Farhanknight

Just Another View

[farhaknight]

"Dessert me kya lenge?" "Firni!" "Kaunsi?" "Options to do..." "Plain, Strawberry, Sitafal, Mango..." "Season hai, mango hi lenge!" "..Aur milkshake?" "Season hai, mango hi le lo" "..aur ice cream?" "wo bhi mango, season hai to..." ______________________________ "Hows you?" "Stomach upset hai yaar" "Awwww, aise kaise?" "Season hai, to.............." "Ewwww"

[farhaknight]

Just another view!

So there’s a tharki guy who’s already having an affair but succumbs to family pressure and gives in for an arranged marriage. His girlfriend turns up at the wedding, creates a scene, still the bride doesn’t speak and agrees to tie the knot.

Few years post marriage, the couple reach a stage where the relationship looks beyond repair to such an extent that the husband dumps the wife at an asylum. Being free again, he tries to reignite his old flames, visits all his ex girlfriends, tries establishing a relationship with them.

Meanwhile the girl starts resurrecting her life, finds someone lovable and decides to marry him.

Now just before her wedding, the old husband (not ex husband yet) turns up and tries to woo her back. While she is looking for a change in life, given the past experience with the husband, she still cancels her plans for second marriage and goes back to her husband.

———————————————————————-

From the face of it, looks like a story of an “abla naari” who prefers the imperfect husband over new found love. And it has a lot of potential to piss off feminists.

But exchange the genders of the lead characters and you have Tanu Weds Manu Returns which everyone enjoyed :-)

Think over it!

[farhaknight]

#SalmanVerdict

#SalmanVerdict is trending everywhere, but I believe it exposes our fault lines along with those of the politicians and religious leaders!

I don’t really mean that Salman represents us or something on those lines. I have another observation to share with you guys. Salman Khan got involved in this case in year 2002. While he and the court has been working on reaching a final outcome (or not) of this case together, the supporters and haters have switched side as per their ideologies and political affiliations.

From Left to the Right

I remember the early days, when it used to be said “Those who vote for Congress are the ones who actually go and watch Salman Khan’s movies”. Such was the sentiment by and large for Salman Khan amongst the right wing supporters. Similarly, many used to watch his movies for him being a “Khan”, a Bhaijaan – he commanded unmatched fan following amongst the first row chaps, drivers and all the masses with a special affection amongst the Muslim community. 

Over a period of time, his name became synonymous with Eid releases and he gave one blockbuster after another on successive Eids. All this while, he remained a close friend of 2 Babas – Sanjay Dutt and Baba Siddiqui. Both being from Congress, Salman Khan used to be a star campaigner for the party, especially in Bandra and other Muslim dominated pockets for Congress.

However he never shied away from displaying his secular credentials by highlighting his affection for Hindu festivals. He himself started sharing pictures with Ganesha at his home. Fatwas used to fly here and there, but his fans did not really gave a damn.

All this time, the rightwing supporters kept taunting the judicial system for delayed justice. Many pages even asked for boycott of his movies for his connections with underworld. The fact that one of his movies did not get a release because of confirmed funding from Dubai, also added to the blame game. His support for Congress (less for the party and more for the members) did not used to go well with the folks on the right for a long period of time and he remained a butt of their jokes.

Cut to Elections 2014 which changed the way India was governed. Tides turned, Congress got dumped and Narendra Modi was the rising star. Salman Khan didn’t take much time to adjust to this ground reality. He attended a Kite festival with Modi and even campaigned for him (while declaring that he will still vote for Congress). 

His father, Salim Khan even provided his services for designing and developing the Urdu website of BJP for the elections. This issue was taken forward by AIMIM and provocative speeches were given against Salman Khan. Salman Khan refused to apologize for his Gujarat visit and the anger kept rising through forwards and shares. Salman Khan, along with this father, also attended Modi’s swearing in ceremony as he took to Prime Minister’s Office. 

People were asked to boycott theaters on Eid and his face was plastered on pictures of handicaps and poor, seen asking for Fitra (Ramzan specific charity) which went viral. The movie tanked at the box office, but not without a trace!

A new fan base had emerged for Salman Khan which came from the right wing groups this time, especially from the followers of Narendra Modi. Some directly changed sides, while some toned down their “hate” for Salman. The Salman fever in rightwing grew so high, that one point of time political page like The Frustrated Indian shared a review for one of his movies – totally unexpected and out of the blue. People were motivated to watch his movies and the number of jokes reduced from this side of the centre.

Religion, Bollywood and Politics

When the judge asked Salman Khan about his caste he didnt respond quickly. He took some time to ponder over the answer and finally replied - “I am a Hindu and Muslim”. Well, we can all hail this as the most secular thing ever said, only if you do not remember Sanjay Dutt’s statement - "it is true that TADA was imposed on me, many Muslims were caught and when there were enough Muslims, they thought of putting Hindus behind bars. I was there for 3 and a half years and was tortured because my mother was a Muslim, and I was a Muslim's son”

As soon as Salman was out on bail, BJP’s Muslim face, Saresh Zafarwala,blurted out saying Salman’s case reached this conclusion because of Congress, which did so cause he was a Muslim. On the other end, Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Sadhvi Prachi says “Salman Khan got bail because he is a Muslim”

Ohh..the Thackerays!

What are Thackerays doing here when we are discussing about the actors who have committed crimes? Well, that’s how it works. 

The legend goes that Bal Thackeray went out of his way to help the actor, for whom the Sena chief had reportedly developed a fondness. Bal Thackeray first got the Sena-BJP government that ruled Maharashtra then to set up a state-level TADA review board, which passed an order in Sanjay Dutt's favor. But the TADA judge rejected the review board's order. 

Bal Thackeray then called up the Congress' Narasimha Rao, who was Prime Minister, to lobby for Sanjay Dutt which led to the setting up of a central committee to look into TADA cases. The central review committee too recommended bail for Sanjay Dutt. And the actor, son of a Congress MP, when released from jail, first paid a visit to Matoshree before heading home.

Cut to 2015, this time Raj Thackeray dared a public visit to meet the convicted Salman Khan. That’s another story that he himself looks powerless in the current political context.

But what role do politicians, especially those, who seek votes on the basis of religion and regional pride have in such cases. 

Only if their blind followers could see through this.

What About Us?

The once upon a time fans of Salman, who were disappointed with this meeting with Modi, were discussing how Salman’s plan to suck up to the party in power didn't materialize and he has rightly been awarded the punishment. He got bail and they really got disappointed. Seeking justice is one thing and expecting harsh punishment because someone doesn't share a similar agenda is another. Very few were actually looking for “justice” in the context of surivor, while most of us were waiting for the entire jail-bail to fall in place to align with our rhetoric.

My Two Cents

The entire Salman case should be an eye opener for the common man. It’s never the politicians who fight, it is always their support base - US. If Congress had a hand in this case, do you really think BJP had no role to play? We end up picking up the Hindu v/s Muslim fights, for whom? These actors or these politicians? When the time came, everyone aligned well with the need of the hour to achieve “freedom” for the actor - irrespective of their religion or political lineage. 

Wasn't Salman being tried for hit and run and black buck case when he was invited for the swearing in ceremony of India’s highest office? If Salman and other Khans have Pakistan and Terrorist funding, as many on my friend list claim every other day, then why do you think PM got so close to the actor? What role Thackerays have in supporting such Pakistani funded actors? Why Bal Thackeray stood behind Sanjay Dutt even when he was involved in the 1993 bomb blasts?

There are difficult questions which many would like to avoid. But when one ponders over them, only then one understand how bad is the underbelly of Bollywood and Politics.

Politics is the new underworld.

Peace <Oh Really?>

[farhaknight]

Hello folks at IGATE!

Another article dedicated to you? It must be really adding to the tensed atmosphere in the team and I am sorry for that. I can really empathize with you guys.

I have been working with Capgemini since more than 2.5 years and trust me; it's a great place to be.(How?, We'll come to that later :-) )

But at one point of time I was as tensed, confused, scared and curious as you are at this point in time. Let me share some background about how I ended up with this organization.

I had completed my engineering in Electronics and didn't really wanted to be in an IT company. Then Bayer came, offered a role, still was not keen to take up IT, but agreed with the SAP profile and after finally making up my mind, I joined the company in September 2011. Few months in the company, when I had just started to understand my responsibilities, learn from my mentors, the rumors started that the entire IT piece would be outsourced.

But..

To Whom? When? How? Why? What will happen to us?

We didn't had answers to these questions. Few days before the actual movement, it was declared that Capgemini had won the contract and we were offered to continue with the same role at the Capgemini, if we would like to. Only few of us refused, rest accepted the offer and joined Capgemini in September 2012.

What was the first thing that caught my fancy in Capgemini?

Sea of Opportunities - much more than the earlier organization could offer!

Be in terms of technology or country or the kind of projects, type of clients engagement, role opportunities - one could simply keep trying different roles without having to change the organization!

Second aspect was the Work Life Balance and Engagement Activities

Work life balance isn't only about leaving early from work to have a life. Here it goes beyond that - work from home, birthdays, biryani parties, multiple canteens (4 + 1 by Godrej + thelas outside the campus), Yammer (Facebook for corporate), outings, off sites, thank you notes, appreciations, pat on the backs, monthly rewards

Managers who are friends on Facebook, Directors who chat with you on Twitter and official Capgemini (Global as well as India) account which encourages and responds to your questions online, heck you even get covered on the official social media campaigns as the face of the organization

Colleagues who take their role of Secret Santa seriously and how! And they get as interesting as they can be - from a renowned photographers to accomplished authors, from cross country riders to trekkers, travelers, musicians and what not - best bit, you can connect with them using interest groups on intranet :-)

Annual days look some thing like this, photography competitions makes you explore your creative side, company asks you to go social, your efforts are recognized and well appreciated

IJPs - At Capgemini, it is not just another process, but a well celebrated opportunity which helps employees try new roles and opportunities, see if they could excel and move ahead in the career without having to quit

I can go on and on but it would be better if you could check out the below video to understand how we, as a group, have responded to mergers and acquisitions, going from strength to strength.

Many of our teams are lead by senior management team who had joined as a part of M&As. Even at the mid level, we have employees who have continued to be a part of team since they came - as part of EY, Kanbay and Bayer.

If you have talent, which you can put to use and contribute to the team, trust me, folks here are waiting to recognize and encourage you. And the long service awards are a testimony to that!

Welcome to the party!

See you soon :)

[farhaknight]

This is totally based on conversations with friends and colleagues. 

P.S.: I have never resigned or switched a company, hence validation needed :P

[farhaknight]

Rise of Social Media in Cricket

As results remained the same for India v/s Pakistan match, the only thing that has made a mark, is the way Facebook and Twitter have woven their entire campaign around the world cup. Especially Twitter! This time I preferred it over cricinfo for score updates. A live score card with batsman's name linked to his twitter handle (just in case you want to look at their profile/picture). It even aggregated the commentary and had a dedicated feed for it. For a moment, it looked like Twitter was meant for this, rather being just another social media platform. Interestingly, both the social media giants come from a country where this sport is neither played (as a formal game) nor has a team representing them in the ongoing World Cup. Cheers to that!

[farhaknight]

25 posts!

[farhaknight]

No Comments :P

[farhaknight]

This is something I felt during the school massacre in Pakistan. Politically incorrect, may be, but this is what I had felt at that point of time!

[farhaknight]

Since 2011, 75% of my classmates (electronics) from engineering have moved to the USA. Same can be said about other branches from my college - Fr. CRCE or infamous as Fr. Agnels Bandra!

[farhaknight]

Humble attempt at abusing PPT :P

[farhaknight]

Bring It On Baby!

Baby released last week and I am glad I watched in on Day 02 itself!

Do watch it, if you haven’t, yet.

No, I will not force you to watch it because Akshay Kumar is the only answer to all bloody Khans in Bollywood.

Neither I will coax you to watch it because it shows Muslims as terrorist (for the Nth time & I am not complaining)

Nor I will be after you to watch it because “We" (collective voice of RW) have to give a befitting response to PK numbers!

Above reasons are not my assumptions. There are many “nationalists" out there giving out such reasons to watch the film. Many are flocking the theaters for the same reason, coming back and further advocating it to others, mostly with a single view point - finally a "Patriotic" movie from the "Patriotic" actor.

Well, indeed. I must say it is a patriotic movie - on the lines of Gadar and Border. It is actually just a step ahead of D Day (Irfan Khan), a global version of Sarfarosh (Amir Khan), a more mature version of Wanted (undercover Salman Khan), modern version of old offensive Mangal Pandey (again Amir Khan), in your face nationalistic version of Swades (SRK). I am sure there would be few more “patriotic” movies like Chak De (SRK) by the anti-national Khans, but let’s save them for some other day.

Now coming back to Baby, I don’t understand why moderate Muslims missed a chance to hail it from the front instead of letting it get hijacked by bunch of radical nationalists (read not so moderate Hindus).

I have reasons to feel it was a missed opportunity and would like to list them down:

Who is Akshay Kumar’s boss heading the department and standing for him throughout the movie? Hint (Muslim)

Akshay goes to Saudi to nab the terrorists. Who manages the entire setup there for the love of home country? Hint (Muslim)

Saudi policeman understands the whole plot and is arm’s length away from playing the spoilsport, but restraints himself looking at the act and valid reason for it. He is but obviously a Muslim (Because Saudi)

Danny goes to the PM’s office and actually says that there is some internal problem which needs a correction where minorities feel sidelined. He gives that as one of the reason for people taking up extreme ways. (I don’t agree with it, but then the RW suggests it’s a true depiction of the current state of affairs ;))

Another fellow who has a change of heart in the middle of his training program and reaches out to the police for helping Akshay Kumar solve the first mystery is shown to be a Muslim

Baby actually reminds me of Vishwaroopam. If you remember the climax of the movie, hero (legendary Kamal Hasan) is showing offering Namaz, seeking divine help for stopping the nuclear attack while at the same time, terrorists too are shown asking for blessings through Namaz for successfully carrying out the attack. 

Yes, here also, the good wins over evil :).

Both the movies reinforce the same view - there are good Muslims and there are bad Muslims. Denying the existence of either of the two is grossly inappropriate and unwanted move towards building a perception which leads to rampant generalization of the communities. Just like we saw how our VP has been trolled for following the protocol, et all, just because of his religion. The “nationalists” went into a frenzy because of his religion. We are wearing hatred on our sleeves, busy questioning patriotism and nationalism at a drop of the hat, be it Sania Mirza, or Amir Khan or simply put, anyone who does not fit in to our ideological spectrum. The bias has now been extended to movies, sports, political leanings and everything humane.

Baby helps to unclutter it, only if you can read between the lines. Or else, continue with the chest thumping nationalism which is of no good to the society and to the country!

Jai Hind!

[farhaknight]

Ban for women drivers, Boon for Taxi Apps

Very interesting read!

How apps like Uber, Careem and Easy Taxi are making a killing in gulf countries, especially Saudi. 

What they have is some well oiled money to spend on travelling, while the women out there are not allowed to drive it themselves. That means 50% of the population cannot drive!

And taxis are so "uncool" as well or the "Rich".

Enter technology based apps and premium services - boom!

http://www.wsj.com/articles/ban-on-women-drivers-in-saudi-arabia-gives-taxi-apps-a-boost-1413456923

[farhaknight]

Taxi Apps - The Next Big Thing!

Olacabs with 60% of market share in India buys TaxiForSure (16%) to take on Uber in India!

Interesting times ahead - this taxi market looks like the second hottest thing to have happened to India after ecommerce!

Check the money being pooled in from global investors - it would be enough to feel a bit differently next time you board a taxi :P

This looks more to get in line with government dictate which bans mobile app based taxi companies (read Uber, Ola) to directly connect with drivers and assigning customers (without background verification). TaxiForSure does this in a little better way as it only deals with existing offline taxi operators!

‪#‎BringItOn‬ ‪#‎PopcornPlease‬

http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2015-01-29/news/58586338_1_aprameya-radhakrishna-bhavish-aggarwal-taxiforsure

[farhaknight]

The Good Times for Mobile Users!

Google marching ahead with services it provides with Android while CyanogenMod ensuring the user experience is taken care of really well.

So basically, the UI/UX can be managed by the latter only if it can find a replacement of services.

Enter Microsoft? Well may be, if they are investing in a company which only "modifies" the experience, this looks to be the only valid reason.

Expect a phone powered with CyanogenMod experience, powered by Microsoft services, giving a middle finger to Google? Not without YouTube, bitches tongue emoticon

Moral of the story - Never put all your eggs in one basket.

"In the end, customers would be the winners" - Ravi Shastri grin emoticon

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/technology/story/microsoft-gives-cyanogen-inc-money-attacks-google-covertly/1/416055.html

[farhaknight]

Chetan Bhagat's Half Girlfriend!

[farhaknight]

No space to walk, but women feel safe - The Times of India

A Mumbaikar in search of the city's best locale is unlikely to venture into the choked gullies and rickety buildings of Dongri and Masjid Bunder or the gridlocked bylanes of Mohammad Ali Road and Pydhonie where traders jostle for every square inch of space.

"Though children here no longer grow up listening to underworld tales, they somehow imbibe daring qualities peculiar to Mumbai-9, the pin-code now synonymous with the neighbourhood. We are known to respect our women. Women can walk down the streets of Dongri at 2am and no one will dare touch them. That's something we do not tolerate,"

"I can walk around Pydhonie wearing 100 tolas of gold at 2am and I know that I'll be perfectly safe. If one man touches me, 10 others will pounce on him,"  

"You can never go hungry in this area, as eateries are open till 4am,"