I’ve had the pleasure of visiting Thailand on four earlier occassions, some work and some vacation.  And, it was for a business partner meet that I visited the cities of Bangkok and Pattaya, this July.  Here’s what happened next…

Checked in at a lovely sea-side hotel in Pattaya
Headed for the Pattaya Tower observatory
Shopped till I dropped!
Fish Spa pedicure in the mall
Much-needed foot massage
More shopping!
An awesome traditional Thai massage experience
Business conference and Gala night dinner
Won an award for excellent business support provided!!!
Walked on Walking Street till 2.30 am
Headed to Bangkok, stopping at the giant Gems Gallery enroute
Visited the magnificent Temple of the Golden Buddha (Wat Traimit)
Dinner cruise on the Chaophraya river
Shot all the glorious temples on both sides of the river, from the boat!
Quick trip to another Thai temple before breakfast
4 hours in the shopping maze of MBK
And finally, took the evening flight back to Bombay

What a ride!!!

P.S. Photos will be posted on the photoblog, through July-Aug 2010

I went in with huge expectations, considering the last I’d seen of Christopher Nolan’s work was The Dark Knight (my review of which is still pending).  His body of work is small but very, very impactful.  If you’ve seen Memento, Insomnia, The Prestige or The Dark Knight, you know what I’m talking about.  (If you haven’t seen any of these, stop reading right now, and go get yourself the DVDs.) 

By the end of Inception, I was left with one overwhelming feeling – Nolan is a genius! 

Inception has a twisted storyline that takes some effort to grasp, but the journey is so worth the effort that the 2 hours and 22 minutes pass by in a flash.  I’m not going to bore you with the details of the plot and its main characters.  You can get all that on Wikipedia or on the Warner Bros’ official site.  What I’m here to tell you is this…

Inception is an incredible piece of work. 

Narrating a story that transcends multiple layers of the “dream state” is no easy task for any storyteller.  But, with Inception (and The Dark Knight), Nolan proves that he’s achieved artistry in his profession of choice.

Brilliant performances by DiCaprio and the rest of the cast, a huge canvas for Nolan to paint, spectacular special effects that add to the story, appropriate use of visual elements (and Hans Zimmer’s music) to heighten the drama and tension, and finally, enough science to make it all seem believable.  I especially liked the restraint shown by Nolan in his use of special fx and dramatic devices, so they don’t end up being overbearing, but instead, weave their place in the story as it progresses in complexity.

Don’t miss Inception.  It will blow your mind!!!

Beginning to think about design by exploring the tenets of the Zen aesthetic may not be an example of Lateral Thinking in the strict sense, but doing so is a good exercise in stretching ourselves and really beginning to think differently about visuals and design in our everyday professional lives…

Kanso – Simplicity or elimination of clutter
Fukinsei – Asymmetry or irregularity
Shibui/Shibumi – Beautiful by being understated
Shizen – Naturalness; Absence of pretense or artificiality
Yugen – Profundity or suggestion rather than revelation
Datsuzoku – Freedom from habit or formula
Seijaku – Tranquility or an energized calm (quite), stillness, solitude

As Reynolds explains, “The principles are interconnected and overlap; it’s not possible to simply put the ideas in separate boxes”.  But, his post does a fine job of making these timeless principles available to us, so that we can use them to change our thinking on a number of things, not just design-related challenges.  Read the entire post.

It’s January 2012 and you’ve just gotten your new Android 3.0-based phone. You’re going on a road trip so you start up the newly-released Foursquare. Gone are the checkins of 2010. Now you tell it where you’re going. This time we’re headed to Harrah’s at Stateline, Nevada. But this is no Foursquare you’ve ever seen before. They’ve finally integrated Waze, Tungle.me, and Yelp information into it. So, let’s discover more of what happens on our trip.

As we pull out of my driveway in Half Moon Bay we cross a geofence that sends alerts to the various systems that I’ve connected to Foursquare. Tungle.me knows I’m meeting Mike Arrington for dinner at Harrah’s. He gets an alert on his mobile phone that I’m on my way and Glympse sends him the ability to watch my progress so he’ll know if I’ll be on time. Plancast lets me know that four friends are attending the Black Eyed Peas concert at Harrah’s tonight. I see that Siri is offering to find me tickets, so I ask it to find me some tickets under $400 each…

… When we arrive at Harrah’s, we cross another geofence which lets Arrington know we’re here. It also checks us into Foursquare, and tells us: “there are 29 other people we know about, including three of your friends.” Then Siri (which received a message from our geofence) chimes in with: “are you still having dinner with Mike Arrington at 8 p.m. at Friday’s Station Steak & Seafood Grill?” I answer: “yes.” That goes away, but on screen is a Yelp review about that restaurant and I realize that the attire is dressy and I only have jeans and t-shirts. So, I ask Siri: “are there any other four-star restaurants like Friday’s Station nearby?” It answers with a list from Yelp and then it starts showing places that still have spots left for us this evening by querying OpenTable’s APIs. Siri then tells me it has found two seats for tonight’s show at Harrah’s outdoor arena, and asks if it should buy them from Stubhub?

Read the whole thing.  It’s fascinating.  And, the best part is that most of the technology Scoble talks about is already here!  It’s just not talking to each other, yet.

Reason #5 : CoverFlow
Reason #4 : Music+TVShows+Movies+Photos+Videos
Reason #3 : Immersive Gaming
Reason #2 : Safari/Wifi bundle
Reason #1 : It’s almost an iPhone!!! 

Sure, a number of things have changed for the iPod Touch and the iPhone, since then.  Notably, the 4th generation iPhone is a vastly different device from its early versions, and you’d be hard pressed to find an all-in-one device that comes close.  However, if you’re looking for a low-cost iPhone-like device but don’t really care about the “phone” part of it, the iPod Touch is still the best money can buy. 

The iTunes music and App store (with hundreds of thousands of apps like Facebook, Twitter, Google Earth etc.) gives your iPod Touch an extensibility unlike any other.  So, if you have easy access to WiFi, you can do a whole lot with this portable gaming and browsing device, and not just use it as a music player!   You may want to stay away from the recently launched iOS4 upgrade, however, since many users have reported stability and battery drain issues.

(Yes, I do realize that, if you’re an audiophile and the only thing that truly matters to you is the “sound quality”, there are better devices out there.  But, the iPod touch is not just a music player… it’s a platform, and should be seen as such.)

As of June 2010, the iTunes v. 9.2 is a significantly improved offering. I’ve also had the opportunity to use the ‘Genius‘ feature and found it to be a commendable effort at making a playlist of similar-sounding songs to the ones you like.  However, the fact still remains that some of the features of iTunes can be quite a pain to tackle for newbies, and you may want to consider test-riding it before taking the plunge.

P.S. For me, the best part of it all is that my new iPod Touch works so beautifully with the Mac at home, syncing in my Contacts, Photos, Safari bookmarks, etc. effortlessly, along with my music library!

Original post, here.

Here are just the key points, though you will need to read the entire post if you want to make sense of the world we now live in…

Take the Long View
The Web isn’t the Net
Disruption is a Feature, not a Bug
Think Ecology, not Economics
Complexity is the new Reality
The Network is now the Computer
The Web is changing
Huxley and Orwell are the bookends of our Future
Our IP regime is no longer fit for purpose

As John Naughton writes in his essay, “The internet has quietly infiltrated our lives, and yet we seem to be remarkably unreflective about it.” 

If you’d like to change that, you need to start with this.

While I do not have the luxury of time that allows me to post critiques on every Indian and International movie I enjoy watching, I have decided to renew my posts on TV & Movies with occassional posts on stories that made an impression on me.  I may include a para or two on the broad plot, for the benefit of those who would like to know what the movie was about.  But, the essence of my posts in this category will be subjective opinions and constructive critiques based on my movie watching experience of over thousands of films.  This is the first of such posts, and feedback is welcome…

As the official website states, “Raavan is not a story, it is a world.”  Wikipedia adds:

The film is a modern-day version and a loose adaptation of the Indian epic Ramayana, in which Sita, the wife of Lord Rama, was abducted by the demon (R?kshasa) king of Lanka, Ravana.

Upon release, the film received mostly negative reviews from critics for its content, though its visual style and cinematography was praised by some of the critics.

Therein lies my problem.  I did go to the show with relatively high expectations of the quality work that Mani Ratnam has delivered in the past, and I was left more than satisfied! 

Raavan is a class act that is clearly not for the masses.  Yes, it has all the popular elements of a bollywood masala film – love angle, action, drama, etc., but the “treatment” is refreshingly unique. 

Fundamentally, it is a tale of good versus evil, and about the shades of good and evil that lie dormant within us all.  Raavan’s main characters are clearly not on any one side of the spectrum, and that’s what makes the story interesting (and also probably unappealing for the common man).

I was impressed with Abhishek’s ability to “get into character” by way of mannerisms and expressions that I thought were remarkably consistent with the persona that he was playing.  I especially enjoyed his character’s ability to deal with his inner conflicts, whether he’s coping with new-found jealousy or experiencing fear for the first time. 

I was also left impressed with the film’s canvas.  Almost the entire length of the movie has been shot in pouring rain – a feat that is not easy to pull off.  Yet, somehow, the green and grey palette works like a charm, helping the characters blend-in in places, and making them stand out in contrast, in other frames!  

The cinematography is truly exceptional, and among the best I have ever seen coming from Indian movie makers.  The makers of the film seem to have taken the trouble to scout some of the prettiest natural locales of the country in which to set the story.  I thought that many of the shots were visually stunning, giving the film a very artistic quality.  Unlike typical bollywood fare, I was also pleased that the nuances of the film were more-or-less in sync with the way of life of the story’s setting – whether it’s the food they eat, their mode of transport or their attire and living conditions.

If I had to nitpick, I’d probably drop Govinda (allegedly the “Hanuman” element) from the story altogether, since he did not seem to add too much value to the plot.  And, it would have helped to see a little more build-up to explain to audiences why the two key characters are hell bent on destroying each other from frame one. 

But, all said and done, Raavan is definitely a movie worth watching and represents Mani Ratnam’s best work till date.  Critics be damned!

For years, I have lamented about the fact that the only “mail” I receive (via snail-mail) any more is bills and receipts.  No letters.  None whatsoever. 

Aunts and uncles who used to send out letters once in a while, have switched to email.  Moms and Dads had to, simply to keep pace with their teenage sons and daughters.  Even the greeting cards you used to send out till just a few years ago, have transformed into free e-cards that do their dance on your computer screen, and die a painless death in 90 days or less.

I know, I know.  Electronic communication is so fast and friendly; so instantaneous in delivery.  Who would want to write letters?! 

Now, I love Technology as much as the next guy.  Maybe, even more.  But any one who’s ever received a well-written missive would agree that email could never replace the charm, the magic, of a handwritten note.  The use of appropriate grammar, the unhurried attention to detail, the choice of good stationery on special occassions… even words that were striken or revised would leave their mark on the note, for every reader to see. 

It was almost as if, every time you put pen to paper, you chose to bare your soul to the reader. 

Makes me think that we’re fast losing touch with an art form that was an important part of our heritage, without even pausing to ponder on it… 

In the decades to come, will our children even understand the antiquated practice of actually writing a letter using pen and paper?  Would Abraham Lincoln’s letters gain the legendary status they have, if he’d shot off some emails from his Mac instead?  Most importantly, in the absence of such cultural cues, how will we know what was really important and worth preserving?  What will History be “written” on?!

Worth a thought, isn’t it?

A lethal plume of methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas escaped from a storage tank at the Union Carbide pesticide factory in the early hours of December 3, 1984 in the central Indian city of Bhopal.

Government figures put the death toll at 3,500 within the first three days but independent data by the state-run Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) puts the figure at between 8,000 and 10,000 for the same period.  The ICMR has said that up to 1994, 25,000 people also died from the consequences of gas exposure.

Union Carbide settled all liabilities related to the accident, including cleaning up the site, with a 470-million-dollar out-of-court settlement with the Indian government in 1989 after years of wrangling about the amount… The International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal (ICJB), an umbrella group of survivors’ organisations, says most survivors received 25,000 rupees (500 dollars) to fund a lifetime of hospital visits.

Yesterday, after a 25-year-long wait, the final verdict was out.

A quarter of a century after the worst industrial disaster in history, a Bhopal district court sentenced seven people, including businessleader Keshub Mahindra, for two years in jail under sections of Indian law usually applied to road mishaps.

The Monday verdict didn’t mention Warren Anderson, the Union Carbide global chief during the disaster. Anderson, who was arrested in Bhopal in 1984, was freed on bail on assurance that he will return. Four years later, the CBI chargesheet named him, and in 1989, the chief judicial magistrate of Bhopal issued a non-bailable warrant for his arrest for repeatedly ignoring summons. In 1992, Anderson was declared a fugitive by the Indian courts.

The Indo-Asian News Service reports:

The United States has ruled out reopening any new inquiry against Union Carbide after Bhopal court’s verdict in the 1984 Bhopal gas leak that killed more than 15,000 people, hoping it would bring closure to the probe into the tragedy.

“Obviously this was one of the greatest industrial tragedies and industrial accidents in human history,” US Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia Robert Blake told reporters on Monday.  “But I don’t expect this verdict to reopen any new inquiries or anything like that. On the contrary, we hope that this is going to help to bring closure,” he said…

Pritish Nandy seemed to hit the nail on the head when he tweeted:

We have simply stopped respecting the lives of the unknown any more. No number of deaths interest us, unless the dead are famous.

Bhopal will no longer be remembered for the crime: 6 lakh lives destroyed. It will be remembered for the injustice meted out 25 years later.

Today, I am ashamed to call myself an Indian.

Someone wise once remarked, “There is only one question – How to love this world?”

Update : 16 June 2010

Amar Hingorani, an advocate in the Supreme Court of India, posts a shocking and brilliant editorial in the Hindustan Times in which he informs us that: “The law empowering the Indian government to represent Bhopal’s gas victims was unconstitutional. In effect, two guilty parties negotiated with each other.”

See Also : Union Carbide’s official statement

For starters, this May I’d scheduled time-off from work to address not one but two trips out of town. 

The first was to celebrate our 10th anniversary, the details of which would forever remain between us and the friendly people of the charming resort we’d booked our stay in.  I returned from that holiday, only to depart the following day for a photo-tour in the Lion Sanctuary of Gir! 

A friend and I had been talking about doing a photo-tour for a while, and were able to sync our calendars for this one.  I’d planned the thing weeks in advance by reading up all I could lay my hands on. 

It was to be the baddest, hottest time of the year for Sassan Gir, with temperatures soaring upto 45 deg C… it would also be the best time to spot the lions, as the heat would make them go in search of water more often. 

We’d booked ourselves in a Jungle Lodge (surrounded on all sides by the forest!) after reading about it on travel sites, and it turned out to be even more charming and exciting than the reviews had mentioned.  The food was great, the people were friendly, the safari trips were well-organized, and we were able to shoot quite a bit of wildlife through the lenses of our respective cameras, even picking up some info on wildlife habitats along the way.

This was my first open-jeep safari, and it was an experience unlike any other!  While some of the lion sightings were so far away that you could hardly spot them without a telescopic lens, we also had a few “encounters” merely 10 feet away from our vehicle. 

Words cannot adequately explain the thrill of being in lion-land, a few steps away from the magnificent cat, in an open-jeep, with nothing in your hands except a camera.

Of course, as the safari guides kept reminding us, going to Gir is more than about “spotting lions”.  On our multiple runs through the sanctuary we saw countless deer and peacocks, and a host of other animals and birds, trying to capture as much as possible with our equipment.  On our way back, we also made a brief stop at the town of Junagadh, to shoot the fantastic Indo-Islamic architecture of the city, and were more than rewarded for the hours we spent in the sun.

I was hooked for Life, and will be sure to return to many more wildlife trips in the years to come…

Pictures on my photoblog, here : http://bit.ly/girtrip