Thursday, April 23, 2009

The proof of the Paneer..

a few days ago, i noticed, for the first time, that a chocolate comes with an instruction manual!
as part of my interest in usability, i advocate the creation of products that do not require a user manual.
as a poser to my audience, i would ask for suggestions for the best location / position to  keep a user manual for a soap!
but then, in this case, it seems to be part of the premium positioning of this chocolate.
the ad byline says 'you should earn it'!
this is part of the instructions that tell you how to open, how to smell, how to bite and enjoy the experience.
these instructions are printed on the inner side of the wrapper!

I realized yesterday - at the delhi airport - on my way back to bangalore that paneer [indian cottage cheese] is like pudding.
i had bought some cheese that is much fresher and tastier than what you get in bangalore in most places.
in the past, i used to keep it in my hand bag [a pull along] and invariably there would be a question about the contents.
this time, i thought that i would preempt the questions by keeping the packet separate to be scanned.
sure enough, this raised a suspicion and i was asked what it was.
the officer who would stamp the Tag was not sure if he should allow it and checked with his supervisor.

The supervisor thought for a very brief moment and said 'Khaake Dhikao' [eat it and show].
i had to prove that it was indeed paneer by eating a piece.
till then, i thought that eating was only proof of the pudding..
now i know that the proof of paneer is also in the eating!

Sunday, April 5, 2009

the Leela experience

this is a semi nostalgic post.
nostalgic, because it is more about memories of what were..
semi - because, it is not all that old memories.

after about 5 years in this unique location - in the heart of bangalore - one of the busiest streets - the [old] airport road, i am moving to a new location.

this location had many pluses..

a roomy, naturally lit [with 2 large french style windows] - was my favourite. i have been lucky for the last 19 years - when i moved to bangalore, to have an office with a window.

my earlier office overlooked a park.
this one did not quite have a park outside - but a small balcony with some potted plants.
enough to attract some pigeons

or the blocked view of the old airport runway - but still an occasional flight taking off or landing - behind the buildings
one good thing was to do some spring cleaning of many old papers and other things that had accumulated over the years.

left the cobweb that was building in the sky - on the plants in the balcony on the 6th floor..
while i have a small window in my new office too, i will miss many visitors who would drop in to say Hi or to catchup, when they came for some event at leela.