Friday, December 28, 2007

Happy New Year 2008!!


Another fresh new year is here …
Another year to live!
To banish worry, doubt, and fear,
To love and laugh and give!

This bright new year is given me
To live each day with zest …
To daily grow and try to be
My highest and my best!

I have the opportunity
Once more to right some wrongs,
To pray for peace, to plant a tree,
And sing more joyful songs

- William Arthur Ward

Monday, December 24, 2007

Taare Zameen par....

Makes you laugh, those songs of innocence, reminds the wonder filled school days, gives you goosebumps actually.. TZP is a beautiful movie, titles are very creative n awesome, amazing acting by the Darsheel, n not to forget great lyrics. Dont miss to watch the movie.

Official Website: Tare Zameen Par
Duration: Approx 2:40 hrs
Genre: Social, Kids, Family
Director: Aamir "Perfectionist" Khan
Story: Amole Gupte
Lead Actors: Aamir Khan and Darsheel Safary
Music: Shankar, Ehsaan, Loy
Lyrics: Prasoon Joshi



[Title Song]


Dekho inhein yeh hai onss ki boodein
Patto ki goodh mein aasamaan se khude
Angdai le phir karwat badal kar
Nazuk se moti hasde phishal kar
Kho na jayee yeh
Taare Zameen par

Yeh toh hai sardi mein
Dhoop ki kirane
Uthre jo aangan ko sunehara sa karne
Maan ke andhero ko roshan sa karde
Thiturti hatheli ki rangat badal de
Kho na jayee yeh
Taare Zameen par

Jaise aankhon ki debiyan mein neediyan
Aur neediyan mein meetha sa sapna
Aur sapne mein mil jaye faristha sa koi
Jaise rango bhari peechkari
Jaise Thitliyan phoolo ki pyari
Jaise bina matlab ka pyaara rista ho koi

Yeh to asha ki lehra hai
Yeh to umeed ki seher hai
Khushiyon ki nehar hai
Kho na jaye yeh
Taare Zameen par

Dekho raaton ke sene pe yeh to
Jhil mil kisi lao se uge hain
Yeh to andiyan ke khushbo hai bhago se beh chale
Jaise kaanch mein chudi ke tukde
Jaise khile khile phoolon ke mukhde
Jaise bansi koi bajaye pedo ke taale

Yeh to jhoke hai pawan ke
Hai yeh gungroo jeevan ke
Yeh to sur hai chaman ke
Kho na jayeee
Taare Zameen par

Mohale ki ronak galiyan hai jaise
Khilne ki zid per kaliyan hai jaise
Muthi mein masam ki jaise hawaein
Yeh hai buzurgo ke dil ki duyaaein
Kho na jayeee
Taare Zameen par
Taare Zameen par

Kabhi baatein jaise dadi naani
Kabhi chale jaise num num pani
Kabhi ban jaye bhole saawalo ki jhadi
Sanate mein hasi ke jaise
Sune hoton pe khushi ke jaise
Yeh to noor hai barse gar pe kismat ho padi
Jaise jhil mein lehar aye chanda
jaise bheed mein apne ka kandha
jaise manmauji nadiya
jhaag udaye kuch kahe
jaise baithe baithe meethi si jhapki
jaise pyar ki dheemi si thapki
jaise kaanon mein sargam
hardam bajti hi rahe
jaise barkha udati hai bundiya…
kho na jaaayeeee yehhhh
Kho na jaayee yehh
kho na jaayee yehh
kho na jaayee yehhhh..

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Here I'm .... :)))

SAGAR/BHARATH MR
TG 328 23NOV BLRBKK 2245 0400
TG 999 24NOV BKKMEL 0810 2120


If you can read this intinerary.. u'll probably know where i am!! :p
Watch this space for more.. soon!!

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Children's Day Thought

The hardest job kids face today is learning good manners without seeing any - Fred Astaire
APJ Abdul Kalam starts a newspaper "Billion Beats"
Former Indian President APJ Abdul Kalam was the people's President, and on the occasion of Children's Day, Kalam dons a new hat by turning editor for an online paper. Never one to sit idle, former President APJ Abdul Kalam has moved on. Today (November 14) is Children's Day - a day when Kalam launches his own e-paper, which will celebrate the success stories of ordinary Indians. Anantha Krishnan, National Affairs Editor, 'Billion Beats', puts it, "It all started with an informal chat with Dr Kalam. He felt that there's an overdose of politics, murders, crime and there's a lot of negative stories in print. So, he felt that we should celebrate the victories also. Children's Day seemed to be the right time to launch the paper. Dr Kalam wants all the success stories of scientists, agriculturists, farmers and technocrats. Basically 'Billion Beats', will try to bring to the fore, the tales of unsung heroes."
Source: Timesnow.tv

Monday, November 12, 2007

Which one, which one..

OSO vs Saawariyan
Which one is a Bigger Hit? Which one did you watch this diwali?.. any reviews/thoughts/ opinions/warnings before i watch them (which i am planning to this weeknd)?

Btw bought the Sony Handycam Camcorder DCR-SR42 this diwali. Was into it all weekend, cant compare with the best Handycam ever, but should say, a cool piece of gadget.

Thursday, November 08, 2007

Indian Advertising

Advertising in India has grown leaps and bounds from the 80's and the 90's. Todays ads are one of the most creative and innovative we get to see in the entire world. Arguebly the toughest job is convincing a customer to buy your product in the competetive Indian market. Ads are of many different kinds, the ones u watch on televsion, print ads that appear on mags and newspapers, and scores of them that you get to hear on Fm channels (which are not visual ads), and obvsly the ads from the wide web world. I came across some online ads which made me giggle and laugh. Hope you also enjoy them...

Each one is better than the other. Simply amazing to see how creative Indian advertising have become. I wont say these are the best, but they are certainly some of the funniest :). I am not giving out the product names, you gotta watch them to enjoy. The Chaalis Chor (click on the link to see), adopted from the 1971 anime Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, has been quite a hit. The next ad Udi (click on the link to see) sends a clear message to the consumers. The third on the list, Daddu's blessings (click on the link to see) is certainly entertaining, giving the ad a Bollywood touch, which has been aped by many. Next one is an innovative ad, Mast Bahaar (click on the link to see), giving out a message to all the youth, spreading awareness on one of the important issues plauging today's world. The fifth on the list is also inspired from Bollywood. I enjoyed, Train (click on the link to see), which has some Bihari (Laloo yadav) accent in it. The next one is quite creative as well. You like or hate ghazals??? then u must watch Chitti (click on the link to see), where the world's richest and popular product company is targetting Indian customers. I did smile after watching it. How can todays ads leave out the Sholay theme from wooing the cosumenrs. You might have seen many ads revoving around the sholay theme and this one is one of them. Watch Sholay-Thakur (click on the link to see) and enjoy!

PS:Make sure u have the speakers turned-on when you watch these ads :)

My all time favs however have been M-seal and the Nike ad, igniting the passion for cricket (n how Nike did it? Click here).

M-seal


Nike

Happy Deepavali

















Wishing all the readers a joyous Diwali :)

Monday, November 05, 2007

Safdar Hashmi (Apr 12, 1954 - Jan 2, 1989)

"It was when JANAM was enacting a chillingly prescient play called Halla Bol, which touched on issues of workers' rights and the right to perform in the face of injustice, that the group was attacked. Even as Safdar attempted to help others escape, he was bludgeoned to death with iron rods. "The horrific murder caused immense revolution across the country," says artist Ram Rehman. "I will never forget the funeral, the staggering number of people who marched in solidarity with us." The mourning cut across political affiliations, and linked artists, thinkers, journalists and concerned citizens in a visceral reaction to the outrage.

Two days after his death, his wife Moloyshree Hashmi went back to Sahibabad with the Janam troupe to finish the performance of Halla Bol, saying: "It is what Safdar would have wanted."

Safdar Hashmi
JaNaM
Poem by Safdar Hashmi
A tribute to Safdar - SAHMAT

People who Ignite Minds

No great man lives in vain. The history of the world is but the biography of great men. - Thomas Carlyle.

There are innumerable such men and women, each one with a dream, a vision who have written the history of this world. Many, not so popular, yet been an inspiration to the masses. Working for the people at the grass root level, living, being, sharing and making them see new dreams was their dream. Recently i heard a scholar on one of the popular Indian news channel criticising people who laud and treat the achivements and victories of Bobby Jindal, Sunitha Williams - as victory for India/Indians. He said "First of all, they are not Indians.... get that straight into your heads... secondly... its NOT a victory for India... should we (Indians) feel elated of a person who wins a Governer's race in US, merely because his forefathers had their roots (very very faintly) linked with India?? Now, we must not take away the victory and achievements of the Jindals, the Williamss', and other people who have risen to fame and glory. No doubt they are fantastic people having achieved great feats in their streams, but there are scores of people who have toiled for the sake of India, lived and died for a social cause, for the sake of the poor and downtrodden. These are the people who have given their entire self in bringning a change to the narrowest mindsets of people, and made them realise their rights and duties as responsible citizens of the nation. True nation building happens when people realize, look and act at social issues, to eradicate the scums in whatever possible way they can. The impact it has on the generations to come will be immense. But the stories of such great men and women have always been short lived in the memories of the people. The struggles and pains in bringing these revolutionary changes have been soon forgotten. When someone scores a century in a cricket match, or make a class act in one of the Bollywood flicks, we (and the media) worship them, they become Gods in no time.... they become our role models!! How sad that we forget the true legends and live in a fantasy world.

Speaking out on my blog, i will be introducing and talking of some great Indian personalities, who have not been as popular as Jindals or the Khans or the Bachhans on the world stage, but of some lesser known people who have had a huge impact on the lives of a common man and India. These are the people who really ignite minds.

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Sports in India

Did somone talk of "step-motherly" treatment towards non-cricketing world??

MUSS (Manchester United Soccer School) in Goa (this is AWESOME!!) < Some snaps>
"It's clear to see that with such a huge population in India the potential for football to grow is enormous, and we are delighted to be involved in the further development of the game here. Hopefully we can play a part in the vision of accelerating this development of young players in India, and helping youngsters to achieve their own potential through playing sport," Sir Alex Ferguson of Manchester United football club said in a statement.

'F1 can be alternative to cricket in India'
Spyker will become Force India next season after the FIA approved on Wednesday the decision of the team's new owner, Indian billionaire Vijay Mallya, to change its name.

Charlesworth on 'revival' duty for Indian Hockey
Legendary Australian player-turned-coach Ric Charlesworth stepped in as the technical director to guide both men and women players in India.

Monday, October 22, 2007

Rangashankara Theatre Festival 2007 is happening in the city, be there for some wonderful stage performances. Dont miss it!

Monday, October 15, 2007

No-Deal?

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday indicated that the Government is willing to put the Indo-US nuclear deal on the backburner. "The end of the nuclear deal will not mean the end of the Government. We are not a one-issue Government. The deal not coming through is not the end of life, " Singh said.

And today on his way to the Nigerian captial, the PM did not speak to the media. The sources said that the UPA government, in the aftermath of the October 9 meeting with the Left parties, will convey to the US that it will not be approaching the IAEA for a safeguards agreement.

This is indeed disappointing, and i feel like we have taken a back step in the growth of our Nation. The energy needs for India in the next decade is immense and this deal with the US and NSG would have helped us meet atleast most of the requirements, if not all. Now we have lost the N-deal with the US and also the Iran-India pipeline. Where is India heading to?? The balancing act has to end somewhere. As a common man we are to blame for all this as well, instead of giving a complete majority we voted in bits and pieces to various political parties. Hope we learn and contribute so that our leadership (Hindustan Times Leadership Summit) can take it foward for us, without any strings attached. The people who lead the country must be given a free hand, i feel the Congress leadership knows what its doing, atleast with respect to this Nuclear deal. Im not a politician, nor would like to discuss polictics here, but i ceratinly feel for the N-deal not going thru.. for the moment that is. Its a pity that the world recognises and regard India very High on the world stage, yet the political parties within are making an all out effort in hindering this growth.

Some of the headlines look like this -

N-deal is not on, govt will tell US soon - Times of India
Failure of N-deal won’t be end of life: PM - India Express
Australia puts uranium deal with India on back burner - Rediff.com

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Frends, food, fun...

3 magnificient treats, a lot of shopping, and catching up with frends.. all of this and much more in just one week. hmm. what am i upto???!!.. well, u will know soon! :) Its has been a great week since last wednesday... and the best part is all the fun has come on week days.. after office.. n not weeknds!

After all the lavish eatings, I feel I can actually write my own column on the restaurents in Bangalore. Desmonds, Sahib Sindh Sultan, TGIF. Yesterday nite was also memorable.. had been to TGIF (they say, Everyday is a friday at TGIF!), great place for some continental food... pastas, shrimps, and others. Not to mention sm great music is played during the night. Shall srcibble more with sm snaps.. till then read this.. feels like cricket is no more a Gentleman's game.


Sahib Sindh Sultan


Monday, October 08, 2007

Words of Wisdom

Yesterday was one of those days where i was not myself. And just when i started feeling that everything within me was faling apart, a friend handed me a book "Way of Youth" by a Buddhist philosopher, Daisaku Ikeda. The approach of book is so very simple (and yet head on) in addressing the turbulences of a young mind, the concerns and questions that constantly poses. This book brings about a self directed transformation, making a powerful impact on the person reading it. For a young mind, looking for answers amidst lifes' strangest ways, this book strikes that chord of realisation of your truest self within you, that you have been looking for... what we really are, what we should really be to keep and maintain that unruffled peace and calm within. It brings about a change in your thoughts to regain your lost strength, and the lost "YOU". I would recommend this book for all the youngsters, go on, get a copy of it from your nearest book store.

"What kind of future do I envision for myself? What kind of self am I trying to develop? What do I want to accomplish in my life?" The thing is to paint this vision of your life in your heart as specifically as possible. That "painting" itself becomes the design of your future. The power of the heart enables us to actually create with our lives a wonderful masterpiece in accordance with that design." - Daisaku Ikeda

Wednesday, October 03, 2007

'Sethu Samudram does not make nautical sense'

  • The Sethu Samudram project, if I can put it simply from a mariner's stand point, does not make any nautical sense.

  • We mariners call the coast between Rameswaram and Cuddalore the cyclone coast. The India Meteorological Department has assigned this coastline as a high risk probability. To site one example, in 1964, the Pamban Bridge was washed away by a severe cyclonic storm.

  • Marine scientists have identified five areas on the Indian coastline they call high-sinkage pits, and one of them happens to be the Palk Straits.

  • If you take global shipping trends today, to reduce operating cost, they go in for larger ships of the order of 60,000 deadweight tonnes and above. A 60,000 deadweight tonne carrier will need anything in excess of 17 metres of draft. And as far as tankers go, the days of the super tanker are gone and you see only very large crude carriers of the type of 150,000 and 185,000 tonnes. It makes more sense to have such big tankers as in one voyage, you are bringing in more cargo and reduce your operating cost. None of these big ships will ever be able to use the Sethu Samudram. So, the question is, for whom are you building the canal? 30,000 tonnes was alright when Sethu Samudram was conceived in the early fifties and the sixties.

  • The voyage distance from Kolkata to Tuticorin around Sri Lanka works out to 1227 nautical miles. If you went through the canal, it is 1098 nm. So, you are saving just 120 odd nm.

  • The majority of our bulk carriers go at a speed between 12 and 13 knots. That is the average speed at sea. When you go through Sethu Samudram, the point to be remembered is, you cannot proceed at the speed at which you are sailing at sea. The reason is the shallow water effect or what we call the 'Squat Effect'. So, the moment you enter Sethu Samudram, you have to reduce the sped by 50 per cent or more depending on the conditions prevailing at that particular time.

To one of the questions on the Sethu Samudram controversy, Captain (retired) H Balakrishnan of the Indian Navy who has been associated with the navy for 32 years, replies -

Q.Those who support the Sethu Samudram Canal compare it to the Suez Canal and the Panama Canal and say the Sethu Samudram is the Suez of the East.

A.In the case of the Suez and the Panama canals, ships save thousands of nautical miles in sailing distance and hundreds of hours in sailing time, where as the Sethu Samudram where a ship will probably save a few hundred miles and at the most two hours in sailing time. This is the difference.

Scarbulous

Scrabulous.com... Started in July of 2006, its already the 14th most popular website on the net. Founded by Rajat & Jayant, 2 young minds from India, loved the game of Scrabble so much that they decided they will have their own place for it on the World Wide Web. The name Scrabble is a trademark of Hasbro, Inc. in the US and Canada and of J. W. Spear & Sons PLC elsewhere. Scrabble was a trademark of Murfett Regency in Australia (you will hear more of australia from me soon :)), until 1993 when it was acquired by Spear. The game is also known as Alfapet, Funworder, Skip-A-Cross, Spelofun and Palabras Cruzadas. Even I used to play a lot of Scrabble with my brother and sister, we still have the old board and letters.

"We've always been crazy about Scrabble. We used to play Scrabble online for almost three hours everyday. But when the site we used to play on became a pay site, we decided to start our own version — www.Scrabulous.com," says Jayant, co-founder Scarbulous.com.

Scrabulous.com now has 37 million visitors per day with 8 lakh registered users and 5 million page hits everyday. It has found a place in my list of "Play On" (see right pane) along with Sudoku and other online games. About Scrabulous.

Friday, September 28, 2007

Getting back to life...

me wrapping up my fourth visit to Hyderabad (not a very pleasant one though, when compared to the prvs 3 trips within 2 months)... gotta catch a taxi to airport now. Have a beautiful eveng, while i take myself sometime off (have got a precious weeknd ahead) to just sit back and feel lite and good about my life.

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

India Win T20






India Dazzles at the world stage beating arch rivals Pakisthan in the finals to win the first edition of T20 World Cup. India outplayed Eng, South Africa, Australia, Pakisthan enroute to its magnificient victory. Its a Hit!! Is it Twenty20 or Tonic20 for World Cricket. This format of the game has become a huge rage across the world esp in the Asian countries. Dhoni also sees it "T20 will become huge in India". He also said it was completely a team effort by India in this tournament -
If you analyze, the captain and the vice-captain haven't done anything in this tournament. Players who were granted with responsibility delivered out there in the field. There isn't a single batsman who didn't score runs in the tournament. Similarly, there isn't a bowler who hasn't delivered the goods. The efforts in the outfield were tremendous. It was a team effort. Yuvraj, of course was brilliant and so was RP Singh. Irfan Pathan and Harbhajan Singh have made good comebacks to the side. I think everyone in the side was special and the best part was that players lived up to the expectations of the team.

Friday, September 21, 2007

Chak De India....

A team is as strong as its weakest link. And everyone thought India's bowling was its weakest link at the World T20 2007, being held in South Africa. Yesterday was the time to rubbish all these critics as India stormed into semi-finals beating SA. Team India did everything right yesterday, it showed fantastic courage and team spirit. Ravi shastri, lauding India's youngsters said in the post match commentary "The fearlessness of Success-not-being-touched made them triumph". When we become experienced and don't taste success for a while, it gets on us. We tend to become negetive in our approach. But for these young guns like Rohit Sharma, Uthappa, RP Singh etc, there was no fear. Thats what youth brings into Cricket, fearlessness! Talent, team spirit, energy, effort.. everything was on display at Durban yesterday under the lights, as they knocked South Africa out of the competition.

"We are currently playing the Chak De! India song in the dressing room; the boys are dancing to it. Later we will go out for dinner and celebrate with wine and champagne" the jubilent Team manager Lalchand Rajput said, as India celebrated its tremendous victory.

>>Chak De India... Sometimes Winning is Everything! <<


FYI.. Chak De was premiered at Infy, Hyd last week. That evening was fun, around 150-200 infoscions shouting on top of the voices cheering Preethi Sabarwal and her team :)

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Time is of Essence

Indo-US Nuclear Deal


The operationalisation of the nuclear deal is getting into the crucial stage as both US and India work non-stop to make it a reality. While US is taking things up with the 45-nation NSG (Nuclear Suppliers Group) to get the necessary changes in the guidelines allowing the supplies to India as per the 123 agreement. India on the other hand has its Atomic Energy Commission chief and India's top nuclear scientist Anil Kakodkar at the 51st General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, working to get an India-specific safeguard pact with IAEA which is required to proceed on the N-deal signed by India and US. The concern and the eagerness by the US adminstration to see it through (both at NSG and IAEA) was clearly on display when the US Ambassador David Mulford, addressing the fourth Indo-US Economic Summit said "Now, we must take the last steps. Time is of essence".

It turns 25.... :-)

Its easy to get lost in this (Digital) world.. the place where we make friends, talk, share with people whom we wouldn have even met. Yet when someone sends a casual smiley to us, we respond in the same casual manner. They may be sitting in some remote part of the world, yet some of them form a close circle of frends and people who share the common interests, views and likings. Yes, a lot of social networking sites and chat rooms have mushroomed over the years which never make u feel alone on this lonely planet. So, if you are one of those net animals, glued to the web chatting, browsing, blogging.. here is something i wud like to share with you all. It has become the most commonly used lingo across the net world, and it turns 25 years today. Its the smiley :-) ...

The creator of the original the emoticons :-) and :-( , with a specific suggestion that they be used to express emotion, was Scott Fahlman. Below is the text of his original proposal, posted to the Carnegie Mellon University computer science general board on 19 September 1982.

19-Sep-82 11:44 Scott E Fahlman :-)
From: Scott E Fahlman

I propose that the following character sequence for joke markers:

:-)

Read it sideways. Actually, it is probably more economical to mark
things that are NOT jokes, given current trends. For this, use

:-(

Click here for a compiled list of netlingo emoticons... an interesting list actually. Many of them are really quite thoughtful.

Saturday, September 15, 2007

Hey Ram!!

All of a sudden... cricket, bollywood, abhiash, Indo-US nuclear deal.. all of that have taken a back seat in the Indian media. Lord Ram and religious sentiments are doing the rounds everywhere. Triggered by the blunderous affidavit filed by the UPA govt to the SC, stating "There is no proof that Lord Ram existed". I mean what is that the govt wants, to prove Lord Ram lived and walked on this earth once upon a time?? Questioning Ram is like questioning the religious believes and fundamentals of Hinduism! Well, the UPA govt was caught on the wrong side of all this, when they thot they could get way such a remark, and get a go ahead on one of the ambitious projects of modern India, the "Sethusamudram Project". Its a canal project very simlar to Suez canal, not as big though, but the intentions are quite the same, to reduce the travel time and the cost involved in the transhipment of goods. Its almost a battle of Science v/s Religious belief now. Scientists asking the religious leaders to prove that Ram was infact a real person, and not just a fictious charector in the "story" Ramayan, who built the bridge of rocks to cross the ocean to Lanka. What are the scientists looking for here?? any agreements or treaties signed by Ram.. bones or any other bodily remains of the Lord (something like searching for a dinasour skull or something???!!!) .. this is insane!! Scientists are awestruck by the magnificient creation of this world by the God, they are yet to understand the very basics of nature and science, the formation of universe, the human body, many unanswered questions related to diseases, genes, evolution etc. More time should be spent by them on these than to raise such insane questions. Great brains doesnt mean one can start questioning God!! Well, they have said it all in there, and we are seeing it happening.

Denying Ram is denying India. Read on, this is a powerful article by Tarun Vijay on Refiff.com

On 17 July, the Supreme Court asked the government to explain why the Ram Sethu, also known as Adam’s Bridge, cannot be declared a national monument. Union minister for shipping, road transport and highways T.R. Baalu, refused to even comment on this. All this even when we have an alternative route to the canal construction, which would keep the religious interests and the modern day needs intact. As a part of the National Democratic Alliance govt in 2002, defence minister George Fernandes had approved an alternative route that experts now say is less expensive, has lower environmental risks and does not require breaking down the Ram Sethu. Then why do we need all this now!!??.. Hey Ram!!

Thursday, September 13, 2007

Speaking Tree - Move With The Flow, Learn To Let Go - Sept 13, 2007

We tend to cling to every object in our lives. We hold on to our profession, relationship or possession as if our entire world depends on them. We are so busy clinging to our own lives, that we have forgotten to live with the flow. We are afraid to move ahead, afraid to let go. Life in essence is like an unobstructed, unrestrained, uncontrolled flow of a river. Life flows at its own pace and the ultimate source of all our pain and sufferings is our tendency to cling to and obstruct the flow.

Professional life stagnates, relationships are broken, possessions are lost; all because we refused to let go when we were actually required to let things take their own course. Why do we cling? We cling because change scares us; we cling because we are afraid to face the unknown, to face challenges; we cling because we feel secure if the status quo is maintained; we cling because we refuse to believe that life can never be static; because we refuse to accept the transience of everything; we believe that everything is in our hands. We do not have enough faith in life and that higher force which is omnipotent and omnipresent. In the chaos of existence, we have lost touch with our higher self. Most of us lead a life which is similar to that of a child who is lost in a crowd, separated from his guardians. He has nobody to place his faith on. He is afraid, insecure, suspicious about everyone and everything. We live under the false illusion of having everything under our control. The spirit of getting things done becomes a problem when we continue to cling on even after we have exhorted all our efforts. We are overwhelmed by a sense of despair and disillusion when things move beyond our control. It is at this stage we need to learn to let go. Several times relationships are broken just because we tried too hard to make them work. We didn't give the breathing space they required to grow. We didn't let go and let them take their own course. Professionally or personally, once all the efforts are made towards achieving a goal, we must learn to let go and let life take the best course. It might or might not be of one's choice, but if we have faith, we will realise that it inevitably is the best course. We need to believe that forces above us are far better equipped to make judgments for us. We must learn to have faith in their judgment. Letting go, however, does not mean turning into a fatalist. One cannot sit idle in life and expect life to take care of itself. Karma, the fulfilment of one's duties is the ultimate objective of all human existence and if we fail to fulfil our duties towards life, life inevitably fails us.

When God gives us dreams, He shares them with us. Whatever we consider our dreams, are actually His dreams and He gives us the capability to realise them. The part we are required to play is to ensure the optimum usage of the capabilities bestowed upon us. And once we have played our part with utmost honesty and effort, we need to let go, step aside and let God step in to fulfill our dreams. After all, they are His dreams, too.

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

My candidate for the next President

Born in London... and educated in Bombay, Calcutta and Delhi.. !!!
Ph.D. holder in Law and Diplomacy at the age of 22 (phew!)
Joined United Nations at the age of 22 (phew! phew!)
Served for 29 yrs at the UN (phew! phew! phew!)
Named "Global Leader of Tomorrow" by World Economic Forum in Davos.
Youngest and the most experienced to run for the post of UN Secretary-General in the history of UN in 2006.

An impressive resume isnt it!!!

Above are just some of the uniqueness and achievements of the "genius" Shashi Tharoor. As a diplomat and writer, Shashi Tharoor has explored the diversity of culture in his native India. On Indian diversity he says - "If America is a melting-pot, then to me India is a thali, a selection of sumptuous dishes in different bowls. Each tastes different, and does not necessarily mix with the next, but they belong together on the same plate, and they complement each other in making the meal a satisfying repast"

No better person can give us a complete inside into the working, evolution, changing times and strides UN has taken since its formation in the October of 1945. Ending a 29 yr long career at UN only a few weeks back, here is what he writes for TOI. After reading this I felt hez tailor-made (read God-made) to be the next President of India.

[Do read the last few lines, really impressive]

"April Fool's Day 2007 is actually a rather serious day for your columnist. Yesterday, i ended my career as an international civil servant, just one month shy of what would have been 29 years at the United Nations. Today is the first day of the rest of my life, and yet i can't help looking back a bit at the organisation i've just left behind. I joined the UN in 1978 as an idealistic young man of 22, hoping to serve refugees and discover the world. I did a bit of both. But how much the institution i joined has changed! If i had suggested to my seniors at that time that the UN would one day observe and even run elections in sovereign states, conduct intrusive inspections for weapons of mass destruction, impose comprehensive sanctions on the entire import-export trade of a member state, or set up international criminal tribunals and coerce governments into handing over their citizens to be tried by foreigners under international law, i am sure they would have told me that i did not understand what the UN was all about. Indeed, since those were the late 1970s, they might well have asked me, "Young man, what are you smoking?" And yet the UN has done every one of those things during the last three decades, and more: it has administered territory, conducted huge multi-dimensional peace-keeping operations with nearly 80,000 soldiers in the field, deployed human rights monitors to report on the behaviour of sovereign governments. The UN, in short, has been a highly adaptable institution that has evolved in response to changing times. There's little acknowledgement of that in the perennial calls for 'reform' of the UN. 'Reform' is a term that means different things to different people nowadays any change a country wants at the UN is labelled 'reform', which conveniently garbs self-interest in the cloak of institutional progress. Today's reform imperatives can be traced back to the divisions over the Iraq war. In the summer of 2003, a poll conducted by the Pew Organisation in 20 countries around the world revealed that the UN's standing had gone down in all 20. It had gone down in the US because the UN did not agree to support the US Administration on the war, but it had also gone down in the 19 other countries, because the UN was unable to prevent the war. So we got hit from both sides of the debate. We disappointed both sets of expectations. Some famous and rather powerful voices began to speak of the UN's irrelevance. It was at the peak of this intense scrutiny of the UN, at a time when its potential and its deficiencies had never been more in the public eye, that talk of reform reached a crescendo. But as former secretary-general Kofi Annan never tired of pointing out, reform is a process, not an event. There is a case for reviewing and reviving the entire architecture of the international system that had been built up since 1945, in order to construct a more effective house of global governance for the 21st century. But change comes as adaptation, rarely as legislative fiat. The perennial saga of Security Council reform (the 'Open-Ended Working Group' of the General Assembly set up in 1992 to resolve the problem is now widely disparaged as the 'Never-Ending Talking Group') demonstrates the point.

No one disputes that the Council's composition reflects the geopolitical realities of 1945 rather than those of 2007, but change will benefit only a few, so the rest resist it even at the price of perpetuating an anomaly. But one day what merely seems anachronistic today will begin to ook absurd. At that point change will have to come. So the UN reflects the realities of world politics, even while seeking to transcend them. The UN, at its best and its worst, is a mirror of the world: it reflects our differences and our convergences, our hopes and aspirations — as well as our limitations and failures. The UN is a forum where sovereign states can work out common strategies for tackling global problems, and an instrument for putting those strategies into effect. But it can be a much more effective instrument. As Mahatma Gandhi put it, "You must be the change you wish to see in the world." The UN is no exception. When i joined the UN, it was almost unthinkable for the UN to take sides between democracy and dictatorship, or seek to intervene in the internal affairs of its members. Even human rights were by no means universally agreed, with some states seeing them as a tool of western neo-imperialism. Today, by contrast, the UN itself does more than any other single organisation to promote and strengthen democratic institutions and practices around the world. India is a leading donor to the UN's Democracy Fund, which provides assistance for building democracy, and we have established a Peacebuilding Commission to help countries transition from war to durable peace. The UN is more focussed on combating terrorism than ever before. As we face these new challenges of our time, let us not forget the old ones, especially the persistent terror of underdevelopment. The combination of poverty, drought, famine and HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa threatens more human lives than terrorism or the tsunami ever did. The Millennium Development Goals have become better known, but we are not on course to achieving these targets by 2015. All governments must be held accountable for fulfilling their part of the bargain, both to their own peoples and to each other. There is no longer any excuse for leaving well over a billion of our fellow human beings in abject misery. Of course, the UN isn't perfect. As the great second Secretary-General, Dag Hammarskjold, put it, "the UN was not created to take mankind to heaven, but to save humanity from hell." Sometimes the best the UN can do is to keep trying to prevent us all from tumbling into hell. It's a worthwhile battle the UN is waging, and it deserves our support, if we are to sustain our hopes for a fairer and safer world."

Monday, April 09, 2007

Best handycam ever!

Pros
Easy to use, small and light weight. Picture quality.

Cons
None!

Well, this is what the review of Sony Handycam® HDR-SR1 HD Camcorder on the Epinions.com had to say. With an optical zoom of 10x and a digital zoom of 80x, and a 30GB built in hard drive, the site says this is the best handycam released by Sony till date. I was planning to buy a handycam and was browsing thru some of these sites, when this gadget caught my eye. It is priced at 1500 USD by Sony, however its available for lower prices at different stores across the net.

Check for full features here.

Miss India 2007

Banoongi main..... Miss India!!!! Mumbai girl Sarah-Jane Dias had this dream and she has lived it. And my blog (livingdreamz.blogspot.com) is all about letting the world know about people who live their dreams. Twenty-four-year-old Sarah-Jane Dias, a Channel [V] VJ and former Miss India-Oman (1995), won the country's biggest beauty contest beating 24 other contestants as she was crowned Miss India-World at a glittering ceremony in Mumbai on Sunday evening. Puja Gupta was crowned the new Miss India-Universe and Pooja Chitgopekar Miss India-Earth at the Femina Pantaloons Miss India contest 2007.

The first runner-up, 22-year-old Puja Gupta, is an aspiring writer and her hobbies are Yoga, writing, horse riding and drawing, says her profile at the pageant’s official website. The second runner-up, 21-year-old Pooja Chitgopekar, is a medical student in New Zealand and has won the Miss India-New Zealand (2002) contest, Miss India Worldwide (2003) (first runner-up) and Miss Auckland (2002) (first runner-up).

The celebrity panel of judges included actors Sanjay Dutt, Priyanka Chopra, director Subhash Ghai and model Ujwalla Raut. And what was the question that the three beauties answered right to make it through the pageant? The five finalists at the pageant were asked, “If you had to convince a rural woman to take part in this pageant, what would you tell her?”

Wonder what these ladies answered for that..
did anyone of you watch it live yest?

Saturday, March 24, 2007

Men of character...

When we said “Come on India, we are with you”… we least expected that the Indian cricket team would also say "Even we will be there with you.. soon". They have infact done it, they have booked the flight tickets from West Indies to be with us, they will be at home in 2 days time. Its was the death of dreams for all the Indian cricket fans. But, this world cup has been a world cup of young, fresh and exuberant men. Round 1 of the tournament has seen two asian teams (India and Pakistan) not reaching the super 8’s. The so-called mecca of cricketing world (asian subcontinent) is not anymore recognized and ruled by the big boys.. it’s the young lads in the likes of Tharanga (SL), Chamara silva(SL), Malinga(SL), Uthappa(IND), Tamin Iqbal(BAN) who are making a statement and waiting to be noticed. Hello Sachins, Jayasuryas and Inzis.. please make way for these budding icons of the future, who are passionate, more hungry and willing to go out there fearless and perform. Its good for the sport!!! Having said that, there remain some greats…immortals-of-the-cricketting-world if u can call them.. Muralitharan, Shaun Pollock, Lara, Smith who will remain unshaken and perform against the odds. They can single handedly turn the tables around for the opponents. Watch the remaining of the ICC world cup 2007 for these men of character and honour!.. if not for the Indian cricket team.

Thursday, March 15, 2007

Speaking Tree - The world is What you like to think It Is - Mar 15, 2007

[This is the fourth Speaking Tree article i am posting on my blog]
Socrates was sitting outside of the gates of Athens. A man came up to him and said, "I am thinking about moving into Athens. Can you please tell me what it is like to live here?"

Socrates replied, "I would be happy to tell you, but first would you please tell me what it was like in your previous home city?" The man roared, "Oh, it was awful. The people stab you in the back and rob you blind. I am leaving only enemies". Socrates frowned and continued, "Well, you best be on your way because you will find the same thing here in Athens".

Later another man stopped to speak to Socrates and inquired, "I was considering moving here to Athens. Can you tell me what it is like to live here?" Socrates asked the visitor: "First tell me, what was it like in your previous home city?" The man smiled and said, "Where i come from the people all work together and help each other. Kindness is everywhere and you are never treated with anything but the utmost respect". "Welcome to Athens", smiled Socrates, "You will find the same thing here".

The world is what we think it is. The outside is a reflection of our inner self. If we look at the negative side of things, then our outlook would be bleak. And if we are an optimistic we would feel that positive things surround us everywhere. The first person had negative traits whereas the second person had everything good to say about his home city.

Most situations in our life can be seen as a relationship interaction, be it a personal relationship such as internal dialogues, or our dealings with a friend, family member, or co-worker. All things around us are merely reflections of our self-emanations. If we learn to live our lives with this understanding, then we have no one to blame for our lives. Usually we want to blame other people and the outside world for everything. The physical world is a projection of our beliefs and feelings which we then think is "reality".

As a man thinks, so he becomes. To take charge of our lives, we have to go within and become intensely honest with ourselves about ourselves. Start accepting that whatever comes to us comes because we have attracted it with thoughts, beliefs and feelings. We can take charge of our lives by taking charge of our thoughts, beliefs, feelings and tendencies.

Belief is the thermostat that regulates what we accomplish. A person, who believes he is worth little, receives little. If you believe you are unimportant, so every-thing you do has an unimportant mark. As time goes by, lack of belief in ourselves shows in the way we talk, walk, and act. Unless we readjust our thermostat, we shrink in our own estimation. And, since others see in us what we see in ourselves, we grow smaller in the estimation of others. You are a product of your thoughts. When you adjust your thermostat, you move forward. When you believe in yourself, good things do start happening. Your mind is a conception workshop producing numberless thoughts.

You have to explore your inner self, "Think doubt and fail; Think victory and succeed".

Monday, March 12, 2007

ICC Cricket World Cup 2007


Echoing the greatest spectacle in the cricketing world, Google has this logo on its website today. Yes, the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 officially opened with a colourful ceremony in West Indies today.

Chris Dehring, CEO of the event, said fans at the ICC CWC would see "The world's best cricketers competing against the backdrop of the most blessed place on earth." Over 2,000 singers, dancers and performers, including several of the Caribbean's top reggae and dancehall performers, participated in the opening at the new stadium close to Montego Bay on the northern coast of Jamaica.

Checkout some of the related links --

About ICC World Cup
International cricket Council website
Official Website ICC CWC, West Indies 2007
Schedules CWC 2007

Team India @ the opening ceremony -

Monday, February 19, 2007

Indo-US nucelar deal

A lot of water has flown down the river Ganges since the Nuclear Deal was signed between the two biggest democracies of the world. It has not been a cake walk for either of them since then. Keeping track of the drama unfolding bt Washington and New Delhi, i feel, all outstanding issues/concerns needs a lot of bilateral sittings to sort. Read thru some latest news on this. N-deal hits roadblock, India worried.

Thursday, February 08, 2007

Flying high after Corus

Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata on Thursday soared to new heights when he took off in a multi-role combat aircraft F-16 at the Aero India 2007 show in Bangalore. Tata, 69, undertook the flight in co-pilot's seat, which was commandeered by Paul Hattendorf, the test pilot of Lockheed Martin, which manufactures the aircraft. F-16, also known as Fighting Falcon, is in the race for Indian Air Force's mega plans of acquiring 126 multi-role combat aircraft. Lockheed has been lobbying hard to sell its jet to India. With this flight, Tata has now become the oldest Indian to fly the American-made aircraft. Tata, who holds a pilot's licence, had said the thought of the F-16 flight "excites me very much." The Tata group has recently picked up a 7% stake in domestic low cost airline Spicejet through its investment arm. The move to get Mr.Tata to fly on the plane is being seen as a coup for the Maryland-based Lockheed Martin, especially after Tata’s recent success with the Corus takeover.

The Tatas are not new to aviation. Ratan Tata's predecessor JRD Tata is celebrated as father of India's civil aviation. JRD Tata had launched Tata Airlines in 1932, which was nationalised in 1953 and rechristened Air-India and taken over by Goverment of India. Wow!!! Well Mr.Tata, whats next!!

Sources-
Timesofindia.com
Rediff.Com
Economictimes.com
CNBC.com

Tuesday, February 06, 2007

Apple's iPhone

Controversy has plagued it since its announcement to the world.. Apple iPhone, the latest wonder gadget, has been in the news for all the wrong reasons. First it was Cisco, and then a Canadian company- Comwave Telecom - to get into the Trademark war with Apple. But Apple's Steve Jobs is doing a good job and has not panicked. He has kept the talks on with the 2 companies very much away from the media glare and pushing for a out of court settlement. Well, whatever, iPhone has caught the attention of the world in its own way. Take a look at the pics (below), of this Hot gizmo, now available in a store near you if you are in US, else you will have to wait as Apple is planning to introduce the iPhone in Europe during the fourth quarter of 2007 and in Asia during 2008. Get the latest on iPhone here!!

Friday, January 12, 2007

Swami Vivekananda (January 12, 1863 - July 4, 1902)


Big bright saffron turban… yes, the first thing that comes to our mind when we think of Swami Vivekananda is this. From when did Vivekananda start wearing the turban, and why? I just wanted to share this small piece of information, on this great monk who is believed to have walked like an "Incarnation of God". The turban that Vivekananda used to wear is believed to be suggested by Maharaja of Khetri. But some historians and researchers view that Vivekananda visited the Swamithope Pathi during his visit to Kanyakumari in December 1892 and believe that he was impressed by the principles behind rituals of this monistic faith, such as wearing a head gear during worship in temple, worshipping in front of mirror etc., and started wearing a turban from then on. Some say that Vivekananda received some spiritual instructions from the disciples of Ayya Vaikundar. It is also said by many that while he was a child, he was impressed by the turban of the horse cab driver, who used to ferry his father on his daily work. Subsequently when he renounced the world and took to sanyasa, he started using one himself.

On his birthday today lets experience one of the most famous and influential spiritual leaders of Vedanta, who is regarded by millions as the Messenger of God, through his preachings. This is what the greats had to say about Vivekananda:

Rabindranath Tagore - If you want to know India, study Vivekananda. In him everything is positive and nothing negative

Mahatma Gandhi - Swami Vivekananda's writings need no introduction from anybody. They make their own irresistible appeal.

Some of the sayings of Vivekananda:

As different streams having different sources all mingle their waters in the sea, so different tendencies various though they appear, crooked or straight, all lead to God.

Our duty is to encourage every one in his struggle to live up to his own highest idea, and strive at the same time to make the ideal as near as possible to the Truth.

All the powers in the universe are already ours. It is we who have put our hands before our eyes and cry that it is dark.

Tuesday, January 09, 2007

Avalanche of Thoughts

It is said ‘thinking will get us to the foot of the mountain, but faith will make us climb the mountain.’ So let us act out of faith. Doing so will bring vitality to one’s actions. But faith in God is not enough, one should have faith in oneself too. Role of experience in our lives There are three levels of knowing - gross, subtle and subtlest. Gross knowing is verbal knowing, subtle knowing is seeing the meaning of the word and subtlest knowing is experiential knowing. There are things which can be understood only by experience. For example, God is the ultimate experience and it is inexpressible. If you look at a flower from your mind, you see its chemistry; if you were to look at it from your heart, you see the poetry; and if you look at it from your being, you become one with the flower. To experience an experience is an art. We don’t experience an experience; we are always interpreting an experience. When one is lost in interpretation, then one looks at something through one’s thought process, ie through mental words. Words are the expression of one’s likes and dislikes. Our interpretations are very autobiographical and hence we don’t see or experience what is, we experience our old and known self. To live wisely means to create a space in one’s mind, which is capable of seeing and not just interpreting. Then one is vailable for an experience.
How can a miserable mind understand the right path? By just stopping to be miserable. Learn to wonder, learn to marvel, learn to see life without a thought. Thought is an expression of memory - memory of the past. And when you see something with thought, you see something with memory... and that is past. So you see the present with the past. In effect you don’t really see. When you are unhappy, the unhappy thought will relate to all the files of your unhappy memories of the past and the past unhappiness, like an avalanche will cascade into the present. Just drop being miserable. Then you will not fight with your mind and you will flow with what is.
- Swami Sukhabodhananda for "Times Wellness", TOI Jan 9, 2007

Tuesday, January 02, 2007