Fireflies Music Festival 2008

Last year, I had a great time at fireflies music festival 2007..

For this year’s event, I’m currently not able to exact link of Fireflies Music Festival 2008.. However, found some info on www.couchsurfing.com via samasmedialab.net.. Thanks for that buddy !

The Fest:
Fireflies Festival of Music begins at 6 p.m. on 23rd Feb and will go on till 6 a.m. on Sunday.

* The fest is ‘inspired by the World Sacred Music Festival, held annually at the mystical city of Fes, in Morocco’.
* The stage is set around the base of a massive banyan-tree. A beautiful amphitheatre overlooks the stage and a lake where beautiful people are sprawled on their colorful mattresses, right under the stars, completely enchanted by the melodious sounds coming out of the banyan tree.
* The sound from the Jamo speakers and colorful lights give the 2000-strong audience a celestial psychedelic effect. It’s a night where culture meets nature, east meets west, passion meets fusion.
* The festival covers a wide range of musical genres: Baul, Qawwali, Hindustani/ Carnatic Fusion, Jazz, Folk, Sacred/ Mystical Music.

[See my fireflies music festival 2007's review for more details of the different genres on show]

Unmaad 2008 – the cultural fest of IIM-Bangalore

IIM Bangalore will present its annual cultural festival Unmaad on the 1st, 2nd and 3rd of February 2008 . With over 100 corporate organizations & 500 colleges invited to participate, this time the events are bigger and better.

With events ranging from Rock Shows, Fashion Show, Choreography, Pro-nite Performances to Debates, Jam, Quiz, Art events, Dramatics, Street Play, Music and Games, Unmaad this year will be 72 hours of non stop action and fun that promises you the experience of a lifetime. With a host of new workshops, new events, online games and the ‘War of the Corporates’, Unmaad 2008 is all set to be a roller coaster ride for everyone.

check out http://www.unmaad.com for more details on the events

The Pro-Nite shows (Music Concerts) this year:

1. Feb 1st – Rock show featuring Motherjane and Zero – Time 7 pm

They are among the most popular rock acts in the country. This being a rock show, there will be no separate enclosures or categories, nor there any seating provided. The ticket prize is Rs 100 and gates will open at 6.30 in the evening.

To buy online http://www.iticket.in/CinemaResult.asp?MovieList=715&TransDate=2/1/2008

2. Feb 2nd – Unity concert featuring Strings and Mrigya – Time 7 pm

We are proud to be host to this unique concept called the Unity concert, of which this is the 3rd edition. Strings is one of the most popular bands to emerge out of Pakistan and their shows are known to be simply mind blowing. Mrigya, with their incredible blend of classical and modern instruments, is one of the most well known fusion bands in India and have numerous international concerts to their credit.

For this show there will be 2 categories priced and Rs 100 and 200 respectively. The Rs. 200 section will be further divided into 2 categories, seating and standing. The seated section will be mostly reserved for Profs and sponsors.

To buy online http://www.iticket.in/CinemaResult.asp?MovieList=716&TransDate=2/2/2008

All ticket enquiries can be routed to Ankit Baveja ( 9986507020) and Shekhar Gupta: 9243444363.

Hero Honda Hunk – First impressions.

This week, a few fellow bikers and I underwent a “Safe Riding Workshop” (post coming up soon) – conducted by a few chaps from Hero Honda. This gave a few of the chance to sample some Hero Honda bikes which we hadn’t till then – for various reasons.

Some of them also lead to some funny comments. Like one biker pal saying “I was just waiting for someone to buy the Hunk so I can pass some comments on it!”. Yup, a silly name like the “Hunk” would inevitably lead people to get smart!

But, that is the name, and that is what the “Hunk” owner – male or female – would have to live with.

All is not lost however – the bike looks pretty good, on its own – though not as modern as say the Pulsars, or as Racy as the RTR, it does hold its own ground -which’s somewhere in between modern and racy. Thankfully, it certainly is not styled extremely like the Xtreme! It has got nice sculpted body panels to go with the fuel tank. These help one grip the tank easily – giving for much better control over the bike. What I loved was nice tough to the Speedo – by giving it a red background. Slick.

Most people who rode the bike were rather pleased with the handling – and yes, Hero Honda has got it spot on.  The ergonomics is pretty much on the ball – while I’ve often felt the CBZ to be smaller than my P180, this one didnt seem smaller – and the seat to foot peg to handlebar positioning was just right.  As was the knee recesses. You’d grip the fuel tank just so – and the result was amazing flickability.

The Hunk also did not feel so much underpowered compared to the P180 I’d just ridden – which meant it was a good one in performance – although I did not drag it too much. But a longer ride should convince me on the performance aspect – but it’s gear changes are spot-on and go thru with a convincing air – except for the first to second – which is rather hard – and involves a good deal of effort.

Is it the best in the 150cc segment? Not sure – but it sure as hell is good – and just maybe something I might consider – if buying a 150cc bike.

IIM-B’s PGSEM Community presents Convergenz 08, Theme: Innovation & Product Management

Greetings !

PGSEM (@ IIM-B) & Cisco take immense pleasure & pride in soliciting your august presense at Convergenz-08, a forum for interaction between Industry, Academia & Alumni. It is on this day, in the environs of IIM Bangalore, that some of the best minds from the Industry would discuss on challenges of the day.

Date: Sunday, 13th Jan, 2008

Events:

1. Business Quiz (Starts: 1 PM)

• Open to all folks of the hi-tech companies from Bangalore
• Organized by Prof. Rajeev Gowda (of Karnataka Quiz Association)
• Prize Money worth Rs. 40K to be won
• Over 100 teams to participate

2. Panel Discussion (Starts: 6: 30 PM)

Topic – ‘Building an Innovation Ecosystem in India’

Panelists:

• Mr. Vinod Deshmukh, CTO, Mindtree
• Prof. Sadagopan, Director, IIIT
• Mr. Rajeev Mehtani, MD, NXP Semiconductors

Other potential panelists:

• Mr. Vineet Nayar, CEO, HCL Technologies
• Mr. Bobby Mitra, MD, Texas Instruments
• Mr. K.B. Chandrashekhar, CEO, Jamcracker

3. Case Analyses (Starts 1:30 PM)

• Participation open to IIM-B students
• Business Challenges faced by the hi-tech industry in India on product management
• Analysis by students who handle technology and business with equal poise
• Judged by industry experts and the eminent academia in IIM-B

The Bajaj Pulsar 200 DTSi

It came up surreptitiously under the headlines of Bajaj releasing the 220, but the Pulsar 200 is now here – and available at a Bajaj ProBiking outlet* near you.

So after getting a brief test ride from Khivraj’s Indirangar outlet in Bangalore, here are my first impressions.

It is a big step up from the P180 – and in all the right directions – okay with just the seating, maybe.

Design & styling are in the by-now familiar Pulsar family mode. Although the P200 gets most of the same attributes of the 180DTSi, it sports some additional – and very welcome changes. The foot-pegs are rear-set - and this is heaven-sent to anyone who complained about the foot-pegs on the Pulsars -

I hate the way one has to twist their ankle towards the brake pedal, it should’ve been more straightforward, or at least, the recesses in the tank should’ve been better.

The rear-set pegs combined with just the toe-shifter meant shifting, and riding was a breeze – especially for the knee. The brake lever falls right into the space. Its the first time my legs have snugly fit around the Pulsar’s tank – and it made for delightful riding. The original Pulsar, or at least the DTSi should have had all this. Better late than never?

The seat is split – and that robs some joy from the sweet riding position. There didn’t seem to be enough cushioning or space – I wanted to slightly move back, but couldn’t. There’s a split grab rail as well – looks cool, hope it is useful too. Oh, there’s the lovely looking Tank scratch pad too.

In sum, a sporty, comfortable design.

Onto the engine and mechanicals then – this is essentially a 20cc upgrade in terms of capacity from the P180, but boy! Does it seem like a different beast altogether! There’s the nice growl when you accelerate. Now, you’re talking, baby! There is definitely more power on tap on 200 vis-a-vis the 180, even though it has a weight disadvantage – it accelerates harder.

The accelerations is smooth, comes in a hurry almost all the time – and with the sweet exhaust note for company. The ‘box is slick, and precise. No missed shifts, no false neutrals, nothing. The brakes are very good – both for bite and feel. There isn’t the sudden bite one found in the 180 with the front brake – it is more linear. No vibes up until 8K rpm – that’s all I pushed it to before shifting up.

One difference between the 200 and 180 was that the 200 wasnt screaming its guts out at 8k rpm – although that impression might change when more time’s spent with the machine.

And the whole package is just 3000Rs dearer compared to a 180. IMO, well worth the money!

Update: Spec sheet up here, at Bajaj’s site. Brief overview – 200cc, 18PS, 15 litre fuel tank, oil-cooled engine, 145 kilos, tubeless tyres on both ends ( F 90/90, R 120/80), brakes (F 260mm Disc, R 130 mm drum)

Related post – The 2006 Pulsar 180 DTSi

Yahoo India’s cool new Page!

Yahoo India has an awesome new feature. It has a city specific portal that aggregates from the best of yahoo and affiliates into one single page. I have come to know of it today and am impressed. Like a lot of things these days, this also works based on tags. And there are some interesting tags abounding. It also has stuff from Wiki – like an intro to Bangalore for example, and photos, blogs, news items – even travel information. All in all its a page that is tremendously because it takes content from the locals – and presents information in a very accessible way to anyone wishing to know about the city. The site’s at http://in.ourcity.yahoo.com/

Badly Don(e)? Don, a Preview.

I had written about the Don being remade by Farhan Akhtar nearly a year back and then said that it wouldn’t work because

The biggest reason for these two remakes(ed: Sholay, Don) not going to work is that unlike Sanjay L Bhansali, or Vidhu Chopra(or whoever directed Parineeta), these folks have chosen stuff that is mostly fresh in the minds of people – and that is the biggest challenge – which was why, until small B found his niche, he just couldnt do things Big B was doing/had done!

Well, Farhan Akhtar has almost proved me right – going from the previews at least. The storyline, though set outside of India, apparently, retains the same characters, and remains mostly true to the original. And Farhan Akthar has made the crucial mistake of retaining the old songs, but in their own 2006 versions.

(E)Xtreme fudging. The CBZ Xtreme.

Nothing pisses one off more than products claiming to deliver the moon. Heck, even space agencies dont make that claim!

So in comes Hero Honda Motors with a new product that it advertises as the CBZ Xtreme. Taglines like “Blink, and you will miss it!“, or “Once you see it, impossible to forget!” hyped the product up, like never before. If you had followed the Indian biking scenario, and saw this kind of advertising, you would be thinking the CBZ Xtreme to be at least a quarter-litre bike delivering 25+ bhp (One wouldnt expect litre class bikes from HH, after Honda has entered India on its own).

Ah! But that is the twist in the story. The CBZ Xtreme is a bike in the 150cc class, which is.. the same class as the original CBZ was! Shaking your head in disbelief? Dont, not yet! There’s more to it.