ExpertDabbler

“யார் யார் எல்லாம் லெபனான் வர்றீங்களோ ஒழுங்கா Q ல நில்லுங்கப்பா :)”

via ada-paavi

If this shows the extent of lawlessness in this country, it is not just the traders who are responsible for this.

All the three powerful machineries - the legislative (for aiding and abetting lawlessness ever since India became independent), the executive (for turning the other way in return for bribes) and the judiciary (for the insane delays involved in getting justice in this country through courts) should be held responsible.

Let’s assume you are a jewellery designer. You design exotic pieces of jewels studded with diamonds. As a designer, you happen to know the price. It’s your creation, so obviously you like it.

But what about customer? Will he like it? Will he think this piece is worth the lakh odd rupees mentioned in the price tag? If at all he likes the piece what aspect of it does he like? What is the takeaway for the designer. What aspect of the design should we include in our future creations and what to avoid? Is there a way to assess what a customer truly likes about a design? One way is to ask the customer himself. But such a method has inherent obvious flaws. For instance, not all customers would be able able to articulate what he likes about a design. Whether a customer will tell the truth is in itself a question mark. In such a situation, what is the way to gauge the pulse of the audience (to put it in cinema parlance).

I find these questions very interesting and pertinent too. And I atleast got one of the many possible answers in IIT Bombay when I was shown the eye tracking equipmentl. Why eyes? As we all know, our eyes can never conceal the truth.

An eye tracking tool, as the name implies tracks the eye movement of a person when he ses a photograph of the designed jewellery and maps the points with that of the image. Through this and some pointed questions, they are able to get a picture of what appeals to the senses of the customer. It’s still a topic of research. But they say the applications are varied, especially in the fields of advertising.

I was also told IIT B is the only institution in India to have this equipment? So what about the price? A small matter of Rs. 22 lakhs. Sigh! I wish I had that amount, not to get that equipment, but to purchase a small flat Some of my friends were wondering if i’d attended the workshop at all! So here’s the proof

(Yours truly in IDC)

(My group at work during the workshop)

I said I’m bored of updating this blog only y’day but the never ending comedy by Tamil Nadu politicans shook me out of boredom. The latest fetish for DM and MK seems to be the bullet train for TN.

And the routes? Chennai-Madurai and Chennai-Coimbatore. And that had me laughing to be honest.

The Chennai - Madurai distance is 497 km by train. For all the dream about bullet train, this route is yet to be electrified fully! Electrification has happened only from Chennai to Villupuram. The rest of the distance is still hauled by Diesel locos.

Worse, the route does not even have a double track.

Which means that if a Vaigai Express is approaching a station, all the trains coming in the opposite direction have to be hurriedly parked in some patti thotti station some 10-15 minutes prior to vaigai’s arrival. This happens time and again in the entire stretch.

During the night time we have several pairs of trains starting at or about the same in opposite directions. So if its bad during day-time, its horrible during night time.

This is the reality.

I also wonder if the folks who make these preposterous demands ever realize the infrastructure requirements for a project like bullet train in a country like India? From where will the Railways get the returns after spending several thousand crores on such a scheme?

The Chennai - Coimbatore section had a Shatabdi Exp. and that was scrapped due to, surprise surprise, lack of patronage - because the ticket fare of 600 Rs was considered beyond the reach of the travelling public. An ordinary super-fast in the name of Inter-City express runs nowadays in place of Shatabdi and its been very successful.

A bullet train ticket, after all the infrastructural impossibilities would cost several times more than a Shatabdi ticket of Rs. 600. For that price, those who can afford a bullet train are better off taking a flight (in these times of LCC). Add to it, a flight does relatively nothing to add to the infrastructure bills to the government and will take less time to reach the destination.

There is a tamil dialogue which goes like “Kekkuravan kenayana irundha Erumai Aerolpane ootum nu kooda solvaango”. This grandfather-grandson combo is hell-bent on making the whole of TN look Kenayyans.

I still like the process of writing.
But updating my blog looks boring to me now.
I’m thinking. I don’t know what else to say.

Folks, just listen to the latest songs from Blogswara. Phenomenal effort as usual!

But i am not that tasteless an idiot to miss out on two numbers.

First, please check out ‘Mella Mella’ by our Trichur KJY ( as i fondly call him:-)) and lyrics by our one and only NV sir. Thoroughly enjoyed it. I’m proud to know both of you!

But the one which takes the crown and which swept me completely was the ‘Hey Mera Dil’ number. Man, its been some time since i listened to something as out of the world as this!!!

The singers, the violin wizard, the orchestration - no amount of superlatives to express by feelings right now! What talent! My salutes to you guys!