Social Networking for social good?

I was just watching a French popper-break dancer called Salah strut his stuff on stage. He is an amazing dancer and a performer and most of the time I was scraping my jaw off the floor at his talent. And while I was doing this it occurred to me that if not for face book and you tube, I would have never stumbled on to this guy or seen his talent. Its really amazing how the borders and limits on knowledge has changed. 

Causes

Today we are literally in the drivers seat, accessing what we want, when we want. There was nothing, I mean absolutely nothing like that when I was born. Considering we were late in catching up with the first world countries, that is still barely three decades of progress to this height. Whether it is good or bad for us in the long run is an question that I don't want to debate here. But things have changed irrevocably for us all. Little known places and people are suddenly now reaching the far corners of the world through face book share and other social networking tools. 

I am sharing this French guy's video with my friends on face book, who are scattered all over the world and may have never seen this type of dancing before. Some of them will like this video and share it further with their friends. Imagine the network made available to this guy's video because of my one little mouse click. 

 

Jumo

It is true that we still have huge problems in the world, including poverty, war, hunger, natural disasters and so many things that need to be addressed and solved, despite our progress. But surely this connectivity is also touching and changing the way we solve these problems as well? Isn't it the prefect tool for fighting the evil, propagating a cause and letting the world know what lies beyond the glitz and glamor of the upper crust? If I can use this connectivity to share videos and stories of what is happening in our rural communities, spread the word of what needs done and how one can help, in think we can put this power to good use. To quote Spider-man, "with great power comes great responsibilities". 

The flip side it are the socially helpful social networking sites that are also making quite a bit of money for themselves. Sites like Jumo, Causes, Crowdrise are social networking platforms built to help non-profit organizations raise fund or get support for their causes and projects. But these sites also charge a sweet little fee for all their services. Which may not be bad if the overall financial support received is good. But a large number of people from the non-profit organizations also feel that this may actually backfire on the cause of social responsibility in social networking.

The fear is that people may feel that by donating their obligation to the society is over. Many people compare it to Carbon Offsets, bought by corporates to weasel their way out of paying for the environmental damage caused by their business. As far as using social network for social good is concerned, it might be better if it used to bring people closer to the cause, informing people of the reality, for gathering support for petition, organizing a marathon etc. All these will help people come together for social good rather then simple offload their extra change for the feel good factor. 

Back In Black

I am back in black to test Blogger's new design templates and to re-awaken my blogging muse. So far it's not going too well. Muse has taken a strong sleeping potion and no amount of caffeine is able to wake it up. Can't really blame it since the cold and cloudy weather makes me want to crawl under the covers too. Let's see if I can drag something out of my semi-lucid muse.

Grey seems to be the theme this winter. It was suppose to be white, what with all the whiteout dooms day warnings. We didn't even get the white Christmas. Instead we had grey days, grey skies and even the weather man kept using the word grey. Made me want to quote  O Henry's famous line " a grey cat walking a grey fence in a grey backyard" (Gift of the Magi).

This year the Magi bought us the gift of FLU. The mythical wise men also bought a few other related viral and bacterial attachments, but let's just skip over them quickly. Referring back to the quote, I can't even overlook a backyard. All the windows in my new apartment overlook a very busy dual carriageway. So my quote will be modified to "grey cars whizzing past on grey asphalt reflecting a grey over cast sky." Now you can see how that will never become a famous line. Muse promptly falls back to sleep at this point. 

Dover Port

Fortunately, my blogging platform has introduced a few new features, so I decided to at least exercise my design muse. Hence I am Back in Black (hope AC/DC doesn't sue me for this) .

We also tried to liven up our grey winter by taking a trip to Dover. Unfortunately, it was grey AND cold there, adding to our misery. The famous white cliffs looked grey as well and to tell the truth, we have seen better white cliffs in Devon. 

The highlight of the trip was probably Canterbury. Colored somewhat by my recollections of "Canterbury Tales", the quirky mix of old and new buildings in the town center was interesting. Compared to many so called old towns in UK, this felt less staged and more genuinely charming. We will probably go back in summer for a Venice style boat ride in the older parts of Canterbury.

Canterbury

Thankfully the days are getting longer and hopefully we will get clearer skies. Muse is now definitely snoring. I will pop back in with some past summer glory soon.

Boring scenery & good company = Easter Vacation

Hello folks. Fresh back from our Easter break I am all fired up to blog my travel. Unfortunately, it wasn't that sensational. Snowdonia (I am sure I will offend someone here) didn't have much effect on my pulse rate in comparison to all the other "dramatic" places we have been to. However, the company was good and the weather was not half as bad as we had expected, so all is well that ends well.

I might add at this point that most of UK's scenic attractions reveal their prettiness to only the hikers. We Indian's on the other hand prefer only to hike up to our Temples. Otherwise, we simply pop off the bus and have our Aloo chat while looking at the scenery. Our scenic spots are also well populated with thousand other tourists and hawkers, and sometimes it takes a really tall man to view the scenery over their head.

So, I do enjoy the untouched quality of the scenic spots in UK. It reminds me of my Missouri trip years ago where I had gone to visit the Kempty falls that had more hawkers, tourist guides and dhobis washing clothes than water in it. There was a long flight of almost 500 stairs to climb down and back for this jolly madness as well. Even the monkeys were sniggering at us for taking the effort.

To remove that trauma, this time we hiked to the Aber falls in Snowdonia. Unfortunately, our planner had missed the hiking part in his description and we were not ready for it. However, it was a gentle slope of half an hour walk at a steady pace to the falls. So we weren't too deterred. There was plenty of barren trees (apparently they didn't get the memo that spring has arrived), hollowed out trees and mountain streams to keep us distracted on our way.

Aber Falls was predictably non-spectacular, but gave us enough space to click the dozen or so we-were-there photographs. We also realized that people who took that hike had brought their picnic lunch and we were very hungry. Additionally encouraged by an urge to visit the toilet, we started a rapid decent to civilization. As usual, the road seemed unending, legs started aching, hunger started gnawing and the clouds rolled in to put the icing on the cake. We made up for all the discomfort by tearing into some muffins.

We also conveniently forgot that everything closes early here even if the day is much longer. Consequently, we missed out some train rides and boat rides and had to drive around aimlessly. Compared to Scotland and even Lake District, the scenery was somewhat drab and the roads very nice and boring.

The other highlight of our trip was probably the Tram to Great Orme, which crawls up a semi-steep hill to give a nice view and an experience. It was a little too short for me though. But we have come to expect that in UK. The Great Orme Head over looked the sea and gave us some nice views and photo opportunities. I also got the chance to test my new zoom lens on some unsuspecting crows and gulls.

The final day of our trip was washed out by rain. It was actually remarkable that we were not rain-ed in before that. We made the best of it by taking a very very boring steam engine ride, which had great views of sheep, sheep and more sheep. We entertained ourselves by guessing which IPL league team they should belong to (the black sheep became Chennai Super Kings for some reason!). 

We topped off that day by wondering inside a slate mine listening to the Welsh version of King Arthur's life and all the excitement finally made us so hungry that we had to invade a Indian restaurant on our way back to gobble some spicy food. Unfortunately, they also got on our nerve by serving the food really late. But we ended on a good note as the waiters popped up with a few roses before we could settle the bill and we had some good laughs over it. Now to start looking for the "budget" destination for the next long weekend.

In the summer time, when the weather is high…

Summer doesn't mean beach and bikini's when you are India. When you are in India, especially Kolkata, you wait for winter and absolutely dread summer. It means scorching sun, sweaty armpits and stifling traffic jams. In summer, we Indian's take vacations in Hill Stations to get some cool relief. If only things were so rosy here in UK.

It’s almost April now, and BBC weather says "SNOW ON WEDNESDAY!!" Give me a break! Last summer had sunny spells, so we went to beaches. The water was too cold for us hot-blooded desi's. I dipped my toe a couple of times and came back with a dark enough tan to warrant a fair and lovely treatment. 

Of course I didn't take that treatment. I just happen to go back to Kolkata for a couple of months, and the mosquitoes there detoxified my blood and the sweltering heat gave me natural steaming treatments. The result, apart from a few pollution induced rashes here and there on the face, a rosy-cheeked complexion in 180 days!

I really miss summer in India, but not necessarily in Kolkata. My summers in Kolkata were mostly spent commuting to and fro from office in chicken coops...ahem...I mean local buses. Work places were, of course pleasantly air-conditioned. But there was a time when I worked for a company that had recently moved and there was no air-conditioning installed in that building. The promise of a/c seemed far when April rolled in and all we got were huge stand fans to keep us cool.

Those hot and stuffy days were full of hilarious memories though, courtesy those fans. In the middle of the day, sudden frantic chorus of "move it, move it" meant someone had dared to stand right in front of one of those fans, thus blocking the life saving breeze. Ladies wearing dupatta found the fans hazardous as they often sucked in the long fabrics, yanking the person attached to it as well. After a few scares, the men folk took up the mantle of saving the damsel in distress and dutifully shouted "watch it!" from their seats whenever a dupatta wearing female got too close to any of those fans.

We were a close, jolly group. Breaks from the hectic schedule were always filled with raucous laughter. Sometimes those breaks came in the form of power cuts. Our office has huge French Windows, which actually let in some mild breeze if opened, even in summer. That was mainly because we had fisheries and marshland nearby. Albeit the breeze smelt like fish, but beggars can't be choosers. So, in the incident of a power cut, the windows were thrown open and a crowd would gather near every window. A passerby once even commented that it reminded him of crows sitting on electric wires. How mean!

There was the one memorable afternoon in June 2004, which still makes me laugh whenever I think of it. I think we had a thunderstorm the night before and lightening had fried a nearby transformer. The better part of the morning had gone by without any work or power and people were starting to go mad. A group of us, all senior people, decided it was time for a break. 

We ended up in the almost vacant amusement park that straddled the marshland near our office. We had cool snacks to counter the mid-afternoon sun and then picked some juice packs and decided to enjoy the park's Shikara rides. For all of you non-Indian's, it’s kind of like punting. But since its India, we had chauffeurs.

There must have been eight or nine of us. Sid, who had reputedly swam in the Ganga, refused to hop into the Shikara since the water was only waist high (If you ever read this Sid, I swear I mean nothing by it!). We equally divided into two boats, which resulted in one almost sinking, courtesy one of my best friends who loved his chicken butter masala a little too much. 

After adjusting a little bit, we managed to keep the boat floating with three people in it (Ok, so all three us liked our chicken butter masala a little too much as well). Then we set off to enjoy the murky, fish smelling waters of that bog, side by side. Soon our empty juice packs, now filled with that disgusting water, were flying like missiles from one boat to another. Any attempt to avoid those resulted in near capsizing and loud screams and curses.

Occasionally, my best friend would lean this way or that way, to get a better aim or to get his lighter out his pocket. This made the boat tilt slowly, with us screaming "sit straight you fatso!” The people in the other boat would immediately take advantage at this distraction by hurling more water bombs. 

In the middle of this hilarious ride, fishes suddenly started jumping from the water, flying past our noses and smacking our faces. Whatever was the reason behind that, the result was general pandemonium as people starting squirming to avoid the fishes and tilting the boats this way and that way. We screamed, squealed, and hung on to the sides of the boat to avoid capsizing into that disgustingly dirty water. Our chauffeurs rolled their eyes at our antics.

Alas, our sweet ride ended and we all stumbled back to office, sweaty and flushed with heat, but grinning like mad people. I cherish that memory still and the memory of a friend who was there that day but not with us anymore. I haven't had such a memorable summer since that one really. Hope this summer brings some more laughter again. 

In the summertime

when the weather is high

You can stretch right up

and touch the sky....

-Shaggy

2010 Travel Guide: From Buck's Mill to Camelot!

After being in england for a couple of years now, I totally fail to understand how English literature thrived under these weather conditions. How can anyone get inspired to pen the words of joy and glory when all you can see is clouds?And yes I am using them as an excuse for my long hiatus from the blogging world.

Also, I am actually working for a change and since as the rusted machinery in there has been kick started again, they are grinding out my creative thoughts. The peanut pay also doesn't motivate. Oh well, beggars can't be choosers.Even though I would love to see the temperature crawl above 7C for a change (thats that highest I have got so far).

It's been quite a start to 2010 though for a travel bug like me. I also got a zoom lens for my SLR as a gift and have been hogging it like a side pillow. Here are a few gems from this year so far.

During the January end break, while driving about we came across this village which looks frozen in time, Buck's Mill. It was windy, rocky and looked like a set for Wuthering Heights. Of course there was a old cabin that had a plaque on which said the authors so and so wrote poems while living in this cabin in the 1820s. Ooh...writers were really sturdy folks back then. I couldn't wait to rush back in the car and heat myself up. Yes yes, we deshi's are so sissy!

But there were flashes of sun and inspiration as well. While driving the coastal path in North Cornwall, we walked off to a cliff side and there was small wooden bench dedicated to someones memory, sitting there for those who want to savor the scenery.

We moved off from there to find King Arthur's castle or what's left of it. Instead we found Camelot, a hotel. Of course a few centuries old hotel, but not as old as King Aurthur. But then the staff sent us down the wrong trail and we ended up walking away from the castle ruins. A few sheep perched on the high cliffs gave us the "tourists..duh!" look.

English coasts are very rugged. May be a larger continent took a look at the weather and decided to shrug off the bad seed?  Just look over to the French Coast...so pretty. Anyways, I am digressing here. Back to the travel epics. Got a nice shot of the castle at sun down, to the background of "whump whump" sound of the sea battering the caves and cliffs. Eerie, scenic and cold, but very memorable.

Then we are back again to the daily rigmarole of eat, sleep and work. Oh joy! Almost wish for the old England which inspired pieces like Beowulf! 

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Welcome to the United States of "India"!?

When I was a teenager trying to mug up Indian history in order to progress through the so-called schooling system, I had confided in my dad ( a history buff) that it looks like India will someday become the United States of India and we will need passports to go visit relatives. Of course the comment was a result of frustration borne out of reading a long and tedious history book, but looking at the number of new states and territories in demand today, I feel it may not have been as far fetched as I had thought. 

As if Jharkhand and Uttarakhand were not bad examples to set, now we are heading towards a divided AP. And while not delving into the debate of that particular state, I would like to say that they have no idea what they have stirred up all over the country!

Declaration of statehood over a hunger strike?! It was somewhat like parents giving into a child throwing tantrums. And here we have head militant outfits killing people and blowing up trains for years demanding the same in other states. Of course, one will say its the more Gandhian approach. I shudder to think what the new generation will be learning from this. "Mummy either I get that Nintendo or I am going on hunger strike!!"

And once again it's suspect just how much thought actually went into the separation of these states besides political gain. We seems to be continuing the legacy of our colonizers in dividing what we cannot rule. They split us into India Pakistan and we are splitting the country into even smaller bits.

But then again, except for NRIs, no Indian really ever introduces themselves as Indians. However, they are quick to ravel in all national achievements like in cricket and sports. Ours is becoming a spoiled country, the rich and the political getting spoiled for their choice and spoiling the atmosphere of the country while the rest who continue to struggle to survive are left to bare the burnt of divisions. May be if we stop behaving like children we can get down to ruling the country like adults!

Fly Air India for an unforgettable experience!

This should be the tag line for our dear airline, for every time I have flown it I have come come away with real gems of memories. Take for instance this last trip that I took to England. My experience started with an mix up about immigration even before flying. Despite several calls to make sure, we ended up thinking our immigration will be from Mumbai and not Hyderabad, from where we were starting our journey. But half way through the ticketing process I realized the man in the counter was handing me the immigration forms as well. Inquiries revealed a casually spoken "of course the immigration is here at Hyderabad". I looked at my watch. 8.40. Our flight is leaving at 9.20. OK, don't panic. I looked at the immigration counters. Six counters and not a single passenger. My blood pressure crawled back into control. 

My hubby didn't have the same calming effect as the ticket-man kept asking him monosyllabic questions - "London?" (we interpreted it was an inquiry about our final destination) Mumbai? (umm....yeah i guess) "Aisle?" At this my husband kept repeating "adjoining seats, understand adjoining seats..we want to seat side by side"..blame in on an earlier Air India experience.Not to mention the our flight number showed New York and not Mumbai as destination.

Anyways, we managed to get our tickets, pass through immigration and board the plane, which turned out to a very old Airbus 320. I remember flying those when I was very young. The food trays were aptly scuffed and scarred and hanging loosely in some cases. The exit door had weird stains on it and the interior resembled a luxury bus plying the Hyderabad to Tirupati road.

But, thanks to the aviation god, whoever it is, we reached Mumbai in one piece. After much searching for a parking spot at the international airport (I cannot single out Air India for this though) out tiny craft was disdainfully shoved out of the way of the Lufthansa's and Pacific's and parked into a dark and dingy corner. We piled into a bus and were ferried to the terminal where we finally zigged and zagged our way into the security checking.

We had a long long wait in Mumbai so we hunkered down at gate number 6 with hot chocolates and samosas to spend the time. With about an hour to go, the speakers blared with an innocuous, mildly voiced "all people flying the air India flight AI*** please make way to gate number 3". The result was a not so innocuous stampede. My husband took off like a bat out of hell and when I finally caught up to him I realized the reason for it. He had found us the last two adjoining seats near the new gate. 

Of the rest of the great Indian travelers queued up in front of the gate with more then an hour to go. With no one to clarify, every new comer joined the line. After a long long time, someone half-heartedly tried to explain that boarding would commence at usual time but by then all seats were filled so people continued to stand.

And then finally the boarding began with this announcement, "..ahem...passengers traveling in air india flight AI*** (pause)..we will now board the flight in the following order, seat 52-25 followed by 24-10-followed by......." Now without anyone clarifying how this "followed by" should be managed, everybody cued up and started shoving against each other. We gave the mob ample time to build up the chaos and then slipped through the mil-lee to board much before seat number 52 (if you can't beat them, join them)

On boarding, the first thing I noticed is the plane smelled pleasantly like a public toilet in India. After managing to hold my breath till being seated I ripped open the blanket and stuffed in right up my nose. Thankfully someone sprayed the air freshener and things became more bearable.

I switched on the in-flight entertainment to realize no one has updated it after 2002 and went gave up in favor of a snooze. But the remote, which was placed conveniently at the side of my elbow kept switching on the monitor every time I moved. And we will skip over all the other snippets of experience as that will make this blog too long.

Although I add to this my brother's experience, when he flew AI last week from US. In his own words, the seat moved back enough to cover the width of a slim phone, the pillow was about the size of a spectacle case and everyone elbowed their neighbor each time they took a bit of the food.

And we echo our thoughts "This is the last time I am flying Air India!" I really hate being glared at by matronly air hostesses for no fault of my own!

Respect you elders..in theory at least!

Respect your elders is something Indian children hear all the time. Its an inherent part of our chain of wisdom, passed from generation to generation. But every generation feels that the next adheres to it just a little less. That the new generation leads their life by pushing the slower older generation out of their way, shooing them away when they ramble inarticulately and getting irritated when they cannot get something point. Since there is no indication that children are born with the "mis-treat the elders" gene, one had to consider the monkey see money do effect.

If we expect the next generation to pick up habits like opening doors for elders, giving up seats, helping them in the stairs or show their respect and concern in any other form, we need to show them how its done. But in our rush rush life, I have seen old people getting and shoved out of the way by harried mothers dragging their children to school. Observant kids will obviously notice that mommy doesn't practice what she preaches and consequently learn to ignore these teachings.

But its another story to see how the old are treated in the hallowed halls of the government offices like the municipality, registrars office or pension department. These places have old and retired people thronging them every day, trying to get small things done that end up taking all their life time and sometimes even longer. Try escorting an old person to any of these offices and you might understand how the public servant treats the elders of our country.

Bent with age, tired of struggling against the system, these people come again and again to these offices trying to get through red tapes. What they get is abject reactions, rough denials and sometime even unwarranted insults. I recently had to help one of my parents with pension papers as the other had passed away. Fortunately, we are well off enough to own a small car which makes the one hour travel easier on the body. It took us three trips, hundreds spent on petrol, hours wasted on sitting and being sent back to get something done. And most people who hear that story exclaim, "Three visits only! You guys are so lucky!"

It's very common to see a pensioner being shooed away with the words "Can't you see I am working?" Even if the said pensioner's eye sight is not 20-20, he or she can see that work constitutes of sipping tea discussing the local politics with a few other such "busy" people. Sometimes they will take pity and suggest that the pensioner go outside for a snack and tea and come back after one hour when the clerk will be relatively free.

"Don't you know you have to bring the Identity Card?" one clerk shouts at a demure little old woman who shakes with fatigue for having stood for a long time in the registrars office in Hyderabad. Well, if we did know all the procedures involved, we would be sitting in his chair now wouldn't we!

So by extension it is our government that treats our elders with the dignity reserved for an ant, speak to them as if they are ignorant children, treat them like nuisance and most often show them the door for failing to bring some obscure document. If the root is rotten, no point in blaming the new leafs now is there?

Kaminey: Original but definitely not sublime!

It has to speak for the movie's reputation when people are willing to brave the night show after spending the whole day frolicking on the beach. It is also one of the reason I came out of the hall thinking "ok, this was good but whats the whole hallu ballu about?" I agree it was better then the usual crime movie fare stuffed down our throat by bollywood. It's also somewhat unique in its half-half combo of dirty gritty drama and funny sarcastic wit. But it is not a movie that I would want to watch again and again as most of the movie critics are dictating. Its good, but not thaaaaat great. However, it is worth watching once and I am sure many of the viewers will disagree with me. Its possible that I went with too high an expectation.

Coming to the movie its a new twist on a old theme. Basic premise, two brothers with characters as different as day and night which is funnily signified by their dreams - one wants to be a bookie and other one wants to finish his degree and get a job. And no they weren't separated at birth but rather drifted apart due to circumstances. Here I should give due credit to Shahid, he did well enough as the brother on the dark side. Guddu the good brother is more like the Shahid we see generally, so the contrasting portrayal of Charlie the race fixer was quite good. However, the effect was not as shocking as Saif's Langra Tyagi in Omkara.

The story, as it has been advertised, is of around 24 hours or a little more. Both brothers are drawn into one single incident owing to a complicated and incidental chain of events, which was expected. The movie runs at quite a good pace and doesn't bore you. But it definitely didn't keep me at the edge of my seat with anticipation.

One good thing I really appreciate is that there is no unnecessarily added comics bits. All the laugh is part of the sarcastic dialogue and settings and the basis of the story - life is full of Kaminey.

For me, the movie shines though through the superb acting of the various villains - Bhope who touts the same lines as Raj Thakery, the customary corrupt cop duo, Tashi - the cigar smoking foreign villain and last but not the last the Bengali bookie brothers who sum up the super villain cast. I specially loved the Bong crooks with their bong dialogues and crazy attitude, even though they must have had about 15 minutes of screen time in all. 

Last but not the least, Priyanka is a hoot in her character as a fire brand marathi girl, who knows how to get what she wants and even protect it with equal gusto. Her dialogues are sharp and she did justice to her role, I felt. All in all the movie was going quite well, until the end when it seemed a little more then necessary "formula" was applied. I would have preferred a little more twist and punch at the end. Oh well, watch it once at least.

Summer 2009 UK: Pearls of Wisdom from the seasoned traveller

"Whats the big blob in the sky?" - that was the running joke this summer in UK. A sight so rare to this rain soaked country, that you want to run back to the 45 degree C roasting cauldron you call home. However, owing to global warming, the big blob did give us a unique "summer" this time, which we capitalized by running around this island like headless chicken. At the end of this long journey (we chalked up quite a bit of mileage) I gathered a few pearls of wisdom that I would like to share with my unwilling readers-

1. A "beach" in UK does not necessarily conform to the Indian idea of it. Most often, it lacks sandy shores or warm waters.
2. Like the towels mentioned in the Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy, here you should never step out of the house without the latest AA Road Atlas. Or you will spend half of your life circling some blasted castle in the heart of the city, rather than getting into it.
3. It doesn't matter how sunny the weather forecast, it never hurts to carry a jacket. Don't bother with an umbrella, its more likely to snap like arthritic bones.
4. There are more sheep in England than people.
5. Safest food to order anywhere is the "English Breakfast". Everything else is at your risk.
6. The tallest peaks in England are tiny hillocks to us. If you expect more, go see the Himalaya's in your backyard!
7. Don't expect a lot when you visit a castle. Its more likely to resemble a "bhoot bangla (haunted mansion)" than anything like the palaces of Rajasthan. Interior or to that matter exterior decoration is not of much importance here. Its all about be-headings!
8. If you have doubts about what clothes to get here, anything in white, black or grey will be fine. You will blend right in.
9. Whether you are going uphill or downhill or getting on a single lane bridge, the sheep have the right of the way 
10. In a place so small, even uneven nooks and cranny's are made out to be major tourist attractions. England's biggest gorge may not look more than that crack you crossed on the way to school (well, that may be a little too cruel!)
11. British people rarely smile, unless they are drunk. Scottish people often smile, even when they are not drunk. Haven't been to Ireland.
12. Round-Abouts is a secret weapon used by MI-6 to keep most citizens and aliens confused while in the country.
13. All houses look the same in any given county. If you are visiting anyone, please carry a Sat Nav and the post code.
14. Don't depend on Sat Nav's. Only time it works well is when you key in "Go Home". Otherwise, its as good as having your spouse (I mean me) do the navigation.
15. Car Rental companies are a necessary evil. We use them often, so we know how evil they are.
16. Wear sneakers. The ground is always muddy. Wonder why!??
17. Last but not the least, never comment on the weather early in the day and jinx yourself. If you went through the day without getting wet, you can worship the weather god at night.

I can go on and on and on. But I will keep that for a future blog. Sleep on this few bits, while I try to dig up the elusive wisdom tooth. 

Vote For Your Tomorrow

Indian Election 2009 seems to have hit a new high as far as the pre-election theatrics and dramatics are considered. It’s has become the mother of all reality shows. And it has done nothing to inspire the voters' confidence or motivation.

As a matter of fact, voters have just continued to get more and more disappointed with our politicians and their empty promises. The rural populace, who generally come out to vote in higher numbers, have suffered year after year as elected leaders never delivered on their promise of education, employment, health and other basic amenities. The urban voters on the other hand have not been active participants till late. But the recent escalation of terrorist activities in the Indian metros have brought the urban populace into the 2009 election.

However, as many of these first-time voters are not aware of the political history of the parties and candidates, they are confused. Even the few veteran voters are also confused, as none of the candidates and parties are inspiring total confidence. And let’s not forget the many alliances either. In reality, these ever changing alliances, with enemies becoming friends and friends becoming enemies overnight just for a chance at the seat of power only goes to show the voters what drives our politicians. Indian Voters have pretty much come to regard our politicians as power hungry, unethical people who abuse their position at every chance. And it will take nothing less then a miracle to sway that view anytime soon.

We voters are also at fault for our current situation. Specially the urban voters who have the education and the means to bring about changes should be definitely more aware of political issues and be more involved. We ELECT our politicians, no one is arm-twisting us into having this or that person as our leader. So we are responsible for our choices and we should demand more accountability and transparency in their dealing. Recently, this has meant that politicians are openly flaunting their crimes and then getting away from punishment, for people in power have been abusing Justice in our country as well. We need more awareness among youth about current issues and requirements, involvement in the process and follow up after voting.

What India needs now is fresh faces, not jaded with five decades of power-abuse, with progressive ideas and ethics. Voters need to see candidates who honestly care about the country and its people, are willing to sacrifice their comfort for delivering on their promise, to instill back the non-existent confidence in politics. Our future politician should go back to the basics and provide us our fundamental rights.

In the meantime, we are still left with the choice between the fire and frying pan in the upcoming election. One must take into consideration the bigger picture while voting because who we elect will now govern our country for the next six years, which is a long long time. A mistake in our part will not be corrected anytime soon. So, read the paper, watch the news, think hard about what our country needs and then vote for your tomorrow.

Lets Talk About The Weather

At one time, discussing the weather meant either you are British or you have absolutely nothing else to talk about. But these days weather is the hottest topic around and the pun is intentional. You don't have to be a watcher of Discovery channel or other science programs to know what is happening to our climate - you can literally feel the oddity of every season shifting from the age old patterns that you were used to. Summer comes early, snows at the oddest times, not snowing when its supposed to, more rains and less rains...all erratic and out if its cycle.

So what is the causing this freaky weather? Its called global warming. In our solar system, Earth is the only planet that is currently livable because it has an atmosphere with enough oxygen, water, heat etc to make the surface suitable for us humans. Now this atmospherere consists of Green House gases, which filter the sun rays to reduce the radiation level that reaches the earth and lets the excess heat out of the atmosphere to keep the temperature stable. Now, due to the use of many new appliances and industries the percentages of green house gases in our atmosphere has increased dramatically, thereby throwing the filter off-course, and trapping more and more high radiation sun beams into our climate, increasing the level of CO2 etc. The result has been a gradual increase in our surface temperature. The effect- gradual meting of ice and increase of sea level, change in precipitation cycle that controls rain, - leading to increase in desert areas and decrease in forest area, extinction of many species in those regions and an allover imbalance in the ecological system - and if you are thinking Ice Age was a funny movie, you might want to read this.

I happen to watch a documentary this weekend -An Inconvenient Truth. Directed by Davis Guggenheim the documentary showcases the Climate change presentation that US Senator Al Gore has been making for quite sometime now. He has been campaigning quite long to get the US congress take initiative to take steps to stop the global warming phenomenon with little effect so far. Whatever be his political motives, the presentation IS quite an effective eye opener.

Except for the data on the actual rate of increase in CO2 emissions in our atmosphere and the resulting hike in temperatures, most of the results mentioned were familiar to me, as I am a rather avid watcher of Discovery and other such scientific programs etc. However, many facts seem to shock my fellow watchers, making me aware of how unaware most people are about the extent of the damage so far.

There was one animated segment in the documentary which shows how we react to situations. A frog is tossed into a beaker of hot water - it jumps right out with alacrity. The same frog is put into a beaker of cold water and heat is turned on. Now as the water gradually turns hot, the frog continues to sit there looking a little perplexed and confused but not reacting with the same alacrity as before because the effect is rather gradual. While the audience laughs, we are also hard pressed to admit how true the depiction is. We are apparently not moved by the melting and vanishing glaciers, the ever increasing storms and heat waves and droughts. After all unless climate change causes to set your seat on fire, its hardly any reason to react.

The sad truth that the program reflects is that we have already messed with the ecological balance quite too far to completely restore it back anytime soon. However, rather than despair, the documentary carries the message that - THIS IS THE LAST CHANCE, ITS NOW OR NEVER!

Now, most often people are asking what can we do about it? Isn't it the duty and responsibility of the Government and big organizations to cope with this? How did we contribute to this ourselves - its the effect of big industries! Here is a gem I picked from the net - Climate change has been happening since time began, we should not have to blame civilization now just because. Denial!

Well there are things you can do personally

1. Start with using less appliances like Refrigerator and Air- conditioning - when not needed switch it off.
   
2. Plant more leafy trees around - they absorb a lot of these gases thus reducing the level in the atmosphere.
   
3. Use energy efficient bulbs to reduce the pressure of the energy resource
4. Use less water, again to conserve the resource.
   
5. Keep your car emission low by taking it for periodic servicing etc
6. Carpool to reduce the overall use of fuel and emission into the system
   
7. If there is a municipal garbage recycle system, take time to throw the garbage in the bin rather in the nearest vacant plot.

On a more large scale, we as voters do have the right to push for laws that make emission check mandatory. We have the right and should take the time out to push against the destruction of forests and natural resources for Malls and Supermarkets - people in Goa stood up for their land, why can't the rest of us do the same. We can and should demand that our elected leaders put a better garbage disposal measure in place, introduce recycling etc. These are better reasons to call for a bandh or dharna anyday than the useless political ones that we come across always. Lets wake up and shake up people, or else will end up floating around in some space ship waiting for WALL-E to clear the mess.

Have you made your bucket list yet?

In case you are wondering, 'what on earth is a bucket list?', let me explain- A Bucket list is a list of things to do before you kick the bucket i.e. say bye bye to your mortal life (extended explanation for the phrase-ologically challenged people!)

What bought about this comment is the weekend movie "Bucket List", with the unbeatable cast of Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson playing two terminally ill patients who find themselves room-mates in the chemo-ward. Diametrically opposite in temperament and lifestyle, the two bond over the mutual sarcasm of the dying and throwing up sessions post chemo.

And from there blossoms the idea of the bucket list. (Dasvidania popped into my mind here automatically since I saw it recently) While the one writing it merely meant it as a solace, the other one pushes it to the next level and we have two persons, supposed to be dying, actually living it out more then most of us. But the movie is not your regular cheesy feel good flick, saved by the witty dialogue and the two actors delivering them.

The movie isn't about death but life, and living. Reminds me of the song "live like you are dying". An engaging, well made movie that is NOT a tear-jerker. So watch it if you can.

Genghis Khan - The Mongol

I was watching The Mongol last night and remembered seeing the interviews about the movie about an year back. The thing that had struck me most is that most people pronounced Genghis Khan as Gang-is-khan whereas I think the name is pronounced more like Chenggis Khan. Well anyways, my enjoyment of the movie was slightly ruined by my memory of a family friend who used to call her reed-thin Nepali chauffeur "Genghis Khan', or rather use to scream the name at the top of her voice from her window. And looking at the meek little guy always use to make us crack up at the absurdity of the name.

Another thing I noticed was the music. It's quite similar to the tribal music of the tribe called Dimasa back in North East India. Their music is totally instrumental, using the drum (Khrum I think) and a wind instrument they call Muri. See a pic here.

The sound can be very monotonous, but I can't find sample for it anywhere. Nearest I can get is this guy playing the wind instrument played by Australian Aborigines called DIDGERIDOO (something new I learned today)..but the these guys more tone variation then the Dimasa's.

There, I started about the movie and totally went side ways. Anyways, the movie was interesting. If it is historically correct then it is a interesting look into the Mongolian tribe and its history. Of course, its not a movie for the feint hearted or for people with less patience. Because the movie is both bloody as well as slow moving sometimes. If you are interested, can watch it. Not bad, not too great. The surprise I guess is the romance...curious now?

You know you are getting old...

when all you can talk about in a get-together is the "good old days". And those little kids that you lorded over and bullied send you their wedding cards! There was a time when people measured the coming of old age by the advent of gray hairs. But not anymore because, well, it's kind of become fashion and who knows if the gray is real or dyed!! Just kidding. Don't think anyone other then actors actually dye their hair gray. After all we all dream of being Dorian Grey and let our portraits grow old instead of us.

But what does it mean for us? Does this mean we should ring the funeral bell, order our caskets or put in the order for scented sandal wood for funeral pyre? One of my friends, who actually brought up this topic, mentioned she finally used a neighbouring kids wedding to try and convince her parents that at 30+ she was old enough to come home after curfew without earth shattering consequences. Her parents simply rolled their eyes and told her to make it home before 11. Can't win with them veterans!

Me, I glibly side step questions about my age and spout lines like "18 till I die" and promptly call up a friend to discuss those golden years of college days- heh heh. The hairs are still black, thank heavens!

How many of our cities should burn before...

...someone actually does something about it? The November 26, 2008 attacks in Mumbai have made the world sit up and take notice because for the first time foreign nationals were targeted in India. But let us not forget that in the last two years, we have been switching on the television to a scene of carnage at some part of the country almost every other month . Bomb blasts across the Indian Metros have chalked up enough bodies to put any war-torn country to shame. So, what has been the response by our security agencies so far ?

Blasts in Delhi led to several arrests and Delhi police boasted that they had broken the ring of terrorism. The Anti-Terrorist Squad was in the news till yesterday owing to the arrests of army personnel involved in the Malegaon Blast Case. Today the ATS is in news because of their Chief Hemant Karkare's death in last night's attack.

So, we come back to the question, what has our police and intelligence sources accomplished so far? Going by the 27 hour-and-still-going-siege on our financial capital- a big zero!

Since our beloved Prime Minister's stoic speech did nothing to convince anybody of our proactive retaliation, the only bright spot in the day so far has been the decisive action taken by the Army and commandos in killing the terrorists and freeing the hostages. They have done their job. Now only if our police investigators can make some progress based on the bodies recovered.

Of course, this attack will probably force our authorities to be more pro-active as it involved foreign nationals and the "moneyed-folk" as they say. Gives one a bad taste in their mouth to acknowledge that without the "international" angle, this story probably wouldn't have garnered as much attention and action.

At this point, I just hope this at least forces our security forces to take action.

Meanwhile, this incident again raises the question of the state of our national security. Maybe at this point, our policy makers should re-evaluate our border security and invest in building a stronger system involving ID cards and biometric data for people traveling in and out of the country. I am sure this statement will raise many eyebrows because being majorly landlocked, our borders are considered almost un-securable at this point. But as we are already realising, India has grown to be noticed as a major player by international governments as well as terrorists. The new India also needs new security. Before another city pays the price and burns in the flames of terrorism.

Showbiz

Short Story

It might have been years, but Miss Monica still turned heads. Regal in her posture and dressed in an elegant kurta, she seem to float in to the dressing room. The hustle bustle of the backrooms were familiar and nostalgic to her. Even though she was much older than many of the nubile young things running around her, she knew time had been kind to her. Men still had the admiring look in their eyes when they saw her. She made sure of that every morning, standing in front of the mirror for hours.

After a final look at her make up, Miss Monica stood up as elegantly as possible (just to give the young 'ones' a taste of real grace!) and glided out in to the garden where today's scene was being shot. Finding a shaded spot to stand, she surveyed the scene. Camera's were being set up, shouted commands and exaggerated hand movements indicating the directors and producers who were used to being noticed. Running around were also a whole band of sweating men, workers behind the scene who made the movies possible.

Meaningless to many, this scene was very dear to Monica. It excited her to think she was part of this scene, this movie, this great work of art. She felt like she was 17 again, when she first came into this business. The lights and money had dazzled her then. Now, she just smiled a knowing smile at the new girls who were coming into the business today. Their flushed and nervous face easily set them apart.

The commotion was slowly calming down. Everything was almost in place. Chairs were being brought in and chilled cokes being readies on trays to be served to the director. Beach umbrellas have been already set up to shade the delicate skins of the actors and actresses.

It was almost time. Monica went through her lines again in her mind. A perfectionist, she knew she had to deliver the correct line with the right emotion. She had practiced for hours for the past three weeks for this scene. She was startled out of her reverie by a voice behind her , "Okay every one; Get ready!"

Putting on her acting face, Miss Monica gracefully swayed into the market scene. With the shout of "Action", the stationary people sprang into action, turning the area into a busy market place. Monica started walking hurriedly, a woman hurrying home, and ran into the handsome hero. She faltered so genuinely that even a few people around her almost reached out to save her. Righting herself on cue, she turned around and shouted "battameez, dekhai nahin deta! (Shameless, can't you see?)". And turned around in a perfect huff and stomped off. At the shout of "cut", she relaxed and let her face relax into a natural expression.

The day was over. It was no use hanging around for her. She headed for the dressing room to take her make up off and then head home. Though 300 Rupees was not much, but these days anyone hardly paid so much for a few minutes work. After all, opportunities for 50 year old extras were not easy to come by anymore.

Rain

Short Story

The downpour was so unexpected that she was caught unprepared. The sun had been merciless in the past few weeks and the skies clear. 'No reason to carry an umbrella now ; was there?' she grumbled to herself. To make things worse, she had been caught between her school and home, on a straight desolate piece of road that had only one bus stop and nothing else. Her track and field skills came handy in the dash to a relative shelter. "I am already wet!" she thought disgustedly and was about to wring her skirt when she noticed she wasn't alone. Standing at the corner was a man..no a boy a little older than her, holding an umbrella open. "Why does he need an umbrella...the bus stand has a shade?" she thought to herself. Then she realised the rain water was leaking from the tin roof at that corner. But still she found it strange that the boy hadn't moved to a drier area.

The sudden rain seems to go on endlessly. It was getting dark. She fidgeted. No one else had come into the bus stop. It was a strange and awkward silence that hung between and her solitary company who didn't turn to face her even once. The silence pressed down until she could almost feel it pressing down on her back, and she was about to blurt something out when the rain suddenly stopped. The boy suddenly turned towards her, nodded and left. And it was as if someone had switched off the mute button, she could hear beyond the silence. But it was time to go home and her bus was there.

She hated rain. It made the world look grey, made her socks wet before she reached school and she would end up feeling the soggy things throughout the day. It had been raining since Monday now. Not even three days and things were looking even worse as her friend has managed to sit on her umbrella accidentally and break it. She would have to run for the bus stop again in the rain today.

But today she noticed the boy before she managed to hop the puddle before the bus stop. He turned to look at her and the acknowledgement somehow flattered her. She smiled hesitantly and asked "Which school do you go to?" He mumbled the name of her own school. Strange she doesn't remember seeing this boy before. But then she hardly looks at every boy in the school and he looked like a senior student. Her thought was interrupted as suddenly the rain took a break. She was disappointed. She had to wait for the bus and the boy will leave like the other day. But the boy simply shut his umbrella and waited. She must have looked enquiringly at him for he answered "I am waiting". "Waiting? for what or who?" she thought but then her bus was there and she had to make her way through jostling, wet people. She managed to peek through the bus window. The shelter was empty, the boy had left. It was impossible to see if he had boarded the bus. She sighed and her thought switched back to her history test.

"I am Tanima," she introduced herself on their fifth date. "Date?...ha ha, I am going mad," she thought. She seemed to keep meeting this strange boy at this bus stop just by herself. "Gaurav" he said without turning and then suddenly stepped off into the rain and left. She was startled and a little hurt at such a curt response. Like she cared!

But she did. It gnawed and gnawed at her for the next four days. The rain took a break for some days also. The sunny weather cheered her up and she almost forgot about her mysterious man . Then on Thursday she almost collided with him in her dash to avoid the rain. "Do you take the bus everyday?" the boy asked. She was startled and simply nodded. "Will you come tomorrow?" the boy again asked. "Yes, probably." "Will you wait for me then," he asked. She was too confused to do anything but nod in agreement. He smiled a dazzling happy smile, and then took off in a run through the rain. She was flustered and her cheeks were hot. Did the boy like her?

She had felt this great anticipation the whole day next day and could wait till the bell rang and she ran to the bus stop. It was empty. But he did ask her to wait, didn't he? So she waited. And waited. The rain was cold. It started to grow darker and darker. Still she waited. Finally, she left. Feeling bitter and embarrassed for having fallen for something so ridiculous.

"Will you wait for me?" she woke up with a start with that voice in her head. And sneezed. She had managed to catch a cold thanks to her fruitless waiting. As she dozed off after having medicine, she whispered in her mind "But I waited and you never came!"

The boy held his handout and asked "I was waiting for you, shall we go?" Tanima felt happy and walked out with him.

Tanima's death shook everyone because no one had thought her cold was that bad. Her fever had climbed dangerously and she simply never woke up.

........

Rajiv wished he had never transferred to a new school mid season, specially during monsoon. He hates rain. He was getting drenched to the bone as he dashed to the only bus stop in the vicinity. He was about to repeat a few choicest curses he had picked up recently when he noticed the girl in the corner. Always sure of his good looks, he turned and said "Hi, I am Rajiv".

"I am Tanima."

Swiss Cows and Jingling Bells!

First of all let me apologize for the long hiatus (under the assumption that someone gives a damn!...oh well self- delusion can do wonders for your ego). It was partly due to a spur of the moment trip to the Swiss Mountains where I met the incredible Swiss cows that are said to give 20 liters of milk a day (India is never going to make a dent in the chocolate market for sure). Even though I am not into travelogues like my fellow blogger Illusions, I think I need to share a few bits of this trip with you all.

Traveling in and out of UK is very very expensive. I swear if they could charge you for breathing the British air, they would. Anyway, we paid a sweet sum for our three day guided tour, which incidentally started from Heathrow Airport and ended there, leaving us the task to arrange for transport to and from the airport itself. Now for all those who are familiar with my location, I live around 70 miles to the south of London and it takes about 2 hours or more to get to the airport, whatever travel mode you adopt. But the sweetest thing was the flight time - 8.50 am, which meant we had to report at 6.50 am, since it was a international flight. This meant we had to leave Ipswich by 4.30am at least. And nothing runs that early in the morning except Taxis, which of course would have cost us half the amount of the while tour package itself. Add to the the return flight at 9.15pm put us in the same situation again.

So, brilliant as I am, I found the perfect solution. Hire a car, drive to a paid parking lot near Heathrow and let it rot there for three days! That was the cheapest and most flexible arrangement that I could find. And it was such a waste of the car hire that it literally hurt for me to agree to my own idea! But agree I did. And that worked out pretty well at the end.

Now the other interesting bit would be our tour itself. Right after we landed in Zurich and boarded the coach that would take us everywhere during the tour, our guide took charge, who I will call the EnergyBunny (as in Duracell) for the sake of anonymity. He told us that while on the tour he is the boss, and when he whistles (which no other European evidently does) we are all to come to heel. And for the next three days, his ear splitting whistle had us all running. As one of us commented, we felt like it was a school trip.

To maintain our strict and hectic schedule, we also had to go on command. Yes, all those of you who are snickering, we were always shown the toilets and told to do our thing in the given time. Talk about potty training! And in the end, as one fellow sufferer pointed out, we all saw more Swiss toilets then landmarks in these three days. But I was personally very happy to have my own sat nav to toilets!

And then there was the whole charm of travelling in the group - the parents who could never get their kids ready and set on time, the ladies who were always late because they kept freshening up their make up and the occasional lovey dovey couples who just had to take the perfect shot. And the sound of the sharp whistle followed by our guide's bellow bringing us all running to the coach. In between, he also kept us entertained with jokes, song, games.....and a constant stream of information - like why do Swiss cows wear bells of different size? Anyone interested? Well it seems, bells of different size creates a sort of melody when the cows move, instead of a cacophony that would result if all the bells sounded the same. And this melody, reportedly, causes the cows to give more milk! ( Is the milk industry walah in India reading this?)

All in all, it was a unique and memorable and hopefully the only guided trip I will ever take. Now if you all would excuse me, I need to go unwrap that Swiss Dark Chocolate that is waiting for me....ciao!

Here is a Swiss sunset to wrap it up

Its a bronze, its a bronze....

Mere Desh ki dharti sona ugle...ahem I mean bronze ugle. Never mind Abhinav's Gold...we now have a bronze as well! Each metal counts yaar. Specially this representative of a emaciated, and malnutritioned country has gone on to flip Americans and Belorussian, who we all know are definitely stronger, heftier, taller....able to kill you by simple sitting on you types! Just goes you to show desi ghee mein kitna dam hain. Sorry folks got carried away by the vernacular idioms. Well, anyways I am glad we got at least one more medal. Better then none.

Desires

Lost I feel
In my own desires
A need to move on
Unable to run

Wrapped I am
In Chains of my own
When one breaks
Another one grows

Like Slip Knots
Are these desires
I dare not unravel
For they hold me together

I drown on dry land
A quagmire of my own
Gravity pulls down
while dreams fly off

The ticking of the clock
Fuels my impatience
I need to move
But I have strong roots

More time, more time
I howl to the moon
The orb stays silent
And desolation abounds

The landscape of my heart
Empty yet full
Too much to sort through
No space to place anew

But time still flows
Thicker everyday
Washing away
The remains of the day


And I brood over a pile
Of uncensored thoughts
Sorting through my desires
Discarding them all

WALL-EEEEEEEEEE!

As the title would indicate, I just came from watching this very beautiful animated story. Not only does it meet the standard of Nemo and The Incredibles, you even come away with some very strong modern day messages.

Wall-E ( I am not telling you what it stands for and spoil your fun) is a wide eyed, rust buckety and curious robot. The eyes kept reminding me of the famous E.T. Anyways, he here is in a desolate wasteland, chugging away at a designated task that holds no meaning and beginning to develop a quirky personality and utter loneliness, with only a insect for company.

Enter the love interest - beautiful, streamlined, advanced - EVA. And Wall-E falls for her with all his bolts and nuts! But its not that simple. In EVA's mission lies the history of Wall-E's existence and the future of mankind. A little sapling of life then takes these two in an incredible journey, where they fall in love and save the earth!

Sounds like a simple Hollywood flick? NO Sir! Running in the backdrop of this sweet and mostly funny story is the theme of modern day consumerism, carbon foot prints, depleting resources, and all other environmental issues that concern us today.

So do go and see this story. If you are a kid at heart, you will enjoy the well made animation. If you are the environmentally conscious kind, you will come away marveling at how the messages have been delivered couched in a simple children's animation. As everybody ends up saying in the movie, "WAAAAALLLLL-EEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!"

I need my scratch post

Almost a month of being cooped up in this little town is driving me out of my mind! I am craving like a junkie for a break (no actual experience of that though), or a scratch post! If any of you wondered the significance of my alias, where here it is - I am a definitely a feline creature, literally. The thought of getting my claws into a nice wood bean is right now very appealing. Its either that or a human substitute. But I think that may border on homicide. These are the days I wish I was cat, to be able to actually scratch some unsuspecting tree to ribbons, or curl up on afternoon sun and laze.

I am not very good at being cooped up - both figuratively and literally. The moment I feel some stagnancy creeping into my life, the whole need for scratch post materializes. I feel the urge to do something, push forward, change something....just do something. The feeling is so strong that the more saner urge to temper it only results in restless energy by the oodles. Like they say, something gotta give soon. Oh dear me, my claws are itching (snick! snick!)

....pppuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuurrrrrrrrrrrrfeeeeeeeeeeccccct!!!!!!!!!!

For the love of the written word..

I was having a discussion recently about whether book readers are dwindling in number. Without any proper statistics to back any argument, all I could put forward was the almost all of my friends are voracious readers. Of course, that earned me the "your friends are as freaky as you" look.

Nevertheless it got me thinking. I was a book worm since I could read. And most of my friends also started early. Now though, I rarely come across any youngster interested in a book. Does that mean the the next generation will not be readers? Or can people pick up the love of reading at any age?

Being a reader has done me lot of good in life. Not so much to do with enlightening me but to give me a better alternative to perhaps television or video games? Oh wait, we didn't have cable television when I was growing up! Coming back to topic, books can often take your mind of the stressful life and for a few hours take you through an entirely different world. I think books stay with you more then movies. I can be biased though.

I wonder if it will do good if we start shoving a comics in a kids hand rather the TV remote? I rather see someone buried nose deep in paper then the idiot box or Nintendo. But the it's just me. In the meantime, I hope books continue to exist and be written until I cease to exist. That way I can read till I die!

Birds I View!

While sorting through my huge collection of photographs this weekend I realized I have been a little partial to my feathered friends and have a sizeable collection of pictures that can be titled BIRDS! Well, being the generous soul that I am, I thought I share. Also, as my muse seems to be vacationing somewhere warm, this is a space filler for you all readers!

She could take it back

She will take it back someday........

For all the Pink Floyd fan's, these lines will probably jar the memory as being the refrain for their song "Take it Back' from Division Bell. For all those who are not familiar, the video of the song shows Nature striking back for all that we are put her through.


While this theme isn't new, it had never seem so realistic before. With rising concern over global warming, changing weather patterns, alarmingly receding glaciers and an increase in devastating natural disasters - the threat of Nature taking it all back seems to be more a reality then the theme of a song.

We used to read in the school about the possible results of ice caps melting. Today I wonder of there will much of the ice cap left to read about in the text books in future. Here is some before and after looks at the known glaciers. Well, I am off to build the Ark folks!

With some luck..

In a recent conversation with my intellectually inclined father, he suddenly told me - no one can achieve any remarkable success without some luck! My knee jerk reaction was to deny it. But then I mulled over it a bit and realized it was partially true. And then I mulled over it a little longer and realized 'By god, it is true!"

Of course this so-called second hand epiphany did nothing for my sour mood. Because my subsequent thoughts were - so we can never achieve anything in life even if we are extremely talented, unless we are also lucky. Because we can have talent and bad luck and never go anywhere with that talent. Depressing thought there. And where does it out the other contradictory epiphany of "where there is a will there is a way!"'.


Can some one succeed on just sheer talent and will, even if luck never favors them? Of course, we have seen semi-talented people make it big in this world because they had the lucky break. More personally speaking, does that mean I can write deliciously and come up with zilch if lady luck turns away. Bad bad epiphany. I liked my naivety before where I believed it was all destiny, which sounded so much better and solid than luck. Luck always follows in my brain with the word fickle. Can't I just pair luck with lottery and greatness with destiny? It sounds a little less scary.