Why Does India Wait For it's Apple Pie

@maninderpals, a friend I've yet to meet, has tried to make a serious attempt at demystifying why the iPad took so long to get to Indian shores.  He's written an interesting piece on TheBigGeek.  People with an ounce of a brain will get what he's saying. The others, who do not, will say - 'Apple is not serious about India'.

An excerpt:

There is a different angle to this story, and that angle is our Telecom Policy. 3G services launch in India has been delayed for months and years firstly Army did not want to give away the spectrum they held (or so we are told) and then there was no agreement on how to sell the spectrum finally it was a long bidding process (which is anyway covered with a lot of controversies as we speak) . When the winners amongst the bidders were finally announced in May 2010, everybody expected the 3G launch by Diwali, the consumers were eagerly looking forward to it, for the providers it made business sense, but that hope went up in flames, like the crackers burstin on a warm Diwali night.

Read More on TheBigGeek.

iPad India Prices

Thanx to my pal at fonearena. One of the first ones to get the iPad prices out.

The 16GB WiFi version of the iPad is priced at Rs.27900, 32GB WiFi model costs Rs.32900 and 64GB WiFi model costs Rs.37,900. Likewise 16GB WiFi + 3G model costs Rs.34900, 32GB WiFi+3G model costs Rs.39,900 and 64GB WiFi + 3G model costs Rs.44,900.

Read More here.

iPhone Apps update

iPhone GAME of the Week
Ramps
Backabit LLC
$ 0.99
"... a simple and stylish physics puzzler that you won't want to put down."

iPhone APP of the Week
Wunderlist
6wunderkinder
Free
Download wunderlist, our brand-new cloud-sync task management tool. Sync your tasks over the air between PC, Mac and your iPhone. For FREE!

iPads Apps Update

iPad App of the week
The History of Jazz
955 Dreams
$ 9.99
An interactive timeline of the History of Jazz. Made specifically for the iPad - makes your iPad come alive with rich video, audio and superb design.

iPad Game of the week
Pro Zombie Soccer Apocalypse Edition
Chillingo Ltd
$ 1.99
Like zombies? Love soccer? Well get your gear on, ‘cause it’s time for PRO ZOMBIE SOCCER APOCALYPSE EDITION from Chillingo and Super Awesome Hyper-Dimensional Mega Team!

Thought of the Day

Some sports fans have to be terribly loyal, especially when they support teams that are not particularly successful - and they know, if they look at things in the cold light of logic, that they have little chance of seeing this situation change. Loyalty, though, does not come from the head; it comes from the heart. It is an emotion, not a notion. It has its own rewards and it does not deserve to be measured against petty scales or shallow standards. What you feel about someone is what's important. Success is a happy heart, not a full bank account or a seemingly perfect situation!

Love, Sex & Marriage - Jilted by Love #1

So this is the story of Sarah. Why the fairer sex first? Simple! I'm a gentleman and women always come first… <wink wink> he he he

A beautiful girl, not just by appearance but also at heart. I have never met a nicer person. Always laughing and smiling. Little did I know what hid behind that charming smile. She has one of the best smiles I've ever seen. Her smile could literally bring the dead back to life. They say good things happen to good people. But that is bull crap. I think bad things happen to good people. And believe you me! She has had her fair share of bad things happen to her.

Sarah was dating Andre for 4 years. Despite being from the same religion, not everything was hunky dory for them as they came from different sects. And from what I know, they were not the happiest 4 years for her. He was a terror; cut her off from her friends; restricted her clothing; tested her so often that it is surprising she was in a relationship with him for so long. Her closest friends never met him. He even tested her by asking her to run away with him a couple of times. Of course, they didn't run away, though she did reach the train station with a small bag. Bastard! What kind of a man would have the nerve to test the love of his ‘love’? And not just once, but over and over again!

So, she hid her relationship from her parents for about 2 years. Finally, when she thought Andre was serious about her, she broke the news to her parents. Of course they were shocked and disappointed. But the disappointment did not last for too long. After all she's their one and only child. Though some relatives did have an issue and gave her a hard time. Anyway, once it was out in the open, her parents met the guy, though not thrilled about him they accepted her choice.

Soon thereafter, he had to leave the city and go back to his hometown to attend to some family issues and promised her that he would come back soon to marry her. Yes, they discussed marriage plans et al. Though the parents didn't meet, but to my knowledge several calls were made between the parents and Andre's parents were to soon visit Sarah's parents to finalise the wedding plans. And that's when things started going awry. Visit plans kept getting postponed for some frivolous reason or the other. I think it went on for 12-15 months. By this time, the extended family was informed that she would be getting married shortly.

Then came the shocking discovery. Accidentally! A friend told her that her 'fiance' was engaged for over 2 years and he was to marry his fiance shortly. Woah! Now where did that happen from? On one hand his parents are talking about marriage plans and at the same time he is already engaged. What a freaking farce man! The day she told me her story, I could see how shattered she was. I could feel her pain. She had no urge to live anymore for having disgraced her family. I swore that day that if I ever came across that guy, I'd castrate him. I'm still looking for him.

Thank GOD for her friends. They really supported her through her ordeal. I wish I had friends like hers. Actually I do :-) I don't think she ever told her family the truth and just said that he called it off. What kind of man would date a girl and discuss marriage and then go and get engaged to another person? And still promise marriage to her and hide the truth. I felt really bad for Sarah's parents, they had informed the family and community that she would be getting married soon; and now had to inform them that it's off. Imagine what went through her head. These kind of guys should be hung and stoned to death publically.

Moreover, he actually had the gall to call Sarah 5-6 months later to tell her that he's ready to marry her and will call the engagement off. She was pretty much coming back to normal and then he messes with her mind again. All her friends asked her to tell him FO! And she did. But she had to live through the entire episode again.

Every time I think about this, my blood boils. What kind of man would do this to such a lovely person? Even if Andre did get engaged due to parental pressure, couldn't he have shared this with Sarah? And explained the situation to her? That, if she ever meant anything to him or was she just another piece of meat for him? If Andre really wanted to, he could have married Sarah anyway. After all, he was only engaged to the other woman. Instead of playing with her emotions for so long, he could have just let her lose rather than keeping her in the dark. I blame Andre and his family because they tried to pull a fast one over Sarah's family. Isn't this cheating? Imagine Andre's entire family was involved in this facade. I hope something terrible happen to his family for breaking the heart and playing with the lives of beautiful innocent people.

Now Sarah is happily married and enjoying life. I'm happy for her. She is an extremely strong, confident and intelligent person. And she has taken everything in her stride. She now has a great life.

It just amazes me how 2 people in love can't discuss things openly and frankly? Why must one put another through such hardship and emotional turmoil? What kind of a person breaks another's heart for their own happiness? Are parents that important? I believe, we have responsibility towards our parents but not obligation. Imagine if Sarah was not strong enough to bear this loss and disappointment. Think how complicated and catastrophic it could have been, if not for the support and love Sarah received from her friends.

According to me, an emotional mess is the worst that can be done to a person. Might as well just kill them instead! Spare them the agony of living through this every freaking day! OK, blood boiling *again*. 

Going out with B3J for a spin. Need her company. Until later, adios amigos!

Who wears the pants?!

When I tweeted about my next post on 'women earning more than men/partner' (husband, boy-friend, companion etc.), I got a couple of nasty calls from friends (because I know so many women who earn more than their companions). Well, calls that were more like threats. 'Hey! dare you write on this!' & 'I'll never talk to you again'. I mean WTH!! Why can't I? It’s not like I'm exposing their deep dark secrets. For starters, my wife earns more than me. And I do not have any issue with it. But I think I'm the only man who does not :-)

Why should a man feel threatened if his lady love earns more? Don't other men earn more than him? So why can't it be a woman? Aren't they as capable if not more? So what’s the big deal I say! Women get the same education, exposure and chances as men. And if they are better for the job then definitely they should earn more!

But to my surprise, apparently it’s indeed a damn big deal! Because not only the man, if married, his parents have an issue with it. They can't see their sonny boy earn less than his wife. They think, 'Hai Ram, Allah, Christ, Guru! What has the world come to!', 'How can a person who's job is to be a home maker and cook, clean and have babies, go out and get a high paying job for herself'. I know of families where the parents have actually gone to the extent of asking the wife to sit at home or take up a job that is less paying than her husband's. And that's provided they know about it ;-) Because I know a few friends, over the years, who have actually hidden the real earnings of their wives from their parents. Isn’t that freaking absurd! But yeah! That's the sad and ugly truth.

I actually know of families who have also made their daughters feel guilty for getting them educated. I mean WTF! In today's day and age where we have women running some of the biggest organisations in the world? Women like Indra Nooyi - Chairperson and CEO of Pepsi Co, Carol Bartz - President and CEO of Yahoo, Chanda Kochchar - CEO & MD ICICI Bank, Naina Lal Kidwai - CEO HSBC India, Andrea Jung - Chairman and CEO of Avon, Sheryl Sandberg - COO Facebook, who would probably laugh if they found out about this absurd perception amongst people.

We men have double standards! We like to talk about equality for women. And when they move ahead of us, we want to drag them down and bound them and keep them at home.

We can't do half the things that women can. They can have successful careers and when at home, they are perfect home makers. We men, come home, sit in front of the TV or computer because we have had a ‘rough, long day’, and just vegetate. While our extremely efficient wives have had an equally long day but still take care of most of the household needs. And honestly, sometimes I feel that even some women are to blame for this forced perception in the society as they agree with their husbands and stay quiet and bear the hardship without standing up for themselves.

Before you start hunting me down, yes I admit even I have been guilty of vegetating as some of you know it too well. But hey, that's long gone in the past. I hope by now you all know who wears the pants in my house, don’t they, Wifey? I Do!

Here’s a big Cheers to all the women in my life.

Love, Sex & Marriage Theme

So this is the first post on my Love, Sex & Marriage theme. Don't know where am gonna go with this, but hey we all or rather most of us are in love or have been in love, are having or will have sex and are married / were married / will get married and for the lucky few will never get married ;-)

Over the years I have come across many people that have been in love and then in the blink of an eye have found themselves abandoned, lonely, alone & lost. I don't know why, but somehow I attract all the wrong kind of attention and become the Agony Uncle for them. I should have been a Clinical Psychiatrist; would have been a millionaire by now by the amount of time I've spent giving gyaan. I have changed the names, sex, religion of the people as well as tweaked the situation a bit so that their identities remain anonymous.

This is about people that I know personally, have met or heard about from others and not what I read in the papers. Who believes newspapers anyway?!

This theme will have several series under it, my first being 'Jilted by Love'. Why 'Jilted by Love'? Simple! I'm sure we have experienced it at some point in our lives and some may in the future. Plus, we keep hearing stories of our friends, friends friend and friends friends friends.

Am still working on the other series and will post as and when I have enough material to make it  a series.

So for the time being enjoy Jilted by Love.

Coming soon.

How is Facebook valued at $50 billion

LearnVest has put together an informative and crisp article based on reporting by The Wall Street Journal and The Guardian on why and how is Facebook valued at $50 billion. This comes after the $500 million deal between Facebook and Goldman Sachs, whereby it would now own a 0.8% stake in Facebook. This has got the US Regulators to re-examine some of it's rules.