Obesity is becoming a concern across the world as food is being considered as medicine to kill stress, overwork and self abuse.
Americans have mastered this art with a huge population of obese. And though there are drastic steps and measures to tackle this problem, can we think of a placebo diet?
A diet that tastes yum, just like the mac burger and finger chips.
A drink that tastes as yum as coke
Yet is not absorbed by the body at all and is thrown out.
I think this would be the ultimate form of pampering self for the foodies like me. Provided the side effects are kept minimum.
Any Einstein listening?

Anil Dhirubhai Ambani is a man who can sniff out opportunities and can make money out of them. And I have a feeling he has sniffed something big again…

Two days back there was an announcement that Ambani jr. is interested in picking up esselworld, the theme park in Mumbai, and convert it into a entertainment zone. This will be then replicated in other cities as well…

The very next day there is a release from the tourism department that India needs to develop entertainment zones that will have casinos and other entertainment that will attract the rich Indians and foreigners

Putting two and two together, I think Mr. Ambani is aiming for esselworld to make the first entertainment zone with backing from the government. And mint a few billions…wow!

Like a sinking person suddenly woken from stupor, the Indian tourism ministry and Indian government seem to have woken up to the importance of tourism. India has deprived itself, through lack of conscious efforts, to make billions out of tourism unlike other tourism majors. And today it gets less than one percent of world tourist traffic.
So the Tourism ministry has a rescue plan. Create a mini Vegas in India to attract foreigners and affluent Indians. But isn’t that a very feeble attempt?
We need to think of other ways to promote tourism. Like promote how India is a great destination for Medical Tourism. That one in twenty docs in US is of Indian origins and hence Americans can trust their Indian counterparts.
Are we tom tomming about our education systems like the IIT and IIMs?
Are we telling people that we can offer them the experience of Switzerland and Africa in the same country?
Are we taking care of basic infrastructure like hotel rooms to accommodate tourists?
Are we encouraging and educating people about the prospects of tourism in India. Are we telling people how it will impact our GDP and help us fight inflation and bring down the fiscal deficit?
Are we seeing the big picture?
I guess not…Shocking!

In India, everyone’s on a gathering spree…grab whatever you can, how much ever you can and wherever you can. Somewhere everyone has suddenly understood the importance of flocking together and getting a better bargaining power.
That’s why you find bollywood stars flocking over cricket. Cricketers are flocking over television commercials. Music directors are flocking over talent contests and common men flocking over their favorite contestants to vote their winner. Government servants flocking over pay commission. Castes are flocking for rights. Parties are flocking for muscle. Corporates are flocking for tax savings. And common man is flocking to get rid of troubles through vote.
But, the flocking is fcuking the country…I guess nobody really cares for that

Sir Branson is known for googlies. So when he decided to come to the Indian market with his Virgin mobile, everbody expected a googly. And he has not let them down.
There is a new system on in the market, where in the consumer has the right to stop unwanted calls. Which is troubling the tele marketing companies.
What Sir Branson has done is that they have changed it completely. With an offer that pays the consumer for incoming calls, he has turned the push to a pull. Once the offer is started, the college students, the TG for most brands today, would love to get incoming calls. And this would open a whole world of opportunities for the dying telemarketers in the country.
So, if Virgin offers a consumer free talktime of say a minute of outgoing call for five minutes of incoming call/s, Virgin in turn could charge the marketer/s a kool fifty dollars.
With the mobile being considered the third screen for Indian consumers, I think its worth their money for the marketers.
And if this turns out to be true, then we have another marketing classic from the genius. Looking forward to the Virgin launch eagerly!

I am terribly disappointed by the finance minister. By his decision to give a waiver to the farmers and winning votes. It’s like feeding a beggar once without giving him a living.
From a Harvard scholar, I wanted to think of something more innovative. Something that would be long term. Something that would be a one time cost/ investment.
Just imagine. There are 80% people in India depending on farming for a living. That’s around 80 crore people. Why can’t the government offer them a long term solution.
I have a few solutions that might work.
Firstly, why doesn’t the government buy most of the land and convert these vast stretches of land into a public company. And employ farmers to produce and pay them a salary. If government an do that with airlines, banks, petroleum companies, then why not with agriculture? May be then there can be a lot more money invested on R&D and better practices.
Secondly, why don’t government let private players do that instead of the government directly? Like let the private companies float subsidiaries that would be funded by them which will sell farm products as the produce. If they can produce steel, if they can mine, if they can go for oil wells why not farming?
Lastly, why doesn’t government let the RBI conduct a IPO where the public holds the shares of the company that will hold and own the land for agriculture. The risks for the farmers would be zero and would protect them against the vagaries of the agriculture sector’s unpredictability.
With the food production going down in many countries why is India not playing the role of the world’s feeder in addition to the role of being the world’s backoffice? I think its more respectable, more profitable and would help the government earn the goodwill of the biggest vote bank in the country. And not to mention save our tax money from cheap thrills on part of every finance minister in the future.

We are all unique. All of us. As our genetic combinations, our biological metabolism, our experiences, our reactions to those experiences together makes us very unique in our outlook and thinking. And thoughts maketh the man. So we are what we think and since our thoughts do not match with anyone else in the world, we are unique.
But then why are we not unique then? There are many training sessions that we undergo in our life time that helps us blend in a crowd. Sometimes these impulses are so strong and the impressions are so strong, they last a lifetime. Look at the army, look at education, look at religion, and look at law. Don’t they say that we are all equal in the eyes of the law? And we start believing it so strongly that we start doing what everyone does. We try to emulate the success of other people. We try to dress up like the x actor or we start talking like the x superstar without realizing that their style works on them may not work well with me.
Same applies when it comes to our dreams. We all want to be doctors, engineers and successful professionals without realizing whether we are cut out for it or not.
In an effort to form a society and smaller blocks of civilization like the family, workplace, we are losing our individuality. We are thinking like everyone and ending up in making mass blunders. There is no one thinking out of the box the box. As we are too stuck to the perimeter of the box.
We will soon have a universal world, a unisex world and a unipolar world. We are already working towards it. But isn’t it at the cost of our individuality? And is that the way ahead or are we going to wake up and move out of mass production of everything and go back to customizations. Well only time will tell…

Finally a car for the masses from the company that is trusted by over a billion people. Yes, I mean the TATA built one lac car. There have been a lot of speculation both for and against it. But what does it mean to me?

Firstly, I think the TATA should be applauded for doing the impossible. Which is telling the government that even without their help and subsidies, the common man, who forms the bottom of the pyramid could be tapped in a win-win situation.

Why are cars so expensive in India? Because everything is over taxed. Why cant government reduce taxes and subsidise cars? Why are only farmers given the benefit of subsidies and nothing for the middle class that fills the government coffers with their 30% tax to run the government?

Why should every American own a car and only a minute percentage of Indians? Why do people need to travel like cattles in trains and buses in metros?

Sure fuels will leave a huge carbon and ozone layer deficit. But then after all the developed countries and done it for centuries why are they stopping the developing countries?

Why cant the government increase the usage of CNG and ethanol based fuels?

I think the one lac car is a whole new experience for the growing and prospering new Indian, who wants to have more luxury and facilities than generations before.

And the one lac car is a giant step in that direction to make Indians feel that they are no less than any one anywhere. And that staying in India they can have all the comforts that developed countries take for granted and that we Indians so far considered luxury.

Congratulations Mr. TATA. You have made the Indians proud.

The movie Om Shanti Om is a true masala film. The core thought of the film is "When you want something deeply from your heart, the entire universe works and helps to make you achieve it". A very beautiful thought indeed.

I think thats why I like fiction. Its so interestingly different from reality. And it gives birth to non fiction. Flying was fiction today a reality. There are many more things that one can write on.

But thats the beauty of fiction. Thats the craft of the filmmaker or the writer who can convince you of something that you yourself have not experienced with your five senses. But you are mesmerised for a few hours.

I think thats what makes superman, spider man and batman so interesting. Thats what makes Disney cartoons so interesting. that makes reading Ludlum so interesting. Thats what makes Bond so kewl.

I think its a very beautifully made film. really loved it.

Inspiration is a smart dude. It lurks at places where you may never visit. And people who visit these places, come out with ideas that change their lives and the mankind’s destiny forever.

Sabir Bhatiya, the famous founder of hotmail is an example of that kind. He changed the way the world communicates. Google too is an example where two kids from some tech college changed the way world searches for information. The list is endless.

The next is facebook, a startup in a Harvard dorm that has sold less than 2% stake to Microsoft the big daddy of software for a whopping $240 million.

Gosh why didn’t I study in a far away college and stay in a dorm? Guess its too late…. but not too late to appreciate these smart modern day entrepreneurs. Hats off to you gentlemen.