KNPH - 20 year review

Happy New Year. 2020 ! Well, who would have known ? Time does fly by , doesn’t it. As Ferris Bueller adviced, life is fast. If you don’t pause once in a while, you could miss it. Or something of that sort.

Now I really did not want to start this new year discussing a movie. But I too, sadly , am running out of time. A tonne of things happening in my life, but no time to really discuss it, contemplate it. Today, while in the gym, all of a sudden, I felt like listening to some old tunes. I have been thinking of my younger days for some time now, ever since this new year. Oddly, I thought of looking up old hindi music, a genre which I totally avoid nowadays. The hindi movie and music industry is garbage these days. And my search for hindi movies landed on Kaho Na Pyaar Hai. Now at the time, I did now know that it came out 20 years ago on 14th January. I found that out later in office. What a coincidence !

On hindsight, it is amazing how positively this movie was received in its hayday. Today, the absolute cheesiness and pothole size plot holes are obvious. But back then, it seems the world’s largest democracy did not care about these things. Back then, they got something they have wanted for long, but never got to vote about. 3 hours of feel good,  movie time, with good sights and good music. Some of the songs still hold up. But the movie itself does not.

Like swiss cheese, the movie is riddled with clichés. The whole double role story, rich girl – poor boy track(second time the guy is rich too), the girls father is a bad guy, so he arranges for the boy to be killed, he serenades her with songs, he has a loyal and shorter sidekick, and a kid brother who is too young, all her friends are ok with him, she has a rich cousin in NZ who is best friends with the rich double role guy, she also has a rich male good friend but never sees a romantic relationship with him, the rich desi in NZ has never been to India, but speaks hindi & urdu without any foreign accent, sings hindi songs, they are so rich that he never has to work, he just rides around on big bikes and cars, he goes to India to find bad guys and all its dangers,and gets shot right at the airport !, finally beats up all the baddies and decides to return with the kid brother, and she finally falls for his looks again.

The End.

If released today, a movie like this would have bombed. Hands and feet down. But this was 20 years ago, so the audience and critics lapped it all up. Me too. The songs in the movie ruled the charts, people got some new dance moves, and all the cheesy dialogues, and the nation got a new actor they began calling the greek god.

It would take Hritik many more years , and countless more movies to properly act in character, and I think that movie was Jodhaa Akbar, when he finally learnt to and spoke bespoke urdu ! I now read that the movie itself won so many awards that it entered some record books. For what, you ask ? For serenading viewers and critics aside.

Those were truly fun times. We are all equally guilty of eating into the chocolate hero movie. In a cheesy movie.

And a part of me is still there.

PS: Sample plot hole: In India, everyone already has cellphones. Mallik and Sirjee converse on cell phones. In NZ, Sonia’s cousin, Neeta, has to get out of her convertible to go to a red phone booth to call home. So she leaves her car on the main road ! It is at this time that Raj comes by without wearing a helmet.

The Ponzi scheme is now 100 years old

 

Heard of a Ponzi scheme ? This fraudulent gimmick to fool investors out of their money was at first started by Charles Ponzi, in January 1920. He found and tried to exploit a weakness he had found in postal reply coupons introduced around that time. Ponzi made millions out of this scheme, but he owed even more debt to his investors. He was later arrested and served time in jail. He died in poverty, having spent the last of his days in a charitable hospital.

But a hundred years later, even today, people still fall for this kind of ‘investment’ scheme, having learnt nothing from the past.

Today the internet is a fertile ground for ‘get rich quickly’ money schemes. But the underlying foundation is still fraud. People fall for it not because they are greedy, but due a fear of missing out. You see, if a new investment schem works, those who DON’T invest are going to miss a rare opportunity.

So the next time someone tells you of a new investment opportunity, and promises to double your money, don’t fall for it. Its nothing new, it is a very old form of fraud.

 

Things will be allright

 

Time flies.  Even if Einstein had not discovered relativity, time has a funny way of passing by at different speeds. Faster , when you least notice it. Slower, when you really take notice. I caught myself sneaking up on the years today, when  I looked at the calendar. 2020. That is a funny year. When the year matches its century. How many years have passed since the various milestones in my life ?

It is now 15 years since I left college. And 19 years since I left high school. Twenty years into the new millenium, the new century. I try to go back and remember what I my hopes and aspirations were, all those years ago.

Twenty years ago, I didn’t have the slightest idea what I wanted to become in life. Sure, I wanted to become an engineer, but that was only because everyone else was doing it, and because I liked computers. But I honestly could not foresee  where that career choice would take me. And it was the same state of mind for everyone else in my class.  We were all confused and lost. Will this IT bubble last ? How long should a doctor study ? What are my changes in finance ? My parents want me to get a government job, but I want to travel the world. Is it too late to change my stream of study ? None of could see our futures, excep maybe a few years. Hmm..I wonder what happened to them ?

I still stay away from social media. But I try to hunt everyone else down. What happened to the brightest, smartest minds of my class ? Well, most of them have become far more successful than me , and have ended up in different parts of this world. Some have joined dream technology companies in the great mecca of such companies, the USA. Others have become experienced and respected doctors, and have saved countless lives since. The dumbest guy in my college year, who could not even write the simplest computer program is now a project manager for a top indian IT firm. Turns out anyone can become a PM, if you can just get others to do all the work.

The smartest girls in my class ? Well, most of them have quit jobs, and are now stay at home moms. But I guess they only did it because thats how far the industry let them proceed. Many of them have become teachers , and are now teaching the next generation of aspiring students.

And some others, the back benchers of our classes, have defied their teacher’s expectations and have now become successfull leaders and business owners. It took them a while to find their footing, but better late than never. A few of us where so bad at studies in college, but they then went on to do their masters, the desire to study was rekindled when they passsed out of that god forsaken undergratuate college we went to.

I now see a younger generation of students , giong through the same phases that I went through, decades ago. Many of them enquire about my supposedly successful career. And hope for some advice. Should I take up engineering  , they ask, or medicince ? Should I go abroad for higher studies ? Doe IT really have a future in this age of automation ? I am a budding youtuber, should I drop out of college ? Should I go into manamagement and finance ?

All I can tell them is,  that they will find their own way. Life is a series of struggles, its not always smooth. Had it been so, it would have been very boring. The thrill of life is not knowing the future.  And life has a funny way of being allright. Its all right to pick the wrong subject, today a student has more opportunity to change streams. Its all right to fail a subject, as long as you learn from that mistake. There are plenty of colleges in India to go for higher studies, but if you can afford to go abroad, then do that, by all means. That is going to add so much more your experience and learning. College is important.

Never think of dropping out. None of the education tests can predict your future for you, most of them failed me when I tried them. Many who cleared the tests, failed later. But then got up again. Many who flunked upfront, later went on to find their calling some place else. The world has so much to offer, if you are willing to learn. Don’t worry,

Things will be allright.

 

Students lead the way.

If 2019 has sent society any positive message, it is that when it really matters, it will students who will lead the way. There have been multiple examples of co-ordinated movements and uprising driven primarily by college and school students. Around the world ! They might have not yet completed their eduation, but they know enough to rise against wrongs.

When heptagenarian heads of world governments denied man-made climate changes, children lead the charge. Greta Thunberg was the most visible leader of these students, who encouraged climate activitists to walk out of their school classes around the world.

Over in Hong Kong, university students took up the baton against China's attempts to an earlier power grab.

And now in India, when both the houses of the government, along with its puppet president, passed two laws which are fundamentally against India's constitution, it is once again students, who were the first to protest.

For me , this phenomenon is the best news to have come out of this mess of a year. The uncorrupted, educated minds of young students is where the true future of the world resides. We see it time and time again, education is the only path to enlightment. Here is hoping more of us get to see the light of truth and righteouness in this new year.

Happy New Year. And long live the revolution !

My desktop date format

The date formats used on computer systems seem limiting. Most are too generic, or too short. In my line of work I wished to see everything: including the day of the week and month of the year.

No kidding. Like this:

Yep, I sometimes keep forgetting the month I am in. Time does move so fast.

So here is the custom date string is use to get this:

Short date: ddd,dd-MM-yyy  MMM

Long date: dddd, d MMMM yyyy