ExpertDabbler

Po Po Kutti Priya (read as pozhudhu pogaadha Kutti Priya) tagged me for eight facts that people should know about me to attain moksha. I was vetti too and so decided to do this tag for the welfare of mankind.

Facts

#1 - Popular
I have been as popular as the dance artist in the first row behind Vijay third from the left corner in any famous Kuthu song.
Name less, face less. I can be easily missed in any crowd situation. ‘Oh nee inga dhaan irukiya?’ is common to me especially during school times.

#2 - Details
I suck in details. But am kinda okay with the seeing the big picture. For e.g don’t expect me to focus on a beautiful woman’s feet

#3 - People
I can be in touch with people regularly for a long time if I want to. I can also deliberately avoid some people for years if I want to. Well what I am to you depends whether you are a friend or a relative.

#4 - Secrets, tips and tricks
About a subject will always be a secret - safely put away in my blog. Its slightly different with people though - broad casted to the minutest detail in my mind.

#5 - Conversations
I am great at opening conversations with strangers. Like I would smile at the person when she is not looking. And unconsciously turn away when she is trying to smile at me.

#6 - Dosa
It’s easy to kidnap me. Actually you need not. Just promise me you will give dosas with different chutneys, spicy thogayals and Podi. Give me the address and the time. I will be there.

#7 - Discipline, Studies and Exams
I love exams just as the way Mark Twain loved quitting smoking. I am very disciplined - like reading Osho the day before exams et al. That keeps my love going.

#8 - Women
I love a woman’s mind. Especially love the way women ( mom and some friends so far) give you options. Its like having two radio buttons, both with the same values and you MUST choose one.

The 460V hyper enthu kuttipriya tagged me for mnemonics. I seriously want to see the person who gave her this idea for tagging.

I hope she is not naïve enough to think I would’ve employed mnemonics at school. The first and last one I used in school was VIBGYOR. Even that I didn’t quite like the sound of it - VIBGYOR when you call it loud sounds like some one related to MGR..

It’s an entirely different world at work. There is absolutely no need for mnemonics – you just bloody google it. You can even afford to get the spelling wrong for the stuff you search.

However, there is another technique to remember stuff - by weird visuals and associations. Obviously this is not my original idea. Someone (I think it was Harry Lorraine) had written about this earlier.

Our mind always associates one stuff with the other. Remember how it works in a typical classroom? You will be in organic chemistry class looking at the structure of benzene (C6H6). Suddenly it will strike you that the teacher looks like Trisha at an angle – hormonal chemistry at work here. The ever inquisitive mind will in parallel run a search for the latest movies of Trisha. Kuruvi will flash in no time. See how we associate and traverse from benzene to chemistry teacher to Trisha to Kuruvi?? The adventure seeking part of your brain might even induce you to watch that movie in theater. Now you have associated with disaster as well.

The traditional linear note taking method is to draw the structure of benzene (six sided figure) and continue to dream about Trisha (or the teacher whoever was better). Instead if only you can imagine six Trishas standing at an angle mimicking benzene shape, do you think you would ever forget the shape of benzene in your life?

One other example – try visualizing this.
Kamal with the word PHYSICAL in his back is chained to a desktop which runs reams of 010101001 DATA which again is linked to NETWORK of computers which is chained to a Metropolitan TRANSPORT Corp bus which is chained to a judge sitting with the word SESSIONS court on his forehead who is seeing a web INTERFACE form in a linux APPLICATION.

It might sound like Dasavadharam trailer when reading but feel free to come up with your own weird utterly illogical image associations. In the above example, all the words in upper case are essentially layer names in OSI reference model – a topic in computer networks. It’s important that you make your own bizarre sequence. The weirder the better. You are less likely to forget this image sequence than reading through your own linear notes six months later.

The disadvantages of this system – coming up with unusual images and associations in sync. with the subject content takes time. Nevertheless, its worth trying because life is all about Trishas err… associations.

Kuttipriya tagged me for the important brands I cannot possible live without.

It’s another matter that we tend to confuse brands with fancy names, cute logos and stuff and the premium we pay. But good brands are the lifeline of the business and help get business done at a very individual level. Branding is a blend of product experience and reputation. If someone gives you Rs.1,00,000 without second thoughts perfectly sure that you will give him back on the said date, thats the power of brand YOU. Chances are, you’ve earned that reputation and trust over the past so many years. Enough of vetti gyaan:

On to my favorite brands:

Toothpaste: Colgate/Pepsodent.
I saw Colgate in my hotel in San Jose and called my friend in India and said, “Inga namba ooru item ellam kedaikudhu da, Colgate paste kooda irukku”.

He responded, “Vennai, adhu US company daan da!!”

Thats the extent to which Colgate had become ‘namba colgate’ to the average Indian.

Soap: Hamam
Honestly, i have not given much thought to this item. Its always Hamam by default at home for the last so many years, so soap means Hamam it is.

Shaving Kit: Gillette
Gillette. Now, if only I had the power to award Nobel, i would first do to the design team in Gillette. I mean thats sheer genius. I dont have words to describe anything else. I’v been using 7′0 Clock for a long time. It was not until my US trip when i moved to the Gillette Mmach 3 Turbo at my friend’s insistence, and i completley fell in love it. Suddenly Shaving is not a chore, its almost impossible to scare your cheeks, absolute fata fat. I’m a Gillette guy and feel honored to be so.

Phone: Nokia
More specifically 1108. Don’t sweat. Its not available anymore. But man, what an instrument!
It should’ve fallen from my bed and from the sleeper coach berths at least a dozen times. It holds the charge for like 3/4 days. I feel 1108 and cockroaches have one thing in common - both can survive a nuclear explosion.

My friend has a Nokia, whose keypad should’ve consumed more sambhar than my friend herself and yet works. Not exactly the qualities Nokia would love to advertise but these are the thing which makes a product endearing for me.

Favorite Shopping place: Nungambakkam Landmark (Not Citicenter, not Spencers)
Forget the limited parking space, forget the head scratching deemed to be security guy who is more keen to get a buck or two than help you with parking. There’s just no better place to spend 3 hours browsing books and come out without spending a paisa. My weekends are not complete without a visit to this place.

Shoes: Skechers/Bata
I was introduced to the comforts of Skecher very recently and am loving it. Prior to that ‘Footwear is Bata’.

Camera: Nikon
I shifted to Nikon from Canon AE-1, a legend in its own right. My dad was always fascinated by a Nikon SLR, so we bought one Nikon FG second hand in 1993. Ever since I’ve been a Nikon addict. I do think Canon makes better optics but Nikon is sheer bliss to handle.

Watch: Casio
People who know me well would’ve noticed an old, worn out black Casio calculator watch usually tried by school kids. I should’ve changed the strap atleast ten times. And yet I retain the watch. I did not even buy this one. I got it as a gift from Priyums several years back and I am sure she might’ve forgotten it as well. I did buy a Wenger when I was in San Jose. A tumble down from our dining table and its been stuttering ever since. So much for expensive watches. Casio for ever.

Bike: Hero Honda
I’ve been a proud owner of one Hero Honda or the other for the past 15 years and I have not felt a need to change so far. Maybe I would in the future.

Refrigerator: Whirlpool
When I decided to change my old fridge, my mom had one requirement, ‘It can be anything, but make sure its a Whirlpool’.

Eateries:
I would get straight to hell in a hurry, if i talk about my brands and not talk about my favorite eateries. Nothing epitomises the power of branding than the likes of the below mentioned best places and the dishes to have those:

Butter Dosai - Coimbatore Paati Amma Stall
Podi Dosai - Karthik Tiffin Center, i’ve come to like these gradually. Not for the light hearted though.
Jigir Dhanda - M M Stall, South Masi St, Madurai
Rava Roast, Idly Sambhar - Rathna Cafe
Benjorang - Best Thai food in Chennai
Fruit Juice - Kovai Pazhamudhir Nilayam - Chennai, CBE

Thanks to Arun for making me read my own old posts:)
Adhaagapattadhu, i am supposed to do a tag which lists some of my old posts into different categories.

Family:
Amma, Appa. I don’t think i will ever write like this again. I was going through a whole range of emotions when i wrote this and still go through strong emotions when i read it now.

Friends:
I am not the quickest to make friends but i manage to nurture friendships for long and i’m proud of it. I’ve written about my friends here and i am in touch with 3 of them - Mani, Priyums and Satya. Two of ‘em moved away from me for their own reasons. But hey, letting them go and moving on is part of friendship too.

My Love:
I am not intent on spoiling family peace elsewhere. And some of my friends are eager to pull words outta my mouth on my past crushes
So let me just say writing is my love. closely followed by photography and design. Ennoda oru interview questiona ye blog post a potta perumai enakku undu

Things i like:
Books - From Chomsky to Kalki via Seth Godin, Tom Peters, Gladwell etc.
I also like the fact that i could make total strangers smile or laugh at some of my older posts when i come across as more intense in person.

Myself:
Not many people know that i am a quitter. I’ve quit college, my professional accounting courses, my first job domain (accounts guy), not to mention a few companies along the way to what i am now. I get bored very soon.
Trying to become more focused and disciplined in general.

Recent plans and activities include:
Learning French,
Trying to understand the whims and fancies of the stock market,
Writing a script for my next podcast,
Writing a situation or scene a day for a planned novel.

Is there a connection between any of those activities? Now you know i am called indisciplined

PS:
Wordpress really played cranky here. i published this morning, even had BNB (sorry thalai) comment on it and mysteriously its all gone. Luckily i had some in the draft, the rest i rewrote the post from memory, which leads to one more thing about me - i have a decent memory and specialize in numbers

Who do i tag? - Ramyanisha, Balaji Rajan, Gopi, Deepak, and Chakra

Let me modify the rules slightly, if at all you ave not written much on the aforementioned topics in your earlier posts, please do it now