General

Doing What I do Best

Trust me when I say that I like talking and I just don’t simply mean talking. I like intellectual discussions. I hate silence sometimes because my ears are not trained to take silence ‘silently’. Rather I break it and start a discussion on a topic which is relevant to our present time.

Today was a meeting with Richard from TATA Infotech Ltd.. He wanted some help in GUI design and I gave him a discourse on Usability. After 5 hours of confabulations he left with a satisfied look on his face, even wishing me ‘happy birthday’ in advance. You see I love talking. And I love when people appreciate it like Richard did.

There are also times when nothing comes out of your mouth and you are left smiling. This happens when ‘she’ is around and you wonder what to do next. That instant is so difficult that a simple ‘Hi’ seems like you’re chanting some sanskrit mantra and mispronouncing it completely. You fumble and fumble until you give up and turn back to your seat. Those are really tough times mind you. The one place where I resist talking loudly is the suburban train. There might be some prying relative of mine who would report my gabfest to my peers and I would land myself in deep trouble. But I do take my chances always.

The tongue is a dangerous weapon. Much more dangerous then all of Bush’s WMDs. If you use it judiciously you will win laurels if not then be ready for a quarrel. I have got a unique quality of being misunderstood most of the time. I am also construed to be rude when my intentions have been purely noble. I have lost a few folks for this ‘misconduct’. People love to do that to me. Not that I care about it because the insecurities they possess are their own. All said and done, I love to talk and wag my tongue.

SurfUnion’s Greatest Challenge Ever

When we started out on a small scale we had fewer people with fewer expectations. That was because we were the first Indian Designer’s forum to rise on the indian internet horizon. The admins were focussed and dedicated and everyone was passionate about their new invention. I was personally involved with every decision making proces and ensured the smooth running of the boards along with the rest of the admins. That was then.

Today as newer boards spring on the scene we are faced with newer challenges to upgrade and diversify, introduce newer topics and categories to pull in members. develop webpages to keep everyone interested & informed about the latest happenings on SurfUnion. Members who were once loyal to us have gone into hibernation and those who have settled down are posing a threat to our very existence by creating impedements. The other admins (LimeIce, Ryche, Kreativ, FlashKid, RanTen, Bane, Buttclencher) have undergone huge changes in their personal and professional lives and they can’t be blamed for their absence from SurfBoard.

We were able to stem the discontent amongst the members to some extent. MegaMeets were a platform for people to exchange ideas and network. That however changed when the MegaMeet 3 bombed miserably. We couldn’t muster even 25 members to hold a seminar/workshop. My only concern is the lack of manpower to carry forward the initiatives set by the members. I must honestly confess to not possessing the required skillsets and without a collective effort I don’t see this thing moving forward.

The challenge ahead of us is tough and gruelling. We have to rub off the sluggishness which we have got into and start afresh. Let’s see if we can redefine SU in the coming days.

Welcome World!

It’s been 2 years since I launched my RETRO styled website in 2003. Ever since then the web technology has undergone several changes. My older website, as I remember vividly was purely based on the fundamentals of using tables for layouts. There was no alternative to this. The focus was more on showing my creativity rather than enabling the user to browse. Nevertheless I received a lot of applause for my labour of love and I thank all of you who became my affiliates, my partners in this endeavour.

The long hiatus from my earlier blog was the launch of this website. In keeping with the contemporary technologies, I present a brand new bhooshan.com which is powered by CSS & WordPress. The current website has many advantages, least to say a cleaner navigation and presentation of content. It’s accessible and most importantly it uses no tables. I am thankful to Aadesh for lending a helping hand (as always).

In the coming days my website will also feature my portfolio. I have not been able to find a good photo gallery for the same and would appreciate any recommendations in that regard. Hopefully I will be penning (or should I say typing) some good stuff over here which will keep you guys entertained as well as informed. Please let me know how you feel being here. Also let me know any discrepancies which you might encounter while browsing the site through some unknown browser on some unknown system. Keep me informed as well on how you liked the website. See you in the next article :-)

My Monsoon Shopping

Shopping BagThere was a rain scare in Mumbai today. It sounds very funny saying that but those of us who have seen 7/26 will not laugh. I spent 2 nights in the office sleeping on a maroon(ed) coloured mattress. This time when I heard about the incessant rains and flooding in some parts of Mumbai on TV, my mind went back to those mattresses again and those chilly nights I spent in the conference room. There was no way I was going to spend another hour in this office now. I quickly gathered some friends who were staying in the North of Mumbai and headed towards the station hoping that the trains services would be still running smoothly. After a very long long time, I caught a Bhayander local since I had Aadesh and Randhir accompanying me. One hour and I was happily home, thanking the god all the way. There were some moments of anxiety when the local stopped before Dadar for a while probably due to some signalling problem. We imagined ourselves wading through 6 feet water all the way to Borivli! For the uninitiated, the local trains take around 45 minutes to complete the journey between Dadar and Borivli.

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DOOM – The Movie

DOOM TeaserThis passion goes back to the time I first saw QUAKE III ARENA. I remember my Project Manager playing this game on his 17″ Monitor (used to feel quite big in those days) in the office. Subsequently I played the game to the fullest and it became my favourite weapon to vent any office frustration that I had carried home. It was my wish that they could make a movie on QUAKE III ARENA which had some lively characters and weapons.

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