Truly one of India's 20th and 21st Century industrial success story is of Tata Steel. The first time I read about them was in the earlier book of R.M.Lala "Creation of Wealth", which was more of an overview of entire Tata Group. In his new book "The Romance of Tata Steel" Lala has focused only on Tata Steel. The author traces a hundred years and more of exciting history of Tata Steel—from men searching for iron ore and coking coal in jungle areas, traversing in bullock carts before the site was found, to the company’s modern status as a world-class company.

Though the writing style makes it appear like a Textbook, you can still enjoy it. You learn that though the initial crew of the plant in Jamshedpur was of a medley of nationalities, it worked well to a great extend  - the Crew of Steel works and superintendent were Germans, the English worked in the Ring Rolling Mills, Clerical Staffs were chiefly Bengalis and Parsis, a certain number of Austrians, Italians and Swiss worked in other departments, and the Chinese worked as carpenters and in pattern shop.  One of the interesting quotes in the book is made by R.D.Tata on 4th June 1925:

"We are like men building a wall against the sea. It would be the height of folly on our part to give away any part of the cement that is required to make the wall secure. That is why we and you have to use this money ... to build this great industry"

For any entrepreneur like me, it is inspiring to read the innovative HR practices that Tata Steel has pioneered over the years. After finishing the book we are left with true admiration for the vision of Jamshedji Tata in setting up Tata Steel and Jamshedpur city.

If you don't have Microsoft Office Outlook in your machine, then how do you search for people in your organization (assuming they are listed in your organization's Active Directory)?. With Windows XP you can use the Address Book Applet to do it. In Windows Vista there is no stand-alone program or shortcut (searching for People yields nothing useful) to do this. The answer I found out is to run the Network Applet ( Start->Network) and then click on the Search Active Directory button in the top tool bar.

(The Network Applet in Windows Vista showing Search Active Directory button)

This brings up the applet Find Users, Contacts and Groups. Using this you can search for People, Computers and Printers (Entire list shown below)

This is fine. But is there a way to get this applet as a shortcut on your desktop?. Yes, there are two ways to do that:

1. This is the easiest, launch the Find Users, Contacts and Groups Applet and select File->Save Search menu option to do this.
   
2. The second is to create a shortcut from Desktop and type in rundll32.exe dsquery, OpenQueryWindow. Then save it by giving a name like Find People.

I have never been into reading poetry, poems or other forms of heavy literature. I have only read Shakespeare's works in few chapters in English textbooks and seeing the plays in few movies. So why did I pick this book, which is a biography of Shakespeare - simply because of "Bill Bryson" name in the title. I have enjoyed so much his previous books "The Thunderbolt Kid" and  "Neither here Nor there", that the minute I saw his name I bought the book. Anyways after buying it, I decided to read it. And in the course of reading I learned a great deal about Elizabethan times and of course about Shakespeare. Of course, Bryson with his signature humour has handled the subject very easy to read and enjoy.

Little is known about Shakespeares life, and in this biography Bryson makes no attempt to expand on the known details. Starting by presenting the paucity of facts, he goes on to sketch the life of the worlds greatest playwright, from Stratford to London and back again. He also discusses the theories suggesting that Shakespeares works were written by someone else, dismissing them as ludicrous. We learn a great deal from the book:

• That Shakespeare names is written with different spellings throughout his life and after. Oxford English Dictionary endorses the spelling Shakspere.
• He created the most number of un-prefixes words including unmask, unhand, unlock, untie, unveil and more
• He created numerous new words in English including excellent, extract, frugal, critical, antipathy, hereditary, assassination, lonely, leapfrog, well-read, indistinguishable and others. Imagine an English language without these words!
• In his works, Shakespeare is known to have used over 29,066 words
• If we take Oxford Dictionary of Quotations as our guide, then Shakespeare produced roughly one-tenth of all the most quotable utterances written or spoken in English. These included Vanish into thin air, budge an inch, bag and baggage, cold comfort, flesh and blood, foul play, tower of strength, foregone conclusion and many others.
• English was rising in his times as it is telling, that William Shakespeare's birth is recorded in Latin but that he dies in English as "William Shakespeare, Gentleman"

போன சனிக்கிழமை குடும்பத்தோடு நாங்கள் ஸ்ரீமுஷ்ணம் கோயிலுக்குச் சென்று இருந்தோம். ஸ்ரீமுஷ்ணம் என் பாட்டியின் பிறந்த ஊர். ஆனால் இதுவரை நாங்கள் பலர் அங்கே போனதில்லை. இந்த முறை உறவினர் ஒருவர் அழைப்பை ஏற்று அங்கே போயிருந்தோம், நல்ல தரிசனம் கிடைத்தது.

வைஷ்ணவத்தில், இந்த பூலோகத்தில் சுயம்வக்த (சுயம்பு, தான்தோன்றி, Natural, Not man made) க்ஷேத்ரங்கள் (புனிதத் தலங்கள்) என எட்டு க்ஷேத்ரங்கள் பெரியவர்களால் கூறப்பட்டுள்ளன.  அதில் ஸ்ரீமுஷ்ணம் (தூய தமிழில் திருமுட்டம்) விசேஷமான ஒன்று, விருத்தாசலத்திலிருந்து இருபது கிலோமீட்டர் தூரத்திலிருக்கிறது. சென்னையிலிருந்து விருத்தாசலம் 220 கிலோமீட்டர் தூரம் - NH45ல் சென்று விழுப்புரம் தாண்டிய பிறகு உளுந்தூர்பேட்டையில் இடது (Left) பக்கம் திரும்பி 20 கிலோமீட்டர் செல்லவேண்டும்.

இங்கே இருக்கும் புஷ்கரணி (குளம்) - பூமியைப் பெருமாள் (விஷ்ணுவின் அவதாரமான பூவராஹ ஸ்வாமி) தூக்கும்போது பெருமாளின் வேர்வையிலிருந்து உருவானதாக ஐதிகம் (நம்பிக்கை).  இங்குள்ள ஸ்ரீ வராஹப் பெருமாளை (மூலவர்) வேண்டினால் சொத்து சம்பந்தமான தடைகள், பிரச்னைகள் விலகும், பூமி/சொத்து இவை கிடைக்கும் என்பது ஐதிகம். அது போல குளத்தின் அருகிலிருக்கும் அரசமத்தின் அடியில் ஸேவை தரும் அஸ்வத்தநாராயணனின் (ஸ்ரீ நரசிம்ஹர் ஸ்வாமி) சந்நிதி சென்று பிரார்த்தனை செய்தால் குழந்தை பாக்கியம் கிடைக்கும் என்பதும் ஐதிகம்.

(கோயில் புஷ்கரணி குளம்)	(ஸ்ரீ பூவராஹ சுவாமி கோயில் கோபுரம்)
(நாங்கள் தங்கியிருந்த ஆனந்தா லாட்ஜ்)	(ஸ்ரீ அஸ்வத்தநாராயணனின் சந்நிதி)

குசேலன் - பசுபதி, மீனா, நயன்தாரா மற்றும் பலர் நடித்துல்ல ரஜினியின் புதியப் படம். கடந்த 14ம் தேதி அபிராமி அரங்கில் பார்த்தேன் - ஏன் போனேன் என்றாகிவிட்டது. பி.வாசு போன்றோரு சிறந்த இயக்குனர் இப்படி ஒரு சுமாரான படத்தை அதுவும் மலையாலத்தில் வந்த ”கதபறயும் போல்” என்ற நல்ல கதையை இப்படி எடுத்துள்ளார் என்பது மிகுந்த ஏமாற்றம்.

படம் ஏமாற்றம் என்பதை காட்டும் விதமாக அபிராமியில் கீழ்த்தளத்தில் ஒருவர் கூடயில்லை. வெளிவந்த சில நாட்களேயான  ரஜினியின் புதிய படம் என்பதை நம்பவே முடியவேயில்லை.

• படத்தில் ஒருவர்க்கூடக் தங்களின் கதாபத்திரங்களோடு ஒட்டவேயில்லை
• பசுபதி படம் முழுவதும் எதையோ யோசனைச் செய்துக்கொண்டேயிருக்கிறார், அவர் பேசும் காட்சியில்கூட அப்படித்தான். ஏன் இதில் நடிக்க சம்மதிதோம் என்றோ?
• இசை பிரகாஷ் - ஒரு பாடல்கூட நினைவிலில்லை. பேரின்ப பேச்சுக்காரன் பாடல்கூட வெயில் படத்தின்வாடை தான் அடிக்கிறது
• ரஜினி நடித்திருக்கும் அசோக் குமார் கதாபத்திரத்திற்குக் கடைசி காட்சி தவிர வேறு ஒரு காட்சிகூடயில்லை. பாடல் காட்சிகள்கூட முந்தியப் படங்களின் தழுவல் -  புதியதாக எதுயும் யோசிக்க முடியவில்லை என்பது வேட்கம்.
• முழுப் படமும் ரஜினியின் சுய விளம்பரம். இதைப் பார்க்க ஒரு தொலைக்காட்சியில் ரஜினியின் முழுநீள பேட்டியே போதும்.

நானும் என் சிறு வயதில் ரஜினியின் ரசிகன்தான். ஆனால், குசேலன் திகட்டுகிறது. 

படம் இப்படி என்றால் அபிராமி அரங்கம் இதைவிட மோசம். வெளியில் நன்றாகயிருந்தாலும் உள்ளே சென்றவுடன் ஒரு பத்து வருடத்திற்கு முன்பிருந்த  திரையரங்குகளை சந்தேகமில்லாமல் நினைவுபடுத்துகிறது - அவ்வளவு பழசு.

I searched for articles on India's performance in Beijing Olympics so far and so I typed in Google "India Olympics". I was surprised to the see the first result as the medal count tally (see screen shot below). Checked it in Live Search as well on how smart it was behaving. It too gave similar results and added more details than Google. If Search Engines improve at this same rate, I guess we will one day have them answer any question we throw at them (Do you think this will happen or it is only a science fiction, please post it in the comments)

I am very happy when I first heard the news in Radioone while driving to work in the morning now. India's Abhinav Bindra has won a gold in men's 10-metre Air Rifle event in Beijing.This is India's first ever Olympic gold in any individual event and ninth in total. So far the nine gold medals have been won in group events like Hockey. India is growing by every other parameter in the last 50 years - whether it is eradicating poverty, education, economy, Nuclear Power, IT Services, etc. but it was a shame that India hasn't performed well in sports. We are all celebrating this in our company now with some Cadbury's chocolates. 

 
(Image Courtesy: NDTV and DD Sports Live)

The New Imperialists (How Five Restless Kids Grew up to virtually rule your world) by Mark Leibovich is a book I read recently. Though the book that talks about 5 technology leaders and visionaries is little old (it was written in 2001/2002 and a lot happens in technology industry in 5 years) I still purchased the book as I got it for a steal in Landmark sale last year (Rs.149 against the original price of Rs.1025, a saving of nearly $22). 

Leibovich a technology reporter for the Washington Post sets out to explain why he selected this particular 5 people whom he calls "The New Imperialists". The list of 5 are AOL's Steve Case, Amazon.com's Jeff Bezos, Cisco's John Chambers, Oracle's Larry Ellison and of course Microsoft's Bill Gates. Leibovich tries to show throughout the book that these men's ruthless drive must stem from childhood and the reason he calls them imperialists are because they are near equivalent of modern-day emperors. Leibovich's narrative style which makes the reading very lively and you can't keep the book down without completing it. If you thought you know a lot about these 5 people, Leibovich tries his best to show a side of them public haven't seen before. At the same time the book is not imtruding their privacy and most of it seem to be written with the individuals (or their PR) permission. 

He talks about Ellison's Larryland near hills of Woodside designed by a Japanese Zen Monk; about how Jeff Bezos wrote the business plan for Amazon on a car trip with his girlfriend to Seattle and about Jeff's thing; How John Chambers battled dyslexia and for a time believed he was stupid; The equation and friendship between Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer and how the loss of his best friend Kent Evans 30 years affected Bill Gates; How Steve Case saw with clarity what was happening with the connected world.

Last week my son had the whole week off from Tuesday through Friday for his school annual day. My work in office was relatively light, so I decided to take him (of course along with my wife ) for a tiny-vacation. We had been to almost all resorts in Mamalapuram near Chennai, so we decided to go to Pondicherry. Though I have travelled through Pondy numerous times (on the way to Cuddalore or further south) and been to few places there, I haven't stayed and seen Pondy in its entirety, that way it was an ideal choice.

From Chennai, Pondy is only 3 Hours drive - you have two choices for the route. One route through the scenic "East Coast Road" where you pay a toll-fee of Rs.45 from Chennai to Pondy; or the multi-lane world class NH-45 from Chennai to Dindivanam where you pay toll-fee of Rs.20 twice. I went by ECR and while returning come by NH-45, while coming back we had darshan in Panchamukha  Anjaneyar (which is at near equidistance from both ECR and NH-45). Driving my Honda City in NH-45 was a joy by itself, the car did (thanks to the wide road) effortlessly 120Km/Hr most of the time, of course I could've done more but the official speed limit was 80 Km/Hr !

We stayed in Ashok Resort (a part of ITDC), which had decent rooms overlooking the sees at good rates (Rs.4000 for Standard AC Room per night). The food and service was good considering that it is a public sector hotel.

The beautiful french quarters area of Pondicherry with its white buildings on the side lanes of the beach	With the Pondicherry Pier behind me (we couldn't find the entrance to get in to it though)
The first time I have seen a portable toilet (the blue boxes) for public convenience in an Indian city. Kudos to Pondy govt.	The famous pondicherry beach and Mahatma Gandhi statue

For nearly two decades now we haven't seen any innovation in design from makers of Wintel PCs or laptops. Over the last few years it has been solely Apple that was coming out with cool designs - whether it was Mac Mini or Macbook Air. So I was happy to see finally a PC manufacturer investing on design. I am talking here about the new Dell Hybrid desktops. Check them out they don't seem to have compromised on the technical specifications either which seems to include everything you may want in an average desktop PC - Intel Core 2 Duo, 4GB RAM, Vista OS, 320GB HDD, DVD Writer, 5 USB, IEEE 1394, Ethernet, Wi-Fi and more. What is very cool is the availability of a Eco-Friendly Bamboo casing.

I wish this is just a beginning of design innovation coming from all the competitors in the Wintel PC world (Dell, Lenovo and HP) and we will see some new form factors in laptops as well.