is probably the first such instance, in the 1933 movie Karma, where a prolonged kiss created a sensation at that time. This is a story of a maharani falling in love with a neighboring prince was described as a 'sort of American romance done against an Indian background'. Identify the actor and actress involved in this famous scene. (Pic:given)

The most famous and the common place for hanging out in Hyderabad is the HUSSAIN SAGAR. You can always spot huge gatherings on two sides of this magnificent historic lake. One is the Secunderabad main road which connects the twin cities and the other being the famous and the favorite one “Necklace Road”.

If Sec’bad Road is famous for its beauty and elegance due to the presence of statues of famous leaders, visionaries and other greats; Necklace Road gives a tough competition with the presence of EAT STREET, Necklace Rd Station, MILESTONES ( we call the couples sitting at a the parks near the road at an equal distance as milestones). All together they add to the beauty of the Necklace Rd.

Yesterday to have a break, I made a small visit to the same. I was completely taken aback with its beauty without the usual crowd; pleasant, serene, composed.

I then realized how a place changes with the absence of crowd.

This is a big concern for us Indians. We always try to avoid those places which are over crowded

because we can’t really enjoy but cannot stop ourselves in going over there. We are unable to enjoy the drives because the roads are over crowded; we cannot take the public transport for the same reason. So Infrastructural Development is indirectly proportional to Population.

India does have some beautiful places but the crowd is blocking its beauty from our view, just venture out in the middle of the night in your city. You will know.

One more Telugu movie and I ll go crazy, completely crazy towards the extreme. On 15^th August India got its freedom from the British but when will these Telugu movies get its freedom from the timeworn, stereotypical formulas of making a movie? Is there anyone who could help me out of this?

Yesterday along with 2 of my friends went to watch BALADOOR (an aimless fellow, useless fellow in local parlance) expecting it to be good as it was from Suresh Productions’ Banner. The movie right from the beginning was out of proportions with over dose of nonsense, idiocy and meaningless songs all over and all of a sudden. Nothing new with this movie or any previous Telugu movies. These directors don’t have a word called “Experimentation” in their formula book. If a director comes out with a good subject, others follow the same with some slight changes in the cast.

A small peek into this movie “BALADOOR” or any Telugu Movie:

Hero beating up 10 villains at a time even tough he has a bullet or a dagger is in his stomach (as usual). His friend always knows the location where the hero is being beaten up, as if he is equipped with GPS or something!!! Light years far from Reality. Hey James BOND you are still lagging from our TOLLYWOOD movies. You need more than 10 mins and some futuristic gadgets to locate whereas our dudes do that in seconds and that too without any gadgets. Howzzat????

I really don’t understand why these directors are sticking to the same old tried tested formula? Aren’t they able to follow up with the audience and their tastes? Well the crowd is also to be blamed. Movies like Iqbal, Being Cyurus were at least noticeable in Hindi, if the same movie was to be made in Telugu? God only knows. Directors like RGV and Nagesh Kukunoor have moved away from this Industry with no signs of coming back.

However with some new off time directors and their movies like these (CELL: poster given below) provide some relief to people who want some change.

Well I have decided that I won’t watch any Telugu movie again until I get good reviews from the movie.

Technology has got some weird impacts on our daily life, on our behavior, and even on our daily routine jobs. I am gonna quote on such an instant which was happening for long but could realize only recently. Yesterday I went to Archies to get a Teddy to gift my sis on Rakhi. The moment I entered the store some nostalgic feelings got wrapped around me!!! Just a second, Archies is quite synonymous with GREETING CARDS right? Do you remember the last time you bought a greeting card? I am still scratching my head. As far as I remember I didn’t give a card to my girlfriend on her last b’day also. GREETING CARDS which I always preferred them to GIFTS just got undetectable by my eyes, brains. ufff BY MEEE… I always enjoyed shopping/ selecting cards for my friends. It used to be a platform to showcase my Calligraphic Skills, my taste related to the quotes (which according to me was important reason to get a particular card). I still remember, I used to scribble on my notebook the new fonts to be used for the new card to be purchased. In this regard I was really a big hearted guy helping my friends in selecting a card and giving them final touches. I always enjoyed doing this stuff and was very passionate too. It was one of my favorite hobbies and the letter ‘S’ being my favorite. I even spent more than 500 bucks for those calligraphic nibs. Times have changed now, now thanks to the internet and SMS no one bothers for a CARD and double thanks to these free fonts available on net and various Photoshop actions for text effects, calligraphy has taken a back seat. Finally and Frankly, it HURTS. It may not be a big deal, but deep inside me, it does. Then I realized that one needs to MOVE ON with the technology and therefore I picked up Photoshop. During my calligraphic stage, I was just focused on TEXT and Fonts but now with Photoshop, I started playing with pictures, editing it my own way. Its fun actually, though time consuming. The end product makes the time spent/wasted worthwhile especially when people around you shower some praises on you. And with the startups like ZOOMIN helping you, you are a happy geek all again At the end of the day I was able to create a small niche again which I used to enjoy 2-3 yrs back. So technology really does helps. I don’t know what the umpires have to say. Their decisions are now under scanner. It helps when Steve Bucknor is on the fields. Hoping Simon Toufel gets the least reviews made by the players.

I normally hate working on Saturdays and today was no special. Started bitterly, I had to wake up all of a sudden remembering that water needs to be pumped into the tank. I found the fan to be switched off, may be my room mate switched it off as normally he does every chilling morning. Without giving a second thought I ran towards my kitchen balcony only to find that there was no power (why?? Fuse blown up) gosh!!! This was enough to make my brain go loony and stupid.
Then it was followed by a brainless quarrel with my girlfriend. Gr8 and awesome morning to begin my lazy day. I tried to be positive but for the idiotic traffic chaos and an irresponsible constable.
These things still lingering in my mind made me to sit frustrated. After a long chat with my boss about Indian Engineering and the lack of Long term thinking amongst just, I headed for my room again to watch Sehwag’ innings. The moment I switched on the TV, he was OUT the next over!!!!! WTF!!.. Is today really turning terrible for me? I tried to get hold of the DVDs of F.R.I.E.N.D.S but of no use. I misplaced them.

Now I am back to my office, sitting idle, waiting for my GF’ call so that I can hit on the roads, go for dinner and at least hope to have a wonderful and fantastic evening.

I saw it last month, but I thought 1^st July is celebrated as “TRAFFIC VIOLATION FREE” Day. But today on my way to office when I saw these PLACARDS again, I asked the cop standing carrying a sandwich ad. He replied that this was a new initiative taken by the Hyderabad Traffic Police in spreading awareness regarding the traffic Rules.

Hmmm.. I couldn’t stop giggling. Back to my office I explained the reasons to one of my colleagues. Here they go:-

First of all, we all are aware of the Traffic Rules. Aren’t we? We just don’t give them a damn. After all we are living in a democratic country yaar. We have that right to drive as we wish.

The other thing is that we cannot curb this Traffic menace by being very soft to the violators. You just can’t give a rose to the violator saying “thank you for breaking the rule”. Was Kamaudi (Traffic Commissioner, Hyderabad City) inspired from Munnabhai? May be or may not be. The fact is that we need to get harsh on them. Serious punishments have to be imposed.

During my MBA classes I was taught about NEGATIVE REINFORCEMENT. Why that model cannot be applied here. After all we are making the offender not to repeat the offence he has made, right?

The other thing which I have noticed is that these constables are not serious about the work they are doing. I was asked to mind my own business when I pinpointed a guy who was violating the rule just in front of the constable. Even if the constable gets hold of that guy, he manages to win over him in a verbal duel. So if you are too soft to them, will they able to realize their responsibilities of proper citizenship? I don’t think so.

We are just worried about our own transport and really don’t care how we do that

It will take years or to be more specific decades in improving our road infrastructure, and millions of generations to improve the mindset of citizens.