Atah

Dhoom !!!!

2006-12-18T09:51:00.000-08:00


Cricket: This is Sreesanth, of India, responding to Andre (the Giant) Nel of South Africa by scoring a six and..... (more)

Vande Mataram

2006-09-06T11:19:00.000-07:00

Vande Mataram - A hundred years, a hundred tunes!!

Written by "Akshay Navami" Bankimchandra Chatterjee" in 1875, Vande Mataram is more than a Hundred years old. Around 1870, the British rulers were trying hard to force their anthem, God Save the Queen, on Indians. This made a deep impact on Bankimchandra’s sensitive mind, and he wrote Vande Mataram in one sitting, in a mood that must be called transcendental. He wrote the song as a prayer in which the nation 'Bharat' was described as 'The Mother'. The song was later included in his novel Anandmath, which was published serially in his magazine Bangdarshan during 1880-1882.

The song remained in the novel Anandmath until it was sung by Rabindranath Tagore at Beadon Square in the 1896 convention of the Indian National Congress. It soon became part of a tradition after that. In 1905, large crowd gathered at a town hall in Calcutta to protest against the partition of Bengal, and someone from the crowd shouted Vande Mataram. It became a very popular slogan overnight. It crossed the boundaries of Bengal and spread all over the country like a flame. Soon the British administration banned the songs and the very slogan Vande Mataram.

Unfortunately this great song has been bereft with controversy. Why do Muslims object to singing of Vande Mataram? What does Vande Mataram have that hurts their sentiments? Vande Mataram as we know it is not the complete song. Originally it has 5 stanzas. In the following stanzas, the song praises the motherland as godess Kali, Durga and Laxmi. It is this equation of the country with Hindu goddesses that seems to irk some of the muslims. From the early 30's itself only the first two stanzas of Vande Mataram are sung. In all the texts subsequently only this abridged version is written. I guess not many of this generation even know about the rest of the stanzas of Vande Mataram. In light of this, I don't think muslims or anyone else should consider Vande Mataram to hurt their sentiments. It is our national song; we should take pride in singing it. It has a legacy, a legacy of hundreds of people, Hindus and Muslims, who have laid their lives hand in hand shouting this slogan. It is a mantra which has given us our freedom.

The following is the English translation of Vande Mataram by Sri Aurbindo:

Mother, I bow to thee!
Rich with thy hurrying streams,
bright with orchard gleams,
Cool with thy winds of delight,
Green fields waving Mother of might,
Mother free.
Glory of moonlight dreams,
Over thy branches and lordly streams,
Clad in thy blossoming trees,
Mother, giver of ease
Laughing low and sweet!
Mother I kiss thy feet,
Speaker sweet and low!
Mother, to thee I bow.

I feel proud when I hear this song. I feel humble when I hear this song. I feel respectful when I hear this song. Vande Mataram !

Shed a Tear!!

2006-08-21T10:33:00.000-07:00

The Cabinet's given its nod for the reservation for the OBCs in IIMs,IITs,AIIMS etc. It is so sad to see that there is no single political party, who can stand up against the reservation bill! Shed a Tear! it is a Black day for India!

The Motorcycle Diaries

2006-08-11T11:08:00.000-07:00

What made Ernesto Guevara de la Serna Che Guevara? What made a MD student specializing in Leprosy a Revolutionary? Che Guevara denotes a popular icon symbolyzing revolution and left wing political ideals throughtout the world. Was Che born a hero, a legend, a revolutionary?

A 13,240Km journey lasting eight months from Argentina through Chile, Peru and Columbia to Venezuela on 500cc a Motorcycle (named La Poderosa - The Mighty One), hitch hiking, trekking and on a raft! Thats what made Che Guevara.

The Motorcycle Diaries (Diarios de motocicleta in Spanish) is an autobiographical book by Che Guevara about his travels through South America with his friend Alberto Granado on a 1939 Norton 500 motorcycle. Born into an aristocratic family, this was Guevara's first expedition around Latin America. In the book, he details the role and life of the indigenous peasantry throughout Latin America, including mine workers and persecuted communists fleeing their homes.

Based on the above the movie (of the same title) has been a facinating watch. Having read about Che and his history, his role in Cuban Revolution and later exploits in Bolivia and Congo, it was a wonderful experience to get a glimpse of Ernasto "Fuser" Guevara. The movie rather being political, sticks to the journey and Guevara and Alberto's experience. It brings out the the emotions which they must have felt as the saw the rift between the rich and the poor, poverty and sickness of lower classes, exploitation of Mine Workers, the plight of leprosy patients and their segragation from society by placing them on other side of river. The tagline of the movie Let the world change you and you can change the world is so apt.

The wonderful screenplay depicting the beauty of Latin America or the excitement of a great travel or a Che fan! You can have any or all the reasons to watch this beautiful movie.

Trivia: Cuba's National newspaper Granma is named after the yatch used to transport Fidel Castro and his revolutionaries to Cuba, named Granma!

A Thin Dark Line

2006-08-08T15:19:00.000-07:00

She has discovered the brutal murder of her friend Pam Bichon. She is a Sheriff's Deputy, Annie Brussard. The accused, whom the whole town believes to be the murderer, is released by the court on a technical legality. After the trial when the victim's father Hunter Davidson loses his control and tries to take a shot at the accused Marcus Renard, Annie overpowers Davidson and prevents him from killing Renard.

He is the detective in-charge of the case, with a in-famous past who has been accused of planting evidence. Detective Nick Fourcade has one too many that night and is not able to control his rage. He believes that he is right and Renard is the murderer, stalks Renard and beats him up as Renard is leaving his office. Annie just happens to be there and stops Fourcade from killing Renard and arrests him.

A partner in an architectural firm, a man described as shy and one to keep to himself, Marcus Renard takes a fancy for Annie. She calls her his angel who has saved his life twice in a day. A brother who suffers from autism, a mother who

Having arrested one of their own, broken the unwritten, unspoken but clearly understood code of Brotherhood among the Law officials, Annie now has to face the wrath of all her colleagues including the sheriff. She is taken off from Patrol duty. She has no one to turn to!

Pam was her friend! She had discovered her body. She had promised Pam's daughter Josie that she will find her mother's murderer. Now off the case and off Patrol duty, she is despondent. An unexpected ally in Nick Fourcade, against whom she has to testify, an unwanted admirer Marcus Renard, who starts giving her presents and meeting her the way he did with Pam, Annie needs to stay focused and solve the case on her own. A series of Rapes occur within a week. Who is this Rapist and is he Pam's murderer? Donnie, Pam's husband whom Pam was going to divorce is a suspect too!

It is a A Thin Dark Line. If she crosses it, there is no turning back. A novel full of mystery and suspense, it has you gripped till the last chapter where you have an unexpected surprise. Enjoy Reading :)

Take a Walk on the Dark Side

2006-07-26T12:08:00.000-07:00

AC/DC - Does it stand for "Anti-Christ/Devil's Children" or "Anti-Christ" or "After Christ the Devil Comes!" or the more normal expansion "Alternating Current/Direct Current" ?
The Lightning bolt between the lettering in AC/DC, what does that represent ? Does it re-enforce the insignia or does it represent the Satanic S, that of the hated Nazi's SS?
A number of AC/DC's songs seemed to hint at an alliance with the dark powers. The cover of the hit song Highway to Hell has Angus Young wearing a schoolboy uniform with Devil Horns and holding a Forked Tail, staring wickedly into the Camera!
Did you know that the song "Highway to Hell" was used as a "secret weapon" by the United States Armed Forced in their invasion of Panama in January 1989. The US troops played the AC/DC anthem at full volume to help hasten the surrender of Panamanian Manuel Noriega, who was hiding at Panama's Vatican Embassy!

Are there Really hidden Messages in Rock Songs ?
In the album "The Wall" by Pink Floyd a track is found when played backwards. The track is found at the beginning of "Empty Spaced", just after fade out of "Goodbye Blue Sky". When the track is reversed, the listener can hear a voice stating "Congratulations. You have just discovered the secret message. Please send your answer to Old Pink, care of the Funny farm, Chaford.". Does Old Pink here refer to the founder member Syd Barret? Does funny farm refer to a mental asylum where Barret was for sometime?

Take a Walk on the Dark Side by Gary Patterson uncovers some of rock and rolls most celebrated unsolved murders, tragic deaths, bizarre twists of irony, and decades-long streaks of bad luck that defied rational explanation. With Chapters like Waiting at the Crossroads (where Robert Johnson made his pact with the Devil), The Buddy Holly Curse (Rock n Rolls first tragedy), "Sympathy for the Devil (the Satanic Church and its influence on Rock n Roll) and much more, this book is a hair-raising experience through the Rock n Roll Myths, Legends and Curses.

Enjoy reading :)
P.S: How do I listen to the reversed track when I have the song on a CD ?

Redline Rumble

2006-06-18T23:14:00.000-07:00

Fast Cars -- Highway Races -- Police -- Winner Gets All !!!
Redline Rumble is all about the above. Reminds me of Need for Speed.

You start off with a single car, as you win races the car you have beaten becomes yours. As the you start racing the advanced level cars, the traffic on the Highway increases and so also the Police comes into the game. You need to hide from the police by taking your car under a truck. If you fail to do so you need to escape from the police or your car will be impounded. There are 8 cars to win. The last two cars have Nitro Boosters which give a real zip to the speed. Enjoy the game!!

The Cancer Survivor

2006-06-05T01:02:00.000-07:00

I want to die at a hundred years old with an American flag on my back and the star of Texas on my helmet, after screaming down an Alpine descent on a bicycle at 75 miles per hour. I want to cross one last finish line as my stud wife and my ten children applaud, and then I want to lie down in a field of those famous French sunflowers and gracefully expire, the perfect contradiction to my once anticipated poignant early demise. - Lance Armstrong in It's Not About the Bike

Rick Price, Ph.D in Cultural Geography, begins his review of Lance Armstrong's autobiography "Its Not About the Bike: My Journey back to Life" as :
Anyone who makes the long and difficult journey to the winner's podium at the Tour de France has a story to tell. A good writer can probably make it an interesting story, too. But to win the Tour de France after traveling to the brink of death, undergoing debilitating cancer treatments, and having your physique (and your psyche) reduced to a shadow of its former self is nothing less than astounding.

Auto-biographies of celebrities, especially sportsmen are always inspiring reads. But the Lance Armstrong story is the story of a journey from inauspicious beginnings through triumph, tragedy, transformation and transcendence. Written after his first Tour de France triumph in 1999, the book inspires awe. It gives you an insight into the story of a boy born to a seventeen year old high school girl who almost single handedly raised her son. Swimming at young age and later competing in triathlons at the age of sixteen, Lance Armstrong's VO2 max(a measure of ability of heart and lungs to deliver oxygen to rest of the body) reading was taken and it was discovered that it was the highest reading that had been recorded in that lab. A spotting by a cycling coach, training with the junior US National Team and subsequent trip to Moscow for the Junior World championships saw a permanent shift from triathlon to cycling.

In 1996 when Lance Armstrong was the World No 1 Cyclist, he was diagnosed with third stage testicular cancer which had metastasized to his brain and lungs. The book goes into those trying days when the doctors had given him very slim chances of survival. The Operations, the chemo, the road to recovery, the insecurities about cycling again, the mixed comeback, the decision to race in the Tour, the practice, the Tour and the victory! The first hand account of all this is what you get in the book.

On 31st May 06, Lance Armstrong was cleared of doping allegations that he had used performance enhancing drugs in the 1999 Tour de France. After six long years the "witch hunt" as Lance called it has finally ended with his name being cleared. Having won his record seventh Tour de France this year, Lance has retired from professional cycling and is devoting his time to the Lance Armstrong Foundation. LAF's mission is to inspire and empower people affected by cancer.

Details about the Book: Its Not about the Bike
Lance Armstrong Website
Lance Armstrong Foundation Website

Ronaldinhooo

2006-05-21T23:07:00.000-07:00

The Fever is catching. A friend of mine who has come down from Sweden tells me that whole of Europe is going crazy. With just over two weeks left for the greatest sports carnival, it is but obvious that the beautiful game of Football grips everybody all over the world.

Players - Teams - Coaches - Venues - Fans - Hooligans - Football World Cup 2006.
Here's a nice video of Ronaldinho, definately the player to watch out for and one of the fore runner for the Golden Boots.

Enjoy

What a Shame

2006-05-21T04:20:00.000-07:00

"No doubt there has been social injustice for a majority of the people in our country. It has to be set right. We already have reservation for scheduled castes (SC) and scheduled tribes (ST). Expanding it is not the right solution. The long-term solution is to spend more money to make them (the deprived children) more competitive and market worthy. Reservation is not the solution." - Infosys Technologies chairman and chief mentor Mr. Narayana Murthy.

At a time when India has one of its greatest President, a man who has been able to achieve everything in his life through Merit, if the UPA govt's proposal to increase reservation in higher education passes, it would be very very shameful for all India. Please sign this online petition against the Reservation Policy, if you have not done so already.

The Das Munshi Code

2006-05-17T00:26:00.000-07:00

No! The title of this post is not a typo! It is "The Das Munshi Code". This is a tribute to the absolute brilliance of the man Mr Priyaranjan Dasmunsi, Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting. Mr Dasmunshi has directed the Central Board of Film Certification not to clear the move "The Da Vinci Code". He has hinted that he was aware of a political conspiracy to destabilize the Government by creating a controversy over the film.

How could Mr Dasmunshi find out that a deep rooted conspiracy was at play behind this movie? Definitely there is a traitor around who has leaked the information. Or maybe Mr Dasmunshi is brilliance personified, that he could look through such a closely guarded secret. I guess it is okay now to let the cat out of the bag. Yes there is a conspiracy at play. Let me outline to you how the conspiracy was hatched to destabilize the UPA government, who the key players were, how it was executed.

The Conspiracy
In 2002 itself the NDA government knew that they would not come back to power in the 2004 general elections. No matter how much India Shone, no matter how well Indian Economy performed, no matter what alliances they made, they were doomed. Having accepted this as a fact, the top leaders of NDA decided that if they were going to loose power, then they should have a plan which will destabilize the Congress led govt that would come to power. The task of making and executing such a plan was given to the GenNext of BJP. At that time the most illuminating leader in BJP GenNext was Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. Modi was given this highly daunting task. Being a religious zealot, Modi decided that such a plan had to involve religion. Over the next 3 months there were lot many high power candlestine meetings. Leaders of Sangh Parivar were consulted, Vishwa Hindu Parishad was roped in for support, Shiv Sena had already pledged moral and material support.

After lot of deliberations everybody agreed on the plan. To find an author who would write a book which will create ripples through the Christian world. Once the book is immensely popular, pursue a big time director and actor to make a movie out of it. As such a movie would hurt the sentiments of the Christians in India, it would create an uncomfortable situation for the UPA govt. The ensuing uproar over the release of movie would destabilize the Congress (Sonia) led government. This was the grand plan of the conspirators. This is the real story behind The Da Vinci Code. And they almost got away with it! But what they did not anticipate was the wily Priyaranjan Dasmunshi, who with is shrewd brain saw through the whole conspiracy and is now withholding the release of this movie.

Sounds absurd? Well it can't be more absurd than Mr Dasmunshi hinting that he was aware of a political conspiracy to destabilize the Government by creating a controversy over the film! Well my dear friends its all about scoring brownie points! Don't understand ? What I mean is its all about winning favors, looking good in high commands eyes, isn't it?

Mr Dasmunshi does not stop there! He lets us on another great accomplishment of his. He said a cautious approach was the best towards controversial films. He said he cleared `Rang De Basanti' after viewing it five times!!! FIVE TIMES ? Well I can infer two reasons why Mr Dasmunshi had to see the movie five times. It could be because he didn't understand it the first four times. But we have already established that he is a very shrewd and wily character with loads of brains (after all he saw through the BJP-Sangh-VHP-Shiv Sena conspiracy ;) ), so the other reason could be that he liked it so much that he saw it again and again and again ....

What do you think ?

5 Pledges for the Earth!

2006-04-22T02:11:00.000-07:00

Since 1970, April 22nd is observed as the Earth Day. On this 37th Earth Day I make five pledges. Hope you would also do the same.

I will Not leave the water running. Turn off the water when brushing teeth or washing car as Fresh water is one of the most precious natural resources.

I will Switch off the lights whenever I leave the room.Power plants burn fuels to create energy. Burning fuel makes carbon dioxide that adds to global warming. The less energy used the less needed to make.

I will Print on both sides of the page at work. Use half the paper, Save Trees!

I will Turn off the Monitor everytime I leave my computer A monitor left on overnight uses enough energy to print 5,300 pages.

I will Use Re-Cycled Paper items and Energy Conserving Appliances. Re-Cycled paper items means no more trees have been cut.

Classic Football Quotes

2006-04-14T01:02:00.000-07:00

The Football World Cup 2006 is round the corner and the excitement is surely building up. On the field the players definately entertain us, but sometimes they do the job excelently off the field too. Here's a list of quotes by some of our favourite players, just for your entertainment :)

"My parents have been there for me, ever since I was about 7."
David Beckham

"I would not be bothered if we lost every game as long as we won the league." Mark Viduka

"Alex Ferguson is the best manager I've ever had at this level. Well, he's the only manager I've actually had at this level. But he's the best manager I've ever had." David Beckham

"If you don't believe you can win, there is no point in getting out of bed at the end of the day." Neville Southall

"I've had 14 bookings this season - 8 of which were my fault, but 7 of which were disputable." Paul Gascoigne

"I've never wanted to leave. I'm here for the rest of my life, and hopefully after that as well." Alan Shearer

"I'd like to play for an Italian club, like Barcelona." Mark Draper

"You've got to believe that you're going to win, and I believe we'll win the World Cup until the final whistle blows and we're knocked out." Peter Shilton

"I faxed a transfer request to the club at the beginning of the week, but let me state that I don't want to leave Leicester." Stan Collymore

"I was watching the Blackburn game on TV on Sunday when it flashed on the screen that George (Ndah) had scored in the first minute at Birmingham. My first reaction was to ring him up. Then I remembered he was out there playing." Ade Akinbiyi

"Without being too harsh on David Beckham, he cost us the match." Ian Wright

"I'm as happy as I can be - but I have been happier." Ugo Ehiogu

"Leeds is a great club and it's been my home for years, even though I live in Middlesborough." Jonathan Woodgate

"I took a whack on my left ankle, but something told me it was my right." Lee Hendrie

"I definitely want Brooklyn to be christened, but I don't know into what religion yet." David Beckham

An essay to good....

2006-03-18T08:16:00.000-08:00

Indian Cow HE IS THE COW. "The cow is a successful animal. Also he is 4 footed, And because he is female, he give milks, [ but will do so when he is got child.] But he has got four legs together. Two are forward and two are afterwards. His whole body can be utilised for use. More so the milk. Milk comes from 4 taps attached to his basement. [ horses dont have any such attachment] What can it do? Various ghee, butter, cream, curd, why and the Condensed milk and so forth. Also he is useful to cobbler, watermans and mankind generally. His motion is slow only because he is of lazy species, Also his other motion.. [gober] is much useful to trees, plants as well as for making flat cakes[like Pizza] , in hand and drying in the sun. Cow is the only animal that extricates his feeding after eating. Then afterwards she chew with his teeth whom are situated in the inside of the mouth. He is incessantly in the meadows in the grass. His only attacking and defending organ is the horns, specially so when he is got child. This is done by knowing his head whereby he causes the weapons to be paralleled to the ground of the earth and instantly proceed with great velocity forwards. He has got tails also, situated in the backyard, but not like similar animals. It has hairs on the other end of the other side. This is done to frighten away the flies which alight on his cohesive body hereupon he gives hit with it. The palms of his feet are soft unto the touch. So the grasses head is not crushed. At night time have poses by looking down on the ground and he shouts . His eyes and nose are like his other relatives. This is the cow.......

MARS On Desktop

2006-03-13T02:31:00.000-08:00

Have you opened GOOGLE today ? Click on the Google image on the home-page and you can see MARS !!!!! Google keeps amazing us and this is one cool tool that it has brought out. What you see is a shaded relief map color-coded by altitude. There are links for Regions, Spacecraft, Stories, Mountains, Plains, Canyons, Dunes, Ridges and Craters. The Link Spacecraft gives a list of Missions to Mars, with Spacecraft name, when it was launched, where it landed (was supposed to land) on Mars, Result etc etc... Truly Wonderful. Alas no time to explore much right now. Do let me know your experience on MARS :) ciao

Have A Laugh!!

2006-03-03T22:53:00.000-08:00

Now this is a forwarded mail that I had to post!!!!

The following are actual answers given on history tests and in Sunday school quizzes. They were collected over a period of three years by two teachers. Read carefully for grammar, misplaced modifiers, enough misinformation to satisfy anyone...and, of course, spelling!

Ancient Egypt was old. It was inhabited by gypsies and mummies who all wrote in hydraulics. They lived in the Sarah Dessert. The climate of the Sarah is such that all the inhabitants have to live elsewhere.

Moses led the Hebrew slaves to the Red Sea where they made unleavened bread, which is bread made without any ingredients. Moses went up on Mount Cyanide to get the ten commandos. He died before he ever reached Canada but the commandos made it.

Solomon had three hundred wives and seven hundred porcupines. He was actual hysterical figure as well as being in the bible.

The Greeks were a highly sculptured people, and without them we wouldn't have history. The Greeks also had myths. A myth is a young female moth.

Socrates was a famous old Greek teacher who went around giving people advice. They killed him. He later died from an overdose of wedlock which is apparently poisonous. After his death, his career suffered a dramatic decline.

In the first Olympic games, Greeks ran races, jumped, hurled biscuits, and threw the java. Julius Caesar extinguished himself on the battlefields of Gaul. The Ides of March murdered him because they thought he was going to be made king. Dying, he gasped out: "Same to you, Brutus."

Joan of Arc was burnt to a steak and was canonized by Bernard Shaw for reasons I don't really understand. The English and French still have problems.

Queen Elizabeth was the "Virgin Queen," As a queen she was a success. When she exposed herself before her troops they all shouted "hurrah!" and that was the end of the fighting for a long while.

It was an age of great inventions and discoveries. Gutenberg invented removable type and the Bible. Another important invention was the circulation of blood.

Sir Walter Raleigh is a historical figure because he invented cigarettes and started smoking. The greatest writer of the Renaissance was William Shakespeare. He was born in the year 1564, supposedly on his birthday. He never made much money and is famous only because of his plays. He wrote tragedies, comedies, and hysterectomies, all in Islamic pentameter.

Romeo and Juliet are an example of a heroic couple. They lived in Italy. Romeo's last wish was to marry Juliet but her father was having none of that I'm sure. You know how Italian fathers are.

Writing at the same time as Shakespeare was Miguel Cervantes. He wrote Donkey Hote. The next great author was John Milton. Milton wrote Paradise Lost. Since then no one ever found it.

Delegates from the original 13 states formed the Contented Congress. Thomas Jefferson, a Virgin, and Benjamin Franklin were two singers of the Declaration of Independence. Franklin discovered electricity by rubbing two cats backward and also declared, "A horse divided against itself cannot stand." Franklin died in 1790 and is still dead.

Abraham Lincoln became America's greatest Precedent. Lincoln's mother died in infancy, and he was born in a log cabin which he built with his own hands. Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves by signing the Emasculation Proclamation.

On the night of April 14, 1865, Lincoln went to the theater and got shot in his seat by one of the actors in a moving picture show. They believe the assinator was John Wilkes Booth, a supposing insane actor. This ruined Booth's career.

Johan Bach wrote a great many musical compositions and had a large number of children. In between he practiced on an old spinster which he kept up in his attic. Bach died from 1750 to the present. Bach was the most famous composer in the world and so was Handle. Handle was half German, half Italian, and half English. He was very large.

Beethoven wrote music even though he was deaf. He was so deaf that he wrote loud music and became the father of rock and roll. He took long walks in the forest even when everyone was calling for him. Beethoven expired in 1827 and later died for this.

The nineteenth century was a time of a great many thoughts and inventions. People stopped reproducing by hand and started reproducing by machine. The invention of the steamboat caused a network of rivers to spring up.

Louis Pasteur discovered a cure for rabbits but I don't know why.

Charles Darwin was a naturalist. He sort of said God's days were not just 24 hours but without watches who knew anyhow? I don't get it.

Madman Curie discovered radio. She was the first woman to do what she did. Other women have become scientists since her but they didn't get to find radios because they were already taken.

Karl Marx was one of the Marx Brothers. The other three were in the movies. Karl made speeches and started revolutions. Someone in the family had to have a job, I guess.

Which one did you like the most ???

Swear to Attract

2006-02-23T23:27:00.000-08:00

We've Poured your Beer
And we've had the camels shampooed
We've saved a spot on the beach
And we've got the sharks out of the pool
We've got the 'roos out of the green
And Bill's coming down to open the front gate
Your Taxi's waiting
And dinner's about to be served
We've turned on the lights
And we've been rehearsing for 40000 years
So Where the Bloody hell are you ?

This is the new ad campaign by Australian Tourism to attract tourists to India. You can watch the video on WhereTheBloodyHellAreYou.com. Though it may be a bit bold to use the word Bloody in a public ad campaign and that too comissioned by Government, but I guess it shows the upfront plain speaking nature of the Aussies. What do you say??

Ahem!!

2006-02-21T21:00:00.000-08:00

Time : Evening 5:30
Place : MNC IT Company in the IT Hub of India

People are in mood to wind up for the day. Some having their last Tea/Coffee of the day, some sending last mails. Those who have to stay late are cursing.

Fire Alarm Starts Beeping!!
Well all of us have been trained that when the alarm goes off, we should drop everything and head towards the emergency exit.
Coffee seems to be more important, sending mail seems to be more critical. A few who started towards the emergency exit, stop midway as they see that they are just a few handful and no one else seems to be bothered.

More than a minute has passed. There are floor managers for every floor who are supposed to be organizing evacuations in times of emergencies. One is seen talking on the cell, others are not to be seen. There is nervous chatter among people. This has been the longest the Alarm has beeped falsely. Could there be a real fire in the building this time?

The Alarm has stopped now, but the indicators are still blinking. A voice on the public address system announces "There has been a small fire in the Server Room. Everybody is asked to please continue working."

There is laughter, jokes being cracked, more rush at the Pantry!!

Transatlantic Signature

2006-02-20T22:22:00.000-08:00

Now here's an interesting gizmo which is going to achieve the first Transatlantic Signature

Get Rocked with Indian Ocean

2006-02-16T21:43:00.000-08:00

Indian Ocean is a contemporary fusion music band of Northern India. Their music can be described as "Indo-rock fusion with jazz-spiced rhythms that integrates sufism, shlokas, environmentalism, mythology and revolution".

They are performing this Saturday (18th Feb) in Chennai at Wesley Grounds. Tickets are available at the usual joints like Landmark, Odessey, Aircel outlets etc. Be there to have Rocking time!!!

Link to Indian Ocean official website Click Here
Link to a write-up on Wikipedia Click Here

7 more Questions ???????

2006-01-12T03:41:00.000-08:00

If it's zero degrees outside today and it's supposed to be twice as cold tomorrow, how cold is it going to be?

Why are they called buildings, when they're already finished? Shouldn't they be called builts?

Why are they called apartments, when they're all stuck together?

Why do scientists call it research when looking for something new?

Why is it, when a door is open it's ajar, but when a jar is open, it's not adoor?

If "con" is the opposite of "pro," then what is the opposite of progress? --> U guessed it Right ... :-)

When we are in the supermarket and someone rams our ankle with a shopping cart then apologizes for doing so, why do we say, "It's all right?" Well, it isn't all right, so why don't we say, "That hurt, you stupid idiot?"

7 Questions ???????

2006-01-10T03:24:00.000-08:00

If people evolved from apes, why are there still apes? How come 'abbreviation' is such a long word? How do those dead bugs get into those enclosed light fixtures? Why do we press harder on a remote control when we know the batteries are getting weak? Why do banks charge a fee on "insufficient funds" when they know there is not enough? Why doesn't glue stick to the bottle?

Since light travels faster than sound, isn't that why some people appear bright until you hear them speak?

Its Evam Time Again!!!

2006-01-09T01:35:00.000-08:00

This New Year……

sit back & relive ……

the wonder and joy ……

the pain and anger…….

the fear and the excitement…

the confusion and dilemma …….

of falling in love ……..

Jan 2006 begins for evam with a bang. evam presents an enthralling, and an exhilarating season, beginning with “Chapter Two by evam” adapted from the Neil Simon classic!

The story is about 4 people – George (played by Karthik Srinivasan), Jennie (played by Andrea Jeremiah), George’s brother Leo (played by Karthik Kumar) and Jenny’s best friend Faye (played by Karuna Amarnath). evam traces the emotional ride of a novelist , George Schneider , desperately trying to overcome his grief over the lost spouse, and a recently divorced actress , Jennie Malone , who is equally apathetic towards beginning the next “chapter” in her life . With much coaxing and cajoling from Leo , George’s brother , George agrees to meet single women a.k.a. prospective partners ; each meeting proves to be a bigger fiasco than the previous ! Faye Medwick, Jennie’s best friend tries to persuade her to plunge into the dating pool, but in vain! Leo and Faye desperately try to play matchmakers for George and Jennie, both of whom play oblivious to their efforts.

An accidental phone conversation between George and Jennie sets the tone for a first date.. and lo behold… the story takes a new turn…… with more twists to follow…

What happens next is a mixed bag of emotions along with a generous coating of “joy of life” brought by Leo and Faye who play cupids for George and Jennie.. playing it for each other in the bargain.... well, almost!

A buzz with quick wit and repartee “Chapter Two by evam” asks the inevitable question … is it possible to fall in love twice , is it possible to feel it twice , is it possible to be happy twice ….and is it right to feel happy twice?

Will George be able to leave his memories behind? Will Jennie have the patience to fight the ghost of her predecessor? Will Leo and Faye succeed in bringing them together… and what will happen when they do come together? What will happen to Leo and Faye? To find out … don’t miss this valentine gift from evam …it’s a story to cherish…

Adapted by evam … it’s a small story with a big heart.. evam directs this classic with its heart on its sleeve.. . TEAM evam consisting of more than 30 youngsters from various colleges of the city led by the core team of Karuna, Balaji (Vivekananda), Rohini (MOP Vaishnav), Krishna (RMD) , Vijay Karthik(MGR), Vijay S(MGR) , Vivek(Hindustan) and Megha being some of them . Notable is the set consisting of two New York apartments created on stage by Michael Muthu and original music being scored by musical prodigy Anil Srinivasan specially for the stage production. This team will bring alive this magical story to Chennai starting Jan 21st.

A theme that runs wild within all our hearts - out on the stage for all to explore… Be sure to bring your love along …grab a seat and experience the magic of a love story…

For details about the venue, show dates, tickets etc Click Here or visit Evam's Blog or their site Evam.in

An Evening at Chennai Open

2006-01-03T20:30:00.000-08:00

The greatest sporting event that I like to visit to. This is how sports commentator puts the Chennai Open as. I couldn't agree more! Day 2 at the Chennai Open 2006 was a feast of great Tennis and lots of fun.

The crowd at Chennai (me included) can't really decide who they like more, Thai Tiger- Paradon Srichaphan or The King - Carlos Moya. I am sure everybody is routing for a Final between these two, and Day 2 saw both of them in action in their respective first round matches.

We reached a bit late to the stadium (ctsy bad traffic -- it's really got worse hasn't it?). The Srichaphan-Delago match was in the 2nd set. Srichaphan had lost the first set ! But the man was on fire in Set 2. Srichaphan's All-Action style was at its best as he easily took the set 6-1. In the 3rd set Delago found a bit of his game and soon it was tie-break! Srichaphan did not sweat in the tie-break and comfortably won the match. He is definitely a man on mission as he wants to get on the winning side of the Final this year. "I'm determined to put my disappointing 2005 behind me. I'm here on a mission. My primary aim is to get into the quarterfinals. Though Ljubicic and Moya are in good form, it's anybody's game from the last eight stage." is what he had to say in the post match interview. Yes Paradon we would love to see you lift the Chennai Open.

The next game on Centre Court saw defending champion Carlos Moya start his first round against the second tallest and one of the oldest pro's on ATP, the 6'8" Dick Norman. As the first set progressed it seemed that Moya would wrap things in no time. That's when it stuck us that our man Rohan Bopanna was to play on Court 1. It was really a good decision to go catch Rohan playing on Court 1. Having won three matches in the qualifiers, Rohan seemed to be in a fine form as he was making his opponent Cyril Saulinier of France run around the court. Cyril had no answers to Rohan's ground-strokes and after a couple of close calls not going his way, he really lost his cool. Making gestures and shouting profanities in French, which would never be shown on TV, he got the crowd even more against him. A splendid 6-3,6-3 straight set win was how Rohan wrapped up things in just 55 mins. "This is the best match I have played after the Davis cup singles tie against Holland's Martin Verkerc in 2003 although I had lost that five set match," Bopanna said. Well Rohan we want you to play better and better with each match and see you in Final!!!

Having seen two scintillating matches it was time for some fun. Leander Vece Paes or Lee as he is fondly called is a darling of Indian Tennis. I first saw Lee play in 1995 at Jaipur. It was a Davis Cup play off against South Africa and Lee had beaten Wayne Ferrera in a thriller. Since then I have seen him at other Davis Cup play-offs and ofcourse at Chennai Open. Last evening he was at the Mercedes-Benz Stall signing autographs. That's what makes Chennai Open so great. You can see the stars at close quarters, shake hands with them, pat them, praise them! After ogling Lee for sometime and grabbing a bite, it was back to Centre Court for some more great tennis.

King Moya had dropped a set and this match too had gone into the decider. Could things be better ? The first three games went on serve and it was then Moya raised his game a notch. The fourth game of third set was a thriller. Dick Norman was serving and the game had numerous Deuces, before Moya finally broke the game. It was smooth sailing for Moya after that. There were cat calls of "Come on Dick! You can do it!!", which brought a round laughter through the stadium. Alas this evening Dick couldn't do it! Moya took the final set 6-1 to win the match. In the post match interview Moya said that he was really focused to make a Hat-Trick at Chennai Open. It was around this time that I was also seen on TV as a friend of mine called up told me so!

The last match of the day : No 1 seed Ivan Ljubcic against last years semi-finalist Gullimero Garcia-Lopez. This was by far the best match of the day. Both players were giving more than 100%. There were some really beautiful groundstrokes by Garcia-Lopez, some great volleys by Ljubicic, few atrocious calls(actually no-calls when the ball was in fact out) by a baseline umpire (who I think was sleeping), gave a real feast of what ATP Tennis is really about. At no point in the match could you really predict who would win. The first set was won by Ljubicic in tie-break. Both of them traded breaks early in second set. It was only in the 11th game that Ljubcic was able to break Garcia-Lopez again. He went on to win the set 7-5. Aha I would have loved to see a third set in this match!

With Moya and Ljubcic looking in fine touch, a resurgent Srichaphan, two Indians Prakash Amritraj and Rohan Bopanna in Round 2, there is definitely a great fare of Tennis over the next four days! Who will be the winner this time is anybody's guess. I sure hope I get the time to catch few more matches in this greatest sports tournament that I like to visit to.

Cherio!!!

Movie-dome

2005-12-20T22:14:00.000-08:00

This year I have seen more movies in a Cinema Hall than what I might have seen in past five years! Let me just do a rain check on the movies that I saw:

Swades - Good movie, but would have liked it more if a smaller star was in the lead role.
Sheesha - Walked out before interval ! Somebody's idea of a All Boys Evening entertainment!!
XXX-2 - Nice one, the first part was better. Vin Diesel was better as XXX!
Bunty aur Bubly - A nice time pass. Worth seeing once
Kya Kool Hai Hum - Had a blast! Slapstick comedy to be watched with a crowd
Mr and Mrs Smith - Slept through it. Too much hype but nothing in it!
D - A big let down after Satya and Company!
No Entry -Too silly to enjoy. Had a headache.
Sarkar -Nice one! Unfortunately Godfather loomed too much in mind.
Apharan - The best among the lot. Could have been a bit fast paced.

These are the ones that come to my mind. Saw a few more but can't remember the names or what they were all about. So they definitely fall in the Headache/Slept through it category. The two Misses : BLACK. From what I have read about it, I am sure I have missed a great movie. Well whether I get to see it ever depends on someone else! The other miss being Paheli. Thank god I missed it. Some cock and bull love story of a ghost! Not my cup of tea!

I saw a lot of movies on Cable/DVD's too. I liked Terminal a lot. But the movie of the year for me has been an old World War II related classic The Great Escape. Based on a real incident which took place in German prison camp Stalag Luft III in 1944, the movie has an all-star cast including Steve McQueen , Richard Attenborough, James Coburn, James Garner, Charles Bronson, and Donald Pleasence. The captured Allied aircrew is kept at this particular prison camp. There the prisoners device a plan to escape! They dig three tunnels out of the prison camp. The plan is around 250 people will escape from the prison and then try and escape from Germany. The minute details shown as to how they go about digging the tunnel, getting rid of the mud that is dug out, making clothes, fake passes etc for the escapees is really interesting. One of the tunnel is discovered by the Germans. But the POW's go about undeterred digging the other tunnels. On the night of escape, 76 prisoners are able to escape before the tunnel is discovered. What follows is a series of bad luck and ill fortune that hits these escapees. Most of them are either captured/killed. More than 50 of the captured are later killed by the Germans. Only 3 are able to eventually escape out of Germany. Though the great escape was a failure in terms of number of prisoners succeeding in escaping to freedom but it was a great success in terms of its objective. As said by one of the characters of the movie, "The objective of every captured soldier is to try and create as much havoc as possible in enemy country", the great escape succeeded in achieving that.

I plan not to go to Movies so much in 2006, but sure would love to see some nice classics.

Finest Sporting Moments - 2005

2005-12-19T18:37:00.000-08:00

Its that time of year! Time to look back at the life of this old man that has been 2005 and see what went on in his life. Time to relive the finest moments of his life. Its time to reflect, make new resolutions for the baby that is going to be 2006.

As a sport loving person the first on my list of reflections is to reflect on the Finest Sporting Moments of 2005. For the last three years, January for me has been all about ATP Chennai Open. As has become the tradition of Chennai Open, the two favorites made it to the Finals. Paradon Srichappan, who calls Chennai his second home had to bite the bullet once more against King Moya. Will these two entertain Chennaities to a duel once more in the Finals in the coming edition or will it be the Spanish Prince Rafael Nadal who will upset the routine of Moya-Srichappan Final. I am not sure what I want to see more, Nadal in the final or yet another Moya-Srichhappan Final! Sports wise Chennai was unfortunate to see the India-South-Africa one dayer washed out and only four sessions of play in the rain affected Test against Srilanka. I was unfortunate to have missed the Hockey Champions Trophy which concluded last week. The high came when India defeated Pakistan in the league match in a thrilling come from behind encounter. Unfortunately the low was just round the corner when it lost to Pakistan in the classification matches to finish last in the tournament. God Save Indian Hockey! In the following paragraphs I recount those sporting moments of 2005 which I really enjoyed.

Give me Red!!
Those six glorifying minutes in Istanbul! Those six minutes in which Steven Gerrard was a man possessed! Those six minutes in which Liverpool trailing 0-3 took the wind out of AC Milan to draw the scores level and take the match to Penalty shoot-out.

A. C.Milan vs Liverpool, two bastions of European football. Before the match Liverpool, again, were the underdogs. This, however, was a tag that they had lived with and triumphed from before, so Rafael Benitez's men held no fear of their Italian counterparts. At half time though these dreams seemed to be shattered as Liverpool were simply outclassed in 45 minutes of exceptional football from Milan. Starring down the barrel at 3-0, humiliation beckoned; What was to happen now though, couldn't have been written to be any more dramatic. Liverpool clawed back the 3-0 deficit and took Milan to extra time. Jezry Dudek became the hero as his penalty saves handed Liverpool the European Cup for the fifth time; meaning that this time it was theirs for keeps.

Trivia : RaÃºl became the first player in the history of the competiton to reach 50 goals, he did this by scoring in Real Madrid 2:1 victory over Olympiakos in the UEFA Champions League 2005-06 season.

Dhoni ne Dho Dala!!!

2005 for Cricket has been good! It will always be remembered for it was the first time that Super-Sub and Power Play was introduced in Cricket. I don't feel Power Play makes things that different. More often than not it ends up with being a first 20 over field restriction than being anything more. But Super-Sub is really a great concept which adds a new dimension to team composition. The only change that I would like is that the teams should be able to announce the Super-Sub after the toss, so that they can make full use of all 12 players. 2005 will also be remembered for the Ashes. Five great test matches and in the end the Aussie might destroyed! Brian Lara becoming the highest run scorer in Test cricket, Sachin Tendulkar getting the 35th Test Century to have the highest number of Test Centuries, Warne becoming the highest wicket-taker in a Calendar year and also highest wicket taker in Tests were some of the high-points in Cricket. The Chappel-Ganguly spat has been the low point of the Cricket Scene. Well there are ten more days left in this Calendar year and lot of cricket happening in these 10 days. So we might just some great performance but barring that the cricket moment of 2005 has been the scintillating knock of Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the thrid one-dayer against Sri-Lanka in Jaipur on 31st October. English Dictionary may not have enough adjectives to describe Dhoni's knock (well if that is too tall a claim then let me put it this way, my vocabulary does not enough adjectives :-) ). Anyway lot has been written about the innings in which Dhoni created / broke a Plethora of records. So I am going to just let you all relive that knock in the realms of your memory.

Trivia : There are so many about this match, but the one that I like the most is :
Out of the 601 runs scored in the match, 327 were scored by the two wicketkeepers. This has not happened very often !

Vrrroooooooooommmmmmmmm......

Thats how the Formula-1 season went this year. It was year that clearly belonged to GenNext. The complete domination of Ferrari in '04 had most certainly taken away a bit of excitement from this fast paced sport. The rule changes for this year came in for lot ofcriticismm and most certainly its absurdity was exposed in the Indianapolis fiasco. The rule of using same tyres for qualification and race forced Michelin to issue a letter that their tyres were not safe in the changed weather on race day. This saw only six cars on Bridgestone race and all others withdrawing. The Formula-1 calendar was especially exciting to all of us as it was the Rookie year of our own Narain Karthikeyan. Though Narain does not have the results to show for his performance, but I feel it has been a great learning year for him. If he manages to land a Test Driver seat with Williams for 2006, then it will do him a lot of good. As I said it was GenNext primarily composed of Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen, that ruled the roost this year. With lot of changes in Teams and team compositions and few more new rules, the 2006 promises to be very exciting. It remains to be seen whether Micheal Schumacher can stage of comeback or will it be another year for the young guns ?

Trivia :rFench tyre maker Michelin swept the three big ones -- Formula 1 with Renault, WRC with Citron and MotoGp with Yamaha.

Lot more happened in the sporting arena, but thats it from me! Looking forward to another great start to the Sporting season at the Chennai Open from 03-08 Jan.

Pearl Harbor

2005-12-06T23:42:00.000-08:00

December 7, 1941. A defining moment in history! The Imperial Japanese Navy attacked the Pacific Fleet of the United States Navy. The attack damaged or destroyed twelve U.S. warships, destroyed 188 aircraft, and killed 2,403 American servicemen and 68 civilians. Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto planned the raid as the start of the Pacific Campaign of World War II, and it was commanded by Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo, who lost 64 servicemen. As many believe the attack on Pearl Harbor was the catalyst that made the United States enter World War II.

Well most of you might have seen the movie Pearl Harbor (which in my opinion was not worth watching !). Some of you might have seen Tora Tora which depicted the incident in a beautiful manner (If you haven't seen it, you really should). If you want to read a nice article outlining the events that led to the Pearl Harbor, the attack and the events that followed it then Click Here.

Stop AIDS. Keep the promise.

2005-11-30T21:34:00.000-08:00

December 1st is World AIDS Day and is recognized around the world as a day to renew hope, commemorate those lost and celebrate progress. The theme of World AIDS Day 2005 is 'Stop AIDS. Keep the promise.'. In his message on World AIDS Day, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has said, 'In the course of past decade, the world has made considerable progress in the fight against AIDS. It has also made considerable promises. The time has come to keep them. And I believe we can".

The National AIDS Control Organization NACO envisions an India in which every person living with HIV is trated with DIGNITY and has access to quality CARE. Among its activities, NACO has built up a Network of Positive People. The objectives of the same are :

To facilitate and improve access to treatment for people living with HIV
To provide access to information to people living with HIV
To promote and protect the human rights of people living with HIV
To promote involvement of people living with HIV in all levels of decision making
To promote social acceptance of people living with HIV and to end stigma and discrimination
To provide opportunities for networking for people living with HIV

AIDS is an epidemic of large proportions. Each one of us has to be aware of the enormity of this problem and do our little bit not only to Stop AIDS but also not discriminate those who are affected by this terminal disease. Let make a promise today to 'STOP AIDS', and 'KEEP THE PROMISE'.

Read Cricket

2005-11-28T16:31:00.000-08:00

We are well into the Cricket season and yet there is a lot of Cricket still to be played. The rise in fortunes of the Indian Cricket team coupled with the continuing controversies has really made Cricket the hotest thing this winter.

In addition to watching some good matches, Cricket lovers who like to read have also have it very good this time around. Few really good books on Criketers have been published in these past few months.

The rise in fortunes of Team India captain Rahul Dravid could not have come at a more opportune time for his Biographer Devendra Prabhudesai. THE NICE GUY WHO FINISHED FIRST is a tribute to a role model who refuses to rest on his laurels, and remains as intense in his quest for perfection as he was when he started his cricketing career. It takes you through a journey of a cricketing career that started in Lords and is reaching new heights everyday.

This biography holds a special place for me as it succinctly captures some of the most passionate and intense cricketing moments of my life and career till date. I am sure cricket lovers will relish these anecdotes from my lifeÂ, said Rahul Dravid at the launch of this book.

Another interesting read that has hit the bookstandsd is Great Indian Batsmen by Pratab Ramchand. This book profiles India's twenty great Indian Batsmen starting with the Col C.K.Naydu and ending with the swashbuckling Virendra Sehwag, with greats like Sunil Gavskar, Sachin Tendulkar, Mohmammed Azharuddin, Nawab Pataudi, Vijay Hazare among others. It captures the essence of these batsmen recounting little known facts about them.

Among other Cricket books to have released recently have been books by Andrew Flintoff ( Being Freddie, the story so far ), England coach Duncan Fletcher (Ashes Regained: The Coach's Story) and a few other books on the amazing English victory this summer.

With a long season yet to go and lots of Cricket all around the world, I am sure we will get few more interesting books.
Cherio :)

That could have been!

2005-11-24T17:30:00.000-08:00

One of my latest acquisition (feels good to use that word :-), but actually its just a simple purchase) has been the entire FRIENDS Collection. Yes all 10 Seasons all episodes plus some extra footage !! If you are a FRIENDS lover as me, then you can imagine the joy this is giving me these days. Late nights watching one episode after another. I don't think I have had a craze for any other TV Serial as I have for FRIENDS (hmm maybe a bit for Baywatch, but that was just the raging hormones in the teenage years :-) ). As far as FRIENDS is concerned its really the simple reason that it never fails to make you happy.

Last night in the episode that I caught was the one in which the guys wonder if certain things had not happened to them, or certain decisions they had not taken, what life would have been like! Would they have been better off or worse, would they still be together. The things that each wonders :
Phoebe :If she had taken up the job with Merryl Lynch and become a stock broker,
Joey :If he hadn't put his foot in his mouth and was still on the TV show "Days of our Life" as Dr Dreg Remore,
Monica :If she had remained Fat,
Chandler :If he had the guts to give up his job and become a comic writer,
Rachel :If she hadn't run out from her marriage with Barry and gone on to become his wife,
Ross :If he hadn't got divorced (for the first time) and his first wife Carol hadn't realized that she is a Lesbian!
The serial proceeds with an imagination if all of these things were trouble.

That Could Have Been!!. Well it set me wondering about some of my actions too. Life certainly takes lots of twists and turns. What if I had completed my Engineering instead of leaving it after just 1 year? How different would things be for me?

In the FRIENDS episode, things actually end up in the same manner. Monica and Chandler hook-up inspite of Monica being Fat and Chandler being a failed comic writer. Though Rachel marries Barry, she later finds her cheating on her. Ross' wife Carol does realize that she is a Lesbian.

Had I completed my Engineering, I would have still ended up in some IT company, more or less doing what I am doing right now. I may have been earning more at this stage and maybe a position above in the corporate hierarchy. But would life really be different?

Its like a journey, if you take all the right turns, you reach your destination sooner and safer. You take wrong turns, you end up late and maybe with more fatigue. Life is gonna take me where I am meant to go. I need to make sure that I don't take anymore wrong turns!

What could have been is nice to dream about when you have nothing better to do or when you are on a high! In waking reality What can be done is more important
Cherio :)

Good to be back !

2005-11-21T09:58:00.000-08:00

The Bandage is gone and finally I can type trouble free. My left hand is very precious to me. The realisation came only when it was in a bandage for a month. There are so many important things that this hand does for me, and I never gave credit to it! Everybody would say good that it is the Left hand and you are right handed, had it been the right hand it would have been really bad. Really?? What amount of typing I could do with the right hand alone, I guess I would have been able to do with the left one too. As far as eating is concerned well as it is I am mostly on a Noodles or Fried Rice and its equally easy to eat these things with either hands. Anyways Left or Right its good to be bandage free!

Misery loves company. I guess everybody has had a fracture or dislocation sometime or the other, and when you find somebody in a bandage, its your birth right to share your own deeply moving experience ! Such fracture/dislocation stories were a norm everywhere around me. My contribution in such conversations used to be the stupid manner in which my fingers got fractured !!

Talking of stupidity, here are a few stupid (but hilarious) tit-bits :
On December 5th, Come in with your friends and family and paint your balls for Christmas. --- Listing for an Atlanta Georgia Restaurant Event.
Percentage problems have always puzzled me, but this one really goes over my head
This fight is going to be 90% Mental and 50% Physical. --- Boxing Manager LOU DUVA
Being on numbers, try and make sense of this pop-tart by Samantha Fox :
I've got ten pairs of trainers. That's one for every day of the week.
Hearing to explainations of goof-up's can be pretty interesting. Here's one given by Governer of Prisons in England : There was not a breach of security as such. It was a case of someone cutting a hole from the outside and facilitating the escape of the three of our inmates.
Talking of foot in mouth, nobody can do it better than POTUS George Bush :
I have opinions of my own - Strong opinions - But I don't always agree with them
What was that?? Well Bush will be Bush. New Jersey Police Department really believes in equality of sexes, as their announcement proclaimed :
We shall offer police jobs to qualified women regardless of sex.
Customer Service offered by Credit Card/Telephone Companies is mostly irritating, but they can be really foolish too: Dear Mr Cook:
We have attempted on several occasions to reach you by telephone to discuss payment of your telephone account - which was recently disconnected. -- Letter sent from a phone company.

Well all these and many more such hilarious tit-bits can be found in "Lexicon of Stupidity by Ross Petras and Kathryn Petras".

Well nobody seemed to have missed my blog during this one month, but I sure did writing. Well its good to be back (atleast for myself) and hope to be more regular with my blogging :-)
Cherio

Booker 2005 Winner

2005-10-10T22:14:00.000-07:00

John Banville was named the winner of the £50,000 Man Booker Prize for Fiction with The Sea, published by Picador.
Chairperson of the Judges John Sutherland commented, “In an extraordinarily closely contested last round, in which the judges felt the level of the shortlisted novels was as high as it can ever have been, they have agreed to award the Man Booker Prize to John Banville’s The Sea, a masterly study of grief, memory and love recollected. The judges salute all the shortlisted novels.”

The Booker 2005

2005-10-09T11:30:00.000-07:00

The 37th Booker Prize is to be announced on the 10th of October 2005 at the awards dinner ceremony to be held at at Guildhall, London. Winning the Booker is every fiction writers dream. Novels which have won or have been nominated for the Booker have gone on to become bestsellers.

On 10th of August the Long List of 17 books was chosen from a total of 109 entries. Almost a month later, i.e. on 8th September the Short List i.e the Final nominations of 5 books was announced. This year's Booker nominations has an impressive array, with authors being shortlisted previously too. Following is a short synopsis of the entries and the authors for the 2005 Booker.

The first nominee is The Sea by John Banville. Born in Wexford, Ireland in 1945, John Banville is an old name in the literary circle. His novels have won many an impressive awards in the past. The Book of Evidence (1989), which won the Guinness Peat Aviation Book Award and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize for Fiction. Dr Copernicus which won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize (for fiction) was the first in a series of books exploring the lives of eminent scientists and scientific ideas.

The Sea is simultaneously about growing up and growing old. Its narrator, now in his sixties, is revisiting the Irish coastal resort where, as a child, he encountered the Grace family, who mysteriously changed his life. But Max Morden is not simply retrieving his childhood. His wife having died, he is also in flight from bereavement and the smell of mortality. Interweaving traumatic episodes from his remote and recent past, the novel is concerned with rites of passage: coming-of-age and coming of old age; awakening and dying. Read more...

The second nominee is Arthur and George by Julian Barnes. Born in Liecester in 1946, Julian Barnes has many a classic fiction novels up his sleeve. His much acclaimed novel Flaubert's Parrot (1984), was shortlisted for the Booker Prize for Fiction and won the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize. In 1995 he was made Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (France). He was awarded the E. M. Forster Award in 1986 by the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and the German Shakespeare Prize from the Alfred Toepfer Foundation in Hamburg in 1993.

Arthur & George recounts Conan Doyle's own detective adventure. The novel begins as a pair of alternating biographies, a tale of opposites. On the one hand, a boy full of dreams, the young Conan Doyle, listening to Arthurian legend in his mam's Scottish kitchen, a promising athlete and scholar, the classroom wit and storyteller; on the other, a boy stripped of imagination, one George Edalji, son of a vicar in rural Staffordshire, poor and myopic, friendless and stolid. George Edalji, who trained as a solicitor, was the victim of a famous miscarriage of justice, convicted in 1903 of mutilating livestock in his parish. After his release from a seven-year prison sentence, it was Conan Doyle who championed his case for a pardon in the newspapers and in parliament. The writer was asked many times in his life to put on Holmes's cloak and solve a mystery himself; the Edalji case was the only time he agreed. For much of the book, Barnes cuts quickly between these two fates - a page on Arthur, one on George - meticulously mapping their journey before they finally meet. You might expect along the way, from this author, some trickery, but Barnes seems more concerned here with an absolute formal clarity. Read More...

The next on the Short List is A Long Long Way by Sebastian Barry. Born in Dublin in 1955, Sebastian Barry is known more for his plays than his Novels. His early plays include Boss Grady's Boys (1990), which opened in 1988, and won the BBC/Stewart Parker Award. His play The Steward of Christendom (1995), won the Christopher Ewart-Biggs Memorial Prize, the Ireland/America Literary Prize, the Critics' Circle Award for Best New Play and the Writers' Guild Award (Best Fringe Play). Sebastian Barry also won the Lloyds Private Banking Playwright of the Year award in the same year. Our Lady of Sligo (1998) was joint winner of the Peggy Ramsay Play Award, and was seen off-Broadway, and Hinterland, premiered at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, and the Royal National Theatre, London in 2002. His previous novels are, The Whereabouts of Eneas McNulty (1998), translated into seven languages, and Annie Dunne (2002).

In A Long Long WaySebastian Barry has created a powerful new novel about divided loyalties and the realities of war. In 1914, Willie Dunne, barely eighteen years old, leaves behind Dublin, his family, and the girl he plans to marry in order to enlist in the Allied forces and face the Germans on the Western Front. Once there, he encounters a horror of violence and gore he could not have imagined and sustains his spirit with only the words on the pages from home and the camaraderie of the mud-covered Irish boys who fight and die by his side. Dimly aware of the political tensions that have grown in Ireland in his absence, Willie returns on leave to find a world split and ravaged by forces closer to home. Despite the comfort he finds with his family, he knows he must rejoin his regiment and fight until the end. Read More....

Never Let Me Go by Kazua Ishiguro is the next nominee for the Booker. Born in Nagasaki, Japan, in 1954, Ishiguro came to Britain at the age of five. His previous literary efforts make a very impressive list.A Pale View of Hills (Winifred Holtby Prize),An Artist of the Floating World(shortlisted for Booker),The Remains of the Day,(1989 Winner of Booker Prize), The Unconsoled(Winner of Cheltenham Prize) and When we were Orphans (Shortlisted for Booker).

Never Let Me Go is a cleverly understated account of the lives of three children growing up together. It is also a hard-hitting comment upon one of the great scientific debates of current times; genetic engineering. The story is told by one of the children, Kath. Now in her early thirties, she is looking back upon her childhood relationship with her two closest friends, Ruth and Tommy. On the face of it, this is a novel about three children who formed a close bond whilst at a boarding school, a bond that continued into their adult lives. However, their seemingly idyllic childhood is not all that it appears. As Kath's memories unfold, more and more is revealed about the reality of these children's lives. Kath's story is about her journey to discover who she really is and we, the readers, are treated to those revelations as they came to her and her friends. From the opening pages, it is clear that life at the Hailsham boarding school is not typical of English boarding schools. Ishiguro presents the reader with a picture of life that makes little sense, but because Kath is telling the story and she, as a child, was unaware that her life was different from other children, we are given no answers to the inevitable questions that arise. It is only as Kath's own curiosity is aroused that we are allowed to find some answers. At the same time, the full extent of the mystery is only slowly revealed as Kath herself begins to understand that Hailsham and its students are rather special. Just as it seems that the mystery has been unraveled, so another question is raised and goes unanswered, creating a truly compelling story. Ishiguro demonstrates his mastery of the art of writing. He has created a truly believable person in Kath and through her he is able to present a story of mystery and revelation almost without the reader being aware of the literary tricks to which they are subject. Read More...

The penultimate nominee is The Accidental by Ali Smith. Born in Inverness in 1962, Ali Smith won the Saltire Society Scottish First Book of the Year Award and a Scottish Arts Council Award for her first book, Free Love and Other Stories. Her first novel, Like, was published to critical acclaim in 1997. Her second novel, Hotel World (2001), won the Encore Award, a Scottish Arts Council Book Award and the inaugural Scottish Arts Council Book of the Year Award. It was also shortlisted for both the Orange Prize for Fiction and the Booker Prize for Fiction. For a list of reviews of The Accidental Click Here

The final nominee is On Beauty by Zadie Smith. The youngest of the Booker Nominees for 2005 Zadie Smith was born in 1975 in North London. Her acclaimed first novel, White Teeth (2000) won a number of awards and prizes, including the Guardian First Book Award, the Whitbread First Novel Award, and the Commonwealth Writers Prize. On Beauty, is a rollicking academic satire. Campus satire doesn't suggest Big Book, but Smith has managed to make it so. Like her much-praised first novel, White Teeth, this book squeezes a great deal of contemporary life between two covers. It is packed with tangents on the iPod, the seepage of pornography into sex life, the fashion imperatives of hip-hop and life in President Bush's America. Read More...

Kuazo Ishiguro leads the vote count of the Peoples prize, followed by Julius Barnes. Whether the judges feel the same and award Ishiguro with his second Booker or is it going to be someone else? For more on the 37th Booker Prize visit the official website here.

Young Blood Takes Over!!!

2005-09-25T11:30:00.000-07:00

We have a new F1 - WORLD CHAMPION. Fernando Alonso Diaz, born July 29, 1981, often reffered to as the natural successor to Micheal Schmacher, did just that! The 3rd position finish in Brazilian Grand Prix was enough for Alonso to become the youngest ever F1 - World Champion. With 6 wins and 13 podium finishes, 2005 has been the perfect year for this young Spinard. Alonso started his F1 career with the Australian Grand Prix, driving the Minardi. Though he raced well, he was not able to get a single point in his rookie season. 2002 saw Alonso move to the newly founded Renault team as a test driver and he became a regular in 2003. With some strong finishes in 2004, Alonso had announced his challenge for the World Championship for the 2005 season. With a faster and steadier car, the Alonso has grabbed the opportunities with both hands.

Seven times World Champion, last five years consecutive world championship title, and it has ended in a manner that nobody would have even imagined in the wildest dreams last year. Micheal Schumacher, the demi-god of Formula 1, the King of F-1 circuits, lost the mathematical possibility of retaining his world championship in the Italian Grand Prix when he finished a dismal 10th. The 13th lap accident in the Belgian Grand Prix somehow signified the year for Schumacher. With a car unwilling to perform at the peaks that Schumacher is used to, he has looked a complete shadow of his former self. But are we to write an obituary for Micheal Schumacher! No not at all. If the performance in the Brazilian Grand Prix is any indication. With the knowledge that he cannot win, still Schumacher fought till the very end, giving it all he had, and the Ferrari is definately improving. With Barichello opting not to race with Ferrari in 2006, Schumacher will have a new partner, a new car and a new position to start from in 2006! Can the old race horse give a fight to the young stud in the next season!

Well the excitement in 2005 season is by no means over. With McLaren-Mercedes leading the Renault by a slim 2 point margin and the final two races to go, the thrill is going to remain till the season ending Shanghai Grand Prix on 16th of October. Well this has been a truly wonderful season, the new rules have really made the field very much competitive. Lets Cheer for fantastic final 2 Races!!!!

Cherio!!!

North Korea - The step in right direction

2005-09-19T21:30:00.000-07:00

A big breakthrough was achieved in the ongoing talks between North Korea and five parties, the US, China, South Korea, Japan and Russia, in Beijing. In a joint statement signed between North Korea and the five parties, North Korea has agreed scrap its Nuclear Weapons program, give up its Nuclear arsenal and rejoin the NPT. In exchage the US has pledged that it will not attack North Korea and reaffirmed that it did not have Nuclear Weapons in the Korean Peninsula.

The signatories have agreed to provide energy assistance to North Korea in exchanged for giving up its arms. The US has also given up its insistence that North Korea give up all its Nuclear Programs. The signatories have agreed to 'recognize' the North's demand for nuclear energy and said Pyongyang's request to have a light-water nuclear reactor for peaceful purposes would be revisited 'at an appropriate time.'

This is a step in the right direction. The next step would be a verification regime, where Nuclear weapons inspectors would re-enter North Korea. A decision on this will be taken in the next round of talks in November.

Let us see this development in perspective of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) is a treaty, opened for signature on July 1, 1968, restricting the possession of nuclear weapons. The vast majority of sovereign states (189) are parties to the treaty. However two out of seven nuclear powers(India and Pakistan) and one possible nuclear power(Israel) have not ratified the treaty. North Korea which had earlier ratified the NPT, however revoked its signature after a dispute with inspectors over inspections of non-declared nuclear facilities. Iran has signed the NPT, but as of 2004 is under suspicion from the United States of having violated the treaty through an active program to develop nuclear weapons. The International Atomic Energy Agency is investigating. Iran says it merely wants to develop nuclear power.

The NPT is often seen in terms of its three pillars :

non-proliferation
disarmament
the right to peacefully use nuclear technology

An analysis of the above in the past 37 years of NPT does not project a very bright picture.

At the time the Treaty was being signed NATO had in place secret weapons sharing agreements whereby the United States provided nuclear weapons to be deployed by, and stored in, other NATO states. As of 2005 the United States still provides about 180 tactical B61 nuclear bombs for use by Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey under these NATO agreements. Though NATO argues that these bombs continue to play an essential role in war prevention, it is direct contravention of the spirit of Articles I and II of the NPT.

As far as disarmament is concern, no real progress has ever happened on that front. Only one country has been known to ever dismantle their nuclear arsenal completelyÂthe apartheid government of South Africa apparently developed half a dozen crude fission weapons during the 1980s, but they were dismantled in the early 1990s. After the fall of the Soviet Union, a number of former Warsaw Pact states (Belarus, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan) found themselves in possession of Soviet nuclear weapons, but they were apparently given to Russia (who took responsibility and ownership of the Soviet arsenal), though due to a clerical error it has been reported that Ukraine may still be in possession of some number of nuclear missiles. As far as US is concerned, though there have been serious concerns raised for disarmament of its Nuclear Arsenal both within and outside the US, concrete steps have never been taken.

The right to peacefully use Nuclear Technology for energy purposes, is a very thin line crossing, which countries having the technology can develop Nuclear Arsenal. Virtually any industrialized nation today has the technical capability to develop nuclear weapons within several years if the decision to do so were made. Nations already possessing substantial nuclear technology and arms industries could do so in no more than a year or two, perhaps even as fast as a few months or weeks, if they so decided to. The larger industrial nations (Japan and Germany for example) could, within several years of deciding to do so, build arsenals rivaling those of the states that already have nuclear weapons.

On 18 July 2005, US President George W. Bush had met Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and declared that he would work to change US law and international rules to permit trade in US civilian nuclear technology with India. It is feared that in combination with US attempts to deny Iran (an NPT signatory) civilian nuclear technology, this effectively destroys the NPT. Though there are many more storms and troubled waters to overcome, the agreement between North Korea and US led delegation is definately a step in the right direction. As I had mentioned in one of my previous post (Little Boy - Fat Man) let us all pray that Nagasaki always remains the last Atomic Bomb site!

Ref: Wikipedia

Oracle to buy Siebel for $5.85 billion

2005-09-12T06:10:00.000-07:00

In wake of big acquisitions, another big one was announced by Oracle corporation. In a press release Oracle has agreed to buy Siebel Systems in a deal worth $5.85 billion in cash and stock. Siebel has 4000 plus application customers and 3.4 million user strengths. With this acquisition Oracle becomes number 1 in CRM segment. For more information on this deal see the Oracle Press release here

First Look at Windows Vista

2005-09-07T20:51:00.000-07:00

Here are some images of the new Windows Vista(formerly code named Longhorn). Microsoft promises Vista has something for everyone.

The Virtual Folders feature in Windows Vista allows users to view documents that share a specific criterion, such as "edited in the last week" or "containing the word 'budget.'"

The Pictures and Video folder in Windows Vista contains new information about a picture, including the type of camera used and a user-assigned rating.

A Windows Vista screenshot shows improved desktop search abilities.

A redesigned Start Menu in Windows Vista lets users start typing the name of the application they wish to open.

For more information about Windows Vista Click here

Ganapati Bappa Morya

2005-09-06T22:12:00.000-07:00

A very happy Ganesh Chaturthi to one and all

Biloxi Blues - a SMASHING comedy

2005-09-02T02:04:00.000-07:00

Click here to read a review of the Play.
Evam Official Website

Opiniating

2005-08-29T22:01:00.000-07:00

Now I am not sure whether Opiniating is a word in Dictionary or not, nor do I want to look it up. I define Opiniating as an action to express ones views (they may be correct or incorrect, educated or a plain simple guess or gas :-) ) on any topic in Universe. It may make sense or may not, but that is not important at all. What counts is that you have something to say about the topic under discussion and you say it in a manner which atleast appears intelligent !

There are no set topics for Opiniating, but generally people are found opiniating about Politics, Government - its policies and performance, Weather, Movies, Sports and CRICKET! While opiniating a person wears the "Expert Hat", i.e no one knows about that topic better than he does(it may be a different matter that he/she may be hearing about that topic for the first time or that the opinion he/she is passing is what was opiniated by someone else). I consider Opiniating to be very healthy. It opens your mind and brings in thoughts which you may never have thought about. It is a challenge to your intellect. One thing that I have observed is that a good opiniator generally comes out with good ideas too (also good excuses to help him/her escape from dicey situations).

Opiniating should be done keeping in mind the environment surrounding you. It can sometimes turn out to be hazardous. For example in Chennai if you adversly opiniate about Rajanikant or Kamal Hassan, even the holy lords may not be able to save you( just wondering why would anyone adversly opiniate about Rajani or Kamal? ).

One topic that I always find difficult to opiniate upon is Cricket, Indian Cricket in particular. The simple reason for my difficulty is that everyone else is an expert on this topic (or so it seems) and I am a total novice. So here is a tip to you all who find opiniating on some topic difficult, do what I do with Cricket. I find one person whom I feel to be an expert opiniator on the topic, hear his opinions and then consider them to be words from Bible. It helps me to opiniate with others :D.

The real so-called experts opiniating can sometimes be real interesting, for e.g a scientist was asked "How can you tell the age of snake?", and his expert opinion on the question was "It is extremely difficult to tell the age of a snake unless you know exactly when it was born !! ".

So dear friends do develop the habit of opiniating (if you don't have it already). For starters you could opiniate by posting a comment on this post :-).
Cherio ...

Mars Hoax

2005-08-26T11:57:00.000-07:00

I am sure you would have received an Email about Mar's close encounter with Earth on 27th August, and reading that did you remain awake last night waiting to see the spectacular Red Planet being the second moon of earth for the night. Well I was going to do just that, but then a thought stuck me. "If such a big event is going to happen, how come none of the news channels are not reporting it"? When I shared my thought with my roommates who were also eagerly waiting to see Mars, they suggested lets search on the net about this. A simple search for "Mars Hoax" on Google turned up about 186,000 results in 0.33 seconds. We had to read only the first link to know the truth that the whole thing is a host. It makes an interesting reading NASA - Beware the Mars Hoax

Hoax mails filling up our mail boxes is not something new, and I guess its not going to end anytime too. Some diligently read such mails and forward them to 10, 20 or all the people in their address book, hoping for some kind of good luck or a windfall or even save planet earth! Well next time you come across any such mail, before you believe it why not check it out on Hoax Busters, you might just find out that your mail is a listed hoax, as the Mars Mail is !!

Cherio..

Happy Janmashtami!!

2005-08-26T03:03:00.000-07:00

A very happy Janmashtami to everybody!

Avyukta now has a sister blog Avyukta - 2 which is a photo blog. Quite neat, do check it out. The above image is courtsey Avyukta - 2. By the way Avyukta is a one of the numerous names of Lord Krishna.

World War III is On !

2005-08-23T21:12:00.000-07:00

World War III is On and it has been going on for past four years!!! That is if you believe what President Of The United States (POTUS) George W Bush says! Justifying the need of American Troops to stay on in Iraq till 2009, the POTUS in his speech compared the fight against terrorism to both world wars and other great conflicts of the 20th century. Bush reminded his listeners of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 — reciting the date five times in a 30-minute speech. "We're not yet safe," Bush said. "Terrorists in foreign lands still hope to attack our country. They still hope to kill our citizens. The lesson of September 11, 2001, is that we must confront threats before they fully materialise." Besides his references to 9/11 and the war on terror, Bush also spoke of earlier global fights.

If the War against Terrorism is anything like the World Wars, then the Alies this time around are surely getting the short end of the stick. With Osama being captured only in cartoons and bombed in Flash toons, and radical Islam spreading accross the globe, this war will go on forever if what Bush and his trigger happy gang keep on doing. Well I am not the one to come out with a solution to this and nor is this post for that reason, but what reading Bush's comments reminded me today were of Bushisms

Where as President Clinton's actions made him one of the favourite of joke and cartoon targets, POTUS G.W.Bush has gone one step forward and started a whole new form of entertainment called Bushism. Bushisms are bloopers that POTUS keeps making frequently (almost daily) that they are coined as The president's accidental wit and wisdom.. My favourite Bushism so far is :

"I'm honored to shake the hand of a brave Iraqi citizen who had his hand cut off by Saddam Hussein."—Washington, D.C., May 25, 2004

Its sad that searching for Miserable Faliure on google and clicking on I'am Feeling lucky dosen't bring the Home Page of the POTUS anymore, but brings up a Blog which discusses How long can POTUS survive !

You can get a complete list of Bushisms (updated frequently) Here. Have fun reading them.
:)

Little Boy - Fat Man

2005-08-09T20:06:00.000-07:00

Six decades is a long time. But when the scar is as deep as the one caused by nuclear-bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, no amount of time is long enough to heal the scars. In the past few days the 60th anniversary of b-bombings (6th Aug Hiroshima and 9th Aug Nagasaki) were observed, with world leaders reaffirming their pledge of a nuclear weapon free earth. But six decades on where are we headed?

6th Aug 1945, 8:15am, Little Boy the Uranium bomb was dropped on Hiroshima by Enola Gay the B-29 bomber. About 40,000 died instantly, another 100,000 had died by end of 1945. The count today is 242,437 dead, and unnumbered injured or deformed for life.

9th Aug 1945, 11:02am, Fat Man nicknamed after Winston Churchill, the plutonium bomb was dropped on Nagasaki by Bock's Car the bomber. Total estimated dead are 240,000.

Apart from the five permanent members of the UN Security council, who posses Nuclear arsenal, India and Pakistan have shown their capability of making a N-Bomb. Israel, Iran and North Korea allegedly have the capability of making Nuclear Weapons. In the days leading up to the anniversary, negotiators from the US, Japan, China, Russia and South Korea were fighting a losing battle to persuade North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons programme, and Iran has rejected the EU's proposal for ending the stand-off over its own nuclear programme. While every Nuclear country reaffirms that their Nuclear capability is for peaceful purposes and will only be used for generating energy, who can guarantee that with the existence of Nuclear Weapons on Earth, there will never be another Hiroshima or Nagasaki!

At the ceremony at Nagasaki Memorial, Fumie Sakamoto, a 74-year-old woman representing the survivors, recalled being thrown into the air at her home and coming to in her garden 10 metres away. "As far as I could see, everything had been reduced to rubble," she said. "Together with some 260,000 A-bomb survivors ... I swear in the presence of the souls of the victims of the atomic bombing to continue to tirelessly demand that Nagasaki be the last A-bomb site." Let us say Amen to that.

Return to Flight (GodSpeed Discovery)

2005-08-08T08:00:00.000-07:00

I had started writing this post a day before the Launch of the Space Shuttle Discovery, to commomerate the two and half years of hard work put in by the managers, engineers, technicians and others concerned with the Herculean task of restarting the space missions. These missions had ground to a halt after the explosion of Space Shuttle Columbia. Somehow I was not able to complete the post, and next day the take off Discovery had some problems, similar to those of Space Shuttle Columbia because of which I did not have the heart to write anything further on this. Subsequent to that a lot of developments have taken place. There have been three space walks, and the Gap filler which was exposed during the take off and could have caused excessive heat and burning during re-entry has been removed. Now the Discovery with its seven crew members is on its way back and re-entry is scheduled at 4.46am(EDT) which is 2.16pm(IST). Let us all wish luck to Flight commander Elieen Collins and the six crew members on board for a safe return home.

GodSpeed Discovery

If you want to Enjoy a space trip sitting right in front of your PC, then just Click Here

Return to Flight (Delay in Re-Entry)

2005-08-08T02:25:00.000-07:00

An update on the Return of Space Shuttle Discovery :
Discovery and its astronauts are now set to return to Earth Tuesday morning, with the first attempt at Kennedy Space Center at 5:08 a.m. EDT (2.40 pm IST). Weather prevented a landing attempt today.

There are several opportunities to land tomorrow, including two at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and two at Edwards Air Force Base in California. Once more... GodSpeed Discovery

Mumbai!!

2005-08-01T20:44:00.000-07:00

The Fury of Nature !! The wrath of Rain Gods !! But Mumbai lives on.....

Following are few of the Snaps that I have received over the past few days of the devastation and plight caused by killer rains in Mumbai.

Having lived in Mumbai for some years, knowing the spirit of Mumbai and Mubaikars, I am sure the great city of Mumbai will rise out of this hour of darkness, like a Pheonix and reach new glorious heights.

Ramblings

2005-07-12T10:30:00.000-07:00

Unlike my other posts, which revolve around a topic, this particular post as the heading goes, it is about nothing in particular.

At the onset I wish to thank Keerthi for designing the Logo for ATAH. His Blog Avyukta has been doing really well with lots of hits and a varied content. Good for him and all the best to Avyukta. During my net-wanderings I came across a very interesting blog. It is The Counterterrorism Blog maintained by worldwide experts on Counter Terrorism. It has a detailed coverage of 7/7 London attack, followed by a nice article on how the bombers could be tracked by tracking the money they have have spent. I couldn't find any article on Terrorist activities in India though! Guess there are no blog-savvy counterterrorism experts in India.

Secondly the chatterbox (Where you could leave a message) that used to be on the blog has come to an end. The guy(s) providing the service decided to shut it down. Well till date I haven't got any constructive critisism about the posts, which is what I would love to have so that I am able to improve the quality of my posts. Well as of now I ain't hunting for a new chatterbox, so I request dear readers to use the Comments Link that follows the post to drop a word to me.

Talking of chatterbox reminds me of the episode of Cricket Controversies that I was watching this Sunday. In this particular episode our royal Cricket chatterbox (hey just a joke) Mr Navjot Singh Siddhu was being discussed about and one question that Sonali Chander was desperately trying to get an answer for was "What really happened on the '96 tour of England, that made Siddhu come back to India midway?". Its been a decade and Siddhu has never revealed the actual reason as to why he came back to anybody. Speaking of unanswered questions in Indian Cricket, we could have many! Like if Azhar and Co were really fixing matches, which were the matches that were really fixed? What was Sachin's role in the whole Fixing scandle and what was so threatning that he did not blow the whistle on the culprits? Why did John Wright actually leave the Job of Indian Coach? The questions are many and truly speaking I feel most of them should be left unanswered! What do you feel?

To end these ramblings here is something interesting :
Times really haven't changed. Consider this:

Year 1981 =========

Prince Charles got married
Liverpool crowned Champions of Europe
Pope Died

Year 2005 =========

Prince Charles got married
Liverpool crowned Champions of Europe
Pope Died

Now, if Charles wants to re-marry or Liverpool needs another crown .....

POOR POPE....!!!!!! ***
And if you have time do check this very interesting link : We didn't start the fire
Until Next Time
Cherio

Dilli

2005-07-10T21:58:00.000-07:00

Since coming to Gurgaon, I had been planning a trip to Old Delhi, but the hot summer did not allow me to do so. My interest in old Delhi was not in sight seeing the monuments, but to see and feel the aura of the mughal influenced are, to taste the cuisine on the streets, to roam the streets and enjoy the hustle-bustle. And that’s what I did this Sunday. It wasn't one of the greatest experiences (the weather was to be blamed partly), but then it is something that was to be experienced at least once.

The other aspect was traveling by Delhi Metro which was a very pleasing experience. The second phase (fully underground) of Delhi Metro became operational last week and that is what made this trip more interesting. Tagged as a world class metro, traveling by Delhi Metro makes commuting in Delhi hassle free. Boarding the metro at Central Secretariat station (near India Gate), we reached Chawri Bazzar, the heart of Old Delhi in 10 mins. It is truly amazing when you emerge out of the Chawri Bazzar Metro Station. From a truly high-tech environment you come out to one of the oldest parts of Delhi, with cramped houses, electric wires so entangled that it would require a stroke of genius to figure out which line goes to which house, shops bustling for space! A 10 min rickshaw ride takes you to Chandni Chowk (our first destination).

Would you like to have your breakfast at a place where at least three ex prime ministers of India have had breakfast? Parathe Wali Gali, a street full of eateries selling at least 25 different kinds of Parathas with a host of complementary side dishes! One of these shops has photos of Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Lal Bahadur Shastri having parathas in that particular shop, hanging on its wall. What’s good for these ex-PM's is good enough for us! The long list of different types of Parathas leaves you utterly confused. Satisfying the taste buds and filling our stomach with a sumptuous breakfast of parathas, kachories and Dhokla's topped with Lassi, we move forward.

Next stop Dariya Ganj. A stretch of more than two kilometers with book sellers!! That’s Sunday Book Market! With almost every kind of book under the sun available at dirt cheap prices, this place is a book lover’s paradise. The heat and humidity was really oppressive and so I couldn't spend much time there, but my wanderings yielded in two books at great prices. The first Abundant Living Endless Striving, a memoir of Sohrab P Godrej, former chairman of Godrej group of Companies. The foreword and reviews are really interesting, giving an insight into a man who had wide ranging passions. The other is Khrushchev Remembers: The Glasnost Tapes. This book gives an insight into the post Stalin era USSR and the working of the Central committee, as told by ex Soviet President Khrushchev after he was removed from office and placed under virtual house arrest. I am sure these two books have been a great buy for me and I will have a real pleasure reading them.

As I mentioned earlier the weather was really bad, so we had to cut short the book browsing and get back to the cool confines of Delhi Metro! The rickshaw drive took us past Jama Masjid and the Red Fort and through the famous Chor Bazar. Once back in the Metro we decided to just spend some time in it till we had cooled down and were ready to brave out again. One really great thing about the metro is that you can get a full day pass for Rs 50/- only by which you can travel from anywhere to anywhere as many times as you want. So taking benefit of this we spend lot of time traveling on both the routes of Delhi Metro. The station where both the routes intersect is Kashmere Gate, where the Inter State Bus Terminus is also situated. Busses for 7 different states leave from this place and it is always buzzing with activity.

After spending considerable amount of time in the metro (both underground and above ground) we got out at Rajiv Chowk. That’s the new name for Connought Place, one of the premier business areas of Delhi. Roaming around Connought Place is a pretty interesting experience as you get to see different kinds of shops. Don't get me wrong, I am not into shopping and all, but what I do like to see are the Curio Shops having various amusing items. To wind up the day we went into a place called Ruby Tuesday to enjoy tasty Salads and mouth-watering dishes. Enjoying our mock tails while seeing Juan Pablo Montoya take the British Grand Prix with a control that is unnatural to him, we relaxed and reflected on a day which was full of contrasts. Contrasts between modern and old, between technology and manual ways, between Moghlai cuisine and American fast food, between the hot weather and cool metro stations, all of which we had experienced within the same day and in a circumference of few kilometers.

I guess that’s what makes Dilli so dynamic!!
Until Next time
Cheerio

Lets become a Great Generation!!

2005-07-04T04:36:00.000-07:00

At times it falls upon a generation to be great.
You can be that great generation.
Millions of people in worlds poorest country are trapped in prison of poverty it is time to set them free
Poverty is not natural it is man made and can be overcome by action of human beings.
--Nelson Mandela

The above is the opening part of appeal made by Nelson Mandela to all of us and leaders of G8 to take steps to eradicate poverty from the planet. LIVE 8 - The Long walk to Justice. 2nd July 2005 The Day that Rocked the World, when 150 bands played live at 9 different cities across the world, when around a million people watched these concerts live and more than 2 billion watched it on TV. Whats this all about? In the words of Bob Geldof one of the key person behind Live 8 :

These concerts are the start point for The Long Walk To Justice, the one way we can all make our voices heard in unison.
This is without doubt a moment in history where ordinary people can grasp the chance to achieve something truly monumental and demand from the 8 world leaders at G8 an end to poverty.
The G8 leaders have it within their power to alter history. They will only have the will to do so if tens of thousands of people show them that enough is enough.
By doubling aid, fully cancelling debt, and delivering trade justice for Africa, the G8 could change the future for millions of men, women and children.

The G8 summit begins in Edinburg the Scottish Capital on 6th of July. This is where the Final Push is going to take place on the eve of the Summit.The Largest and Loudest cry to eradicate poverty to make Poverty History. People from all across the world are converging onto Edinburg to make an appeal to the G8 leaders. Even you can make yourself a part of this great and nobel cause by signing up your name on the official website. This is going to be the longest internet and text petition ever. To read more and to be a part of this historic effort please visit the site live8live.com.

Lets become a Great Generation, Lets make Poverty History

Let Down!!

2005-06-30T23:30:00.000-07:00

Critic

One who forms and expresses judgments of the merits, faults, value, or truth of a matter.
One who specializes especially professionally in the evaluation and appreciation of literary or artistic works: a film critic; a dance critic.
One who tends to make harsh or carping judgments; a faultfinder.

The above are the three meanings of the word Critic that Dictionary.com shows. Well I don't think I can make a professional evaluation of something, neither do I intend to. But last couple of days I have not been at ease with myself and I thought to give vent to my frustration, let me criticize something that I feel has been a big let down in terms of my expectations.

Starting the day with a newspaper is something which must be a habit for millions of people and I am one among them. This has been a habit since school days itself. Having done a major chunk of my schooling in Mumbai, The Times of India was the paper that we used to get at home. We used to get The Hindu and The Statesman in school and we used to flirt with them too. Though my mother (who was a librarian) and also the English teacher, used to insist that I read the editorial, I never used to actually read the editorial. I didn't know what the aversion was at that point time, but even today I never read the editorial. Today I have words to express my aversion. "The editorial is an opinion! I read the newspaper for facts. I can make my own opinion when facts are presented to me! . Subsequently I lost touch with The Times of India and The Hindu became my morning starter.

After coming to Delhi, one thing in the back of my mind was that I will get to read the Times once more. I was actually looking forward to it. But my expectations have been met with a rude shock! Reading the Times has been a big Let Down! . I was really appalled by the content of this newspaper. The quality of headlines has been really pathetic. Is there nothing of importance happening that the content has to be so light? News items which I never thought would make the Front Page are what I see making headlines on a daily basis. The height was the day actor/MP Shri Sunil Dutt had passed away. The front page had just two main news items. One was of course the news of Sunil Dutt passing away and the second was a big write-up on Sachin Tendulkar not being able to play for some more time because of his Tennis Elbow. Was everybody in India/World sleeping the previous day that Sachin's Injury was the only important news item to cover more than half the Front page of the leading Newspaper of India? Have we become so shallow? Now even I am an average Indian Cricket Fan, and have respect for Sachin, but this was the height. Just the other day another half of Front Page was devoted to Kapil Dev's comment on Sachin should Retire. The next day when Kapil Dev retracted his statement saying that he was misquoted, that found only a small space on the last but one page. When the front page is so appallingly short of meaningful content, what can we expect from rest of the newspaper?

Now I am a big fan of Sania Mirza and I feel that she should be promoted as a sports/youth icon in a manner that can inspire youngsters. I guess the people at The Times must also feel something like this, because the decided to devote two pages of the sports section on her antics at the Wimbledon. And guess what picture they decided to put up? The picture was of Sania serving and her undergarments clearly visible!! Was there no other picture to put? What was in the mind of the guys who selected and okayed to put up that picture? She's got it! She Flaunts it! So let’s blow it up because that’s what the masses would love! Is that responsible act by a national newspaper?

The height is the supplement that comes along almost daily. There is Mallika Sherwat in various stages of undress almost daily. There is a section which says ask all your sex related raunchy questions and we will answer it! Have children stopped reading newspapers in India, that it is ok to put such things in a newspaper. Or is it that you are giving them Sex Education through your columns?

Media is supposed to be one of the pillars of democracy. All of us are aware how shaky one of the pillars, The Parliament, is. In such circumstances the Media should rise above and use its power to set things right in society. I guess I am overreacting or I am not so modern to understand these things. One thing that comes to my mind when I see the content of this newspaper is an incident in The Fountainhead. When Gail Wynand took over the Banner, he ran two stories seeking help from public. One was about an unwed mother to be and the other about a brilliant but struggling scientist. Donations poured in for the unwed mother to be but only a few cents came in for the struggling scientist. Gail Wynand shows the results of these campaigns to his staff and says that it should be clear to everybody what the policy of the Newspaper is going to be. Play to the masses! I guess that is what the motto has become for The Times of India.

If I were to compare the The Times of India to a Bollywood movie, I would say that it is like a Govinda - Karisma Kapoor masala movie which is intended to be an entertainer for the front benchers and is fully devoid of any kind of meaningful storyline or content! But is that what a national newspaper is to be?

Festival of Champions

2005-06-13T20:30:00.000-07:00

The next best thing in Football to the FIFA World Cup! Fifteen days of football mela! Eight Champion Teams, the World Cup winner, Olympic Gold Medalist and champions of the six FIFA Confederations! Five world class newly built stadiums! The biggest names of World Football! It certainly ain't going to get bigger than this, atleast till World Cup 2006. This is the "Festival of Champions" the Fifth FIFA Confederations Cup". The battle begins on 15th June and the winner takes all in the Final on 29th June in Frankfurt, this tournament is billed as the curtain raiser to the main thing, the World Cup next year.

The line up for this tournament is quite formidable:

	Group A	Group B
	Argentina	Brazil
	Australia	Greece
	Germany	Japan
	Tunisia	Mexico

Though big European powerhouses are missing, yet with superstars like Ronaldiho, Crespo, Ballack and others this can surely be a feast for fans. The Action kicks off with Aregentina vs Tunisia and Germany vs Australia on Day 1. Happy viewing to everybody
Cherio

French Open : Mercury Rising

2005-06-03T02:55:00.000-07:00

There have been some great tennis matches that I have seen over the years. My favorite Men's Tennis match is Andre Aggasi vs Goran Ivanesevic 1992 Wimbeldon Final and Women's Tennis match is Monica Seles vs Steffi Graf, I don't remember the year, but it was French Open Final and the last set went to something 16-14. In both these matches my favorites were on the losing side. Last couple of years I have seen Carlos Moya take the honors beating the lovable Paradon Srichappan at the beautiful Nungambakkam Tennis Stadium. Another match that I remember having enjoyed a lot at the stadium was Leander Paes beating Wayne Ferrera at Jaipur in Davis Cup 1995. Somehow watching a Tennis match at the stadium is so much fun. This year the French Open has brought up two matches, which has raised my expectations of being able to see great tennis.

Roger Federer vs Rafael Nadal. The Picture that comes to my mind is that of Federer as a Matador and Nadal as a young bull battling it out in the arena, though geographically speaking Nadal should have been the Matador. Its going to be a battle of Style and Strength. Everybody is calling Nadal the young turk, but to be fare Federer is not old at all. He is all but 24 years old and aiming to become only the 6th man to grab a career grand slam. In contrast this is Nadal's (19 yrs) first French Open. Only the great Mats Wilander has won the French Open on his debut. Will Nadal be able to increase the tally of this list? I am talking as if this is the Final! But no this is the Semi-Final!! Lets wait and watch.

Sports is replete with stories that raise the adrenalin, and no story is more exciting than a victory where a comeback has been involved. No matter who wins, both these ladies would be winners! Justine Henin-Hardenne who spent most of last year on bed has a record of 23-1 this year. Nothing could be more special for her than to crown her comeback with a title at Roland Garros. Mary Pierce the French beauty will become the second olders woman to win a Grand Slam title if she beats Henin-Hardenne tomorrow. As I said earlier either ways both would have won irrespective of the result, but I am sure all of France would be praying that the crown goes to their country-woman.

The other match that has piqued my interest is the Mixed Doubles Final. That Leander has a chance of adding one more to India's tally of grand slams is of interest but what is more interesting is the 49 year old Navratilova attempts to add one more to her huge tally of Grand Slam titles. Beating the pair of Fabrice Santoro/Daniela Hantuchova is not going to be easy for them but then lets hope that we have an exciting match.

Lets hope that we have a great fare of Tennis over the weekend
Cherio

Internet Time

2005-06-01T23:30:00.000-07:00

My manager sits in Paris. So when he talks about anything to do with time it is always according to his timezone. For e.g the other day he said, let me have this query by this afternoon. It was 3.00 pm here and I first wondered its already afternoon, so when exactly does he want the query? Then I realized that it was still morning in Paris and I still had time to do the work. To know what time it is exactly in Paris I went to the site timeanddate.com. Thats where I came accross some thing very interesting. It seems there is a new way of describing time and it is called Internet Time. The unit of this system of time is not day,hour or second but something called as beats! Go through and make your opinion about this new time system

Internet Time

Internet Time is a "new" way to tell time, invented and marketed by the Swiss watch company Swatch. The current Internet Time is the same all over the World (no time zones or daylight saving time adjustments).

Theory

New time unit - the .beat
Instead of dividing the virtual and real day into 24 hours and 60 minutes per hour, the Internet Time system divides the day into 1000 ".beats". Each .beat is 1 minute and 26.4 seconds.

New meridian Internet Time is based on a new Meridian (as opposed to the Greenwich Meridian). This new Meridian goes through Swatch's office in Biel, Switzerland and is called the BMT Meridian.

BMT - the reference for Internet Time
BMT, another invention of Swatch, Biel Mean Time, which is linked up to the Central European Winter/Standard time - which is UTC + 1 hour. When it is Midnight in BMT, the Internet Time is @000 beats, Noon is @500 beats.

Time unit conversions

Beat	Unit Conversion	Unit	Beat Conversion
1 .beat	= 0.001 day	1 day	= 1000 .beats
1 .beat	= 0.024 hours	1 hour	= 41.666 .beats
1 .beat	= 1.44 minutes	1 minute	= 0.6944 .beats
1 .beat	= 86.4 seconds	1 second	= 0.01157 .beats

Advantages of the Internet Time system

It uses the normal decimal system, instead of the ancient 24 hour, 60 minute, 60 second system which makes time telling more complicated.
.beat time calculations are easy, @345 + 456 .beats = @801, compared to e.g. 3:45:20 + 2 hours, 25 minutes, 45 seconds, where the seconds, minutes and hours must all be added.
No need for time zone conversions - the Internet Time is the same everywhere.

Disadvantages of the Internet Time system

The use of the Biel Meridian introduces an unwanted additional Meridian - the Greenwich Meridian is the standard Meridian of the world.
Wrong use of mean time - The Biel Meridian is not at exactly 15 degrees east longitude, which it should have been if the BMT (Biel Mean Time) should be 1 hour ahead of UTC / GMT (Greenwich Mean Time)
The second, and not the beat is the basic unit of time in the International System of Units (and using .beats instead, would complicate the system).

So whats your take on this? I guess this would never become the standard time unless we reach an age where one can reach from Chennai to California in a blink of an eye! Otherwise it is a wonderful out of the box thinking by the guys at Swatch to come out with something like this!
Cherio

French Open on the Net

2005-05-31T21:45:00.000-07:00

Whenever a cricket match is going on, especially if India is playing, then most of our PC's have atleast one window open which has the Scorecard on display. Does that affect our productivity? Well that is something debatable, depending on what position you work on! Yesterday during lunch when I was checking my mails and surfing, I remembered that French Open is in progress and I suddenly had a desire to check whats happening at the Roland Garros. www.frenchopen.org was the site I typed in the browser and it redirected me to Rolandgarros.com. Interesting! That is the word I would use to describe my experience on this site. With a color that gives you a feel of clay and features that make you stay on the site and explore more and more, visiting the site wants you to come back for more. Some of the features that impressed me a lot were the Online Scorecard, Virtual Tour of Roland Garros and The IBM Multimedia Console.

Yesterday was a bad day for Indians at the French Open. Both Mahesh Bhupati and Leander Paes lost their respective matches. The only Indian Challenge left is Leander in Mixed Doubles with the great Martina Navratilova. The women's singles had couple of interesting results. The 10th seeded Justine Henin-Hardenne ousting 2nd seeded Maria Sharapova and the French woman Mary Pierce beating top seeded Davenport. It would be nice to see these two ladies battling it out in the Final. Very much possible! In my opinion the match of the Tournament is going to be Mens 1st semi-final between World No 1 Roger Federe and the 18 year old Spaniard Rafael Nadal who is storming the Clay circuit. Ideally this should have been the final. Though I like Federer a lot I would want to see Nadal go through to the final and win the championship. Lets see!!
Cherio

Natalie Glebova - Miss Universe 2005

2005-05-30T21:20:00.000-07:00

Natalie Glebova, Miss Universe 2005. This 23 year old blue eyed beauty has been crowned as Miss Universe 2005 over contestants from 80 other countries. Answering "Always Remaining Optimistic" as the biggest challenge in life, Natalie will now embark on a year long journey to different parts of the world as the Official Miss Universe.

The 54th Miss Universe pageant was held in Bangkok, Thailand. Marked by various controversies the successful completion of the event is not just good for Tourism in Thailand, but the entire Tsunami hit South-East Asia. The region has to now leave the disaster behind and now concentrate on rehabilitation and development of these areas. The message by Jennifer Hawkins, Miss Universe 2004, regarding the tsunami relief work was a step in the right direction. Lets hope that this event brings into focus the beauty of South-East Asia as a whole and reinvigorates the Tsunami relief work.

2 Nuts and a few loose Screws

2005-05-26T21:41:00.000-07:00

The following is an account of a trip that me and my best friend Nirmal took, which resulted in one helluva adventure. Well before I begin the travelogue a couple of lines about Nirmal. Normal is Boring This is what holds true for Nirmal. Being serious about anything is a Crime! Laughs a minute is what you get when you are with Nirmal. I guess this basically sums up Nirmal, a great guy, who lives life to the fullest and has a unique ability to make you feel special. I was in Mohali for the weekend. Our Trip began on Sunday morning and ended on Monday evening. The log here is of Sunday.

22nd May, 8:45am, Mohali, The Confusion
It was a surprise that we were both awake at this time, considering the fact that we had gone to sleep at 1.30am. The previous night we were thinking about what to do and in the morning we had a hazy idea that we were thinking of going to Kasauli for the day.

Kasauli, situated 55 k.m. approx from Chandigarh, at 1927 meters is a quaint little town that seems to exists in a time wrap in an era that reminds one of the 19th century. Its colonial ambiance is reinforced by cobbled paths, quaint shops, gabled houses with charming facades and scores of neat little gardens and orchards. Kasauli is surrounded by a mixed forest of chir-pine, Himalyan oak and huge horse-chestnuts. Its narrow roads lither up and down the hillsides and offer some magnificent vistas.
Information as per himachaltourism.nic.in

Now the plan was to start somewhere around 9.30am. Reach Kasauli by 12.00pm, have lunch, trek around and be back by evening. "We will come back and cook dinner, save some money", was what Nirmal said.

22nd May, 9:45am, Mohali, The Start
Journey begins. Mode of transportation : Pulsar. Called City Beautiful, Chandigarh is no doubt the most planned city that I have seen. Broad roads, organised traffic and lot of trees on roadsides, offered good drive out of the city. Cruising at a comfortable speed we were soon out of Chandigarh, crossed Panchkula and reached Kalka. Beyond Kalka the climb starts. The weather had become pleasant, and the traffic was also thinning. A quick stop for a glass of Sugarcane juice and off we started again.

22nd May, 10:30am, Kalka, The Decision
I am a great admirer of Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Among the achievements of the NDA government the one that I feel has directly affected all of us is the Golden Quadrilateral project. The National Highways have definitely become a lot better than they used to be. The other good thing is putting of boards indicating distances and directions to various places. It was on one such board that we saw Shimla 96kms. I read it out loud and I knew both of us were thinking the same thing when this fellow said, "Shall We!". The decision was made. Kasauli was off and Shimla was On. With a war cry of "YeeeeHaaaaaaaa!" he gunned the bike forward. After about 15 mins the practicality of our decision struck us. That we were going to Shimla and not Kasauli meant that we were not coming back that night. We were not prepared for an overnight stay. No change of clothes! One great thing about living in this age is "Plastic Money". As long as you have your cards (Debit/Credit), there is always an ATM around. On seeing the first ATM after our decision, we made a stop and withdrew some money. Next stop a garment shop. We bought T-Shirts and Windcheaters. It was only when I was paying the bill that I realised that we were very serious about our trip. Oh the fallacy of on the spur Decisions!! Or is it ??

22nd May, 11:15am, Kalka, Shimla Here we Come!
With a renewed energy and eagerness the journey continued. Both of us are good at quite a few things (I know this shows that modesty is not one of them) , but singing is not a talent in either of our resume. But when your friend is singing, even if it sounds awful, you still enjoy it. Feeling like Viru and Jay of Sholay, riding the bike, we too started screaming (that's not a mistake, our singing was more like screaming) Yeh Dosti Hum Nahi Bhulenge...... Trading places every half an hour, our journey was slow and steady and very very enjoyable. I was driving at this point of time and we entered a town called Dharampur. We hadn't had anything in the morning, so we decided to stop somewhere and grab a bite. That's when I saw it!!!

22nd May, 12:30pm, Dharampur, Mocha or Latte?
Its a coincidence that my previous has been about my visit to Cafe Coffee Day. I was surprised to see a CCD here in this quaint little town. Without giving a second thought, I crossed the road and stopped the bike. Now this was going to be interesting. Hats off to guys of CCD to select such a picturesque location. Comfy sofa, Bryan Adams song playing and windows on three sides from which you see mountains and a valley, coffee never tasted better. Apart from a coffee pub on The Mall Darjeeling, this was the most exotic location that I had coffee. Relaxed and refreshed the pleasure trip resumed.

22nd May, 3:15pm, approx 5Kms from Shimla, The disappointment
The drive had been very pleasant, with lot of 2-5 mins stops to enjoy the scenery. As we had no plans of coming to Shimla in the first place, we had not bothered to pick up a camera. But as Nirmal said, "Keep these moments in your heart, they will last longer than a picture", we savored every moment. Shimla is actually visible from quite a far. What we saw did not appeal to either of us. Cluttered and crowded with lots of vehicles, it was not what we wanted. Both of us were brooding over this unexpected turn of event, we came across Himachal Tourism Information Office. Turning back was out of question and not in our nature. So what was left was to explore what laid ahead. For a change we came across a government official who was helpful. When we told him our predicament, he gave quite a few alternatives, places near to Shimla yet not very crowded. Among the places that he told us about, the one that appealed to us most was Fagu.

At a height of 2450 mtrs above Sea Level, Fagu is located 22kms from Shimla on Hindustan-Tibet Road. It has enchanting views of the Himalayas and offers a stay of solace and sojourn.

Taking a road map and information about the Himachal Tourism Hotel at Fagu, we made up our mind that 22 more kms were a piece of cake. We had one work in Shimla, to draw some money from an ATM, having been forewarned by the person at the Tourism office that phone connectivity is not so good at Fagu, our cards may not work there. On enquiring where the ATM was, one man told us its just above this particular junction! A typical hillstation direction. Above! Below!, not Beside, Ahead or Behind. Just Above turned out to be quite a climb. It took me exactly 15mins to reach the ATM. By the time I reached, I was huffing and puffing. Man am I out of Shape! With the monetary aspect taken care off, there was nothing else in Shimla that was holding us. A kick on the bike (A press of Ignition Switch to be more accurate) and off we were once again. The drive from Shimla to Fagu turned out to be a bit more steep than what we had encountered so far. Difficulties not withstanding, we went ahead. The weather had become pretty cold by this time and was time to use those newly purchased WindCheaters. Stopping intermediately, we reached Fagu at around 4.30 pm.

22nd May, 4:30pm, Fagu, The Problem
Reaching the Himachal Tourism Hotel at Fagu, we were very pleased. We had come almost 160 kms from Chandigarh in one piece and the Hotel was at a very pleasant location. Things going 100% perfect, now that must be happening only in Utopia! The lady at the receptions says, "Sorry Sir, We are full! You can come back tomorrow afternoon, there may be a room by then". Come back tomorrow afternoon!!! Where are we supposed to sleep tonight? On the mountains? Not that it was such a bad idea, but then we didn't want to push our luck anymore. So dejected, we came out of the hotel. We had seen boards of three hotels on our way. Two were located on top of a hill and one on the road. So we decided to try our luck in these hotels. Snow View Resort 1000 mtrs ahead, read one board. These 1000 mtrs turned out to be equivalent to around 3 kms on normal road. Winding up the mountain, this was the worst treatment that we had given to beloved Pulsar so far. When the Resort was still 400 mtrs ahead we came across a small tea shop. Stopping there we decided to have a cup of tea and get our bearings.

22nd May, 5:00pm, Fagu at height of 9000 ft, Trek 1
The tea shop was selling Maggie. We ordered two plates and it was the tastiest Maggiee that I have had. We asked the person as to how much would the room rates be in this Resort. When he told us that the starting rate is Rs 4000/- for a room, sleeping on the mountains became more of a possibility. There was a group of guys who were relaxing there. One of them heard of our conversation and approached. They were staying in Shimla and told us that we should drive back and stay in Shimla itself. Now this was not an option that we even wanted to think about and told him so. We had two more hotels to check, who knows one of them might fit in our range. These guys were about to trek for about an hour and then head back. He offered us to come along with them. Forgetting that we were yet to fix a place for the night, we took him up to his offer and joined the group. During the introductions, it turned out that they worked in a Gurgaon based company, in which I had couple of friends. The world is really a small place! The trek was absolutely breath-taking. I mean this both literally and figuratively. I was out of breath by doing the climbing! Finding a suitable place to rest and relax we took in our surroundings. Oh what a Wonderful World! The pine trees, the sun rays seeping in through the clouds and the forest, heaven must be a place like this! Though physically tired, mentally I was feeling very fresh. We climbed down back to the tea shop where our vehicles. These guys offered that they would check the remaining two hotels with us and if we didn't get an accommodation there we should drive back to Shimla with them. We finally got accommodation in the road side hotel. The room was nice with hot water and a balcony that opened to a view of terrace gardens. Incredible sight! Saying our goodbyes to the newly made friends, hastily ordering some food, we crashed on the beds.

22nd May, 7:30pm,Ras Resort Fagu, The Party
Woken by the waiter bringing our food, we refreshed a bit, had the food and went back to sleep. If you are thinking that our day had ended, as even I thought at that time, then think again. My sleep was disturbed by sound of Bhangra songs. I saw the time. It was 11:15 pm. I peaked out of the window and saw some kids dancing around a bornfire. Now I wasn't going to miss the chance of warming my toes over the bornfire. Waking my buddy, we went out to the verandah, where these kids were dancing and enjoying. Clapping our hands and shaking our legs to the tune of the music we warmed ourselves. Soon the kids who were on a school trip, went back in. Both of us sat beside the fire. It was a wonderful moment, I was able to think so clearly. There are certain things about which I am confused or not very sure, but sitting there I was able to logically reason them. Both of us shared our dreams and visions with each other. It was the best time of our trip.

The next day we woke up early and went on a trek again. After trekking till 10.30 am we came back to the hotel and started our trip back. The return trip back was equally exciting. This was a trip that bonded our friendship even more. This was a trip which made me mentally fresh and clear on certain things that had been on the back of my mind. As I didn't want that trip to end, so also I am in a dilema as to how to end this post. I guess the best way would be to reinstate the title, what the two Nuts , me and my friend did because of our few loose Screws :-)
Until Next Time
Cherio

Its not just Coffee!!

2005-05-16T21:47:00.000-07:00

Cafe Coffee Day! A place that I used to visit regularly in Chennai, provided many a pleasing and amusing moments. Barring a couple of times, the selection of Coffee among the varied assortments was done for me by a friend of mine with whom I used to visit the place. Knowing that the order anyway is to be placed by someone else, I never bothered to have a detailed look at the menu. The other day I went to CCD here with some guys. That was the first time I had a real look at the offerings of CCD. Man was I dumbfounded to see Coffee having so many names !! Whew the interest of having a coffee was slowly reducing trying to read menu items which required a dictionary to aid in pronounciation and meaning.

My thoughts went to an article by Dave Barry that I had read on coffee!! Here it is for your amusement.

DECAF POOPACINO HAPPENS

DAVE BARRY

I have exciting news for anybody who would like to pay a lot of money for coffee that has passed all the way through an animal's digestive tract.

And you just know there are plenty of people who would. Specialty coffees are very popular these days, attracting millions of consumers, every single one of whom is standing in line ahead of me whenever I go to the coffee place at the airport to grab a quick cup on my way to catch a plane. These consumers are always ordering mutant beverages with names like ''mocha-almond-honey-vinaigrette lattespressacino,'' beverages that must be made one at a time via a lengthy and complex process involving approximately one coffee bean, three quarts of dairy products and what appears to be a small nuclear reactor.

Meanwhile, back in the line, there is growing impatience among those of us who just want a plain old cup of coffee so that our brains will start working and we can remember what our full names are and why we are catching an airplane. We want to strike the lattespressacino people with our carry-on baggage and scream ''GET OUT OF OUR WAY, YOU TREND GEEKS, AND LET US HAVE OUR COFFEE!'' But of course we couldn't do anything that active until we've had our coffee.

It is inhumane, in my opinion, to force people who have a genuine medical need for coffee to wait in line behind people who apparently view it as some kind of recreational activity. I bet this kind of thing does not happen to heroin addicts. I bet that when serious heroin addicts go to purchase their heroin, they do not tolerate waiting in line while some dilettante in front of them orders a hazelnut smack-a-cino with cinnamon sprinkles.

The reason some of us need coffee is that it contains caffeine, which makes us alert. Of course it is very important to remember that caffeine is a drug, and, like any drug, it is a lot of fun.

No! Wait! What I meant to say is: Like any drug, caffeine can have serious side effects if we ingest too much. This fact was first noticed in ancient Egypt when a group of workers, who were supposed to be making a birdbath, began drinking Egyptian coffee, which is very strong, and wound up constructing the pyramids.

I myself developed the coffee habit in my early 20s, when, as a ''cub'' reporter for the Daily Local News in West Chester, Pa., I had to stay awake while writing phenomenally boring stories about municipal government. I got my coffee from a vending machine that also sold hot chocolate and chicken-noodle soup; all three liquids squirted out of a single tube, and they tasted pretty much the same. But I came to need that coffee, and even today I can do nothing useful before I've had several cups. (I can't do anything useful afterward , either; that's why I'm a columnist.)

But here's my point: This specialty-coffee craze has gone too far. I say this in light of a letter I got recently from alert reader Bo Bishop. He sent me an invitation he received from a local company to a ''private tasting of the highly prized Luwak coffee,'' which ''at $300 a pound . . . is one of the most expensive drinks in the world.'' The invitation states that this coffee is named for the luwak, a ''member of the weasel family'' that lives on the Island of Java and eats coffee berries; as the berries pass through the luwak, a ''natural fermentation'' takes place, and the berry seeds -- the coffee beans -- come out of the luwak intact. The beans are then gathered, washed, roasted and sold to coffee connoisseurs.

The invitation states: ''We wish to pass along this once in a lifetime opportunity to taste such a rarity.''

Or, as Bo Bishop put it: ''They're selling processed weasel doodoo for $300 a pound.''

I first thought this was a clever hoax designed to ridicule the coffee craze. Tragically, it is not. There really is a Luwak coffee. I know because I bought some from a specialty-coffee company in Atlanta. I paid $37.50 for two ounces of beans. I was expecting the beans to look exotic, considering where they'd been, but they looked like regular coffee beans. In fact, for a moment I was afraid that they were just regular beans, and that I was being ripped off.

Then I thought: What kind of world is this when you worry that people might be ripping you off by selling you coffee that was NOT pooped out by a weasel?

So anyway, I ground the beans up and brewed the coffee and drank some. You know how sometimes, when you're really skeptical about something, but then you finally try it, you discover that it's really good, way better than you would have thought possible? This is not the case with Luwak coffee. Luwak coffee, in my opinion, tastes like somebody washed a dead cat in it.

But I predict it's going to be popular anyway, because it's expensive. One of these days, the people in front of me at the airport coffee place are going to be ordering decaf poopacino. I'm thinking of switching to heroin.

A Lazy Sunday

2005-05-15T20:50:00.000-07:00

How do you spend a Sunday, when you have practically nothing to do? Ideally, if you are in a new place then exploring the place is what you should do. But if the mercury has touched 42 degrees at 11.00am itself, venturing outdoors can be suicidal. So your options are limited to doing something in your house (in my case in my room). But then what do I do? This was the dilemma that I was in yesterday. Somehow I have become an early riser. I get up at 5.30 itself and my morning chores are over at the most by 7.00. Breakfast was over by 8.00. Went for a head massage and was back by 9.30. A long day ahead with two companions, a novel which I intended to start reading and my Laptop.

One of the reasons for me to take this particular room was that there is a bathtub in the bathroom. But once I started living in this place I realized that the bathtub is pretty small for me. I guess it to be at the most four and half feet in length which is good enough for some one between 5'3" and 5'8". Myself being just a bit over 6', I would have a real difficult time adjusting in it. Once I realized this, everytime I looked at the tub, I felt a pang of jealousy. The other thought that kept me away from the tub was that having come from Chennai and seen the acute water shortage there, I felt a bit guilty using so much water! But yesterday I decided to throw caution to winds and venture out into an unchartered territory, a frontier that was as of then unconquered by me. I decided to use the bathtub. Once the mind is made up, nothing can stop the implementation. I filled up the tub, set up an assortment of songs ranging from my favorites like Brayan Adams, Chris de Burg to Aerosmith and Junoon on dear old winamp, took the novel and entered into the tub. It was a bit of a struggle fitting into it, but soon I was comfortable enough, I could relax and read the novel which was what I wanted.

O Jerusalem! by Larry Collins and Dominique Lapier is what I had to give me company. I am not really into such serious reading. The only serious reading that I do is Ayn Rand, which I do time and again. Everytime I read The Fountainhead or Atlas Shrugged I learn something new. Anyway this was my first Dominique Lapier. Having heard about City of Joy and Freedom at Midnight by the same author, I knew this was yet another unchartered territory for myself. O Jerusalem ! is a novel about Jews, their two thousand year struggle to get an Identity, to get a state of their own. It is the story of Jerusalem the City of Peace! A bibilical city which has seen birth of three religions from its soils. A city torn by war and bloodshed from time immemorial. It details the cirumstances in which the State of Israel was formed and the bloody aftermath that followed and is still following.

My only contact with Israelis, or Jews for that matter was in 1994-95. I was in Jaipur. There was some pact signed between the Indian and Israeli governments. To promote more people to people contact between the two nations, two Israeli students had been invited to tour various schools of India. They had come to our school too, and I was one among the few who were selected to interact with them. Their group consisted of a girl who was in her 12th grade and a boy who was in his 11th grade. There are a couple of things that they told that I still remember very clearly. In Israel people stay in places called Kibutz. A kibutz is a self-contained communal village. All activities in a Kibutz are community oriented, for eg there is community farming. The children above 5 years of age in a kibutz do not stay with their parents but in a common house run by the school. Schooling there is free upto 12th grade and compulsory upto 10th grade. Three years of military service after his school is compulsory for every boy and two years for every girl. They showed us a video of their Kibutz, and it was pretty impressive.

All this while I knew that Israel was created out of the erstwhile Palestine in 1947. It was a home for Jewish immigrants from all over the world post the holocaust. But did the Jews come to Jerusalem and its surrounding areas only after World War II? How did they establish themselves there? What is the official recognition for the State of Israel? All these were questions which I had not even thought about! Having started reading this book I realized that Israel was not created by a swish of a magic wand! Infact the Jews had started coming to Palestine right after World War I itself. Slowly the Jewish population started increasing and so also the movement to have a separate Jewish State gathered momentum. The state of Israel was created out of a UN resolution which partitioned Palestine into Israel and Palestine. What followed this vote was a blood bath which is continuing till today! Surrounded by Arab nations on all sides, the Israelis have fought many a battles, to ensure their survival.

The pace and the content of the book was so engrossing that I did not realize that I had spent three hours in the bathtub. It was only when a friend living in the next room started banging my door, asking me to join for lunch, that I realized so much time had passed. Well I haven't finished reading the book, but in whatsoever I have read so far, I can without hesitation say that if History is your cup of tea, if you want to read about the struggle of a race to establish their identity, then this is one book that you cannot afford to miss. I will surely write more about this once I have finished reading it.

Wish you all a great week ahead!
Cherio!!

Paraskevidekatriaphobia

2005-05-12T20:45:00.000-07:00

Are you spooked today? If you are then you have Paraskevidekatriaphobia !! The fear of Friday the 13th. Whew! I never would have imagined that there is a word in the dictionary for this. The superstition that a Friday on the 13th day of a month is not a good sign is actually widepread and it dates back to ancient times. In America, it is the most widespread superstition. People do not drive, won't eat in restaurants, no important function like wedding or starting something new on a Friday if it happens to be the 13th. And I thought only us Indians had such superstitions!

A Friday occurring on the 13th day of any month is considered to be a day of bad luck in many superstitions. The fear of Friday the 13th is called paraskavedekatriaphobia or paraskevidekatriaphobia, a specialized form of triskaidekaphobia, a phobia (fear) of the number thirteen.

The origins of the Friday the 13th superstition has been linked to the fact there were 13 people at the last supper of Jesus, who was traditionally crucified on Good Friday, but it probably originated only in medieval times. Another suggestion is that the belief originated in a Norse myth about twelve gods having a feast in Valhalla. The mischievous Loki gatecrashed the party as an uninvited 13th guest and arranged for Hod, the blind god of darkness, to shoot Baldur, the god of joy and gladness, with a mistletoe-tipped arrow. Baldur was killed and the Earth was plunged into darkness and mourning as a result. Yet another belief is that the arrest of Jaques de Molay, Grand Master of the Knights Templar, and 60 of his senior knights on Friday, October 13, 1307 by King Philip IV of France is the origin of this superstition. That day thousands of Templars were arrested and subsequently tortured. They then 'confessed' and were executed. From that day on, Friday the 13th was considered by followers of the Templars as an evil and unlucky day.

Here in Delhi too I have come across couple of guys who were talking about being careful today. On my saying that it was just a superstition, they justified by quoting the tragic incidence of the Upahaar Cinema fire. It was a Friday the 13th in 1997 when a fire engulfed Uphaar cinema hall in Delhi, in which around 59 people lost their lives. I remember there used to be a Trojan which used to affect computers if the date happened to be Friday the 13th. Atleast that is what I remember having read somewhere. Well atleast is perfectly believable. So the first thing I did today on logging on to the office network was to disable the anti-virus of my machine, in hope that my machine would get concked off and I wouldn't have to work today! Alas nothing happened! As you can see its still working fine and I am getting back to my work.

Well I didn't know that some guys who actually wait for my post. Thanks Kalbums, yes I will definitely post more regularly and Naresh I am working on that Animal Adventure.

Cherio

That Four Letter Word!!!

2005-05-02T00:30:00.000-07:00

That Four Letter Word!. What word to your mind if you think of That Four Letter Word. Hmmm!! Anyways That Four Letter Word that I am talking about is a movie that is being made by journalist/film-maker Sudish Kamath. The movie is about a bunch of friends who are in the process of discovering themselves. I am not going to write more about the movie cause I want you to see the TFLW blog yourself and find out what Four Letter Word are these guys talking about.

The main reason I am excited about this project is because my good friend 'Evam' Sunil is acting in this movie. I wish Sunil and every body else involved all the very best and I hope that the project is successful. I am putting some pictures of the TFLW photo shoot here without Sudish's permission, but somehow I feel he won't mind if he comes to know about it.

Pictures ctsy: That Four Letter Word : Blog. Visit the blog for complete Photo Shoot.

Hey Sunil, you were rocking in all the Evam productions and I am sure you will keep rocking in every other venture of yours. Guys don't forget to catch this movie cause knowing Sunil (and Praveen), and having seen Cray on SS Music I am sure that we are in for a joyride.

Cherio

The World outside my Window

2005-04-28T21:00:00.000-07:00

I guess I am really lucky to have such a picturesque view outside my office window! With the venetian blinds on none of us realised that we were missing out a pure and unadultrated joy of a beautiful sight. Now whenever I feel stressed at work all I need to do is to look out of the window!

Cherio!

Largest Metal Bird in the Sky

2005-04-27T21:00:00.000-07:00

History was created yesterday during the first test flight of Airbus A380. The A380's take-off weight, at 421 tonnes, was the greatest take-off weight of any aircraft in the world. Boasting of superior technology than any other passenger aircraft the A380 promises to bring about a revoultion in Long Range Flights. Describing the First Flight Test to be a comprehensive success Noël Forgeard, Airbus president and CEO, said he and Charles Champion, executive vice president for the A380 programme, were “extremely proud of everyone who made this happen”. A true double deck airline the A380 is like a cruise ship of the sky! A result of absolutely marvelous engineering the A380 has given the Europeans a truly big leap and paved the way into the future. With already lots of deals signed up with customers accross the globe for both passenger and cargo versions, the A380 should hit the markets by early 2006.

Hats off to A380 team! Hope to fly one of these monsters Soon!!
Cherio

Ad Sense

2005-04-21T05:30:00.000-07:00

I am What I am.

Walking back home from office I came across this big sign board having the Reebok Ad which made me stop and think. The ad-maker achieved his objective. Will I buy a Reebok (or Rbk as it is called now) next time I need sneakers or not is a question that I can't answer but then the Ad was powerful enough to make me contemplate and remember the brand.

During my B.Com days I had come across a book "Marketing in the New millennium by Philip Kotler". It is by far the only study book that I really enjoyed and never felt that I was studying whenever I was reading it. It contained many case studies and anecdotes about both successful and unsuccessful marketing campaigns. That Ads are a very powerful medium of reaching out to the audience is a foregone conclusion. But then you have all different types of Ads, some really good, sensitive and caring, some funny to the core, some with a message and some thrilling.

Which type of Ad is most effective? Now this is a million dollar question and I am sure lots of Thesis must have been written on this! It may depend on the product or the target audience or hundred other things. But which Ads have you liked the most? Recently I got a CD full of foreign Ads from my Friend Keerthi. Most of them were really good. Among the Indian Ads my favorite (and I guess one of the Longest running Ad campaigns) is that of Amul Butter. If you have the time check out the Amul Butter Girl Story and also various Amul Butter Girl Ads. Another Ad campaign that has always brought laughter has been the Fevicol Ads. Sticking to a simple theme relating to a common man its really strikes you and I guess Fevicol is now synonym with glue. Another Ad campaign which has always made me sway and humm to its tune has been the Cadbury Ads.

The other cool thing about some nice ads is their catch lines. Power is Nothing without Control - Firelli. Philips - Sense and Simplicity . I am sure a lot of thought and effort goes into creating such catch lines.

The most exorbitant Ad campaigns are most certainly by the cola giants. Barring a few I find most of them utterly senseless and preposterous. I guess even if 1/10th of the expenditure of the Ads of the Soft Drink companies was diverted towards development works we would have a lot of Development.....

Anyways do share with me your favorite Ad...
Until next Post...
Cherio

[photos ctsy: Reebok.com and Amul.com ]

In Search of Malgudi

2005-04-17T23:30:00.000-07:00

Hello Friends...
The only thing that is constant is Change. And there has been a change for me too. I am now posted in Gurgaon for some time. Right now I am going through the process of searching for a place to stay. Well this place is certainly different from Chennai. The other day I was reflecting on my days spent in Chennai...Close to five fruitful years in Chennai. My first job! Though I haven't left Chennai permanantly, but hey I can still feel nostalgic about my time in Chennai.

I don't know how appropriate my thought was, but on landing in Chennai (I had come to Chennai after spending two wonderful years in Assam), the thought in my mind was "Will I find a Malgudi here?". Now let me explain. I know Malgudi does not exist. It is a mythical village created by R.K.Narayanan. What I was searching for was the essence of Malgudi. There are certain things that Malgudi and the people of Malgudi signified. Firstly the people depicted were a close knit group which had very strong roots but at the same time were forward looking. The embracing of newer things was a part and parcel of things at Malgudi. The other aspect that appealed to me was the simple thinking of the people and their god fearing nature. This is what I was looking for in Chennai and the people of Chennai.

And did I find them? Was my search for Malgudi successful in Chennai? Well don't be shocked if I say that Chennai is all that Malgudi signifies. At least the people that I came in contact with signified all these things. In my quest for knowledge I found an able mentor who was able to not just guide me in my learning but also motivate me to go beyond what I thought were my limits. I found a friend who always went out of his way to help me. I was really lucky to have had a group which was very forward looking and goal oriented and at the same time had very strong roots and their feet on the ground. I am proud to have been associated with such great guys and I am sure this association will continue for a very long time.

Well Malgudi had its share of treachery and I too had a small share of treacherous and selfish people who tried to use me or take me for a ride. But then my stay would have been Utopian without them and as we all know Utopia does not exist. I don't hold anything against them.

Well so for some time its bye bye Chennai and Hello Gurgaon (Delhi). I hope that this land of Guru Dronacharya (that's why its named Gurgaon) blesses me in a manner that Chennai blessed me with. So folks more postings soon.......
A Belated Happy New Year to all my Tamil Friends and Happy Bihu to my Assamesse Friends....
Cherio

2005 - World Year of Physics

2005-04-06T05:09:00.000-07:00

Every student must have had a love-hate relationship with Physics! Sometimes cool, some theories too tough to comprehend. I remember one of my classmate who was so passionate about physics. He used to be way ahead of all of us when Physics was concerned. As I reflect back Physics was much better for me than Chemistry or Biology. Anyways did you know that 2005 is being celebrated as the World Year of Physics. Read on to know more ....

Why is 2005 being celebrated as World Year of Physics? The reason is that 2005 is the 100th Anniversary of Albert Einstien's "Miraculous Year", the year in which Einstein wrote his legendary articles which provided the basis of three fundamental fields in physics: the theory of relativity, quantum theory and the theory of Brownian motion.

As the year 2005 marks the 100th anniversary of a series of great scientific advances made by Albert Einstein in 1905, the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP) at the suggestion of the European Physical Society, declared in its 2002 General Assembly resolution that the year 2005 should be commemorated as the World Year of Physics 2005. The activities have begun in January itself and will continue throughout the year. There are a wide range of seminars and competitions organised in India too. Click on the logo above to visit the official website. Who knows by attending some activity a hidden physicist may come out of you.......

Is It Sonia Effect?

2005-04-03T23:30:00.000-07:00

Pope John Paul the II, was the pontiff for 26 years. Same as my age! Leaders across the world have sent their condolence messages and it is really sad that a man who represented peace in this era had passed away.

Two news items in today's newspaper caught my attention and made me think. Item one the problem of Prince Charles' marriage on coming Friday clashing with Funeral of the Pope. Now that is a real problem for Charles. After so many years he is finally going to marry Camilla Parker and divine intervention has put a spanner into that! Well let him get married, poor fellow has been waiting desperately for so many years for official sanction for his relationship with Camilla Parker.

The other news item is that India is in state mourning for the next three days out of respect for His Holiness the Pope. I wonder in which capacity of the Pope, has this state mourning been announced? Is it in the capacity of the Head of the Vatican? But then we don't have state mourning for death of the Head of States of other countries. We didn't do any such thing when President Kennedy was assassinated nor any other prominent Head of State. Is it in the capacity of The Pope being the Leader of more than a billion Roman Catholics. Well here again there is no precedent. And if this is to set precedence then in India will the government declare State Mourning at the time of death of every religious leader irrespective of the religion. I don't think so. Then why for Pope John Paul II ? Is it the Remote Control that is operating the Indian Government which has pressed a button to cause this effect? Seems very likely, doesn't it?

Well if things continue as they are currently in Indian Politics, then I think very soon we will be having holidays as per Italian holiday calendar!

The Buffalo Theory (Perfect Logic)

2005-03-31T21:35:00.000-08:00

I am sure some of you have already read this theory. If you have then give it one more read and have a silent laugh. If you haven’t I guess you are about to be enlightened.

In one of the episodes of ‘Cheers’, Cliff is seated at the bar describing the Buffalo Theory to his buddy, Norm. This is one of the most logical explanations that I have ever seen.

“Well you see Norm, it’s like this… A herd of buffalo can only move as fast as the slowest buffalo. And when the herd is hunted it is the slowest and the weakest ones that are at the back are killed first. This natural selection is good for the herd as a whole, because the general speed and health of the whole group keeps improving by the regular killing of the weakest members.

In much the same way, the human brain can operate as fast as the slowest brain cells. Now, as we know, excessive intake of alcohol kills brain cells. But naturally, it attacks the slowest and weakest brain cells first. In this way, regular consumption of beer eliminates the weaker brain cells, making the brain a faster and more efficient machine. And that, Norm, is why you always feel smarter after a few beers.”

That my dear friends is the Buffalo Theory…..

GOOGLE DOODLES

2005-03-30T20:00:00.000-08:00

The search engine Google has become an eternal part of most surfers. Almost every week there is something new at Google. So much is written about the features of Google, be it tricks to be used to make search faster or certain keywords that you can use to make the search easier. GMail, Froogle, Picasa, News all very handy tools to make sense of a jamboree that is the Internet.

Something very interesting is the fact that the Google logo keeps changing on specific days signifying the importance of the particular day. Can you recollect a few of them! I was able to recollect the one they had put during "Athens Olympics", the recent "World Water Day", "Korean Independence Day" (which coincides with our independence day) and a couple of more. If you wish to see these google faces (doodles as google calls them) once more click on the google logo below.

And if you wish to know more about the man who doodles with Google then click here.

Share with me your favourite Google Face.
Cherio

The Man, The Machine and a Broken Dream

2005-03-27T07:00:00.000-08:00

I saw "The Aviator", the story of Howard Huges the Billionaire who had a dream to make big movies and make great planes. A man who inspite of all the roadblocks placed in front of him went on to achieve his dreams. The movie winning oscars proved its technical brilliance. While seeing the movie I was reminded of another great an inventor, a visionary, a rebel and a hero who failed to realize his dream, a dream to build a "car of the future", or did he ! Read on and then make your verdict! Did he fail or in his failure there was a victory! This is the story of an American Car maker Preston Tucker who gave what the Americans wanted "the car of tomorrow today!". A near accurate movie had been made on Tucker's life "Tucker The Man and His Dream" by Francis Ford Coppola.

Preston Thomas Tucker born on September 21 1903 in Capac, Michigan, Tucker was the designer of the innovative Tucker '48. His vision was to create the "car of the future," sporting features such as safety glass, seat belts, a third headlight which turned as the driver turned the steering wheel, and an engine in the rear of the vehicle. Tucker spent his childhood around mechanics' garages and used car lots. He worked as an office boy at Cadillac, a policeman in Lincoln Park, and even worked for a time at Ford Motor Company. After attending Cass Technical School in Detroit, Tucker turned to salesmanship, first for Studebaker, then Stutz, Chrysler, and finally as regional manager for Pierce-Arrow.

During World War II, all production efforts were for the army. None of the companies built any new models. Tucker built a light armour vehicle for the army. The army rejected the bullet proof vehicle on the basis that it was too fast. But his innovative ideas were appreciated by everybody. It was post-war when the market was more open, people were willing to buy and wanting something new, that Tucker felt that it was the right time to realise his dream, a dream that would also be loved by the American public. He formed the Tucker Corporation in 1946 to manufacture his dream car. Unlike Howard Hughes who had a lot of money of his own, Tucker did not have any. To realise his dream he needed money. He wanted to buy a plant, where he could build his cars. He set his eyes on an old Dodge plant in chicago which used to build engines for the B-29 during WWII. The War Assets Administration leased the plant to Tucker provided he could raise $15 million by March 1, following year. It was a herculean task for the cash-stripped Tucker Corporation. But Tucker was a salesman at heart and he believed that he could sell his dream to the American public and thus raise the capital. He hired a famous car designer Alex Tremulis, an award winning car designer, to design the Tucker Torpedo and he himself set out to raise the capital.

Tucker devised an innovative scheme to raise the capital. He went on a marketing blitzkerg across the country, showing posters, telling people what his car was going to be. He talked about the advanced features about the car, the innovative design, the rear engines and the revolutionary safety features. Having a very charismatic Persona, Tucker won hearts and minds whereever he went. He was soon able to sell dealer franchises and raise a capital of $6 million. All this without even having a prototype of the car. This attracted the attention of the Big Three car makers, Ford , Chrysler and GM who felt threatened by the new innovations that Tucker promised. Tucker's manner of raising capital also attracted the attention for the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC), a federal government agency. The SEC set up an investigation into the sale of franchises made by Tucker. As the work on Tucker Torpedo was about to begin, Tucker faced another obstacle. Wilson Wyatt, head of the National Housing Agency, ordered the WAA to cancel Tucker's lease and turn the plant over to the Lustron Corporation to build pre-fab houses. Tucker was caught up between a bureaucratic struggle between the WAA and the National Housing Agency. Meanwhile troubles with the prototype were brewing up. The company did not have adequate money to afford clay to build the prototypes. So they built the prototypes by beating steal, something which was totally unheard off.

The SEC later caused costly delays in approving the initial Tucker stock offering. By selling stock in Tucker Corporation to the public, Tucker was inviting them to join his enterprise, to become part-owners and accept the risk of ownership--by sharing the profits of success, or the losses of failure. Funds raised from dealership and stock sales provided the money to design and build the first Tucker'48s. But the SEC never stopped its harassment of Preston Tucker. The established auto industry didn't want new competition, and their "Senator from Detroit," Homer Ferguson, led the battle to crush Tucker Corporation. Further energizing the investigation of Tucker was SEC Commissioner Harry McDonald, also from Detroit. Regional SEC Chief Thomas B. Han apparently hated Tucker, and was relentless in his efforts to bring him down. The SEC may have spent more money investigating the Tucker Corporation than the Tucker Corporation spent designing and building the "car of the future."

The Tucker '48 (Tucker Torpedo renamed) premiered June 19, 1947 in the Tucker plant before the press, dealers, distributors and brokers. The prototype was so hastily build, that it was plagued with problems. It failed to start and there was a small fire. All this happened behind the curtains while Tucker was speaking to the public. When Tucker came to know about this, he went on speaking and also called upon other eminent personalities to speak. At the same time he told his associates that the premire of Tucker '48 would not be put off. They worked hastily to make the car ready for display. Though many features in the Tucker '48 shown to public were stripped down from the original specifications, it still stole the hearts of the public. It was very close to what the public expected and wanted. It was now time to go into mass production.

But that required money, something which Tucker still did not have. By 1948, Tucker had a pilot production line set up but his stock issue had been $5 million short and he again needed immediate money. He began a pre-purchase plan for Tucker automobile accessories such as radios and seat covers. Although he raised $2 million, advanced payment on accessories to a car not yet in production was the final straw for the SEC. On May 28, 1948, the SEC and the Justice Department launched a full-scale investigation. Investigators swarmed the plant and Tucker was forced to stop production and lay-off 1600 workers. Receivership and bankruptcy suits piled up, creditors bolted and stock plunged. The SEC's case had to show that the Tucker car could not be built, or if built, would not perform as advertised. But Tucker was building cars. Seven Tuckers performed beautifully at speed trials in Indianapolis that November, consistently making 90 mph lap speed. However after Thanksgiving, a skeletal crew of workers assembled the remaining 50 cars the company would ever produce. In January 1949, the plant closed and the company was put under trusteeship.

On June 10, Tucker and seven of his associates faced a Grand Jury indictment on 31 counts - 25 for mail fraud, 5 for SEC regulation violation, and one on conspiracy to defraud. The trial opened on October 5, 1949 and from the beginning the prosecution based its entire case on the "Tin Goose" prototype. It refused to recognize the 50 production cars and called witness after witness who, under cross-examination, ended up hurting the government's case. In the end, Tucker's defense team merely stated that the government had failed to prove any offense so there was nothing to defend. On January 22, the jury found the defendants innocent of any attempt to defraud, but the verdict was a small triumph. The company was already lost. The remaining assets and the Tucker automobiles were sold at a piecemeal rate.

Incredebily in 1951, Tucker started again. he went to Brazil to seek backing for another new car. With the new project almost underway, he was diagnosed with lung cancer. He died December 26, 1956.

Out of the 51 Tucker's ever producecd incredibly, 47 of them are still in working condition. They are spread across the US in different Car museums and some are under personal ownership. Many of the innovative features of the Tucker '48 later went on to become industry standards. In the endevours of Tucker there is a very strong message for all of us. An Idea is the seed of anything revolutionary, a dream is a precursor to an achievement. It is not always that in pursuance of a dream, things will be easy or that every innovator will always win. But what is important is the willingness to pursue the dream without being bogged down by the roadblocks and without being bothered about the result.

Until next week
Cherio

Atomic Spy

2005-03-20T05:00:00.000-08:00

The Manhattan Project is what brought the world into nuclear age. July 15th 1945 when the first Atomic Bomb was tested, was a bitter sweet moment for the science community. They had unleashed the power of an Atom. The possibilities were limitless. But how it was intended to be used and the further possibilities of creating even more powerful and deadlier weapons of destruction was the cause of concern. Robert J Oppenheimer, the Scientific Director of Manhattan Project, said in a sober voice just after the Test, "I have become Death; the destroyer of worlds."

The subsequent decision to use Nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the consequences there-of are one of the most horrific incidences of our history. The ethics behind the usage of Atom Bombs have been debated and documented over the years. An off-shoot of Manhattan Project was the Nuclear race which fueled the Cold war. Therein lies the story of a spy, a spy like no other spy. KLAUS FUCHS.

Emil Julius Klaus Fuchs, born on December 29, 1911 in Germany, was an enigma. Son of a Lutheran priest, was brilliant in his studies right from childhood. He joined the German Socialist Party in his college days. In 1933 when Hitler's Nazi party came to power, Fuchs felt threatened and escaped to Paris. Sometime later he moved to Britain where he completed his Doctorate from the University of Bristol. He had developed into a brilliant physicist, but when Germany invaded France, all Germans in England were interned and sent to various prison camps. Fuchs was sent to Quebec Canada. Fuchs was able to survive this internship by reading the scientific papers of Heisenberg, Einstein and Bohr and smoking incesstantly on the cigarettes provided by his canadian captors. As suddenly as he was captured in 1940, his release was equally sudden in 1942. He was sent back to England where he was recruited by the University of Birmingham to carry out Atomic research.

Life was good in Birmingham. He was with friends. He returned to work on Theoretical Physics on a project which was named as "Tube Alloys". Though Fuchs was happy with his work and the people he worked with, one thing disturbed him. He could not digest the fact that the British, Americans and the Canadians shared information on the development of this new weapon but excluded its other ally the Soviet Union. He saw Communism as the salvation and the answer to all problems. Disturbed by this and with his inner pro-communist belief, he walked into the Russain Embassy offering to be a spy for the Soviet Union. The Soviets were more than happy to have him on board. He was told that he would be contacted soon. Klaus Fuchs' career as a spy had begun.

Klaus' first Soviet contact was an agent named Ursula who was referred to as the "Girl from Barnbury". In mid 1942 Klaus started meeting Ursula on a regualar basis. These meetings were in true espionage style, in bars or pubs for few minutes at the most. Klaus started passing information about his work, which was restricted information, at "Tube Alloys" to Ursula. In due course of time his contribution to the project started increasing and becoming more sensitive in nature. Also if Klaus had to make more contribution to the project he would have to have access to the classified materials. For this Klaus needed to be a British Citizen. Even though Klaus' stint with German Communist Party was known to everybody, nobody suspected him to be an active Communist. Hence Michael Perrin, the project director of Tube Alloys sponsored for citizenship for Klaus Fuchs. Thus Fuchs who was an active spy for the USSR was granted British Citizenship and was given access to all classified information.

The cooperation between American and British scientist over the Atom Bomb was on rise and it was in 1944 that British scientists were invited to USA to work on the Manhattan Project. Micheal Perrin, recognizing the intelligence and the contribution he could make to the project not only invited Klaus, but also vouched for his integrity. It was here that Klaus established contact with the famous courier Harry Gold aka Raymond. Years later when Klaus' treachery was discovered, Harry Gold's role in the entire spy ring and his importance astounded the Americans. Klaus never had a very good working relationship with Raymond. He considered Raymond to be intellectually inferior and could not comfortably converse with him. But the information that Klaus passed on to Raymond was invaluable. As unlike with Ursula, where Klaus used to pass on information only about the work that he was doing, with Raymond Klaus provided specific information about building of the Atom bomb, the process of obtaining Uranium 235 and ultimately Plutonium from Uranium 238. This was invaluable information for the Soviets as they had huge quantities of U-238 but had no idea how to obtain U-235 from it.

There was a gap in their meetings as Fuchs and other scientists shifted to Los Alamos where the real work was going on. They were working on two types of bombs. The "Little Boy" which used Uranium - 235 , was dropped on Hiroshima and "Fat Man" which used Plutonium, was dropped on Nagasaki. A third bomb known as the "Gadget" was to be used for testing. It was here that Edward Teller proposed the idea of the Hydrogen Bomb referred as "The Super" at that time. Klaus thought the idea of "The Super" to be remote and far fetched. After the successful test of the Gadget, Scientists were slowly sent back. Klaus was also in the process of winding up his work and looking forward to go back to England. But before he went back, he had one very important job to finish. He had to meet Raymond!

He met Raymond for the last time on a bridge in Santa Fe. The information that he passed on here is believed to be the entire plans to build the "Fat Man" with his comments as to how certain processes could be done in a better way. On his return to England, Micheal Perrin started to build Los Alamos type of Laboratory at a place called Harwell so that the Nuclear Research could be carried forward. Klaus was made the Assistant Director of the project. The next three years went smoothly for Klaus. He still provided information to the Soviets, but this information was of not much importance. He slowly reduced his contacts with the Soviets and they in turn were no more interested in having Klaus in their ring of spies.

As early as in 1944 the Americans had intercepted coded messages sent by the Russian Embassy. But they were unable to decode these messages. It was only in 1949 that they were able to decode the messages. The result astounded everybody. The messages mentioned several damaging contents. They also mentioned a British Nuclear Scientist who was supplying information to the Soviets. The Americans immediatley alerted the MI6 about this and they in turn started observing Klaus. It was at this time that Klaus feeling somewhat disturbed, met William Skardon of MI5. Skardon was sure that Klaus was the British Nuclear Scientist mentioned in the intercepts made by the Americans. Skardon played pressure games with Klaus over several meetings threatening and coaxing him into admitting his guilt. It was in one such meeting in January 1950 that Klaus Fuchs admitted that he had been spying for the Soviets since 1942. He signed a confession acceptiong his guilt. Klaus Fuchs was brought on trial on 1st March 1950. His trial lasted for less than two hours. Klaus assumed that the punishment for his guilt would be death. But the British laws allowed only life-imprisonment as the maximum punishment. Klaus was sentenced to 14 years in prison.

Despite being sentenced to 14 years, Klaus was released in June 1959 for good behaviour. Within two days he left Britain for East Germany. Two days later, he became a citizen of the East German Republic. A month later, he was made assistant director of the Institute for Nuclear Physics near Dresden. Ten days later, he married an old friend from his Paris days, Greta Keilson. He settled into a quiet life of science and domesticity. He was honoured by the East German Republic. He was decorated with the Order of Karl Marx in 1979. Klaus Fuchs died in January 1988 at the age of 76 years.

The importance of the information passed by Klaus to the Soviets has been widely debated. Some feel that the information was not of much importance as the Soviets already had advanced knowledge on Nuclear Physics. Others believe that Klaus' information advanced Soviets achieving Nuclear Capability by atleast two years if not more. Still others believe that the information was invaluable for the Soviets without which their Nuclear Project was doomed. Though appaled by the effects of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs, Klaus believed that by passing the information, he had helped achieve a balance in the world. In doing so he ensured that never again would mankind use a Nuclear Weapon again...

The biggest irony of Manhattan Project is that some of the greatest physicts of our era be it Eienstien, Feynmaan, Niels Bhor etc. were all involved in creating of a weapon which led to the most horrific and destructive action - The bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki!

Until next week .... Cherio

Man a Heroic Being

2005-03-12T22:30:00.000-08:00

Last week my friend had put a post on his blog Avyukta which he ended by the following sentence: We are not who we think we are. We are what others think we are.

My beliefs and convictions do not allow me to digest this statement. I posted a reply stating my reservations about the statement. Subsequently we exchanged a very healthy and informative exchange of views to bring forth each one's perspective. The conversation has not yet ended and this post of mine is an attempt to clarify as to why I believe it is very dangerous to even think that one should live by the above statement. The title of this post, the plot and content revolves around "The FountainHead" a masterpiece by "Ayn Rand".

The essence of Ayn Rand's philosophy is the concept of Man as a Heroic Being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute.

The Fountainhead has four central characters through which Rand presents different types of men in society. These characters are:

Howard Roark - Man as he ought to be
Peter Keating - Who seeks greatness through approval of others
Ellsworth M Toohey - Who seeks to destroy greatness by glorifying mediocrity
Gail Wynand - Who could have been great, but comprised his virtues by selling his soul

Peter Keating who has had a great start to his career, by graduating top of his class from a premier architectural institute and landing a job in one of the top architectural firms, is always unsure about his actions and goal in life. In his childhood he wanted to be an artist, but he choose architecture because his mother considered it to be a more nobler profession. His rise in his firm is fast and very soon he becomes a partner in his firm. The rise in no way is because of his ability in his profession but his ability to be as people want him to be. He is a great manipulator, who deceives his colleagues. He uses flattery to win favors from his bosses. His chief concern is approval of others. He is willing to sell his beliefs at the drop of the hat to seek approval of others. He is a second hander who needs others to even think. He cannot even think for himself. He is easily manipulated by Ellsworth M Toohey. Ellsworth knows that he does not have it in himself to achieve greatness, to add something worthwhile to the society. So he seeks to destroy greatness itself. Through his column in a newspaper, he glorifies people like Peter Keating and other second handers. He wages a war against Howard Roark and Gail Wynand.

Howard Roark does not worry about what others think about him or his work. He does not seek approval or opinion of others, even his friends. It is not that he doesn't like people or enjoy their company. But he understands people and needs them only for the work they provide. He derives joy through his work and others opinion about his work does not matter to him. He befriends those people in whom he sees the same ideals by which he lives. He helps a young struggling sculptor Steven Mallory when he himself is in dire straits. When asked by another friend that how come he helps Steven, but refuses to accept any help from others, Howard explains that a sculptor does not require people to give him work. He can work for himself, but in contrast an architect needs others to give him work. He believes that by protecting Steven from self destruction, he is not doing charity but being very selfish because even he derives joy from Steven's work.

I have read "The Fountainhead" many times, but I still feel that I have a long way to go before I fully understand the philosophy of Ayn Rand. Moreover I believe that I should expierience my life and formulate my own views and ideals about my life. But one thing that I do understand is that I cannot live by anyone else's views, opinions and perspectives. People see me differently, for someone I may be a hero, someone may hate my guts, someone may think that I am the most useless person on planet earth. Does it make a difference, or change what I am. It does if I think about these things or am bothered by them, and therein lies the danger. I will not be me if I start doing things with others in mind. Does it mean that opinions and perspectives of others are meaningless for me? I am going to buy a CD-Writer soon. In my buying process I am going to ask my others who have owned a CD-Writer or used a CD-Writer about their opinion about the brand that they own. Taking these into account I will make my decision. But I am not going to ask others opinions in matters about my life or living.

Because we live in an open society and are being continiously seen by others, it is very easy to be self-conscious. People tend to live a guarded life because of this. At the end of the day nobody but yourself matters to you. Parents,relatives and even friends don't matter. If you can say to yourself with conviction that I have lived this day honestly by my ideals, you do not have to worry about anything else. To even have the consciousness that I am not what I am, but I am what others think I am, is very very dangerous. With this awareness your subconscious may make you do things differently. I may be a fool in someone else's eyes or a hero in someone else's eye. I don't care about either of them! I do not want to even be aware of them cause it may lead me to compromise what I am.

Around a year back, I attended a Seminar on Web Services by a speaker from IBM. He said that all softwares that were to be created have already been created and we are moving into an age of Integration. The future for software professionals lies only in integrating existing softwares. I was agast listening to this. To even think that nothing new will be developed is the lowest form of depravity. The human mind is too great to stop creating. Man is civilised not because we live in society but because the human mind is the most advanced and creative. It overcomes every hurdle. It seeks new challenges and frontiers and has the perseverance to overcome them. I salute all those inventors who have enriched our lives. But I also do know that when they invented, they did not have people in mind. Their work was their ultimate joy.

I am aware of my strengths and shorcomings. I know what I want to achieve in life. I will strive towards my goal. On this journey I will require people but only for providing me with work and means to achieve my goal. I do not need them to provide me encouragement or console me through my down falls or pat my back on my achievements. I will live by my own rules. What others think of me or see me as is of no consequence to me.

Until next week !

Cherio

Beware the Ides of March

2005-03-06T07:00:00.000-08:00

Beware the Ides of March

This famous line from Julius Caesar has a very important meaning for me. They remind me of horrible and good and funny incident of my life, which in hindsight taught me a lot. Read on... But Beware the Ides of March .

This incident happened in Nagpur when I was in the 12th standard. I was a student of Bhartiya Vidya Bhawan. They say "Bad habits are easy to acquire but very hard too leave....". How true! From my 4th till 10th I was in Bombay (Navi Mumbai to be accurate) where I was a decent enough student and basically a good guy. Life was cool (Basically life was basketball, TableTennis, Treks, Debates etc). Studies used to happen somehow or the other without too much effort. After my tenth we shifted to Jaipur where I got admission in a school which was considered to be the third best school of Jaipur. My first day in School was a cultural shock!! English in School - Nonexistant. Uniform - your Discretion. Attending Classes - you would be considered a freak if you attend all the classes of the day. Bunking School - Compulsorily once a week, preferably on Friday to see the latest movie release. Usage of Slangs in Speach - Are you nuts!! A sentence is not grammatically correct if it does not contain at least one slang. Well these were few of my observations. They say "When in Rome do as the Romans do". Within a week I became one of the crowd. Doing things as my classmates did. Buddies for life and Rowdies for ever!!

Circumstances forced us to shift to Nagpur, and that's where I was for my 12th. Very much in sync with my ways of Jaipur, I landed up for school in Nagpur. My first day in school was a cultural shock for the entire school! BVM (my school) is a very orthodox and methodical place. Everybody well behaved (well mostly), decency personified. And me!! I stood out like a sore thumb. Within a week I was infamous! I was in the bad books of every teacher. It took me a long time to make amends. Slowly I started behaving and carrying myself in a manner which was acceptable.

Months rolled on and soon it was annual day time. The whole place had a buzz. The annual day in BVM used to be a mega affair. A whole auditorium would be booked for three days. Day 1 - Dress Rehearsal, Day 2 - Annual Day for primary school and Day 3 - Annual Day for Secondary school. Our English teacher was planning a play, and for some reason she thought I should be a part of it. My interests lied somewhere else. I wanted to be the Compere for the show as the lady Compere was a person in whom I was very much interested. But what to do... the English teacher was hell bent upon having me in the play! When she told me that they were going to enact "Julius Caesar", I freaked out!!

Reading has been a passion for me right from childhood. I grew up on Enid Blyton, Hardy Boys, Three Investigators, Sherlock Holmes, Agatha Christe in my school days. My reading domain also constituted of some classics like Count of Monte Cristo (I had read the orignal 1400 pages version), Captains Courageous and likes. But Shakespeare was a big NO for me. With all due respect to the great man and all Shakespearians, he is good but not everybody can like him. I had tried to read Hamlet, I couldn't go beyond the first few pages. So knowing that the plan was to enact Julius Caesar and that too in pure Shakespearian language, it just wasn't my cup of tea. She asked me to just have an audition, and then the whole play committee would make the final decision. I saw my escape route. I would just have to mispronounce some words, stutter a bit and bingo! they would throw me out of the play. The next day I was given a script which had around 15 lines. I must have made atleast 20 mistakes while reading the script and stuttered many times. After having finished splendidly (as per my objective), I had a smirk on my face which said, you would be a fool to select me after that. I was totally dumbstruck when the teacher came to me and said that I would fit the bill perfectly for the role of "BRUTUS". Brutus!!!

Half knowledge is very dangerous

Brutus!!!. Things could have been worse. She could have selected me for the Role of Caesar!! That would be even worse. These were my thoughts as the inital shock wore off. My knowledge of Julius Caesar was pretty limited for reasons mentioned above. As far as Brutus was concerned all that I knew was that he killed Caesar, which was cool for me, and that made him the villain. My reasoning was simple, if I portray the villain it means that I won't have to mouth a lot of dialogs. At the same time my visibility would be pretty decent. Things were not so bad after all. So I gave my consent thinking that I might as well enjoy the whole thing!

The next day the scripts were handed over to us and final castings were decided. Two items and two more shocks for me. The smaller of the shock was that the role of Portia, wife of Brutus, was to be played by a girl with whom I had had a spat early on in the year and we were not at all on talking terms. When her name was annonced for the role of Portia, I burst out complaining to my teacher. I was properly castigated by my teacher and the stare that I got from that girl!!
The bigger shock was the script itself. Brutus was everywhere in the script! Brutus had more dialogs than the great Caesar himself. And there was a big speech in the final act. Half of the words in that speech didn't make sense to me! The whole world was crashing around me. There had to be some mistake. I mean if Brutus had so much to speak, then the play would be called BRUTUS and not Julius Caesar. When I took this matter up with my teacher, she looked at me as if I was from Mars! She asked me hadn't I ever read Julius Caesar? Didn't I know that the story continued much after Caesar's death. I was cursing myself. Half knowledge is dangerous. I should have got my facts right before commiting anything.

Miserable hours were spent in learning those toungue twisting lines. The rehearsals were even worse. One scene involved Portia on her knees saying something to Brutus after which he has to lift her, look into her eyes and say a dialog. That used to be really awkward. We hated each other like anything, and on top of that to enact a scene like this! The speech was another tough thing to master. I mean simple english would have been still ok, but that shakespearian language was really tough. Somehow days rolled on and with each passing day, Julius Caesar was less of a pain.

As I said the annual day was a three day affair. On friday we had the Dress Rehearsal in the auditorium and on sunday was the play. At the same time inter-school cricket matches were also going on. On Friday our school had a match. I was a part of the team. Now don't get this wrong. I am not much of a cricket player, but the team captain was my bench mate. So after lot of pleading and coercing I forced him to take me in the playing eleven. My time on the field was miserable. We batted first, I scored 2 runs before being bowled out. During our fielding I dropped a catch and misfielded couple of times. For some unexplainable reason the ball had fallen in love with me. Whereever my captain tried to hide me on the field, the ball managed to find me, but my hands never seemed to find the ball. Our coach was pulling his hair and I am sure whenever the ball came towards my direction, he would be taking gods name a hundred times per second. During the drinks break I got the firing of my life. My captain tried to substitue me, but the umpire obviously enjoying my fiascos refused my substitution saying lousy fielding did not qualify as valid reason for substitution. The only highpoint of the match was when a ball was hit towards me, the batsmen were so confident that I would misfield, they were walking while taking the run. I somehow managed to field properly, and by some divine intervention my throw hit the stumps. The batsman who was run-out just couldn't believe his bad luck. Inspite of me, we won the match. Our celebrations were short as most of us were also part of the annual day, and had to rush off to the auditorium.

My first action on reaching the auditorium was to pour a jar of cold water on my head. I had to wash away the agonies of the day. It felt good. We were supposed to go on stage at around 6.00 pm. We had put on the dress and were sitting, watching the other items being performed. Somehow I was not feeling very comfortable. I was feeling very cold and started shivering. Now this was unusual. So I went to get a cup of coffee. When I told my friends that I was feeling very cold, one of them touched my forehead and then shouted Madam! Saurabh has got high fever. She stared at me and said that this was not the time for playing pranks. She came over and checked, indeed I had fever (On checking at the doctor's place it was actually 103 C). I was rushed off to the doctor (who happened to be my cousin). When I told him about my foolishness of pouring cold water after a day out in the sun and then rushing into an AC room, he first scolded me, then gave a few pills and asked me to take complete rest. I went back to my granny's place, and the entire Caesar crew was there. Panic had set in. If Brutus can't make it then who will kill Caesar? The optimists in the crew believed that having one whole day in hand I would recover and be able to take part in the play. The pessimists decided to start practising with the prompter as Brutus, as he was the person who had almost the entire script mugged up. On hearing this the prompter got cold feet. My teacher had totally lost her nerve. On seeing all this pandemonium my granny freaked out. I was the center of attraction. Portia my wife of the play, who hadn't talked to me for most part of the year, was sitting beside my bed and mopping my head with cold water. This attention continued through to the next two days. By Sunday afternoon I was feeling much better and was able to move around. A car was sent to pick me up. After dressing up, I was made to sit quitely in a corner. Around three glasses of Glucose were given to me in a period of half an hour before the play. The play went of well. I did not make any goof-ups. There was a general relief all around. Except me. I was in misery! Remember the three glasses of Glucose before the play. All through the play I was fighting the urge to rush to the restroom!

The Roman ruler, Julius Caesar, was assassinated on the Ides of March, but for me the play was one of the most interesting incidents of my life.

On retrospection this incidence has taught me a lot. Since then I don't commit to anything unless and until I have all the facts cause "Half knowledge is really dangerous"!!

Until next week

Cherio

14,600 feet above Sea Level

2005-02-25T04:00:00.000-08:00

Location	:	Se La Pass (Arunachal Pradesh)
Height	:	14,600 Ft above Sea Level
Month	:	April
Temperature	:	Freezing (-4 C)
Visisbility	:	100 mts (Approx)

I was on my way to Tawang which is approximately 40 kms from the tri-junction of Bhutan,China and India, when we passed Se La pass. Se La, Situated at a height of 4,190 meters is the gateway to the Jang-Tawang Sector. It can be said to be an impregnable defensive position due to its horse-shoe formation, rugged peaks and great height. The Flat area on top is extensive and includes two small lakes bordered by large patches of bushes. We got down from our Tata-Sumo to capture a few snaps at this exotic location. The cloud cover and the fog slowly cleared, as if Se La wanted us to see its beauty. The Lake was frozen, sitting snuggly between the snow covered mountains. There had been a blizzard around 30 hours back, the effects still visible. Few yaks were grazing at the bushes, a solitary army bull-dozer was clearing the snow off the road. While clicking away with my camera I came across a monument built in the memory of soldiers who laid there lives protecting this strategically important post during the Sino-Indian war of '62. Suddenly the fog started setting in very rapidly, the whole place became very silent. The chugging of the bull-dozer fell away. Se La wanted to take us back to in time. It wanted us to relive that moment of history. It wanted us to remember and pay homage to those martyr's who laid their lives in the line of duty.

November 16th 1962. There had been a lull in fighting for around 10 days during which the Chinese tried certain diplomatic measures which were totally unacceptable to India. The Indian troops had abandoned Tawang and set up their defenses in Se La, Dirang Dzong and Bomdilla. The approximately 100kms route between Bomdilla to Se La was of utmost stategic importance for the protection of NEFA. The whole route is through treacherous mountains at heights above 5000 Ft above sea level. The most difficult task for the Army was to maintain regular supplies for the troops deployed at these locations. The troops did not have proper winter clothing. They were not acclimatized to the high altitudes and were falling sick. The Chinese had utilized this time in replenishing their troops at Tawang and to rebuild some of the bridges destroyed by Indians on their retreat from Tawang.

What followed between 16th Nov from the first attack on Se La till 18th Nov when Bomdilla finally fell to the Chinese can only be considered as a series of blunders by the top commanders of the Army. Indecision, Unawareness of situation on ground and lack of Intelligence about the enemy location,strength and movements led to the falling of Se La, an impregnable natural fortress, desertion of Dirang Dzong by Indian Army without putting up a fight, and finally Bomdilla where the soldiers put up a brave fight. In all these incidents at no point of time the bravery and valour of Indian Troops could be questioned. Wherever there was a fight, the Chinese (who outnumbered Indian troops 9 to 1) suffered 5 times the casualties suffered by Indians.
The Chinese were able to cut across the Dirang Dzong - Se La Sector. This led to Se La being open to attack from behind. On getting this information the various companies posted at Se La were ordered to withdraw. The plan of withdrawal was to be implemented between 17th and 18th November. The plan of withdrawal was not implemented in an orderly fashion which led to confusion among troops. Moreover one company of 4 Sikh LI and 7 Mahar (Medium weight Machine Gun MMG) never got the information of withdrawal. Unaware of the Infantry's withdrawal and in absence of any orders the MMG Section continued to occupy its position. Later they were encircled by the Chinese and attacked in the cover of darkness. The Chinese hurled grenades, the full burnt of which was borne by Havildar Gobind Kamble, the section commander. His both legs were blown away. Undaunted by this, he took over the MMG and ordered his troops to withdraw and gave them cover fire. Even in his injured state he kept the enemy at bay till the last round in his gun inflicting heavy casualties and ensuring safe escape of his troops. Hav Gobind Kamble was awarded the Vir Chakra posthumously.

As the fog cleared and once more I came back to the present having solemnly paid my homage to the brave soldiers who lay there. We resumed our journey towards Tawang. Oh! What a journey it is! Uncountable twists and turns, snow covered mountains on all sides, yaks grazing on bushes, dangerous ridges, deep gorges! Every moment of the journey is thoroughly enjoyable(ie if you don't get mountain sickness). Famous for the holy Buddhist monastery the "GALDEN NAMGYEL LHATSE", Tawang also has more than forty exquisite lakes in its vincinity. P T Tso (Tso meaning lake in local dialect) is the biggest and the most beautiful of all lakes.

If adventure tourism is your cup of tea and mountains are what you love, then a trip to Tawang should be on cards for you.
For information about tourism in Arunachal Pradesh click here or mail me.

More musings next week

Cherio

[ctsy: www.bharat-rakshak.com, www.arunachalpradesh.nic.in ]

The Eagle has Landed

2005-02-20T23:15:00.000-08:00

War Movies always have always facinated me (feel the same....). In the past few weeks I saw few of them. Among the new one's were Pearl Harbour, Saving Private Ryan, Behind Enemy Lines. Though these are good movies, somehow I felt a bit disconnected. Well I was not just feeling the same thril. So went ahead and saw some of the old war movies viz. Bridge on River Kwai, A Bridge too Far, Tora Tora Tora . Now these are the real classic World War II movies. The efforts spent on details, the realistic settings and actors is what makes you see them again and again. The other day when I went to library, guess what I asked for?? A god war novel (But of course you might say!!). The Librarian suggested "The Eagle has Landed" by Jack Higgins. After reading the first question that came to my mind was how could I have missed such a classic.
*The plot is an audacious plan to kidnap Winston Churchill, if possible, else to assasinate him.*
	Bouyed by the daring rescue of Germanys' ally Benito Mussolini by German special forces Hitler asks Admiral Whilhelm Canaris, head of the Abwehr, (German military intelligence) to prepare a feasibility report for kidnap/assasination of Chrchill. Canaris thinks it as a passing folly of the Führer, and asks his subordinate Lt. Col. Radll to prepare the same.
Things fall into place and Radll prepares a report which demonstrates that the plan is very much possible. When he takes the report to Canaris,he brushes it aside calling it utter rubbish. To Radll's surprise he is called by Himmler (Head of SS a large paramilitary organization belonging to the Nazi Party) who puts the plan into motion giving Radll absolute authority to execute the plan.
Radll recruits Colonel Kurt Stiener a discredited War Hero and his paratroopers, Liam Devlin an IRA activist to Paratroop into Studley Constable a remote village in Norwhich county, England where Churchill is going to spend a lonely weekend. What happens in the end should not be difficult to guess at all, but what ensues in between is really thrilling. I was so gripped by the novel, that I went and picked up the movie too. Starring Micheal Caine (Stiener), Donald Sutherland (Liam Devlin) and Robert Duvall(Lt. Col Radll), the movie was a bit of anti-climax as compared to the novel. Lot of incidences depicted in the book are not shown. Couple of plots are changed. But overall not a bad way to spend a lazy afternoon. Coming back to the book, Higgins has done a lot of research and the way it has been written makes you belive that the incidence really happened (did it??). Well I just started reading the sequel "The Eagle has Flown", which is equally gripping. If you like reading books, and that too about wars, this is one book that you cannot afford to miss. That's all for now....until next week Charlie Out

Put your hands together for these BRAVEHEARTS

2005-02-12T22:49:00.000-08:00

The Week gone by will always be memorable for all Indians. A couple of Firsts have happened for Indian Sports. And guess what they have not been in Cricket. I guess everyone knows what I am talking about, yes Sania Mirza winning the Hyderabad Open and Narain Karthikeyan getting his F1 super licence.
The Queen of Indian Tennis has had an omnious start for 2005. Winning her first WTA title in her home tournament was just the icing on the cake. Let's pray that this was the first of many titles in her career. The confidence displayed by her on court and also off court showed maturity beyond her age. Hope that other upcoming tennis players take inspiration from her performance and we get to see few more players breaking through and making it big in the WTA tour.
Having free entry for the matches was a very good move by Globosport. The overwhelming response of the hyderabadis was heartning to see. Hope the organizers of Chennai Open take a cue from this. The only sour point of the whole tournament was the very un-Tennis like (more cricket like) behaviour of the crowd. I guess all the players (including Sania) would have found the crowd's behaviour a bit disturbing. The other unfortunate event was Anna-Lena Groenefeld's injury. Not only did it wash out the second semi-final, but more importantly it robbed Martina Navratilova of progressing further in doubles.
Narain Karthikeyan "The Fastest Indian on Earth", is going to be just a bit more faster. Another example of patience and perseverence personified. This man has been around for sometime. An ordinary human would have given up on his dream by now. But I guess that's what differentiates the achievers from the rest of the crowd. Modesty is another virtue of this extraordianry coimbatorian. Setting achievable targets (completing races, getting into points table and somewhere down the line a podium finish) will not only see him getting better race by race but also see take him to greater heights. All the best Narain !!!
The other day I was seeing a special program on NDTV. It dealt with the certain International and National level women hockey players from Jharkhand. Felt really sad to see plight of certain players who have nothing in their hands even after having been an International player for the country. The apathy towards sports by the state government is really irksome.
Well that's all for this week. More of my musings next Sunday...
Till then over and out.....
essdee

I will do my own thing

2005-02-04T22:00:00.000-08:00

   To work in a MNC is something that happens pretty naturally these days to an average Indian. The work in most of the cases is pretty good and the remuneration is also not bad (though we always feel that the company is cheating us!!!). So life is good. But somewhere deep within some of us feel "If only I could do something which was closer to my heart". Most of us just dream about it and never think of doing anything about our innermost wish to do something different with our lives. But there are a few who say "I will do my thing..." and they do it too!!
   I have had the pleasure of meeting few such First Generation Entrepreneurs who are running their own businesses in lines where they feel their talent lies. A couple of them are seasoned professionals who after doing long stints with corporate companies have now started their own consultancies and are doing very well. They built their financial security and then ventured out. A couple of them treid their hand at Training as their forte. With good education and a some expierience behind them they launched into a company of their own. Things were going good for them. But at some point they opted back into corporate jobs with a promise to be back into there Entrepreneural ways at some point of time.
   Then come the guys who facinate me the most. They have selected "Theatre" as their call of duty. "So what's different about that, haven't most of the bigshot actors done something like this?",is what you may ask! Well have you heard of couple of guys giving up their corporate jobs and starting an entertainment company of their own after just a year into their jobs?? Well I hadn't before I met Karthik "evam" Sunil. These guys are Entrepreneurs in real sense. In one year that evam has been in exsistence they have done 5 Plays, which have been the toast of entertainment in Chennai. With plans to go real big in their second year things look real bright for them.
   It takes a lot of guts to break away from tradition and venture out into something off the beaten track. I may not have that in me as of now. But I really admire those who take that bold decision. Hats off to you guys. Do your own Thing......

I too join the BANDWAGON

2005-02-03T04:04:00.000-08:00

Hi all, Inspired by a very good friend (Keerthivasan http://avyukta.blogspot.com) I too decided to have a royal timepass. What kind of posts will I be putting on this???... That is a billion dollar question as of now.. Why a blog by me?? ... Another good question !!! Well the name of the blog is Atah which means that's why. What I want from this blog is a lot of thought provoking questions been thrown around and equally thought provoking comments... That's why Atah. Just to get started did anyone see CITY 60 (A news program on Star News) a couple of days back. They showed about a school boy of Calcutta who was thrown out of the school by the principal cause he came wearing a full sleaves sweater where as the uniform prescribed is a half sleaves sweater!! Outrageous isn't it! He is still not being allowed to attend school. But what amazes and irritates me is that this news got prime time slot on TV. What was shown was the student protesting outside the school campus and shouting on the principal. Do children all over deserve to see such things!!! or is it just me who feels that the Media these days has got no sense of responsibility. soo long till my next post Cherio Essdee