Is saving paper, saving trees?

I head an employee-driven CSR team in my company in India. I get numerous suggestions about saving paper by replacing paper cups with ceramic mugs and re-using papers printed on one-side for "personal" print-outs.

Though I don't oppose these ideas, I have my reservations about their efficacy. Following are the questions that have surfaced to my mind repeatedly.

- Trees cut for making papers have to be replanted because, we will run out of papers otherwise. We have no idea about the number of trees we are losing because of making papers. We also don't seem to be running out of papers. So, in the end we don't know if we are really causing a significant depletion of trees. May be we are, but is there data?

- The only way to cut lesser trees without compromising the supply of paper is to recycle paper. India seems to have a defunct system of recycling wastes. If we are indeed degrading environment by cutting a lot of trees, it is possible that this trend can be more significantly minimized by putting a system in place that recycles most of the paper wastes when compared to small initiatives in individual companies to save papers.

Of course we are better off taking these small initiatives irrespective of the status of recycling, but my concern is, we have no way to measure how many trees we end up saving. What if the contribution of 100 companies with an average of 100 employees actually comes to saving 5% of trees, while setting up a recycling plant that can recycle paper in the neighborhood (companies, homes, schools any and building where paper is used) can reduce the number of trees cut of paper by 50%?

Simply put, how can one make this initiative measurable? Is there a comprehensive and accepted research that can answer my questions?

How to delete folder in Google Reader

Google Reader is my platform for my daily dose of news, opinions, blogs, social research and almost all of my daily intake of information. But I had been facing problems with organizing my feeds in my Reader. When I create a folder for a few of my feeds and later want to delete it, I could find no options anywhere to do it. So, the empty folders just messily stay on like the elusive stone inside my shoes. After much searching around, finally I found the stick that could remove the stone and it turned out to be ridiculously simple, only folders are also called "tags" here. Basically "folder" is a duplicate naming..

Anyway,
Manage Subscriptions ->Tags -> (select tags to delete) -> Delete selected

For the un-initiatied
Google Reader: is an application that can be used to store a collection of "RSS" feeds from a your favourite websites. Using these feeds Google Reader regularly searches and shows you any updates made to the website . So, you always know what is new in the website.

RSS Feeds: are similar (but not the same) to a common website address. But these are more "active" since these help readers (like google readers) search the website for latest updates. If you want to know the latest updates on, say, BBC and wondering where to get the RSS feed link, just go to BBC and search the page for "RSS" (usually at the bottom or top of the page with smaller font, like "contact us"). Click on it and it will lead to a separate page that has the RSS feed links for all the sections of BBC like news, podcasts etc.

8 facts

Liked the topic, muscled Ponnarasi to tag me

RULES :
Tagged bloggers should
1) post these rules first.
2) present 8 random facts/habits about themselves.
3) write on their own blog
4) choose eight people to tag and list their names.
5) leave a comment telling them they’re tagged

1. Used to be a very very silent kid, now I just can't shut up!
2. Belong to the few who studied in the US, but returned work in India
3. Avid coffee drinker - sometimes wonder if I consume coffee or coffee consumes me.
4. Like visiting temples with historic, architectural and cultural richness. Just worshiping with no tendency to understand background is a sin in itself.
   
5. Decent cook. But almost nobody knows about it. Best weapon to impress girls - Sambar. Getting good at Rasam (aim to get to mom's rasam). Other weapons in the arsenal, avial, fried rice, veg. pulao.
   
6. Actively take initiatives for improving Indian society - Why do I do it? Well, why don't others?
7. Almost never show a straight face when I get photographed! Orkut for evidence.
   
8. Love good movies! Don't believe in first-day-first-shows. I choose. Anything that doesn't have a story or a good comedy is money down the drain. Shawshank Redemption, Nayagan and Dil Chahta Hai are insurmountable bests in respective languages.

Tagging
Maaya, Anand, Aish, Doodler

Are slum-dwellers poor?

Off late I have been running into urban poverty and slum-dwelling a lot through articles on Urban Poverty alleviation and Slum displacement in India Together and a post in ThinkChange India.

At least articles in India Together suggest that slum-dwellers are subconsciously considered poor and marginalized group of people. However, one detail I came across in ThinkChange-India's (TC-I) post slum tourism got me thinking.

"There were two figures that Girish [tourist guide] kept repeating during the tour: 10,000, which is the number of small-scale industries operating in Dharavi, and USD 665 million, which is the annual turnover Dharavi’sresidents are estimated to generate."

When I read the Slum displacement article about the "unfair manner" in which Delhi Development Authority has has displaced the "poor" slum-dwellers to a slightly improved, but small tenements far from the city, I instinctively set out for an arm-chair investigation to ascertain the validity of both of the quoted adjectives.

Google-god :) blessed me with (only) two academic papers related to this topic. (Both open as PDFs)

[1] SLUMS IN CHENNAI: A PROFILE, Dr. C.Chandramouli, I.A.S.Director of Census Operations, Tamilnadu

[2] Livelihoods and Collective Action among Slum Dwellers in a Mega-City (New Delhi), IASCP conference 2002 **unpublished draft version**

The India Together article talks about the finding of a research done on Delhi's slums. The article's main argument about the "unfairness"

"... the plots are given [to slum-dwellers] on a five-year lease and there is no guarantee that the plot holders can continue to live there after that.....Why would anyone, rich or poor, be willing to relocate without a guarantee that they had the right to stay in the new location? "

However, [1] says that about 40% of Chennai slums are rented and indicates the active presence of land mafia. Chances are Delhi's case falls in the same ballpark. [2] directly says that vested interests actively collude the government officials/politicians in keeping slum-dwelling insecure. Given that, a 5-year guarantee of own land seems be a windfall to the displaced slum dwellers.

Further, [2] states that

"Average income about Rs 3000 (NOK 500) per month – more than twice that of official poverty line"

and

"Majority posessed a one- or two-room brick house (pucca)"

If so, they should be thankful for a 5 year accommodation with better standards of living (as claimed by the India Together article) in spite of not being exactly poor. After 5-years? Well, how about they finding their own way instead of looking for government help?

One possible source discrepancy could be the research methods carried out by the researcher quoted in India Together and the researcher referenced above. I have left a comment for the author in the website, and an e-mail to the authors of [2]. Hopefully that will throw some light.

To add more to this, before watching it in the movie Mudhalvan (Nayak in Hindi) I heard about instances when slum-dwellers do illegally rent out the flats that slum clearance board alloted with an intention to move them out of the slum to a nearby area with better living condition. Consequently, in spite of getting richer from the rent, they continue to more subsidies for being slum-dwellers by choice. I don't have any accepted material for this, but if I were a slum dweller it would make sense for me to do this. Now who is at the receiving end of corruption? The slum dweller or the government?

Getting to the question,
- Are the slum-dwellers really poor? Or are they just institutionalized to living in poor conditions?
- Do they really live there for want of choice or simply to extract more subsidies from govt and NGOs by selling "poverty"?

I think a typical slum is a mix of both, but I get a feeling that the scale is gradually tilting towards the latter on both the questions.

Finally, I later noticed that the post in TC-I carefully addressed only the living condition of Dharavi and refrained from poverty. Well done!

Personalized Orkut theme

Free Orkut Themes for Orkut Lovers | BizzNtech
Has a way to change the theme of your orkut home. If you are a Firefox user it works great! Here is a capture of my page!

Trade Balances due to rise in food-prices

The following is an interesting map that shows the trade-balances due to the projected price rise in food. The condition of African countries seem to be very bad! An already poor continent is projected to lose more than 1% of its 2005 GDP in trade! Looks like the only "middle-class" countries that get to gain reside in South America.

While I know that the map's projections show an unfair trend, I don't understand what trend is fair! Would the situation be fair if the developed nations lose and poor nations gain? How much the loss in the developed nations will in turn affect the under-developed ones? This is still a projected data. So, the more important questions are...can anything be done at all to avoid this projection from sliding into reality? If so, are the stake-holders, the UN, the developed nations and NGOs willing to make the relevant sacrifices?

British aid to India?

BBC Radio broadcast a short debate between two people, one from a British pro-taxpayer's organization called The Taxpayer's Alliance arguing against the British (taxpayer's) aid to India and the other from Christian Aid arguing for aid it.

The point behind the former's argument is the country has a fast growing economy and has a lot of money at its disposal. India should find means to redistributing its wealth itself instead of depending on British tax payers. Christian Aid says that taxation is the only means the Indian government has for redistributing its wealth, but faces unique problems like a large poor, population with very less means to earn their living, socially exclusion like the caste system, all of which call for immediate attention instead of waiting for a set of social reform policy to be implemented effectively.

I feel that a revamp in public administration, policy making and enforcement especially for poverty alleviation on part of Indian government is due even if this discussion is not considered. If the British funding is indeed revoked, it would be a blessing in disguise since (hopefully) it will put Indian government in a tight(er) spot and push for some innovative solution.

Demonizing plastic

"Never reuse coke bottle for storing drinking water. It may cause cancer", I was told by a friend once. That was shocking! I thought, "Can plastics react with food material in time and cause such harmful effects? Can't trust things with looks, can you?". Yet, somehow the statement seemed to make sense. After all, it is plastic! Its non-biodegradable, and with so much campaign to ban plastic, it has to be right!

From then on, when I see a plastic bottle lying around my kitchen or being reuse, my stomach used to churn and images of cancer victims vomiting blood on to the wash-basin or white kerchief (the colour contrast dramatized the fear factor!).

Recently, however, I came across a link to that talks about Myth and Reality about plastic Environmental Information System (ENVIS) an Indian government sponsored body "...to collect, collate and disseminate information relating to Environment to Universities, Registered Societies or Private Bodies or State Government Departments / Organisations."

Apparently, the whole campaign about plastic and cancer is just a sensational media campaign of what was a Master's Thesis that didn't go through the rigour of scientific peer review. Reuse of plastic is still not recommended for fears of spreading infection resulting from human contact and improper cleaning. But no cancer involved. This link and the pages that follow (find the small "next" link right at the bottom of this page link) offer a good insight not only into plastics, but also into the difference possible between the object and the perception of the object! For example, the link calls into question the use of paper as an alternative to plastics. It says

"Paper is not eco-friendly

We need to remind ourselves that making of paper and products consumes a lot of chemicals and requires a large amount of water and effluent problems are severe. Besides paper, unless coated with polymeric materials (or wax), cannot withstand wet conditions which are widely prevalent in India, particularly during monsoon periods. Paper making also consumes a lot of energy. In the Indian context the most serious problem is the availability of pulp. Environmental degradation has unquestionably occurred due to pulp manufacturing activities as commercial forestry, on large scale, is still a taboo. Padmabhushan Prof. M. M. Sharma (FRS) "

The article's take is that the only factor that can be called malicious to life is human. It repeatedly points out that plastic is not bio-degradable, but they are 100% recyclable. The solution to managing plastic is to recycling and recycling is entirely in our hands!

However, few details are unclear to me. My understanding is that there are recyclable thermoplastics like those used for making poly-bags and non-recyclable ones like Bakelite. What of the second kind?

Further, the link offers incineration as a way to get rid of plastic. I find from other links dedicated to protecting the environment that incineration is a widely hated method of generating energy from the waste. Unless an alternative method to this method exists, it seems that minimizing the use of plastic seems to be the best way forward.

Kam khatam, Dukhan band

This strip of land right opposite to our office building in Japan was occupied by a building of about 8 to 10 floors. Demolished, cleared, leveled, metaled and bordered with those iron rails. Total time taken 2 days!

Toriniku Roku-Ju-Go

If you are an Indian, and if you are especially a southie, you would have definitely heard of Chicken-65. If you are a non-vegetarian, you are a likely fan of Chicken-65.

Chicken? Yea! You know... then one that usually comes out of a hen's egg? The bird with under-developed wings that is part of the famous chicken-or-egg riddle? Ya! That one. Chicken. Now that you've got the first part, what the hell does "65" mean?

What wiki says is interesting. It says that the most logical conclusion is that it originated in North America, named after its price in cents, failed and managed to travel all the way to South India where it became a super-hit. This explanation would be logical if we are talking about Chick-Khans like Mumait Khan or Negar Khan. But here its chickens. Unfortunately!

That it was invented in 1965 seems more convincing. But its bland, unlike the spicy dish itself (I will take my Non-veg friends' words and C-65's looks for truth!). But I vote for the age of the chicken in days (65) as the reason for its name! Its unconventional and the mid violent after taste the explanation leaves behind looks more suitable to the possible taste dish itself might offer!

What the hell does Toriniku Roku-Ju-Go have to do with any of all this? Its just Japanese for Chicken-65.

Toriniku = Chicken
Roku = 6
Ju = 10
Roku-Ju = 60
Go = 5
Roku-Ju-Go = 65!

Haa Haa! All you non-vegetarian Rascala! Mind it!

Repetitve Strain Injury (RSI)

Its a video that we community relations team of our company for the wellness of employees. Its useful for all of us who have managed to establish a symbiotic relationship with our comp for a living!

Enjoy!

uRayoor

Prologue:
Its a sort of a deja vu, a semi-repeat of what I had experienced about two years ago. It was a hot and sultry May morning in Madras and I was on Koodal express towards Madurai. Then I had met my uncle, with grace I could make one of the most unforgettable visit to SriVilliputtur.

Now its again summer, hot and sultry evening and I was on Rock Fort Express to attend the wedding of my friend's sister in the Holy Sri Rangam. Its been over ten years since I met my friend. So, that was exciting in itself! As I already expected, all I could do was watch him run hither and thither taking care of the proceedings, as his sister kept smiling broadly throughout! The wedding went well and I took my leave after savoring the unique trichy wedding meals. Mission accomplished! :)

Earlier, as I was preparing for this journey, all I had in my mind was to accommodate the visit of Sri Rangam temple in my tight schedule (after Trichy, I visited Coimnbatore, all in a span of two days!). But my mom introduced me to uRaiyoor Nacciar Koil and said that it is a must-see for temple enthusiasts (like me!)! So, off I went to uRaiyoor!

Moolavar: Azhagiya Manavaalan
Thaayar: Kamal valli Nacciyaar


Temple architecture:
It was not more than a 10-15 minute bus travel from the Chatram Bus stand. At first sight Nacciyaar koil was a disappointment. The main Pagoda (gopuram), with just 5 storeys, was puny in comparison to the imposing Raja Gopuram of Sri Rangam (11 storeys). But upon close examination, it seemed to have some exquisite artforms so far not witnessed by me in other temples. For example, to one side of the gopuram, was the young Krishna flirting with gopikas. There was also Vishnu sitting on Adi Seshan flanked probably by a Chola king, with his sword and shield on his hips. On the other side of the Gopuram was a grand wedding ceremony of Lord Vishnu marrying Sri Devi. That is probably Azhagiya Manavaalan marrying Kamala valli Thayar!

I entered the Gopuram into the temple compound. If one were to have a top-view at the temple compound she would find the temple building at the center, a mid-sized pushkarni (the temple tank) occupying top-left, Swarga vaasal (entrance to the Heaven) towards the center-right. Towards the bottom-right would be a small mandapam. The entire area left for circumambulation is covered by the stone roof extended from the temple building and supported by stone-pillars with beautiful carvings, few of which depict a mythological instance. Towards the top-right side of the top-view, were two pillars, one depicted a couple of monkeys, the other humans, indulged in sexual intercourse. Now, I find that such depictions are more common in temples than one may think. I have found such depictions in Chenna Keshava temple, Chennai and in Govindaraja Perumal temple, Tirupati. It would be interesting to find out the underlying motive behind such depictions.

Inside the temple building, and facing the sanctum sanctorum is Garudar (The Eagle, who is the personal transportation for Lord Vishnu). Here He is called Amrutha Kalasa Garudar, as he is seen carrying a vessel of elixir (amruth). One pillar in this area carries a statue of Lord Anchaneyar (Hanuman) right along the height of the pillar. This temple has some fondness to Lord Hanuman for unknown reasons as his images are found on various pillars around the temple.

As I walk towards the sanctum sanctorum, I find the image of Gaja Lakshmi (with two elephants garlanding her from both sides) on top of the inner entrance.




Significance of the Moolavar and the Stalam:
Just as I was about to worship the Moolavar, it was time to close the temple for preparation for Tirumanjanam. During a quick Dharshan, I noticed that the frontal view of the Cakram (the disc) was not visible as is the case in all the other Vishnu stalams. However, only the side-view was visible. As the sanctum sanctorum was closed down, I came out of the main entrance to find the high priest of the temple walking around yelling orders at his disciples. Prima facie he seemed to be a rude person who doesn't entertain unsolicited enquiries about the temple. However, I felt that this could be a great chance to extract the temple history from the horse's mouth. So, I approached him rehearsing my almost forgotten Iyengar accent hoping that it would mitigate his wrath a bit. But when I asked for the "sthala purnam", he seemed to have taken aback by the phrase. Probably because he didn't expect a modern dude like me to even know about such a thing. He said, "I may have time to talk about the Moolavar, but I think it may take too long to answer your questions on the statues on the gopuram. Why don't we sit down?" (Yoohoooo! The Iyengar accent worked afterall!)

• This is the second of the 108 divya desams of Vishnu
  
• Moolavar, Azhagiaya Manavalan presents Himself along with Kamal valli Thayar (in a sitting posture) after marrying her!
• He is the exact replica of the Utsava murthy of Sri Rangam since Sri Ranganathar of Sri Rangam came here to marry Kamala Valli Thayar. Hence there is no Utsavar here.
  
• The Moolavar presents Himself in the posture of using this Cakram against the demons, a unique selling point of the Stalam
• The Stalam is devoted to Kamala valli thayar, since she is born to the Chola King Dharma Varman who ruled over this place.
• This place is also the birth place of Tiruppaan Azhwar.
  

Stala puranam:
Kamala valli Thayar took birth as a human due to the curse of Brihu muni. So, naturally, once the curse is over Lord Ranganathar has to come back for Her. Now it seems Lord Ranganathar had been a little too busy with taking care of people since he arrived here at uRaiyoor as an elderly person. As Kamala valli thayar was fetching water from the river, He promptly proposed to her (!!!) Shell-shocked by his proposal, Kamala Valli thayar dropped the pot (kudam) which rolled into the river. This only worsen her anxiety. Seizing the opportunity, Lord Ranganathar stuck a deal. He said, "If I get the pot for you, you should marry me!". Kamala valli thayar, told herself "There is no way this old man could do that, it is the easiest way to beat his appoaches". She promptly said "Sure!" with out knowing that this old man is The Lord Himself.

The Lord went into the river and came back a handsome young man holding her pot. Understandably, Kamala Valli Thayar sense something fishy about this and said, "now how is that possible!". He said in response, "Sure! it is possible becaaauseeeeeee..." and grew in size and showed is "Viswa Roopam". After this, Kamala Valli Thayar was comprehensively beaten and she was only too happy to marry him. Just as in any other love story, they live happily ever after right here in uRaiyoor! :)

By the way, the river is called Kudamurutti river (Kudam = river, urutti = to roll) after its vital role in the turning point of the love story!

Epilogue
After this I visited Uttamar koil, which has some powerful USP's

• A one-stop-temple to worship Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva and Saraswati (ASTOUNDING combo!)
• Probably the only place where Lord Brahma has a sannidhi (not verified!)
• Purushottaman, the name of Lord Vishnu here, who presents Himself at the request of Manavaala muni

After this I visited Coimbatore where I visited Marudamalai. My first ever visit to a Murga temple. It was on an auspicious day and had a good darshan of Him along with a good Tamil slokam recitation (nothing like a sloka that you can actually understand!)

Holy Tetris!

I have heard about the craziness with which the Chinese and the Japanese work. I have seen them in action sometimes. But I have always wondered how much more crazy can they really get. And the bar keeps rising....

Last mile of my complete self

It is said that man is made of 80% water ( and 20% matter ). But that is not where it really ends. What makes a man complete? Atma, morality... well it gets too spiritual if I walk down that road! Attitude, perspiration... Crap now I sound more like my manager. So, I look all over and around me and find that there is one thing that covers the "last mile" of my complete self! Brands of 10 things that I currently can't live without!

Toothbrush: Colgate
Shaving kit: Gilette
Soap: Medimix
Deo: Axe (Pulse)
Best Garment: Nike
Watch: Titan, Casio
Shoes: Sketchers
Bag: Samsonite
Mobile: Samsung C200
Subscriber: Vodafone

Tagging
Aishwarya Mishra
Anand
Driver
Maaya
Kavya Roy

Hat-trick of the firsts!

Its a day of pleasant and unusual events. My mom has been retired for over a decade now. While she used to have her set of friends, after she got her voluntary retirement, over the past decade, her gang of friends have also subsequently retired and she seemed to lost touch with them. But last week, she dug up her address books and spent about two hours on phone with her friends. Following that, today one of her friends visited her. This is the first time in her life in Chennai (since 1978) that someone is visiting her!

After about three to four hours of catching up with the past, her friend decided that its time for her to leave. My mom suggested that she would join her to visit another common friend of theirs! She dressed up quickly and told me. "Badhri! I am going to visit my friend along with her. I may come late in the afternoon!'. That is something that I have never heard from my mom! It is usually I who says those words to my mom! :) That is another unique first!

And it doesn't stop there! After about my half-an-hour, I woke up from my work to hear someone cooking in the kitchen! I was about to get up to find out who it was, but my dad came to me with a plate of "Adai" (a dish similar to dosa, only a little thicker and made of a different flour), beaming with a self-congratulatory smile. He said "Now that your mom has gone to visit her friend, I am free to play in the kitchen! I called your sister, got instructions on how to make Adai and tried it out! Come come, try it and let me know how it is!".

My dad has cooked before, if my mom fell sick or if she has gone out of station. But I wouldn't say that he enjoyed the freedom at the kitchen. Unguided by my mom, he usually screwed up a dish or made a big mess at the kitchen, or did something for my mom to come back and complain later. But this time, my dad's adai turned out to be perfect! Six pieces, all circular, none over-fried. A little salty for me, but my dad likes the extra salt. I called my sister and told her my dad's achievement! She gave the credit to where it belonged. But the best credit was what was not said. When my mom came back, she had her share of adai, examined the kitchen, came back and settled down without a word to watch Velukkudi Krishnan's explanation of the meanings of Bhagavat Gita!

Splendid! That is another first. Hat-trick!

How to make the humans not to emulate dogs?

Hyderabad has a very "liberal" attitude when it comes to answering natures calls. Almost everyone seems to think "As long as it is out of your body, it doesn't matter where it goes".

I stay in an apartment adjoining a stream of sewage. Right on the main road, is a long compound wall and a relatively well constructed pavement. These are very attractive places for the "Filled-up and the Restless" to relieve themselves. There is also a moderately maintained Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation's (GHMC) public toilet. GHMC has strategically constructed such toilets at various locations in Hyderabad close to such places that are used as public toilet. However, the GHMC toilets are clearly not used properly. I think it is because of the one-rupee that is charged for use. Now this is a problem statement. The solution is to conceive a way by which the use of this (or any public) toilet can be enforced.

I think this issue is directly related to Standard of Living, though the benefits can be intangible prima facie. So, I am interested to do something to ensure that this trend doesn't continue. I am willing to take suggestions on this.

The questions that I have be answered are

1. If you live in Hyderabad or a place that has similar attitude, do you think the cause the one-rupee charge?
   
2. If, so, is that the only cause?

On my part, since I feel the money is the problem here, we can create a public fund of one rupee coins and allow (meaning persuade) "the Filled-up and the Restless" to use money from the fund for the toilet instead. That is the theory. I do understand practical considerations.

• How to collect the money?

• How to safe-guard and disburse the money (vending machine?)

• How to advertise the fund and advertise against the use of compound wall or sewage.
  

But before all that

1. Do you have any alternative/better/easier/more sensible ideas?
2. If not at least do you think that this idea can be modified/improved?

We need to keep in mind that the idea may have to be implemented at different places in Hyderabad and elsewhere. This may be a farsighted consideration, but I think it is important nevertheless!

Blah blah blah ... Wah!

That was hilarious! Everything about that was right except that Headlines Today is also among the pack. But why blame the news channels alone? Turn to entertainment and out of about 25 channels (or is it more than that?) not a single one seems to have found a source of entertainment that is not related to movies and the slow-moving soaps. And the lesser I talk about the channels that strive to "deliver the divine truth" the better it would be. It is startling that humans, in spite of being different in almost every aspect starting from DNA, facial features, fingerprints, cornea, brain structure, blood group and so on, seem to be hopelessly and boringly SAME when it comes to airing a television program, publishing a newspaper or making a movie!

But then this isn't such a new point to talk about. The boredom is so much around us that we seem to have become institutionalized to it. How else do you explain the fact that there are so many worshipers of so many soaps with blaring and ill-fitting background score and ignominious dialogues? How else do you explain the fact that a well-known hero, a new-face model, a party number and its remix and a bunch of sleazy encounters (though lifted off from hollywood) can easily offset a storyline that doesn't exist, roles that calls for no acting and actors who don't have roles to become box-office hits?

Now this whole post may be self-referential! You may ask me "You talk about trite. What is so new about this post? This is talked about by almost everyone who maintains a blog! Your post is only as different as the programmes you talk about!"

Good point! That is why I shut up for such a long time! But for sometime now, it appears that at least somebody in the broadcasting business has finally got bored of the sameness. The Tamil channel called "MakkaL TV" - "MakkaL" being Tamil for the work people - stands as a proof for the fact that....

1) ... entertainment extends beyond movies
For the last two weeks that I have caught a glimpse of this channel, I didn't find a single program that is related to movies! Yet the channel has managed to come up with programs that entertain people. Considering the dependence of the other channels on movies for their survival, this channel seems to have taken up a very bold challenge and won it hands down ! The most attractive programmes are interactive. To highlight a few..

• "Tamil pesu, thanga kaasu" (Speak Tamil and win a gold coin) is a challenge to the general public to speak continuously with out usage of any other language.
• "Sol vilayattu" (word game) is another 3-round challenge played live over the phone, Word jumble, "cross-word", and "who is in the picture?", at the end of which the winner wins a handsome prize, a silk Saree!
• Over the phone employment advise for the unemployed

2) ......one can speak Tamil with minimal use of English and still not sound weird!
The presenters of all the TV programs in this channel stick to colloquial yet unadulterated Tamil language and are dressed in traditional and simple tamil attire such as dothi, Khadi shirts and Saree (though not always). The more important aspect is that the channel doesn't seem to overplay the pro-Tamil sentiment and stops well short of looking and sounding Tamil-chauvinistic.

As a downside, I must point out one fact. Like most of the other Tamil channels, this is also run by a political party and an ally in the current DMK coalition government, Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK). And I haven't watched their news reports yet. That gives me a fear that I might have come up with this post a little too soon!

கண்ணதாஸனின் வரியில்..1

இன்பமும் காதலும் இயற்க்கையின் நீதி..
எற்றத்தாழ்வுகள் மனிதனின் ஜாதி..
பாரில் இயற்க்கை படைத்ததையெல்லாம்..
பாவி மனிதன் பி்ரித்து வைத்தானே!

மனிதன் மாரிவிட்டான்...

Truth Happens

An open letter to The Hindu

Respected Editor,
The purpose of this e-mail is to express my deep disappointment over the prejudiced views expressed by The Hindu against men citing the unfortunate and detestable "Mumbai molestation" incident on the New Year's eve in the article "An assault on dignity" - The Hindu Magazine dated 13th January 2008

Quote from the article

"The real issue that we must grapple with when such incidents occur has a name; it is "patriarchy". It includes the inability of men to accept that women have rights, that they are human beings, that they should be left alone, that they have a right tooccupy space in the public arena."

To say that all men are unable to consider women as human beings reflects a narrow-minded and prejudiced outlook of the author against men. I don't deny that social malices like dowry system still exists and are perpetrated solely against women. But on what basis does Ms. Kalpana come to a conclusion that such crimes are committed only by men? I do agree to the fact that women are always the victims in rape and I do empathize with them. At the same time there are also numerous cases in which women place false molestation charges against men and get away with it riding on the benefit of the "sympathy factor". What is the intention of Ms. Kalpana? To get justice for women or to get even with men for all the crimes committed against women (by both men and women)?

A sizable number of terrorism-related incidents can be attributed to Islamic terrorists, Indians or otherwise. I am sure The Hindu would not publish an article that implies that all muslims are terrorists. Why then does it publish an article that aims at blaming and defaming men because crimes are committed against women (by both men and women)? Articles such as these helps no good cause, but can flame up male and female egoism.

Ms. Kalpana is entitled to her opinion, however prejudiced, shallow and shameful they are. But the fact that this article made it to the front page of The Magazine (due to lapse in editing or conscious endorsement by the editorial team) is a clear indicator of the fast declining standards of journalism The Hindu. I believe, just like how money problems can't be solved my money, gender issues can't be solved by only one gender or pitching one gender against the other.

The only ways are
1. consensus between the two genders by sensitizing both of them of problems faced by one another,
2. strict *enforcement* of the law to deter perpetration of such crimes (this includes accessibility and transparency of law enforcement agencies)

--

Sincerely,
Badhrinath J
303, Patnivilla Apartments,
Rasoolpura, Begumpet,
Hyderabad - 500016


PS: I am also in total disagreement with the following views of the author


"Laws have never succeeded in changing mindsets. The death penalty has not reduced the number of murders. The Dowry Act has not stopped the custom of giving and taking dowries. Stronger laws dealing with crimes against women, although essential, have not reduced the incidence of crime"

These views seem to lack supporting evidence. Was there a time in India when the death penalty was abolished and the rate of murder increased or remained the same? Further, this analysis also depends on how well the laws are enforced, and how easy was it to make complaints when crimes are committed.

An open letter to The Hindu

Respected Editor,
The purpose of this e-mail is to express my deep disappointment over the prejudiced views expressed by The Hindu against men citing the unfortunate and detestable "Mumbai molestation" incident on the New Year's eve in the article "An assault on dignity" -The Hindu Magazine dated 13th January 2008

Quote from the article
"The real issue that we must grapple with when such incidents occur has a name; it is "patriarchy". It includes the inability of men to accept that women have rights, that they are human beings, that they should be left alone, that they have a right tooccupy space in the public arena."

To say that all men are unable to consider women as human beings reflects a narrow-minded and prejudiced outlook of the author against men. I don't deny that social malices like dowry system still exists and are perpetrated solely against women. But on what basis does Ms. Kalpana come to a conclusion that such crimes are committed only by men? I do agree to the fact that women are always the victims in rape and I do empathize with them. At the same time there are also numerous cases in which women place false molestation charges against men and get away with it riding on the benefit of the "sympathy factor". What is the intention of Ms. Kalpana? To get justice for women or to get even with men for all the crimes committed against women (by both men and women)?

A sizable number of terrorism-related incidents can be attributed to Islamic terrorists, Indians or otherwise. I am sure The Hindu would not publish an article that implies that all muslims are terrorists. Why then does it publish an article that aims at blaming and defaming men because crimes are committed against women (by both men and women)? Articles such as these helps no good cause, but can flame up male and female egoism.

Ms. Kalpana is entitled to her opinion, however prejudiced, shallow and shameful they are. But the fact that this article made it to the front page of The Magazine (due to lapse in editing or conscious endorsement by the editorial team) is a clear indicator of the fast declining standards of journalism The Hindu. I believe, just like how money problems can't be solved my money, gender issues can't be solved by only one gender or pitching one gender against the other. The only ways are

1. consensus between the two genders by sensitizing both of them of problems faced by one another,

2. strict *enforcement* of the law to deter perpetration of such crimes (this includes accessibility and transparency of law enforcement agencies)


--
Sincerely,
Badhrinath J
303, Patnivilla Apartments,
Rasoolpura, Begumpet,
Hyderabad - 500016

PS: I am also in total disagreement with the following views of the author

"Laws have never succeeded in changing mindsets. The death penalty has not reduced the number of murders. The Dowry Act has not stopped the custom of giving and taking dowries. Stronger laws dealing with crimes against women, although essential, have not reduced the incidence of crime"

These views seem to lack supporting evidence. Was there a time in India when the death penalty was abolished and the rate of murder increased or remained the same? Further, this analysis also depends on how well the laws are enforced, and how easy was it to make complaints when crimes are committed.

When you say "My life stinks" - 4-a

Accident with mathematics

It was Saturday, albeit an unusual one in that, I decided not be at my office to accompany the deserted cubicles. I decided to visit my uncle's family. His is a ?ollywood family. Four members, energetic dad, caring mom, elder daughter who defines the words "cute" and "sweet" and a younger son who cares more about defining "naughty" and "mischievous".

My uncle is a thinker! He has a take on almost everything. He has questions, often unanswerable if you are not allowed to guess. He also discovers facts that a normal man probably wouldn't. He has an excellent feel for "landmark-dates" in the past. Wedding anniversaries? No problem! Who died in the family, when and before who? Piece of cake! He remembers almost everyone's birthdays of course! Hence he is very good at finding out the age of anyone among our relatives.

"You are 27 now right?" This is how it started on the saturday!
"Yea!", I said.
"Age 28 is unique for you because, next year you will celebrate your birthday on the exact same day of the week, that you were born!"
I started calculating..when he interrupted!.

"If you observe holidays year after year, if Diwali falls on a monday this year, it will fall on a tuesday next year. But if it is a leap year, it will fall on a wednesday. So, if you add one for every year after 28 years you would add 28 days! Now in 28 years there are 7 leap years! So, 28+7=35 and 35 is divisible by 7!"

I said "Coooooooool!"

His eyes lit up when he said, "Its simple LCM!" and smiled!

My aunt, busy preparing the day's breakfast and hence oblivious to our discoveries, called out from the kitchen. "Do you hear me? The cooking gas is empty!

Can you please replace it?" He got up and pulled the new gas cylinder into the kitchen. I followed him into the kitchen for no apparent reason. I was looking for more. As he worked on replacing the cylinder, he seemed to be thoughtful and run out of things to say!

After a few minutes emerged out of his thoughts and said "We have been talking about mathematics and incidentally, today is December 22, 2007 and Sarvajit year according to the Tamil Calender. Do you know what is special today?"

I blurted out foolishly, "Tsunami in 2002?"

"That was on December 26. Remember? It was boxing day test match between Sri Lanka and Australia and Sri Lankan team came back. So no your answer is not correct!" He smiled again.

"Tamil Calender has a 60 year cycle. As I said earlier, this is Sarvajit year. So was 1947 (60 yrs ago), the year we got independence. And today in 1887 (120 yrs ago), a sarvajit year again, the mathematical genius Srinivasa Ramanujan was born! Incidentally we are talking about mathematics!".

Then he called out to my aunt. "I have fixed it!"

When you say "My life stinks" - 3-b

Gaza: Children of conflict - 2

When you say "My life stinks" - 3-a

Gaza : Children of Conflict - I

A lesson learnt - I

I was standing by the roadside waiting for my roomie to show up so that we can go to work together. The road was getting ready for another day's traffic congestion as the city was just starting to get to work along with me.

At time, there I spotted one man on a dilapidated Kinetic Honda in a plain sky-blue track suit distinctly out of place in that crowd. Just as he passed me his pocket promptly dropped his wallet. Before I could wave to him, he was gone.

Two bikers behind riding right him both typically anxious to get to work, stopped nevertheless and started exploring his wallet. I approached them to ensure that they are looking for an address rather than money (not that there was any in it!). After some futile attempts, they finally spotted a bunch of Business cards that carried "Satish Gupta: Global Needs". They matched it with a confidential pin-number intimation letter addressed to the same name, that was also in his wallet.

I started punched his number and informed that he has almost lost his all. As he was riding back I was basked in self-congratulatory mood telling myself "See, that is such a nice guy I am :)".

Within minutes the blue martian with a graying mustache was standing in front of me. "Thank you sir, I was told by another rider that I dropped my wallet. I was on my way, but didn't hope to find it". ...... Then his voice went mute as something stuck me. I started investigating my wallet even as the blue martian's face posted a question mark that constantly grew up in size.

After sometime I looked up and said. "Its good that you had your business card. I don't have one in my wallet." I fortunately had an untidy one in my bag which I wouldn't give to anybody. As I inserted it in to a groove in my wallet, I told him "A lesson learnt"

When you say "My life stinks" - 2

Darfur

When you say "My life stinks" - 1

This is a new series of videos that highlight or (is it lowlight) the plight of the people affected by conflict in different parts of the world. Hopefully this will put us in the place on a global perspective and remind us how much better our lives are the next time we say "My life stinks!"

Starting with Srilanka

Twin temples of Chennai

After what seems to be a long time, I went back to Chennai for a one-week-break for the naming ceremony of my new nephew which fell close on the heels of Deepavali celebrations. Being a bachelor in a family gathering has little advantages. With no wife to look after, I became the most reliable person to handle all the emergency needs. That's to eulogize things. To paint a more realistic picture, I was footballed around for almost any and every need of the hour. Chennai weather, in november was no less hostile. But hey, for once I was actually useful. And not everything worked against me. In one instance of the shopping spree, I went to Parry's Corner with my dad where I bumped into the twin-temples of Chenna Malleeswarar and Chenna kesava temples!

So, the story so far turns out to be "I left the twin-cities for a twin-occasion and got to visit a twin-temple." Hmm, how often do you get that combo??

Built in the early 1640's, this temple is said the first temple built after the settlement of the English East India Company in India. The current Pagoda (the gopuram) is actually a replacement (built around a century later) of an earlier one which was brought down in order to expand Fort St. George.

This a much younger temple vis-a-vis the other temples within the city limits of the present day Chennai (Parthasarathy temple, Triplicane, Kapaleeswarar temple, Mylapore and Marundeeswarar temple, Tiruvanmiyur) which are built around 10th century AD). Neverthless, this temple seems to be no less coveted than other temples in its unique features.

- This temple is a coeval of the Chennai city itself!
- The only twin-temple in Chennai that is dedicated to Lord Shiva as well as Lord Vishnu!
- The name of the city owes is a copyright of this temple!
- Probably the only temple in chennai (if not TN) to have a carving of the person was instrumental in its construction

I entered the temple right about the time it was to be closed in the afternoon. So, I could get only a quick look at around the temple. Here is what I could quickly note and gather.

Moolavar: Channa keshava perumal with Sridevi and Bhoodevi Thayar. (no points for guessing)
Utsavar: Shanta Nrusimhar, a representative of the temple with the same incarnation as moolavar in Tiruneermalai, a locality at the outskirts of Chennai. (I wonder what is the Utsavar @ Tiruneermalai! :) )

- A good painting of Lord Vishnu marrying SriDevi under the auspices of Lord Shiva and Lord Brahma, on the ceiling of the temple's gopuram (I guarantee you, about 1% of the visitors would have really thought about looking straihgt up, let alone admire the painting!).

- The usual sannidhis for SriDevi, Bhoodevi, Chakkaratazhvar, Kothandaramar, and all the Alwars who conjured up the Bhakti Movement.

- Pillar sculptures represented the ten reincarnations of Lord Vishnu and various flagship scenes of Krishna avatar (reincarnation) like Kalinga Nardanam (Krishna's dance on the head of a 10-headed Cobra).

The surprise element of the temple - Two pillars of the temple premises had the sculpture of Andal Nachiyar - The only female alwar and believed to be the reincarnation of Goddess SriDevi.

What is so surprising about it? Well, the sculptures depicted her *naked*!

I had to step a bit closer to double check (It was really embarrassing. Trust me!). But it was unmistakable, the trademark parrot on her right hand and the trademark standing posture!

I am not surprised at the naked depiction in general. I have seen sculptures explicitly depicting various postures of sexual intercourse on the main Gopuram of Sri Govindaraja Perumal temple in Tirupati. But those were anonymous and didn't represent any revered God or Godess. I have also seen topless sculptures of Goddess Lakshmi that are quite common. But this is the first time I am seeing a revered Goddess (Sridevi) depicted totally nude!

References:
The Hindu : Metro Plus Chennai / Columns : An end and a beginning
Chennai - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Corporation of Chennai

Templenet - The Comprehensive Indian Temple website

Celebrating Gandhi

"I shall work for an India in which the poorest shall feel that it is their country, in whose making they have an effective voice, an India in which there shall be no high class and low class of people; an India in which all communities shall live in perfect harmony. There can be no room in such an India for the curse of untouchability, or the curse of intoxicating drinks and drugs. Women will enjoy the same rights as men. We shall be at peace with all the rest of the world. This is the India of my dreams"

This is the Gandhian Pledge that the Prime Minister of India took on Oct. Sixty years after Independence and we are still pledging. Take a look at his dreams. We have got started on, forget about achieving, NONE of them. Why kid ourselves when we care the least about what he said?

We have to be honest to accept that

1. we know very less about Gandhian ideals and hence lose the right to fallaciously admire him or judge him
2. even a great man like Gandhi cannot be correct in *all* his ideals and *all* his ideals need not apply transcending time.

So, if we are interested in celebrating his birthday, we have to read about him. Read about his ideals at least to the point that we find at least one of his ideals that we disagree with. And we find at least one of his ideals which we feel will not be applicable to the present day.

Now that would be an honest celebration of his greatness on his birthday. At least better than the false idol worship we indulge in. What do you say?

Celebrating Gandhi

"I shall work for an India in which the poorest shall feel that it is
their country, in whose making they have an effective voice, an India
in which there shall be no high class and low class of people; an India
in which all communities shall live in perfect harmony. There can be no
room in such an India for the curse of untouchability, or the curse of
intoxicating drinks and drugs. Women will enjoy the same rights as men.
We shall be at peace with all the rest of the world. This is the India
of my dreams"

This is the Gandhian Pledge that the Prime Minister of India took on Oct. Sixty years after Independence and we are still pledging. Take a look at his dreams. We have got started on, forget about achieving, NONE of them. Why kid ourselves when we care the least about what he said?

We have to be honest to accept that

1. we know very less about Gandhian ideals and hence lose the right to fallaciously admire him or judge him
2. even a great man like Gandhi cannot be correct in *all* his ideals and *all* his ideals need not apply transcending time.

So, if we are interested in celebrating his birthday, we have to read about him. Read about his ideals at least to the point that we find at least one of his ideals that we disagree with. And we find at least one of his ideals which we feel will not be applicable to the present day.

Now that would be an honest celebration of his greatness on his birthday. At least better than the false idol worship we indulge in. What do you say?

Quota: Centre gets it right in the ass!

New report:

"Inclusion of a caste in the list would mean that it was previously socially advanced and did not figure among the backward class communities. But with time, their social status deteriorated and they had to be included in the list. This means more and more castes are getting backward as there are only inclusions and none being excluded from the list," it said.

Vahanvati said as per the procedure before NCBC, a caste could be excluded from the list only if someone filed a complaint alleging that a caste had become socially advanced. "No petitions have been filed seeking exclusion of any caste," he said.

The Bench replied, "Merely because there is no complaint, NCBC cannot abdicate its duty to conducta periodic review of the social status of castes included in the backward list."

Referring to the swelling number of castes in the backward list, the Bench said, "This means for 60 years, people who were disadvantaged continue to be backward. If this is so, then what is the meaning of the arrangements for social advancement of backward community for all these years?"

Times of India, 26 Sep 2007,

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/Why_is_no_group_ever_excluded_from_quota_SC/articleshow/2402984.cms

This reminds me of Kevin Verbal Kent's (Kevin Spacey) narration in the movie "The Usual Suspects" about how he felt when he along with his "usual suspects" busted The New York police's involvement drug racket.

"They got it right in the ass. It was beautiful"

So is the message "Sunita achievied despite a being of Gujarati origin"?

...so, the news tells me that Sunita Williams is a celebrity in India! She has won the Prestigious Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Vishwa Pratibha Award. Great! But before we talk about it any further, a brief life history of this successful astronaut.

Born: Euclid, Ohio
Father: Dr. Deepak Pandya, Indian
Mother:Bonnie Pandya, Slovenian
Education:

• Needham High School, Needham, Massachusetts, 1983.
• B.S., Physical Science, U.S. Naval Academy"U.S. Naval Academy, 1987.
• M.S., Engineering Management, Florida Institute of Technology, 1995

Marital Status: Married to Michael J. Williams, a Federal Police Officer
Occupation: Commander, US, Navy
Recent Achievements:

- Unprecedented 3 spacewalks in 9 days
- Cumulative total of 29 hours, 17 minutes in four spacewalks, highest spacewalk time for a woman.

Now these sure seem to be commendable achievements. But to put things into perspective, as the Vishwa Gujarati Samaj (VGS) claims this award is conferred "to well-known Gujaratis recognizing their lifelong services/contribution to the cause of Gujarat".

If the point is to recognize people who have served Gujarat, where does Sunita William's marathon fit in? Or if it is to recognizes her achievements, why was it not given to the person who has achieved the same feet earlier? Because she is not a Gujarati? From what I see, the only thing that connects Sunita to Gujarat is her father who was a practicing doctor there before moving to the US and she owes the plaudits and accolade not to her perseverence, but to her father.

For our own sake, why don't we refrain from quoting one's origin (place or community) as a reason for conferring an accolade to someone? It appears to send a specious message to the world, "Sunita could break the space walking record despite being a Gujarati." Would you like that tag on you Sunita?

Sources: Wikipedia

Tribute to a soul that entered and departed 100 years ahead of its time

மஹாகவி சுப்ரமணிய பாரதியார்
டிசம்பர் 11, 1882 - செப்டம்பர் 11, 1921

"Mahakavi" Subramania Bharathiyar
December 11, 1882 - september 11, 1921

'மாதர் தம்மை இழிவு செய்யும்

மடமையை கொளுத்துவோம்'

We will destroy the idiocy
Of denigrating womanhood

நெஞ்சு பொறுக்குதில்லையே - இந்த
நிலைகெட்ட மனிதரை நினைந்துவிட்டால்

"கொஞ்சமோ பிரிவினைகள் - ஒரு
கோடியென் றாலது பெரிதாமோ ?

'My blood boils to think of these idiotic men!
How many divisions within us, they are more than a crore!…'

Tribute to a soul that entered and departed 100 years ahead of its time

மஹாகவி சுப்ரமணிய பாரதியார்
டிசம்பர் 11, 1882 - செப்டம்பர் 11, 1921

"Mahakavi" Subramania Bharathiyar
December 11, 1882 - september 11, 1921

'மாதர் தம்மை இழிவு செய்யும்

மடமையை கொளுத்துவோம்'

We will destroy the idiocy
Of denigrating womanhood

நெஞ்சு பொறுக்குதில்லையே - இந்த
நிலைகெட்ட மனிதரை நினைந்துவிட்டால்

"கொஞ்சமோ பிரிவினைகள் - ஒரு
கோடியென் றாலது பெரிதாமோ ?

'My blood boils to think of these idiotic men!
How many divisions within us, they are more than a crore!…'

Run

Life is a rat race. From the time our minds matured enough to distinguish between our mom from others we have been running. Some times behind a bus, sometimes a teacher or sometimes the manager. But we have been running to ensure that we are not left behind.

Interspersed in this never-ending struggle to stay afloat are momentary respites during which we walk back to the "good old days" when life was easy. But hey, haven't we been running all our life? Where did these "good old days" infiltrate from into our past?

Delving into my past I find that such nostalgic memories don't really constitute days that start with a morning filter coffee and end with a "sweet dreams" kiss on the forehead. Instead they are transient moments of memorable joy or just another respite in which we stopped running and life didn't speed backwards! Be whatever it may, they replenish our tired mind with enough energy to get up and start running again. Yet, as we keep running we always manage to let these magical moments zip past us from the uncertain future directly into the nostalgic past.

May be we should use the next break to evolve a strategy to catch the past as it happens. It may so happen that we are just running behind "good old days" instead of a bus. But hey, is the situation any better now?

...and there is this!

..................

Throw up!

I remember the last time I had to throw up an undigested potato patty half-way through my work-out at the gym. I felt that I was going to remove my food-pipe the same way I remove my socks. I couldn't eat or drink anything for the next two or three hours. But there are creatures on this earth for whom its all in the day's work!

Postcard from Singapore

I am in Singapore on a business assignment, sitting in our 31st floor office that is really an enclosed balcony (with 30 floors of nothing right under the floor) that overlooks the confluence of the North Pacific and the Indian Ocean.


My short observations of the place.
- British style right-hand drive, to the left-side of the road
- Lush green vegetation everywhere, along side the roads.
- Chinese, chinese and more chinese. Restaurants, cafes are all chinese (people and cuisines). Burger King, ice-creams and baked breads have kept me alive here.
- Tamil letters "சிங்கப்பூர்" in the currency and coins are all that is Tamil that I have seen so far. Few Indians, but no Tamils!
- Disciplined people. Example? I have about 12 students (3 malaysians) in my class. Every day people walked in almost on time. When they wanted to have water, they picked up styroform cup. But as against condemning them to the dust-bin after first use, neatly wrote their names on them and used them for water all day! Impressive.
- Some similarity in their gestures to that of Indians. When they wanted to express "how did you make such a stupid mistake" they hit their fore-head (which I thought till date was an Indian copyright!)
- Most Girls prefer higher-than-knee skirts, and healed footwear. Few of them wear short. Evenings are dominated by shoooooort shorts. Very few jeans, and very few sneekers. Guys....well who cares!
- Indians...they don't change anywhere they go. I went to an authorised money changer (who is an Indian) and exchange USD 50 to get singapore $75 . He just gave me the cash and walked away without bothering a transaction receipt. I asked for it and in a typical Indian style he typed a "50 X 1.5 = 75" in a plain low-quality paper, as if I can't do the math. I clarified him "In case you don't know, a receipt is some thing that has at least an address on it!". He said "You will such receipts in Mustafa! Not in small places like this". I pointed him to the Cash transaction receipt book that was lying right in front of both of us and said with a glower "What is that then? Look, if you are not giving me the receipt, I will get the money changed somewhere else". He looked at me with a "Shit! Busted!" expression and gave me the receipt.

(Don't try to come up with a nationalistic "What makes you think that Singaporeans are better?" How does it matter to me?)

I have pictures, but left my USB back home in India! A typical me!

Eight

Tagged by Ranit (no not that one-eyed king, stupid) and the concept it 8. So, here it goes

An abstract one to start with!

1. I have completed about 21 years of education, but have just started learning about learning!

2. I am perceived to be a cheerful fellow, equally by guys and girls, but have never had (and likely will never have) a girl friend! I am not sure if that is an achievement or a misfortune!

3. Inspite of my share of failures in life, I consider myself luckier than about 80% of people in the world. Why?
- Never had any bad ailments or disability, temporary or permanent, nor got hospitalized for any reason whatsoever. As a "touch wood", here is another fact. I was bitten by dog.....twice!
- I have an enviable gang of friends (in the truest sense of its meaning) who have helped me in need (and this is not cliche)
- Parents, brother, sister...no complaints there (I wish I had a sibling) either!

Bottom line, I have enough of every thing one needs!

4. I have a lot of things that I fear, but end up gathering the strength to face the music. Whether I have won or not is another matter.

5. Inspite of my reasonable command over the English language, my reading speed is abysmal.

6. I can read Japanese, but my reading speed is (Eng. WPM) / 100000

7. Unlike an average Indian, my contribution to the society doesn't stop with paying taxes. But I have never voted.

8. Unlike an average engineering graduate, I *hate* the days of my undergraduate engineering. That is one things I would wish to change if I can go back in time.

Tagging...
Driver: Anonymous
Maaya: Cousin
Srinivas: Dost
Ponnarasi: Fellow Blogger
Anand: Dost
DNA: Anonymous
Sriram: Dost
Subha: Invite with fingers crossed!

Rules of the game :
- Each player starts with 8 random facts/habits about themselves.
- People who are tagged, write a blog post about their own 8 random things, and post these rules.
-At the end of your post you need to tag 8 people and include their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment and tell them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.
- If you fail to do this within eight hours, you will not reach Third Series or attain your most precious goals for at least two more lifetimes :)

Thank god!

Hanuman can grow or shrink in size as per his wish! Cool!
Strangely, So can his weapon.
Evidently, so can his clothes!
Thank god! :)

Need of the hour

I have heard some time in the past, not exactly in the same words, that

"The more you learn, the more you realize about how less you know."

I cannot agree more. Based on a quick introspection, I have listed for myself six traits that I need no later than NOW. I have identified a lot of "traits" that I have to do away with, but a little rumination told me that those "traits" are only the offshoot of the paucity/absence of one or more of the elements of the list.



This list leaves me wondering "What do I have now, if I don't have any of these?". But the first element of the list proscribes such a thought! :)



1. Positive outlook

2. Meticulous planning

3. Relentless pursuit

4. Discipline

5. Application

6. Time management



Tagging...

Driver

Maayaa

Srinvas

Ponnarasi

Calling for answers

Source: Artswithoutborders.com

This is an "infamous" M.F. Hussain painting's The question I have is simple and straight.

"Why is Sita naked here?"

I can possibly find a fairly simple and straight explanation for Hanuman's nakedness. He is a monkey. He is great, strong, cool, adorable and admirable monkey. Clothing him up may be just euphemism on our part. But I don't understand Sita's nakedness.

I made a quick, short search and was flooded with opinions tangential to my question.. like "freedom of expression" and "naked goddesses in Hindu temples" and "nakedness implies purity" and all that. So, just gave up. I just want to know the answers, I would hope, from M.F. since he has created this and he is the only one who can come up with the *real* reason. But anybody's direct, unprejudiced view is invited.

Ungrowing: At the frontier of my memory

This is as far down the memory lane I can look. When it comes to evening cricket on a bouncy uneven pitch on a march covered ground, I was unstoppable. Lesser people like my family members could do nothing to keep me from it. They prayed the almighty. They were looking for help at the wrong place! They never realized in all those now nostalgic years that there is one hero who can spin a web around and drag me back home every Sunday at 5:30 PM, no matter where I was. He is your friendly neighbourhood...




(concludes!)

Why women don't like hill stations..

Source: Reader's Digest

Ungrowing - peeling of another layer!

Sundays during higher-secondary were universally spent among Math's test papers, chemistry equations and physics record notebooks. Right at around 5:00PM when I felt like my brain can't take any more variables that I never understand, this "entertainment tonic" used to revitalize me like a spring water does a dried-up throat...and it fit right into my schedule just half-an-hour!. Like a correct-size wallet!

This is one cartoon that I would like to re-visit without treading the mine-field that higher-secondary used to be!

What's Gandhi doing here in Israel?

Un-growing

Un-growing, I believe, is one of the best ways, not only to kill time during night shifts, but also to lose some of the vagaries of growing up. Television, like it did to most of the others I grew up with, screwed up my life too! But somehow it still forms one of the best part of my sweet memories as I take the time machine back to the days of the Black-and-white Solidare TV. And this cartoon clearly was my first love!

Traf**king

SOS...LOL

Family

"I am really amazed at how she has changed. She is so mature now. I am glad I that sent her out for her higher studies. I think that experience changed her for the better!"



It is a well-establised fact that venturing outside instills a lot of value to one's character. When parents see the difference when kids come home after a prolonged absence, they are always delighted. But there is one thing parents more often miss to give a thought about. What is the primary factor that has contributed to the change? The answer, independence, though simple, actually has more questions to explore. Is "the outside" so out of reach it so miserably fails to have an impact on them when kids stay with parents? Why does one have to step in to the outside to learn from it? With correct parental mindset, the answer is "Nothing!".



Sure parents are protective. That is presumably part of the parental DNA. But protection and love are only part of what a parents can offer. It is high time that one more thing gets included in the list to ensure that their kids need not wait to get out to live to make that "jump". Independence. With the observational knowledge I gather that one easy way to nudge kids towards independence is Delegation.



Parents can offload some work on your kid and let him/her handle it. While reducing work-load on themselves, this can offer priceless lessons on soft-skills like team-work, say when siblings work together while helping to clean the kitchen. More crucial point of time is while the correcting errors, when parents tend to "spoon-feed" or "just get it over with". A little patiece and a nudge towards "self-correction" in the form of questions like "What do you think exactly went wrong?"..."and how do you correct it?" should help a great deal in improving reasoning ability".



Small initiatives like giving a larger denomination of money to buy something will help in applying simple, mental mathematics and instill negotiation skills early. Morning newspaper may be a good time to teach how to look-up a dictionary as well as impelling reading, contary to watching TV, as a primary source of entertainment. When dinner time discussions are confined to relevant and progressive subjects and kept on a positive tone, it will be a good source of insight, inspiration and consequently bonding and respect.



Come to think of it, nothing that is mentioned so far is really new or insightful. How come, then, these points go out of the window at the moment of truth? Honestly, I have had a taste of being over-protective and over-reactive with someone I care about. I guess, I will learn the resit only when I step into their shoes. But I guess that is the interesting challenge that parents should acknowledge and rise up to face it.



To conclude, I can recall a plenary of adage that I have known for a while without really understanding their meaning. For now, the list reduces by two..

- நல்லதொரு குடும்பம் பல்கலைக்கழகம்.

(A good family is a university)



- A family that eats together stays together.



Disclaimer: This is not "Parenting for dummies", but a feedback for the oldies.

Dilbert's way of saying...

நாயை அடிப்பானேன், ஆயைச் சுமப்பானேன்?
Why to hit the dog(bert), and why to carry shit?