NDTV did a small story on my son Ishaan. It was aired yesterday on NDTV 24X7 and NDTV India. You can watch the clip online at:

http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/videopod/default.aspx?id=22630

I hope this clip spreads the message across and results in more people opting for organ donation.

The Tool I Hate Most

My boss gives me an ultimatum - I have to come up with a five line article on the tool (Not the friendly neighborhood hack-saw! Software tool please) I hate the most. I say politely that the answer to that question will utmost take two words - not five lines and certainly cannot pass off as an article.

That's when I come to know that I need to offer an "explanation" on why I hate that tool. Now, come on! Some things we just hate. Don't we? Have you ever sat down and tried to figure out why you hate certain things? For example Nisha Kothari? Or Ricky Ponting?

Alright, I think I shouldn't be questioning the integrity of some people here or else I shouldn't be standing here I suppose. So let me just confine my rants to the software tool I am supposed to hate most - with a justifiable explanation.

To start with let me just list out the tools I hate most with no explanation whatsoever. It is surprisingly difficult, now that I think about it, to identify this list.

Windows Desktop Search:

ACDSee

As per the unwritten restriction that a list should have more than one member, I think this is a good enough list. Personally I don't like to hate any tool because every tool must have gone through a really boring phase called "Development". Branding it as "bad" will hurt all those worked on the tool.

But I have no way out, Have I? Boss orders. I shall follow.

Let me talk about Windows Desktop Search first. A little bit of digression here: Back in the late nineties when there was a burning need for search engines that scout the Internet for information fast and efficient, Yahoo and Microsoft took their own sweet time to come up with one. Google burst on to the scene with a wonderful product Google.com and snatched away the Search market from Yahoo and Microsoft almost overnight right from under their noses.

I thought Microsoft would learn from this debacle and be more proactive in identifying such opportunities in future. When users were asking for a better way to search the folders and files on their computer, before Microsoft could revamp its pathetic windows search function, Google simply ported with its immensely successful Internet search program to the desktop resulting in a highly efficient desktop search.

Google Desktop Search enables the user to find documents, photos and videos stored in the most inaccessible corner of your computer in a fraction of a second. The program has a small download footprint and installs in seconds. The one time initial indexing takes sometime but once it is done, you won't see it interfering with your work.

Windows Desktop Search was more of an afterthought. Now that Google has a solution, why not imitate it! - Seems to be Microsoft's mantra. When Windows Desktop Search was unveiled, Google had already had a sizable chunk of the desktops in its kitty.

I have used both search tools and while I am thoroughly impressed by Google's, Windows Search is disappointing. It has a larger memory footprint; is slow compared to Google and it uses its own windows to display the results. Google on the other hand uses the default web browser. From the user's point of view this offers a seamless integration between web searching and desktop searching. They need not worry about yet another program to learn.

However, it is not always that the best program will survive. (Remember Netscape browser?) It all depends on market dominance. Microsoft will continue bundling the Windows Search tool with its operating systems. So the users don't have to actually download Google Desktop Search tool anymore. Personally I don't see a future for Google Desktop Search but it will forever remain in the history books as a pioneer in this field.

More on ACDSee in my next blog. Till then, happy searching!

Okka Magaadu - Telugu Movie Review

Let us start with a helicopter in which a minister of the state is traveling. It develops a snag and has to land in the middle of nowhere. When it does do the emergency landing, it does so on a proper helipad - complete with the "H" mark - in the middle of nowhere by the side of a village - Venkata Puram.

If you have any questions about this incident, do not let them out because if you do, and you have to follow the same yard stick, half your life will be spent asking questions. The remaining half? You guessed it right... hunting for the answers. So let us save all that trouble and accept whatever YVS Chowdary throws at us in the form of Okka Magaadu, Balakrishna's latest offering on the marquee.

The mantra seems to be pretty simple. Shun Logic. It would have actually helped us if the director were kind enough to display this warning too along with the Tobacco warning. "Please do shun logic at this point. We are not responsible for any brain damage arising out of an unnecessary logical appraisal of the events happening on the screen."

However for an intelligent viewer having an IQ of at least 25, the implicit warning is pretty much there in the face within the first two minutes of the movie when the helicopter lands. So I wouldn't hold YVS responsible for any technical snag in my brain.

This movie categorically states that most beautiful women in this part of the world are so sex-starved that they are always hunting for "The Man". They don't have any other feelings. They can't do anything else - Sometimes they dream about The Man. Sometimes they talk about The Man. Sometimes they behave in a lewd manner unable to resist the very thoughts of The Man. And that's pretty much what they do. Quite interestingly they come, they see, they show, they conquer, they sing, they dance, they disappear. Fifteen minutes later the same cycle repeats. I know this is the standard formula for most Telugu movies these days but to show them just as sex maniacs with no other goal in life is stretching it a bit too far. YVS needs a reality check. The audience has moved on if the reaction to these scenes are indicative of anything.

Nisha Kothari and Anuskha are two dunderheads who epitomize the male chauvinism of the scriptwriter. A word of advice to Anushka - Ma'am you need to reinvent yourself. Otherwise you will be spoken along with Jayamalini and Silk Smitha.

Before the release of this movie, YVS gave a press interview in which he made an emphatic announcement that his script demanded three heroines and hence the movie had three glamour dolls. I guess he was either talking about a different script or had very low opinion about the IQ levels of the viewer. Anushka and Nisha appear in two paise roles clad in one paise garments and have exactly 2 minutes of footage outside the songs.

Let me not get into the illogical sequences in the movie as I have already stated that anyone looking for logic in this movie is probably going to be brain dead immediately . The sequences unfold at breakneck speed with everyone shouting at 150 decibels for no apparent reason. And such shouting and mindless violence is served as "Freedom Struggle" complete with voice overs for Mahatma Gandhi and Chacha Nehru. Jingoism is equated to freedom struggle.

The fighter goes to China; watches Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon; comes back and kills all the British single-handedly. He resurfaces after 60 years and continues his struggle against the corrupt and the callous people of India. If that reminds you of another movie, you are not alone.

I don't know what the hero learnt in China but YVS sure learnt third degree Chinese torture techniques there and uses them on the hapless viewers reducing them to vegetables by the time the credits start rolling up.

The movie could have done away with two of the three heroines, one of the two Balakrishnas (the younger one to be precise) and a little bit of matured handling of pre and post independence Indian conditions. But that is probably too tall an order for YVS. If it were not for Balakrishna's relentless efforts, the movie would have killed all the viewers.

That brings us to the man who has given it all. It was refreshing to see Balakrishna mouthing ferocious dialogues and creating an impact naturally. Let's admit it, it is a sheer pleasure to watch Balakrishna when he is in his elements. Sadly all his efforts are wasted in this pointless and badly executed movie.

I hope this serves as a wake up call to Balakrishna. He needs to look at fresh ideas - try something radically different and give the new generation a chance rather than persisting with people who refuse to move beyond the decade before the last.

My Rating: Bad.