I don’t really understand this hoopla around the annual budget. Is it really that important? Why such a fuss? Just calm the fuck down. It is only the government’s statement of accounts on how it intends to earn its money and spend it. That it all.
And price hikes of cars, petrol, houses, etc, are now not restricted to budgetary moves. Happen all around the year. Still budget is drama. This annual exercise is completely futile. If you want to make the government more accountable, there should be a quarterly review. If companies declare their results every 3 months, so should the govt. The budget should the roadmap for the year. Review it every quarter. That is how you make your parliament accountable to your money. Do you remember how much was allocated to a rural scheme last year? No.
So, what is the point in listening to the finance minister harp on fresh expenditure when we can’t even benchmark it to previous year? This yearly façade of budgetary allocations are way off the mark. Every single subsidy, deficit, targets, etc are porous. So, why can’t the government review its budget expenditure and achievements on a quarterly basis? Coming back on track will be much easier.
And then the budget is based on assumptions. These are bound to go wrong.What happens to the budget then? A failed exercise. An assumption of how much the government will earn this year. The foundation itself is flawed. Every year the targets are missed.
When you can’t even guarantee how much money you will earn how do you plan spending that rupee? Its all a big ‘if’. But this talk falls on deaf ears. Budget is to business papers what elections is to a general newspaper. We can’t do away with our love to blow statement of accounts out of proportion. So be it. But at least start with a regular quarterly review.
A top international mining company calls me in the morning. Upset with the story! haha. “We have such a good rapport. Why you write this?” “You are a friend. The management knows you. See if you could write some positive story. Otherwise would be very difficult to talk again.” This is PR. The arm twisting tactics are nowadays very direct. Earlier the game was in subtlety.
“We had so much trouble accommodating you for that exclusive interview. The chairman rarely talks and this is what you write.” “And on top of it we have a relationship of so many years now. You are like (company’s name) family.” You want me to be your mouthpiece then you rather hire me as your corp comm. Will be happy to edit your internal magazine. But the kind of arguments corp comm heads and PRs come up with nowadays is pure bizarre.
According to this particular gentleman, I should be thankful that the chairman agreed to meet me. I ruined it by writing a scathing story. “This is not the first time you have done this. Even in the past have written negative stories against us. Why can’t you see good things.” This is a very common grudge of these mining/metal companies against me. “Why can’t I see what they are doing for sustainable development.” Just because I have a rapport (or lack of it) with them, they expect me to ignore all the negatives. Why?
These guys will do one good thing (mere token) and harp as if they are championing a cause. Multiple press releases, shouting from the top. Find one negative (which is the job as companies never say what is wrong with them) and they shut your doors like heaven on Osama (I hope). If this is the business of communication then please try not to tell me what to write. It is a two-way process. Let it be that way. And then you expect me shut my eyes and look the other way. Well, this is why I have glasses (bad pun).
All I can guarantee is that I won’t be biased against you. And this is where these companies play dirty. “How much has the rival paid you to write this against us?” Hear this often now. Its like a Hindi Film script. Poor boy, rich girl. Typical. And they think that by not talking they can stop us from writing about them. Mistake. To top it all, it is they who come back. “Wassup buddy? Long time! Accha sent you a press release. We are spending xx on CSR. Please zara dekh lo.”
I will write about your CSR if you spend more than the amount made compulsory by the law. Else it is just a law which has to be followed. And what CSR? Bloody your CSR depts are run by your wives. Who have nothing better to do apart from socialite parties. Use CSR as a show-off. This is a thankless job and will always remain one. You write good then you are a pimp. You write negative and you are paid off by rivals.
But no one wants to see the merit of the written word. Mud slinging is the order of the day. Let me get some shrapnel, then.
*End of Rant*
Yes, it is not about Sachin’s 100th 100 anymore. Its about a player who is out of form for a year but yet he is not dropped. If Sachin is not bigger than the game then he has no business continuing in the team till he gets his form back. Simple.
And do not give me stats about his mahanta. He is a legend. But everyone has a shelf-life. Everyone. If you want him to play because of a legend that he is, buy an IPL team and buy him out. National team is not about past glory.
I am a Sachin fan. But I want to keep only the good memories of his play. Unfortunately, he himself is ruining it.
Anyway its not that everyday I find you
Fought demons, for that perfect brew
Looked all over to find a friend like you
To say anything without feeling blue
Yet, I am what I am. I had to ruin it.
I could say what I felt, and even flirt
My heart bounced back from the dirt
Life ached and again raced for rebirth
But I stammered. This wasn’t King’s Speech
And I wasn’t Colin Firth.
But then I had to ruin it.
I can see this is some kind of an illusion
The one faked by love and yet is gruesome
My puffed eyes and a throat with a lump
I want you to feel what I felt but only some
Yet I am what I am. Anyway, I had to ruin it.
I think I told you
What it is to be without you.
I think I told you
What you are — morning hues.
I think I told you
That you add reds to my blues.
I think I told you
Why I still don’t have a clue.
I think I told you
About the dreams, how they flew.
I think I told you
Some lies and maybe some trues.
I think I told you
What it is to be without you.
I think I told you
What you are — my morning hues.
I could feel a twitch in my nose
They say love is in the air.
I could feel the music in her prose.
They say its her charm and flair.
I could feel the spearing black hole
They say I have fallen prey.
I could feel the love overdose
They say its the love spray.
I could feel it flowing from the hose
They say don’t fret, its all gray.
I could see the need to reach a truce
When I saw your heart on the tray.
I could ask them “But what’s love?”
They just smiled but didn’t spare.
I could be the fantasy or your muse
They say its love and you must share.
I have been waiting forever to lay my hands on the Nokia Lumia 800. Have been tracking WP Mango for a long time. Now as I have the phone for over a fortnight, I am loving it, but not quite.
The issue is, I love the OS for the Live Tiles and the People’s Hub. And this is where the problems begin. Live Tiles are awesome but developers are not really making use of the immense possibilities with it at this point in time.
Even Windows Phone isn’t, for that matter. Case in point”: If I get an sms the Messaging Live Tiles shows the number 1. If the People’s hub can show pics of my contacts in a 3×3 grid why can’t messaging? Why doesn’t it flip the picture of the person who has sent the sms? Same with calls.
Expecting app developers to make full use of this OS when the makers themselves aren’t. Worrisome.
Anyway, this is my opinion.
My second and last grudge with the OS is the absence of push notifications in the Me Tile.
Now, the idea of one stream of Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn is compromised because of absence of push notifications.
Why should I open the Me Tile swipe right for notifications and wait for the phone to tell me if there are any mentions on Twitter or on Facebook?
Now, to solve this issue, we have to rely on third party apps like Seesmic which gives push notifications for Twitter. This means, that if someone tweets to me specifically, the phone will alert me right then. If the Me Tile had this option push notifications, then the possibility of a third party app would have been greatly reduced.
Because it doesn’t do that, I have installed Seesmic which notifies me if there is a tweet mentioning me. With this, I have actually doubled my social networks on the phone.
The People’s Hub also has my entire stream and just for the notifications, I have Seesmic, which again gives me my Twitter Timeline.
And same goes with the Facebook app. It gives notifications hence downloaded.
So now, I have the Facebook app, the Twitter app (Seesmic) and the People’s Hub. The need for Facebook app and Twitter app would have been nullified (in my case) only if Microsoft had given push notifications in the Me Tile.
To begin with, I am fan of Nokia. My last Nokia phone was the 6600 and before that, 8250 and 3310. After 6600 I lost my love for the company. Not because it wasnt a great phone. I loved it. But, because of the policies that Nokia adopts to ridicule its customers.
With the Lumia series, I thought Nokia would have changed itself and won’t take the customer for a ride. It turns out, I was wrong. Again.
I have been waiting for the Lumia 800 since the day it was announced. Bunked office and went to book the phone the moment bookings opened. Tracked everyday when the phone is
launching and was the first one at the store to take the delivery.
nNow, Dear Nokia, the price of your Lumia 800, at Rs 29,999 ( $577) is pretty steep. And I come from using an iPhone4. Yet I decided to pay this money to buy this phone. Because I love Nokia and the WP OS truly is amazing.
And this is how you care for your customers?
Just a couple of months after launching the phone, you launch a bigger and better phone, the Lumia 900, in the US. Exclusively.
People talk about the brand loyalty and customer loyalty. I want to ask where the company loyalty towards its customers?
The early adopters of Nokia Lumia 800, the phone, you are supposedly betting your future on, are being treated as a second class citizens.
I dont really care about the dual core processor but a front facing camera and a better battery is missing on Lumia 800 yet people are paying through the neck.
Because its Nokia’s comeback phone and all the fans want to be a part of the success story.
And this is how Nokia responds to us. By launching a bigger and better phone exclusively in the US just 2-3 months after Lumia 800’s launch.
Nokia’s comments that the phone will be priced aggressively clearly shows that Lumia 800’s price will be slashed going forward.
Clearly, Nokia has no regards for its customers who believed in the company and waited to buy Lumia 800 and 710 for such high prices.
I feel stupid that I was so excited about the phone and spent a fortune to buy it when the company doesnt value its customer.
I shed tears
She shed her skin.
I touched her raw nerves
She touched my heart.
I felt I belonged to her
She collected her belongings.
I lost my love
She lost her mind.
I emptied myself
She was full of herself.
She was selfless.
I became self-less.
A Day In My Life. 