Book Review: God Is A Gamer by Ravi Subramanian

Title: God Is A Gamer

Author: Ravi Subramanian

Genre: Thriller/Fiction

Number of pages: 324

Publisher: Penguin Books India

ISBN-10: 0143421395

ISBN-13: 978-0143421399

Ravi Subramanian always brings to my mind ABBA's famous number which goes like this, "Money, money, money; Must be funny; In the rich man's world." It's this lure of money and the power that comes with it that makes the tales told by Ravi intriguing and engrossing, often leaving the reader at the edge of his/her seat wanting more.

God Is A Gamer, much like his previous four titles is based on the backdrop of banks and all that's associated with it. In this latest edition he taps on the mysterious new form of currency that took everyone by storm early this year, Bitcoins. Being a banker himself, Ravi has been able to explain the finer nuances of how this currency works and its pitfalls, however maintaining the simplistic language making it understandable.

My Path To Get Published

Once upon a time there was a young man called Nelton D’Souza. Nelton believed he had a very special gift of writing stories that moved one and all. This craving to write didn’t let him sleep at night. Every time and everywhere, be it on the bus or while doing mundane things or when he was by himself, his mind would wander to lands unknown where he would meet people unseen. Those people were like any other, but beyond their faces lay immense pain from the battles they fought on a daily basis. When Nelton didn’t write he would be enveloped by sadness but whenever he did, inspite of a tiring twelve hour workday and another four hours of travel, he would find a new sense of joy and vigour. Nothing made him happier than writing. After all it was writing which allowed him to escape into a world which was not judgemental and where he could be the hero slaying beasts, demons and fire-spitting dragons alike.

Reliance Digital - Ushering in a new era of Digital Shopping.

The good and smart people at Reliance come up with something or the other to improve the lives of millions of commoners. After Reliance Wellness, Reliance Fresh, Reliance TimeOut, Reliance iStore and some of the brands that I'm forgetting Reliance Digital is their new venture. With the aim of providing end to end electronic solutions to the consumers this store (the one at Infinity Mall, Malad West, Bombay) is a one of a kind. 

Like any top class international store the entire store was divided into sections like IT, accessories, entertainment, mobiles, etc. It seemed like be in in the case of laptops or even camera's all sections of society were thought of. From entry level to mid-range to high end products all were there to purchase or just hold and experience. As an attention to detail, all products on display were labelled well and gave all the necessary information. 

The star attraction at the store was the Samsung gesture controlled TV. If it weren't for the price I would have picked it up. Unfortunately in an age when salary comes in like a snail and goes out like a rabbit you are left with no choice but to let things be. But the experience at the store did give me a feeling of ownership even though for a few minutes. On a lighter vein, married men will be happy that atleast the TV dances on their fingers :)

An interesting concept by the ever smart Reliance people is the Power Eye section which has the latest offers  and fast moving goods on display. This section is right at the entrance and is the first thing you'll notice as you walk in the store. 

If you ask me what different you will find at a Reliance Digital Store as compared to any other store. Then here it is.

1. Things are a bit cheaper. eg. The Lumia 920 costs Rs. 31,999 at Reliance Digital while at Croma which is just 200 meters away its Rs. 32,500. I compared the microwaves too and it was cheaper than what I saw elsewhere. Nice offers on the iPhone too.

2. Relaince Digital has its own brand called 'Reconnect' that comprises of a host of electronic equipment that we use in our daily lives, from home entertainment products such as televisions, multimedia speaker, DVD players to home appliances such as juicers, coffee makers, etc. They have partnered with the best in the industry to develop great products at affordable prices. 

3. Reliance Digital also has an in-house Reliance TimeOut corner where you can get your hands on music, stationery, accessories, etc. The Books section is one thing that caught my attention. Probably because I too am authoring a book which is due for publishing and should be out in a month's time. For more details on that visit www.neltondsouza.com. 

All in all, the Reliance Digital experience was a good one and promises to bring in a new era of digital shopping.

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The Kala Ghoda festival - an extravaganza of art, culture and music

Kala Ghoda festival - an extravaganza of art culture, a celebration of art music and other art forms, platform where new ideas meet old thoughts and ways to create setups that can keep you under their spell for quite some time. A nine days long festival that showcases the cultural diversity of India is held every year Mumbai during the month of February and I felt quite lucky when I could witness this amazing display of talent and art.

What can you say when a huge a black horse made of wires, speaker woofers and tires greets you to a festival named after it? Kala Ghoda features installations varied from technological cars to environmental issues and social issues, pavement shows, exhibitions of paintings and sculptures, literary events, film screenings, music concerts, dance performances, theatre shows, workshops, heritage walks and food fiesta, and last year was no different. Stalls of artefact from all the states of India had its own charm and colourful appeal but most of all, them being set up in one lane made me proud of my country that celebrates unity with diversity. A sea of people, from every corner of India, rejoicing in the environment that respects their love for art and a food fiesta, savouring every delicacy of India just grips you tight. How often do you get to see and make clay pots, the potters’ way, in a huge city like Mumbai or policemen, who spend most of their life making you safe, displaying the magic of their hands through paintings and photography? Could you imagine a huge lantern made of Bisleri bottles or a levitating Buddha made of sand? Well Kala Ghoda had it all. Artists like Vishal-Shekhar duo, Sunidhi Chauhan and Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy also made this sea of people ripple and wave to the rendition of their tracks and love for the festival.

 And that’s not it; there were street shows like walk a rope, lagzym, puppet shows, a number of folk dance performances and many more. And in the end, it gives you to gift yourself a souvenir of art – a portrait of yourself in pastels or paint with a promise taken that you will surely return. Truly speaking this versatile festival has a lot offer and a lot to share, and for art lovers like me well its nothing less than arty heaven on Earth that promises newer surprises to art and us every year.

So if you are in town this winter from 2nd to 10th feb do sing to the wind with the horse of the city. Be there and be a part of the KALA GHODA festival.

Some installations of last year that completely mesmerized me…

A Beetle car build completely out of e-waste- transistors, IC cassettes, keyboards, can and metal bottle caps and cherry on the cake – red mouse served as its head light.

 

Noise pollution- an ear meditating, radiating power of silence and an ear tortured by a couple of honks clearly depicting ill consequences of noise pollution.

                      

CRY’s spoon wind chime- Perhaps it was the cutest and most touching installation urging all to fight under nourishment little by little. Every sound of clink that the wind caused just spoke of innocence and of every name written on those spoons.

Cigarette stubs on a bloody ash tray made of human bones. What better 
way to convey the message ‘Smoking is injurious to Health.’

Cutting chai something so genuinely a part of a Mumbaikar was also highlighted by a huge pyramid made of the chai glasses.

-Vaisakhi Mishra
Photo Credits - vmpics

The Appytising #NokiaAppTasting IndiBlogger meet.

Bloggers are a different breed altogether. I have said it before and shall say it again. The ability to communicate, interact and speak your mind come what may, comes naturally to them (like publicly announcing at an event that you're only there for the dinner even though you may be just 12 years old is a perfect example). The IndiBlogger meet was a tribute to them, their way of life and their species.

On the 19th of August 250 odd bloggers from various parts of Bombay (some even came from nearby places like Surat and Poona…wowJ) made their way to the Taj Lands End at Bandra Bandstand for an evening of fun and apptasting. Sponsored by Nokia and hosted by the techno foodies Rajiv Makhni and Vikas Khanna resp. in the perfect ambient setting, the night bore witness to the fact that yes, while your stomach may be rumbling for food your mind can still dig apps. What’s more if used well to your advantage you can savor on (or stay away from) some of the dishes at the best places, all thanks to our friends on the web who not only undertook the risk but also were generous enough to share their reviews.

The night took shape with bloggers having to make a tough choice between being a foodie or a techie and proving it too. Probably a few years back that would have been simple given that technology hadn't touched our lives, but in today's times it was and is. While some managed to convince the hosts with their wit and humor and win prizes, others inspite of their best efforts couldn't (good antics, but sorry no Oscar).

What struck me most about the meet was the diversity of blogs and bloggers. On one side where you had a young Muslim guy who was yet to break his fast on the other you had a person who blogged on the stock markets; then while you had a lady who wrote poems and had sons of the age of Rajiv and Vikas on the other you had a 1 and half year old adult blogger - probably the youngest blogger in India and even the world. I must say that blogging has become serious business and blogs a great medium of communication, gone are those days when it was a mere scribble pad.

The focus of the evening then shifted to exploring a whole new world or better said a universe of apps. Not a long time back I always thought that making and receiving calls n sms' was all that was there to a phone but, there came in apps and it threw my thinking out the window. Apps open up a wide range of possibilities for your phone and you. And with so many tasks now possible on your phone to do I wouldn't be wrong in saying that the laptop is nearing extinction.

Some of the apps that were showcased at the meet were the Nokia City Lens – which gives you info of the places around by just panning your camera (and not breaking through walls), the Charlie Chaplin app - that lets you record silent Charlie Chaplin type movies (imagine making a movie on the Lost Bombay, not bad for a start). If you felt that was too much to get down your throat you could try the Food and Wine pairing app that would tell you which wine would go with which food or vice versa (smart I must say, imagine the impression you can create on a girl on a date or amongst friends). In case you have got lost with all this the Food Spotting app – that gives you real-time reviews of a dish you’re about to order, can be your savior.

The evening took a high when a quiz was announced. Questions on food and tech tore the minds apart of not only the contestants but also the audience who tried their best at taking home at least a small prize. (I too tried my best at the few questions the answers to which I knew of but unfortunately everyone else also knew them. Hence no prizeL) the contestants were also kept on pins and needles while the audience in suspense over the upcoming never-before held and heard of final round. The final round came on and everyone felt they were on a show of MasterChef. It was apptasting (this time appetizer tasting. I’m a techno-foodie after allJ) or better said soup tasting at its best. The contestants blind folded had to list the ingredients in 1 minute. The winners were announced and the prize too – A Nokia Lumia phone. I have never felt so close to a top class prize (the prizes I have won have all been consolation prizes) as the winners were seated at my table. I would like to believe that I brought the Banno Ki Saheli’s (the winning team name) luck.

After the meet I had the good fortune of interacting with Rajiv Makhni and Poonam Kaul, Director, Communications, Nokia. The insights shared by Rajiv made me realize why he is referred to India’s original tech guru. Poonam on the other hand was typical of the company she represents – perfect at connecting with people. She patiently listened to my feedback and suggestions on what Nokia should do to win over the market. The promise that Windows Phone 8 has is surely not going to make this (me) go anywhere. You may call me a mad man; I would just like being called a Nokia loyalist. Go Nokia Go. Blow this world.J

If you're an Indian and you think you speak English correctly, think again.

We are a unique species, aren’t we? Not humans. Indians, I mean. No other race speaks or spells like we do.

Take greetings for example.

A friendly clerk asking me for my name is apt to start a conversation with, “What is your good name?” As if I hold that sort of information close to my heart and only divulge my evil pseudonym. Bizarre.

These are  Indianisms.

Which got me thinking about a compilation, the greatest hits of the 11 most hilarious Indianisms out there. The most common ones, and my favorites among them.

1. 'Passing out'

When you complete your studies at an educational institution, you graduate from that institution.

You do not "pass out" from that institution.

To "pass out" refers to losing consciousness, like after you get too drunk, though I’m not sure how we managed to connect graduating and intoxication.

Oh wait … of course, poor grades throughout the year could lead to a sudden elation on hearing you’ve passed all of your exams, which could lead to you actually "passing out," but this is rare at best.

2. 'Kindly revert'

One common mistake we make is using the word revert to mean reply or respond.

Revert means "to return to a former state."

I can’t help thinking of a sarcastic answer every time this comes up.

“Please revert at the earliest.”

“Sure, I’ll set my biological clock to regress evolutionarily to my original primitive hydrocarbon state at 12 p.m. today."

3. 'Years back'

If it happened in the past, it happened years ago, not "years back."

Given how common this phrase is, I’m guessing the first person who switched "ago" for "back" probably did it years back. See what I mean?

And speaking of "back," asking someone to use the backside entrance sounds so wrong.

“So when did you buy this car?”

“Oh, years back.”

“Cool, can you open the backside? I’d like to get a load in.”

4. 'Doing the needful'

Try to avoid using the phrase "do the needful." It went out of style decades ago, about the time the British left.

Using it today indicates you are a dinosaur, a dinosaur with bad grammar.

You may use the phrase humorously, to poke fun at such archaic speech, or other dinosaurs.

“Will you do the needful?”

“Of course, and I’ll send you a telegram to let you know it's done too.”

5. 'Discuss about'

“What shall we discuss about today?”

“Let’s discuss about politics. We need a fault-ridden topic to mirror our bad grammar.”

You don't "discuss about" something; you just discuss things.

The word "discuss" means to "talk about". There is no reason to insert the word "about" after "discuss."

That would be like saying "talk about about." Which "brings about" me to my next peeve.

6. 'Order for'

"Hey, let’s order for a pizza."

"Sure, and why not raid a library while we’re about it.”

When you order something, you "order" it, you do not "order for" it.

Who knows when or why we began placing random prepositions after verbs?

Perhaps somewhere in our history someone lost a little faith in the "doing" word and added "for" to make sure their order would reach them. They must have been pretty hungry.

7. 'Do one thing'

When someone approaches you with a query, and your reply begins with the phrase "do one thing," you're doing it wrong.

"Do one thing" is a phrase that does not make sense.

It is an Indianism. It is only understood in India. It is not proper English. It is irritating. It’s a translation of the vernacular – “ek kaam karo”

There are better ways to begin a reply. And worst of all, any person who starts a sentence with "do one thing" invariably ends up giving you at least five things to do.

“My computer keeps getting hung.”

“Do one thing. Clear your history. Delete your cookies. Defrag your hardrive. Run a virus check. Restart your computer... .”

8. 'Out of station'

“Sorry I can’t talk right now, I’m out of station.”

“What a coincidence, Vijay, I’m in a station right now.”

Another blast from the past, this one, and also, extremely outdated.

What's wrong with "out of town" or "not in Mumbai" or my favorite "I'm not here"?

9. The big sleep

"I’m going to bed now, sleep is coming."

"OK, say hi to it for me."

While a fan of anthropomorphism, I do have my limits. "Sleep is coming" is taking things a bit too far.

Your life isn’t a poem. You don’t have to give body cycles their own personalities.

10. 'Prepone'

“Let’s prepone the meeting from 11 a.m. to 10 a.m.”

Because the opposite of postpone just has to be prepone, right?

"Prepone" is probably the most famous Indianism of all time; one that I’m proud of, and that I actually support as a new entry to all English dictionaries.

Because it makes sense. Because it fills a gap. Because we need it. We’re Indians, damn it. Students of chaos theory.

We don’t have the time to say silly things like "could you please bring the meeting forward."

Prepone it is.

11.Heighted / Weighted

Adding ‘ed’ to a word. Trust me, these are not alternatives to Tall / Fat. Beware; the person you are addressing will laugh at you. Your reputation is on the line.

There are many more pure grammatical "gems" in what we call Indian English. Perhaps in time I’ll list some more. And perhaps in the near future, we’ll get better at English.

Till then, kindly adjust ;)

A day in my life, the lesson learnt

And life continues to surprise. On and often we encounter such moments which send chills down the spine. They make you feel something. Something which could not be described, for which the words might fall short. The closest we can say is..a Learning. This is one of the encounters I had on one day.

It was an "unusal" day for me, as it started very early in the morning, 4:30 am. With my standards of waking up in the "morning", it was still mid-night. Reason? We were supposed to be the one among the crowd of thousands thronging to be face-to-face with one of Mumbai's famous deities - "Lalbaugh cha Raja", the almighty Ganesha, supposed to be the "Wish Granter". As it was going to be the last day of Ganesh Utsav, we made a point to visit the Lord, so that some of our "wishes" may be granted. Also, there was a zest to see the grandeur for which the venue is famous for. Well, we started fine, reached well, joined the queue among the thousands, prayed to the Lord, snapped a couple of pictures, and started back home. No, This is not what all I wanted to share to be the "learning". Like everyone reading this, even I was informed that the "Moral of the story" was yet to come.

Me, with my wife were to board a local train back to where my home is. We boarded one of the coaches in the train, and realized later that it was meant for handicapped. But, there I met with my greatest surprise in life. A few seconds after we had boarded and got a seat for ourselves entered four members of a family. A young boy of around ten years, followed by his father, followed by his mother, carrying their youngest daughters in her arms. They seated in front of us, and the train started moving. . It took me few seconds to realize the uniqueness of the family. Both the kids were one of the kinds every parent would like to have. Very charming daughter, and a caring son. Add to it, they both were too beautiful. And now the strangest part... both the parents were ..BLIND !!!!

So, when they boarded the train, it was like the game of train we used to play while we were kids...one holding the shoulder of the other in front, and the front one guiding them like the engine. Father holding son's shoulders, mother that of father while the daughter was still in her arms. Both of us just looked at each other, and without uttering a word, again started looking at them. The son was talking to his father, uttering very slowly into his ears, while the mother was busy taking care of the daughter, also seated on the seat, between the father and the mother. They all started having some chips from a packet, sharing among all as if they are like everyone.

After some minutes, my wife broke the silence, asking me a question for which I did not have any answer, and I am sure nobody would have. How did they up bring their kids? There are so many things that need to be done for that..right from giving the right place to sleep to right food to eat. But probably that is the "survial of the fittest"..being described in our science text books in school days. I was just wondering the skills of the woman while she would be cooking food. She surely would be using some tricks to cook her food. Might be smell or something.

For next 20-25 minutes, both of us were silent, thinking of the family and one very important fact. Did the parents knew what they posses? Do they know they have one of the most beautiful daughters in the words with blue-eyes; and so was the young boy. So confident as if he can take care of the family and can guide them on the right track. How many families would be there in Mumbai itself, just waiting to shower all their love for a kind they long for so long, and are constantly visiting multiple doctors, innumerable gods and goddesses for their wishes to be granted, just waiting for that to happen so that their just aim in life would be fulfilled. And there was sitting one family before us, having those wishes, but they could not comprehend the wealth they posses. We have read in school days... Early to bed , Early to rise..makes man healthy, wealthy and wise. The statement was coming true.

My wife said a statement which could make a mind healthy, if not body... "We keep struggling for petty things... See them... What do they have? Everything , but nothing. We are so engrossed in our petty pains that we are miles apart from gross sufferings people have. Ours is just a smallest particle in front of them". Secondly these incidents, if you posses those eyes and mind to read, give you the biggest wealth in life... Containment in what we have. If you can look, touch, communicate and hear things you have, you have the wordly wealth. Offcourse money is a means to cherish it. But their is no end to accumulation, and in that, we tend to forget to cherish what we already have.

But this is beyond "Being Human". Every human needs two things...which the next person has, and the other which the next person does not have. And that is all driving the world today. We finally came back home, and thought we have got the blessings already. We were made to realize we should thank him for what he has given us. For what we don't have, life is still there. Keep the hopes alive !!!