The Eternal Optimist!

  Yes, I was wrong. In calling the office as wonderland in my last post. Its actually a mini rural Maharashtra. Most of the employees come from distant villages in that state and they commit three most despicable sins.            1.   They don’t read my blog  2.    They don’t laugh at my jokes  3.     NO INGLIS See? This is where I run in trouble due to my addiction to English puns and idioms. My frequent references to different sitcoms and dramadies on Star World are met with blank stares, I come across graduates (in Marathi) who spell ‘cylinder’ with‘s’ and ‘eradication’ with ‘I’. Contrary to my Germany educated cousins, (ahem) the office people think my English is impeccable and I get respect to a point where it becomes uncomfortable.  The situation is so awful that I had to create an imaginary English speaking friend (who look and talks like Agent Smith in Matrix.) to preserve my English skill...

Ola! My reader friends!  I apologize for the long silence that befell our interection in the friendly virtual world the cruel real world kept me on my toes . Anyway, I just got down to scribbling as I found the next target for satire.  It’s this newspaper that gives really awesome news.  For the purpose of this blog, we’ll call it the Daily Devil Lets get to the point. So this new job opened up the world of working of the print media which we in the audio-visual media have sometimes considered… errr…. ‘not above us’. Firstly, they’re night owls, considerably relaxed then the audio visual folk. And compared to our lean but mean but great news channel which I had compared to the nimble little British intelligence service, the Daily Devil employs a lot more man power. There’s a lot more work and you’ve to write a lot. Finding shortcut in work is not easy. And of course, the sub-editors, the desk workers who write, not necessarily intelligent but sensible news from...

I think the city of Panaji is like a beautiful painting and you cant take your eyes off it. Roaming the city in late evenings after office has become my hobby. I don’t walk. I don’t do anything on my own account. The streets come alive and pull me on and the sea sings songs of joy. Miramar beach is my trusted friend. It is here that I built my first sand castle as a kid. It is here that I wrote my first poem . I shared my grief here with the sea and tears from my eyes fused with the waves to become a part of their calm humming that provides hope. There is this place, elegant as a nobleman, charismatic as a leader, whoprovides a peek in the corridors of power. The hill of Altinho-abode of the ruling elite. Sometimes I stand before the Archbishops House and pretend I own the place or stand on the heights of Altinho imagining I rule the city spread below. The mentions and bungalows of the city’s powerful barons, the sophisticated black coated lawyers at the high court and govern...

Monsoon heralds the beginning of the new academic year and brings joy to all. To me, it announces the end of the party season. My uncles used to drop me back home with a bag full of fresh cucumbers and lots of good wishes for school. I hated monsoon for that. It brought me back from the cave of Alibaba that was my grandmother’s house. It brought me back to this cruel world of studies from the magic kingdom of stories. Above all, the uncles, my two Jinns would vanish behind a curtain of rain- not from the sky but from my eyes. My cousins Sushrut Ria and I called grandmother’s home “Magic Kingdom”. As dark clouds vanished and winter approached, the magic would spread its wings. Like intelligence agents, the uncles knew before we did, the dates of our mid term break. Afraid that my mom will deny permission to go to the magic Kingdom, I would plan my escape a week before the Diwali brake. Bal mama’s shop of electrical appliances was on the way to my school. He used to wait outsid...

So, I got this awesome job with a news channel. I joined and started out with an average performance. But within a month, my performance skyrocketed. I became a favorite at the office and my ideas began to revolutionize the channel. What happened? Freakonomics happened. While I was still a fresher, a trainee in the corporate world, I was given some time to observe the workings of the office. Lot of free time, to kill which, a friend gave me this book. What was in this book? “Incentives” she said. That’s it. Must be some high end economics book, but something’s better than nothing, so I set out to read it. It was awesome! Out of the box application of economic principles focused on one assumption- people react to incentives, positively or negatively. You can solve any question, yup, ANY question using a correctly created algorithm and finding the correct data. That’s what the book tries to say. People don’t react to incentives in a predicable manner, there might be very different reaso...

Was just thinking... Different countries have certain national symbols which remind them of the core values that they believe in for eg, a flag, a coat of arms and a national anthem. I think if an individual had a personal anthem to motivate him/her towards the goal of his/her life, life would be lot more meaningful. A national anthem generally reflects the culture, strategic thought and aspirations of a nation. An individual would need an anthem reflecting his/her character, principles and goals. I have thus created an anthem for myself. This song is called ‘The Hope.’ it centers on freedom, prosperity, confidence and my love for Goa. As long as the divine light In my eyes still shines And my mind Blossoms with dreams As long as I possess A cunning brain And an able hand My hope will never end To be a free man In the land of sea and sand By the power of my will May my mind be graced by peace And my palace by prosperity May my heart be filled ...

Hi all! Wondering where have I been all these days? Well I was busy giving interviews, looking for a job but I think the only job I m good at is axing myself! First, I went to a famous local daily to get the job of a reporter. Considering my studies in poli sci, the interview panel asked me to explain the current political situation in Britain. I answered. They asked me my opinion on pros and cons of globalization, I answered. “What’s the distance between Margao and Ponda and Ponda and Panaji?” I was blank. “It was nice talking to you Mr. Joshi” they said “you may go.” Next stop, Vodafone. “This is a post paid business.” My immediate boss growled as soon as I cleared the interview. (I had studied some local geography by now.) My contacts at the company had given me the impression that I would be getting a desk job. But no, in reality, I had to sell postpaid sim cards to customers on the street, wander from office block to office block, house to house. ...