80 Feet Road : News Bytes From Crazy Media Analysts

The Himalayan Expedition - Chapter 2

2011-12-22T22:29:00.000+05:30

This is the second part of a 3 part series about The Journey, Visit to an Old Friend, The Climb, Temple of the Snakes, A Folk Song, the Fire, and the Ganges

“KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!”

As I knocked on the door of Mr. Ruskin Bond’s house, I was greeted by a voice, followed by a familiar face. Even those who’ve never met him know he’s a gentleman and a very humble person. I guess the child in him is still alive and kicking. We chatted for about 15 minutes, where we discussed our mutual interest in books, bits of Hindu mythology (e.g. the meaning of my name), etc. I also complimented him on his collection of books. Time seemed to fly past and when I looked at my watch and it was already 6 pm. With a heavy heart, I bid farewell to him, and wished him good health. He wished me good luck on my endeavours to go beyond the ‘gunas’ (you might want to Google the term ‘Gunatita’).

As I reached my hotel, my friends we all getting ready to go out for dinner at the famous ‘Lovely Omelette Centre’ in Mussoorie. I joined them, and we headed out to eat the cheese omelettes. Post dinner, I made a few last-minute food purchases for the trek the next day. One of the things that I purchased was “Yak Cheese”, a tasteless, hard and solidified cheese made of Yak milk. From my previous experience, I had found Yak cheese to be a very useful food during trekking, as it gives tremendous energy. After the purchase, I went back to the hotel where we had another briefing about the trek and were reassigned a new group. My team consisted of team leader Narendra, Amit Bhil, Synrop, Prateek, Chanakya, Manmit, Prabhu and myself.

THE CLIMB

As per the course requirement, we were supposed to climb a hill. The locals call it Nag Tibba, which is one of the highest peaks in the lesser Himalayan range, standing at about 10,000 feet.

We started for Pantwari from Mussoorie (about 60 kms) at 9 am, three hours late from our scheduled departure. Luckily I got to board the trekker and not the bus. I was accompanied by Kim, Divya, Pushpa, Indu, Keerthi and Prabhu. We completed the journey, replete with a winding ride and scenic beauty all around us, in about two and a half hours. Once we reached the base, i.e. Pantwari, we were told to be with our newly assigned group mates. After we had had our breakfast of oat meal, eggs and tea, we were given instructions for the climb. A packet lunch was handed over to us. There were 6 groups in total, and we were the last group (Team 6) to start the climb with a difference of 25-30 minutes between each group. The instructor, Mr. O M Brahma (no relationship with the writer), told us that the team that reaches the summit first will win.

We started our climb at around 12:40 pm. From our base, the Nag Tibba point is about 9 kms, with goat tails and less travelled roads. We were told to follow our instincts if we got lost, but needed to maintain a distance of 30-50 meters between groups. We might cross a group, but could never leave any team-mates behind.

The first 100 meters was an up and down slope, but I got bit exhausted while walking the trail. We left Team-5 behind in the first 100 meters. Due to this initial triumph, we missed the narrow trek on our left and instead took a right. We travelled the vehicle trailed road for about 1 km, when we meet the Team 4, consisting Tony, George and others. We thought that we were on track, but while interacting with the villagers, came to know that we came the wrong way. So we travelled back again while Team 4 took another route, and searched the narrow trek that we were supposed to take.

From that point, the climb was steep and getting difficult. With boulders and rocks in the trek route, I was finding it difficult to get a grip, but somehow managed to do just fine. My backpack was heavy as I was carrying loads of food and water. Thankfully, my team leader swapped his bag which was lighter with mine. Post that, I got a bit of enthusiasm and inspiration to climb and not let my team mates down.

There was lack of water in the hills, so we drank whatever we carried, and after that we filled up from the village well. The villagers were kind enough to let us use their well and help us with directions. The well water was very sweet and rich in minerals. After drinking it, a new wave of energy swept within our team, and we went gung-ho to master the summit. We climbed quite fast in order to leave behind few more teams. At a short distance, after taking very little rest, we saw another team going just ahead of us. While we tried to move ahead of them, we saw that all the other teams were just ahead of us, along with few of the trekkers from India Hikes team. The trekkers (locals) told us to take some rest and have our packet lunch, and that our basecamp for tonight is just half to an hour climb ahead. Two more teams were yet to reach the site where we were having lunch. The final league of the climb was very competitive as all the teams had to start at the same time, and the winning team needed to have all its members in the basecamp. With hard work and heightened spirit, our team climbed the very steep hill and about an hour later, became the first team to reach the basecamp, with all the members. We celebrated the moment vociferously.

Later Mr. Brahma joined us with the rest of the teams, and after resting for a while, briefed us and showed us how to build a tent. We built our tent, but because of the slope, couldn’t get a proper location.

Post those activities, and a few photographs later of the setting sun, we sat down for our bon-fire and reflection session. After the dinner, we retired in our tents with weary and tired bodies. The weather was very cold and I wore about 3 layers of clothes to protect myself.

TEMPLE OF THE SNAKES

After waking up at around 7 am, and having a quick breakfast, we started for our trek to the Nag Tibba temple and the summit. Nag (Snake) Tibba is an ancient temple and the villagers come there to pray to the Nag devta (God) for protecting their harvest and cattle. From the base camp, it is only 3 kms, but a steep climb.

I was the last to start the trek for Nag Tibba along with Mr. Brahma and Divya. Mr. Brahma taught us few breathing techniques to be used for high-altitude trekking, and told us to climb at our own pace, enjoying the scenery around. Due to the fast climb the previous day, my right knee was paining severely, so I had to take a branch as a support. With slow paces, we reach the Nag Tibba temple at around 10 am. After visiting the temple and seeking blessings from the Nag devta, we continued our trek to the top of the summit. Pushpa, Amit, Alok, Jaitun and Panda joined us for the final climb. The most enthusiastic among us was Amit, who in a playful way, was selling tickets in his imaginary vehicle to transport us to the summit. Limping for most of the last climb, I, along with my other friends, reached the summit at around 12 pm. After spending some time in the summit, clicking few photographs, Alok showed me the tip of a distant mountain covered in ice. The whole panoramic view was beyond what words can describe.

After about an hour in the summit, we started our descent back to the basecamp. Climbing down the hill is more difficult than climbing up, and I learnt it with an injured right leg. While coming down, Amit declared that he had lost his mobile’s SIM and that we would have to revisit the temple again. After some 15 minutes of searching near the temple, Amit finally found his SIM near the temple.

At around 3 pm, we reached the basecamp, only to realise that most of our friends had already started the descent, and another group of friends, who started the climb early morning for the basecamp, were about to reach. After having a light lunch, we started our descent.

(to be continued…)

Note: This article appeared in the December 2011 issue of Expressions eZine, published online by iCare India.

The Himalayan Expedition - Chapter 1

2011-12-22T22:28:00.000+05:30

This is the first part of a 3 part series about The Journey, Visit to an Old Friend, The Climb, Temple of the Snakes, A Folk Song, the Fire, and the Ganges.

As per our academic requirements (a 4-credit course), we were supposed to go for some kind of leadership and team building activities: essentially an excursion. So it was decided by our PGP office that we go to Mussoorie, a hill station in the state of Uttarakhand. About 100 participants from our institute were assigned to go to this place.

I was particularly excited about going to Mussoorie because until then, the farthest that I have been in the Northern part of India was till the North Campus of Delhi University, that too some 11 years ago. Having spent most of my life in the Northeast and Southern India, I was excited that I will be going farther and viewing the Himalaya, up close and personal. Also, the mountains have some magical power that be- witches me whenever I see them. I always feel the urge to climb that and take a view from the top of that mountain, maybe because I was born in the hilly state of Manipur. And the hope that I will be seeing lot of mountains and hills in Uttarakhand further increased my excitement to go there.

THE JOURNEY

So we formed a team of 10 people (all friends) and booked our ticket in the Indore-Dehradun Express, a direct train. Our team comprised Nitin (our group leader), Ashwin, Divya, George, Inaka, Kim, Pritom, Synrop, Tony and me. We were lucky to get the tickets, as it is a bi-weekly train, and rush during the peak season is relatively high. We boarded the train on the afternoon of Oct. 15, 2011 in the AC Tier-II compartment. Most of our fellow passengers were travelling till Haridwar, to take the holy dip and perform other religious activities in that city. The train pantry, for obvious reasons, served us vegetarian food during the entire course of our journey. After we settled in our berths, Tony took out the UNO cards (UNO is a coloured card game wherein the player’s objective is to lose the cards in his/her hand. The one, who loses the cards first, wins). For the most of our journey we were eating, playing UNO, chatting, sleeping and again playing UNO. It was during one such game that we realised that we’d be reaching our destination soon.

From Dehradun, Mussoorie is an hour’s drive, yet we reached the city at around 10 pm after having reached Doon at 7pm. We had our dinner of Momos and Chowmein in the town and walked towards our hotel, Mussoorie International. The hotel is located in the Mall area in Mussoorie. Our briefing for the Expedition was supposed to start after lunch the next day. So we retired to bed at around 4 am, after settling down. Since I was excited about my trip, I could hardly sleep and woke up at 7am. I thought of taking an early morning stroll near the hotel, but saw the terrace and climbed there instead. From the terrace, during the clear sky of early morn, I could see the tip of some Himalayan mountain covered in snow. This was the first snow sighting for me. I was thrilled. I started a conversation with a fellow watcher who happened to be Mr. Srinath, the consultant from India Hikes, who would be our trainer for the whole expedition. (It is worth in- forming my avid reader that India Hikes organised the expedition for our institute.) The 5 day programme (Oct. 17-21) included trekking to an altitude of ~10000 feet, team building exercise and water rafting at Rishikesh. I got to know about the details of our expedition from Mr. Srinath.

Post my conversation, I met Pritom and Alok. All three of us sat down for another game of UNO till the breakfast was served. Post breakfast and after freshening up, Synrop and I went to see the town. We went to the Aquarium in Mussoorie, which despite being small, holds some exotic varieties of marine life. There was a fish in which the name of Allah was naturally inscribed, another having the symbol Aum or Om. After that we went for shop- ping. Then we came back to the hotel for lunch. After the lunch, Ms. Sandhya, one of the Co-founder of India Hikes, along with Mr. Srinath, briefed us about the whole expedition and re-distributed all 100 of us into different teams. We were told to come up with business problems that we have identified for Mussoorie by 8pm. After the briefing I went to catch up with some sleep. Barely about an hour later, I woke up, and with some hesitation, dialled a number. The number was of someone whose name would be familiar to all, especially book lovers.

VISIT TO AN OLD FRIEND

While coming back from the morning shopping spree with Synrop, I saw a book stall, Cambridge Book Depot; that showcased the latest collections of Ruskin Bond’s book. I purchased Mr. Bond’s first and the latest book, namely The Room on the Roof and Secrets. Looking at my enthusiasm for Mr. Bond’s book, the store owner started a conversation with me. On my enquiry about getting Mr Bond’s autograph, he told me to come on a Saturday. I told him that I won’t be staying that long, but need Mr. Bond’s autograph, he gave me his residence phone number and asked me to call him in the evening. After taking my afternoon nap, I dialled his number at around 5 pm and asked for an appointment, so that I can get his autograph in my newly purchased books. Mr. Bond told me to come before 6 pm, as he will be going out for dinner after that. I hurried myself to get ready, when Ashwin came to know about my little trip to Mr. Bond’s house. Ashwin was also excited to go along with me, but due to some work, couldn’t come. Instead he went with me to the book store and purchased a copy of The Room on the Roof, and handed it over to me, to be autographed by Mr. Bond.

I took a taxi from the taxi- stand, near the market and asked the driver to take me to Ivy Cottage, the dwelling place of the author. After about a 15-minute drive, the driver stopped the car, and told me that we had reached Ivy Cottage. My heart started pounding, when I realised that I have reached my destination, and very soon I would be meeting the Sahitya Akademi and Padma Shri awardee English author. With small steps, I climbed the stairs of Ivy Cottage. Led Zeppelin’s song, Stairway to Heaven, was playing in my head, when I reached the door. Being nervous, I searched for the calling bell, only to realise that it is not there, or maybe I couldn’t see it. Then I thought for a few seconds on what to do, whether to knock the door or call out. I decided to knock the door. But then again, my mind was playing tricks on me. My mind was questioning me, how much to knock, how loud to knock, how many times to knock, etc. etc. I shut my mind out, before it could play the song Knocking on Heaven’s Door, and gently knocked thrice.

(to be continued…)

Note: This article appeared in the November 2011 issue of Expressions eZine, published online by iCare India.

The Day MyWorld Stopped Moving

2011-11-14T13:14:00.001+05:30

My heart was in my throat. The world around me was swirling at the speed of light, threatening to spiral down crashing on to my head. The voices around me were blurring into a distance. My hands were trembling, desperately trying to fumble through things, bags, tables, looking, searching. As fear and helplessness clouded vision and judgement, it sunk in.

My phone was lost.

Last night was a close brush with disaster. Due to nobody's fault and and intention, my phone went missing.

For those who know me more than the casual hi-byes would understand and identify with the severity of this ground breaking event. A phone is not just an instrument to make or receive calls. To me, it is the be all of life. I find my way through the daily mundane chaos i call my existence, only with the able support of this magical device that is nothing short of a life support.

Picture a patient on a hospital bed with a the nurse attending on him accidentally stamping his oxygen stream? Now picture me without my phone. Potato, Pateto.

So there I was, fear gushing trough my veins, every cell in my head crying out for some life.

Not ten minutes back, the mood was different. Had been part of and witnessed an amazing entertaining performance. The high of having experienced pure magic on stage is inexplicable. The thrill and joy at having seen a team come together so amazingly to create spellbinding imagery is one that doesn't wear off easily. From that high, the fall was all the more cruel, as I found that the one companion I trusted the most in this bad wild world, was away from me, and out of reach.

It is strange how the mind races ahead of time, trying to picture the bleakest of scenarios in times when it should be rationalizing options and means to solve the crisis at hand. All i could think of was a dark dark space, with screams of pain shattering my ear drums. Or was it the loud thud of my heart pounding with fear? I wanted to see what time it was, and I didnt have my phone. I wanted to call home and cry out loud, and my phone wasn't at hand. I wanted to broadcast my angst to those faceless hundreds peeping onto my "wall", and I didn't have my phone. My life, as i knew, had come to a stand still.

Fifteen scariest moments of my life after, the phone was located. A sigh of relief, a heavy axe lifted off my neck, the stab through my heart healed. My mind was suddenly recognizing faces, sounds were registering on my ear all of a sudden. I saw smiles, reassuring me that all was well with the world. My senses felt light, My body relaxed, a small wry smile threatened to break on to my face.

I slept close to my phone last night. It is incidents like these that make you value relationships even more. And yesterday i realized how deep was my bond with my hand held genie.Never again, my companion, never again would this happen, i solemnly resolved, as sleep took over, bringing to end a horrific spooky night.

What is your greatest fear?

2011-11-09T16:36:00.001+05:30

Today I asked this question to my friends, and below were the replies:

Fear of going blank
Fear of the word 'FEAR' itself
Fear of being different from others
Fear of being emotional
Fear of darkness
Fear of feeling insecure
Fear of losing my skin complexion
Fear of death
Fear of drowning
Fear of my inability to quit smoking
Fear of being unable to care for myself
Fear of seeing owls
Fear of the unknown within me
Fear of being hurt by loved ones
Fear of silence
Fear of being fat/ugly
Fear of losing my loved ones
Fear of a thought about falling from mountains or helicopters
Being a loser
Fear of staying alone
Fear of getting married
Scared of heights
Fear of being alone without family and friends
Fear of my possessive nature
Fear of loving a man, I would love a dog without any fear, because dogs won’t breakup, neither will they wake up one day and tell, “I don’t love you anymore…”
Fear of air suffocating me
Fear of the unexpected

Recently read one blog post titled, “Five Great Ways to Conquer YourFears” on Zenhabits.net. In this blog post the author says, “Whatever your fears may be, you can either let those fears form boundaries beyond which you can’t move or grow, or you can face them head-on and allow them to become opportunities to move into new places in your life. The choice is truly yours. “

Actually this strategy works, first you find out what are your fears, and then you convert those fears into your strengths. Till now, I have conquered few of my fears using this strategy. Try it today people, who knows it might work for you too, or you may find your own way of dealing with your fears while trying this method! However, talk to yourself about your fears; do not feel that you are a weak person if you have some kind of fear. It is very much human to have fears, but slowly we have to learn to stretch ourselves...going beyond our fears, isn’t it?

When Luck Shined On ME

2011-10-19T16:13:00.001+05:30

DISCLAIMER: The following is a fictionalized account of a gory dark day of my life. Sarcasm and Laughter is expected, but beware, you could be the next Lucky one.

Some days, luck just decides to shine bright and sunny on you.

It’s like you woke up on the best side of the bed, with a silver spoon in your smelly mouth, and a proverbial horse shoe hanging down my neck.

So what do you do when such a day decides to grace you with its benign presence?

Just wait for the darned day to get over; praying the damage done is least.

Last week had one such marvelous day when I had the ultimate stroke of luck ever.

So the day started on a bright note. I wasn’t sleepy, woke up on time for my gym appointment. Got ready and out of the house in time. No traffic even at 6:00 AM (the first sign of something about to go wrong, I never saw what was in store) it was the perfect start to a seemingly perfect day.

I reach the gym on time, ably surpassing the strong primal urge to stop over that the idly shop for a plate of hot pongal. Only to find that my trainer is hurt, and hence no workout. Disaster One.

Heartbroken (yeah I do like the gym, contrary to what my figure suggests) I started back home. That was when the sky decided to burst open in a flash rain that oddly seemed to follow and drench only the area around me. Drenched to the last cell in my body, I trudged my way back home.

I choose to gloss over the mishaps while I got ready post that for office and take you to the ride to work now. So off I am on my ride to work, when the rain gods decide to fertilize the earth with some water all over again. Drenched for the second time, and late already by half an hour, I get back home, change, and resume my by now ill-fated journey. Disaster Two.

I reach work, escaping a traffic police confrontation by hair’s breadth. Take my laptop out for security check. The moment I place it before the all-knowing eyes of the bar code reader, it sets of a loud shriek and dies. That’s it. Last heard, they are still negotiating with a new vendor for a replacement. Disaster Three.

Embarrassed beyond redemption, I walk up the stairs (yes the lift had gone off too, I suspect on purpose, fearing its own life) and reach my work desk. Laptop on table, system boots, facebook login, and Bam! The laptop blanks out. Disaster Four.

I chug along running after the IT team and sundry other teams I was supposed to be meeting on the day, and it already is way past lunch time. A quick bite it is, and nothing is left for sale in the canteen (did I forget? My lunch box, which I cooked in the morning, was left behind at home). I set my eyes on the vending machine, little knowing that this would lead to the Disaster of the century,,,

I chose to have a fruit cake and a juice from the vending machine. I put in a ten rupees note. The machine vomits it out.

I put the note in again. The machine gives me a Rs.5 pack of boost and the change.

Undeterred I put another ten rupees note into the machine. This time I choose a pack of biscuits. The vending machine accepts it, and the coil in the corresponding rack moves. Moves. Moves. Moves,,,

Till the biscuit pack hangs in the air, neither in the coil, nor in the collection bin below, but actually in the air.

I take pride in my research and scientific background. Applying it in times of crisis though is not my forte, I realized this day.

The scientist in me decides to put in another note, order the same biscuit, so that two packets together fall down this time. The coil moves, moves, moves,,,, till the second pack too hangs mid air along with the first one.

Frustrated, I try manhandling the vending machine, hoping what science could not achieve, would be accomplished by raw brute force.

After about fifteen minutes of vigorous wrestling with the machine, amidst the piercing gaze of most of the office (there were tickets being sold for the spectacle: Man Vs Machine, the ultimate battle), there is a loud thud, followed by a red liquid flowing down the machine.

Did it die? Did the machine bleed? I let go of it, like I accidentally killed a girlfriend. The thud alarmed the now awake housekeeping service man. On closer inspection, it was revealed, much to my ignominy, that I had dropped in a bottle of strawberry squash and the biscuits were still hanging on the coil. Disaster Complete.

So by the end of the day, I was one laptop less, bereft of lunch, a suspected machinophile in official records, with my photo id and fingerprints being stored in the local criminal records.

So like I said, some days, luck just decides to shine bright and sunny on you. This was one such day.

Going Nuclear* and sealing our fate to Doomsday!

2011-08-18T03:19:00.000+05:30

* here nuclear energy generally refers to nuclear energy derived from fission mode, unless specified.

In my last article (A Letter to my Friends, Expression - June 2011), I told you how energy is the making or breaking point of any civilisation. A civilisation’s survival key lays in the type of energy its people use in their day-to-day activities. Cleaner the energy we use, healthier our civilisation would be in the longer run.

But then, few of us presume that going nuclear to meet the energy need of a developing economy is the next best thing. But we must also realise that going nuclear is a very dangerous proposition. It’s like giving a child a grenade and telling him to play with it safely. There are good chances that the kid will blow himself up. I am not trying to be a sadist, but a realist.

The recent nuclear disaster in Fukushima, Japan is just one example of how we don’t have the power to control such events in the future. If one of the most developed nations in the world was incapable of avoiding the disaster, will we be capable of handling such things? I know there are arguments against this thought process as well. And they (the pro-nuclear think tank) ridicule it by saying that it’s just one such incident, and there was “Nature” against them (read due to Tsunami and Earthquake). My counter argument to it would be - learn from others. It’s better than learning from one’s own mistake.

Most of you might be aware about the half-life concept. Uranium’s half-life is about 6-7 human generations! That’s a long time! So if a disaster happens today (God forbid), the after-effects of it will remain for these many generations to come.

Apart from a nuclear disaster (which might be highly unlikely), other key factors need considerations. The amount of money required to set-up a nuclear reactor (fission mode) can be somewhere between $3-10 billion and might take up to 10 years to build. This makes the overnight cost of nuclear power plants to be about $4,000/kWe. This amount of tax-payer’s money will be used to make a harmful and dangerous energy creating power plant. There are other external costs too, like the cost of security of the power plant, cost of raw materials, transportation costs, etc.

The figure for the exhaustion of the Uranium reserves of the world is 2050. So, a nuclear reactor, built with so much of public money will run dry post 2050. Then what happens to the power plants? There will be a no-habitation zone within a radius of 30 kms of the power plant, where no human will be allowed to settle, chiefly because of pollution and possible radiation. Also, the nuclear waste cannot be disposed of properly, so either the Earth will be dug up to bury the nuclear waste containers or the waste will simply find shelter in the seas and oceans. And if these containers leak, the whole ocean will get contaminated, and pose a threat to the marine ecosystem.

That’s not all. Threat from global terrorism will cause the cost of security for these power plants to increase, and due to recent nuclear disasters, cost of construction of nuclear power plants will increase (due to newer safety norms). And a country like India cannot take its chances with nuclear energy based power plants, when half of its population is hungry.

Another argument against nuclear energy would be that it will still not solve the grid connectivity problem that Indian villages are facing. There are about 10000 villages in India which don’t have any grid connection to supply them electricity. The solution for them would be a decentralised source of energy; micro-grids, or better still, if every village or household could manufacture its own electricity. Electricity has become a commodity, as everyone requires it. The demand and supply gap for electricity is growing, and to keep up with the pace of growth that India is undergoing, it needs the energy. The world is moving towards cleaner sources of energy, and India too should do the same. Renewable energy was the “in thing” 1000 years ago, it still is, and will continue to be so even in the future.

With clean sources of energy fuelling our economic growth, the growth will be sustainable. And with a sustainable economic growth, quality of live will improve and be long term. The most important thing to do today is support, promote and use cleaner sources of energy – for us, our children and their children.

Note: Nuclear energy (fusion mode) is something to look forward to, but it will be another 15-20years before we see improvement in the technologies used to control it today.

This article was published in the July 2011 edition of Expressions, a monthly eZine published by iCare India.

Link: http://expressions.icareindia.co.in

Released At Lord's

2011-08-01T13:05:00.002+05:30

A Letter to my Friends...

2011-07-20T14:08:00.001+05:30

I wish to share, via this article, my passion with you, a passion that got highlighted by chance while reading a course book-a book that helped shape my today. The book was on Environmental Microbiology, prescribed when I was pursuing M.Sc. in Microbiology in Bangalore.

It’s been some years now since I last read that book, but I feel that the thought process that came over me while reading the book and the subsequent teachings that came my way through hard-work and experience helped me in becoming what I am right now, and I hope that my experience helps you in working on your passion and in following your dreams, whatever they may be.

I will not disclose here the name or author of the book because of two primary reasons. One, that I have honestly forgotten the name of the book and secondly, I think I should not be specifying the importance of one book (because I am biased towards it) over many other good books that you readers like to read or will read in the near future, books that might shape you and help you become what you are capable of, that is, doing many great deeds.

While reading a topic from that book on ecology and environmental impact of projects that we humans constantly undertake, I realized that whatever we do directly or indirect-ly affects the environment in many ways. As I am from the north-eastern part of India, I have seen nature up close and in its true “painted” form. I have wonderful childhood memories of-lying under a tree, looking at the clear blue sky and the fluffy clouds passing by; Siberian cranes near my school field, parrots flying, butterflies of vivid patterns buzzing around and the beautiful stroke of greenery all around me. I remember mystic mountains and evergreen trees and places where there was no electricity, but still boasted of a beautiful and happy life. Even now as I write about it, a sense of calmness runs through me besides the nostalgia of the days gone by, of a life so close to mother Earth.

I was missing those things in Bangalore, which is on the other hand, a busy, cosmopolitan city, the perfect example of globalization and India’s supremacy in Information Technology.

Let’s get back to the book now. As I was reading it, I realised that the progression of mankind started after the creation of fire. The early cavemen sealed the very fate of humanity by learning the ability to control it and use it wilfully. Fire is nothing but a form of energy. During that age, fire made nomadic cavemen live together and protected them from wild animals. It taught them as to how they could overcome their fears (due to darkness). They could cook their food for the first time, enabling better digestion and healthier food (as the heat destroyed several microorganisms). Later, thermal energy (obtained by burning coal) was the chief sustainer of the industrial revolution. In short, Energy has been the making or breaking point of human civilisations, after water and food. Inside the human body, energy plays a vital role in our day to day activities. Energy also creates balance in the environment, as is evident from the study of food chains and food webs. All energy that is taken from the environment must be given back to it. Consumption should equal replenishment.

Today, most of the world’s energy needs are met by coal and oil. These sources of energy are nothing but small packets of carbon-based resources, buried under-ground for millions of years, extracted today by man to fuel his activities. These resources that exist naturally are being burnt to produce carbon molecules in the air instead. So, a form of energy given to us by nature is being instead replenished with a nature-killer, nicknamed carbon dioxide. Consequence: climatic change.

Climatic change is a natural process; it has been taking place since even before man walked the Earth and will continue even after we become extinct from this planet. But what we humans are presently doing is speeding up the process by burning fossil fuels (like coal and oil) and damaging the natural ecosystem. By polluting the environment we tend to believe that as a civilisation we have modernised and advanced, but the fact remains that every civilisation that exploited its naturally occurring re-sources in the name of development has perished. So if we also do not consider environment-friendly sources of energy to be the stepping stones for our advancement and development, we too might perish, not only as a civilisation, but as a living being.

There is nothing civil about a civilisation that runs by polluting its environment.

This article that I wrote, was published in the June 2011 edition of Expressions, a monthly eZine published by iCare India.

Link: http://expressions.icareindia.co.in/

Morality vs Greed

2011-07-08T14:01:00.001+05:30

It is easy to miss the point when watching a tv debate on a news channel. More often than not, it is a few old hags settling personal scores on national television. Something similar happened this week. I was watching Barkha Dutt hold Dayanidhi Maran to a media trial on her show in the name of analyzing news.

While the panel was deliberating if Maran should resign from the ministerial post in light of the 2G scam allegations (or otherwise), a curious point came out, which none seem to have found worth discussing. Should a public figure not remit office when faced with charges of misconduct of any nature? Is holding a post more important, almost the sole aim, of public life?

Two sitting cabinet ministers accused in the 2G scam, and both refrain to resign till push came to shove in an exemplary display of how our politicians cling to power come what may. There are two facets to this dilemma.

The Indian law sees every accused as innocent until proven guilty. So until a verdict is delivered, an accused is free under the law to continue with life, in every manner that does not affect the case’s outcome. Fair and just, as always. However, where does this leave moral propriety and ethics?

Imagine a bank cashier being accused of swindling depositor’s money. Do we let him continue his job at the teller counter till the case drags on in a court? Do we retain faith in the cashier’s neutrality and honesty while an allegation of theft is being thrown at him? Is the cashier not suspended only to be reinstated pending investigation and clearing his name?

So then how different is a politician? Ideally, the Prime Minister should suspend his minister, only to be brought back into the cabinet post clearing of his name. When this doesn’t happen, as is always the case with the current disposition at New Delhi, isn’t it the moral duty of the minister in question to resign?

What happens instead is, that a Prime Minister sits in silence, as ministers trade counter allegations of sabotaging their political careers, lunging on to their ministerial berths for dear life. We today have a polity comprising of power hungry morally bereft individuals who see nothing beyond the kursi and its strappings. Is an allegation enough to erase a lifetime of public service? Is a ministerial berth the only end for a politician? When did our leaders stop being public servants and start aspiring to be rulers?

Domnik Strauss Kahn resigned the moment allegations of sexual impropriety were raised against him. The charges dropped, he might not get back his post of IMF chief, but he has retained a moral high ground- the only thing that should ideally hold a public figure in good stead in his life. Can we expect this from an immeasurable amoral political class back home ever?

Al Qaeda Top Management Jig

2011-05-18T10:41:00.005+05:30

The world renowned charitable organization is on the look out for its top brass. Hurry! Send in your resumes to osamadead&lovin’it@abbottabad.co.pk

Unlimited perks and benefits include:

- 7 or more spouses; a lifetime opportunity for legal unlimited sex with multiple partners.

- Ultimate power as the world is your playground and incredible projects of various dimensions ranging form twin towers to triplets to quadruplets.

- In addition, you get to know what, when and where the world leaders are conspiring and how to stay one step ahead of the competition.

The Egyptian humanitarian Saif al-Adel reportedly has taken over as an interim operational leader of Al Qaeda until the charitable trust appoints Osama Bin Laden’s permanent successor. The visionary leader has announced that there is a huge potential that remains untapped within the trust and the immediate strategy is to find a suitable candidate to ensure its smooth workflow. The selection process includes a written test, group discussion, a personal & a panel interview along with a rigorous physical endurance test.

The written tests include general aptitude test and psychoanalytical tests to analyze your potential and strategies that benefit the organization in the long run. Exclusive reports of the leaked topics of discussion brought to you in collaboration with Julian Assange and ‘A’ Corner include:

• What next? Pentagon or Hexagon!

• Who is a more prettier victim – Kate or Pipa Middleton!

• It rhymes - Obama slayed Osama!

• Are the Chinese governmental initiatives more user friendly than that of Pakistan?

The physical endurance test will be similar to that of Ironman Triathlon, also includes scaling of Mt. Everest and fun suicide bombing. Those who escape without a scratch will be grilled by a panel of hardcore Guantanamo Bay escapees. The panel interview will be topped up with a personal interview with Saif al-Adel and a posthumous Osama Bin Laden.

P.S. Wishing you the very best! Go for it; unleash the smiling assassin in you.

It Happens Only In India!

2011-05-04T12:22:00.000+05:30

Jahan Stadium mein Leakage,
Footbridge mein Breakage,
Ho CM ke Chopper Gaayab,
It Happens Only In India!

Yatra Naryastu Pujyante, Ramante Tatra Devata,,,

2011-04-15T10:54:00.000+05:30

Being a woman was never easy. The perils just get quadrupled if you are in Delhi, Gurgaon, Mumbai,for that matter, anywhere in India. A truth that most of us Indian's seem to have gotten used to of late.

Last few weeks have seen back to back cases of young girls being raped, mauled, shoved off a running train or left locked in a house without food or water for months together. As a nosy media brings these images to us in a 24/7 tamaasha, the news seems to have numbed us out of our ability to empathize, react or protest.

Crime against women is not a recent phenomenon. This sorry state of our female populace is an age old bane of our society. There are laws against such crimes. There also is woefully less usage of these laws. However, apart from ineffective archaic laws, there is another very appalling and sinister conspiracy that nurtures these crimes. The Conspiracy of Silence.

A female college student gets killed in broad daylight by a jilted lover. A few hundred people watch the murder. And keep quite.

A sportswomen is thrown off a jam packed general compartment of a train by a mob. She loses her leg and with it a career and a future. The people in the train keep mum and move on.

Not so many years ago, a bartender is shot in the head for refusing a drink. The hundreds partying out there at the bar refuse to speak out.

Silence, it would seem, is a an art we have perfected effortlessly.

Contrast this with a rape attempt at a Denver airport in the U.S. two days ago. The people at the airport raise an alarm, outdo the rapist, call the police and the medics and save a girl's life and dignity.

What is it that makes us Indians morph into silent spectators in the face of injustice and crime? Are we a citizenry bereft of any human emotion and conscience?
Where is the famed "melodrama" and "bhaichaara" that we as a nation pride on? Why this Silence? Why is it so difficult for us to speak out and act against crime?

It is not enough to have a police escort on all our trains. It is not enough to have a male protector with every female Indian all through the day. No stringent law will be able to stem this moral rot unless there is a shift in the mentality that fuels this behavior.

Our silence condones crime. Our apathy is their power source. Our indifference is the curtain these criminals hide behind, each time they ruin a woman's life.

Where women are worshiped, reside the gods,said our wise men. By that measure, India today is bereft of any godliness, a swamp or evil and its minions.

Jantar Mantar Our Tahir Square?!

2011-04-11T14:03:00.001+05:30

Last week India saw something unprecedented in more ways than one . A 72 year old man rode a TV-induced media frenzy to shake an already beleaguered government into a pretence of an action. A hunger strike, straight out of Gandhi's book, a set of demands as revolutionary as Bhagat Singh's and the power of social media, together they added a new twist to the India story. Is this a harbinger of fortune or an aberration? Or worse still, is this a continuation of the same old ennui in a more sinister guise?

It indeed is a change. A perceptible change from the usual apathy general public shows to what the government does. For the first time, there was palpable support and anger amongst the majority, especially the youth. It was not a handful of NGOs and few good old men doing the slogan shouting this time. They were there no doubt, but with them were a lot of others from the sections of society that were believed to have given up on the nation and its system.

Yet, Jan Lokpal Bill movement was not India's Tahir square. To hell with what the media is telling us.

For starters, people in Egypt went beyond the show of support on facebook and twitter. They stopped their routine to squat till the government budged. We,well most of us, on the contrary, were quite smug and proud of "supporting" Anna with a share here and a like there. Egypt came to a grinding halt as the people demanded a change in the way their nation was run. Agreed, we aren't under a dictatorship, but the corruption we are facing today is no less a danger. Will India stop going around its business till the government cleans up its act?Did the past few weeks rid us of the general apathy we seem to have for the state of the nation? Definitely not. Is the fast and a promise of a bill/law against corruption enough to stem this cancer?

Egypt rose tall, not behind an individual, but as a single entity. It was the entire citizenry that was fed up and chose to do something about it. Back home, on the other hand, we seem quite content with rallying behind a leader. At times, to the point of getting happy that one crusader is cleaning up the dirt for us while we get back to movies cricket IPL and other such "national" exigencies. Someone else is on a fast for us, just like our moms used to be when we were kids, so say a thank you on Fb post and move on!

On the other side of the spectrum are fringe drifters forever in search of a hook that would get them into the political space. Anna is their messiah, usurping his intention is their mission. Idolize him, he is the answer to all our ills. Appreciating Anna and his guts is one thing, putting him on a pedestal and making him one more in the long list of "celebs" we adore is another! A week into the protest and it already is a trivialized piece of page3 filler, on the highroad to ebcoming a politically motivated stunt.

Most importantly though, at Tahir square, people were hungry for democracy. While we here were rallying behind a proposed vigilante bill that subsumes and undermines the principles of democracy. We are seeking to replace a demon with another, least bothered about what consequences it can have on us as a citizenry.

Jantar Mantar, Anna Hazare and Jan Lokpal Bill, all have been a mere exaggerated tokenism. Not much has come out of any "notifications" by the government earlier. What would come out of this one now? My guess is as good as yours! Will this stop corruption? No. Not even in the slightest.

What this hunger strike has shown us, even if for a brief time, is that we still have the power to demand what is justly ours without bloodshed. I am an eternal optimist when it comes to India and her story. Hopefully, this new twist would lead us to a better tomorrow.

Flowing with the force of life...

2011-03-21T15:05:00.000+05:30

I have realized that we have the ability to choose certain thoughts, and thoughts are connected to our emotions. If we consider our “personality” as a tree, thoughts are different branches of this tree. Certain thoughts are negative and can harm the growth of this “personality” tree. And in such case, it is better to cut that branch or that particular leaf. There is no point in sticking on to negative belief systems or negative thought patterns. Thoughts and emotions are not two separate entities, they are all the same. However, I cannot choose all my thoughts, but if I understand that certain thought patterns are harming me, then I consciously try my best to avoid such thought patterns, and it has worked for me.

What we think about ourselves becomes the truth for us. It took time for me to merely accept this fact initially when I started reading Louise L. Hay’s book “You can heal your life”. What a wonderful experience this book is! You may think that you are a very happy person, and nothing is wrong with your life, then why do I need to read this? But, it is not about who is in need of this book, it is about lot of other things. It is such a wonderful experience reading her book, the way she deals with thought patterns and the impact thought patterns have on our lives. Read it people, it is worth it! Helps people to do mental diet – a diet from negative thoughts! :)

Few people say, “how much ever I try, I can’t be happy, since my happiness is with Mr.X or Ms. Y”, but I believe that happiness should be found within us. Only when we find happiness within ourselves, can we make others happy. Never leave your happiness in other person's hands, you keep it with yourself. This much of selfishness is required for you to keep you happy first of all! Later, you can try to make others happy.

Similarly, only when you love yourself, can you love someone else. Let’s not look at ourselves through other person's eyes! The reality is that we have to look at ourselves through our own eyes, create a mirror for ourselves, where we respect the person we see in that mirror, love that person and care for that person – this realization of self worthiness is more important for those who are depressed, finding their happiness with someone else.

When we believe we are responsible for what we are, then we are taking control of our own happiness, but when we believe someone else is responsible for our happiness then we are losing control over our own happiness, giving the control of our happiness to other person.

I enjoy allowing myself to flow with the force of life, enjoying every moment, and living every moment, taking life as it comes but making the best out of it every moment with all my heartfelt efforts

Happy Birthday!

2011-03-08T18:59:00.000+05:30

Many thanks to Kiran for creating this image

Someone said "Life is one big road with lot of signs". 80 Feet Road was born out of a very great necessity: Freedom. 80 Feet Road was our road for freedom. Many have joined us on this road expressing their thoughts and views.

Yesterday, on March 7, 80 Feet Road turned 3.

Here's wishing our blog a very Happy Birthday and hoping that it continues to serve as a platform to express one's thoughts and views with freedom.

It's all in the 'Family'..

2011-03-01T13:50:00.002+05:30

Raw versus Processed!

2011-02-15T15:38:00.001+05:30

One day I was thinking about people with whom I can be just myself, no matter what I think, what I feel, what I love to do and what I dislike...these people accept me as I am and love me so much for being just ME.

While I was thinking about such people in my life, I felt there are two kinds of thoughts raw and processed. Raw thoughts are those which are escaped from the processing in our brain...it is what we feel, it is spontaneous and when you have people in your life with whom you can share such thoughts without any fear, without any shame, without weighing those thoughts, without being worried of consequences...it is a real blessing!

And, next there are processed thoughts - think before you speak type - which are weighed much in our brain, before expressed, thinking if it is right or wrong to express this, and if yes, in what way it should be expressed, what words should be used...how can I communicate it right, all these things.

I do not mean that we can be rude with those with whom we share raw thoughts/emotions...it is just that we are spontaneous with them, sharing trust with each other that neither of us have any intention to hurt, and we share with honesty...what ever we feel...naturally...and this can happen only with a complete acceptance of a person. Moreover, in case of people with whom you share raw emotions or thoughts and just be yourself, there will be love at first place, which is more important than anything!

Be yourself, no matter what you are...if you go on losing your individuality, then you will have to replace yourself with someone else created by others for you! Never let that disaster happen to you at any point of time in your life!

Be careful before you split your tablets!

2011-01-07T13:35:00.001+05:30

Here is a small note for those who take tablets splitting them. Even I used to do it often being lazy to search for tablets of dosage that I wanted. However, now I have changed this habit of mine, since there are a range of options available for those tablets.

Many researchers warn that splitting tablets into two or more parts is potentially dangerous (since tablet parts are often unequal in size) and could lead to people taking the wrong dose. Specifically, with regard to pills that have a narrow margin between a therapeutic and a toxic dose, it is more dangerous. A study published in the Journal of Advanced Nursing has revealed that 31 percent of split tablets deviated from the recommended dose by at least 15 percent and sometimes by more than 25 percent. The study suggested that the pharmaceutical firms should produce a range of options, including smaller or bigger dose tablets.

If suppose the dosage prescribed for you is not available in the market, then I feel it is better to talk to your doctor about it once, and confirm if it is fine to split tablets to take recommended dose.

Take care, and be healthy!

Source: Sify.com

the bus ride....

2011-01-04T12:34:00.000+05:30

Commuting is not exactly my forte. never has been. especially not a commute by public transport daily for an hour and a half two ways. And espcecially not for work ;)

But then this shift from 80 ft rd to the new office has added an entirely new dimension, an entirely new factor to life. Commute is the new buzz word. Bus is the new mantra. Travel is the latest in thing.

Aversion to change is not something ingrained in me. By all standards, I am fairly adaptable and mutable to change, well , not like an e.coli, yet not as stubborn as the dinosaur. Plus, i had somehow romanticized the idea of traveling in the bus.

the bright red bus, with AC spewing cool air on to me, whilst i sit back on the semi rigid plastic chairs looking thru the glass, onto the city go by its daily chores. AAh the optimism of an uninitiated mind!

A week into the dream, and its not just soured, but turned into a terrible nightmare.

Buses aren't all red ;) all don't have Ac. The ones that have, don't always use them. There definitely has been not a single day when i "sat" as much as for a second, leave alone the whole ride. And the city is pretty much inside the bus. Nothing else can explain the crowd inside every single bus. Add to that frustratingly somber and sullen looking, foul mouthed conductors, early morning ready to wipe off any little optimism one wud have for the day ahead.

Like the Tormentors and the Death Eaters from Azkabaan, the bus ride sucks out life form me, evey day as i start another gruelling rush to work and back home.

Still I do look forward to the ride, die hard romantic that I am.

The bus ride still is a window to immense possibilities. People have fallen in love in a bus, people have found new friends in a bus, people have struck deals in a bus, people have broken up shaky ties in a bus.

I aim to do more too, I plan to regain my dream of a bus ride from the clutches of a ruthless inorganic mass of crowd commuting with me daily. I am determined to not bow down to the rigors of a machanical lifestyle, I intend to stop and pause, ponder and wonder, find my way and sometimes wander, as i ride the bus to work each day.

Happy New Year

2011-01-01T14:18:00.000+05:30

Here’s a collage (a very big thanks to Kiran) of some of the cherished and happy moments at our old office on 80 feet road.

It’s been nearly 3 years since we, 4 crazy media analysts, came up with this blog “80 Feet Road”; blogging right next to the actual 80 feet road. Now this blog has tons of contributors’ blogging on a wide array of topics. This blog has remained and will be a symbol for freedom of speech. People say that we have a right to “freedom of speech”; after all, it is enshrined in our constitution as one of the fundamental rights. However, one will truly understand the difficulties that need to be overcome only when he/she decides to exercise that ‘right’. Some of us found out that the hard way, encountering corporate red tape and the necessity to remain completely neutral, when blogging on a company blog. Necessity is the mother of invention and “80 Feet Road” was born. It was like setting a caged bird free. We could blog with complete freedom. We were our own ‘Masters’. It was this freedom to blog that attracted our people to write on our blog.

Over the years, we learnt a lot about blogging. Though it looks very simple, it is not. We decided to opt for custom templates for the blogger platform and therein started our learning process. Editing the CSS templates to our needs; learning about the various java script widgets that could be used in our templates and tweaking them according to our preferences; creating a header image in Photoshop; creating custom signatures; learning about and experimenting with various hosting options for our scripts and image files; and finally, the big daddy of them all - Search Engine Optimization.

A very big shout out here for Kiran K. who, with all the workload that a full time graphics designer has to deal with, has steadfastly endured our various requests for tweaking the templates, creating header images for us, edit some of the images that we have put up in our posts and so on… Thank You.

Guru Bhai, the heart and soul of this blog, is responsible for most of the editing with regard to the widgets and templates that we have used over the years. Without his expertise, we wouldn’t have come this far. Thank You.

Guna Bhai was always ready with inputs and without his unwavering support and motivation; this venture would not have started in the first place. He has championed various causes, right from social to green causes on our blog and we are the ever more richer, both in terms of knowledge and soul. Thank You.

Arunava Das, whom I fondly address as Dassappa, has been an engine that drove our little group of activists – GreenHorns. His posts on Bhutan have brought the exotic flavor to our blog. His posts are always a delightful read. Thank You and please post more frequently!

Shilpa, “The Quintessential Phoenix” has been blogging like a phoenix. One thing was certain, when she blogged – it rained blog posts. :) Her range of topics brings out the entire gamut of feelings in the person reading them. Blogging from the heart, we are honored to have her write on our blog. Thank You.

‘A’ Corner, a.k.a. “the management swamiji” has had us in splits with his tongue in cheek satire and has been a welcome relief in our gang of bloggers, bringing in the rare touch of humor to our blog. A very big THANK YOU and please post more frequently!

Rakesh S. a.k.a “the spiritual swamiji” has been kind enough to share his thoughts and views, which inevitably led to debates and discussions. Miss the debates Swamiji and a huge Thank You.

And lastly, a very BIG “Thank You” to all our 80 Feet Road bloggers, without them this blog would not have been – what it is now. And special mention to Verghese Sir and Pravda, for being the beacon light that will always guide us, Thank You.

Our office has shifted to Hosur road. We are now no longer beside the 80 feet road, from which the blog has acquired its name. But this blog will go on. As long as the World Wide Web exists, so will our 80 Feet Road blog. That is a promise.

Enjoy! and here’s whishing you all a Happy New Year.

Day Time Burglary: Shame On You BMTC !

2010-12-03T20:06:00.004+05:30

I always use the bus. It's safe, environment friendly as it ferries many people, good on my pocket and I get to meet so many people. Even though I am impressed with the services that Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) offers in the city of Bangalore, there are still a few prick points that need to be polished, if they desire to be the Numero Uno.

The buses are regularly irregular. No one follows a scheduled timing. Sometimes the route name plates are broken / unreadable. The ordinary buses for the masses are not kept clean. The fares are too costly. I can go on and on… and all these are minor things and bearable…but for the attitude/nuisance of the drivers and conductors…

Conductors have tied themselves in a vicious cycle of corruption, like a ringworm - very difficult to be cured. They have devised so many methods to cheat innocent people who hop into buses.

Some of their ways:
The Conductor receives money from you, acts as if he did not hear you tell him your destination and just moves on …. Without issuing any ticket! And if your destination is near, he wont come back till you get down..

If he hears you, then he has another strategy! First he argues that you didn’t pay him, but then he acts fast, saying that you should have been louder. You must be lucky if he gives you a ticket now…

Another trick is what I call the ‘Ticket on the Ticket’ trick: This needs some preparation before hand to make it look real. (Behind the scenes: He would have placed an old, recently issued ticket over the fresh stack he holds in his hand). Now when he wants to issue you a ticket.. voila! He acts as if he is tearing a new ticket from the pinned mass of paper tickets! Thereby making some neat Chillar!

Now how does he get old tickets? You might ask me? Ask me… I had this experience.. I gave a Ten rupee note to this particular fellow for a destination which cost 8/-.. So this smart guy writes the change for 2 Rs. in small font, at the back of the ticket, at its far end. (Conductors are used to write the amount to be reimbursed at the back of the ticket if they run out of change). Now when I asked him about the change and showed him the ticket, he tore the tip of it and grumpily handed over my change. He then coolly added my issued ticket on his ticket stack. This is no one off case of one guy going nuts; I have had similar experiences a few times. Once when I asked back my ticket from the conductor, he gave me a look of neglect and questioned me angrily as to where I would get down, even though he knew where I would.

Did I tell you another way of being tricked when a conductor purportedly is out of change? He scribbles the change he has to give on the ticket and goes to the far end of the bus. That is if you are a guy, he goes and stands in the ladies section and if you are a gal, he stands in the men’s section of the bus. When you have to get down, you’ll be totally unable to reach that guy. I have seen this happen so many times. The driver may be playing along with him, coz he almost accelerates the bus before the change is given.

No I am not generalizing all conductors and drivers; there are few genuine people who hand you the change even when they don’t write it on the back of the ticket. A few guys remember to hand over even a single Rupee even when the bus is crowded to the footboard.

There are also a few gems who are polite and understanding. Some are so well behaved that it shows up in their mannerisms. There was one guy whom I never forget to remember. He used to wish every passenger with a pleasant smile on his face and a good morning/good evening message. He was so polite and every one liked him. He used to guide any new bees to the city with the best of directions.

And let me be straight I don’t want to put the total blame on our conductors, poor guys who definitely work real hard to earn a meager income. I BLAME THE HIGHER STAFF OF BMTC WHOM THESE MEN HAVE TO SATISFY WITH THE BOOTY. It’s because of them that the whole system is crumbling.

I earnestly hope the BMTC takes up the issue seriously and do a moral grounding of these men. For, they are the common face of Bangalore for many outsiders who board city buses to catch a glimpse of our beautiful city.

Let me know if you have been fooled with some new tricks..! ;)

Holiday Blues!!!

2010-11-25T21:45:00.000+05:30

Finally, four days of bliss. Months of hectic media monitoring had left me craving for some personal time, time to introspect, time to indulge myself… you get the point.

First off, I would like to congratulate my friend Kiran K on getting married. Kiran has been with 80 Feet Road since its birth, helping us with the template coding and designing header images. On behalf of the 80 Feet Road bloggers, I wish you a happy and a prosperous married life.

Oprah giving away cars to the audience had grabbed a lot of eyeballs everywhere, making it one of the hot topics to discuss at the water-cooler gatherings. Pamela Anderson’s entry into Big Boss was the most popular.

Thanks to a very learned friend of mine, whose scholarly knowledge in almost all disciplines leaves us spellbound; I’ve been and continue to be treated to classic movies of different genres. As a result, I have now a huge collection of movies lined up to be seen this long weekend. Thank you KB!

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Moving on to my favorite topic – Corruption. Not any more! Looks like it has become the favorite topic of an entire nation, instead. At least, that’s how the newspapers and the news channels making it look like. Reams of print and airtime are being allotted to the spectrum scam while closer home, it’s the CM’s largesse in allotting land to his family members hogging the headlines.

Now, I am not against the newspapers and the news channels making a big hue and cry, after all the government should be held accountable for its wrongdoings, right? But the point here is what does it accomplish? Committees will be set up to investigate these allegations and after a decade or so they come up with their findings, by which time, the perpetrators would have moved away from the limelight (or better - dead), nobody would be interested. Someone else would have taken their place; someone who having learnt from their predecessors mistakes would be more careful to not to get caught.

What does all of this accomplish? Does it kill corruption? Will it go away?

NO!!!

Let us be smart and go after the small fish. I mean the small ones. Kill the small ones and the big ones will cease to exist. Makes sense right?

Charity begins at home. But unfortunately, it has lost out big time to Corruption. Yes, these days we are most likely to indulge in corruption rather than charity. The delivery man, who brings in the gas cylinder when the one at the home runs out, demands 20 to 40 rupees extra on the bill. It is extortion. Refuse at your own peril. The next time your cylinder runs out, you will have to run from pillar to post to get the replacement on time. The garbage man demands anything between 10-20 rupees at the end of every week. If you refuse, then don’t be surprised to see your garbage lying un-collected at your doorstep. So, you learn the hard way. When the electricity conks off in your area, better be prepared to pay the repairmen something when they are done or learn to do it the hard way. The same goes for the sewage repair, water leakage, and the list goes on.

Do you think anyone would be interested in charity after being forced to pay thorough the nose. I am not talking about taxes here!

Let us begin at our homes. Let the media highlight our problems. Let the authorities take action against these perps. Once these problems are taken care of, lets move on to something that’s a little bigger. Let us take baby steps in fighting corruption. However, we need to dig in because it will be a long, hard and a dirty fight. These greedy bastards are not going to change (give in) that easily.

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Enjoy the long weekend. Happy Thanksgiving!

ನಾನಿರುವುದೆ ನಿಮಗಾಗಿ.......

2010-11-01T21:18:00.007+05:30

ಆಹಾ!! ಈ ಸುಮಧುರ ಹಾಡು ಇವತ್ತಿನ ಬೆಳಿಗ್ಗೆ ಬಸ್ ನಲ್ಲಿ ಕೇಳಿದೆ.. ಗಾನ ಗಂಧರ್ವ ಡಾ|| ರಾಜ್ ಕುಮಾರ್ ಅವರ ಮಧುರವಾದ ಕಂಠ. ಜೀವಂತವಾದ ಹಾಡು.

ರೋಡ್ ಎಲ್ಲಾ ಖಾಲಿ, ಬಸ್ ಅಲ್ಲೂ ಕಡಿಮೆ ಜನ. ನೀವು ಇಂದು ಕೆಲಸಕ್ಕೆ ಹೋಗ್ತಾ ಇದ್ದೀರಾ? ಅಂತ ಬಹಳ ಕುತುಉಹಲ ಮತ್ತು ವ್ಯಂಗ್ಯವಾಗಿ ಕೇಳಿದರು ನಮ್ಮ conductor ಸಾಹೇಬರು. ನಾನು ನಗುತ್ತಲೇ ಹೇಳಿದೆ, "ಹೌದು ಅಣ್ಣ ಈವತ್ತು ನಾನು ಕೆಲಸ ಮಾಡಿ ತೀರುತ್ತೇನೆ.. ನಿಮ್ಮ ಹಗೆ ಅಂತ... ಆಥ ಗುಪ್-ಚುಪ್!

ನೆನ್ನೆ ರಾತ್ರಿ ETV ಕನ್ನಡ ವಾಹಿನಿ "ಎದಿ ತುಂಬಿ ಹಾಡುವೆನು" ಕಾರ್ಯಕ್ರಮ ನೋಡಿದೆ. ಬಹಳ ಚೆನ್ನಾಗಿತ್ತು. ನನ್ನ ಬಾಲ್ಯದ ಪುಸ್ತಕದ ಒಂದು character ಅನ್ನು ಪ್ರತ್ಯಕ್ಷವಾಗಿ TV ಅಲ್ಲಿ ಕಂಡೆ. ಅವರು ಯಾರು ಅಂತೀರ? Dr . ಜಿ. ಎಸ್. ಶಿವ ರುದ್ರಪ್ಪ ನವರು. ಶಾಲೆಗೆ ಹೋಗುವ ದಿನಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ನಾನು ಅವರ ಕವನಗಳನ್ನು ಓದುತ್ತ ಬೆಳೆದೆ. ಬಹಳ ಅರ್ಥ ಪೂರ್ಣ ಬರವಣಿಗೆ ಎನ್ನಬಹುದು. ಕರ್ನಾಟಕದ ಬಹಳಷ್ಟು ಪ್ರಸಿದ್ಧ ಕವಿಗಳಲಿ ನನ್ನನ್ನು ಆಕರ್ಶಿಸಿದವರು ಕುವೆಂಪು, ದ ರ ಬೇಂದ್ರೆ, ಪು ತಿ ನ, ಜಿ ಎಸ್ ಶಿ, ಪುರಂದರ ದಾಸರು, ಅಕ್ಕ ಮಹಾದೇವಿ, ಸಂತ ಶಿಶುನಾಳ ಶರೀಫ್ಫರು ಮತ್ತು ಕೆ. ಎಸ್. ನಿಸ್ಸಾರ್ ಅಹ್ಮೆದ್.

ನಾನು ಈವತ್ತು ಏತಕ್ಕೆ ಇದೆಲ್ಲ ನಿಮಗೆ ತಿಳಿಸುತ್ತಿದ್ದೇನೆ ಅಂತ ಕುತುಉಹಲನಾ? ಇಂದು ಕನ್ನಡ ರಾಜ್ಯೋತ್ಸವ ರೀ... ಅಂದರೆ ೧೯೫೬ ಇಸವಿಯಾ ಈದಿನ ಕನ್ನಡ ಮಾತನಾಡುವ ಎಲ್ಲಾ ಚಿಕ್ಕ ದೊಡ್ಡ ಪ್ರದೇಶಗಳನ್ನು ಒಂದಾಗಿಸಿದರು ಮತ್ತು ಈ ಭಾಗವನ್ನು ಕರ್ನಾಟಕ ಎಂದು ಗುರುತಿಸಿದರು.

ಆಯಿತು ಕಣ್ರೀ ಇನ್ನು ಜಾಸ್ತಿ ಮಾತನ್ನದುವುದಿಲ್ಲ ಕನ್ನಡ ಭಾಷೆ ಬಹಳ ಅಧ್ಬುತ ಭಾಷೆ. ನನನ್ನು ಬಹಳಷ್ಟು ಆಕರ್ಷಿಸಿದ. ನಾನು ಈ ಬ್ಲಾಗ್ ಮುಗಿಸುವುದು, ಬಹಳ ವರ್ಷಗಳ ಹಿಂದೆ ಬರೆದ ನನ್ನ ಚಿಕ್ಕ ಕವಿತೆಯ ಮೂಲಕ.

ಹೇಳಿದೆನಲ್ಲ ಶಿವಮಾತನ್ನ

ಭಕ್ತಿಯು ಏನದು ಮುಕ್ತಿಯು ನಿನದು
ದೇಹವು ಏನದು ಪ್ರಾಣವು ನಿನದು
ಹೇಳಿದೆನಲ್ಲ ಶಿವಮಾತನ್ನ...

ತಿಳಿದು ತಿಳಿದು ತಪ್ಪ ನೀ ಮಾಡದಿರು
ಮಾಡಿದ ಮ್ಯಾಲೆ ಅದ ನೀ ಮುಚ್ಚದಿರು...
ಹೇಳಿದೆನಲ್ಲ ಶಿವಮಾತನ್ನ...

ಶಿವಪ್ಪನನು ನಿನ್ನೆ ನೋಡುವ, ನೋಡಿದ ಮ್ಯಾಲೆ
ಸುಮ್ಮನೆ ನಗುವ, ನಕ್ಕಿದ ಮ್ಯಾಲೆ ಅವನೇ ಹೇಳುವ,
"ಪುಣ್ಯವು ನಿನದು ಕರ್ಮವು ನಿನದು
ಅದ ನೀ ತಿಳಿದು ಧರ್ಮದಿ ನಡೆಯೋ
ಧರ್ಮದಿ ನಡೆದು ಸತ್ಯವ ನುಡಿಯೋ -
ಇದ ನೀ ತಿಳಿದರೆ ಸುಖವಾಗಿರುವೆ,
ಇದ ನೀ ಮರೆತರೆ ಅರಿಯದೆ ಬಾಳುವೆ"
ಹೇಳಿದೆನಲ್ಲ ಶಿವಮಾತನ್ನ...

ಕಡೆ ನುಡಿ: ಕನ್ನಡದ ಬಳಕೆ ಎಷ್ಟು ಕಡಿಮೆ ಯಾಗಿದೆ ಅಂದರೆ, ನಾನು ಕನ್ನಡ ಬರೆದು ಎಷ್ಟೋ ವರ್ಷಗಳು ಕಳೆದು ಹೋಗಿವೆ. ಇನ್ನು ಮುಂದೆ ಯಾದರು ಶ್ರೀ ಎಸ. ಎಲ್. ಬ್ಯರಪ್ಪನವರ "ಪರ್ವ" ಓದಲೇ ಬೇಕು ಎಂದು ನಿರ್ಧರಿಸಿದ್ದೇನೆ. ನನ್ನ ಪ್ರಿಯ ಗೆಳೆಯರೇ ದಯವಿಟ್ಟು ಕನ್ನಡದ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಈಗಾದರೂ ಕಾಳಜಿವಹಿಸೋಣ ಬನ್ನಿ. ಯೀಳಿ ಎದ್ದೇಳಿ....

ಜಯ ಕರ್ನಾಟಕ! ಜಯ ಭಾರತ!

U.S. Tourism Dept.'s bainchild to tap into the Dalit market of South Dakota !

2010-10-27T15:40:00.002+05:30

Through The Looking Glass

2010-10-24T21:34:00.002+05:30

Scourging through news items is what we media analysts do for a living. And in the process of looking through scores of links online, a seasoned news hound would definitely smell out news of his/her interest, simultaneously making a fairly accurate measure of the region/nation's media preferences.

Being one such mortal addicted to news and information in all shapes sizes and bytes, I am guilty as charged to the above crime. My ingression doesn't end with this though, for a daily exposure to publishing giants from the three worlds we are divided into, forces my yet un-dumbed-down mind to draw parallels,and worry over the consequences.

A cursory look at the media in the U.S. and India, would lead one to conclude that either could switch nationalities and the world still be the beautiful chaotic mess it is today. But look not too far under the gloss glam and front page gimmickry,and one would find the difference. The difference of assuredness at being a superpower, and the contrasting ignorance bordering on arrogance that our Indian media specializes in.

Why, i always wondered, that a nation like Ghana, be bothered with body scanners in New Jersey, or why Nepal's national daily splash Obama's Af-Pak policy on its front pages, with a thorough analysis inside. Of what interest would tumult in Latin American states be, for PlusNews of an already ailing Pakistan? And, more importantly, why Indian dailies have increasingly relegated international coverage to a single page flooded by classifieds adds, unless of course its our troublesome neighbours or their dragon friend? Africa, Middle East, Latin America, East Asia, the ASEAN,SAARC, regions that have traditionally been and will always be of India's strategic interest, scarcely find a mention in our public discourse. Compare this to how Britain and Washington hog the limelight, and it is clear something is wrong with our media's worldview.

Day in and day out, we are fed a concocted mixture of planted news, views and "analysis" with the preordained conclusion of us having "arrived" globally. In this maddening avalanche of self-glorification, we have lost a sense of purpose, a sense of direction as a society. In a never ending drumming of jingoistic cacophony, the media seems to have forgotten that a superpower can only stand tall on the support of an informed citizenry. In this blinding haze of proclaiming our importance, we seem to have falsified the truth that to grow in stature, we need a constant dialogue with the rest of the world.

We need a media that can bring the world to our door steps daily, that can break up world issues shedding light on how these would affect us, for we can not dream of a greater role in the legion of nations, unless we know how their world revolves.

News has always meant to be a looking glass for us to peep into the world. What we chose to look at reflects upon our standing as a people. It defines our intent, and our worldview. If being on the top is what we intend to do, shrinking our worldview is definitely not gonna help our intent!

Are Buddhists Happy ? :)

2010-10-21T17:34:00.005+05:30

Well, not that am leaning towards one religious community, but sometimes the phrases that people search reveals a lot on the bigger frame.. Stumbled upon a nice diagram someone had created out of Google suggestions... Must say it shows the emotions created by religion! Posted the pic as it is below.. Speaks for itself..

Pic Courtesy: Reddit

Follow some really interesting discussions here...

Endless Dreams ...

2010-10-19T19:12:00.003+05:30

Endless dreams in the haze of October
You shall succeed if ever you step forward
Neither the Earth nor the Sun,
Neither the Moon nor the Wind,
Shall dare stop you, in thy path of Glory!

Trading your dreams for the flowing Gr€€n
Think not of a better time than the one you see
Go for the grape, go for the hat
Till you find that magical bunny
For you shall transverse that un-trodden path through the mystical maze..

There shall be hate, there shall be wrath
Begin to love and begin to solve..
..for there are problems that no math can solve
Life is worth the smile you get, on the face you just met..
Fill the stinky pond with truth and love, for there blooms the lotus!

In thy journey my dear brother, think not just of you
For there live a thousand odd souls who need a lift..
Tend to the poor.. Tend to their roots..
For every plate filled is another stomach unfilled...

In this illusion don't pretend, for there is neither end nor a beginning
Be right, be just and don't forget that this is just a dream...
A dream that you would always wake up from.. Refreshed…. Relaxed…. and Hopeful….

The Che! Factor

2010-10-15T16:14:00.002+05:30

From the SMS Collection

2010-10-08T15:34:00.005+05:30

An SMS joke worth putting up:

It is good that Ram gets some part of the land to settle down, because now, Sita is running a travel agency, Maruti is making cars, Laxman might retire after the series against Australia, Shatrughan has joined BJP, Raavan is already a commercial flop and there is peace in Lanka!!!!

Inability To Spread Dengue - Suspected motive behind the recent honor killing amongst mosquitoes!

2010-09-26T16:51:00.002+05:30

In what may be yet another suspected case of honor killing, the decomposed bodies of two mosquitoes, who eloped recently, have been found in a field in western U.P. The heads found severed, and though prima facie it appeared to be a case of honor killing, all angles are being looked into.

"It seems they were hit by some strong mosquito repellent spray or a coil. We suspect an honor killing and are recording the statements of their family members. We have also gathered some clues from the crime spot and very soon we will arrest the accused," Louie the Fly (Mortein ad antagonist), investigation officer of the case, said on Sunday.

Louie is adamant that the alleged motive is indeed the couple’s impotency a.k.a. inability to spread dengue/malaria in the streets of Delhi especially during the time of global star presence for the CWG. The 'Culicidae' family had dreams of exporting dengue globally at minimal costs by infecting all the foreign delegates, making them carriers. But the diffidence showed by the innocent couple may have forced the fraternity to cull them.

The victims identified as Houie, 22 (days), and Julia, 18 (days), were said to be in a relationship for the last 48-72 hours. An Odomos bottle was found lying near the bodies, and the exact cause of death would be known only after the autopsy report is received.

Meanwhile Louie has directed Good Knight, HIT, All Out, Mortein and other prominent mosquito killers not to leave the country, without prior permission of the court, till the investigation is completed.

Mahesh finds a new doubles partner in Lara...

2010-09-21T13:45:00.002+05:30

After breaking up with long time partner Leander Paes and the Belarusian hunk Max Mirnyi, Mahesh Bhupathi has finally decided to settle for a Lara. Even though the not-so-straight-preferences of Mahesh & our scheme of plot, point directly to one Brian Lara, you got it all wrong, pal! This time it’s the ravishing former Miss Universe turned Bollywood damsel Lara Dutta. Bhupathi was claimed to be the apparent reason behind Lara dumping Dino Morea (a 'who'?). The lady has been held responsible for the divorce between Bhupathi and Shwetha Jaishankar (another 'who'?). The couple has of late given ample indications of their closeness, including hand-in-hand appearances at many award shows.

Then why the delayed announcement?

In a clandestine revelation, Lara’s confessional stated that she feared being Mahesh’s doubles partner, as it meant, performing the famous heart-wrenching ‘Lee-Hesh’ ‘chest bump’ after every volley won. To watch it on T.V. while sipping a health drink is one thing, but on the field, especially with a madman fuming with pride for ones’ nation, it’s one ridiculously insane act. PERIOD. What if the silicone implants get permanently distorted like what happened to Sania Mirza? No, it’s definitely not her cup of herbal tea.

Thus, it took a while for Mahesh to convince Lara, who decided to nod in approval only when a pleading Mahesh recited his wedding vows in filmy style.

“I, (Mahesh), take you (Lara), to be my lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold (without any chest bumping) from this day forward, for better (Martina Hingis) or for worse (Rakhi Sawant), for richer (Neeta Ambani), for poorer (again Rakhi Sawant), in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do us part.”

P.S. When asked, Rakhi was very much excited to do the chest bumping thingy along with anyone except Mika Singh, sources said.

Heights of Selfishness!

2010-09-19T21:13:00.000+05:30

Two schools of thoughts are vying with each other - - for my attention, which is usually followed by rationalization and giving them a logical conclusion.

Recently, I had come across reports that violence has flared up in Congo. In this month’s GQ mag, I came across a letter to the editor where the reader had written about an article that was published in an earlier edition of the mag. The article “Congo: The Horror” written by Ed Caesar.

I did a quick Google search and got the article, but what impressed me was that situation in Congo was given print space in one of the elite magazines’. My enthusiasm was however, short-lived as I wondered how many people would really care (as most of the people subscribing to this magazine would be the upper crest of the society). Then reality struck me; even if the above mentioned article had appeared on the front page of all the leading Indian dailies’, nobody would have cared. Even if someone did, what could they do? There is enough crap in our own homes, why worry about somebody else’s crap?

What Congo needs is action. What is being done right now is not enough. Empathy, pity and care are nothing but feelings that soothe our guilt of inaction and their contribution towards solving / finding a solution to Congo’s problem, is ZERO. However, there are people who have set up camps decades ago, dedicating their lives to helping the people (by setting up aid and medical camps) of Congo. We need more of them, very badly.

I am tired of writing about the inhumane horrors the fighting in Congo has brought about. You can do a Google search and read for yourself. But what caught my eye was that men are now being raped in Congo.

I had read some where that “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” Right now there are very few good people who are doing their bit, but they are powerless to bring about a change. Change is what the people of Congo need.

The colored people had played their part in the revolution that saw slavery being abolished and racial discrimination being made unlawful. But what I do not understand is why this racial discrimination is being perpetrated by the colored people on their own kind.

It reminds me of a line spoken by the protagonist in the movie “Hotel Rwanda” where he laments that the ‘whites’ have abandoned them to their fate cause they are nothing but dirt to them (whites). In the case of Congo, the world has abandoned it. Nobody cares about what is happening in one of the poorest countries of the world. Let them die. They are nothing but cockroaches. Apparently, it is good for us that these cockroaches are killing each other as the world becomes a better place to live in with fewer roaches.

Now about things more local in nature, I saw our Honorable Chief Minister, on TV, allotting crores’ of rupees at the drop of an hat, to build memorials, for two noted film and theater / music personalities who had recently passed away. I cannot comprehend how the CM can allot crores’ of Indian rupees for memorials. That is criminal waste of the taxpayers’ (our) money.

There are far more pressing issues at hand to deal with and that require such sums of money. Is there no one to question the rationale behind such idiosyncrasy? Why are we letting this happen, unless this is nothing but a gimmick and everybody is in on it, except me?

In another part of our country, another Chief Minister is on a mission to erect statues of her mentor, party symbol and of course, her statues all over the state; all at the cost of thousand crores plus to the exchequer. The law has somewhat woken up and put a halt to it, but there are strong indications that the government will get away with it. Substantial amounts of money have already gone down the drain.

I did not realize that India is such a RICH country. We spend billions to satisfy petty whimsical notions that do nothing but assuage the egos of such ministers. Lots of Indians are getting onto the Forbes’s Billionaire list. But, when you go deeper, it hits you like a Shatabdi running on nitrous. We are selfish. I might be wrong, but I read somewhere that India is a country that has the largest number of billionaire’s (includes both legal and illegal). Yet, we are a poor country, still stuck with the tag “developing nation”. I have been hearing that since I was a small kid. We have billions to erect statues and build memorials, but we do not have money to build proper roads, public sanitary facilities and put in place an efficient public transport system. I am not even going to bother to talk about the corruption that has saturated our lives.

In both cases, of Congo’s and ours, we have accepted it. The people of Congo are used to the violence as generations have born and died under the umbrella of war, accompanied by the violence that is unique to the region. We Indians, we have accepted it, cause we are so selfish. We go to work, earn money, take care of our family and enjoy life. We do not worry about our neighbors and friends, apart from the show of concern. How many people go out of their way to help out? Very few. What about complete strangers. We certainly do not give a shit about them, do we? Why the hell should I worry about them? I have got enough to worry about – my job, my family, etc. That is why we have Governments. Is it not? To take care of the welfare of the citizens as a whole. And what is the Government doing? It is taking care of itself. Nobody cares. Complains fall on deaf ears. Life goes on…..

Sometimes I wonder, whether India would become as lawless as a Congo or a Somalia. But if such a thing were to happen, I wish it would happen after my time. Long after I am dead and gone. See, I am selfish!

But wait. Can we change? Is there hope for humanity? Will the world awaken and bring about a change in Congo? Will India get rid of corruption and become a transparent, peaceful and an honest country to live in. I certainly hope so. Do you know why? I am SELFISH!!!

Product of intense surfing through the Official Attyachar site; when bored at work!

2010-09-16T16:01:00.005+05:30

Thrilling Life of a Media Analyst!

2010-09-15T14:06:00.004+05:30

Bean Avatar!

2010-09-14T17:57:00.000+05:30

How Instant Can Google Instant Be ?

2010-09-09T18:24:00.006+05:30

Well we all know how fast Google is. Better than most of the search engines are and it takes just a few Milli-secs to get your thoughts searched through huge bytes of data. As always Google is setting the benchmark of sorts in the race for quicker access to data you need.

Introducing Google Instant with the tag line "search-before-you-type" - well you may ask, what's new in this? Many of us usually use 'Google Suggest' to get instant suggestions.. Google Instant takes this process a step further is my answer. Not only do you get the dandy suggestions, but u get the search page refreshed in micro-secs. Howzzat..

Here is what Google's Blog has to say, "Instant takes what you have typed already, predicts the most likely completion and streams results in real-time for those predictions—yielding a smarter and faster search that is interactive, predictive and powerful."

The screenshot below shows u everything and do note, it took Google just 0.05 seconds to go through about 134,000,000 results. Whoa!

Yesterday, Google CEO Eric Schmidt did hint about this change on his Twitter page (https://twitter.com/ericschmidt). :P

All the speed with which we access data is a bit overwhelming sometimes, makes me wonder when Google or for that matter any data retrieval system/process will be faster than the human mind. Will discuss this in a future post.

So try it out here.. Google Instant and yes you can find a turn on/off switch on your top right hand side. If you want to switch the functionality off, then just hit the 'Search' button or the 'Enter' key on your keyboard.

Verdict: I did find Google Instant handy, as you don't have to hit that Search button no more. Just one question that crops up is: how accurate is the search? Hope not to get addicted to it though. :P

Obama's Fear of the Darkness a.k.a. Outsourcing!

2010-09-09T16:48:00.001+05:30

Jittered by the sight of Indo-Pak duo Rohan Bopanna & Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi continuing to make history at the US Open, reaching their maiden grand slam final, top seeded Bryan Brothers approached President Barack Obama, in an incognito summit, to put a halt to their winning streak. Obama was more than happy to oblige ever since he had a 'big time' complex with the Bollywood hunk John Abraham’s butt.

Consequence: OHIO BANNING OUTSOURCING

Reasoning: Discouraging the creation of jobs & profits in other countries will aid in hindering the progress of the developing nations, rendering them poor, fighting for survival!

“i.e. death of tennis, chess, soccer and snooker in the subcontinent. We no longer need to be afraid of the likes of Vishwanathan Anand, Paes/Bhupathi pair or even Pankaj Advani/Geet Sethi for that matter. Beware! Don’t stifle them in Cricket, yet. Then they may think of championing in other sports. Let them play cricket till we build up a ‘National Team’. By that time, even the stalwarts like Sachin & Sehwag will hopefully retire and hence winning wouldn’t be that difficult. Yes, We Can!” said an elated Obama after the hardcore threesome brainstorming session.

He also came up with a blinder of a speech by modifying some verses from Marianne Williamson’s book ‘A Return to Love’ saying, “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is those third-world call centers who take our jobs away. It is our darkness (Precisely when it’s daytime for Indian call centers), not our light that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in every Americans (Screw the rest!). And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same (But don’t let those ‘Indian Slumdogs’ come up in life). As we are liberated from our own fear (outsourcing), our presence will automatically screw others and compel them to write their own epitaph.”

Fevicol Ki Jhodi - Chipkega?

2010-09-09T13:13:00.004+05:30

Well we all have seen funny and memorable ads for Fevicol adhesive right guys... well found this in my mailbox today... Felt like sharing with you all.. the shot is one of the best ever (that is if it has not been doctored offcourse!)

Checkout the shadow of the man and the woman ...

Again could not find the copyright holder for this picture.. so really thought twice to post it... :)

Update: Guess what this is a print ad done by OGILVY & MATHER, INDIA, Mumbai

For more info check out Colibrus.com

Look Who's Peeping Mom

2010-09-08T19:56:00.004+05:30

This has been one of the best images I came across on the Web from a very long time.. Thought of sharing with you guys... No idea about the copyright..

Looks like a stowaway from Planet Ziberanagalela

Help! I have transmogrified into an AP pickup.

2010-09-07T09:02:00.003+05:30

I was lost in the world of 3D TVs and back-to-school deals for the past couple of months and was really looking forward to this Labor Day weekend.

Alas, my hopes of relaxation and fun over the three day weekend was horribly shattered as I came down with fever, cough and cold; also, add sore throat to that mix.

Yesterday, the last day of the extended weekend, was the worst. I had this really high temperature fever running throughout the night and had slipped into an incoherent and a hallucinating dream where I had become a pick-up of an AP article.

Yes, you read that right! I had become one of those innumerable, ubiquitous, pain in the *** pick up of an Associated Press article. In my dream, I was somehow transported into the world of online news, where the AP was the dictator and everybody else were nothing but pickups / repeats of the AP. I had lost my identity and was fighting against the corrupt dictator – the AP. However, unlike the endings in movies where the hero always wins, I was losing the battle and was on the verge of becoming an expired link / URL. And yes, unlike in movies, there was not beautiful damsel that needed rescuing either. Damn! That is so sad; pathetic actually, because it is my dream.

Then I woke up, with relief streaming through my whole body, that I was no longer an AP pickup. On the downside, my body was really sore and did not feel like getting out of the bed, I guess all that fighting had drained my energy.

The funny thing though is that I don’t remember the heading of the AP article.

That really tells me that it is about time I take a break long break. In fact, one is in the pipeline already. Just need to get it approved by the “powers that be”.

Media monitoring is really getting under my skin these days, with people quitting and their work being unloaded onto the existing employees heads; painfully slow pace of hiring replacements; working overtime which means that past couple of months I have been working on accounts / projects for free! cause the company does not pay for overtime.

It is a crazy world of media monitoring and we being crazy media analysts……. you get the point, right?

Wikipedia Going Glocal !

2010-09-02T17:15:00.005+05:30

In a bid to localize the global content, the Wikimedia Foundation added Wikiglocal to the list of projects in its kitty. In an exclusive interview, Executive Director, Sue Gardner, discussed the changes in the industry and the reasons that lead to this transition. “Wikimedia is funded primarily through donations by hundreds of thousands of individuals, but also through several grants and gifts of servers and hosting,” said Ms. Gardner. “There are a lot of disputed territories, practices and customs in this big, bad, ugly world which may be pristine to ones eye while deeply flawed to another’s. Thus 'Wikiglocal' is a tailor-made platform which helps in synthesizing this information thereby giving customized knowledge to those scoundrels who wants it that way!”

In short, you may find 'Arunachal Pradesh' as an integral part of India when viewed from the subcontinent while it may be named 'Xinxaou' province if some Chinese views it from Mainland China. Similarly, if a Pakistani wants to go(ogle) 'Sania Mirza', they will be graciously directed to 'Sania Malik’s' page (see pic). Same goes for Jesusama – Believe it or Not!

Beaten at the Oscars by ex wife Kathryn Bigelow’s Hurt Locker; James Cameron has completely lost it!

2010-08-27T20:38:00.008+05:30

Bigelow’s Hurt Locker success traumatized legendary James Cameron, who is all set to take revenge by conquering the next Oscars with the re-release of his legacy – ‘AVATAR’. The new version is said to contain an extra nine minutes, including a racy uncut pre-marital alien tentacle sex. (Phew!). Tamil actress Khushboo, who recently won a long and tough legal battle for her comments on pre-marital sex, was thrilled to endorse the movie on request of Mr. Cameroon.

Cameron's actual script was briefly posted online and featured some breathless descriptions of the scene! “

,” read the narrative (in Navi). For all those who are yet to master the language, here’s the depiction :

“The tendrils intertwine with gentle undulations. Jake rocks with the direct contact between his nervous system and hers. The ultimate intimacy,” read the narrative (in English).

Cameron is fervently hoping that the Oscar jury will get overwhelmed seeing the blue creatures make out in 3D. And if that’s not enough to ensure a seat at the Oscars, the director/producer is remaking ‘TITANIC’ in 4D. Cameron is experimenting with this novel concept that will give the audience a never-before-felt experience; especially when one gets a feel of the celebrity sputum hitting one’s face, throughout the ‘who-can-spit-the-longest’ competition between Jack & Rose.

P.S. Chinese, Japanese, Malayalam & Slovenian translations are also available!

Nehru's 'Tryst with Destiny' decoded after 63 long years!

2010-08-20T11:53:00.003+05:30

Indian Independence Day Special Edition

(4 days late; thereby demonstrating the Indian-ness)

Expert cryptologists led by Dr. DaVinci of Old Monk Buddies Research Centre, have managed to decipher the famous I-Day speech by Jawaharlal Nehru, said to contain several hidden messages to Lady Edwina Mountbatten, including the usage of the term India in reference to Nehru himself. Thus the inspirational speech with subliminal pointers, “At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom”, secretly meant to set up a hush-hush date between the two for a ‘coochie-coo’ session, has been gravely mistaken as one arising out of Nehru’s overwhelming pride for the nation. After interpreting its true meaning, one can’t stop but fathom whether his long suppressed soul (Ref: The Ugly Truth (Movie)), found the much awaited utterance…

MERCENARIES reloaded - On A Maoist Hunt

2010-08-16T01:47:00.003+05:30

In a final, desperate effort to tackle the growing Maoist terror in the country, PM invited all the mercenaries (including those who died in Part 1 Expendables), to India, in hope of restoring peace. "The disastrous movie getting bombed at the box Office aided GoM in arriving at the unanimous decision", said hon'ble Home Minister P. Chidambaram. As in Part 1, Arnold and Bruce Willis too agreed to play a crucial 'blink-and-you'll-miss cameo' during the hunt!

Terrorism Process Outsourcing - TPO's

2010-08-13T15:40:00.003+05:30

Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na

2010-08-09T13:49:00.000+05:30

What Scared Usain Bolt Out Of CWG ?

2010-08-06T12:07:00.001+05:30

The GODS must be CRAZY !!

2010-08-04T15:46:00.001+05:30

MK Kaushik unCensored ..

2010-08-03T15:24:00.001+05:30

Spidey Vs. Spidey & Sons Co Ltd.

2010-08-03T10:50:00.001+05:30

Khap Panchayat's Latest Release - CHK

2010-07-12T16:48:00.003+05:30

The unTold Story of PAUL..

2010-07-09T12:58:00.002+05:30

11.07.2010 - Johannesburg

2010-07-08T16:43:00.001+05:30

SPIT (at) THE FUTURE !!

2010-07-07T16:16:00.002+05:30

A Festival No More

2010-07-03T17:36:00.006+05:30

The Tour De France starts from a few minutes from now. But for the first time, I have no desire to watch it.

It feels strange.

The king of cycling is back (with a perpetual shadow of dope allegations still following him), which in all probability is his last Tour (still unconfirmed). The defending champion has already made his plans on neutralizing the king’s threat and win one more Tour.

I don’t care anymore. The black swirl of doping allegations around this sport, has robbed all the credibility, interest, spark and soul from it. The Yellow Jersey has lost its meaning and purpose.

Long live the Peloton.

IAF Group Captain - New Recruit!

2010-07-01T16:21:00.001+05:30

The Solitude of Emperors !!

2010-06-22T15:08:00.004+05:30

The Battle of the Sexes..

2010-06-21T13:13:00.002+05:30

School of Gobbledygook !

2010-06-18T12:54:00.001+05:30

'A' Corner - Just Curious..

2010-06-17T12:50:00.001+05:30

Celebrating It The NAXAL Way!

2010-06-16T16:07:00.001+05:30

Kids 2.0

2010-06-10T14:19:00.004+05:30

Credibility

2010-05-30T21:16:00.000+05:30

I watched in awe as a teenager, religiously making sure that no one takes control of the TV remote when the Tour De France was being broadcast on the television. I used to get goose bumps witnessing Lance Armstrong attack - a rare phenomenon. Simply put – Lance was my idol, my hero and heroes do not need credibility.

On May 20 2010, Floyd Landis dropped a bombshell. I am not concerned about his admission of doping. What shocked me was his accusation against “My Hero – Lance Armstrong”.

It is an open truth that Cycling and Doping are synonymous. Yet once in a blue moon, someone like Lance Armstrong comes along and rewrites the script. He doesn’t cheat; he is a cancer survivior and has won the Tour De France a record number of times.

When Lance responded to the allegations leveled by Landis, he did so by invoking ‘credibility’. Expressing doubt over Landis’s credibility might have been a valid and legal point. But that got me thinking…

“Since when do Heroes need Credibility”?

I am no longer interested in Cycling. Lance Armstrong is no longer a hero to me. I don’t think there would be anyone who would be exalted to that status anymore – I have no need for ‘Heroes’. Whether the allegation sticks or not; it doesn’t matter anymore.

Credibility is not a virtue of a Hero. They don’t need it.

'A' Corner: FIFA, SA

2010-05-28T13:37:00.002+05:30

'A' Corner: Kites..

2010-05-27T14:14:00.000+05:30

Between the rungs of a Corporate Ladder

2010-05-25T00:25:00.001+05:30

It is all hunky-dory, when one remains neutral and ignorant. I realized today, to my horror that it is an in-inescapable black hole into which one gets sucked into. Yeah. I am talking about the murky underworld of office politics. I have heard horror stories from my friends about how bitchy, cut-throat and sometimes downright pathetic, the office environment becomes; when one is entangled in the vicious web.

Seniors who are inferior in both talent and skills, resort to sabotaging the work of juniors (it is nothing but insecurity and lack of skill up-gradation that would otherwise put them on par with the juniors), and then lick the boss’s ass to secure their position. The juniors cannot complain because the boss turns a blind eye, leaving them with very few choices:

Put up with it and wage a lone battle. Bide your time, establish yourself and then show everyone who’s the boss (this rarely happens).
Start licking their holy asses.
Quit.

Why does the company tolerate such inferior talented seniors? I can think of two reasons:

Experience is on their side and the company cannot afford to lose seniors. Hence the company overlooks the lacunae that might be in them.
They have been licking the boss’s ass so much that the boss has gotten used to it and cannot live without them. Hence, the boss uses his/her all-mighty powers to protect the undeserving ass lickers.

There are some ‘museum pieces’ (read senior management level employees) that ought to be pickled, bottled and shoved up a donkey’s rear (poor donkey: it will probably die of constipation). They keep flipping (faster than a chameleon can change its color) according to the situation, deny what they said few minutes ago, come up with absurd reasons and excuses for their actions, total control freaks (need to consult with them for everything) and most importantly black tongued hypocrites. I don’t believe in God, but if one doesn’t pucker up to such pieces of shit then God help us. There is every possibility of being fired for some absurd reason, re-instating to everyone that they are indeed ‘the shit that matters’.

In the midst of all this, the company makes all the right noises about being just, transparent, fair and so on… If the company does not have the balls to take on the leeches that have dug in deep, the least they can do is job security to those who are unfairly targeted, as a result of office politics.

When the soul of a company is being raped by such vested, uncouth employees, undermining its foundations; where is the joy and satisfaction in working for such a company?

Windows in High Definition!

2010-04-20T14:05:00.004+05:30

This one is really good. A detailed DIY guide for Virtual Windows, dubbed as Winscape can be found on RationalCraft.com.

For those who are wondering what it is, here is the You Tube video:

If the Embedded Video does not show-up, then please click on the following link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vqu9NuINKbc&feature=player_embedded

Castrate and Hang all Drunken Drivers! Especially Carpenters.

2010-04-05T16:32:00.000+05:30

I was least bothered about DUI until now. Now that I am a victim, I realized that there is no FUCKING point.

Around 10:45 in the night, on Wednesday, March 31st, 2010; I was going back to home from office on my Honda Unicorn. At the intersection of 100 feet road and Old Madras Road (under the metro construction), a drunk carpenter on his 100 cc bike drove through the intersection, looking straight ahead without blinking. I was already half way through the intersection and watched helplessly as he rammed into my bike at top speed, from the left. No amount of honking helped as he was pretty drunk and was looking straight ahead.

All I remember is screeching sound of metal and plastic. Next thing I remember is someone lifting the bike (I had fallen on my left side with the bike on me and my left foot stuck under the bike’s silencer) and helping me up.

A big thank you to the locals and the metro construction workers. They apprehended the carpenter who was trying to flee (the boisterous ones rained a couple of blows on the unrepentant, inebriated dickhead as he tried to pin the blame on me, for causing the accident) and were there till the traffic police arrived.

In the meantime, the drunken prick had called up his relative. This relative of his started suggesting a compromise and settle the matter before the police arrived. The compromise was:

to leave the scene immediately and me going to a hospital and get treated,
then call up the relative who would then give the prick’s house address,
go to the prick’s house and ask for reimbursement of medical expenses;
forget the damage to the bike as he was a daily wage labourer (the relative also pointed out that the prick’s bike had been damaged too) who is struggling to make his ends meet.

The compromise was refused and in retaliation the relative (an impotent crossbreed b/w pig and a donkey) threatened that he would file a police complaint on my father and brother (who had reached the spot by then) for assaulting the dickhead carpenter. We still did not budge and did not allow the drunken dickhead prick to leave the scene of accident and continued to wait for the arrival of the traffic police. The relative started to taunt us saying that he will get the prick released on bail for less than 1500 INR.

The Indiranagar police station is around 500 meters down the road and was almost deserted. A wireless message was flashed and after an excruciating wait of 1 and half hours a traffic sub-inspector and a constable arrived on the spot. They took my mobile number and noted my bike’s registration number. Then the inspector asked my father and brother (who had come to my aid) to bring the vehicles involved in the accident to the police station which was around 500 meters away. The dickhead was in no condition to push his bike that far. The so called relative (kinky bastard) was no where on the scene (he had gone down to the police station to file a complaint as he had threatened).

The sub-inspector then asked us to leave and get first aid. He also told us to file a complaint on the next day at Jeevan Bhima Nagar Police Station. We were shocked as the police confiscated the dick’s bike and let him walk free. I received first aid treatment at CMH’s Emergency Casualty Center. An x-ray revealed no broken bones. However, the knuckles on my left hand were severely damaged (5 days later I still can’t bend my fingers on my left hand) There are bruises on my left hand and shoulder and on my left knee and toes. A big blood clot has developed on my left toe.

My father promptly went to the police station to file a complaint, but the inspector started to coerce my father into reaching a compromise. Frustrated, my father called up our family lawyer for counsel. Surprisingly our lawyer suggested the same thing. He spelt out the following hard facts:

With the current backlog of cases in the courts, it might take more than 5 years for a decision. This is the situation in fast-track courts.
The police have every reason to ensure the case drags as they can fleece bribes from both the parties. (my father had to pay around 1500 when he went to the police station to file a complaint)
The lawyer’s fees over a period of 5 years would amount to more than 30,000 INR. Meanwhile the accident has resulted in loss of around 5000 INR (which includes my medical treatment and bike repair costs).
Instead, get the bike repaired and claim insurance by telling the insurance company that I damaged my bike when I applied brakes suddenly and the bike skidded off the road.

Forgetting, as if the entire incident never happened, was the best thing to do and that is what I am trying to do. Problem is that these painful injuries are a constant reminder that it has happened. The injuries I have sustained will put me out of action for at least two weeks. But, what gets my goat is that drunken PRICK escaped with few scratches!

I am ANGRY.

I am angry with myself for staying back in the office till 10:30, when my shift actually ends at 8:30.
I am angry with myself for not leaving the office at least 5 minutes earlier or later as I could have avoided this accident.
I am angry with myself, the society, the law, and basically everyone; on seeing that PRICK walking away with no injuries and punishment.
I am angry at the apathy shown by the police.

What The Indian Law says?

According to the Central Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 Sec 185 states that: Whoever, while driving, or attempting to drive, a motor vehicle,-

has, in his blood, alcohol exceeding 30 mg. per 100 ml. of blood detected in a test by a breathalyser, or
is under this influence of a drug to such an extent as to be incapable of exercising proper control over the vehicle,

shall be punishable for the first offence with imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months, or with fine which may extend to two thousand rupees, or with both; and for a second or subsequent offence, if committed within three years of the commission of the previous similar offence, with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine which may extend to three thousand rupees, or with both.

In Bangalore, the fine for first conviction for drinking and driving is Rs. 2000 and Rs. 3000 for repeat offences (according to a recent research paper by NIMHANS).

This is not enough. We need to make DUI laws stricter. In 2008, a parliament standing committee has recommended stricter laws to tackle drunken driving. Sadly, the government is yet to accept the recommendations. For more information please read Times of India article “Stiff law for drunk drivers” dated May 01, 2008.

Reduce your Carbon Footprint with every bite!

2010-03-24T16:40:00.001+05:30

SHARAN India presents 2 seminars in Bangalore on 26th & 27th March 2010

Concerned about the environment but wonder how you as an individual can make a difference?

Puzzled about the complex but very real connections between environment, health and lifestyle / consumption patterns?

This a four-hour seminar designed by Dr Nandita Shah, a well-known doctor, homeopath and founder of Mumbai-based SHARAN (Sanctuary for Health and Reconnection to Animals and Nature), an organization dedicated to the protection of our planet and all its many rich and diverse living forms.

Date : Friday 26th March 2010

Time : 5 pm – 8 pm

Place : First Floor Training Room, Times Foundation, The Times of India 40/1, S&B Towers, MG Road, Bangalore 560 001

Date : Saturday 27th March 2010

Time : 4 pm – 7 pm

Place : The Green Path # 32 / 2, New BEL Road, Seenappa Layout, Bangalore 560 094

Come and learn the fundamental principles of healthy eating, factors supporting good health, uncover the truth behind many myths, and clarify all your doubts.

Vegan snacks will be provided courtesy of Carnival Cakes.

No registration or fee required. Just come!

For more information, see the brochure here.

Organised by:

Sanctuary for Health and Reconnection to Animals and Nature (SHARAN)

Indian Youth Climate Network (IYCN)

Supported by:

The Green Path

Era Organic

Carnival Cakes

Innovation At Its Best: Peepoo Bag Comes To The Rescue Of The Underpriviledged In Using Proper Sanitation

2010-03-19T11:41:00.000+05:30

Innovation At Its Best: Peepoo Bag Comes To The Rescue Of The Underpriviledged In Using Proper Sanitation

In response to the article “Bag and Baggage”, by Elizabeth Flock in ‘WhatIf Cloumn’ of Forbes India (Volume 2, Issue 4, February 19, 2010, pp: 20), I would like to draw further attention that its a very successful idea in a developing country like India where almost 56% of the population remains under the poverty line. Indeed with Global Climate Change on the verge of reducing fresh water resources to minimum troughout the globe, Peepoople’s credibility in launching this brave project is highly plaudible.

Elizabeth Flock’s presentation on the launch of Peepoo Sanitation bags creates a lasting impression on the reader’s mind. Indeed countries like India, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and many other African nations can look forward to this newer approach of healthy sanitation, albeit social taboo permits them to do so. The idea or innovation will be possible if the developing nations look at it with a wider range of anti-scepticism and broader mind to look ahead of times.

Moreover the bag not only improves the chances of safer sanitation in scarcity of water but also is a novel technology of converting human wastes into fertillizers. Professor Eric O. Odada is right in pointing out that the Peepoo bag could hasten India towards it’s Millenium Development Goal for Hygiene. He is an honorary member of UN Secretary General’s Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation. The organization is also in the middle of parley with organizations like UNICEF, Oxfam, WaterAid, and UN Refugee Agency to maximize the effect. The bag could also play a major role during emergencies like natural calamities, such as floods and earthquakes or droughts.

By
Mr. Arunava Das (M.Sc. Biochemistry),
Chemistry Teacher Expatriat
Pelkhil HS, Lungtenphu, Thimpu, Kingdom of Bhutan
Web: http://www.pelkhil.edu.bt
B – mobile: +975 171 232 90
India: +91 9748804959
Mail: arunavaempowerresearch@gmail.com

Teachings of Khentse Rinpoche at Thimphu, Bhutan on November 22, 2009

2010-03-16T22:01:00.003+05:30

Teachings of Khentse Rinpoche at Thimphu, Bhutan on November 22, 2009

On November 20 – 22, His Eminence Dzongsar Rinpoche, Jamyang Khentse gave teachings on “Wisdom”, the Nine’th Chapter of Mahayana Buddhist Text, Jangchug Sempai Chenjug (Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life) in English to about 400 strong Bhutanese devotees in Thimphu.

Jangchug Sempai Chenjug was originally written in Sanskrit by Gyalshey Zhiwala (Shantideva), a Buddhist monk at Nalanda University in India around 700 A.D.

Wisdom, as the Rinpoche explains, is a completely Natural Mind. The nature of wisdom is indestructible and so is emptiness. Emptiness, wisdom, nirvana, enlightment and mind are synonymous and some of the components of wisdom are generosity, patience, and honesty, he said.

There are two kinds of truth in Buddhism, and the ultimate truth is that it does not exist on its own and that itself is emptiness. Citing an example of owning a car in a dream, he said, relative truths are all illusions and therefore life is like a dream and the dreamer does not realize that he is dreaming. Relating to the dream of a car, he said, wisdom has the capacity to understand and make sense of life. Wisdom is within ourselves but we need to recognize it. Then, how do we do so? By listening to the essential instructions of the Guru (Guru Padmasabha, the man who brought Buddhism to Bhutan) and following the vows of Bodhisattva.

On the aspect of differentiating between wisdom and intelligence, the Rinpoche uttered, intelligence is being clever, smart, alert and having the capacity to understand and memorize things easily, but wisdom has nothing to do with intelligence.

He also said that it has been seen that humans do not want sufferings, but we are actually attached to the cause of sufferings. Suffering doesn’t simply mean physical pain or misfortune, but also the suffering one has to go through to get money or buy a mobile phone. Then there is suffering to take care and protect the mobile from loss or damage.

To be happy – is not the aim of Buddhism but is the aim of mortal beings. If you are looking for happiness you are also looking for sufferings, he said. Sufferings and Happiness are inseparably intertwined.

The Rinpoche also explained, dualistic minds see impermanence as permanent. We care for our body as if it will last forever. We care for our arms with moisturizing creams, but how long will it continue? Hence, wisdom is non-dualistic mind that really sees the truth. All phenomena are like a dream and subject to change. Most of us today do not realize this and go on minting money. Life is like a dew drop on the grass, no matter how we try to fight off age. We are there to die one day and it has to be seen how we lead our life rather than how we make it comfortable. Bodhisattva sees how one makes life comfortable for others. That is when we realize we have attained nirvana. What we need to do is to realize this and be truthful, honest and kind to others, said His Eminence Dzongsar Jamyang Khentse Rinpoche.

Everything in life is determined by views. Views establish values. Bad views cause war, inflation and disharmony, while good views lead to Buddhahood. Of the nine views in Nyingma tradition, shame and fear of wrong-doings is the foundation of all Buddhist values.

The teaching of the Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life was started in 2005 on the request of Bhutanese devotees. The ten chapters of the text were completed on November 22 and I was a lucky one to listen to these enlightening lines from Mahayana Buddhist texts.

At the conclusion, the Rinpoche said his dedication was for the wellbeing of the earth, its beings and the leaders of Bhutan and the Bhutanese.

Reproduced with permission from “Kuensel Corporation, Thimphu, Bhutan”. Written by Arunava. This article has also been published in the online edition of American Chronicle and Riverside Chronicle.

Indian Green Revolution: Flattering to Deceive?

2010-03-09T07:58:00.000+05:30

India was once a prosperous nation, abounding in its cultural heritage and moral values. But I am more interested in the ‘prosperous’ part! Being a prosperous nation, she not only attracted traders from various parts of the world but also invaders who looted her riches. History shows that we have been plagued by invaders throughout the time. However, they were not able to loot one thing – Land. The British did exploit our natural resources, but the land remained. They couldn’t take it away. India is blessed with fertile lands capable of feeding billions. Unfortunately, at present India is facing a serious food crisis, amidst a raging debate on Genetically Modified (GM) crops. Let’s delve a little deeper and investigate.

A major part of India’s disability to feed its population stems from the mismanagement of the agricultural system during the colonial rule in the 18th century. The partition made matters worse. The areas that were well irrigated were lost during the partition. India was left with more population but more importantly less food production capacity.

After gaining Independence, the educated middle class increasingly gravitated to the idea that ‘science and technology’ alone is the answer to India’s poverty. In the 1960’s the government started importing food from the Americans under their ‘Food for Peace’ program, failing to understand the need to develop India’s ancient cultivation methods. Obviously the domestic food production was way too short to meet the demand, especially when some of the major food producing northern states were reeling under famine. The Indian government had misplaced its priorities by focusing on industrialization, rather than achieve self sufficiency in food production.

Timely intervention by private philanthropists saw successful implementation of new agricultural practices in select farming regions, in the country. The Indian government was finally goaded into bringing about “The Green Revolution”. It consisted of cultivating high yielding varieties of crops that required high use of fertilizers. However, the Indian government was hasty in adopting this technology without proper planning. Seeds of High Yielding Varieties (HYV) that were developed for a different geographical region were imported in large quantities. These varieties required very high nitrogen content in the soil to grow and the use of large amounts of fertilizers became necessary. The HYV’s lacked in-built local resistance (to flood, drought, disease, pest and frost) and hence pesticides had to be used. In order to provide for all this to the peasants, at an affordable price, the government subsidized fertilizers and to some extent the pesticides too. Taking advantage of the Indian government subsidies, number of international and local fertilizer and pesticide manufacturing companies sprung up in India.

The overuse of fertilizers eroded the natural soil fertility. Un-abated use of pesticides resulted in the pests acquiring resistance to it. The results are telling. India has the lowest yield per hectare in Asia for certain food crops. Farmers are resorting to the costlier and complex pesticides to overcome the resistance. This raises the health hazard not only to the consumers of such food crops, but also to the local fauna. The subsidies are a huge burden on the Indian financial resources and many companies are resorting to fudging records to rake in the moolah.

In the 90’s, the stage was ripe for multinational seed companies to introduce their patented, genetically altered plant varieties as the solution to India’s fast becoming nightmare. They started with cash crops, more specifically cotton. If that gets accepted and successful, it would then lay a very strong platform to introduce genetically modified food crops. However, it took quite sometime for the Bt cotton to be approved by the regulatory authority amidst a raging storm over ‘terminator’ technology. The volume and nature of protests against GM Crops sent a strong message across to the multinational companies, that getting established in the Indian market would be anything but cakewalk.

What the multinational companies failed to gauge is that there was a lot at stake. The GM crops would require no pesticides, less fertilizers (when compared to the HYV’s). Hence, the fertilizer companies and the pesticide companies would lose out as the government would no longer subsidize them. This would mean that there is no longer a level playing field. Competition would result in cut-throat pricing when compared to the luxury of fixed government subsidies. However, having the advantage of entrenching themselves in the country for decades before the arrival of the new upstarts (read multinational seed companies), the fertilizer and the pesticide lobby played dirty. On one hand, they lobbied the government to withhold granting permits to the upstarts; on the other hand they spread false rumors about the technology among the un-educated farmers. However, they did not count on nationalists, anti-globalization groups, environment protection groups and several more joining hands to protest against GM crops. It was certainly a blessing in disguise and it enabled the fertilizer and pesticide lobby to work behind the scenes. They have been quite successful as they have not been exposed yet!

The GM crops not without issues either. There is a possibility that they can transfer the foreign gene to the native flora around the fields where they are grown, a phenomenon called gene pool contamination. Can they be safely used as fodder? What are the effects of consuming the meat and other products from animals that feed on such fodder? In the case of GM food crops, what are the effects when consumed by humans, both in the short and the long term? Is it safe for multiple generations of human beings to feed on such crops? The scientific community still feels that there is a need for a more in-depth study to be conducted before the above mentioned fears can be allayed.

The GM Crops were designed for the developed countries like America where the farms are huge and mechanized. It becomes futile to expect the GM crops (those that have been introduced so far in our country) to deliver similar benefits in a country like India, where the lands are highly fragmented and would cause many people (like farm laborers who weed) to lose their livelihoods.

However, GM crops have the potential in them to do wonders for India. In fact, they have the potential to be the proponents of a second “Green Revolution” in India. India can make do with crops that survive drought and saline conditions. They can be further enhanced with vitamins, proteins and other essential nutrients which would help in combating malnourishment. Even though it is far fetched right now, Edible Vaccines makes a lot of sense in a country like India!

Sources:

Confronting Agrarian Crisis: Historical Food Insecurity, the Indian State, and the Green Revolution By Joseph A. Arena

Genetically Modified Crops: Issues For India By Dr. Suman Sahai

Intelligent Power Regulator

2010-03-02T20:18:00.001+05:30

Came across this nifty little device that disconnects itself from the plug point. A cell phone which is being recharged, is used here in this video as an example.

Outlet Regulator Video from conor klein on Vimeo.

Alternatively, one can watch the video here: http://vimeo.com/9392135

For more information, please visit: http://conorklein.com/index.php?/ongoing/outlet-regulator/

PUMA launches Solar-Powered Smartphone!

2010-02-20T12:09:00.000+05:30

It is said that PUMA starts in Sport and ends in Fashion. The PUMA PHONE certainly reflects that!

PUMA, of all the companies, has jumped on to the smartphone bandwagon. PUMA AG and Sagem Wireless have taken the wraps of their PUMA PHONE at the recently held Mobile World Congress.

Weighing 115g, the phone features a solar panel on its back, reminding me of the Samsung’s Blue Earth. It’s got a 2.8 inch, 240 x 320 QVGA touchscreen; 3.2 megapixel camera with LED flash and x6 zoom; a VGA video call camera; GPS; a pedometer for the fitness conscious; GPS tracker and stopwatch; and FM radio among other things.

The phone will be available in Europe and on PUMA website from April this year.

Here’s the teaser website for the PUMA PHONE - http://pumaphone.com/

For the full specifications, you can download the spec sheet available for free at the above mentioned teaser website or refer to the press release here - http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/puma-phone-roars-into-life-84464137.html

Of course, one can always Google for the hands-on reviews of the phone for more information. It is said to cost around 25000 Indian Rupees (400 Euros).

Wanna be ME!

2010-02-02T20:00:00.000+05:30

♫I wanna live my childhood again,

..experience the innocence and the truth within me and people around!

This time when I grow-up,

I don’t wanna lose ME..!

- RK

Migratory Birds Land Up On Dining Tables At TN Eateries

2010-01-29T12:13:00.002+05:30

Migratory Birds Land Up On Dining Tables At TN Eateries

By K Praveen Kumar, TNN, 27 January 2010 CHENNAI:

Thousands of native and migratory birds, which fly long distances to visit the protected Pallikaranai marsh on Chennai’s outskirts, are ending up on the dining tables of restaurants. Poachers, who had beat a retreat after 317 hectares of the marsh was declared protected forest area in 2007, are now making a comeback.

While 'narikuravas', originally nomadic forest hunters, are known to hunt birds and animals across the state, a group of poachers from the Karapakkam area is killing blackwinged stilts and teals in large numbers, according to forest officials. The birds are often sold to restaurants, which pass them off as quail meat.

The Karapakkam poachers have adopted a unique method to catch the stilts alive without creating much noise. They use a single bird as a live bait to attract a flock. The birds eye is sutured shut and its legs tied before it is propped up in the middle of a net. The birds cry attracts others flying by. As a flock descends on the net, the poachers, who sit some distance away, pull the strings to net the birds.

"They catch about 30 birds at one go. These birds are either sold here or transported outside the city to be sold to restaurants," a forest department source said. Kancheepuram forest officials came face to face with such a gang a couple of days ago, but the poachers managed to flee. "We have registered 35 cases of bird poaching in the Velachery range alone since April 2009," said forest range officer David Raj.

Black winged stilts are intracountry migrators. They start moving to this part of the country during December when the marsh has around one foot or half a-foot of water. They remain here till March, feeding on insects, and some even breed here.

Courtsey: Times of India

Google Reader Is Now A Website Watcher

2010-01-28T19:16:00.005+05:30

Recently my dear friend and fellow blogger, RockSta, peppered an article in front of me about Google’s new ability to track a webpage / website that does not have feeds. I was really excited at the prospect.

How many times haven’t we thought about this small but very essential part of a website? When RSS feeds first appeared, it brought in with it the ability to read our favorite sites at one shot, but not all webmasters were happy to publish their feeds. Some were reluctant (to use the new technology), some were afraid (of plagiarism) and some had no idea (like me!). RSS has revolutionized the way we read posts of our favorite author, blogger, website or the comments they attract.

Now for the reality check. I tried using this new feature on Google Reader. Set up a few feeds. Will check over a few weeks on how precisely it works. For starters who want to set up a feed from a feed-less website, read an example from the Google Reader Blog

For example, if you wanted to follow Google.org's latest products, just type "http://www.google.org/products.html" into Reader's "Add a subscription" field. Click "create a feed", and Reader will periodically visit the page and publish any significant changes it finds as items in a custom feed created just for that page.

Some stuff to keep in mind while using this feature:
1. The updates on your reader account depend on the periodicity with which Google checks that site
2. A caution that Google wants us to note, “Reader may not always detect updates to your content”. Whoa…!
3. Updates to any content that is in frames will not be detected nor can one get updates from sites that require you to sign-in
4. And this functionality is up for grabs only on sites with English language content as of now

The whole procedure works on Google’s ability to cache a page and compare it with any changes a page might have undergone, every time it visits it. Pretty neat!

Smart webmasters who don’t want their website to be Googled or G Read by Google Bots can add the following meta tag to any page they want to block

<meta name="googlebot" content="noarchive">

The above meta tag tells Google not to take a snapshot or cache that webpage.

This is not the first time Google is coming out with a user-demanded feature, but hats-off they did!

There are many third party services too that claim to create feeds for websites, but many aren’t promising. I like one software in particular that achieves an overall watch over a website or a domain. It’s called Website Watcher. Check out their website for more details. A review of it in another post, so stay tuned.

January 15 Annular Solar Eclipse Will Be A Treat To Watch

2010-01-15T08:28:00.003+05:30

January 15 Annular Solar Eclipse Will Be A Treat To Watch

The annular solar eclipse of January 15, 2010 is with a magnitude of 0.9190. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partially obscuring Earth's view of the Sun. An annular solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's apparent diameter is smaller than the Sun, causing the sun to look like an annulus (ring), blocking most of the Sun's light. An annular eclipse will appear as partial eclipse over a region thousands of miles wide.
It will be visible as a partial eclipse in much of Africa, Eastern Europe, Middle East and Asia. It will be seen as annular within a narrow stretch of 300 km (190 mi) width across Central Africa, Maldives, South Kerala (India), South Tamil Nadu (India), North Sri Lanka, parts of Burma and parts of China.

Visibility:

The eclipse starts at the Central African Republic, traverses Camaroon, Congo and Uganda, passes through Nairobi, Kenya, and enters the Indian Ocean where the greatest eclipse is reached at a maximum length of 11 mins and 7.7 seconds.

After that enters Maldives, where it would be the longest on land with 10.8 Min of viewing. This makes the tiny islands of Maldives the best spot for viewing this eclipse from land. The annular Eclipse at Male', the capital city of Maldives starts at 12:20:20 hrs and ends 12:30:06 hrs Maldives local time (GMT+5hrs). This is also the longest duration of any city having an international airport in the eclipse track.

At approx 13:20 IST, the annular solar eclipse enters India at Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum), Kerala and exits India at Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu. The eclipse is viewable for 10.4 minutes in India. After Rameswaram, enters Sri Lanka at Delft Island, exits at Jaffna in Sri Lanka, cross Bay of Bengal and ends in Burma - China border.

For best viewing of the Eclipse, you need to travel to Maldives, where many International flights land and take off everyday, being a world famous tourist destination. Visa for Maldives is free for 30 days for a tourist entry.

Thiruvananthapuram city, which is the entry point of the eclipse in India, is equipped with telescopes and announced facilities for the public to view the eclipse. Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, situated in Trivandrum, is analysing the atmospheric-ionospheric parameters during the eclipse. Lot of scientists have camped in the city to witness and study the eclipse.

Dhanushkodi, which falls on the central line of the Eclipse is a good place to view the eclipse. The northern most limit of shadow in India is Cuddalore, Neyveli, Erode, Kodaikanal, Madurai. Other best locations in Tamil Nadu: Thoothukudi and Cape Comorin which lies 22 km north of Central line. Only means of reaching Dhanushkodi or Kodandaramar temple is by ST bus or Auto from Rameswaram and for Dhanushkodi after road's end it is only by fish carts or 4x4 SUVs. Permission is required for entering Dhanushkodi ruins from the coast guard post as that area is 10 km from Sri Lankan coast. The centre line passes some 2 km east of Kodandaramar Temple. The exact location is between NH end and Dhanushkodi ruins. Dhanushkodi is about 2 km east of the central line. The degree difference is about 0.2 between Central line - Kodandaramar Temple and Dhanushkodi ruins vice versa. Dhanushkodi is about 5 km from Kodandaramar Temple.

So, folks be ready with your cameras to witness the first solar eclipse of the New Year.

Courtsey: Wikipedia and NASA

Orange breasted Thrush seen at Minjiwoong Pek (Upper Minjiwoong), Jomotsangkha, Bhutan

2010-01-11T22:01:00.003+05:30

Fig. 1: Orange breasted Thrush seen at Minjiwoong Pek (Upper Minjiwoong), Jomotsangkha, Bhutan ; Date: 22 November, 2009

Matter of Trust

2010-01-01T20:48:00.001+05:30

People have lost their trust in you. The company has lost its trust in you. But the most painful thing is when you are aware about it. When you see your colleagues “pretend” around you, it is torture; probably for both you and your colleagues.

To be aware of your work being double checked behind your back by your colleagues will make you feel hollow.

There is no one but you to blame, for getting into such a mess. Maybe you got distracted and screwed up your job slightly. Maybe you took things for granted and were a little careless. However, you need to realize that someone had to clean up after you and that ‘someone’ did not like doing that. A disgruntled colleague will grumble and soon the word would have spread. It is hard to stop a wildfire in a corporate world.

You might have experience on your side. But it is time to stop resting on past laurels, especially when you have lost the trust of your colleagues and the company you are working on. Work experience is invaluable as it makes you indispensable to the company. But be careful, you are on borrowed time.

Gaining trust back helps if you are prepared to start with a clean state. Do not pull your weight (‘experience’ and the ‘ego’ that comes with it) around. Ask for responsibility and be prepared to have your work monitored. Deliver with consistency. That is the only way to get back the trust of your company and your colleagues. This is also a good time to upgrade your skill sets. You will earn respect not only from your peers, but also from your superiors.

In such times do not give in to temptation of taking the easy way out. Quitting and moving to a different company does not solve the fundamental problem that you have gotten into; which you might have to face again at the new company.

The line from Rocky movie:

“But it ain't about how hard ya hit. It's about how hard you can get it and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done!”

….sums it up quite nicely.

All Izz Well

2009-12-29T17:39:00.002+05:30

You have to watch “3 Idiots”. It is truly a movie of the decade. Aamir as usual has excelled in his performance and is so brilliant. Behti hawa sa tha and Jaane nahi denge touched me a lot…All izz well and Zubi zubi are peppy :)

The best part of the movie is the questions that linger in your heart and mind after watching it. The views brought in this movie regarding the education system are wonderful. In an effort to be forefront in this competitive world, people are so much blind folded while studying that their target is just gaining marks and not about what they have learnt and how they will apply it. When words are merely just words and not turning into thoughts in our mind, not making us to think, then what’s the use of marks?

Shantanu Moitra, who has composed music for this movie, says, “I recently attended a school reunion and as we went down memory lane on that day we realized that some of the most memorable lines were spoken in a college canteen by teenagers who were no Karl Marx-es! Some of those casual statements were so profound that the meanings explode on you 20 years later!”

Chase excellence = Success will follow you!

When we live life on our own terms doing what we love to do then the beauty of leading such life is wonderful, it gives us all the strength and satisfaction!

Hats off to Raj Kumar Hirani and Aamir!

The Tiger

2009-10-22T21:12:00.004+05:30

Courtesy PDClipart.org

TIGER, tiger, burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

In what distant deeps or skies
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand dare seize the fire?

And what shoulder and what art
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand and what dread feet?

What the hammer? what the chain?
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? What dread grasp
Dare its deadly terrors clasp?

When the stars threw down their spears,
And water'd heaven with their tears,
Did He smile His work to see?
Did He who made the lamb make thee?

Tiger, tiger, burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?

I had to revisit this classic by William Blake (1757–1827), especially when Radio Indigo is plugging its “Engage Indigo: Get Involved, Get Engaged Campaign” so vigorously that it is actually bordering on irritation. This campaign by Indigo is actually supporting an initiative by The Wildlife Protection Society Of India (WPSI).

The WPSI website is quite informative, but lacks information on how our donations will be utilized it its efforts to save the Tiger.

I was really disappointed with the Radio Indigo’s webpage. There are the following options:
• E-mail them to show support.
• Send in donations to their office
• A link for the WPSI website for more details and
• A ‘Save the Tiger’ pledge link.

Apart from these, there was no information regarding what would happen if someone decides to mail them as a show of support or decides to take a pledge. If they are expecting people to send in their donations to their office, after listening to those advertisements or visiting their website; how about some information on how their contributions would be used to save the Tiger.

Nope. We are expected to visit the WPSI website and find the information, which was really unhelpful as I have mentioned above earlier.

Here’s an interesting take on Radio Indigo’s campaign by Paul Nixon. Please go through this interesting blog post titled “Ronseal's quick dying tiger” at India-aaagh.

Then, is this a well managed publicity stunt created for the sole purpose of saying we care, but actually it is just another corporate soul cleansing activity? All those e-mails and pledges, will they really save a Tiger?

Following a tiger census carried out in 2007 which said that the wild tiger population in India has declined by 60% to approximately 1,411 Tigers, the Indian government pledged $153 million to further fund the Project Tiger initiative, set-up a Tiger Protection Force to combat poachers, and fund the relocation of up to 200,000 villagers to minimize human-tiger interaction. Additionally, eight new tiger reserves in India are being set up

I found that on Wikipedia. How much of the pledges and planning has found the light of the day, is unknown. I guess an RTI would divulge something. But then what is the point? If all these measures do not result in saving the Tiger population, then of what help would our pledges, e-mails and donations to Radio Indigo’s campaign achieve.

But if you want to clear your guilt, even though you know that it is pointless. Go ahead. Pledge your support. Write e-mails. Donate! SAVE THE TIGER.

International Day of Climate Action - 24th October

2009-10-21T18:15:00.003+05:30

Hi all,

IYCN (Indian Youth Climate Network) in partnership with 350.org is organising events across namma Bengaluru on 24th of October' 2009 to mark the International Day of Climate Action.

I would like to invite you all to be a part of this global movement organised across 163 countries and 3769 actions.

More details about the Bengaluru events @
https://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AaQRcpjpFXNhZGN6dzc0MzVfNTJnazhtZ3Rjcw&hl=en

We would require your active participation to make these events successful.

Thanks and regards,
Gunajit
M - 9980972288

Sometimes life drags you down from the clouds & that's good - Lisa

2009-09-15T16:46:00.001+05:30

I just read an article titled “Sometimes life drags you down from the clouds & that's good” published in Times of India. Model Lisa Ray who was diagnosed with multiple myeloma on June 23rd, spoke to TOI's Bharati Dubey on her struggle in coming to terms with the disease and why she went public about it.

In her blog “The Yellow Diaries”, she writes, “Myeloma is incurable. It’s a relatively rare cancer of the bone marrow that affects about 6000 Canadians. Every year, approximately 2100 more cases are diagnosed. I’m a junior Member in many ways, having been diagnosed at 37, while the average age is 65. Makes the disease not quite as ‘Sexy’ as other Cancers. But we can change that. In the industry I’m in, you could say, its motive alone that gives character to your acting… I’m going to do everything I can to wrench the spotlight onto Myeloma and Cancer Awareness. I believe it can be cured. That’s the Dirty Realist in me…I know I’m not trusting the situation. I’m treating my battle like its inconvenient, managing the stage like a tyrannical Bollywood choreographer, but worst of all, I’m not looking it in the eye. I’m letting the situation tyranise my heart. I need to ask for help and support. They say, name it, then you can recognise it. Then deal with it. Yup. In time.”

I really got shocked looking at her strength & determination while battling against multiple myeloma, which is a very rare form of cancer. I wish researchers discover a treatment for the cure of multiple myeloma with a holistic approach.

Hats off to Lisa for being so optimistic and positive in her battle against this disease! Truly, it’s better to be realistic than being idealistic about life.

Greenpeace fails to end Canada's ancient boreal forest clearcuts for paper products, yet proclaims victory

2009-09-01T10:05:00.002+05:30

Greenpeace fails to end Canada's ancient boreal forest clearcuts for paper products, yet proclaims victory

Greenpeace has chosen to end its "Kleercut" campaign despite receiving no assurances clear cutting of Canada's ancient boreal forests will end. Instead, according to Greenpeace, such decimation of old forests will be "certified" as "sustainably managed" by FSC. Let Greenpeace know the forest protection movement has moved past claims of sustainable forest management in primary and old growth forests. Old forests must be protected and restored for global ecological sustainability.

Ecological Internet and allies vigorously condemn Greenpeace Canada's greenwash endorsement of continued ancient boreal forest logging to make throw away paper items. We are appalled that Greenpeace supports the continued first time industrial harvest of Canada's ancient boreal forests to access "virgin" fibers to make toilet paper. The Canadian Boreal Forest is North America’s largest primary forest, holding massive amounts of water, threatened wildlife and migratory birds, and containing 25% of the world's remaining intact ancient forests. It is also the largest terrestrial storehouse of carbon on the planet, storing the equivalent of 27 years worth of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Greenfleece has announced a premature end to its "Kleercut" campaign against "ancient forest crimes" by Kimberly-Clark Corporation, the maker of Kleenex, Scott and Cottonelle brand paper products, on the basis of amazingly flimsy promises. The ONLY things that change are clearcuts of primary boreal forests will now be certified as acceptable by numerous certifiers including FSC, and token amounts of recycled fiber will be used. Making of toilet paper from primary and old growth forests does not end, it will just be "certified" by one of five forest certifiers as being well-managed. There is no such thing, as first time logging of old forests inevitably destroys primary and old growth forests' fully intact ecological function, structure and composition.
Greenpeace's forest campaign is ecologically lacking and socially naïve. They completely fail to understand that all primary and old growth forests are endangered and of high conservation value. Instead they perpetuate the ecologically criminal myth that old forests can and should be industrially logged for the first time in an environmentally acceptable manner. Greenpeace fails to realize real solutions to the forest/paper crisis require shrinking demand, increasing recyclables, and only accessing new fiber from regenerating secondary forests and mixed species, non-toxic, locally supported plantations.

In a world well past its ecological carrying capacity, facing abrupt climate change, and species and ecosystem collapse, we call upon Greenpeace to immediately disclose the ecological science that suggests primary and old growth forests can and should continue to be clearcut to wipe our asses. Greenpeace has missed a marvelous opportunity to make clear that consumption of ancient forests for throw away paper products is unsustainable, unethical and unjust. Their atrociously weak targets will legitimize continued destruction of Canada's ancient forest ecosystems, to largely be replaced by toxic plantation monocultures, to produce throw away paper products for decades.

Call upon Greenpeace to immediately globally cease and desist from negotiating agreements with industry that continue the production of throw away consumer items from Earth's dwindling old forests. Call upon Greenpeace to work for full protection of primary forests, restoration of old growth forests, and dramatic reduction in paper use globally. Further, Greenpeace must immediately disassociate itself from the Forest Stewardship Council's (FSC) ongoing certification of first time industrial logging of primary forests as being "well-managed" while implying sustainability.

No one including Greenpeace can tell us how many tens of millions of hectares of primeval forest ecosystems are being destroyed under FSC's certification label. Until Greenpeace and friends stop greenwashing FSC ancient forest logging, we call upon committed forest protectors to resign their memberships, and to stop using toilet paper from virgin primary forests, no matter how sensitive their behinds. Global ecological sustainability will never be achieved if we cannot make such minor sacrifices. Shame on Greenpeace, who should know better.

Note: With special permission from www.Forests.org

Researchers find out a different perspective of Global Warming

2009-08-31T12:16:00.002+05:30

Researchers find out a different perspective of Global Warming

Most of us tend to think of global warming in terms of the greenhouse effect produced by CO2 emissions. While it may be partly true that CO2 emissions interfere with the radiation of the heat from sunlight back into space and thus warm up the atmosphere, the main culprit could be the amount of energy we produce and use; and the heat energy that is let out into the atmosphere in this process. Anyone familiar with thermal power plants would know that the efficiencies (ratio of electrical energy output to fuel energy input) are on average around 35%, with the cooling water taking away the bulk of the heat when steam is condensed into water. Even the useful energy that is produced is ultimately lost in space in the form of heat produced in various processes in which this energy is used.

Researchers Bo Nordell and Bruno Gervet of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Lulea University of Technology in Sweden have calculated the total energy emissions from the start of the industrial revolution in the 1880s to the modern day. They have worked out that using the increase in average global air temperature as a measure of global warming is an inadequate measure of climate change. They suggest that scientists must also take into account the total energy of the ground, ice masses and the seas if they are to model climate change accurately.

The researchers have calculated that the heat energy accumulated in the atmosphere corresponds to a mere 6.6% of global warming, while the remaining heat is stored in the ground (31.5%), melting ice (33.4%) and in sea water (28.5%). They point out that net heat emissions between the industrial revolution circa 1880 and the modern era at 2000 correspond to almost three quarters of the accumulated heat, i.e., global warming, during that period.

The researchers also point out a flaw in the nuclear energy argument. Although nuclear power does not produce carbon dioxide emissions in the same way as burning fossil fuels, it does produce heat emissions equivalent to three times the energy of the electricity it generates (using the thermal cycle of steam turbine) and so contributes to global warming significantly.

Their calculations suggest that most measures to combat global warming, such as reducing our reliance on burning fossil fuels and switching to renewables like wind power and solar energy, will ultimately help in preventing catastrophic climate change in the long term. But the same calculations also show that trapping carbon dioxide, so-called carbon dioxide sequestration, and storing it deep underground or on the sea floor will have very little effect on global warming.

Source: International Journal of Global Warming-July 2009 Issue

Money Matters

2009-08-28T10:03:00.000+05:30

It is ironic that here in India, the left hand is completely out of sync with its right hand and also the rest of its limbs!

The Indian sports ministry has apparently rejected the proposal of holding an F1 race here in India, which would have cost the exchequer around $36.5 million. It contended that the money can be used instead to promote other lesser known Indian sports. If the ministry really does what it believes, then it would be holding a candle for the rest of government machinery here in India to follow.

On the other hand, the UP Government has told the Supreme Court that installing various statues (including that of the Chief Minister’s) in the state at the cost of around $100 million was approved by the state Legislature. This was in response to a petition filed in the court alleging waste of taxpayer’s money.

The state machinery in UP is in dire straits. Encephalitis has been plaguing the state, causing the death toll (mostly children) to approach the 200 mark this year alone. According to a World Bank report, infant mortality rate in UP is the highest in India. Swine flu is slowly spreading its wings. The public sector has failed to create an investment friendly atmosphere. The biggest stumbling block here in UP is deep rooted caste and gender inequalities.

Is the $100 million for building statues justified? How did the State Legislature approve it? If it did, then what was the Central Government doing? The biggest question here would be is why the public of UP not raising its voice?

Blissful ignorance would be the perfect answer. Or would it?

Training programme on Zero Waste Management

2009-08-25T15:37:00.013+05:30

Training programme on Zero Waste Management

Hi All,

You are invited for the training programme on Zero Waste Management (ZWM) on 30th Aug, this Sunday.

A map is attached for the venue. Please follow the Blue line from Maharaja Hotel to Embassy Meadows. The concrete road ends at the Embassy Meadows, and you can park and walk to our house (Mr. Balaji's house).

Training programme on Zero Waste Management (ZWM) By Vellore Srinivasan.

Time: 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM. (date : 30th Aug)

Indian Heritage Academy
Address: 870, 20th Main, Koramangala 6th Block, Bangalore- 560095
Landmark: Near Koramangala Police Station

Contact:
25530121, 25530304
9449708836, 9845545576

MAP:

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=101898344775736888305.00047205f6dde17770c8e&ll=12.950527,77.625704&spn=0.023798,0.033088&z=15

Contact details:
Balaji : 9844052132
Surya : 9902419903
Guru (President AID Bangalore) : 9845294184

Life in Bhutan – a metamorphosis that changes your perspective about life: Brought to you by a Letter to the author’s mother written on 6th March 2009

2009-08-22T22:37:00.001+05:30

Note to Readers: This will be a series of short paragraphs that will follow with a succession of 2 days to build up the thrill while reading. At the end of the series due permission will be taken from Ministry of Education, RCSC, Royal Govt. of Bhutan to be published in American Chronicle. For now it will be put up on http://80feetroad.blogspot.com This article series will also include photographs that were not seen before. So as a request from the author, please do send in a request at arunavadas1983@yahoo.co.in or arunavaempowerresearch@gmail.com for using the photographs. The author will guide you in this regard. This note comes to you after strict advice from MoE, Royal Govt. of Bhutan. These articles are purely for Blog Display and not have been published in foreign magazines.

Part I

I am good here. Its interesting living here, though conditions here are very basic and Spartan. Our school is located at a village called Menjiwoong or Menjwoong or Minjiwoong (‘a land of medicines’ in Dzongkha) under Serthi gewog (Hindi: Panch) in Jomotsangkha Dungkhag in Samdrup Jongkhar district of Eastern Bhutan. It’s almost a tiring 9 hrs walk from the border town of Jomotsangkha (Old Name: Diafam), through dense forests and precariously positioned cliffs and ridges that make your heart run fast. It’s an adrenaline rush to see yourself perched on the edge of a cliff and hundreds of feet below running the fast flowing Jomo Chhu or Dhansiri Chhu that goes and joins the Brahmaputra in Assam.

Ours is a Lower Secondary School (LSS) that started way back in the year 1989, the second oldest school in the district. Hence, it has got a very good infrastructure (only drawback is there is no electricity) and a nice sprawling, well-maintained green campus with separate hostels for boys and girls. It was upgraded from Primary to LSS in the year 2001. The whole school, however, is connected with solar supply, good way to use green power. At night, we are back at the mercy of kerosene-powered lanterns.

Life is slow and peaceful here. Democracy started in the year 2008 and all the ministers of the country are extremely devoted to make His Majesty the 4th King of Bhutan’s vision of Gross National Happiness (GNH) as the country’s motto for getting along the modern paced world in the twenty-first century. The 4th King’s son, the present king and the 5th King of Bhutan, H.M. Druk Gyalpo Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuk, a very learned man from Oxford, is doing just what the doctor ordered, that is, making his father’s dream of a prosperous Bhutan transform into reality by the end of 2020.

People in Bhutan seem to have lots of time on ready disposal and they are very different from people in other parts of the world. They have kept their human values intact inspite of gradual degradation and erosion of human values. People here think that like us wild animals also have the same right to stay alive sharing the same land that the people here stay in. They do not kill or take other animal’s life and they believe and it’s a Buddhist virtue that taking one’s life is the sin of the highest order.

Minjiwoong is situated on a table top valley dotted by mountains from the Black Mountain Ranges on almost all sides. From Diafam, one needs to cross four villages, namely, Upper Diafam (Royal Bhutan Army Base Camp), Jampani, Gelonghar, Tokaphu and Fokchuri before reaching Minjiwoong. From Fokchuri there is a final ascent that takes you from a height of 2000mts to 2500mts, a dramatical rise that will leave you with a breathtaking view of the hamlet once you reach up. This particular part of the world is very much different from the usual tourist hotspots like Thimphu, Paro, Phuentsholing, Wangdue, Bumthang, Trashigang, Haa, and Gaza. Here you find three worlds meeting together and at the confluence there is an amazing diversity of wildlife, flora and fauna that is truly endemic to this region. The fauna, rare and believed-to-be-extinct amphibians like the Flying frog, reptiles like the great boa (the same like the Anacondas of South America) and flying lizards, avian species of hornbills and raptors, quite a few unidentified lepidopterans (butterflies) that are found only in this part of the world are quite unique. Again as you walk past the dense forests, you will notice some fauna resemblance with those of the Cretascean and Jurassic periods.

These inhabitants of the jungles will lead you to a Mogli experience that one is very lucky to experience in his/ her lifetime. You learn how to adapt to the environment where you are, how to lead life after coming from an IT rich experience in one of the leading cosmopolitans of the world (talking of my early education in Bangalore and my early part of my career in the same city) to one of the remotest areas on earth, how to adjust with the meager resources at your disposal, what things to eat to stay alive, to drink from the purest sources of water (mountain springs) and above all to learn to respect the flora and fauna around you and take them as your fellow beings – a philosophy I learned after my association with The Land of the Peaceful Dragon dominated with Buddhism running through her veins; unfortunate enough to be unaware of this great practice of mankind all through my life until this point though I originally hail from the Land of Lord Buddha. Through my countless hours of conversation with the proprietor of Hotel Shambala at Samdrup Jongkhar town and sipping at the tangy “lassi” that the hotel serves (a sweet thick mixture of curd and water generally drank after a meal to enable your digestion process), I was able to realize the latent Buddha in me. To tell you the truth now I have started to experiment with the thoughts of Buddha’s enlightment and the way of life defined with The Dalai Lama and some of the other great teachers of Buddhism. A brief period of experiment with the ciggarate also strangely ended for me after attending the ceremonial accession of the 4th Sermon of Lord Buddha that was celebrated at the Royal Bhutan Army Camp Lakhang (a Buddhist monastery) at upper Diafam one day in the month of June. Slowly the idea of a full elightment will come into thy where I will learn the real virtue of being alive.

The nine hours walk from Diafam to my school at Minjiwoong is one to remember in a lifetime that takes you through the heart of Bhutan’s sub-tropical forests. And if you are walking alone, the Jomo Chhu will give you a constant company all throughout your walk. This runs down straight from the head of Trashi Yangtsee district of Bhutan to the Brahmaputra in the south. The mountain road that we use to walk and travel is just only about 90cm. in width and at some places is just enough to let two horses walk through. Locals use horses and ponnies to carry loads from the plains of Assam to the interior maountain villages like ours (Minjiwoong), Monmola, Zamthari, Zangthri, Dungmanma, Serthi, and Shinga-Louri. You can take pride because the road that you are walking on has been used throughout the ages since the time of 1400’s dating back to the ancient Silk Route to China.

I feel at awe whenever I take to this road and think of the hardships that used to adorn the travelers those days.

Nikhil Dey's (MKSS) Talk on 23rd Aug, 2:30p in Bangalore

2009-08-20T16:52:00.007+05:30

Nikhil Dey's (MKSS) Talk on 23rd Aug, 2:30p in Bangalore

Ever wondered:
 What changes are needed to take India beyond the so called 'First World'?
 Who are the real heroes behind the positive changes the country has seen in the last 5 years?
 What are behind-the-scenes stories of our country's political and administrative system?
 How do national movements take birth and what do they look like today?
 Can we help transform the nation?

Speaking on Sunday, 23rd August at 2:30pm the venue below is Nikhil Dey of MKSS. MKSS
was founded in Rajasthan 22 years ago by Nikhil (24 at that time), Aruna Roy and Shankar Singh.

MKSS has gifted the country the most progressive laws since India's independence: the RTI (Right to Information Act) and NREGA (National Rural Employment Guarantee Act). Pictures, documents, videos, etc. of their historical struggle are now part of the national archives at Nehru Museum, Delhi.

Read more about Nikhil and MKSS on: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aruna_Roy

We will show a short 15 min. film giving glimpses of their work and the struggle.

Please positively RSVP to help our planning since seating is limited. MKSS works on a shoestring
budget; please help by bringing your cheque books.

Regards,
Ashim, ashimjain@gmail.com
Manish, manishj@synopsys.com

M: 98801-95372 M: 98804-13124

VENUE: Trans Indus, Basapanapalya, Tatguni, Bangalore - 66 (Map on next page.)

DIRECTIONS & MAP
Trans Indus (Google Map)

Reach the Kanakpura Rd and NICE Rd junction (the only flyover on Kanakpura Rd). Go another ~1km south on Kanakpura Rd and turn right into the second road (after the NICE junction). This right turn is marked with several signs "BGS Int'l School", "Trans Indus", etc. Go about 3.5km on the winding road and turn left where sign says "Trans Indus". Go another 0.75km and turn right into Trans Indus colony.

Park your vehicle just inside the security gate.

To see online, go to:
http://maps.google.com and type TRANS INDUS, BANGALORE, INDIA in the search box.

LOOSE AGENDA:
Film
Nikhil's Talk
Q&A, discussion
Tea
(Conclusion ~ 4:30p)

ASHIM'S BRIEF EXPERIENCE

As a free lance volunteer I have recently concluded my 5th trip to Rajasthan in the past ~7 months spending almost half the time there. What struck me the most about this organization and especially Nikhil, is that they directly take on pain and suffering on themselves to provide relief to others, a selfless trait that is extremely rare even in NGOs. Nikhil, and every one of MKSS members have impeccable integrity and survive on a monthly salary of Rs. 2800 (including ex-IAS officer Aruna Roy). Nikhil is unmarried and has 3 degrees (including one in law and one from U.S.).

During my last trip, I was sitting in a 'dharna' in front of SDM's office in Bhim, Rajasthan. Nikhil and other MKSS members were encouraging the 500 or so peasants and laborers to demand their unpaid wages (imagine, govt. holding back their survival income of Rs. 100 per day!) MKSS's work with the people of Rajasthan has given them an influential voice in the state and central governments. This was apparent in Nikhil's calm and firm conversation with the SDM resulted in fulfillment of the demands of the people. (Aruna was part of National Advisory Council chaired by Sonia Gandhi that resulted in passing of RTI and NREGA Acts). Both, state and central govts., often come to MKSS for advice and help in implementation of govt. schemes.

BRAD PITT Image of MINE, Thanks to struggle in Bhutan

2009-08-16T18:04:00.003+05:30

This is how I am presently looking like. This I clicked in my hotel room just few days back. I am in Sam Jongkhar, Bhutan on official visit. 8 Hours of strenous walking and playing all year round have contributed to this slim look. Special Thanks to Bhutan and my mom, who agreed in sending me there. To tell you the truth my mom failed to notice me at the Kolkata airport among the crowd when I went there during my summer holidays. I have reduced from 110 Kgs. in February, 2009 to 75 Kgs. in July, 2009 -- an amazing loss of 35 Kgs. My determination and perseverance have paid off.

This photo comes to you after a special request from "RockSta", Rakesh Reddy, who was eager to see my Bradd Pitt Image?? Am I looking the same?? Please do comment........

This Is Where We Stand After 62 Independent Years

2009-08-15T19:13:00.004+05:30

“Why we Indians fail the nation” by Ramesh Khazanchi is a good read. However there are a couple of points which require a different perspective. Here is my perspective on them.

We keep our homes spanking clean and dump all the garbage outside, on the streets.

Should we be ashamed of our behavior? No. The civic agencies are corrupt, lazy and don’t clean the streets at all. I have never seen any worker from any of the civic agency cleaning the streets in my life and I have been living at one single place since my birth. Most of the families here have put in place a wonderful system of cleaning the street in front of their houses, either by employing a maid or doing it by themselves.

The garbage collection system is erratic and the driver of the garbage truck is always drunk. Moreover, we pay him 20 – 50 bucks every now and then to ensure he does not forget to come and collect the garbage.

What should we do, set up garbage disposal units outside our homes? I guess the civic agencies wouldn’t mind as it would give them another opportunity to fleece us with extra taxes, not that we are paying them enough already.

The community bin concept does not work here as they are hardly cleared and always overflows. Obvious isn’t it? Oh and the one thing that the so called civic agencies are good at is sending notices if we fail to pay our taxes on time.

We routinely employ children below 14 years of age as domestic help or in jobs of hazardous nature.

I am totally against this as I believe in the basic fundamental right to education which these children are entitled to. But spare a thought for those who have received education and are languishing on the streets without jobs.

What is the guarantee that the education will land the child a job? What if the child does not want to learn and wants to work in order to support a family. The child may be the sole bread winner for its family. Pulling the child out of a job and putting it in front of a blackboard does not help as its family might die of hunger. The child might die of hunger. Learning to read and write does not satisfy the hunger pangs.

Our social security system does not exist as it does in the developed countries that frown on such practices. The poor and the jobless are left in the lurch to fend for themselves, with no help coming from the government that is busy in introducing legislations for an increase in the salaries and perks of the netas. They don’t care if we are eating our own shit, as long as we are paying sanitary taxes on time.

62 years of independence, after spending countless years of being ruled under different invading hordes; does it matter anymore? Corruption is gnawing away at the roots of our freedom. How long will the stability last? Something’s got to give. Every day we inch closer to tag of a failed nation. (Look at Congo for an extreme example). All our successive Governments and their policies have failed us and we as citizens have failed it by not raising our voice against corruption and allowing it to flourish.

Twin Gerbera Flower !!

2009-08-11T16:42:00.005+05:30

I had never seen a twin flower. I was amazed to witness one such twin flower. Recently we bought flowers from market for Pooja. I found this “Twin Gerbera Flower”. There were five such twins. It was special decoration as the flowers were twins! He he..

I was really surprise to see twin flower.. It’s kool!

Jus.. wanted to share this picture with you all!!

Thank you,

Samsung Reclaim

2009-08-07T15:04:00.001+05:30

It costs less than 50 dollars at Sprint and according to the Samsung, the Reclaim is 80 percent recyclable as it is made from bio-plastic. The packaging is made from 70 percent recyclable material, while the ink used for printing text and images on the package and the phone warranty is made from soy. The charger consumes about 12 times lesser power than the Energy Star standard.

Samsung has positioned it as an eco-friendly messaging phone. 2 dollars will go to the Nature Conservancy’s Adopt an Acre program in the U.S.

Image Courtesy: Samsung

Bangalore Platform on Climate Change

2009-08-05T15:04:00.002+05:30

Bangalore Platform on Climate Change

· The Good Life in a low-carbon lifestyle: cultural and ethical issues for urban Bangalore

by Siddhartha, Fireflies Ashram

· Urban Waste: issues in generation and disposal in the time of Climate Change

by Dr. Hoysala Chanakya, Centre for Sustainable Technologies, IISc

· The Way Forward: Working groups discussion on Transportation, Carbon Footprint of Bangalore and any other.

Date and Time: August 7, 2009 (Friday); 4 to 7pm

Venue: Centre for Education and Documentation, Domlur

RSVP: send mail to priya@doccentre.net or call 9341248784

For directions: http://www.doccentre.net/About/ced-map.pdf

Centre for Education and Documentation

No.7 , 8th Main , 3rd Phase

Domlur 2nd stage, Bangalore 560071

Phone:(080)25353397

Email: cedban@doccentre.net

The Bangalore Platform is an open civic space for reflection and action through greater understanding of the science, policy and ethical issues in the context of Climate Change

Retour des Champions

2009-08-02T00:33:00.000+05:30

What an amazing week it has been!

Seven time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong finished 3rd at this years Tour. Eight time Grand Prix winner “The Doctor” Valentino Rossi extended his lead in this years Moto GP Championship. Last but not the least; Michael Schumacher has announced his comeback to Formula 1 this year, albeit only as a replacement to the Felipe Massa.

However, there is the sad news of BMW confirming that this year would be its last in F1. But the good news is that 12 teams have signed a new Concorde Agreement that lasts until 2012.

I was really hoping that this year’s Tour de France would be dope free. But I guess I was hoping against hope. Mikel Astarloza, winner of the 16th stage, has tested positive for EPO and has been suspended by the ICU. Is he the only person to test positive for doping at this year’s Tour or will there be more? Only time will tell.

Constitution Allows ......

2009-07-14T19:50:00.002+05:30

Constitution Allows "I Vote Not to Vote"

Did you know that there is a system in our constitution, as per the 1969 act, in section "49-O" that a person can go to the polling booth,

Confirm his identity, get his finger marked and convey the presiding election officer that he doesn't want to vote for anyone!

Yes such a feature is available, but obviously these seemingly notorious leaders have never disclosed it. This is called "49-O".

Why should you go and say "I VOTE NOBODY"… because, in a ward, if a candidate wins, say by 123 votes, and that particular ward has received "49-O" votes more than 123,

Then that polling will be cancelled and will have to be Re-Polled. Not only that, but the Candidature of the Contestants will be removed and they cannot contest the re-polling.

Since people had already expressed their decision on them.

This would bring fear into parties and hence look for genuine candidates for their parties for election. This would change the way, of our whole political system…

It is seemingly surprising why the election commission has not revealed such a feature to the public….

Please spread this news to as many as you know… Seems to be a wonderful weapon against Corrupt Politicians and Political Parties in India … show your power,

Expressing your desire not to vote for anybody is even more powerful than voting… so don't miss your chance. So either vote, or vote not to vote (vote 49-O)!

A Compilation by Pravda Nair

Action To Save Our Climate

2009-07-08T18:42:00.002+05:30

Action To Save Our Climate
Action to save our climate is happening right now in Italy: As you read this our activists are scaling chimneys, chaining themselves to conveyor belts and blocking coal shipments at multiple locations in Italy.

They will be occupying coal-fired power stations during the G8 Summit beginning in Italy today and demanding that world leaders gathering for the summit make serious commitments to reducing world greenhouse gas emissions.

You can take action with them. You can demand that world leaders take personal responsibility for averting catastrophic climate change. You turn the Earth.
Follow our activists here: www.greenpeace.org/g8action
Thanks for your support.

Mr. Arunava Das
Greenpeace International
http://www.greenpeace.org/climate

Climate Project Presenter and Connector ACF 591
&
Senior Secondary Biology Teacher, Royal Government of Bhutan

# + 91 033 2683 1456 (Kolkata, India, Residence)
+ 91 9748804959 (Kolkata, India, Residence)

"Home" Next is What???? Probably the Inconvenient Truth

2009-07-08T09:54:00.003+05:30

We are living in exceptional times. Scientists tell us that we have 10 years to change the way we live, avert the depletion of natural resources and the catastrophic evolution of the Earth's climate. The stakes are high for us and our children. Everyone should take part in the effort, and HOME has been conceived to take a message of mobilization out to every human being. For this purpose, HOME needs to be free. A patron, the PPR Group, made this possible. EuropaCorp, the distributor, also pledged not to make any profit because Home is a non-profit film. HOME has been made for you : share it! And act for the planet. Yann Arthus-Bertrand, GoodPlanet Fundation President. HOME is a carbon offset movieSubtitles : http://www.goodplanet.org/I...PPR is proud to support HOME http://www.ppr.com . Do see the movie ....... Its amazing!!!

Taken with permission from Mr. Yann Arthus-Bertrand for Blog display by
Mr. Arunava Das
Climate Project Presenter and Connector ACF 591
&
Senior Secondary Biology Teacher, Royal Government of Bhutan
# + 91 033 2683 1456 (Kolkata, India, Residence)
+ 91 9748804959 (Kolkata, India, Residence)

Festival of Cycling is back!

2009-07-03T23:09:00.000+05:30

The Tour de France 2009 kicks of its 96th edition, covering roughly 3,500 kilometers over 21 days. But it not an ordinary tour as Lance Armstrong is back riding in his favorite event.

In terms of geographical boundaries, the tour will be passing through six countries this time around: Monaco, France, Spain, Andorra, Switzerland and Italy.

Another novelty is the communication between the riders and their team managers being banned in stages 10 and 13.

I am will be following this year’s event on the web, hoping against hope that it turns out dope free.