Sunday, May 31, 2009

Who am I: 5 years later

around 5 years back...when I started my blog one of the first post was the "Personality Test" from this site. I doubt the correctness of such tests and believe that just by answering a few question nobody can make out who you are. Anyway, I took the same test today, after around 5 years, and the results have actually changed !!

Test in 2016 : 7 years gap




Test in 2009

Advanced Global Personality Test Results
Extraversion |||||||||| 34%
Stability |||||||||||| 46%
Orderliness |||||||||||||||||| 74%
Accommodation |||||||||||||| 58%
Interdependence |||||| 30%
Intellectual |||||||||||||||| 66%
Mystical |||||||||| 36%
Artistic |||| 16%
Religious || 10%
Hedonism |||||||||||||||||| 76%
Materialism |||||||||||||||||||| 83%
Narcissism |||||||||||| 43%
Adventurousness |||||||||||||||||||| 83%
Work ethic |||||||||||| 50%
Humanitarian |||||||||||||||||||| 83%
Conflict seeking |||||||||||| 50%
Need to dominate |||||||||||||||| 70%
Romantic |||||||||| 36%
Avoidant |||||||||||||||| 63%
Anti-authority |||||| 30%
Wealth |||||||||| 36%
Dependency |||||||||| 36%
Change averse |||||| 23%
Cautiousness |||||||||||||| 56%
Individuality |||||||||||||| 56%
Sexuality |||||||||||||||| 63%
Peter pan complex |||||||||||| 50%
Family drive |||||||||||||||| 63%
Physical Fitness |||||||||||| %
Histrionic |||||||||||||| 56%
Paranoia |||||||||||||| 56%
Vanity |||||||||||||||||||| 83%
Honor |||||||||||||||| 63%
Thriftiness |||||| 23%
Take Free Advanced Global Personality Test
personality test by similarminds.com





5 years back: 2004

Advanced Global Personality Test Results
Extraversion |||||| 30%
Stability |||||||||||||||| 63%
Orderliness |||||||||||||||||| 80%
Accommodation |||||||||||||| 56%
Interdependence |||||| 23%
Intellectual |||||||||||||||||||| 83%
Mystical |||||| 30%
Artistic |||||||||| 36%
Religious || 10%
Hedonism |||||| 30%
Materialism |||||||||||||||||||| 90%
Narcissism |||||||||||||| 56%
Adventurousness |||||||||||||||||| 76%
Work ethic |||||||||||| 50%
Self absorbed |||||||||||||||| 63%
Conflict seeking |||||||||||||| 56%
Need to dominate |||||||||||| 50%

Romantic |||||||||||||| 56%
Avoidant |||||||||||||||| 63%
Anti-authority |||||||||||| 43%
Wealth |||||||||||| 43%
Dependency |||||| 30%
Change averse |||||| 30%
Cautiousness |||||||||||||||| 70%
Individuality |||||||||||||||||| 76%
Sexuality |||||||||||||||| 70%
Peter pan complex |||||| 23%
Physical security |||||||||||||| 56%
Physical Fitness |||||| 24%
Histrionic |||||||||||| 50%
Paranoia |||||||||||||| 56%
Vanity |||||||||||||||| 63%
Hypersensitivity |||||||||||| 5

--Ashutosh
31st May

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

The great IPL final..

Well it was the IPL finals on Sunday...though I wasn't very exited about it and didn't support any team in particular, I was going to watch it as I had nothing else to do on a Sunday. There were two options before me - either watch the game on TV in the comfort of my home, or go to a sports bar/normal bar with someone. I chose the second option.

There is a good sports bar in Gurgaon - 'Howzzat'. I wanted to watch a match there, so when Nishant Mathur proposed to see the IPL final there, I was game. NM drove all the way from Noida to Gurgaon in about 1 hour to watch the game at Howzzat, and I joined him. However, when we reached there, it was packed to the capacity and we were not allowed to enter. I think if we had a girl with us, they would have allowed us inside, but we were not that fortunate. The match had already started with 2 overs gone.

Then I decided to go to our old bar 'Below 8' in the cybercity. I wanted to go there as I had watched T20 world cup final there, and it was really a great experience (and they offered free Vodka shots with every wicket:). We raced our bike to cybercity, parked it (for Rs 20/hour ! even parking is expensive in Gurgaon). We went there only to find my great 'Below 8' closed. What the hell! A bar closed on Sunday on the day of IPL final! Anyway, We couldn't do anything. We tried another restaurant near that but it wasn't showing matches.

Then we decided to go to Ambience Mall, the biggest in Gurgaon. There had to be atleast one place which was showing the match. we again raced our bikes to Ambience Mall. After some searching, we found a bar 'Beer Island' which was showing the match. We thought it was full, but luckily we got the seats. Finally we could see the match after 13 overs were bowled.

But..But ..

The place was good, the beer was amazing (brewed there itself), but there was no commentary. The music was also good, but it was way too loud and we couldn't even talk! we had some pork sausages and beer till the 1st innings were over. The music acually kept getting louder by all this time.

Finally, we decided that commentary was important, and there is no fun in watching cricket wthout commentary. Also, the closing ceremony was much hyped, and we wanted to see that 'with sound'. So, we decided to go back home.

Finally when we reached home, there were 6 overs to be bowled in second innings. We were happy that we would be able to watch the climax of the game and the closing ceremony 'with sound'.

The match was great, but the closing ceremony was pathetic. First of all, it was too long and surprisingly before the presentation ! What the hell was Lalit Modi thinking. Everyone got so bored that I think a lot of people went to sleeb before the presentation. Finally after 1 hour of bullshit, the trophy (design.. yuk! )was presented to Deccan Chargers.



We saw only 15 overs of the game out of 40 :(


-Ashutosh
26th March, 01:40 AM

Monday, May 25, 2009

No work at office..

My new job at Dunnhumby is different than the one in marketRx. Here you are given a lot of responsibilities and lots of work; but it is better than marketRx because you have the complete ownership and responsibility of your project. Indiavidual projects also mean the guys in UK know when you are free and the again load you with ptojects. Bt the best part is, that they know we have to leave for home at 7, and they respect that (unlike in marketRx, where you are 'expected' to stay back and work after 7:30 PM.

But we also have few days in dunnhumby when there isn't much work. today is one such day as I have completed my work and UK office is on leave. Also, my ipod is at home, and I don't have the fun group that I had in marketRx(the best part of marketRx). I am getting bored at office, because I have nothing to do.

It's strange. Because when I had a lot of work I wished for a day off; but when I have it I'm getting bored. Am I becoming a workoholic (my worst nightmare)? Or is it just due to the quiet dunnhumby office?

I did absolutely nothing today. Came at 10:20, did some work till 11:00, wasted time till 12:30, played foosball, went to Siddhartha's treat, came back with heavy stomach and sleepy eyes (which again makes it difficult to work), foosball again, surfing the net, and then this blog. I was searching the net for some trekking expeditions where I can go and enjoy. It's been a long time since I took any leave, and I am definitely going to take one in july/aur for around 10 days; and before that I have to find a destination where I can go ! Well the main problem is findng people to go with you (or go alone, as I did the Triund Trek). I badly need a trekking partner with whom I can go anywhere I want.

I have made some plans for the trips this year and next year. I'll be utlizing all my leaves for the trips. I'm planning to go to Leh/Ladakh in Aug (though this trip doesn't seem to be happening), Thailand in sept end-october, and then Goa in december (new year) Hopefully I'll get people for these trips. I'm also planning to go to Everest base camp next year in summers. Let's see how many of these I'll be able to do.

These trips have to be done as they say "There is no surety in life... you can get married anytime..so fulfill all your wishes before that"

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Trekking to Triund

I should have posted it long back....when I actually made the trip... anyways...better late then never...


Well I decided to go on a trek to some place as an extended weekend was coming. There was no other place I knew where i could go and come back within 3 days, than Dharamshala. I decided to go alone, even if nobody else comes, but Vikas Dhawan decided to come along. Due to certain reasons, we decided to go separately and do the trek alone, and meet up on top of the mountains.

We prepared for the trip as if we were going to Mt. Everest (though one day I'll definitely go there, atleast to the base camp). We purchased sleeping bags, juices, chocolates, biscuits, Gatorade, and a lot of other stuff which made my bag heavier than usual, and as a result I had to leave some stuff behind. My backpack was full.

I started at 6:30 PM on Friday from Delhi. To my luck, a pretty girl was sitting with me in the bus, and because of that I had a good time throughout the journey, and it didn't feel long. The girl was very talkative and fond of food, and she described some of the paranthas and other delicacies in such a way that increased my hunger and I ate a lot for dinner (I had decided to skip dinner coz I was going to start trekking in the morning itself, and there was no toilet).

I reached Macleodganj at 7:00 AM. It was chilling there. I was in a T-shirt only and had to take out my jacket. I had a cup of tea and started climbing immediately.

I was one of the first few travelers that morning. The weather was amazing, and it had snowed heavily just a day back. I met some of the DCE guys on the way, but as I was carrying a bag, they sped ahead of me very soon. Anyways, I continued at my own pace.

The trek was good foo the first few kilometers. The total length was around 10 kms, 6-7 kms of it was easy and 3-4 km was tough. And when you have a backpack with you, the difficulty level triples. There were few tea shops on the way which provided refreshments, but my stomach was still heavy with the last night dinner, thanks to the girl in the bus. Anyway, I maintained a decent speed and actually I was little bit proud of my fitness that I was able to do it inspite of the backpack etc.

The trek started becoming difficult after 3 hrs climb. I could see where I was going but it was very steep and I was very tired. Some of my fellow trekkers cheered me up and motivated me. The trek was narrow, and it became more dangerous when it become fully snow covered. One slip and you go down the valley.








Finally after 4 and half hours of trekking, I reached to the top. oh my God ! What a view !! It was the best mountain view I had ever seen. Mountains are almost same, but the viewpoint was so amazing! And everything around me was covered in snow. Perfect !








I met a German there and we became friends. The chaiwala with his finnish wife was nice, and his wife was too cool. DhawansaaB also joined me in the evening. I, DhawansaaB and Karen talked a lot in the evening.





We decided to sleep overnight in the tents. It was really a bold decision as it was f***ing cold, snow was everywhere, and nobody else was sleeping in the open like us. Just for the sake of experience, and because we had our sleeping bags with us, we decided to give it a shot. I proved to be disastrous in the night, when at around 2 AM both of us woke up because of cold. Clearly, the sleeping bags were not enough for the cold, and we couldn't do anything. Somehow we stayed awake till 4 AM when sleep overpowered our mind and body.

The morning was pleasant, and we decided to step down and visit Mcleodganj also. It took almost the same time to descend, which was really surprising for me. Me reached Mcleod at around 3:00 Pm, and roamed here and there. We decided to hit atleast 10 coffee shops in the evening. In the night, there was really a scarcity of rooms, and we were really lucky to get one otherwise we were going to sleep on the roadside, ofcourse with our sleeping bags.

Next morning we left for Amritsar as our train was from there, and we reaced there just in time to go to the Golden Temple also. We were dead tired but actually didn't feel much (thou my legs pained for rest of the week).

Overall it was really a nice and amazing experience. It really demands the best of you, and you have to be physically and mentally fit to undertake such an adventure. Triund is just the beginning. This year I am going on some more trekking as and when I get the time.

Next target : Ladakh.


--Ashutosh