Hocus pocus….try as much magic as you might, I shall still insist on not disappearing from the site. Though there are always going to be temporary periods of absence, which will be followed by insane postings such as this one.
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It has been a long time since the Indo-US nuclear deal is doing backflips on both ends of the world, and it appears that it could possibly end out as a damp squib. Much credit must go to the communist lobby in India. Communism is now dead in the country that gave birth to it, and China has adopted a more liberal form of communism so that it doesn’t get left behind in a fast growing world. The acceptance of globalization in China is a big indicator of the declining world belief of communism. Read the rest of this entry »

The last two weekends have both taken me to historical sites, one in Delhi and the other in Jaipur. Now India is a very rich culture, and the amount of history on display here is staggering. Every town, every city has one or the other monument. When I was in school, I thought my home town of Bhopal didn’t have a lot of monuments. But as I grew up, I came to know that Bhopal was probably the only city(correct me if I am wrong here) ruled by female rulers, known as begums, and that it had the Taj-ul masjid, one of the largest mosques in Asia. Even the sleepy little town where I went to college had Maratha forts, and a rich historical background. Almost every city I have been to has its share of history. Read the rest of this entry »

I was reminded of this Samuel Taylor Coleridge classic today morning, quite rudely I must say, by my housekeeper. Intentional or not, she ended up emptying almost a litre of water on my bed. I found this out almost half an hour after she left, when I was about to plant my rear on the bed to write a post(that comes up next).

And my bed is usually where my laptop, camera, wireless keyboard, my books, all co-exist. Thankfully my laptop and camera were spared from the watery deluge. The keyboard is really wet, and now I am using the laptop keyboard after a while.

And I type this sitting on the hard wooden board of the bed. The mattress, the pillows, the sheets, everything is soaked.

I guess my Sunday is going to be more fun than I thought!

Author’s Notes: The poem referred in the title is called The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

With nothing much to do on a lazy Saturday afternoon, I present a collection of weird facts from around the world.

1. People spend about two weeks of their lives at traffic lights!
2. The original name of Bank of America was Bank of Italy.
3. Topless saleswomen are legal in Liverpool, England, but only in tropical fish stores. (Now I know why “fish” n chips is so popular there)
4. Turtles can breathe through their butts.
5. A snail can sleep for three years.
6. Walt Disney was afraid of mice.
7. The ant, when intoxicated, will always fall over to its right side.
8. In Hong Kong, a betrayed wife is legally allowed to kill her adulterous husband, but may only do so with her bare hands.
9. Leonardo Da Vinci invented the scissors.

And finally…

10. Banging your head against a wall uses 150 calories an hour. Sex burns 360 calories per hour.

If these ten didn’t satisfy your desire for funny facts, visit www.stunning-stuff.com

Happy Reading

“They knew that there is no point in asking the generals for freedom. They knew that they don’t have guns and can’t beat the army. All they wanted to do was show the world what their situation is and that they are prepared to die.”

These are brave words coming from a nation under oppression. A nation under great political distress, where the military regime is pulling out all stops to suppress a cry for freedom and democracy. Burma needs help, its common man needs help. And the help needs to be more than bureaucratic handshakes and discussion behind closed doors. Action needs to be taken by the international community to force the military regime(also referred to as junta) to step back, release all political prisoners and let people have a say in running of their country.

As a blogger, I do my bit by being a part of the One Post for Burma campaign.

Please visit www.free-burma.org by clicking on the link, or the image above and support the Burmese who are fighting for their freedom, without any guns, but with a lot of guts.

But when they hear that support for the demonstrations is dwindling and time passes by without help from anyone, they lose hope. They are getting disillusioned and eventually they’ll give up.

Please do not let these people lose hope. My request to the entire international community is to stand up, and act. Actions always speak louder than words.

But till we see any action, let us keep spreading the word. And show solidarity for the oppressed masses of Burma.

Free Burma!!

References:
1. Image courtesy Free burma flickr pool
2. Quotes from BBC World : Account from a monastery

These were the words of Mid-Day editor Vitusha Oberoi, when asked on the line of defence they adopted in the Delhi High Court. This happened as the Delhi High Court sentenced 4 journalists of Mid Day to 4 months in jail for contempt of court. What irked the court was a report published in the Mid-Day that suggested that a former Chief Justice had benefited from his judgments.

This raises a gamut of very disturbing questions. Read the rest of this entry »

Before you guys panic and start frantically calling me up, I must tell you that I am well. Mainly because I was shot with a Canon EOS-5D. And as Bond would say,

I live to die another day!

Well, the entire story goes like this. A couple of weeks back, we got an e-mail telling us that my company wants to photograph its employees, albeit not working. But along with their favourite hobby. And how could I stay behind. So I registered myself to be shot.

Today was the D-Day, and I walked in the shoot carrying my Empty Head and my Canon S3-IS. A few poses later, the shoot was over. What really impressed me was the interest of the company in portraying its employees with their hobbies. Really, how many employers really care about the hobbies pursued by their employees?

I can say that it gives me pleasure to work for a company where my hobbies are as valued as the work I do is.

Way to go.

Oh, and in case you think I didn’t get a chance to shoot, well surprise surprise….I totally did!!! And here’s the guy who shot me, with excellent results.

Update: The photographer here is Mr.Geoffrey Boorman from the award winning event management and corporate films agency, Miner Productions. Thanks a ton to Kavita for this info.

The French don’t seem to be good at a lot of things. Making cars is one of them. Now France is a beautiful country, but that is almost where it ends. And now, France has another feather added to its infamous cap. France has now proven beyond doubt, that it is no good at international politics. France has now publicly announced that its citizens should be ready to go to war with Iran, should Iran continue with its nuclear enrichment program.

The French foreign minister said,

“We have to prepare for the worst, and the worst is war.”

Now there is nothing new for the world to see USA flex its muscles this way. There have been times when the US has spoken tough, and acted tough too. The most recent example stands in the form of a ruined country. But America has the military power to talk tough. An American aircraft carrier typically has enough Army, Navy and Air Force on it to launch a dedicated strike on its own. And typically, carriers float around in carrier groups. So for the US to flex its biceps, is understood. They can act the threat if they want to.

France, on the other hand, would not really want to do what its foreign minister has so proudly proclaimed. With a small military force, trying to attack Iran would not make a lot of sense, politically or otherwise.

Let us go a step back and put a thought to why France, the entire Europe and the US is opposing the nuclear advances that Iran is making. Iran started its nuclear program by making centrifuges, that purify Uranium. This was the first step that peeved the world. A potent anti-west power would have in its hands one of the most potent weapons of destruction, a nuclear device. Since the time of Ayatolla Khomeini, Iran has not been a very country favored by the west, esp. America. Most Iranians would view America as its biggest enemy, and it is wise for America to think that a nuclear device in the hands of such a country could prove to be a direct threat.

After assuring the world that its nuclear advances were purely for civilian purposes, and would be used to quench an ever increasing thirst for electricity, Iran allowed IAEA inspectors to enter and inspect its nuclear facilities. This was more of a confidence building measure, as this was the time when US was advancing in Iraq. Iran most certainly did not want the humvees and F-32s headed its way. So Iran played good.

But as time passed by, Iran’s President got more and more vocal. Iran wanted its nuclear power in the hands of its military. Which is when the problem started.

Though I wonder, why is France preparing its people for war? Even though the IAEA has sought to pacify the situation by having entered into an agreement with Iran. And Iran has also repeated its commitment to not making a nuclear device. Iran wants to make electricity out of uranium, the IAEA seems to believe Iran. Why does France have a problem with this?

Luckily, Iran has the support of Russia in the United Nations security council. Russia, with its veto power would stop any international attempt at a military strike or further sanctions on Iran. So a strike cannot be enacted via the UN. France alone would not send its military into Iran to get killed. They will look at NATO support. I am sure that other NATO members will be wary to attack Iran. They have seen the blunder of Iraq. An invasion that seemed to be a noble idea turning into an international farce.

France, in this announcement, would be piggy-backing on the US for support. But the French have possibly forgotten that with a presidential election scheduled in 2008 and worries of slow economic growth in the coming fiscal year, America has a lot at home to take care of. Would France have the guts to go forward with this alone?

They probably would not. And France must remember that the recent crisis was first reported by BNP Paribas, a French bank. Oil prices are at an all time high, there are more short term and long term economic growth worries projected from the US. We now stand looking at another global economic slowdown in the next one or two years. War talk is not going to do any good. What economies around the world need are confidence building measures, especially with oil & natural gas producing countries like Iran. Only then would there be a little sense of stability in the current politico-economic situation.

France should probably stick to making wines. Drinking too much of it, and then crying war is probably not the best thing to do. Because when the wine wears off, it will be one hell of a hangover for the French.

It is funny when a before and after kind of advertisement appears in the newspaper. And most of these are for slimming clinics, or places that promise to make you beautiful.

This one before and after I will talk about, is not one of the above. It is from an article in Gurgaon Plus, a weekly magazine sent out by the Times of India for residents of the city of Gurgaon. They do try to take populistic journalism initiatives, by clicking photographs of failing civic amenities and reporting on those photos. When the authorities take action, these guys do a before and after segment. This post is the story of one such segment gone wrong.

This is the “before” photo:

A very haywire traffic junction, which happens to be very near to my office and I travel from there daily. It is really messy.

Now see the “after” image:

Now what the TOI guys noticed is the cop standing in the left corner of the “After” image. What is funny is, even after the traffic cop is standing there, a school bus is driving up the road THE WRONG WAY(see encircled bus on right side in the “after” image).

Now, nothing wrong with the newspaper taking a good initiative. But some editor should have looked at the image and said, well, there is a cop, but he is not doing his job!!!

A freudian slip perhaps? Well, whatever it was, the headline was what set me off laughing.

It said,

Here begins the management

Some management this is.

P.S: Apologies for the poor resolution photographs.