Thursday, December 27, 2007

Christmas at Nokia Factory!!

Just when I thought I would have an off day esp. being Christmas and the additional excitement being that it was a weekday, I was pulled into the fray and asked to go for a stock take. For those who are not aware, a stock take is basically taking an account of the stocks ie. in simple terms it means recounting whatever has already been counted by the management and checking if it were correct. According to my friend, it is a thankless job and I whole heartedly agree with him. 

Some major disadvantages of a stock take: 
*Most of the places where we have to go for stock take tend to be away from the city. Thus it involves a lot of travel which i never prefer.
*It is grueling, physically demanding & time consuming. 
*Worst of all, we go for stock taking on holidays. It is based on the presumption that production is stopped on that day and it is ideal to do the reconciling work.

The only thing which excited me about this journey was that we were going to the Nokia Factory. I was pretty interested to know what all goes into the making of a Mobile Phone. It is also nice to say to others that I went to the factory of the biggest mobile manufacturing giant in the world. These are some of the opportunities you get only when u are working in what you call "The Big 4"!. I also had this crazy feeling in me that I would get something for sweating my toil out there in that factory. In fact I had even told a friend of mine that I would get a mobile from there when i return.:)

So I was asked to report in PWC Office at 8 AM in the morning. It was a team of 5 who were assigned to do the work. All the others except me were to be picked up on the way. I had to be early since others would be held waiting. I had slept very late and found it difficult to wake up but somehow huffed and puffed and reached office at about 8.05 AM. The driver was cleaning the car and hence we left only at 8.30 after making the necessary enquiry as to where everyone would be waiting.  
8.00 AM..The vehicle in which we commuted 

We had to travel a lot coz Nokia Factory is located further down Sri Perambathur and for keeping ourselves occupied we watched Vadivelu comedy apart from the usual kalaichifying each other which our team is famously known for. Obviously i was targeted a lot because of my so called liking for one particular "???...////" Finally we reached the premises of the Nokia Factory at about 10.30 AM. It was an amazing sight. I never could envisage that it'll be so big in size and stature. More detailed information containing facts and figures will be divulged later on in the blog. We had to wear batches to go inside the building.

  
The mind blowing Nokia Factory!

 
State of the Art Technology

 
The Cafetaria!!

Once we entered the building, we were straight away taken to the meeting room to have a discussion with the client. What I observed about the rooms was that they all had "Bird" names such as Falcon, Dove, Albatross, Robin and Seagull. We were in room Robin initially but later on shifted to Seagull because it was bigger in size. During the discussion with the client my face turned bright when he said that the entire work could be completed in solid 3 hours esp coz 5 of us were around to do the counting.
Inside room Seagull 

We were supposed to start at 12.But somehow as usually happens everywhere in India, procrastination set in and we began the work only at 2 after having our lunch. No mistake on our part though, it was the client who delayed us by making us wait for so long. It was decided that me and another team member would be seeing iHub (mainly concerning Raw Materials), another 2 would be seeing WIP(segregated as Engineering and Assembly) and our Audit head would be taking care of Finished Goods. We were not allowed to take our cellphones into the location. We had to wear jackets to go into the location. We were given to understand that normal clothing was sensitive because of some technical reason. Inside the iHub i had to check 30 Samples & all of them related to items such as spare Parts, chips etc. Most of the items we were not even allowed to touch & the employee there made the counting in front of us.

I even had figured out 2 issues:
1)A particular material was not there in the desired location. Later on came to find that it was a manual data error as instead of typing the location as "01",it was typed as "10"
2)In a particular location where they had stored some chips, the no. of boxes containing the chips noted by them was 165 and i found 170 which was a human error.

  
Me wearing the Nokia Jacket 

We completed our work in the iHub division at about 5.30 & had gone in to check what the others were doing. Each division was so huge in size that it was looking like a maze. Even contacting each other was not possible coz our cellphones were locked in the locker. We were checked at every stage from pillar to post. It was worse than in an airport. Finally when we wrapped up our work, it was about 10 PM in the night. The reason for the delay was because there were lots of issues in the Assembly division. We were all too tired by then & could barely control our hunger. On the way we ate in a hotel called "Motel Highway". After that one by one, everyone were dropped at their respective houses and at the time i reached office it was 12 in the night.

Information 
*It is the 2nd biggest Nokia Factory in the World after the one in its headquarters Finland.
*The last months production(November) reached a record 10 Million.
*The entire factory is built on an area spanning a massive 210 Acres.
*There are roughly about 7000 Workers in this factory. 
*Most of the revenue is generated in India(60-70%) and there are also exports to certain countries like Taiwan, Thailand etc.

Conclusion
It was 16 hours of a different experience which i can never imagine. Never in my wildest dreams would I be envisioning that I would be spending a holiday this way. My crazy feeling didn't work out and I didn't get anything on return for my sweat and toil but the bottom line was that i got to spend an adventurous and eventful journey. An experience i can never forget!
12 AM Midnight 26th December : PWC office
 

Another night picture of office

Friday, December 21, 2007

Billa-Slick&Stylish but??

I went to see Billa very well knowing the story..but what excited me most about the movie was the hype created&though it was a remake the publicity which the movie got(only 2nd to Sivaji) made me eager to watch it as soon as possible.After coming from the movie..i feel a mixture of emotions..there are a lot of positives&negatives going for the movie..

Firstly the positives...
The movie is amazingly stylish&shot brilliantly..credit to Nirav Shah..the action scenes deserve a special mention..Kudos to the costumes also..
Ajith is absolutely amazing in the movie..The movie fully rests on his shoulders&he carries the burden with elan&class..He's never looked more dashing in any of his films..Colors of Black&White perfectly suit the character of "BILLA"..
Oh my gawd Nayanthara..What has transpired into her..Cant in my wildest dreams imagine the same girl wearing simple sarees in Chandramukhi just a couple of yrs ago..She looks so posh&every scene of hers made my tongue wag like a hungry dog..A perfect example of what i call a "Bombshell"!!
Another plus point for the movie is Yuvan..Though am not a gr8 fan of the songs of the movie i must confess his BGM is exceptional..esp as the action scenes unfold,his BGM perfectly syncs with the narrative &makes for an exhilerating ride full of thrills&spills..

Now coming to the negatives...
There weren't any attempts to deviate the storyline from the original..barring a few technological changes(obviously)the script stuck firmly to the original..unlike the Hindi "Don" which was daring&different and introduced a new twist to the
storyline.
Having seen the Hindi version of DON just a yr ago..i felt that Billa was just a hangover esp. with same locations&somewhat similar sets..
Though the film is just 2hrs 15 mins..it ain't so fast moving&tends to drag at times
The editing should have been tighter&crispier!!
The film defies logic at times&if u start analysing closely u will find a lot of loopholes..
The climax is also a major letdown..just when u expect it to land with a flourish..it takes a heavy fall..

Prabhu doesnt have much scope&his dialogues leave a poor taste..Raghuman&Adithya are strictly ok..Santhanam is wasted..Namitha adds weight to the credits but in the movie her weight is reversed to the debit..She hardly has anything to do in the movie & a song has been wasted upon her..
Even Nayanthara..though she looks drop dead gorgeous..performance wise she doesn't match up to Priyanka Chopra in "Don".
One flaw in Ajith is his dancing..He hardly manages to shake a leg&looks a bit awkward in the songs.

Conclusion
In a nutshell,Billa is a treat but somehow u tend to get the feeling that u didnt enjoy the treat to the maximum level..
Im sure people who haven't watched the old Billa or the Hindi Don starring SRK would surely enjoy the film!!
As an average cinegoer..Billa has given me its share of entertainment..only when i crave for more do i tend to feel disappointed!!
Ajith fans will surely love the movie & for non Ajith fans i seriously recommend u all to watch the movie because u will end up being fans of Thala Ajith(I Surely have become one)!!
S.K Rajiv

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Another Cricketing Trip Down Under!!

India heads into the tour of Australia with confidence after a well fought victory over the Pakistanis on home soil. Its been a good test year for India,the icing on the cake being the victory over Eng coming after 21 years on English soil. Now the BIG Question on everyone's mind is whether they can crack the Aussie juggernaut and emerge victorious. India surprised themselves last time by not only winning a test but agonizingly also coming close to a series win..

Just fathom this coincidence:
Australia came to India in 2001 with 15 consecutive test victories under their belt&it was India who ended their record with a miraculous win at Kolkata thus ending Australia's streak at 16.
Now coming to the present, Australia have registered 14 consecutive victories&are looking to break their own record of 16 wins. The opponents are yet again India.
What will happen??We have to wait&see!!

Now coming to the serious question. Do India really have the resources to challenge Australia??
If you ask me,the answer is a resounding "YES"
It is the last tour of Australia for the BIG5; Sachin,Ganguly,Dravid,Laxman&Kumble. All of them would be really gunning to do well&we can surely expect a lot from them!!..
Ganguly has been in wonderful form of late with 534 runs against Pak&also being adjudged the Man of the Series and we can definitely expect him to continue the fireworks.
Sachin's last test in Aus at Sydney yielded a brilliantly crafted 241*&he will look at this innings for inspiration.
Laxman is one guy the Australians give a lot of respect &going by his reputation of having a very very special liking towards Australian bowlers..u can expect another monumental performance.
Dravid is 1 person who is out of form but he will have fond memories of the last tour esp. his match winning double hundred at Adelaide.
The last series saw Kumble being dropped for the 1st test @Brisbane but he came back strongly&bowled his heart out to take 24 Wkts in the remaining 3 Tests.Now with the additional responsibility of Captaincy..im sure he will relish the challenge.

Batting wise additionally they have 2 young turks Yuvraj&Dhoni. They will add a lot of dynamism&spark into the team.Both these players i believe will give a major kick to India's Fortunes Down Under.
Jaffer's recent form is a boost&Sehwag's inclusion in the team gives me a lot of happiness.
1 session of Sehwag magic can tilt a game in India's favour. I appreciate the selectors for picking him despite his poor run of form.His success in the last tour could have also influenced his selection.It will be a tough call to pick the second opener but i will go for Sehwag over Dinesh Karthik.Another option would be to send Dravid at the top of the order so that Yuvraj can get a spot in the middle order.

Bowling wise Zaheer&R P Singh have been stand out performers..They will face a stern test against a very formidable Aussie line up..This tour could probably determine how good they are. Sreesanth will be sorely missed.Irfan made his debut the last time India toured Aus&he will have great memories of the inswinging yorker which had Gilchrist absolutely clueless.His good batting form should give him the much needed impetus to do well. Harbhajan bowled well against Pak with not much luck.Ishant Sharma&Pankaaj Singh are the new faces. Ishant's height will come in handy in bouncy conditions&his recent polishing of the Pakistan tail is another positive sign&he could be considered as a good option later on in the series.

Australia without an iota of doubt are the best side in the world&have been so for the past 12 years.They are a very formidable batting line up&it is virtually impossible to bowl them out twice in a test match. But the chink in their armor is that the bowling is not as strong as it used to be..esp. with the retirement of Warne&McGrath and the fading off of Gillespie.Stuart MacGill their other class spinner is injured & will be out of action for the 2 tests.So it is relatively an inexperienced bowling line up with only Lee having played over 50 Tests.
India should take maximum advantage of this fact&pile on the runs so as to put pressure on the Aussie batting line up.This is the only way i see India bowling out Australia..

The countdown has begun & I'm really looking forward to this trip.It is sure to be a roller coaster ride with fortunes swinging both ways. Am really excited & waiting with bated breath for the series to get underway.

My Prediction:
Series Score-1-1
Best Batsman:Ricky Ponting
Best Bowler:Anil Kumble

Conclusion:
India have never won a series in Australia&probably it will be the greatest achievement in their 75 years of Cricketing Existence if they pull it off (beleive me even bigger than their WORLD CUP Win). I dont expect it to happen (but my gut feeling says India will somehow scrape through&achieve the unthinkable). Hoping for a really stupendous series Down Under&i sincerely wish&pray that a miracle is not far off. Fingers crossed!

Monday, December 10, 2007

Murali's Mind Blowing Statistical Wizardry!

The 1st test between Sri Lanka and England played out at Kandy between 1st-5th December 07 turned out to be a riveting encounter with the Lankans being the well deserved winners. It was a momentous test for 4 of the Lankans:
1) Sanath Jayasuriya the marauding opener from Matara was playing his final test
2) Chaminda Vaas was playing in his 100th test
3) Kumara Sangakkara became the 1st player in history to register scores of 150+ in 4 consecutive tests 4) The most important one - Mutthiah Muralidhar displacing the record of Shane Warne and thus becoming the highest wicket taker in the history of the game of Test Cricket. 

This post is however exclusively about the wily off spinner from Kandy and his amazing unbelievable achievements. Now let us take a small statistical analysis between bat and ball. The ideal comparison would be equating a test hundred with claiming a 5 wicket haul and on similar lines a double hundred could stack up to a match wining 10 wicket haul. In simple parlance taking this ratio into account, we can perhaps say a wicket would account to 20 runs scored from the bat.

If this basis holds true then Muttiah Muralidharan could easily be considered the greatest cricketer of this era and probably the greatest to have ever played the game. Let's take some concrete facts into play. We will compare Murali with some of the greatest cricketers of this era (90's & onwards) with batsman like Sachin, Lara, Kallis  & Ponting along with bowlers like Warne, McGrath, Kumble and Akram.

The comparison will be done on 3 basis points
1)Runs/Wickets per test
2)No. of 100's/5 Wicket Hauls per test match
3)No.of 200's/10 Wicket Hauls per test match 
 
Murali's record stands as follows:
713 Wkts in 116 tests=6.15 wkts per test match=123 runs(6.10*20)
61 5 Wicket Hauls=116/61=5 Wkts every 1.90 test matches (At the time of writing he has notched up his 62nd 5 Wicket haul)
20 10 Wicket Hauls=116/20=10 Wkts every 5.8 test matches 

Warne's record:
708 Wkts in 145 Tests=4.88 Wkts per test match=97.6 runs(4.88*20)
37 5 Wicket Hauls=145/37=5 Wkts every 3.92 test matches
10 10 Wicket Hauls=145/10=10 Wkts every 14.5 test matches

McGrath's record:
563 Wkts in 124 Tests=4.54 Wkts per test match=90.80 runs(4.54*20)
29 5 Wicket Hauls=124/29=5 Wkts every 4.28 test matches
3 10 Wicket Hauls=124/3=10 Wkts every 41.33 Test matches

Sachin's record:
11289 runs in 142 Tests=79.5 runs/match
37 Centuies=142/37=A century every 3.84 matches
4 Double Centuries=142/4=A double Century every 35.5 test matches

Lara's record:
11953 runs in 131 Tests=91.24 runs/match
34 Centuries=131/34=A century every 3.85 matches
9 Double Centuries=131/9=A double century every 14.55 test matches

The players which are been compared with Murali are some of the greatest to have ever graced the game and would most probably be in almost all greatest World XI Lists but when you compare their records with Murali, it just doesn't match up to his standards purely based on these basis points. 

Actually if we take out Murali from the list, there is actually a great competition between the other names mentioned. In fact other than the one's mentioned Murali's record is far superior to other greats of the game who played before his era such as Hadlee, Lillee, Gavaskar, Viv Richards and a lot more. Only one player's record matches with Murali and that is the great Donald Bradman.

Now considering the Don's remarkable record:
6996 runs in 52 Tests=134.54 runs/match
29 Centuries=52/29=A Century every 2.79 tests
12 Double Centuries=52/12=A double Century every 4.33 test matches

But then again the Don has played only 52 Tests and that too most of the matches against a particular nation England. I admit it's very unfair comparing a batsman and a bowler but I believe stats paint a true picture over a period of time and the numbers put up showcases how brilliant Murali is. 

Notes:
1)I have specifically discarded Averages because i believe batsman have a major edge over the bowlers because of not out innings.I believe runs or wickets in a test match is the only way to compare a batsman and a bowler.
2)I have not compared a proper all rounder like say Gary Sobers or Imran Khan and have included only specialist batsman or bowlers.
Stat Details: Cricinfo.com 

This post as the title states is not just about comparing Murali with the Don but more as to celebrating the achievements of this man from Kandy as probably the greatest cricketer of this era and probably one of the best ever to have played this lovely sport.