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Chapter-3: First presentation

Cast: Me, Nimit, Sid, Andy Supporting Cast: Mr. R, Mr. D

Flashback:

We finally got a project, in the Powai office, our PM, Mr. D and our project guide Mr.R.We had a few meetings with Mr. R, who explained us the requirements of the project. The requirements included the kind of screens required, the different entities and the database requirements. We were asked us to document the design document, the database tables and the screen navigation flow.


Our presentation with the "librarian" was slated on November 20th 2002.

End of Flashback:

Scene 1: Getting ready

Location: My home

2 hours before the presentation

Nimit: Yaar ek ar baar ppt dekh lete hain

Sid: abey fattu, kitni baar karega, sab aata hai apun ko

Nimit: Abey decide to karo koun kaisa bolega

Atlee: Nimit, librarian ko hi to presentation dena hai, itna tension mat le

Andy: Sab aata to hai apneko, pandhra (15) minute ka kaam hai

Nimit: Par yaar...

Sid: abey chupp...jaldi jaldi doc dekhle...uska print bhi lena hai

Atlee: saala print bhi nahi liya...saale tujhe bola tha printout leke aane

Nimit: Sid , tu saala kuch kaam nahi karta hai

Andy: Sid gaya ab tu

Sid: arre par...vasai main power cut tha...isliye nahi kar paaya

Atlee: saala tera gaav

Nimit: yaar, thoda serious ho jaao be...pehla presentation hai....thoda jaldi jaate hain abhi

Atlee: haan yaar, wahin printout le lenge

Andy: main rakhta hai softcopy.

Sid: Andy , rehne de, last time yaad hai na...sab ghafla karta hai tu, main rakhunga

Nimit: chupp dono...kaise kaise logo ke saath fuss gaya main...laa mujhe de

Sid: chal sahi hia, Nimit is the best

We take the printout in some stationary shop and move to the busstop. Buses were Atlee's second love. His first love was always temporary. He would know all the BEST bus routes in Mumbai and also had a bus conductor friend. Andy would call him BEST ka baadshah. As he found out which bus would reach the quickest and cheapest, a bus apporached us. Once inside and comfortable in our respective window seats, the conductor approaches us with the irritating sound of the small stapler like device in his hand.

Conductor: Ticket , Ticket

Sid: chaar ehh-ann-tee

Conductor: IIT?

Sid: ehh-ann-teeee

Conductor: IIT naa?

Sid: nahi re EHHH-ANN-TEEE

Conductor: arre kaay bolto haa (what is he saying)

Andy: master, chaar LnT dya...IIT naahi (Andy's learning Marathi for a cause...since then!)

We all are rolling on the floor bynow as Sid frowns and hurles a few abuses.

Scene 2: All set

I would like to explain a little bit about our breakthrough library management system.

This software would be used by the librarian at the Powai office, to issue/retrieve/reservation of books/periodicials and cds for employees of LTITL. A book may have 'n' copies in the library. We had two terms to distinguish between them;


bookId: unique id for a book

accId: unique Id for any individual entity in the library.

For eg: The Book :Java For professionals would be assigned BookId: B1 and its 4 copies would be assigned as A1 to A4.

I still remember, we have fought nearly once every day in order to understand this simple logic.


Our arguements would be funny as well.


We always used to gang up against one another.


Nimit and Sid would have an argument.


Nimit: Abey, BookId ek book ke liye hoga...par accession No ek book main se har copy ke liye hoga


Sid: chupp saala..sab galat bol raha hai


Me would join one of them....take Sid this time


Atlee: bookId and accessionId saath saath hona chiye. Otherwise we will not be able to identify an issued book from the database.


Sid: jo primary key hota hai, woh unique hona chiye..ab bookId cannot be unique....since there are many copies of 1 book...and accID cannot be either becasue you cannot differentiate between copies.


(Sid was the master of databases. Only reason being he was clear he wants to take up a career in Oracle. He only knew some fundae on databases, but we trusted him like God)


Andy would be silent till then...Thinking which side to join in.


Invariable, he would join the weaker party of the argument, Nimit in this case....


Andy: Par 2 variables lagenge na saale, jab search karega to accession number is not required. We need only book id in that case.


Now the fight was on!! 2 on 2.


Sid: But primary key is only one unique key. Woh book nikaal Korth, usme sab theek se diya hai.

Nimit: pata hia mujhe woh...saala tujhe database aata hai to mujhe bhi aata hai

Andy: do variables rehne de na. Jab search ka kaam hoga to bookID ki hi zarurat hogi

Atlee: ab yeh search kyu beech main laa raha hai.

Sid: Andy tu chupp baith...we need just one variable BooKKey which will be a mix of bookID and accessionID

Nimit: no ways...kuchbhi bol raha hai tu...documentation theek se padh...2 months ho gaye shuru karke, itna simple cheez nahi aa raha hia...Andy...tu hi samjha isko

Andy: Yaar, fir se shuru karte hain. Apna project main books, perioidicals and cds ko librarian issue/retrieve ya reserve kar sakta hai. Ab retrieve karne ke liye search feature hoga jisme bookId search key hoga. Uske results main number of availabl copies aayenge jab we will need accessionId to decide which books are available. Now, when he issues a book he will select one of the accesionIDs active and issue or reserve the book to the customer.

Sid: Customer nahi be...employee. Log galat samjhenge

Nimit: chee saala Sid, ganda dimaak

Now, Nimit-Andy combine was titling the arguement in their favor.

Atlee: But we can do that with the combined Id as well.

Sid: Yes, jo search hai usme exact wahi key aayega jo available hai. Librarian need not bother which Id is availbale not.

Nimit: Par agar sirf book pe search karna hai to accessionID will not be required. Kya dimaak kharaab kar rahe ho yaar...20 min hogaya...fukat ka discussion chal raha ahi

Atlee: Dekh Sid aur main barabar bol rahe hain...when we can do it with one id why need another varible.

Nimit: Yeh sab baat apna ho gaya tha...TUM LOG FIR SE WAHI BAAT KAR RAHE HO!! think of the other things we need to do in the project. Database design sab baaki hai...Main aur Andy isi approach se kaam karenge...tum log ko nahi karna hai to bhaad main jaao. Andy , tu hi samjha inko

Andy: err....waise Sid jo bola woh bhi barabar hai...dekha jaayega to...waise bhi kar.....s..s sakte hai..

Yes, Andys on our side now...Its 3-1

Majority wins! Arguement over!

Andy usually the confused soul...would switch from one side of the debate to another. I dunno if it was on purpose in order to end the arguement, but eventually we finished our battle 30 mins later...we almost come close to blows...all agigated...glaring...

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More on our arguements later...Right now we are entering the LTITL office, the reception area, talking to the sweet receptiionist.

Overcofidence oozed in our swagger..as we walked up to Floor:1

The door opens, and we reach the cubicle of Mr.R, our project guide.

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Scene 3: Nightmare

Mr R: So, you guys have arrived. Are you ready?

Atlee: Yes sir! ( As usual foot in the mouth)

Mr R: Presentation ready hai na?

Andy: Err.. Yes Sir

Mr R: You guys move to the seminar hall. We will be there in 5 minutes.

SEMINAAR HALL!!

Nimit: Yeh librarian itna bada aadmi hai ki seminaar hall main presentation.

Andy: Theek hai re, librarian hi to hai. Chalo neeche chalte hain

We reached the seminaar hall. It was dark room, with a white screen on the wall. Across the wall were placed around 10 desks with computer desktops attached. We took a few deep breaths and swtiched on the lights. Me who was still the technically challenged among the 4 of us, didnt venture out to the floppy drive. Nimit, moved ahead and swtiched on the CPU, arranged the wires to swtich on the projector and the seminar hall came to light!

We had everything ready, the ppt, set to slide:1 , with the title Library Management System in Font 14, while our names magnified the screen in Font :20.

"Software se jyaada, Developers ko bhaav milna chiye", Nimit used to boast. It looked nice too, as if we are the Bjarne Stroustrup or Niklaus Wirth of this era.

Our eyes were fixed on to the door, waiting for the librarian and our project guide.

I had seen very few librarians till then. In school, I hardly remeber going to the library, in junior college, our library had separate seats for girls and boys, so library was like "where"! As far as our engineering college was concerned, we had this librarian, a Marathi Manoos, jolly good fellow, who used to bore us with inane jokes, especially about authors and books which we hardly knew about. I expected our librarian to be another Marathi manoos, and someone who would be easy to convince as far as the project was concerned.

Sounds of the footsteps....Louder Louder...In comes a gentleman...In his mid 20s, short , curly haired with a pair of rimless glasses ushered in, took the far right corner of the room.He could probably sense the inquisitive look in our eyes.

I almost put my other foot in my mouth, by telling him, maybe he is in the wrong room. Andy asked me to remain silent.

Another sound...no, sounds...a lot of footsteps... this time two gentlemen. Just walked in and took their positions. None of these guys were the librarian(i assumed) or our project guide.
3 strangers who could easily have looked like managers. The next minute, to our astonishment, surprise or rather...shock..this was the right expression, the seminar hall was filled with 10 people. It also included our project manager Mr M, and his boss, Mr. J (who was a very very serious fellow) In came Mr. R, our only messiah in the room cool,calm and stylish.

Mr. R: Yes, you may start with the presentation.

What was going on! 11 people in the room, all big shots...and no one looks like the librarian. We are cheated! I looked at Andy, infact all four of us were shouting with our eyes...lip shut, body unmoved and feet rooted to the ground. Nimit, almost hid himself behind the computer he was adjusting just a minute ago.

Mr R: Common guys, we do not have much time.

Well, we had to start something...I managed to pull myself to the dias, oh what a feeling it was...stomach was curling inside, heart pumping outside and the feeling of going to the loo!!! I must stop here....

Atlee: gg Good Afternoon Sir...Sirs...(If was around 430 Pm, I was confused between afternoon and evening, stuck to afternoon as I felt it was going to be a loong day at the office). We are fourth year students of Vidyavardhini College of Engineering working with Larsen and Toubro Infotech Limited on our final year internship project.

Mr. J: It would be nice if you could introduce yourselves.

Ofcourse...what a fuckoll introduction it turned out to be...no introduction, no pleasant nothings straight about the project! Engineers will remain engineers. I thought...Im sure, neither of Andy Sid or Nimit may have done better. Atleast I took the leadership! Its so strange, pressure brings the worst in all...so much that suddenly the team became insignificant.

Atlee: Ahh...yes Sir... I am Atul Pujar(Atlee). I would like to introduce my team members, Ananthasivam Iyer (Andy), Siddhartha Joshi( Sid) and Nimit Patel. Each one giving a customary bow, as if he just sung an aria.

Mr. D our project manager sat alongside Mr. J, his boss...The others took their seats and took out their notepads and pencils. Mr. R sat next to the short curly haired guy. It seems, they were good friends as they started talking in Marathi and smiling at each other.

Mr. D: Yes Atul...go ahead.

Atul as I would like to call myself now, now that it is a professional affair.

Atul: Good afternoon again, We are fourth year engineering students ofVidyavardhini College of Engineering , Vasai and are specializing in Information Technology.

Mr. J: Is it the same as BE Computers?

A cliche question! Asked by almost every other older guy I have met and who knows something about computers! We had typical answers as well, and had mastered it over the years.

Atul: Well, BE I.T. and BE Computers have similar course structures.However, BE IT focusses more on Softwares than Hardware. BE Computer Engg course has more courses on Electronics, VLSI while IT focusses more on C, C++, Java.

Mr. J nodded in agreement.

Atul: As per the university curriculum, we are required to implement our academic learning by working in the industry. This internship project is of 12 months duration after which we have the final presentation in June 2003. We are working with LTITL under the guidance of Mr. D. Our project is titled "Library Management System".

There was a slight ease in my tone. The initial hesitation had erased, Sid and Andy were giving me a thumbs up while Nimit was keen to take me to the next slide.

The problem with our presentation was, it was not planned at all. No one knew who was taking what slides. Our premise was simple, if its the librarian whom we have to presentation, we can do it simply impromptu!

Impromptu brought us to a seminar hall with 10 people watching each move, each word closely.

Had I seen the ppt once, I would have been more than comfortable, but the fun was, each slide was a suspense for all of us ,except Nimit. And he chose to move the slides at the keyboard. Apprehensive, I asked Nimit to move to the next slide. Slide1

Slide 1 which was a gist of the system, the same books, cds periodicals thing. OK! I know this...

I spoke fluently about the various entities the system incorporated. Entusiastically I mentioned the versalitily of the system, it will also include periodicals, journals and cds! . As if they are completely different models with new technology or something. Now some confidence! Next slide please.

The next slide showed some rectangular blocks. Issue/ Reserve/ Reservation written in 3 blocks. I can speak about all 3! YAHOO!

Another easy slide this...wow! I can take any presentation in the world now!

Next slide! Suddenly request turns into arrogance. Nimit looks into my eye with scorn.

Next slide comes in! DATABASE STRUCTURE!

ATUL

ATUL

ATUL

ATUL

ATUL

I came back to earth! Now what! What am I saying next. The slide showed tables with some arrows around, our database design to baaju main...the table design was so horrible, with arrows flowing all around the page to meet its corresponding key in the , messing it all.

A moment's pause...everyone waiting for me to speak.

Atul: I woud now call upon Ananthasivam to take over the presentation. Andy stumbles from his seat, Main Kyu!! He looks at me as if Im Brutus, stabbing him in the back.

I decided that I could not handle it any further and someone had to take the mantle from me. Andy was the best bet. He was almost sleeping by then, assuming it would all be over. Andy takes over the stage now.

Andy: Database Design!

Andy looked much more in command. He started by explaining some variables, what exactly they meant in the system. I , meanwhile sat down in the far end of the hall, in front of that curly haired guy, whom we will now refer to as "pocket dynamo". You will soon know why!

As Andy was busy explaining the table structure, I heard voices of disagreement behind me.

"Naahi re, haa database design madhe gondhal aahe" ( There is something wrong in this database design). I ignored, focussed my attention to Andy. By then, Sid came and sat next to me and we were trying to control this tense situation around us.

Suddenly, pocket dynamo stands up!

Pocket: Excuse me, I have a doubt!!!

Silence!

Doubts! From where! Such a streamlined presentation going on, how can you have any doubt!

Andy: Err...Y Yes Sir...

Pocket: I want to know how is this table normalized.

NORMALIZED....normal...norm...normal....ive heard this somewhere....normalization!!

yes, normalization...where where....Cricket...no ..some movie...nayy!! C++...no...Microprocessor...no!! your close....Database....yess....maybe...Korth!

Yes, Korth!! Chapter 10. Rules of Normalization. Yes, Rule 1 says.....BLANK...... I often remembered the source, but not the contents....this was yet another such instance. The moment we realized it was related to database...all eyes turned to Sid!

Its his job!

Andy: (in a hushed tone) Sid....

Sid is looking elsewhere. Andy again prompts out to reach Sid, but since me and Sid were sitting towards the end of the room, some 25 ft away from Andy, it was difficult to call someone in hushed tones. Finally Andy had to resort to brute force

Andy: Yes sir, About Normalization, I would like to ask Sidhartha to answer your query.

Sid gives Andy a killing look. "aha mil mujhko"..somehow Andy got it...bahar mil mujhko he said and took the stick pointing it to the table on the screen.

Sid tried to explain the rules of normalizaiton which I would like to avoid saying it here, since I will have to open Korth myself. However, there was something wrong in our design. Soon, pocket dynamo rose once again...stopping Sid midway.

Pocket: This is wrong..This field should not be in this table. It is redundant.

aah! Redundancy was something related to normalization. I was trying to understand the rules in their discussion.

Pocket went on to explain something else. We nodded our heads with compete authority. Then, he turned to another table. Pointed another defect. It looked like things had already turned sour. This shorty had ruined our presentation before it was even halfway through. Our shoulders were dropping, no one was ready to defend.

Kahan se defend karte, none of us knew the intricacies of the database, and Sid, was already out! clean bowled!

Suddenly, Mr. R our dashing project guide, spoke. I thought, thats it, now he will start bashing the design as well.

Mr R: I do not agree to your point.( Looking towards Pocket dynamo). This design is right. If you see, the redundant fields are not seen in this table...

Soon, it was a free-for-all. All the gentlemen in the room started discussing/arguing over the structure barring the four of us. We wee looking in the direction of the person talking...half understanding the words, half understanding the table structure. "Oh kool, apna right hai". "Oh, yeh to galat hai"...The fish market seemed endless, pocketdynamo, was vibrant with energy , criticizing the design, showing how he would have made it. Mr. D joined Mr. R too, showing him that his table had a wrong field, not normalization. The short curly haired gentleman, suddenly exploded into this techie whiz kid who would blast the project once n for all.

Hence the name "Pocket Dynamo"!

Finally, the commotion ceased. They asked us to continue with the presentation. Andy continued with the other slides which were screenshots of the to-be project. There were minor changes asked, which we noted down. As Andy reached the last slide "Thank You" we heaved a sigh of relief.

A brief pause and Mr. D stepped up. Although he didnt look overjoyed, he managed to smile and applaud the presentation. He told us, that the work has just started and the next phase will be crucial to the project life cycle. We nodded, once again.

Nimit, who was in hiding till then, finally spoke. He told Mr. D that we will begin with the coding phase from the first week of January after our seventh semester would wind up. The gentlemen started to walk off, as we waited for them to leave.

Andy: Gone!

Sid: ohh fcuk!! kya waat laga be

Atlee: Shit! itna khatarnaak presentation.

Nimit: Chalo yaar, ab yaha se niklo....warna fir koi presentation dena padega. Baahar jaake baat karte hain

We rushed out of LTITL, took a rickshaw and went straight to a restaurant, ate and drank some cold drinks while recounting every thing that happened the afternoon.





















Sunday - timepass

This Delhi Darshan is worth a dekko from the shops of CP, into the bylanes of Chandni Chowk or along India Gate. As far as content is concerned, there is a lot of meat in this suspense storyline, which it seems is a southie remake.

But then, what are Irfan Khan and Arshad Warsi doing in a suspense flick. Well they provide some amazing moments of gags in the movie, which are a complete laugh riot.

Performances: Ajay seems to have got his timing right this time, but its his deputy inspector who outshines him this time. Ayesha Takia is decent, but needs to shed some kilos!! Where was her friend Anjana Sukhani after the first 15 mins. I'm in love with her!

Irfaan Khan is the trump card, with his takes on Deewaar, Ravan and Himesh Reshamiaa.
Arshad Warsi is good too...but repetitive occasionally.

Watch it with friends or family. No lewd jokes here.

Atlee's Report: 3/5

Chapter -2 : Dream Project No. 2..to be shelved soon

Timeline: July 2002
Cast: Me, Sid, Andy
Supporting Cast: Mr. X, Secy
Spl. Appearance: Nimit


Our dream project was shelved. No sweat though, we always knew we were incapable of doing that D/L thingy. So, then we managed to go the conventional way for the final year project. It was such a big thing for us. We ( as in Me Sid and Andy) managed to get some contacts at LTITL through my dad, and were on board for our 1st meeting with Mr. X at the Mahape office.
You must be wondering where our optimistic guru Nimit is, and y a spl appearance for him. If you remember in his intro he has one foot in the USA. This time, both his feet were in USA.

Scene: Outside Mr. X office

Secy: Oh , so you guys are here to see Mr. X
Sid: (in his peculiar terrible voice) yes
Secy: Sorry
Sid: YES
Finally he is heard.
Secy: okie, keep your resumes ready.

Me: Andy, resumes laaya na tu
Andy: huh! resume
Me: Nimit ne last time tujhe diya tha na xerox karwaake
Andy: Diya to tha, but yaad nahi kidhar hai
Sid: Saala tum log ko pehle hi bola tha, sab docs mere paas rakho, time pe rahega
Andy: Ghanta tere paas, khud to milta nahi tu, resume khaak milega.
Sid: mereko maalum tha terese kuch na kuch gakti hoga...isliye main...sab karta hun barabar...
aur main aata nhi kyuki Swaminarayan ka temple main jaane rehta hai re. Tu nahi samjhega.

Atlee: Fir se shuru hogaya tu
Sid: Tu to bol hi mat, naastik saala.
Andy: Par ab kya karen, resumes nahi hai
Sid: Dont worry dost..main floppy laaya hun

Remember there existed something like floppy disks in those days...all of 1.44 MB.

The secy stopped our near altercation and ushered us inside.

Mr. X: Please have a seat.
We tried to locate the most distant chair from Mr. X, I end up being the person straight in front of him, which eventually means I have to answer his questions.

Mr.X: Would you like to have something to drink, tea or coffee?
Decline! Almost as if rehearsed

Mr. X: Yes, go on, tell me about your requirements.
Atlee: (Always the first to speak and put his foot in his mouth). We have a one year internship as part of the engineering curriculum where we would be working on industry specific projects.

Mr. X: Can I have a look at your resumes?
Suddenly the wrath of the entire mankind is shifting its gaze towards Andy.
Andy tries to look elsewhere, manages to open his mouth.

Andy: Sir, we unfortunately didnt get our resumes, but we do have a soft copy. Sid, err..
Sid: Yes, sir ( inaudible as usual)
Mr. X: Okie, one of you can just transfer it on my system there.

In order to avoid being part of any technical discussion which would have ensued, Atlee stands up and volunteers to copy the files. However, as limited as his technical skills, amusing are his skills of handling technical stuff. He reaches the CPU, searches for the disk drive, suddenly confused which side to insert in. Finds the arrow mark, heaves a sigh of relief...and in she goes.

Siddus floppiies, usually bought from one of the sidey Vasai shops, were always dangerous to use.
It took the computer a minute to recognize the files and the icon would just not open.
And then a message pops up: Virus alert!

Oh fuck! Atlee manages to Ok all the alert boxes without gathering attention and copies the files onto the computer. God save his PC.

Back to the desk and the chair, where indeed there is some technical discussion going on.
Atlee: "The risk was worth it"

Mr. X: Which language do u wanna work in?
Sid: Jaava and Oracle DB would be the best...
Andy: (cutting Sid halfway) ASP (since Nimit before going to USA mentioned ASP is easy in one of our highly emotional meetings).

Rule No. 1 of any interview will tell you that do not talk about anything that you do not know. And we said 3 words in the same breadth. (Java, ASP, Oracle) Im sure 3 out of 4 people in that room didnt know the fullform of ASP. The odd man being Mr. X Fortunately for us, Mr. X believed in the conviction with which the 3 magical words came out, and didnt ask anything about it.

Mr. X: We do have a requirement in ASP but its a complex and a huge one it will involve almost 16k lines of code.
Sid: No problem, sir we are used to coding programs of that magnitude.

Surprise Surprise!!
Surprise No. 1: From where did Sid use the word magnitude!! GRE main M tak pahuch gaya
Surprise No. 2: Aaj tak 16 line ka code nahi likh paaye hain

Mr. X: He asked so how well versed are you with Access

Andy(choosing his words carefully): Well, as of now, we are still in the learning mode and have got a good grasp of the basics....however, we arestill coping up with the intricacies of the code

Atlee (whispers to Sid: intricacies) iska bhi I tak ho gaya hai.

Atlee was getting uncomfortable with this techie discussion interrupts
Atlee: Sir, could you throw some light on the project.

He went on to explain the project, which was about inventory management of L&T and tracking and dynamically updating inventory records for each month etc.

Our faces were half blank and half sank. Blank coz we cudnt understand half of the terms he used, sank because this was real difficult, imagine hearing 10 different variants of the word objects and databases in the last 60 secs.

But we maintained our composure and calm inspite of our entire engg. curriculum being swept away from our feet.

The Project Manager, as he turned out to be, seemed happy. I will give you a call , he said.
We came out, satisfied, as if we had won a multi million dollar acquisition or something.

Until we realised, we never heard from him ever again.

Although Im still bothered if his PC is in good shape.

Chapter 1 - Duckworth/Lewis were almost history







ar Cast: Me, Andy, Sid and Nimit

Year: 2002-03



Introduction:



Nimit: Mr Nimit Patel, NRI, gujju, with one foot already in the US of A. Dedicated and hardworking, he was the tech guru.



Andy: Big fella, andar se fattu, totally confused chap, and never on time. Always talking abt some shitty TV actor from his Lokhandwala camp.



Sid: Vasai ka gunda kon...horrible speech...nobody could understand wat he spoke, but tremendous analytical ability. Always absent for meetings.



Me: Could only talk about the project, never wrote a piece of code. Once wrote one line and wasted 1 hour trying to compile, error being the ";"



The story begins with the project inception:

This group was accidently formed, I dunno how...

Initially we wanted to work on some independant project. So we were thinking of changing the dynamics of the IT industry, unfortunaltely apart from Nimit, the others only knew how to code the addition of 2 numbers, tht to in BASIC language.



We finally zeroed on one project.

Changing the controversial Duckworth-Lewis method of cricket!!!



Why wake poor D/L from their graves now!



Andy: We are all interested in cricket. Lets do something interesting. We will surely enjoy doing it.

Nimit: But what

Me: I have an idea, how about a s/w for post match analysis.

Sid: accha to hai...aurkya kar sakte hai

Andy: D/L method

ME: What D/L method

Andy: It must be modified. First of all its confusing, aam junta doesnt understand, players dont understand, and its unfair.

Nimit: So, whats your plan

Andy: Lets make a S/W which considers the immaculate details of the game. The weather conditions, the pitch conditions other than the target score in deciding the revised target.

Me: wow! great plan...lets understand the D/L method first.





Great plan! Ghanta great plan...For people who cant differentiate between a database and front end languages, S/W banayenge...nautanki saala, ghadi ghadi drama karte hai...




Ok, back to story




After finding the correct website for the D/L information with pen and paper in hand we tried to understand it correctly.


Sid: Abey yeh to sahi hai be! Matlab agar wickets kum gire, to team batting second ko jyaada faayda hai.

Andy: And your run rate need not be that high as well.

Nimit: Abey tum log D/L main khaamiya dhoondo, positives nahi



It resulted in some heated discussions firstly trying to understand it. And when cricket discussions get into the examples mode, then its all about the game, not the project we were supposed to work on



Nimit:"SA-ENG match main 4 overs deduct kiya tha...and 15 runs reduce kiya"

Sid: Kya khela tha Kallis. Darren Gough is g!@# m!@#$% thi...

Atlee: Aur fir next match main Donald ne rape kar diya Australia ka



After 15 mins of World Cup commentry we realise we were supposed to talk abt D/L.

No wonder we were clueless of what to do. We ended the meeting.
Time to watch a sad ODI between Ind and WI live on TV.

Apna Nimit, was this horribly optimistic Indian cricket fan, esp. when India would chase targets. A sample of his optimism:

Score: WI : 302 in 50 o.
IND: were something 200/3 and a couple of wickets fell.

Sid: Gaya saala yeh match
Nimit: Arre apna Yuvi hai na, bana dega

1 over baad Yuvi out!

Me: ben!@#$ , gaya tera Yuvi
Nimit: Arre dont worry Sodhi khelega

For those who do not know Sodhi, Retinder Singh Sodhi was a prodigal cricketer who along with Kaif n Yuvi was part of the U-15 team. he had last scored a 50 when he was 12 maybe.

Me: Nimit, tu dekh match, main jaa raha hun.
Sid: saala yeh Sachin ke wajah se hi hua sab, ch!@#$% jaise out ho gaya
Andy: Sachin ki kya galti be...century to maara , aur kya chiye

And Sodhi is gone!!! Bowled
220/7

Me: Nimit, abhi to chal thoda kaam karte hain
Nimit: Abey, abhi bhi chance hai yaar, Agarkar hai

This continued till No. 11 T Kumaran came to bat.

----------------------------------------------------

Going back live to our revolutionary D/L project,
after two more sessions of head banging in trying to understand the calculation, and discussing endless rain affected matches, we decided to shelve the project.
Nimit: shelve nahi, we will keep it on hold. 2-3 mahine baad fir se ek aur baar try karenge

Optimism bhi sharma jaata.






(Chapter 2 will be posted same time next week)
Till then good bye

Top 10 Songs of 2007

Hindi music , or rather Bollywood music has dipped over the years. From the era of live music with 100 musicians playing the violin in symphony to the electronic 8 piece beat, music has surely lost its heart. Songs have turned cacophonous much to the dismay of the elder generation and slowly to the youth ( of which I belong to :) as well).

But there are some songs which rekindle the faith in music that is close to the heart, composed with the earnest and honest approach. The first part of the year 2007 was full of HR (Himesh R) and his nasal antics. Namaste London, Aap ka Suroor with their in your face music. But in between we heard a Metro, Saawaria, Khoya Khoya Chand, Jab we met and somehow good music prevailed.

Here is a compilation of my favorite songs of the year.
havent numbered them as yet.

Life In A Metro: In Dino
Music: Pritam

The concept of using songs was very innovative in the movie. Pritam, james and Soham in the background and complementing the film situation with a soft rock composition.
The initial guitar work passes the mometum to Soham crooning "Hai tujhe bhi izaajat...karle tu bhi muhabat" as the screen shows a hesitant Shilpa Shetty trying to establish a relationship with Shiney Ahuja.
The song takes a classical turn in the middle of the 1st stanza. Clearly classical fusion with rock takes the song to a new level altogether.

Chak De India: badal pe paaun hai
Music: Salim-Suleman

This song may not be as popular as the jingoistic anthem of the year, chak de...but is as effective without the heavy beats around it.
Hema sardesai makes a strong comeback, I dunno if she was singing regularly before this number, but her silky voice makes the song flow smooth. Salim Suleman have used the drum beats effectively to increase the pace of the song. The lyrics are good but not terrific. But its the melody that makes this song long lasting. Perhaps a little more publicity might have helped.

Jhoom Barabar Jhoom: Bol na halke halke
Music: S-E-L

Rahat Ali Khan, is such a nice find for Bollywood. This sweet flowing number is the only calming influence in an album marred by loud volume. Gulzar saab pens the lyrics which as usual have a cryptic effect. The music with the heavy influence of tabla, santoor and later guitar comes in, very nice use of instruments, which is hardly seen in tdays movies.

The lyrics are very very fresh, and expect Gulzar to come up with a new analogy to describe love. "Kiasa lage jo..chupp chaap dono...pal pal main poori sadiyaa bita de" aadab arz hai Gulzaar saab. The only sad part was the picturisation which turned out to be adream sequence leaving no chemistry between the actors.


Salaam E Ishq: Yaa Rabba
Music: S-E-L

Ona roll this year, however they have been unlucky as their movies have failed to win the box office. But S-E-Ishq had a complete package of songs. Shaadi numbers, romantic, and this sad one. Moreover, kailash kher's rendition gives it a mourning feel. A nice effort.


Saawaria: doli Main bithaake
Music: Monty Sharma

Clearly the guitar piece in the beginning wins half the battle. A new voice comes in thereafter and melody thats so special in Bhansali films. There is the ooodleeii a la Kishore as well... Somuch happening in the first 2 minutes of a debut album. And there is cresendo...teri pehli nazar ka dewaaaanaaa banaaa....aewsome singer as well...And there is a Saawaria reprise as well...and Shail hada does shake some boundaries singing that one.

The movie might have bombed, but the songs will last! On another day, I may have picked Shaan's Jab se tere naina...but this one noses ahead.


Om Shaanti Om: Deewangee
Music: Vishal Shekhar

This one has more to do with the video than the song. King Khan dancing with the stars of Bollywood and in their own styles is a treat to watch. I almost learnt dancing this way :) and so did a good friend of mine who will surely visit my blog.

The song looks like to fine tuned according to the shot, which is rare...so there is unnecessary music , but the beauty of the song is inspite of all this ione will stand up and reach the dance floor. Saif Sunjay Sallu and SRK in one frame. Another cute moment is the Govinda SRK jig and SRK's imitations of Urmila and Shilpa. Way to go King Khan.

Om Shaanti Om: Kaise Nainon se Nain
Music: Vishal Shekhar

Again, OSO rocks once again for its picturisation. Deepika dancing with Sunil Dutt saab, Jeetu and SRK nice crafted with excellent special effects. The song is recreated by Pyarelalji of the famous LP jodi. Abhijeet gets his turn under the mike after a long time as well. The song is a nice medley of classical and 70s rock Elvis style. Also the tune to get the DhalGaya Din is rocking as well.

Taare Zameen Par: Maa
Music: S-E-L

S-E-L are the most versatile MDs this year. They gave a JBJ and Jhony Gaddar, with pure dance tracks and then came taare zameen par with such soft touching numbers.

The first hearing of this song bought tears halfway through the song. While watching the movie with the picturisation, it took under 5 secs to get wet eyed. Prasoon Joshi in the last few years has been writing some awesome poetry, Rang de Basanti, Fana and now TZP.

And Shankar singing this song for a child. He almost became a child singing this one. You always had sad songs when u missed your girlfriend. This one is for your mom.


Jab We Met: Aaoge Jab Tum
Music: Sandesh Shandilya

I usually like the least poular song of the movie, and this is no different. There was a Tum se Hi, Muaja hi Mauja...but this one stuck. The song starts like a rip off of Piya Basanti...another of Sandesh's classics. Sandesh has given songs like Suraj hua madham, Piya basanti, Chameli, Socha Na Tha and this guest composition here.

The picturisation is so unique. The song narrates the journey of Kareena after their departure in Manali. Very creative way of going flashback.
The music is so easy to the ears, with the soothing flute and the classical touch of Ustad.
The lyrics...another high point of the song.

Naino pe hum dil haare hain
Anjaane yeh tere naino ne...waade kiye kayi saare hain....


Khoya Khoya Chand: O re Paakhi
Music: Shantanu Moitra

Shantanu Moitra has composed for 3 movies now which are based in the '60s and '70s. And he is a pro at delivering the classics like Shankar jaikishen or SD Burman da.

O Re Paakhi, starts slow...real slow...just a piano beat heren there..Sonu Nigam starts to humm...but holds on...not gaining momemtum...4-5 lines and the song is still lying low. And then, the song changes course...
Is deewane dil ne bhi...julm yeh kya gajab diya
beintaha tha jinse pyaar beintaha unhe ghum diya

Totally unexpected..the song delivers the punching blow.
Swanand Kirkire the lyricist has delivered the ultimate punch here.
Sonu goes from strength to strength, also the music remains in the shadow with only the piano murmuring along.

Song of the year!




Khoya Khoya Chand

Some movies define, or rather redefine passion.

Sudhir Mishra is a renowned filmmaker. His works include jaane bhi do yaaro, is raat ki subah nahin, chameli in the past. However, I became his big fan after watching Hazaar Khwaishen Aisi.



The moment the trailers of Khoya Khoya Chand were out, I knew I had to catch the movie in the 1st week itself.



Now, around 2 months after the movie, its died down, one of the bigger flops of the year.

But somewhere, it was not a bad movie. And once again a passionate movie has failed to move the audience.



What went wrong? Or rather I'll talk about the positives first.



The plot:



On paper the story looks dazzling. The real story of Meena Kumari and Kamal Amrohi, according to a confirmed source. The passion of filmmaking in the past. How they lived their entire life on movies. How actors in the past wore their hearts on their sleeve, caring nothing about the public. How 2 people so madly in love find themselves distant apart. How love finds its way back.



The screenplay and dialogues:



Some urdu words were mind blowing. I dont remember any such instances right now. The depiction of Shiney Ahuja's relationship with his father and its projection in reel life. How the writer vents his emotion through his movies.



The music:



The best music of the year I felt. Probably Jab We Met was commercially better.

Thirak Thirak Thiak Thirak...is such a happy song, but the lyrics make you wonder if its a happy moment.

"Ikrar ka Ek lamha mila...ussi waqt rootha woh zaalim waqkt"



Or my favorite "O Re Paakhi". Sonu Nigam has sung his heart out here.

"Beintaha tha jisne pyaar

Beintehaa unhe ghum diya"



Goose bumps!



Even the easy on your ears, Yeh Nigaahen, gives the feel ofthe soothing 60s.



But somehow the movie failed somewhere.


Soha Ali Khan: This is her best movie till date no doubt, but she didnt fit the role of a diva. Her character had to be the most powerful, as she takes the most bold decisions esp. as the movie is set in the '60s. The role was as powerful as "geeta" in Hazaar Khwaisehn Aisi, but I missed a power packed performance like that of Geeta's in this movie.

Shiney Ahuja: He is getting typecast into the sullen mellowed and frustrated character roles. This was similar to his characters in Gangster, Who Lamhe and Life in a Metro. Although he put in a lot of effort to show the passion for cinema and his love, there was an element of surprise needed, considering hes back with his mentor in this movie.

As a result of this slight dissapointment from the main lead, their chemistry is found wanting, either in the love making scenes or their urdu conversations. And this was the backbone of the movie on which the entire success rested.

Sudhir Mishra tried his best to take the plot from one pathos generating moment to another, evoking sad feelings to touch the audience's heart, but the actors failed to hold it.

Also, he movie needed a bit of trimming.

But eventually, I would like to salute Sudhir Mishra for his effort of keeping the flags flying high. He cares zilch about commercial success and formula films and thats the spirit required. Eventually the audiences will lap it up.



 
 
 

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