Back to Blogger

On a different blog.

http://abhimanyus.blogspot.com

Cheers
Abhi

I Quit

Blogger messed up my page. I did not make any change to the template but still the display went haywire. Then I tried changing the template. None of the templates is fine.

So, I have planned to quit blogger and continue at http://spaces.msn.com/members/abhimanyu

Cheers

How can we help?

1)
If anyone is interested in helping out the affected people near the Neelankarai area, please contact Priya at 25506284.

2)Donate clothes,food and other essential items: Contact Kiruba at 98415 97744

3)Swaminathan: 9884017767
Shriram: 9884088788
Vikram: 9840084485
Dr. Vijay: 9381015118
Dr. Chitra: 9841512976

They need essential items like non-perishable food, clothing and essential drugs like antibiotics, paracetamol and pain-killers.

4)Donate in Rupees in India: If you are in India and wish to donate to AID-India in INR, please make your check payable to "AID-India" and mail it to

AID-India
Old No 132, New No 242,
Avvai Shanmugam Road
Gopalapuram, Chennai - 600 086 Ph: 044- 28350403, 28115058

Donations are 50% deductible under Section 80G of the Income Tax Act.

The AID-India office will be the central co-ordination place for all activities. Balaji is co-ordinating overall and is also visiting other districts. Others are taking care of efforts in Chennai.

Please contact AID office (2835 0403), or Balaji: 94440 61033/Ravishankar: 9444084910, in case of urgent requests.
-Ravishankar, AID Chennai volunteer and IIT Madras Professor.

If you are abroad and want to donate-
https://www.aidindia.org/aidadmin/DonateToRRF.jsp

5)Red Crosshttp://www.ifrc.org/helpnow/donate/donate_response.asp

6) Prime Minister’s National Relief Fundhttp://pmindia.nic.in/relief.htm

7)
If you would like to send money, please

write a cheque with the contact details to:

Bhumika Trust A/C Tamilnadu Earthquake - Tsunami Fund

And send it to:

Pravin Shekar
Dexterity Business Analysts (P) Ltd
D95, Anna Nagar (E), Chennai 600 102, India.
Ph: +91 44 2663 0063
Fax: +91 44 2663 0079

or


Call Ms Vyshnavi(98400-82793) of "The Banyan" and she will send someone to collect the Cheque from you and you will also get a receipt.

"The Banyan" is a Social Welfare Organization in Chennai. It is currently tied
up with BHOOMIKA TRUST for the Disaster Relief.

You can contact Pravin in case you have any queries about the status and operations.

Please send your contact details also.

Other Links

WikiNews
Strongest earthquake in 40 years hits Southeast Asia
http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Strongest_earthquake_in_40_years_hits_Southeast_Asia

Wikipedia
2004 Indian Ocean earthquake

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Indian_Ocean_earthquake

Wikipedia
2004 Indian Ocean earthquake in India.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Indian_Ocean_earthquake_in_India

Wikipedia Emergency Numbers

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Indian_Ocean_earthquake_in_India#Emergency_Numbers

The Hindu
The Hindu Relief Fund
http://pay.hindu.com/thrfpay/thrfpay.jsp

UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Sri Lanka
Tsunami: OCHA Situation Report No.1

http://www.reliefweb.int/w/rwb.nsf/480fa8736b88bbc3c12564f6004c8ad5/f8bd0416c9d6bb36c1256f76004072b1?OpenDocument

TN Govt. Website: Chief Minister's Public Relief Fund

http://www.tn.gov.in/misc/cmprf2003.htm

TN Govt. Website: Press Clippings

http://www.tn.gov.in/pressclippings/default.htm

Economic Times
Anil Ambani contributes Rs 1 cr to PM's relief fund

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/971874.cms

Indian Express
Lanka says more tsunamis on their way, UN warns of possible epidemics

http://www.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=40059&headline=More~tsunamis~on~their~way,~epidemics~possible

Rediff USA
How you can help tsunami victims
http://us.rediff.com/news/2004/dec/27tsunami8.htm

Rediff USA
Tropical paradise islands are worst affected

http://in.rediff.com/news/2004/dec/28an.htm

Rediff USA
Tsunami after-shocks: Panic in Kerala

http://in.rediff.com/news/2004/dec/28kerala.htm

Rediff USA
'Everything happened in 5 minutes'

http://us.rediff.com/news/2004/dec/27tsunami6.htm

NewIndiaPress
'I dragged my friend by his hair and swam, but could not save him'

http://www.newindpress.com/coastalcalamity/News.asp?Topic-367&Title=&ID=IE920041226213721&nDate=&Sub=&Cat=&CHENNAI:~''We~were~all~hit~by~the~first~wave.~I~caught~one~of~my~friends~by~the~hair~and~dragged~him~along

NDTV
Killer tsunami: Toll rises to 24,000

http://www.ndtv.com/template/template.asp?template=Tsunami&slug=Killer+tsunami%3A+Toll+rises+to+24%2C000&id=15965&callid=0&category=National

NDTV
Govt announces Rs 500 cr for relief

http://www.ndtv.com/template/template.asp?fromtimeline=true&id=65882&callid=1&template=Tsunami

Night Out

Working through the night is fun. Trust me!

Ofcourse, if working in the night is compulsory, it is not. I slept through most of this weekend because there was some maintenance work at the office. I tried reading "Atlas Shrugged", which proved pretty tough and very sleep inducing. On Saturday I helped my friend with some marketing work for his new venture and went for a ride, on bikes, with some friends, in the night.

Then on Sunday, I met a friend who's back from Canada after 4 years. It was nice to meet him after such a long time and even better because he gifted me a pack of chocolates. I haven't tasted them yet but, according to me, chocolates can never be less than delicious. This guy told me I don't look as baby-ish as I used to. Well, I guess that's a compliment. Actually, it is! I used to feel bad in 11th and 12th standard, because I was shorter, and looked younger, than the 8th & 9th standard kids. [I think most girls considered me a kid...too bad!!...That's alright, the future seems pretty bright!!]

Then I played indoor(one pitch one hand) cricket and had some nice chat sessions with my cousin and friends. Main topic of discussion was Tsunami and earthquakes and cricket on Sunday morning at Madras beaches. Then I called up home, and some of my friends, to find out the well being of all friends, relatives and property (the last one obviously, is not my own) in Madras.

Then I had dinner and came to office. I worked from around 12:00AM to 7:30Am (Please deduct 2 hours of gupshup with colleagues, TT and coffee, in case you are calculating the actual effort :)). When I went out at 7:30, it was a new day. It is a wonderful feeling. I plan to go home now, bathe and get back to work. Then go home at around 6:00 pm and sleep(may be try reading "Atlas Shrugged").

The book is a birthday gift from a friend who is a big Ayn Rand fan. Let's hope I complete the book- it is huge(enormous by my standards).

All those who were cursing me for having made you read my apologyover and over again...."I pardon your French!!" :)

And hey, I donated blood on Tuesday!...I think this was the 8th time. The number is for a certain Mr. Sharad Venugopal. :P

An Apology, my introduction & "Pardon My French!"

I deleted the post -"spamming trivia"- because, although it was a good piece of information, it wasn't well presented. I should have made it more humourous. With just posting in mind, I cannot let the quality of content suffer. So, I decided to go ahead and remove the thorn in the flesh (or ____ in the ____ ).

******

I joined a yahoogroup recently and in my first post, I included a small introduction.

About Me: I'm Abhimanyu Sarvagyam. I've completed my B.Sc(Chemistry) from Loyola College, Chennai. I'm presently working at D.E.Shaw India, as Associate (Resource Development). My career interests are Technology(specifically, biotechnology) and Management. I'm also interested in entrepreneurship and am making an effort to learn basics of programming.

Disclaimer: The last sentence is a sensitive topic and may not be discussed in public.

This is a pretty serious group where business ideas are discussed. I'm sure you would've realised why "i put so much scene"! ;) (Madras lingo).

******

Today, somebody i know kept saying f*** during the course of a conversation and later said "pardon my french!". I have heard this before but did not know whether cursing and french are "made for each other" or is it the f-connection. As always, I googled and found that it is after all not the f-connection. This is what I found:

What is the origin of the phrase pardon my French?

This phrase, in which French refers to "bad language", is employed when the speaker feels compelled to use an obscenity despite having listeners who might be offended. It's a late 19th century euphemism which first appeared in Harper's Magazine in 1895.

It is thought that the term French is employed in this sense as it already had a history of association with things considered vulgar. As far back as the early 16th century, French pox and the French disease were synonyms for genital herpes, and French-sick was another term for syphillis. The OED also equates the adjective French with "spiciness", as in French letter for "condom", French kiss (1923) and French (i. e. "sexually explicit") novels (from 1749).

Source: http://www.takeourword.com/Issue058.html

and...

Where does the phrase "pardon my French" come from?

The phrase in this form started out in the 1950s as an offshootof "excuse my French." This is a result of racial stereotyping -Anglo-Saxons of the late 19th century blamed the French for anythingremotely dirty. The belief started in the mid 19th century and heldthat was France sex-obsessed and pornographic.

Source: http://www.mindlesscrap.com/stumpme/07-02.htm

I also found many more similar explanations and came to a conclusion that the English have a habit of using national references in derogatory phrases. Another such example is "Mexican Standoff":

Mexican standoff's origins are not known, but one source supposes that the term, which means `a situation from which nothing at all can be expected,' comes from a derogatory origin. This source notes that adjectives of nationality are often used in derogatory manners. Several expressions were coined by the English in the 17th century to put down their Dutch rivals: Dutch treat `pay for yourself,' Dutch defense `surrender,' and do the Dutch `suicide.' The same is true regarding the Mexicans: Mexican athlete `an athlete who goes out for a team but does not make it,' Mexican promotion `a promotion in which the employee gets a new title but no raise in pay,' Mexican breakfast `a breakfast consisting of a cigarette and a glass of water,' and Mexican standoff .

Source: http://www.takeourword.com/et_k-m.html#Mexican

Anyways, I hope you guys do not do the dutch after feeling very french because of a Mexican Promotion! :P

******

One piece of advice: do not go to the NewYorker restaurant in Somajiguda, Hyderabad, because it is F***ing bullshit. Pardon My French! Detailed description of my experience, at that place, in the next post.

Random Walk Theory

Since I work in a company which deals with finance, a very interesting subject, I thought I should provide you some interesting information in finance.

One of the most basic theories is the Random Walk Theory:

The theory that stock price changes have the same distribution and are independent of each other, so the past movement or trend of a stock price or market cannot be used to predict its future movement.

In short, this is the idea that stocks take a random and unpredictable path. A follower of the random walk believes it's impossible to outperform the market without assuming additional risk. Tenets of the theory, however, recognize that stocks maintain an upward trend over time.

This theory raised a lot of eyebrows in 1973 when author Burton Malkiel wrote A Random Walk Down Wall Street, which remains on the top-seller list for finance books.

courtesy: http://www.investopedia.com/terms/r/randomwalktheory.asp

This is one of the main theories which is used to explain that investing in stocks is not equivalent to gambling, which is a zero-sum game.

Investopedia is a wonderful site for beginners to learn all about finance, stock markets and investment. If you are a novice, but want to learn about all this, I strongly recommend this website.

Two weekends, a so called "sage" and blog-updation...

Regularity: these days, this is the first word which strikes me, whenever I think of my blog. I have always thought that one should update his/her blog only when there is an urge to write. But didn't I start blogging because I liked writing? Yes, it was the prime reason. In such a case, if I am not regular, it can only mean I'm dishonest about my interest in writing. And that's just not true! So, I have decided to make blog-updation a routine feature of my life. This is mainly keeping in mind the few regular readers (??) I have. They would already be feeling, "what the hell man, this guy's updates are like superstar's (Rajnikanth) movies these days. One in few (few>= 2) years."

******

Well, the long Diwali weekend is over. I have heard one question, repeatedly, throughout this weekend- "Abhi, why didn't you go home for Diwali?". My answer might not sound all that impressive, but still, here it is: I had work at office and my only teammate left Hyderabad on 5th itself. So, I did not want to take leave. And going home just during the 4 holidays didn't seem to be a good idea because, anyway, one whole day would be lost in travel. Moreover, all we do for diwali, at home, is wear new clothes and eat sweets. So I thought I'll save up my holidays and go to Madras on a long vacation, some time later in the year.

******

I watched the movie "The Juror", on Star Movies, and liked it. Although the climax wasn't very good, the plot was interesting and Demi Moore's performance was worth appreciation. When I was watching the movie, a current issue came to my mind. The Jayendra Saraswathi episode. It is just another case of misuse of power. This man, has not only done that but has also played with the faith and trust of so many innocent people. I have personally met people who considered him no less than god, and I really felt sorry for all those people.

I read 2 books during the weekend- "In the Morning", by the Master, and "Rich Dad, Poor Dad", by Robert Kiyosaki. Both were really wonderful and from the latter, I have learnt a lot of things to which I had not given a thought earlier. Financial Literacy is a very important concept and those of you who do not know (with clarity) what that means and have not read the book, just do it!

Last weekend, I played cricket after about 2 years. It was just tennis-ball cricket, but I had great fun and I think I should start playing more regularly.

******

I would like to thank all the regular readers (actually, I don't know whether such a group exists!) for coming back and I promise that I will post regularly, from now on.

Till then, signing off thinking of the Tandoori Kabab at the dhabas on Medchal Road.

~Abhi