Best coding practices to follow - to write a code, like a boss

Friends Forever

When: Friendship Day
Why: To kill the boredom
What: Real Friends are the pals we cannot live without, so presenting here the BFF (Best Friends Forever) pairs, I came across.  (Yes, due to unavailability of time they are very few right now, will keep adding more)

Click on the images to view full size image.

If you have also came across some pairs like this and want them to be added here.. share with me in the comments below

Love-Hate Relationship with Rainy season

Rainy season is the most awaited season in almost all parts of India. Rain takes away the heat, sweat and humidity and bring along the cloudy sky, fresh moist air, aroma of wet soil and frogs.
But as we say nothing is perfect, so is the rainy season.. with the pleasant atmosphere, there are certainly the things that can turn your mood up-side-down.

Below are the few good and bad  things which we all come across or experience during the rainy season...

Disclaimer: People expecting something like "I like to walk in rain because nobody can see me crying" can leave the page right now.

1) Good: The First rainfall
No more grilling heat and sweaty skin.. the rainy superhero is here to rescue you, the only chance you get, to go kiddish and take a bath in first natural shower like a retard.

2) Bad: Mud (kichad) and Potholes
Say bye bye to your cool slip-ons and air breathing walkers, walking is not fun anymore.. just one rainfall and the road is full of potholes and potholes full of mud.. ready to spill on your cloths and spoil your mood. 

3) Good: Chai
If you are an Indian, then the first thing that comes in your mind with rain, should be the garama-garam-chai. No matter where you are.. you can always find a cup of tea near you to please yourself.

4) Bad: Mosquitoes
These little bastards exists on earth just because God cannot see us enjoying the lovely weather for free. Keep itching urself (like Mahesh Bhatt) in the day-time, to return the favor of humming music these mosquitoes played in your ears, all night long.

5) Good: Bhajiya and Bhutte
No need to explain how devine it is to enjoy mom-made Bhajiya (with pudeena chatani) at home when its raining heavily outside. If you are not a couch-potato and a long drive in rain is fun for you.. Masala bhutta is there to accompany you on every highway.

Still want a reason to eat high-on-calories bhajiya during rains? Just break a bhajiya into two and see the steam coming out... I bet you will fall in love with this oily food, all over again.

6) Bad: Allergies

*making weirdest faces before sneeze* aaaannnddd...here we go... Accchhhhhoooooo...  *rub your running red-nose and slightly take away the wet hankerchief*

Yes.. it happens with almost all of us.

7) Good: Free of cost Wash-n-clean 

Whether its your bike, car, lawn or your bungalow, a drizzle will take away all the dirt and make them shine and glow again (the way Yami Gautam glows in fair-n-lovely ad).

8) Bad: Traffic Jams

Ever had situation of you sitting in your car or on your bike, stuck in huge traffic jam ..which is moving with the speed of snail... feeling helpless.. half drenched... mood crushed so badly that you start cribbing in your head about everything in your life, including your cruel boss, your underpaid job, your control-freak parents, demanding girlfriend, lazy government, Indian cricket team, unbalanced nature, hole in ozone layer and blah blah blah.. Yes? That's how The God of Rains enjoys the show sitting upstairs.

9) Good: PICNICS and OUTINGS.. YEYY !!

No matter how old you are, going for a picnic or an outdoor trip with your family/friends is always a good decision. The perfect weather, lot of food and a good place to hangout is all you need to spend a good time with friends/family and also to get new Facebook DPs :)

10) Bad: Cloths takes too long to dry.

Your home is the new Dhobi Ghaat.. you will see cloths spread all over the living room sofa, bedrooms, behind your bathroom doors, corridors and everywhere else. But trust me, putting your underwear in microwave is not a good option. So be prepared, and buy an extra one as a backup or wait for till the clouds to go away.

If I have missed something or if you also have some other experiences with rain (no matter good or bad), do share it with me in the comments below.

NiAmos - The Retail Revolution, What's that?

A brand can always try to please the customer by their offers and advertising, but that wont make their customer really feel from heart to bother to go to their store and buy stuff, because now everyone is familiar with these 'marketing' tactics. Displaying a TV ad, a newspaper ad or huge billboard on street or even a facebook advert, can get a brand a huge follower base but not customers.

Apart from this, another thing which is affecting the customer base of a brand is the competition. Every brand is now putting all his efforts and trying all possible ways to stand out in competition,  

Lets take the example of the telecom sector for a while, we all come across loads of offers and advertisements from Idea, Airtel, Vodaphone etc on everyday basis, but does any of them really convinced us to leave the current network provider and switch to a new one? 

The answer would be "No", the only time someone switched their network provider is when he is not happy with the current one only, but not when other brand has impressed him enough. That's is the same thing happening in every other retail sector.

For me as a customer, I am not a shopaholic guy, I would never visit a store to just to check their offers or new collection only. The only time I go to store is the time when actually I need to "buy" stuff. Window shopping would be the thing on the planet that  would do in my leisure time. Hence these brands comparatively has a very lower number of chances to convince me. In such a case, the only way brand can really pull me to their stores is when they can raise my interest in them to that level or if they can really impress me with their services/products.

In that scenario,  if a brand can reach up to that intelligence and personalized treatment, that they can suggest me the products of my choice or avail me the offers on the basis of stuff I bought during previous visits in their stores/outlets..I would surely turn to be a fan and customer of a brand (from being just a follower).. and that is what NiAmos is capable of. Also, in that case, I wont mind anybody reading information from (and intruding) my social profile, if in turn it is turning out to be my benefit only.

NiAmos is a device launched by Liqvd Asia, which will establish the connection between the brand and consumer in the real world using their social media profiles. Know more about NiAmos here: www.niamos.com

NiAmos has the potential to empower the brands, to change the way their followers look at them. It is far beyond just the offers, the discounts or a birthday wish... its a new way for the brands to treat their customers individually, to make them feel special, to give them the personal attention, to make them happy, to convince them, to win their hearts...in other words.. to "Love them back".

Underrated Cult Movies of Bollywood

Bollywood has always been a magic box for us that unveils a new surprising element every time we put our hands inside. Not necessarily all those surprising element were pleasing enough but few of them really won our hearts. They entertained us, they made us dance around the trees, they made us laugh like a retard, they made us weep like a kid and some of them also made us bang our heads in wall out of frustration. Indeed, some of them were crap (no offense to Himmatwala and RGV ki AAG), but many of them taught us the art of cinema.
I am a movie-buff kinda guy and I don't watch movies just for the sake of my entertainment but also as an art-curator. I understand that every film needs a different perception and a different set of intestines to digest, which is very hard to find in Indian audience, who believes that only a film with big star cast, foreign location sets, illogical action sequence and actress wearing bikinis for 7 seconds, can be a good 'watchable' movie. We still lack the audience who bothers to pay to watch a movie as a cinema and not only as a film.

There are some films, which were highly underrated (or we can say Ignored) at the time of their release, but these are actually one of the best movies Bollywood ever had. No one from India should ever give a miss to any of these.

1) Gangs of Wasseypur 
Hindi slangs, Bihari accent, guns n bullets (desi katta), vengeance and Gamchha.. all the elements of that inglorious world, which you will never wanted to be a part of, will suddenly appear to be cool and awesome once you watch GOW 1 and 2 back to back. The movie is all about character depiction, story telling and creative direction. Once you watch GOW, you will be a Anurag Kashyap's fan for lifetime, because this movie will tell you that the real cinema is not dependent on high budget and over-flooded movie promotions.. its beyond the Ferrari cars, set in Switzerland and beyond the actors having 6 pack abs (Sorry, Nawazuddin Siddiqui).

2) Andaz Apna Apna
Amar, Prem, Karishma, Raveena, Mr. Bajaj, Teja, Robert and Gogo. The troop of these 8 people can take you on the laughter ride where you will laugh your socks off. Their stupidity, their over smartness, their goodfy-ness and their fight sequences... nothing else in the world can be as funny as them. Once you watch this flick it wont get out of your head ever.

3) Jane bhi do yaaro

JBDY is from those few movies which you can remember scene by scene even if you have watched just once. A dark satire on corrupt political system. Most importantly I will remember this movie for the life time just because of On-stage Draupadi's Cheeraharan. The situational comedy at its best with an aid of Satish shah, Naseerudhhin Shah, Om puri, Satish Kaushik and Pankaj Kapoor's impeccable acting skills.

4) Chupke Chupke

You may not experience a high pitch laugh while watching Hrishikesh Mujherjee's Chupke chupke but a permanent smile though out the movie is a sure promise. The story revolves around a prank but the art of story telling and the charismatic presentation of Hrishikesh Da will surely win your heart.

This film was not so underrated as compared to the rest in the list, but the new-generation who ignores Bollywood classics need to understand what they are missing.

5) A Wednesday

The most under-rated movie Bollywood ever had. The movies failed to pull the crowd inside theaters, because of the unfortunate reason that Indians still fall for big stars, foreign locations and actress wearing bikini for 7 seconds. But people watched it, liked it and praised it after watching it on televisions and reading the critical acclaim. In my opinion, everybody living in India should at least watch the climax speech by Naseeruddhin Shah.

6) Khosla Ka Ghosla
No one can believe that a small budget, comedy drama starring Anupam Kher and Boman Irani can live up to the comic levels of Hrishikesh Da's Golmaal. A simple story, an ordinary cinematography but a super tight screenplay and humour as light as a popcorn can keep you smiling and anticipated through out the movie.

7) Pyaar Ka Punchnama

The frank and blunt story of 3 young bachelors which received a cocktail of reviews from critics. The movie entertains, has some very witty dialogues and shows a story which everyone and anyone can relate  somewhere. The crispy movie and goofy ride full of hindi slags. This 5 minutes 30 seconds speech from the movie will make you laugh and clap at same time:

Unfortunately, the majority of Indian audience consists of the people who looks at the movie posters and seek for the number of crores the movie has earned before going to cinema-halls. We still miss out the people who respect the word 'cinema', these movies really entertained me more than Salman khan playing pocket TT or Aamir khan escaping away on a boat-cum-bike-cum-transformer kind of machine.

The above 7 movies are the movies I can think about as most underrated yet entertaining movies bollywood ever had. Do let me know in the comments below,  how you liked the blog and also tell me if I missed any other movie that should be listed here too.

Nation wants to know

Yes, Nation wants to know that how does this person know, what the nation wants to know?

Every day at 9pm, you can spot him on TimesNow conducting a wild and furious discussion on your TV sets, applying all the powers his vocal cords have. The debate is not as wild as it looks like but it is just him who turns the volume up. Yes, I am here talking about Mr. Arnab Goswami, Editor in chief of the channel.

He came, he saw, he shouted, he shouted again, he thought he conquered and he left. This is a daily schedule of Mr. Goswami on show called ‘NewsHour’ .
The basic concept of the show is to conduct a discussion cum debate on certain topic between politicians or different parties and sometimes some celebs participate too. But the twist comes in the scenario when this show is actually conducted by a person who possesses some extra ordinary skills of journalism, influencing powers and a great grip over facts and figures. The panelists of the discussion may speak for or against the topic but Mr. Goswami always stays against everything they say.

The most interesting part of the show generally has the loudest range of voice, where Mr. Goswami has already proved half of panelists guilty of being on the show and claimed that all the questions he is asking in on behalf of India, as he keeps saying that. I have seen many of his episodes (and trust me I am still alive) and as per my observation, this guy, Mr, Goswami is not against any political party (yet), unlike Rajdeep Sardesai and Barkha Dutt. No one can identify which side he is speaking from but we can clearly see how brilliantly he puts his words in someone else’s mouth and make him say what he should not say on television. He has a great power of manipulating an individual and that’s exactly what he making a use of.

In a discussion it is important to prove your point, but when the discussion needs the oxygen of TRP, it is even more important to neglect other’s point or simply just don’t give them a chance to speak or prove their point.  Here are some top phrases, that Mr. Goswami uses during debate to lower the volume of rest of penalists and to prove that he still holds a full control on the show:

1. Nation needs an answer tonight…
2. India wants to know…
3. One minute, Ek minute, One second, One.. One.. One.. Minute…
4. I wont let you politicize this time…
5. You can’t get away like this…
6. We don’t have much time…
7. We have a caller… We have a caller…
8. I’ll get back to you on this… but before that…
9. I am worried, I am concerned and I don’t agree…
10. I am asking this question tonight on newshour to you…

And the best part is that the show has no specific finish time. The show begins 9pm but lasts till Mr. Goswami is enjoying. You can clearly see that the time when every penalists are totally pissed off and are about to grab Mr. Goswami’s collar, he declares a wrap up, thank everyone to be on the show and camera goes off. Sometimes the show lasts 50 minutes that’s like “News 50 minutes” instead of “NewsHour”.

Personally, I am now offcially a fan of Mr. Arnab Goswami. Not because his show enlightened me, not because he proved the system wrong, not because he influenced me to bring a revolution but because of the skills he have (that actually every journalist should posses) and also because of the guts he have to blame (and sometimes spoil the image of) any person of what he has done, live on television, who is already holding great powers politically. There are few things that apparently make him look loud and weird but those are actually essential for his profession and to establish oneself as a star journalist, in the nation where a star can be either a film actor or a cricket player. No doubt he is a well know name now, otherwise the brand like Flipkart wouldn't have conducted a huge campaign of a kid mocking Arnab Goswami's style.

10 Heads of Ravan: Boon or Curse

We all have heard a lot of things about Ravan. yes he was having 10 heads, he was a filthy rich guy and bla bla blah. But no one actually though about the challenges he had faced in his life with those ten heads.
Think for a while, does having 10 heads was a boon for him or a curse ?
Few things about Ravan you never thought of -

• Ravan used to wear shirts only.. no tshirts.. or else he has to wear it via first putting his leg into it and then pulling it up.
• Ravan was the only member in panel when it comes to B-School Group Discussion
• Ravan has to to pay 10times of the "per head" entry charges in pub/discs every time.
• Ravan was a real nightmare for all barbers and dentists of SriLanka
• In case of loud noise, he can never put his fingers in years.. 10 heads = 20 ears and only 10 fingers..
• His Castle used to have extra wide doors.. so that he can go through them easily
• He has a Chariot, no two wheeler.. or else cops would have charged him for not wearing helmet(s)
• If he believe in Gandhi.. if someone slaps his face.. he still has to offer other 19 chicks to him
• He can never play football, because he got confused which head to head the ball... but as a goalkeeper he would have played really well.
• In childhood, he never had to tilt his face to look into classmate's notebook while cheating in exam (That's a boon I guess)
• He has to buy iPod with 20 earpiece earphones
• Ravan never uploaded his picture in facebook DP, he always have to go for cover image only.. where he can tag himself 10 times
• In case of serious injury, Ravan could never go for a CT scan
• He can alone demonstrate fair & handsome's "dus guna nikhara gorapan" gimmick without any computer graphics

One thing is guaranteed.. he was not "born" with 10 heads.. (if you know what I mean :P )
Don't you think his life was really challenging and we all curse him of being so cruel and his pissed off behavior, all the time. Think for a while of the problems Ravan would have came across with his 10 heads and let me know in the comments.. :P

PS: Happy Dussehra