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Ideally, I would want to drive a bespoke Ferrari around a race track designed to suit my needs, probably on the lines of what the Dutch billionaire Ascari has built. A combination of some of the best chicanes, corners and a long straight where I can take the car to it's absolute limit. After setting a blistering lap time, I would want to enjoy a nice Tiramisu (in keeping with the Italian theme) from a personal chef and consult my trainer to burn out the damage done by all the calories gained.  When I think about this, it appears extremely materialistic at first. That I am ignoring the world's problems and thinking about myself and myself alone. A racetrack would mean cutting down of trees and relocation of many of the less fortunate. Not to mention all the fuel, wasted food etc., However, this is exactly the kind of life that company's try to portray in one's mind. That the next purchase will ensure attention, exclusivity and announce your arrival to the world...

Someone once told that instead of going by hearsay, we must experience life to its fullest. That there is a certain joy in knowing things first hand than trying to put on our thinking caps to paint a picture of the narration. Sure, we probably will not get to do everything that we come by, but there are these innate desires that you simply want to achieve no matter what. You hear stories, life experiences saying that most of it is over rated and that a normal life is all we crave for, but there is something that pushes you to say 'I have to do this myself'. Let's say one of your friends drives a Ferrari some time or you see Jeremy Clarkson singing it's songs of praise; there is always proof in the pudding, isn't there? Wouldn't you want to get your hands on that Ferrari some time despite knowing you can't use it in the city, probably not afford the insurance or rob a bank to get a new set of tires, but defying all logic, you want one. While great minds...

When Steve Jobs said that there was room for a third device between a laptop and a smartphone, I was not in complete agreement. While I used my desktop for carrying out most of the important work and browsed the internet or watched some videos on my phone, there was no compelling reason to buy a tablet. After a while though, thanks to my employer's generosity and some impluse online shoppoing, I got hands on an iPad Mini. The moment I started using it, my reaction was that of convenience. I enjoyed the iPad with it's plethora of apps and games to an extent that I thought I could make do without a laptop for my college. Turns out, those days are still quite some time away. So, using a tablet as a standalone device for computing is fine in advertisements or when companies showcase perfect scenarios where you have ample connectivity. However, in the real world, we demand a lot more from our devices, especially once we term our personal computers. So far, despite pairin...

Every time an Apple product is launched or showcased, far too much attention is drawn in terms of press coverage, sometimes both good and bad. However trivial the upgrade or insane an idea, the Jobs era somehow had that drama and sense of occasion at the keynotes. While I have not been to any of them in person, it's easy to see what a single person can do to influence an organization no matter what it's workforce strength is or believes in. Enough has been said about him by some of the best writers; his concept of reality distortion field, inability to accept mediocrity, relentless pursuit of perfection etc., Imagine, the guy wanted perfectly printed circuit boards inside a machine that would never be opened.   With such an approach, Jobs always ensured that Apple was a company that followed it's own norms. A company that was famous for secrecy and known for great leaps in design and engineering.   While it's not fair to expect great leaders very often...

So, a student again. After a brief stint of corporate life and enjoying the niceties it had to offer, I am back to living on a relatively small budget every month. Things seem a little simpler when all the superfluous is taken away for sure. All I need are three meals a day and the occasional ice cream or conversation with someone to keep up the spirit. For a while now, I've come across people saying there is a difference between a house and a home. A home is something you make out of a house etc., Well, this is just after about two weeks of life at a hostel which I never thought would become my idea of a 'home'. After scratching my head quite a bit, I asked myself, 'What is home?'.   One, it's a place where you have your loved ones surrounding you. The next and more important feeling is that of familiarity. The sense that you just know where the phone charger is even at 1 in the night and you're drowsy after a long day. The intuition that ...

One of the best stories I've heard so far goes like this. In an island of great prosperity, there once lived a group of people who were self sufficient. While the elders went fishing in the morning or worked in fields, children went to school and in the evening, they would gather to talk about the day, celebrate their food, play, sing and dance. It was a harmonious environment that the so called 'modern' world would die to achieve. One day, a bunch of people in suits arrive in a bid to promote their business in this hugely prosperous land. The pitch goes like this - Instead of just fishing enough for your family, why don't you try to catch more and export them, make a ton of money, build a great port, send your children to schools around the world and put yourselves on the map? The locals go - Ok, so what next? To this, our man in the Armani cut suit says - After doing all this, sell all your boats, leave behind all the unnecessary things you bought when you w...

Visiting a premium bike showroom is a rewarding experience in itself. You get to see so many of the grown ups gleefully posing on bikes, eager to get their hands on machines they could not own previously for various reasons ranging from nascent biking culture in India up to putting the family first and buying a car. After witnessing these reactions at Tusker Harley-Davidson here in Bangalore, I came back with mixed opinions.  For the sake of convenience, I decided to break down this write up into separate sections, so here we go. As always, your feedback is greatly appreciated.  Design, Build and Ergonomics Around the world, Harleys are known for their quintessential cruiser or muscle bike styling. While they are pin ups for boys of all ages, the 750 somehow does not cut it. Sure the tank is quite large and the tail section exudes a sense of modern design flair, but you get the impression that the designers had their hands tied, with a clear briefing to come up w...