IT DOESN'T END WITH OSAMA

Hello World,

I woke up from my usual daytime hibernation mode at 8 p.m. and realized there’s big buzz about Osama Bin laden being killed by the US forces. The recent reports say that Osama’s body has been buried at sea (how do they do that??!?!!?). So a decade-long manhunt episode comes to an end, much to the happiness of the entire world. The most wanted terrorist is no more. The intelligence and military efforts over the past decade has finally paid off. Wait a minute….does this bring terrorism to an end? Or does this bring back the lives lost to terrorist attacks? Does the death of Osama really have any impact on any terrorist? May be a little because they operate in networks and they just lost a big guy from their network….but this is not the end of terrorism…..Osama’s death cannot avenge the lives of those innocent people who lost their lives in terrorist attacks.

Wearing a mask, armed with a rugged Kalashnikov and representing an outlawed extremist group is the image portrayed by the media when it comes to personifying terrorists. They are portrayed as mad men and women who just kill people. One side of this portrayal is true as it directly points to the heartless acts the terrorists commit. But it takes more than news updates to understand the concept of terrorism. These terrorists have different objectives, mostly fictitious and flavored with blind anger but they all converge on one means of deliverance….violence. It is hard to describe the situation that transforms a regular person into a terrorist and it is even harder to define the term “Terrorist” as it has a world of relative nomenclature attached to it. For the British administration that ruled over India for over two centuries, Bhagat Singh and Chandrasekar Azad were terrorists but for any Indian they are freedom fighters. What transformed Bhagat Singh and Azad to take to guns is the same that transforms any regular person into a terrorist. It is the purpose of the transformation that makes the world of difference there, for violence is the means terrorists resort to and violence of any kind is neither safe nor humane.

September 11, 2001 saw over 3000 people die and then began the war on terror drama that is still going on…season after season….and with the death of Osama, the characters have changed but this is one series that will never see a finale. What puzzles me is this:  World War I consumed between 9 and 16.5 million lives with the military casualty being 6.8 million. World War II consumed between 50 and 70 million with the military casualty between 22 and 25 million. This is just the tip of the ice berg when it comes to human lives being lost to acts of violence but the death of 3000 innocent people had the capacity to ignite a world-wide war on terror which after one decade of military episodes has accomplished this….killed more people and most importantly Osama Bin Laden. How in the world did it make sense to people that the death of one man, who is branded as the most-wanted person in the world, would mean something relieving or even worth caring about?  If we roll back the spool of time, we would come across a rather disturbing event where the US administration supported and provided the Mujahideen fighters who defended Afghanistan from a soviet attack. Guess what??? Osama Bin Laden was the Mujahideen Hero then. 

The former Mujahideen Hero was not the most wanted man when he orchestrated the killing of soviet soldiers and other civilians but for some weird reason, killing a few thousand Americans made him the world’s most wanted fugitive. What does this really say? The soviet soldiers are not humans and helping someone kill them is right and fair and when the same Mujahideen product attacks innocent Americans….it is Terrorism!!!!! Wow!!! The sense of logic is completely absent here.  When Osama was in agreement to the “World-Peace” process that involved killing people (mostly soviet), nothing was bad but when the same Osama did what he did in the east in the west, it became the epitome of terrorism. What happened on September 11, 2001 is just a link in the chain of events that began decades ago. Just for the record….that is not the only incident that had innocent people dead.

Man has been killing himself through legalized forms of terrorism for centuries and simply because those life-consuming acts are associated with Spirit of Nationalism and other modern day socio-political utopias, we don’t notice them as in-human. War is nothing but a legalized form of terrorism and we humans are forced to celebrate those uniformed terrorists as heroes simply because we are held by the spirit of freedom and nationalism as captives in schools of prejudiced thought.  Violence is a strong and sensitive tool. If it is wrongly used, there will be side effects and there is no way to simulate violence and foresee the side effects for possible cure. We are more used to celebrating war heroes. Try celebrating those wars that were won, standing in the shoes of those families which lost their men and women in wars. Only then can one get a closer image of the impact of violence on mankind. Even patriotism…something anyone would readily agree and adopt, whether or not they really understand it….can be a very relative term. It is the same relativity that exists in the concept of mainstream terrorism which is nothing but a bundle of extreme criminal acts and violation of laws and logic in every way possible. But for some, those may be acts of war and those terrorists may be their war heroes. They just don’t wear uniforms and get medals when they die. Just like countries attacking each other (sometimes even restoring peace in each other), where every bullet is fired as a response to the one fired before, the terrorist outfits continue to attack, in response to whatever they assume as an attack on their interest. The extremist schools of thought have their own ways to multiply and grow over time. Branding specific individuals or nations or even faiths as pro-extremist would only widen the gap between man and the possibility for him to survive on earth. To get a grip over terrorism and look for a permanent cure, it requires more than a neutral mind and un-prejudiced thought process. I guess this quest for peace is a never ending expedition into the world of violence for man, where the journey matters more than the destination. Man can only hope he does not hit a dead end. As for mainstream terrorism, sadly, it just doesn’t end with Osama. 


On a very different note [a shameless plug], if you are interested in unique tamil short films, feel free to visit https://www.summamovies.com/. I couldn't tolerate the mass masala entertainers anymore and decided I will do my best to produce content with substance. I have a long a way to go as a producer and a start-up founder, but I am glad our journey has begun. I look forward to your support. Each film on our site costs INR 15. Thanks!!!

Regards,

My Experiments with Night Photography

These are the pics I took with my Sony A-230. This is the first time I am trying out night photography and I am loving it. I hope to take more night-time shots.


On a very different note [a shameless plug], if you are interested in unique tamil short films, feel free to visit https://www.summamovies.com/. I couldn't tolerate the mass masala entertainers anymore and decided I will do my best to produce content with substance. I have a long a way to go as a producer and a start-up founder, but I am glad our journey has begun. I look forward to your support. Each film on our site costs INR 15. Thanks!!!


Regards,

PROJECT OF MY LIFE!!!!!

Hello World,

I have always been a slacker in studies. My scores have always been consistently low. I am proud of this fact, not because I care less but because I know I love to take risks, follow my heart and believe my hunches. Anything that involves staring at printed material for a long time and repeating it again in a quick efficient way is boring to me. I don't like to do it and I can't do it either. No idea which one came first. 

But all the classroom work that involved creativity and performing the subject practically have captured my attention, in every sense of the phrase. This early morning today, as I am sitting in front of my computer after pulling a full-nighter working on one of my team projects, I begin to realize that I am tired, drowsy and desperate to get a good night's sleep at least tonight. But for some reason I don't feel like sleeping at all. I have enjoyed the night doing something I love, and the sense of satisfaction that every lazy guy like me gets to enjoy after completing a project in a marathon fashion is holding me from going to bed (well, my sleeping bag.... ;)     ...and I am typing away my thoughts as they come.....

I am recalling all the previous instances where I had the same feeling trying to get the best of my memories do a repeat telecast in my cerebral flat screen. Even before I go back a few years, my thoughts come to a screeching halt, almost making a default doughnut with flames, with the recall of my Marketing Project last spring. I was part of a 5-member team. We had to sell cookies on a specific date for a time period of 4 hours. Our target was to make the most revenues possible with a well planned marketing campaign. I should say I have always been lucky to get the best teammates possible for all my team projects. We brainstormed until tornadoes ripped off our brain cells. We made multiple trials for every aspect of our project. We leveraged every bit of resource we had. We gave it our best shot. Our class was divided into 4 groups and our group came third with a profit of $1050 out of the 4-hour cookie sale. The outcome was not what we envisioned but we were still satisfied, for we had a vision and we followed our vision with everything we had.

That marketing project is titled Bulldog Challenge and it happens every spring semester at Mississippi State. From any angle, in any perspective, through any prejudice, on every biased reasoning possible, that marketing project remains the best project I've ever worked on. I was in charge of brand development, advertising, public relations and promotions for my team. Here's my brief yet magical marketing experience:  

1. I created our brand logo for the cookies we sold.

2.      I designed our product label that was put on our cookie package. 

3.      I wrote and published two newspaper articles in Starkville Daily News, promoting our brand and our efforts to raise money for charity.

4.      I arranged for Public Service Announcements (5 times a day for 1 week prior to the sale) on Mississippi State Radio (WMSV – 91.1 FM). I also went live on air and spoke about our brand, products and our efforts to raise money for charity. 

5.      I designed the advertisement slide and had it broadcasted on Mississippi State Television (MSTV 98) for 10 days (displayed every 3 hours). I also had a MSTV talk-show make a mention of our brand and efforts. 

6.      I created a facebook page for our brand and promoted our product line with hourly updates for over two weeks. I maintained our brand’s status update on the top three of the most recent news feeds in our friends network during the final 48 hours prior to the sale. A lot of people felt annoyed with my antics and I take this opportunity to apologize for any inconvenience caused. All I wanted to do was go above and beyond the practical realms of executing my plan and  in the process let myself go in a "Eccentricity Unplugged" mode. I'll be honest. I enjoyed every bit of it.

7.      I designed the display boards that were put up at our cookie sale counter on the day of sale. 

8.      I designed the flyer that was put up on all the departments’ notice boards for 1 week prior to the sale. 

9.      I created a photo slide-show that was uploaded on YouTube. I played the guitar and recorded the background track for the slideshow. We used the YouTube video to publicize our brand and sale through facebook.
  
I thank all those who supported our team and helped us with our project. I also thank my team mates for having the faith in me and giving me the freedom I needed. I have bragged about myself here but every bit of what I did has my team-mates' contribution in it. Marketing Rocks!!!! 


On a very different note [a shameless plug], if you are interested in unique tamil short films, feel free to visit https://www.summamovies.com/. I couldn't tolerate the mass masala entertainers anymore and decided I will do my best to produce content with substance. I have a long a way to go as a producer and a start-up founder, but I am glad our journey has begun. I look forward to your support. Each film on our site costs INR 15. Thanks!!!


Regards,

 

HOW SMART IS FEDEX SMARTPOST?????

Hello World,

 I had recently bought my first dslr and ordered memory cards for it. I was happy to see the Fedex shipping in the vendor’s shipping methods. I knew it would reach me safe and sound and on time for that’s my experience so far with Fedex. I was preparing for the most embarrassing surprise then and guess what?? I had no idea it was coming. One day after I ordered, I got the tracking details through email and I was happy tracking my package….The package left its destination and went to three different places and I believed the fourth destination would be Starkville, MS where I currently live. I slept hoping to wake up and receive the Fedex delivery myself. I never heard a knock. As soon as I woke up, I ran to check my apartment door, hoping for my package like a 4 year old waiting for Santa Claus. I opened the door and there it was…stuck to my door and staring at me with a wild smile…the Mighty Fedex Door Tag!!!

I was disappointed that I was not up before the package arrived. Now I had to go to the Fedex distribution center 15 miles away to get my package. I snatched the door tag with a heavy heart and read it….I was smiling even before I finished reading it…Package in Apartment Office!!!!!  What more can I ask for? I missed receiving my package but the package is safe and sound in our apartment office!!! I could not wait anymore. Usually I wear my sweat-shirt every time I go out but this time, in spite of cold winds making me break dance, I was walking fiercely to get my hands on my package.

I went into the office wearing an “over-eager shopper” grin on my face and with all the right I could possibly imagine in this world, I demanded to take possession of my package. I felt like Black Adder without the wit when I did that but who cared??  I was getting my memory cards for my DSLR and I could be clicking away my sorrows in the next few minutes…. The lady at the office said there was no package delivered for my name. I flashed the Fedex Door Tag with pride and asked them to check again. Even a CIA agent wouldn’t flash his ID like that. My anxiety was above and beyond the realms of anything related to sensibility. The lady at the office, in spite of my rude demand, politely replied that the Fedex Delivery Guy never came!!!!  I felt like I was in the middle of Déjà vu and suddenly the Inception characters are following me. 

The tracking information said my package would be delivered that day. When I woke up, found a door tag that said my package is in my apartment office. But for some reason, The Fedex Delivery person never came there!!!  I was wondering which dream I was in exactly, for I was neither inside an elevator propelled by C-4 charges nor in a van falling off a bridge. I actually put my brain to use to figure out the paradox. What mistake did I do? Am I at the right office? Yes I was. Am I having the door tag for my package? Yes I did. Does the door tag really say the package is in our apartment office? Yes it did. Then why on the good green earth of the wonderful universe my package not there?????!!!!!!!  

I was shocked to find my package missing and embarrassed at the fact that I doubted the wonderful people at our apartment office for a mistake that never happened. I walked out of the office, in slow long steps like Shrek with the door tag stuck to my T-Shirt and my head hanging down in disappointment. The cold wind was no more a trouble. But I was not giving up that easily. Even the 4 year old who misses Santa Claus would not do what I did next. Unlike my usual state of celebrating laziness, I was running across my apartment complex to find the Fedex delivery van. No sign of it. I felt very bad….not for not finding the van but attempting to run and investigate something that was clearly not there. What more could I do? The kid in me wanted to run and see for himself and all he got was even more disappointment.

Distribution Center!!! I was delivering mighty three-inch punches to the keys on my laptop, trying to get the Fedex phone number and contact the distribution center. All I could get was the 800 number. After the long argument with the IVRS I decided to search for fedex+Starkville hoping to get in touch with someone in the local distribution center. I did get a number but that turned out to be a collection center and the person on the phone had no idea how to get in touch with the distribution center. As I was biting myself to figure out a way to get in touch with Fedex, I noticed the chat option. I felt like I found Aladdin’s lamp. Within seconds of clicking the link I had a nice person responding to my questions. When I explained him (no names please) what happened, he politely apologized for the inconvenience and asked me for the tracking number and the door tag number. He asked me to wait for a moment while he was looking up the records for me. I was staring at my laptop monitor and every second seemed like a year. I could not understand relativity in my physics class but here I was, experiencing it the hardest way possible. Then came the surprise of the millennium. The nice Fedex chatter said there was no entry for the door tag number and that my package was being delivered by USPS. What??!?!?!?  USPS??? Why was USPS delivering my Fedex package??? If USPS is delivering Fedex package, why would there be a Fedex door tag on my door? I asked if I would ever get my package and the response was that the package could be re-delivered the next day to my doorstep. Usually it is me who makes people mad but this time I was red with anger. If my package could be delivered to my door-step the next day, why the flying jelly beans did they make me go through so much trouble? Why a door tag that would mislead the customer?  A few minutes later the Fedex chatter informed me that the package was now in the office and someone had signed for it. I went to the office and picked up my package. Then I realized that the door tag was left on my door even before the package was delivered. It took more than two hours after the door tag was left on my door for the package to be delivered at the office. Well, this is something to be analyzed. 

Fedex has partnered with USPS to come up with a new line of delivery service called “Fedex Smartpost” that aims at delivering to addresses that Fedex normally does not deliver (P.O boxes and so on). Fedex will deliver the package to the local post office and the post office will deliver the package to the final destination. This is a classic case of joint-venture business, an elegant way of tackling modern day shipping challenges. At least this is what one might think.  In my view, in terms of joint-venture co-branding, what Fedex is doing along with USPS is simply “Logistic Suicide.” USPS handles a huge volume of packages and letters and a diverse set of addresses to reach out to. Fedex provides a special category of shipping service completely different from that of USPS. The Fedex brand image says it all. Anything through USPS may not be expected to reach on time while Fedex is known for its timely delivery. Why would fedex team up with someone who is yet to meet the benchmark that Fedex has set for the industry? In a wayward attempt to reach out to P.O. Boxes and to reduce cost, fedex has made the mistake of the millennium. Every link of the chain is important for the logistic model to survive and sustain and by the fundamentals of logistics, it is always better to have one less link in the chain than having a weaker one. It is practically not possible to improve the performance of any logistic chain overnight and the success and failure of the business largely depends on how the bottle-necks are handled.  Fedex has successfully installed the narrowest bottleneck possible in its otherwise smooth logistic network. Will this “Logistic Suicide” consume Fedex over time? We have to wait and see. Fedex has a very unhappy customer in me now and I believe the number is growing. The question to be answered here is: “Is Fedex Smartpost a case of mild infection that can be cured or is it a frost-bitten toe that has to be amputated to save the patient?”  

A Customer’s Voice:

“Well, Fedex, you know more about logistics than anyone in this industry. You grew because you identified such simple errors and developed your business model devoid of those. Now after gaining so much market share you have now, you choose to do what you chose you would never do when you first began. Respond to the cries of your customers as quick as possible. There is always a new logistic model growing to eat out the rest. You are weak now. You can’t remain like this for long. “

This is what another unhappy fedex customer feels:

http://consumerist.com/2009/12/watch-out-for-fedex-smart-post.html


On a very different note [a shameless plug], if you are interested in unique tamil short films, feel free to visit https://www.summamovies.com/. I couldn't tolerate the mass masala entertainers anymore and decided I will do my best to produce content with substance. I have a long a way to go as a producer and a start-up founder, but I am glad our journey has begun. I look forward to your support. Each film on our site costs INR 15. Thanks!!!

Regards,

SMART PHONES ARE GOOD !!!!!!!

Hello World,
       Long time no see. Here I am typing my state of stirred-up confusion on the fact that in the past few years, a lot of smart-phones have captured people's hearts.........and possibly their wallets, time and the very style of carrying their phone in public. It is obvious that I do not own a smart-phone....because I don't need a smart-phone.
        The world went gaga with the release of the first I-Phone in stores on June 29, 2007. A 30-month long project costing a whopping US$150 million just for the development of the device finally made it through. With the unveiling of Android distribution on November 5, 2007 the open source reply to the high-end mobile phone era began..rather slow but definitely big with 79 companies teaming up to contribute to the latest digital spell.
        New technology, new gadgets, new fashion statement......that is what the world still believes as it embraces the smart-phone era that hardly contributed to the fundamental role of telephone..to make phone-calls. People take pride in owning one of these smart-devices simply because they can browse the internet on their phone...in a user friendly way that takes weeks to get trained in. Has the 3G-4G miracle really influenced the way people use their phone? Definitely, now the phones are more used to explain how cool an "app" is while putting an innocent caller on stand-by. That is the trend. Email in one touch. Pictures sent in a seconds. Prompts from social media websites popping up on their own. Calling is not an option. It just is not. The exception is only when it is required to respond vocally to a status message on facebook. 
         I used to believe that the smart-phone owners, all over the world intend to show-off their cool devices wherever they go as these devices make a style statement. But I am wrong about my belief. My observation tells me that all the smart-phones are made so bulky that it is impossible to have these "Advanced-Technology Burden" in the pockets for a long period. Just to relieve oneself of the stress of the device inside the jeans pocket, everyone takes it out, give it a glance and start talking to the person next to them with the smart-phone still in their hand. This is just instinctive and instantaneous. You need to be a normal-phone user to observe and understand this.
          I have a lot of questions to ask. To begin with..... every time you sit in front of your lap-top with your smart-phone right next to it on the desk, do you really think you made a right decision to purchase the smart-phone? I agree to the fact that everyone has the right to choose or not to embrace the evolving technology but..you know what? Calling is still calling....Just because you upgrade to the next G in the smart-phone....your calling experience is not going to change...not a bit. The person at the other end hears your voice just the same way as your voice sounds in any generic old-school mobile phone. It is true you have internet access wherever you go if you own a smart-phone but the question is "How better has the world changed since you started responding to emails from your smart-phone?" Besides, with so much internet activity on the phone, how long does the battery support the smart-phone? Do you have an "app" that reminds you of your internet addiction that has led to the purchase of a smart-phone? How would you categorize a person who would buy a product for features that are no way related to the actual function of the product?
           The smart phones have definitely made a solid representation of the success of modern technology and the art of marketing. Modern technology for bringing the internet to the phone and The Art of Marketing for making all the smart-phone owners believe that they have a need for one. One must not ignore the "app-store" business and the 2-year contract-trap..........individuals who are smart enough to figure-out hidden catches in day-to-day life knowingly succumbed to these....simply because they wanted the smart-phone....even now the smart-phone owners are gearing up to pick their choice of network and possibly an upgrade of their device because the latest news says new carriers have stepped up to get the best out of the world-wide smart-phone addiction. The smart-phone manufacturers and telephone carriers have earned a lot of money working together and they did that in style. Teamwork always wins. If there are aliens out there...I am sure they would be joking among each other through telepathy, mentally laughing at the fact that we creatures would go to great lengths to create an impression on others but never understand the concept of expression.

On a very different note [a shameless plug], if you are interested in unique tamil short films, feel free to visit https://www.summamovies.com/. I couldn't tolerate the mass masala entertainers anymore and decided I will do my best to produce content with substance. I have a long a way to go as a producer and a start-up founder, but I am glad our journey has begun. I look forward to your support. Each film on our site costs INR 15. Thanks!!!



                                                        IPHONE/ANDROID PUBLIC OPINION (YOUTUBE)
Regards,