Life Etc Etc

It gives me immense pleasure to celebrate the milestone of reaching 50 blog posts . This has not been an easy journey, there were days when I wanted to stop it all and there were some when I couldn't frankly figure out what to write. Quite often I found myself stumped, stupefied and shackled but figuring a way out through the hurdles that mind imposes made this journey extremely rewarding. After all life is all about mending your mind and getting the job done. ' Life Etc Etc ' is the best job I had after my regular job but little did I know how far I would come when it all began six and a half years ago. It was the last semester of my MBA and as part of my 'Internet Marketing' course we were all supposed to create a blog and write at least six posts before the end of the semester. I always wanted to provide an outlet for my perspectives. With my experience in blogging, I thought this would be a great chance to hone my business writing skills and update myself on ...

The Plot It's 1973, the Cold War is at it's peak and the war with Vietnam has just ended. William Randa ( John Goodman ) working for the top secret organization ' Monarch ' has pulled all the possible strings to procure government permission for exploring the remote and hitherto untouched ' Skull Island ' in the South Pacific. The goal of the mission - To excavate and unearth the hidden treasures on the island which has so far been inaccessible to all civilized life. Accompanying the scientists on this dangerous expedition are expert forest navigator ex-Capt. James Conrad ( Tom Hiddleston best known as Loki in Thor and The Avengers ), the Sky Devils helicopter squadron led by embattled and disgruntled Lt. Col. Preston Packard ( Samuel L. Jackson ) and truth seeking war photographer Mason Weaver ( Brie Larson ). What dangers await the team on Skull Island? Is Kong a savior or a destroyer? Will anyone escape the island alive? To answer all of these questions....

The turn of the millennium signaled the business end of school for me. With the retirement of most of my favorites I no longer found the time to follow and watch tennis. But all of that was about to change with the comeback of a  hero  whom no one gave a chance. 2001 Wimbledon I had just finished school when the 2001 Wimbledon Championships rolled in. I had plenty of time on hand but had no interest in the championships as Pete Sampras the defending champion was in ominous form and with all due respect to Sampras I had no interest seeing him lift the trophy once again. Two days into Wimbledon I was extremely surprised and thrilled to know that Ivanisevic was playing in the championships on a wild card . By that point Ivanisevic had almost retired with a recurring shoulder injury. If a slump in form and fitness wasn't enough his father's heart problem and sister's cancer diagnosis pushed him to the edge. Ranked 125 in the world , his final attempt at glory was a ...

2017 Australian Open is done and dusted. Roger Federer is once again the Australian Open Champion standing tall at the end of it all. The news headlines have been talking all week about what a great comeback this is from Federer. While I agreed with them, I couldn't help but go back in time to remember the comeback of comebacks . Yes, back in the day there was a comeback made by a man who was all but forgotten. He was a fighter, a champion and a hero for all seasons . He was Goran Ivanisevic . Goran Ivanisevic I hadn't started watching tennis yet when Goran Ivanisevic (Pronounced as ee-wan-is-a-witch ) burst onto the tennis scene as a precocious teenager. The year was 1990 and Goran stamped his presence on the Wimbledon Championships when he gave three time Wimbledon Champion, Boris Becker a real scare in the semis . The next time we heard about Goran was in the 1992 Wimbledon Championships. I had only just started watching tennis in 1992 but little did I know t...

2016 has been a banner year for social media apps such as Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram each trumping the other with exciting innovations to wow their respective user bases. As someone who dabbles in mobile apps here are 5 trends which I believe will revolutionize the world we live in the years going forward. Btw, I hope you like salt because you can only take the trends below with a pinch (Nah! I believe you need a bucket) of salt.  1. Facebook Stars : Move away Film Stars as Facebook Stars take center stage. In cricket, an all-rounder is someone with career stats of more than 2000 runs, 100 wickets and 100 catches. Similarly, a Facebook Star is someone with more than 1000 friends, whose every update receives a minimum of 300 likes and 100 comments. Facebook Stars are the traffic constables of the social media world, when they post something everything stops and even people who are fast asleep wake up to respond. What talent! What power! Wha...

New Year is upon us and this holiday season is the perfect time to sit back and relax with some exciting movies. Steven Spielberg's   Duel  is one such movie which can pump some life into a sagging evening or a drowsy afternoon. The Plot  Mild mannered and middle aged salesman David Mann ( Dennis Weaver ) is driving on a freeway in the California desert for a business trip. David is essentially non-combative and even his wife complains against his pacifist approach when he doesn't react after one of his acquaintances misbehaves with her. With a sensitive personal situation on hand, all David wants to do is finish the trip and get back home as early as possible. That's until he runs into the Truck. On a narrow two lane freeway the truck completely halts David's momentum. Recognizing that time is running out, David overtakes the truck only for the truck to overtake him again. The cycle repeats and soon the game of overtaking takes a nasty turn when the truck runs ...

Number 22 and I go a long way. Make no mistake I don't believe in either lucky numbers or numerology but several important events happened in my life on the 22nd and just when I make up my mind to dismiss all of it as a coincidence, 22 pops up out of nowhere to once again remind me of it's significance. But this blog is not about my affinity to or my experiences with number 22. September, 2016 was a tough month. I was saddled with multiple projects and really didn't have much of a breathing space. It was during the time that my sister nominated me for the 22 Day Push-up Challenge . I don't believe in taking up more than what I can chew but when your little sister pushes you forward for a noble cause, you don't have much of a choice. I was initially surprised that number 22 found it's way into my life again but was disturbed when I found that on average 22 war veterans were committing suicide in US everyday. Having lost some good friends to the malady of...