Month: May 2010

Converse

A few days back, I read on RWW that Google Wave has released Wave Elements, which allow waves to be embedded on any website. Despite what might seem a ‘never took off’ status, I still thought Wave had potential. Buzz did confuse me in this context, and I wondered about Google’s strategy – whether they’re simultaneously developing the two products for consumer/enterprise users, or using one as a stepping stone for the other etc. My usage of Google Wave was limited to the first few weeks and Buzz faded out in a few days.

My primary issue with Buzz was that rather than new conversations, my contacts mostly had feed imports from Reader, Twitter etc, with little value addition. Buzz never gave me the option of removing specific feeds of users. Also, I couldn’t export the conversation which happened inside Buzz to the blog. The latitude-buzz based ideas remain complicated. All this, in addition to all the criticism that came their way right after the launch. It just made a mess of all my contexts.

But when I implemented the Facebook ‘Like’ button last week, I wondered whether I should implement the ‘Buzz’ button too. Like I’ve said before, I think most offices can’t afford to block GMail, so Buzz might help in the sharing better. 😉 Still thinking about it. Meanwhile, what I did try, is to add Facebook Insights to this domain. I stopped at six ‘Bad Request’ responses. Now, if I have shared my blogs with FB, I can’t see why they can’t make it easier for me to add Insights. They seem to be prompting me for a dozen other things these days!! With all the other plugins, this could really help.

I had hopes on a similar line for Buzz too. Simplistically put, if i shared my blogs with Buzz as a publisher, could they automatically assign a shortened goo.gl url to it, and notify me when it was shared? While at it, also tie it to my Analytics, for even more details.

The thought is pretty simple. Someone ‘likes’ this post, shares it on FB/Buzz, a discussion happens around it, and a reader here might not even know about it. Hell, I might not even know about it, if I haven’t implemented a few tools. Can that be rectified? Also, can FB/Buzz help export the conversations from there and (also) show it on my blog, because it provides the reader an easy way to know different perspectives on the matter, even though discussions have been happening on other platforms, and perhaps even discover people with similar interests. (There is at least one FB comments plugin that pulls comments from Notes, but I was looking at something that would identify the url irrespective of who shared it) I’d say the same for Twitter too, except I don’t think they even have threaded conversations completely right.

until next time, scaling walls

PS. I don’t think Disqus is there.. yet

May 6, 2010
The soundtrack of life….

Mo wrote a splendid post about criticism yesterday, in the context of art…. applicable to all kinds actually – how the opinion of an elite few takes precedence over what works for an individual. Music is something I’ve received a lot of judgment over, so I thought its a good time to go on a little journey in time.

Music has always has had this way of evoking nostalgia – I listen to an old track and the associations just start pouring in – when i heard it, where i was, who i was with..and so on. Actually not even the song per se, but the talk about music also sends me on a trip. Over a period of time, it becomes lesser about the way it had made me feel, and behaves more as another addition to a period in time. A function of archiving, I guess. I remember this discussion we had on Twitter a while back. It started out with Kimi Katkar and ended with snake talk, but we did dwell upon Kishan Kumar, and the unforgettable “Acha sila diya” from Bewafa Sanam. That was 1995, perhaps the golden age of Bollywood music in my life.

But the stage was set much before that. Those were the days of Rs.25-40 priced cassettes, depending on the label – T-Series- the friend of the masses, Venus, TIPS etc, and new purchases would be planned as soon as a preview of the next release was heard on the tape between large helpings of Jhankaar beats. Of course that also meant that one bought stuff that no one else would buy – Takkar, Amaanat, Aatish, Guddu..sigh. There were about 4 of us at school who shared an interest in Bollywood music, and therefore its medium of distribution too. Interest would be an understatement since we even used to save up lunch money to buy cassettes. We distributed work according to our preferences of music directors – Anu Malik, Jatin-Lalit, Nadeem-Shravan, Dilip Sen-Sameer Sen etc. So the ardent fans mostly bought their favourites, and the rest got to listen before purchase/recording. I still remember our first argument over who got to take the ‘Baazigar’ tape home first.

On another front, the success of Roja meant that all the ones that followed from Rahman- Pudhiya Mugham, Kizhakku Cheemayile, Gentleman, Thiruda Thiruda, Uzhavan, Duet, Kadhalan etc, all entered my collection.

Good fun, until we split up for graduation courses, and my interest was split between Indi Pop (kick started by a Channel V dance collection, and kept alive by Alisha Chinai, Euphoria, Silk Route, ) and Bollywood, the latter being sustained mostly thanks to their new find – A R Rahman and the “we’re just about getting along” Jatin-Lalit. In Tamil, Rahman continued to rock with Iruvar, Minsara Kanavu, but his focus was clearly Bollywood. The main problem now was that purchases couldn’t be shared, and cassette prices were shooting up. The tiny interest in “Western music” didn’t help, since those cassettes cost much more. But Bryan Adams, Richard Marx, MLTR, Boyzone, Celine Dion etc couldn’t stop me from being the first to buy DTPH from a store in Bangalore. (while on a batch tour) I waited at the store while the cassettes were brought by the distributor. I still remember the shopkeeper’s quizzical look. Fun it was.

It took Goa to initiate me into the world of Floyd, and the heavy metal brigade, though all the earlier favourites played on. I found a kindred Bolly music soul in my room mate, though the bugger never bought any new cassettes, unless it involved substantial usage of Rani Mukherjee in the cover. It was a good bargain, since he had the hardware and I replenished the software regularly.

The work stint back in Cochin almost put me back on track as far as Bollywood music purchase went, though Knopfler matched it in terms of money spent. Hours were spent in Music World. Its thanks to this phase that I have CDs like Paanch. (the ill fated Anurag Kashyap movie), but by that time, I think there were just too many movies coming out to keep track. Also, the plethora of channels ensured that the fun of tracking a cassette release day and buying it on day one was gone.

When I moved to Bangalore, I couldn’t bring my entire collection, but I still brought a few, if only to remind me that once upon a time, life was a series of songs.

These days, while Bollywood still holds sway as far as movie watching goes, in terms of music, I wait for tracks to reach me. Maybe the fun was also in finding new tunes and sharing them. I never could experience that sharing mechanism for non-Hindi tracks, and therefore there’s always a passivity in my music taste. The Eklektic Rock station on Live 365 is changing that slowly, though, making me move beyond the confines of Coldplay, The Killers, The Fray, Springsteen, Daughtry, Green Day, REM and so on…. Sometime back, a friend sent me a few tracks that she thought i’d like. It was fun, the feeling that one has when one discovers an old path. 🙂

until next time, we change, the song remains the same…

May 5, 2010
Arsalan

That sounds straight out of LoTR or Narnia, but its actually a restaurant chain based in Kolkata, but with a branch closer home – Koramangala. Its right next to Ammi’s Biriyani, and almost opposite ‘Jukebox’. (map) The Bosch parking is nearby, so you could try your luck there.

They have a rolls counter downstairs, and the restaurant is on the mezzanine and upper floors. We chose the first floor, it gave us a good view of the road.. and some half a dozen new restaurants that seem to have sprung up!! The menu is heavily skewed towards the meat eaters, though it does have more than 20 veg dishes listed. There really is a case for Murgh Sagar!! (or fish/beef/mutton)

Between chicken, mutton and seafood, there are more than 30 kabab options. The average prices are Rs.115, Rs.140, Rs.150 respectively, but we got to know that the fish items weren’t available that day. They even have the number of pieces listed alongside, and the tables are skewer friendly, though they didn’t seem to be using the option. We started with a Chicken Arsalan Kabab, which was very unique, and cheesy. Ok, sorry, it just had lots of cheese, which sometimes overshadowed the kabab’s taste. But still, highly recommended, it works.

For the main course, again there are some 40+ options between chicken and mutton gravies. Here too, the number of pieces are mentioned. To go along with that, you could choose from biriyani/pulao/rice or roti/naan/paratha. We ordered a Chicken Rezala and a Chicken Arsalan Masala, both ‘1 piece’ items. To go along with that, a masala kulcha and continuing with the theme, an Arsalan Special Naan. The Rezala has a white gravy and is a dish that the US might consider invading for the amount of oil. (though Nikhil might claim other restaurants in koramangala deserve that first) In spite of that, it was a bit bland. The Arsalan masala is a brown gravy, with carrot, pineapple and cashew nuts, that lends it a sweetness. It might sound weird, but is actually quite good. The Masala Kulcha was made well, and the Arsalan Special Naan was unique too, with groundnuts, and bordering on sweet. We figured that we needed reinforcements, but were too stuffed to go for the yummy sounding chicken biriyanis listed. We ordered a veg biriyani instead, and judging from that, the biriyani offering is pretty good – not too oily, and a hint of the saffron flavor. The portion was XL sized, and we found it difficult to complete.

The service is fast, and we recognised the guy who took our order, from Tunday Kababi. The ambiance, while not really fine dining, is pleasant and comfortable. The meal cost us just less than Rs.500, and works well on the value-for-money front. Worth paying a visit, when you’re in the neighbourhood.

Arsalan, 158, 1st Main Road, 7th Block, Koramangala. Ph: 25703366

Menu at Zomato

May 2, 2010