Alokating Thought

Pissing on their Pearls of Wisdom

2007-10-17T06:26:00.000+09:00

I am convinced that 60% of the people who are relatively good at their job know only 60% of what they are expected to know. They compensate the rest with their ability to package and re-package the 60% into something that makes it sound as if they know it all.

Subtle Advertising

2007-04-05T19:54:00.000+09:00

Those useful little yellow things!

Surveillance Society

2007-03-08T23:58:00.000+09:00

(One of the many inconspicuous corners at... ok, this will get me into trouble!)I leave my home and there are 'Neighbourhood Watch' cameras watching me. I walk down my street, and there are traffic cameras. I get on to the bus, and there are tennis ball sized CCTV cameras concealed in the cieling of the bus. I step into the tube station and there are cameras at the entrance, in the ticket

Stop

2007-02-28T02:09:00.000+09:00

Walking down Bishopsgate at lunchtime today, I happened to look up and curse the sky for how grey the weather was. Little did I know that in my exasperated gaze, I would catch a glimpse of one of the most beautiful buildings in London. It made me wonder... the programmed lives that we live from home to work to home, how often do we stop for a minute to observe and cherish?WHAT is this life if,

In Distinguished Company

2006-12-12T08:49:00.000+09:00

i{content: normal !important}Manet's Music in the Tuileries Gardens, Monet's Waterlily Pond, Seurat's Bathers at Asrieres, Van Gogh's Sunflowers...Spent a lazy Saturday at the National Gallery in the distinguished company of art's modern masters.Each painting tells its own story, but together they trace major changes in art between 1860 and about 1914. The display of Impressionist art offers

If only we...

2006-12-04T18:53:00.000+09:00

"It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so." -- Mark Twaini{content: normal !important}

Faith

2006-05-29T06:55:00.000+09:00

I was schooled in a Catholic Jesuit institution for 7 years. I have read the Bible (the old and the new testament). I go to church more often than I go to the temple.When it comes to faith in the Lord, I consider myself as much a devout Catholic as how my family would like me to be a Hindu Brahmin.Yet, I can't help but doubt Christian groups worldwide when they raise a hue and cry about the

The Great Indian Dream

2006-05-17T01:38:00.000+09:00

"I'm from India", said Anjali Kumar, an Indian working in London. And she was told, "Ah! Then you must be good at computers!"Anjali is a liberal arts graduate.Anjali shares this brand - this stereotype - with 1 billion of her countrymen, 48% of whom are illiterate, leave alone computer savvy. But what makes the world equate technological prowess with Indians? What makes Indians earn this

AIESEC Alumni Association

2006-05-17T01:32:00.000+09:00

Dear Fellow AIESEC Alumni,This is to request you to spare a few minutes to sign up on www.aiesecalum.org If you like what you see, do sign up as a full member by paying a small annual membership due. As we gear up to scale up our activities, your prompt action and co-operation will go a long way in laying the foundations for a vibrant global alumni network. Thank you.Regards,Aloke

A Million Prisoners and A Billion Dollars

2006-03-06T12:31:00.001+09:00

<-- Working Draft -->In the late 1700s, the English philosopher, Jeremy Bentham, designed an architecturally advanced schema for prisons, and called it the "Panopticon" - the ability to see all in a single view. This design allowed a solitary guard to keep an eye on each prisoner's potential for negative behaviour. Unique to the architecture of the guard's tower and the cells, prisoners could

Fish n Chips Humor

2006-01-11T06:47:00.000+09:00

An English friend living in Germany wrote to me, "im lookin forward to been bk in the UK this weekend, going with empty bag to fill up with food."Did I miss something here??Made me laugh my head off!! :) :)

Boo! I'm back!

2005-09-27T21:24:00.000+09:00

It's been a while... it's been a while...Wow! It's been almost two months since I got down to some serious blogging. Though my mind is stormed with so many things that I want to write about, an update on the life and times of Aloke Sarnobat takes pole position. July came and I flew back to Japan and Korea Short stop for work in India, only to be greeted by floods in Mumbai.Though the

The 'coolest' place to be

2005-09-09T14:48:00.000+09:00

Tassos Beach, Rodos - GreeceAm I a workoholic?I'm lazing on this beautiful beach with turquoise blue waters, the sky without trace of a single cloud, paternal mountains completing the landscape...But, something that I suddenly miss right now, is my work at Opera.Cheers to Opera Software, a workplace that truly epitomizes the adjective 'cool'P.S. Using Opera Mini - it's damn good!

Bharat Bhasin, last respects.

2005-07-22T22:42:00.000+09:00

Here's to the man who taught AIESEC in India what passion, excitement, energy, positivity and purpose was all about.Here's to the man who taught generations of AIESEC to touch the stars and strive beyond.We will miss you Bharat...

Accomodation in London; pandas in Africa?

2005-07-22T03:39:00.000+09:00

I am beginning to deduce that avoiding a bomb on the train in London is a lot easier than avoiding a bomb on the pocket in the form of rent and accomodation.Sitting here in Seoul and trying to find accomodation in London, is like trying to find a panda in Africa. So, here I am, having been informed by the Accomodation Office at LSE, that accomodation is as extinct as the dinosaurs.If you know a

Live 8, will it elevate?

2005-07-07T23:32:00.000+09:00

[Geldof is to fast politics what McDonald's is to fast food. He is simply good at it. How can you do nothing, he screams, "watching people live on TV, dying on our screens!".Fill up on McCartney and Madonna and you will feel much better.]- The Sunday Times, 3 July, 2005.In plain old vanilla, Live 8 is targeting the G8 with a 1960's leftist mantra to pour the surplus from the rich countries to the

Being Indian, Seeing Indian

2005-06-22T00:11:00.000+09:00

They say, you can take a man out of India, but you can never take India out of a man. True and worth a million dollars.Add to that, you even have the rest of the world trying to catch a piece of everything that is Indian - from restaurants to art-deco to jewelry to music and so on. For many worldwide, India is the real home of spirituality, religion, tradition and the mysterious unknown -

Destination LSE!

2005-06-17T18:03:00.000+09:00

I'm going back to school! :) Admission offer acceptance mailed - Tick! Scholarship is in the kitty - Tick! Workplace informed - Tick! Accomodation application submitted - Tick! Visa stamped - Tick! Wrap up work - To do Vacation planning - To do :) Listening to 'A Message' by Coldplay, and in a super ecstatic mood!

The Lure of Magic

2005-05-25T01:23:00.000+09:00

UN Millenium Development Goal 8.7: In cooperation with the private sector, make available the benefits of new technologies - especially information and communications technologies.Absolute bullshit.I am one of the strong supporters of the UN, but I do think that the whole approach in the MDG is flawed.Over the past several years, a broad international consensus has emerged that technology offers

62% nerd, 38% nerd corrupt!

2005-05-19T23:08:00.000+09:00

Here's what Ohio State University's nerd test had to say about me:"Here is the result of your Nerd Purity Test.You answered "yes" to 38 of 100 questions, making you 62.0% nerd pure (38.0% nerd corrupt); that is, you are 62.0% pure in the nerd domain (you have 38.0% nerd in you).Your Weirdness Factor (AKA Uniqueness Factor) is 36%, based on a comparison of your test results with 378675 other

Soon, we may take the elevator to outer space!

2005-05-15T23:48:00.000+09:00

I was in Taipei, the capital of R.o.C. Taiwan, earlier this week which is home to the tallest building in the world apart from rebel Chinese.Confusion reigned - is the Petronas or the Sears Tower the tallest? Taipei 101, what is that?After a few rounds of fisticuffs with my French colleague, and a bit of research with Uncle Google; I had to rest my case. The Petronas Towers are no longer the

Coffee Talk

2005-05-07T05:02:00.000+09:00

It's 5 in the morning... I'm busy finishing the European Commission ECOLEAD project work...Is the floor vibrating or am I alcohol induced?hmmm... am I sleepy or did the building really sway like a palm tree?Aaah... another earthquake.It's a saturday - otherwise, someone would mention it the next day over coffee at the office...Back to work.Welcome to Japan :) (This place 'rocks'!!)

Birdie? Rather Ducked!

2005-05-03T00:37:00.000+09:00

Living in Japan, I wonder how these people manage to find land to build golf courses. But, they do. Yes, they live in capsule hotels, have tiny homes and tiny offices and tiny everything; but they have golf courses.From my company's Vice President, to the ad exec. at Dentsu that I met on the train, to the hair stylist, to the 72-year old taxi driver who drove me today, everyone in this country is

Beer Homicide

2005-04-27T18:11:00.000+09:00

Moving along the narrow, chaotic, yet lively & bustling streets of Shibuya district in Tokyo, my Korean colleague and I happened to step into a bar called Ebisu. 'Beers of the World' is what it promised - so far so good.Browsing through the menu, the bar seemed to be well stocked with the usual suspects - the ailes, Czech, Belgian, Dutch, etc. What caught my eye was a 'Mango Beer'.The first time

The Fastest Sport on Earth

2005-04-25T12:28:00.000+09:00

Following the F1 San Marino Grand Prix last evening brought back memories of Symbiosis and B-school life.The Sunday lunch at Fiddlers' Green, and then rushing back to follow the race. The divides were deep: the BMW Williams F1 team faithfuls, and the fans of the prancing horse.And all we could get was:Nothing but a bunch of numbers refreshing every 15 seconds on the small screen of a laptop.My