The Thoughts of Anand J

FDI in retail

2011-12-27T08:58:00.000-08:00

The following is a para from the editorial page of The Hindu. The author is clearly against the proposition of Foreign Direct Investment(FDI) in retail (which would have meant the entry of retail giants like WALMART into the Indian market).

Here is what the author had to say:

This argument however is dangerously violative of a humane discourse. It is analogous to saying that since the processing of minerals will bring benefits, by way of availability of manufactured goods, to some sections of society, the distress caused to the tribal population which has to be uprooted for obtaining the minerals should be of no concern. And it is exactly identical to the argument put forward in the colonial context that since imported manufactured goods were of superior quality and benefited the consumers (who would not have bought them otherwise), among whom were numerous peasants, the fact that they destroyed the livelihoods of millions of artisans and weavers, should not be held against the policy that freely allowed such imports. In fact the argument for FDI in retail is a precise recreation of the discourse of colonialism.

Source: http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/article2750054.ece

Yes..yes...I see your point...

And I completely disagree with this person and his analogy.

In every metro in India, as we all know, we have the:
-Elite
-Middle class (futher classified as upper and lower middle class)
-Labour class

The lower middle class and the labour class make up for the major portion of the population.

I do not see these folks roaming the aisles of the existing (few) retail stores around.

I am not saying that the entry of FDI into India would not create a new set of issues or complications. What change doesn't?

Can people not adapt to change?

The Chennai Secretariat

2011-08-21T20:29:00.000-07:00

"the decision
of the government to set up a hospital
at the new Secretariat complex on
Anna Salai after coming to the conclusion that the construction was
poor and that its lack of adequate
space rendered it unfit to house the
secretariat and Assembly."

link: m.thehindu.com/news/states/tamil-nadu/article2380022.ece/?page=1

the words that scare me here are "the decision
of the government". The government. Is that her name now?

In all seriousness, before Ms.Jayalalitha decides to go ahead with her plan, she must make public the facts behind her claim that the previous work was of poor quality. Simply calling it that doesn't justify her plan to construct a new one.

Bring out the facts Jaya !

Pakistan on the boil

2011-08-18T22:25:00.001-07:00

security forces took
control of a troubled area of Karachi
after several days of ethnic violence
that killed at least 93 people in July
2011

source : m.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/article2370349.ece/

I had no idea that the situation in Pakistan was SO bad.

"318 people killed in July alone. And, according to
a body count done by the Human
Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP),
1,138 people were killed in the first
six months of this year."

I sincerely hope India never experiences such senseless violence.

"What is worse is the extent of the
ethnic rivalry. Increasingly, there are
reports of one community barring
people from the other from being
treated in hospitals, burying their dead
or sending their children to school in its areas."

Hazare jailed - Manmohan's remarks

2011-08-17T08:21:00.001-07:00

"They must allow the elected representatives of the people in
Parliament to do the job that they were
elected for,” he told the members in
the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha." - Dr. Singh

link : m.thehindu.com/news/national/article2366183.ece/

Not that this particular statement requires a source, since this phrase as often been used SO MANY TIMES by the government from the start.

the hindu - letters to the editor
"But I don't subscribe
to the method adopted by civil society members who seek to dictate terms to
parliamentarians. Does an individual
have a right to interfere in legislation?
Why are our television news channels
running behind Team Anna and
making people feel this is the way a system should be governed? Manisha Pralhad Dandge, Pune"

How long would you like to continue this debate? The lokpal bill has been presented and passed by the lok sabha only to get put down by the rajya sabha for decades now.

Those people who get elected may have the backing of the voters up until they get voted. But once they are seated and comfy, their priorities change.

And the people are well aware, but behave like it is an unfortunate fact of life and just accept it or make grand self righteous remarks over it like the statement in the hindu "letters to the editor" above.

Do generations need to live and die over such discussions? What are We? Tree shepards from the lord of the rings?

Don't we need deadlines? Isn't pressure inevitable? Isn't it necessary?

My maternal relatives here in kerala have little or no idea of Anna Hazare, his team, or their purpose. That is where the media's role comes in. I can't understand why this person made such a comment.

This is a landmark bill in India's fight against corruption. Just like the RTI, only greater.

The lokpal bill

2011-08-15T20:28:00.000-07:00

Does anyone get the feeling that Anna Hazare and his team are getting side-lined by the media?

Today is one of historical significance and I feel we (me, my community and state) have done nothing to support this noble cause.

We behave as though this isn't OUR problem. My God.

Gandhi'ji

2011-03-29T05:17:00.000-07:00

In the wake of all the hype created by the various newspapers over the publication of a new autobiography on Mahatma Gandhi, I find myself wondering a couple of things.

Like, how different the Indian scene would have been had there not been a British occupation to begin with. The only reason that Gandhi'ji even became known was because of the presence of the English.

And how India would have turned out had the British not unified it under one rule, making us feel like one nation. Rather than being a fragmented subcontinent ruled by various dictators and kings.

Given the state of the British empire at the time of our independence, would we have not gotten our freedom without Gandhi'ji anyway? Many other countries won their independence around the same time.

People keep saying that, had Gandhi'ji not been around, India would have gained its independence much earlier. Well that maybe true. We can't be sure. But the way things turned out, Gandhi'ji's popularity with the world as the peace-loving Indian freedom fighter is unrivalled. Schools around the world teach their children about him out of respect for his efforts. So even if we may have been led to believe that he won us our independence, he most certainly won the hearts of the world.

Quote - Wall Street (1987)

2010-09-10T05:23:00.001-07:00

Carl Fox:

Stop going for the easy buck and start producing something with your life. Create, instead of living off the buying and selling of others

Awesome movie.

Yet another NIGERIAN scam !!

2010-09-07T21:58:00.000-07:00

I will now wait to see if the person has the decency to reply. Ofcourse if he/she does, he/she would be admitting to a crime or would continue lying.

Either way, as you can see, from the start this person had a few things panned out well.

First the scamster uses the image of a white woman. Although they are more trusted, often come off as those less tech savvy. So I excused her over-priced offer for the camera.

Second, they mention an outrageous price, so greed kicks in and we gotta fight it off :p

Third, they mention that they are from The US, which adds far more credibility the very instant than saying that they are from Nigeria.

Fourth, they target those of us who will be unable to use PayPal and would turn to other means to carry out the transaction.

The scam gets even more elaborate after this if you read the links I have provided below. But fortunately this is the farthest that it went with me.

All along, It kept nagging at the back of my mind that her English grammar was an absolute mess. But I let that slide too.

I registered with PayPal, but I was unable to verify my bank's debit card by linking it to the PayPal account because as i was informed by the ICICI customer service representative that ICICI has severed ties with PayPal. Whey I asked him why, he said it is an internal matter and cannot be shared for security reasons. That got me pissed with ICICI thinking this was their fault.

So I did a little research and found out that PayPal has caused Indians a lot of inconveniences in the past , so I guess I should be thanking ICICI for keeping me from continuing with this :p
http://www.consumercourt.in/other-banking-services/4044-paypal-icici-india-money-transfer.html

I would like to thank google for the invaluable information it provides;
Here's a lil information on the "Ohio Resident"s Surname - Amenas

Another awesome link that helped me out was;
http://www.scamchecker.com/content/sandra-laura-paypal-scam-nigerian

Scamster's profile on Facebook;
http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=100001478593046+

I have no idea whose profile picture the scamster has lifted and misused here.

Most of her friends are Africans.

I will also be sending this scammer my blog link :p

The Nokia 5630 XpressMusic

2010-02-16T22:32:00.000-08:00

This is the cell-phone I decided to buy post-3110c. The Music player and the camera (still & video) are amoung it's features that I admire the best. Although the volume levels cannot beat that of the ipod or the sony walk man, I find the music quality almost as good as the walkman and definitely better than the ipod ( I'm sure a mob of ipod fans with pitch-forks and torches would love to pounce at this chance to run me down for having said what I just did.) But I honestly see a difference. Especially with regards to the BASS effect.

About 3 months after I started using this one, the cell phone died on me. Unlike the 2 similar instances that lead to this one, I wasn't able to switch it back on. So I had to take it to the NOKIA service center. They told me that it was a software issue. The warranty I got from buying this cell in Kuwait (since India still hasn't gotten over this model's predecessor, the 5310.) wasn't applicable here and so I had to pay for the repair. BTW, thanks MATRIX (Nokia Care-Ashok Nagar-Chennai) for returning my cell with your service man's oily finger-prints. Not to mention a nice thumb-print on the back-side of my screen that I can never clean off. Thanks a LOT!

Well anyways, I'm just glad that I finally got this thing working again :) I missed you baby!

As always, I find that the negatives are what people care to pay more attention to when it comes to pricey phones, so here's my list of issues with this one;

unstable software - I dont see any chance of this cell lasting longer than a year.
image gallery - right from the 1st time i opened the image gallery, I was pissed. The cell cant even handle the program. It's terribly slow because of its unnecessary effects.
camera light- there's a bright blue spec of light that turns on and will be sure to eliminate any chance a person could get of takin a candid video.
The dedicated music buttons - are there really people out there who make use of these? Even their positioning doesn't make them any more tempting to use. I'd much rather use the buttons on my hands free.
The "NokiaSoftwareUpdaterSetup_en" that I downloaded from the site just now for my device gave me the following error when I tried to run it on my Win7 OS

Thanks a lot NOKIA !

Airtel - Chennai - Turbo 1299-Airtel/TN/FL/20

2010-02-07T13:28:00.000-08:00

Aitel has a 1299 broadband plan which boasts a 512kbps speed during the day to a 1mbps speed between 10pm to 6am. I took this plan about a month ago and within a day into the plan I realised everything was terribly slower than it should have been. I got 30-50kbps at best at all times, regardless of the time of day. I even called up the customer service and they had me "test" download a file from the microsoft website while I was in the 1mbps slot at night. Yes, I did see a true 1mbps download but it was restricted to specific sites (including speedtest.net) TORRENT FILES HAVE NO HOPE! I'm sure that the plan has its strings attached because now that I've switched back to the 1699 plan, I've got my normal DL speeds. AS THEY SHOULD BE! This is just my opinion and I'd like to put it out there for those of you who share the same experience.

3110c - Review

2009-09-19T22:59:00.000-07:00

I bought this cell in Aug'07 for Rs. 6K. All I wanted was a simple, sturdy phone with an mp3 player. This phone fullfilled its purpose. But as time wore on, I started to realise things about this unit that upset me.

Terrible ring flaw - The ring tone (no matter what you choose or at volume) is so low for the 1st 3-5secs. The thing is, if people ever gave me missed calls, i'd be really hard for me to know unless I had the vibrator or my headset on.
The music-player's 'play-list' feature messed up a few months after I got the phone and I could never organize my files again. I'd always have to listen to them in the order that they downloaded. I couldnt choose play-lists anymore.
2.5mm audio jack - an ordinary music player uses a 3.5mm jack (better quality output). This also meant I couldnt get the "in-ear" head-phones to use with this model.
Restarting - The phone kept restarting after I began using a 1gb card. I realised it got particularly worse when I loaded the card more than 50%. After I realised this, I used to load it to a max of 200mb and it would be fine.
Internal Memory - The phone boasted a 6MB memory at the start, which although isnt anything great, it was enough to have a message capacity in the thousands. I recall once having seen +2k messages in my inbox. For the past few months, the memory capacity has been shrinking considerably and it now caps at 200msgs.

Im planning on getting a new phone now. I'm considering the 5800 Music express. I will always love Nokia. But, Im not too sure about the sturdiness of their sets these days. Even the software can be frail. This is going to take a while . . .

Ghajini

2009-03-08T07:35:00.000-07:00

I think of Amir as one of the greatest actors of our time. He's brilliant in every-which way. It's not just his skill and persona, but his intellect as well.

Given his experience and known efforts towards perfection in his works, how could he let the production of Ghajini continue and release with it's innumerable flaws. Given, that Bollywood is one of the largest film industries in the world, you'd think there'd be an abundant resource pool to fish out good talent from.

I was so eager to watch a good hindi movie after so long. That's what got me so frustrated with what I saw that I just have to put it down to express my distaste for it, so I'm just gonna list out here the ones that bummed me out right from the start.

Right when the investigation into the first killing began, I was disappointed. From the ridiculous presence of the spectators in the heavy rain over the killing of some low-life miscreant to the over done entry scene for the lead investigator and the local "mafia boss".

In the scene where the investigator runs after the bus Amir was on, there wasn't any time for him to get off. it would've taken the investigator not more than 30seconds to board the bus, he was fast and had an excellent view of the bus as he ran along beside it and Amir didn't even know he was being pursued.

Yet when the investigator gets on,
Amir disappears. LAME!!!

Alright, I had no idea this is where those advertisements (for some brand I can't recall) were from. I honestly thought they were just ads going over-board on the fashion, cutting off and rolling up what little was left of his sleeves. Amir happens to be the MD of the biggest Indian telecom company and he has landed at the mumbai airport.

This is just the 1st of 2 times he gets presented flowers from a foreigner on Indian soil. Ok, who thought that up!??

"Hello Sir, welcome to India.... YOUR country."

"Man am I glad I've got my entourage. Now the terrorists out there will never guess which one I'm in....Bwahahahahah!"

Alright, I get it. He doesn't want the sun's glare off the paper to burn out his eyes.

This scene should've gone:
"We're inside the the office now Sanjay(Amir), wanna take off the shades?"

"Nah! The sun's pretty powerful. Can never be too careful bout these things" :S

In less than 5minutes it cuts to a scene where he's addressing an audience and talks about the one thing that would keep the company from progress is VANITY amoung the employees. I mean of all the things to come up with!! The one thing he failed to keep up with all the way there.

But you know, I couldn't NOT watch it cuz after all Amir's role was yet to judge. So I stuck to it and I'm glad. Here are the things I appreciated most in the film.

The plot: Things don't always turn out the way you'd like them to.
The fight choreography: Excellent work. Not the best, but definitely respectable.
Music: The main song is absolutely beautiful.
The most crucial part of it all: Amir's performance. Stellar!! As I'd hoped and better at parts.

The Movie gets an AVERAGE on the whole, cuz I know it could've been so much better. But I'd say it's still worth the while for Amir fans.

SAP E-books

2008-08-06T21:50:00.000-07:00

This is to save you guys out there some time and give you a link that took me some time to find.

http://www.the-arcon.com/sapbooks.html

If any of you out there have other sites you can share with the rest of us, please do.

Post the links in the comments and I'll put it up and credit it to you and the site.

I'd like to thank "the-arcon.com" for saving my time and Prasad_lg on http://www.orafaq.com/forum/t/64717/0/ who'd suggested this link in a forum that took me a half hour to come across.

You stink!!

2008-07-04T01:46:00.001-07:00

This goes out to all of you who think its ok to stink like some open hairy armpit!! You know who you are and I hope you read this someday! For God'sakes man! Spare us!

You KNOW you have a body odour issue. Besides the fact that I keep telling you everytime, almost EVERYDAY! I may be subtle (except here :P) But I'm dead serious! Use a friggin deo!

Stink literally disturbs the people around. Nearly a decade ago, I 'd read this article in the newspaper where it mentioned that people could be fined for giving off bad odours within office spaces and could even amount to harassment of colleagues. I was soooooooooo happy when I read it cuz I thought it was the start of a revolution :p No really! There was this dude in my class who smelled like a donkey when he spoke. I've only come across donkeys twice in my life and yet the memory of how they smell has been etched into my mind. Sheesh!

There is this other guy I know. I dont know if he's just stupid at these things or 'kanjoos' (cheap) as can be cuz when I once told him to put on some deo... he went... grabbed a can... and "tss..." next arm and "tss."

I was like.... "WTF was that!!?" [Did I not emphasize enough on just how much you stink?]

an ordinary person would go "tssssssssssss" to say the LEAST!!

Yes yes i know... some of you may think... "Cmon... everybody knows these deos contain toxins like benzene..." Yes I do! I know that! But you can always use alternatives. Back in Kuwait, I'd use cologne... worked perfect. It wasnt all that effective here in India so I switched to powder. That works perfect too...

So dont gimme cheap excuses! Just do something about that REVOLTING smell!! *SHUDDER*

I love Smiles! :)

2008-07-01T17:38:00.000-07:00

I love Smiles! :) (previously spelled "similies" as read out to me by my best friend Olive.)

I've always loved smiles. For as long as I can remember. It is the one single thing my mind obsesses over when I find the right one. And since they've always been those of girls I feel that's what I take into account first when it comes to "falling" for them.

Strangely enough, that doesn't seem to be the case anymore. I love smiles... in every-which way no matter whose they are, so long as they are genuine. It holds no boundaries within me anymore. Girls, boys, men, women, young and old. A brilliant smile can seem like the sun shine in a horror movie. Picture that analogy! (Don't get it? Think of how different it would be if the movie were entirely in the dark and since I've explained so far, I might as well add that the "horror movie" is infact LIFE!)
In text messages even... Consider a text msg that reads just the word "Hey" and another that goes "Hey :)"

I usually read the first as "Hey, m bored. wht r u upto?" or "Yea I had a bad day so dont reply with a smiley just msg me..." and the second as "Hey, since you're reason enough for me to feel happy, I just thought I'd freshen up with a lil chat wid u." or "I'm in a good mood and I'd like u to be a part of my day."

A smile in the right places can mean a lot.

It is no longer the sole factor that I take into account. But it still is one of the most important features I consider in assessing a person. I believe that a well timed smile can do a LOT of good. It can ease tension and stress and even liven up a seemingly boring situation.

Please do not mistake this to mean I'd like to have you smile at me 24*7 :p Even smiles, I believe have a marginal utility to people. The more you get from a person at a time, the less appealing it appears. It may even end up making me paranoid :D I've known people who do that. Remember, "genuine" is the key!

The video on making popcorn using cell phones.

2008-06-21T01:54:00.000-07:00

Here's the link to the video.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=V94shlqPlSI

I received forwards on this one too.

It was pretty evident to me from certain unnecessary things that the people in the back ground said (like one guy appreciating his friends cell phone like he'd never seen it before and the way the other guy reacted to the pop corn pop,) that it was all staged.

So as soon as I was done watchin the video I ran a lil search and sure enough... It was quite clear that the whole thing was a well planned out hoax.

I hope this trickster doesn't get to bask in the success of his lil game for too long.

Here 's a mathematical explanation as to why it doesn't add up.

"Popcorn pops because the water in it turns to steam and a kernel is about 14% water. So, if we assume a kernel of popcorn weighs 1 gram, it has 0.13 grams of water. Heat that water from 30�C to 100�C would take:

(0.14g)*(100�C-3 to turn the water to steam requires he latent heat of vaporization, which is 2259J/g.

2259J*0.14g= 316J
for a total of 316J 41J = 357J.

Wattage = Joules/seconds. If it took about 5 seconds to turn the water in the popcorn kernel to steam, then the wattage required was:

357J/5sec = 71W assuming all power from the cell phone transmitter went into the kernel.

Cell phones typically have 0.75W-1W transmitters in them. With a 1W transmitter, it would take,

334J/1W = 334secs, if all power is transfered to the kernel." -source

Where-O-Where is Palestine!?

2008-06-18T06:36:00.000-07:00

I was shocked to realize a couple of days back that Palestine doesn't really exist ! No really ! Google it now if you prefer.

I realized this while I was having a discussion about the Israelis with Philip and Ryan. The reason I never really knew this is because I only cared about Israel all along. I saw them as the oppressed Jews and the "good-side". Atleast that's the impression you get when one relies on western television channels.

The Jews believe that the land of Palestine is rightfully theirs and ought to be christened Israel. Why? Because it is said so in the old testament :/ They call it Zion and hence the Zionist movement where over the ages, all the Jews that have been expelled from the various nations they thrived in "returned" home where they made up a majority.

The British after WW1 was granted Mandate over Palestine by The League of Nations. And just like their influence in the India-Pakistan split. Israel was resurrected from the Torah and the Bible. Although I feel sorry for the fact that the Israelis were being hated so much in almost every country they existed that they had to leave to Palestine, I do not agree to what happened next.

Back when I was in school I'd wonder when ever I saw pro-palestinian Arab student sportin mufflers with the palestinian flag, "Look at their audacity! Supporting the terrorsits!"

I realise now that that is simply not the case. The Palestines have been pushed into a corner (namely The West Bank and The Gaza-Strip.) Where can they go now?

Imagine if the British christend India as Pakistan! Would we have stood back and accepted it?

Will Sri-lanka split their country for the sake of the Tamils there?

Will China give up Tibet?

I think I understand the Palestines now.

After thought: Why do people hate Canada so much?

Subway! My new favourite joint!

2008-05-13T20:07:00.000-07:00

Bright Ambiance
A/C
T.V.
Sofas
WiFi

Thats the free stuff.

Then there is the Subway Bar :)

I say it in this order cuz this is precisely why my room-mate and I have been heading there the past couple of weeks. With the IPL series on, this has been the perfect retreat to park our asses and enjoy the matches with full audio and without any guilt reserves. The people at subway seem absolutely fine by our presence. I say this because we watch a 3hour match and order just once. (Well OBVIOUSLY we weren't going to leave the place without having a sub!! ) And the people never seem to be in a hurry to sweep us out. Surprising more people (this time, I mean you guys!) dont turn up there. (Guess that's a good thing too :p)

And what's not to like? The meal-of-the-day often offers just what we need. A good non-veg sub with a coke and a cookie (I'd rather go for the 'lays.') All for less than 120. And if the MOTD doesnt suit your liking you can always choose from the dozens of choices laid out infront of you to help you prepare your ultimate customized sub ("your inner SUB," as the site calls it :p

I heard the veg salads are really good too cuz these guys use absolutely fresh vegs. No Doubt about it. Just one look, and you can tell. *sigh! I could settle for a salad about now :'(

I don't believe, however, that the subs are the best way to go if you don't wanna put on weight. You guys can believe their stories of weight loss all you want. But I wont. The foods good and it isn't greasy like some of the burgers and KFC out there. Still. It cant be ALL that healthy.

Ho man! I just had a look into their website. Its true... we really do have a seriously desi version here :( Take a look at this steak sub!! When can we expect to see something like this over here? (Insert a witty joke on India's cow population here :)

Now I'm really sad I never tried the foreign subs when I had the chance ! Damn!

I also wonder...

Do they bake their own breads? I see them in a metallic glass box against the wall behind the counter, But I can be sure they're being baked right there. Never felt the bread was stale though... Unlike 2 separate experiences Ive had at KFC. (The bun just crumbled apart when I took a bite.)

I read this review by this chick in Bombay and I have to say... I'm disappointed now! Damn! Read on...

Pointers from her review(dated feb26 '08)...

The vegetarian sandwiches start at Rs 60 with the Veggie Delite, while the non-veg sandwiches start at Rs 80 (What the heck! The cheapest non-veg sub that we get costs 99!)
The beverages on offer are the usual colas, iced teas, cold coffees, and hot tea and coffee, nothing to really get excited about. (Are you kidding me!? That makes the joints in Bombay, coffee shops too! And all we get from the outlets here is ICE-TEA and cokes!)
In fact they have a Subway Meal, where you pay Rs.30 over the cost of your sandwich and get an aerated drink and a cookie or bag of chips with your sandwich - not a bad deal! (Thats what I'd earlier referred to as Meal-of-the-day in our case and its totally not our option, unlike in this case where they get to chose whichever sandwich they like and get that coke and cookie too :(
These days they also have a Sub-of-the-Day scheme going on, where a particular sub sandwich (6-inch) is available at just Rs. 60, which is a pretty good bargain, specially for meat-eaters.(ARGH!!!)

Alright, I'm digressing from my point aren't I? :p

Bottom Line! I really do love hanging out at the Subway in Nungambakkam (near Kader Nawaz Khan road.)

Food for the FAT thought.

2008-05-12T02:03:00.000-07:00

This blog entry has been inspired by P3-san's topic "And then there are the FAT..." (do read)

In summary, people can be cold and mean. She faced one such instance where she had to put up with some hurtful and ridiculously audacious remarks by a guest at her house regarding her weight.

This issue brought to my mind a few thoughts that I felt need to be faced.

How different am I?

When I see a person who is quite obviously over-weight by 10-20kilos. I rarely feel sympathetic. I tend to feel it's their fault. But If I see the types who are as obvious as a Bean Bags (obese - these are people considered fatter than those referred to as overweight) I feel its all in the genes or must be some real disorder I'm not well aware off.

When I see an obese person out in public, I almost always blurt out "Awww...poor fellow." Cuz I can imagine the kind of hell they must go through in their personal and professional lives because of a condition they have almost no control over. It upsets me.

But when I see the "overweights" sporting tight T's and Jeans I immediately feel a sense of hate and disgust. Firstly at them for their complete ignorance over appropriate attire and secondly at myself for being so shallow. I cant help it. I may not say it out loud, but I think it.

Why does another person's weight bother me?

It quite obviously does bother me. But why? Why does my mind bother commenting on another persons weight in the first place? It once occurred to me that I tend to be bothered by an imperfect person just as much as I tend to be distracted by the presence of a seemingly perfect person. So is this part of my design? Or is this the way the rest of us think? Is this a process of selection and separation? My next observations put this theory to rest.

What I think of my friends who are over-weight.

I don't have any Bean-Bag friends and it's not cuz I wouldn't be friends with them, it's just that I really dont know any personally. But I do have a few who are over-weight. Now here's the interesting part. I love them. I wont refer to them by names. But I know that my friends are aware of just who they are and how valuable they are to me. Two of them have taught me lessons in life, so important that I will eternally be indebted to them.

Does their weight bother me?

Having said so much, so far. It's quite surprising even to me, that their weight has never bothered me. It hasn't weighed even the least measure of priority against how much I love them. It just doesn't matter. This makes me feel all the worse during those times that I judge others before even getting to know them.

Does the public perception of obesity affect my opinion of those who are?

Yes :-( it does.

If I lived back in the days when food supply was instable, I'd probably look at the obese as lucky people and probably even envy their lifestyle.

But we know what it's like these days. It's obvious. It's ignorant. Its arrogant. It's immature. It's prejudiced. It's hateful. It's discriminatory. It's sad.

I do not want to be that kind of a person. I'm going to try hard not to.

Video Games

2008-03-21T04:16:00.001-07:00

What aspect of intelligence do video games improve the most?

Memory
Math Skills
Spatial Relationships
Motor Skills
Creativity

Memory!! Remember the key combinations we had to memorize to execute powerful blasts of energy from the characters in "Street Fighter" or "Mortal Kombat?"

Down+Forward+Punch = Hathooken!
Down+Forward+Up+Punch = Horriyuken!

:)

Video games have been accused of affecting us in our everyday lives. Which category do you think is the biggest area of concern?

Gender Stereotyping
Racial Stereotyping
Perceptions of Violence
Social Isolation and Addiction
None of the above

Gaming certainly gave me the impression that violence needn't necessarily seem ugly.

When I strangle a baddie with a wire as Agent.47, I feel a sense of elation.

When I run across the virtual world of GTA or The Path of Neo or MaxPayne, firing my automatic weapons... It feels great.

When I use the hand of God to fry the opposing armies with a thunderbolt... It sends a chill of excitement up my spine.

Is this the wrong perception of violence? Hell yea!!

I guess, through gaming, kids to end up imagining and committing levels of virtual violence if noticed my parents, would certainly send them into shock.

Some people speculate that the Columbine High School killings were perpetuated by violent video games. Do you think violence in video games contribute to real world violence?

This ofcourse depends on the intelligence of the kids involved as well. If the kids were smart and kept outa trouble, they wouldn't have been so f*cked up as to think the way that they did.

They make not just gamers, but even humans in general look bad.

The world blamed it on the American standards of gun control and the IRA blamed it on Games and n the serials that we watch... but in truth... It really is the kid and his environment that cause it all.

Am I "Normal"?

2008-03-20T20:38:00.000-07:00

I recently indulged myself in an application called "Am I Normal?" on Facebook, I found it particularly interesting. They list about 5 multiple choice questions that you must answer and complement your choice with an elaboration of your view.

Since I liked the questions that were asked on "Belief in Religion", and since I devoted myself to the answers, I decided I'd like to store those thoughts here as well :)

Reflect your beliefs about religion?

Religion brings people together and offers valuable moral codes for living life.

"This is the one thing about religion I can be SURE about. This is why I would never denounce my faith. It very much defines my relationship with my family and FAMILY ALONE.

But I also truly believe, even in the case of Christianity, that religion is the source of intolerance, ignorance and divisiveness. There are so many things within the Bible I can never accept or replace with MY belief and understanding of God.

So...In Short... Am I Christian? Yes, (as long as I have a family.)

Am I particular about my better half being Xian? No!!! I love so much about almost every other religion so I dont care which religion she'd come from. If she can accept me for how I am and be open-minded as well, there isnt gonna be an issue, cuz it wouldnt change the way we would follow or celebrate either religion rationally."

Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Judaism…do you think there is one right religion?

Definetly NOT!! I've looked into all the religions listed here while I was in college. They're really not all that different when it comes down to the morals and values they try to inculcate.

Countries vary in the degree to which religion and the state are separated. Do you think governments and religious institutions should be kept separate?

Yes.

This goes without saying. Imagine living in an Islamic state. Much as I respect Islam, I dont appreciate the way fanatical Muslims (who can be found in abundance in the government's ruling body) view other religions. The same goes for the X'ian Republicans of America. I'm aware of the way they think of other countries in general (let alone religion.)

Science says the universe is about 13 billion years old while the Bible tells us it's 6000 years old. Are your beliefs about the universe influenced more by science or by religion

This was the ice-breaker that helped me realize the flaws of my religion. Even though I disagreed with the bible on so many of its stories since I was a kid. This was the one thing I didnt have to talk to my friends with to be sure of. The bible CANNOT and SHOULD NOT be specific down to the finest details of Noah's arc and leave out mentioning a living Dinosaur!! (this is for those of you who think that the bible does mention Dinosaurs in a metaphorical way!) And dont even tell me that they're "puzzle pieces" left by God, unless you want a tight slap from me!

:)

Is death really the end? Say it isn’t so. Which of the following best describes your beliefs about the afterlife?

I have no idea.

We live, breathe and think for the moment.

Our ability to think is attributed to the complexities of our brains.

What happens once the brains stops functioning? All our data gets uploaded into another realm where what we do now, influences what we will be then?

And reincarnation... Something isnt all that right here... there are new souls joining our population everyday and the masses are swelling... Is this really recycling? The equation isnt all that simple.

Quotation

2007-09-14T05:04:00.000-07:00

Without a full understanding of the problem, it is difficult to determine what the correct course of action should be.

A beautiful statement that I read off a book review.

Lately, I've begun to realize just how important this understanding really is. It sets the basis to almost everything we experience in our daily lives. Everything!

In essence, I believe, unless one has a thorough understanding of the issue at hand, his/her opinion or judgment can never be expected to be taken seriously (and it shouldn't.)

What ( most ) girls would never truly appreciate.

2007-09-08T23:49:00.000-07:00

I came across this post once and my heart just sank while I read it. I could relate to it in almost every way.

It's a tribute to all the Nice Guys out there, who remain nothing more than friends to the girls they like. Expecting nothing more, although sometimes left hoping. It's so beautiful and yet... so meaningless... so pointless...

This is a tribute to the nice guys. The nice guys that finish last, that never become more than friends, that endure hours of whining and bitching about what assholes guys are, while disproving the very point.

To those guys who always provide a shoulder to lean on but restrain themselves to tentative hugs, those guys who hold open doors and give reassuring pats on the back and sit patiently outside the changing room at department stores.

This is in honor of the guys that obligingly reiterate how cute/beautiful/smart/funny/sexy their female friends are at the appropriate moment, because they know most girls need that litany of support.

This is for the guys who escort their drunk, bewildered female friends back from parties and never take advantage once they're at her door, for the guys who accompany girls to bars as buffers against the rest of the creepy male population, for the guys who know a girl is fishing for compliments but give them out anyway, for the guys who always play by the rules in a game where the rules favour cheaters, for the guys who are accredited as boyfriend material but somehow don't end up being boyfriends, for all the nice guys who are overlooked, underestimated, and unappreciated, for all the nice guys who are manipulated, misled, and unjustly abandoned, this is for you.

Because you're nice like that. The nice guys don't often get credit where credit is due. Many of them claim they just want to date a nice guy, but when presented with such a specimen, they say irrational, confusing things such as "oh, he's too nice to date" or "he would be a good boyfriend but he's not for me" or "he already puts up with so much from me, I couldn't possibly ask him out!" or the most frustrating of all: "no, it would ruin our friendship."

Yet, they continue to lament the lack of datable men in the world, and they expect their too-nice-to-date male friends to sympathise and apologize for the men that are jerks.

Sorry, guys, girls like that are beyond my ability to fathom. But one thing I can do, is say that the nice-guy-finishes-last phenomenon doesn't last forever. There are definitely many girls who grow out of that train of thought and realise they should be dating the nice guys, not taking them for granted. The tricky part is finding those girls, and even trickier, finding the ones that are single.

So, until those girls are found, I propose a toast to all the nice guys. You know who you are, and I know you're sick of hearing yourself described as ubiquitously nice. But the truth of the matter is, the world needs your patience in the department store, your holding open of doors, your party escorting services, your propensity to be a sucker for a pretty smile(MY GOD! That's me!). For all the crazy, inane, absurd things you tolerate, for all the situations where you are the faceless, nameless hero, my accolades, my acknowledgement, and my gratitude.

You do have credibility in this society, and your well deserved vindication is coming.

God, Bless this woman!

Wafer thin ice, Hutch!! Wafer thin!

2007-09-06T22:33:00.000-07:00

Nearly 2years ago, I'd switched my mobile service provider from Airtel to Hutch cuz of one sole reason. Free Local SMS. Hutch had always provided this service and I can't seem to remember why I'd chosen Airtel still. When I switched the service I found out that I'd get 100 free local SMSs for Re.1/day. Seemed reasonable, so I didn't complain.

About 2 weeks ago, I got this msg from Hutch saying that they were going to start charging me for local SMS as well. They removed their Re.1/day offer. This really pissed me off. They just made the decision without offering any explanation. So, I called up Customer Care. The woman on the other end specifically mentioned that due to a government order, every provider including Hutch was required to charge the customers for every msg.

A week later, I get this msg from Hutch offering 500 free local SMSs for Rs.3/day. What are they f*cking nuts? Who needs FIVE HUNDRED SMSs PER DAY!?? And what ever happened to the government order huh? When I called up the customer care again. I asked them about the government order and they said no such order was made.

UGH!

Wafer-thin ice, Hutch!

The pleasure of Researching on the Internet...

2007-08-28T02:08:00.000-07:00

Lately, I've come to appreciate the organized ocean of information on the Internet. Researching has become a leisure activity to me now. If for instance I want to read up on a current affair, The BBC News website is an excellent source. It not only offers balanced reporting, but lists out all the reports made on the particular issue in a chronological order in a sidebar. That way one can get an in-depth knowledge of the topic's history.

Wikipedia comes next, with its well-sourced, referenced and cross-referenced articles that can send you into a practically endless tunnel of information. It's addictive!

The Unforgettable Performance by Preeti and Dolly

2007-07-15T22:02:00.000-07:00

The Plan and Prosecution

15 July (Sunday) 14:00

We (Ryan, Mark and I) had planned to meet up with Preeti and Dolly by 15:00 at Citi-center. Our intention really was to gift Preeti her b'day present which we were unable to get her on her b'day.

As Ryan and I stood waiting at a hutch recharge shop for my recharge request to process I figured I'd kill time browsing through the items on sale. Strange lil shop sold every little thing from deodorants and soaps to cell-phones and show-piece clocks (really cheap show-pieces at that). Among all the seemingly imported cans of deos was a LUX soap bar on display...

And it suddenly hit me.

I pictured Preeti opening up her gift wrap to see a bar of Lux soap within. The image was priceless. I shared the idea with Ryan with much enthusiasm. We began to browse the shelf more intently for something that would hold the prank together such that Preeti would be in a fix as in whether it really was a prank or a genuine gift. We scrutinized show-piece clocks that looked the lamest and cheesiest... but even the saddest of them was a bit too costly for a prank. So we kept looking, until we came across the most boring looking thing on display that was perfectly suited for the job...

The cover of this calculator looks even lamer than the picture you see here. Wish I could show you guys that too.

Anyways, back to the story...

Our original intention for Preeti's b'day gift was a Brian Adams Poster. We went about a few places but we were unable to find one. Markose scouted further off locations with his bike while Ryan and I headed to Citi-center with the hopes that Mark would be able to get the poster on time.

It didnt happen.

Apparently Dollars & Pounds do not find solo artistes or tennis stars special enough to be a part of their franchise or what-ever. I mention Tennis because that was our next best option. A poster of Nadal or Frederer cuz Preeti loves tennis too.

The last and final hope was to get a Shivaji Poster :p We didnt bother trying for that one.

Because of our inevitable delay, I contacted Preeti well ahead of time and asked her not to leave untill I contacted her and to get ready by 16:00 instead of 15:00.

So, helpless as we were and with our time running out we decided to give Life-Style a try.

It was Ryan's idea to search for a show-piece that was Japanese in nature. Perhaps, as he put it, of "a chinky female dancing" :)

Finally, we found one. It was perfect. It looked so beautiful, and it was the last piece of the kind there so we were quick to grab it. and we had it nicely wrapped in bubble-wrap so she wouldn't be able to guess easily.

At the food-court, Citi-center, 16:00

We contacted Preeti and asked them to leave for Citi-center. We were on schedule. (Whew.)

While we waited we talked about how we would go about pulling off the prank.

15mins

30mins

45mins *Second message sent*

We started getting annoyed. Why would they take so long when they live just 10minutes away from the place?

So we began re planning the moment of gifting the present.

1hour passes

( 17:15 )THE MOMENT ARRIVES

Preeti and Dolly walk towards our table and our plan is set in motion. We get up from our chairs, serious faced and unemotionally greet them.

We sit down. Preeti and Dolly are a bit confused and possibly aware of why we could be behaving this way. After about a few mins, Ryan pulls out the gift and I grab it from him and drop it beside Preeti wishing her a "very happy year ahead" in an unemotional tone as well.

It was an unbelievable sight, both heart-breaking and hilarious. Heart-breaking because, even though we were just kidding, I couldn't believe we were being so rude to someone we love so unconditionally. It was even harder to see her look so happy and say things I can bet, she didn't mean. This is how it went.

Preeti ( picking up the little box, wrapped in green): "Oh my God. You shouldn't have"

She unwraps it in about 10secs and I looked at Dolly as Preeti pulled out the box. She had a momentary expression of disbelief as her eyes widened and contracted just as she realised she was being watched.

Preeti : "You guys are so Sweeeeeeet" with such a genuine smile!!!

I looked at Markose and Ryan quickly as I laughed-out-loud half-heartedly. I couldn't believe it. Could somebody act so well? I searched desperately to pick up a sign of disbelief or confusion, but Preeti pulled it off magnificently!

Dolly (within seconds was quick to add) : and its a pocket-calculator too!!
( in a noticeably forced demeanor :D)

I couldnt watch it anymore. Putting these girls through such a harsh prank. I hugged Preeti like I would hug my closest, most dearest family member and I asked Ryan "take it out man! This is so sad!"

This time it was the whole thing all over again.

Not only were the girls embarrassed from our prank we played on them. Their responses came just as they did a few minutes ago for the cheap-ass calculator!!

:p

What can I say!

Preeti is just too good :D

Luv you loads to you my dear P3san!

The Chair of Vulgarity and Awkwardness

2007-07-15T21:41:00.000-07:00

It surprises me that nobody has complained about this before. Or have I just not come across the issue while it exists in the corner of some failed newspaper?

Have you seen the massaging chair at the entrance of Spencer's Daily in the second floor of citi-center (Chennai) ? You'd see it right as you exit the upward escalator.

In my opinion, that chair needs a room!

This chair has its client spread out like he/she were on a water-bed. Except, it goes a step further and gives them a "good time"... a really good time. The ol'bloke will be left looking like he/she's on the verge of an orgasm or something. Its awful. How they dont end up embarrassed or self-conscious in the least, is beyond me.

For pete-sakes throw a blanket on'em!! We don't need to see that!

Friends? Us? Really?! - Part II

2007-06-29T02:50:00.000-07:00

Ive been thinking bout this again lately. Specially since Ive recently been getting requests from friends I took off my list months back.

For one thing, I don't think they even remember having added me before and that I took them off. They keep adding whenever they see me on a friends scrapbook. And these ones especially have 200+ friends on their list already.

So, I remembered about my previous post and I re-read it. I feel I ought to make some amendments to what I said.

First off, I haven't wiped you people off my radar. Ive book-marked almost every-body. That means, If I ever want to check-up on/contact anyone of you again I can.

Its not like I dislike everyone that Ive taken off, its just that I see no point in seeing you online on my homepage every time I sign-in. Worse still, is that some of you find it necessary or obligatory to say hi. This is especially to those of you who have no need to start a mundane conversation, but go ahead with one anyways!

If a person is of importance to me, Ive always let them know. You'd know if you're one of them so stop thinking I may be talking about you being taken off the list soon. Those I consider close, those whose well-being I'm interested in and those whom I find genuinely interesting, those who fused into my life a significant and life changing experience, I would never choose to forget. Those are the ones I like to have on my list.

Yes, Its sad that nothing can ever stay the same. The bonds that were once solid as ever, now seem like casual acquaintances. But the thing is, in places like orkut and facebook, we get to put up testimonials and events (photos & videos) of those very times when we meant so much to one another. Thats what I love about it. That's why I'm there.

Piracy / Copyright Infringement

2007-06-28T02:48:00.001-07:00

I've had thoughts on this topic occasionally, but have never taken the time or opportunity to debate on it with anybody. Primarily because EVERYONE I know buys pirated CDs/DVDs or downloads them. Never-the-less, it is looked down-upon.

If I were to download a movie, does that mean if the opportunity to download didn't exist I would spend a wad of cash to buy it? Would I take the trouble to go to the cinema, spend on transport, snacks and the ticket to watch it there? Or would I be willing to wait 10 years so the price of the original in the Indian shelves would cost just about Rs.50 more than the pirated prints cost now?

I don't think so.

Also, would this mean that I am stealing someone's property?

( Come to think of it, what the heck is that Kohinoor Diamond still doing with the English!? )

However, If you were certain about this movie. If you are aware of its worth. Would you not like to enjoy the experience with your friends at the cinema? Would you not ward off temptation to watch the pirated version so you can watch the movie on the big-screen? And supposing you do watch the movie on a fake copy. Someday would you not like to own an original of the movie that you admire?

Lets take the example of music now. The artists go on tours don't they? Would we not travel across the country to watch our idols perform for us? I would. Considering Nickelback came to India! :D And If my closest friend isn't a Nickelback fan, I'd pay for his ticket and drag him along so I'd have company :p

Believe it or not, there is a positive side to piracy. According to cultural ambassador and producer, Tony Rebel, piracy can actually help the artiste. "As a producer, piracy is bad but as an artiste there is another side to it. Because of piracy a lot of people who would not buy a CD for the set price will buy it at a cheaper price. It helps and it doesn't help. Pirated CDs will go all over the world," Rebel noted. "So while the artiste loses out on CD sales, he will gain more from live shows. It's a win and lose situation." - http://www.jahworks.org/music/features/piracy.htm

I remember a time when I was a fan of Savage Garden. I went crazy to get the original cassette. And Before that, when I was little, I wanted to listen to Hakuna-Matata so bad that I got the Lion King cassette too :p otherwise it was the FM for me. I'm not much of a music buff so theres no way I'm spending unless I feel absolutely helpless without the original! And it happens at times.

There was a time when pirated movies and music were truly substandard in comparison to the originals, if I ever came across a fake copy I never really enjoyed watching it. And without the internet back in the early nineties, my only chance to get to watch the disney movies that I wanted to was to spend money and buy it. The video libraries back in those days were far behind on acquiring movies that were available in the market so we went ahead and bought the movies that we wanted to see. But then it stopped in a matter of 2years and this primarily because around '96 the prices of original movies spiked in the Kuwaiti markets and we had no option but to give up the idea of ever watching the movies we were missing out on. It was all about the price. What the heck were the manufacturers doing? Trying to take advantage of people? Certainly when a movie releases, more people choose to watch it at the theatre than a copy at home. So the producers wouldve already cashed in. But what do they have to say about the overwhelming cost of the DVDs, CDs or (back in the day) VHS.

But now things have changed, haven't they?

AVI. this was a format that really captured the clarity of the DVDs and allowed people to write a whole movie onto a single CD, unlike those horrible VCDs (God-knows I hated those).

To buy an original now, to me, would be only for one of two reasons. The lasting quality of the original would be far superior to the pirated CD/DVD so I'd buy it to keep as a collection of classics for the future. Symbols of the good ol'days. The second, reason would be to show off. You know, as a matter of prestige. When I start buying things from my own money, my collection would simply mean, "because I can!".

Before I end this I would like to specify why it is that I prefer fakes to the original at this point.

* The clarity of the copies these days are at par with originals. If your justification is that they are not, then let me say that I dont care. Cuz as far as Im concerned, its the pirates who made the smart move here. The producers force us to buy prints that would seem no different on a standard entertainment system than a pirated one and yet charge far more.
* Pirated ones often contain a collection of movies, and if you search well enough you can find one DVD with the entire series of related movies. About a maximum of 8 as of now.
* As they are so cheap, they are disposable as well.

Nuclear Secure India

2007-06-20T23:36:00.000-07:00

There is a burning issue that hasnt been adressed enough by the media.

India's agreement with the USA regarding the use of nuclear energy for civilian purposes.

There are a number of things that the people need to be aware of that is happening outside our sphere of easily accessible information. I, however am aware of the critical aspects of the issue thanks to Markose's grand-father, Mr.Alexander who served in the Indian Foriegn Service. He spoke with me at length about the current state of events between India and the US that could someday bring us to our knees, helpless.

DID YOU KNOW that according to the agreement that India must sign

We will not be allowed to reprocess the spent fuel
Nor ship it back to the US
The tech supplied will be purely US tech that would not be compatible with assistance from any other country.
The US will withdraw its multi-billion dollar (non refundable) contract if we reprocess the spent fuel.
That India must open up its borders to IAEA inspections while no other Nuclear Weapons state needs to. ( Why the hell should we lift up our skirt? we Never signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty...read on)

Since the US is a member of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty

Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (1978)

189 members. India and Pakistan did not sign-in.
Five signatories were granted the title of Nuclear Weapons States ( NWS )
NWS - France, Russia, China (our friendly neighbour), United Kingdom & the United States
NWS are ALLOWED to continue their weapons programmes (WHAT?)
NWS are not allowed to assist in any Non-NWS (Amazing)
All the (Dumbass) Non-NWS agreed not to receive assistance on nuclear tech for strategic purposes.
Non-NWS are NOT allowed to manufacture Nuclear weapons AT ALL. FOREVER!
(Keep in mind, India was considered a Non-NWS at the time.)
(Also, we were attacked by China in 1962 and lost the war and a part of our land.)

However ridiculous this agreement maybe, The US signed it (obviously) and India did not (since it is in our best interest not to be complete loons and believe that Pakistan will forever be governed by sane people - what if a radical government were to take over and turn their complete attention on annihilating us? Or how about China? I will never consider them sane unless they return Tibet to the thousands of Tibetans who live as refugees on our soil!) . This means, with India's plans to keep up its weapons programs, The US would be violating the agreement it had signed.

Did you know ?

It was India that first proposed an end to nuclear testing in 1954.
"The principles for a Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) were first proposed by India in 1965.
India eventually refused to sign the NPT when it became clear that, instead of addressing the central objective non-proliferation, the treaty allowed the continuing possession and multiplication of nuclear stockpiles by those few states possessing them.

A question that looms in the minds of those of us who are unaware of the current situation is

Why are we in the need of help from the US when there are other Nuclear countries to approach?

We did have plans to pursue this course Indigenously. However, The Department of Atomic Energy was faced with road-block. A serious shortage of natural uranium, even to fuel the current eighteen reactors on hand. The prospects of finding more large deposits of uranium ores were bleak and the starting of mining operations in the few available sites is held up due to local opposition.

It was at this stage that the US suggested "Civilian Nuclear Cooperation" to India.

The US was first required to change a certain law in it the Congress.

( To be continued... )

Food for thought :
If this multi-billion dollar agreement to get the state of the art tech for utlizing the fuel and not to mention import of fuel as well, gets through. What will be the price of electricity then?

Refernces

http://in.rediff.com/news/2005/oct/24rajeev.htm
http://www.ingmarlee.com/content/view/96/1/
http://www.nci.org/pr/pr72883a.htm
http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/physics/sobel/Nucphys/prolif.html
http://www.indianembassy.org/policy/CTBT/embassy_non_proliferation.htm

Regarding the Chain-mail on the BAN of Orkut in India

2007-06-20T21:10:00.001-07:00

Added - June 21st 9:42am

I received the following mail from a good friend of mine the day-before.

As per the orders of government of India
orkut is shortly going to be banned (Which India? Certainly not our India where no such order was made!).

To oppose send this message to all
ur friends we have to send this message 10,0000 (the person hasnt even taken the time to observe if his made up number makes any sense. FOUR ZEROS followed by a ten) times

if the count is
less orkut will be banned forever in India (This part had to be said right? I mean, the petition could have been for something entirely different!)

So all the orkut users forward this message to all ur frds
We need ur support in saving orkut in India

40seconds later i found this website article (dated: 14 June)

To summarize

Government is examining a proposal to slap restrictions on the networking website Orkut following a complaint from Shiv Sena (What else is new?), which found some adverse comments against its chief Bal Thackeray on the portal.
However, sources said the government was unlikely to impose any ban on Orkut as it feels this can lead to outcry against freedom of speech and such a move might appear as curbing personal views of the people.

ALSO (dated: 19 June)

Cyber cafes across Mumbai and Thane have blocked Orkut and their owners blame policemen for it rather than the Shiv Sena. The party alleges that the site has unacceptable content about Chhatrapati Shivaji and Bal Thackeray. Yet, when asked, cyber café owners claim that it is the police that have asked them to block Orkut.

top police officials are quick to say that they have not received any orders to block the site, local policemen are visiting cyber cafes in the city, asking the owners to deny access to Orkut.
Shiv Sainiks and police are using arm-twisting methods to get Orkut blocked

My sympathies go out to all Maratis and People living in MH. It's disappointing to see that such radical groups run the streets of the cities.

However. This post is to highlight that there is no such BAN on Orkut as of yet. So ignore the chain-mails that come your way. I would usually block all sources of ridiculous mails but I cant block my own friends. So please take my advice and inform yourself before you choose to inform others!

The Empty Apartment

2007-05-09T11:40:00.000-07:00

All the memories this place holds...

Markose coming over almost every weekend. Philip and Ryan walking in with a smile always. The parties we've had with so many of our friends. Prerna, Animesh, Preeti, Dolly, Arun Anand... people I was always glad to see... All the nights we spent together... All the fun we had... All the memories...

And now its all over.

When the movers came in to take all the things... they had to remove the ice from the freezer so it wouldn't melt and ruin the packing... They dumped all the ice in the basin... And I watched it melt under the running tap... sad... It was like watching what symbolized so many great times in this house. How we'd never get a chance to walk over to the fridge and pull out a cool bottle of pepsi and just sit in our cool a/c room and chat.

Never again will I get a chance to spend time with all these people Ive gotten so close to...

I will never forget the good times we've had here. NEVER!

You should be banned from the Internet !!

2007-04-01T18:00:00.000-07:00

To all those of you who have forwarded the following mail.

I'm sure many of you watched the recent taping of the Oprah Winfrey
show in Chicago where her guest was Tommy Hilfiger. On the show, she
asked him if the statements about race he was accused of saying were true.

Statements like"..."If I'd known African-Americans, Hispanics, Jewish
and Asians would buy my clothes, I WOULD NOT have made them so nice. I
wish these people would *NOT* buy my clothes, as they are made for
upperclass white people."

His answer to Oprah was a simple "YES". Where after she immediately asked him to leave her show. A suggestion? Don't buy your next shirt or perfume from Tommy Hilfiger.

Let him get what he asked for. Let's not buy his clothes, let's put him in a financial state where he
himself will not be able to afford the ridiculous prices he puts on his
clothes. BOYCOTT. PLEASE SEND THIS MESSAGE TO ANYONE YOU KNOW.

If we are small, then send it to the whole community and see the
result.
We have to see the result of unity. Stop buying all range of Hillfiger
products, perfume, cosmetics, clothes, bags etc.

How such an un-professional and pathetically edited mail passed your sensors, is beyond my understanding.

It took me approximately 40seconds to verify this article.

These rumors (via email, circa 1996) have since been proven conclusively false. Hilfiger has never even appeared on the Oprah Winfrey show.

- source

If you want a better picture of the chance you gave up of saving your image, try this.

Run a search, check your facts.

If you don't have the time for that, then don't waste others time with your BS!!

You SHOULD lose your Orkut account !!!

2007-03-23T03:01:00.000-07:00

HEY ITS DIANNA,
FROM THE DIRECTOR OF ORKUT,

EVERYBODY SORRY FOR THE INTERRUPTION BUT ORKUT IS CLOSING THE SYSTEM
DOWN BECAUSE TOO MANY
BOTTERS ARE TAKING UP ALL THE NAMES, WE ONLY HAVE 57 NAMES LEFT, IF YOU
WOULD LIKE TO CLOSE YOUR ACCOUNT, DONT SEND THIS MESSAGE, IF YOU WANT
TO
KEEP YOUR ACCOUNT ,SEND THIS MESSAGE TO EVERYONE ON YOUR LIST. THIS IS
NOT A JOKE, YOU'LL BE SORRY IF YOU DONT SEND IT.

THANKS
DIRECTOR OF ORKUT,
TIM BUISKI.

WHOEVER DOESNT SEND THIS MESSAGE, YOUR ACCOUNT WILL
BE
DEACTIVATED AND IT WILL COST YOU $ 10.00 A MONTH TO USE IT.

I recently received this mail from some people I know and I always take note of those who forward mails and messages like these. Seriously people... Have you no common sense? Are the few of you that gullible? Can you not differentiate reality from utter stupidity?

Please... for God'sakes, take a minute and think! Just think what you would be implying if you were to forward this mail to the people who know you.

Cuz every time I see one of these. I cant help but feel mad for knowing that my friend could be this ignorant and brain-dead!

GOD & Christianity

2007-03-19T08:37:00.000-07:00

Why is it that most Christians (fundamentalists) have so much trouble believing that we are a result of evolution, feeling insulted and "dehumanized", but have no trouble believing that we were made from dirt??

Why is it so hard for Christians to digest others' belief in Polytheism, while they believe in a Triune God?

Why is it that the Bible states many instances in the past where the God chose to commune with his people whenever he chose ( which seemed quite often) and we don't seem to have that reception now?

Friends? Us? Really?!

2007-02-13T07:55:00.000-08:00

Over the past few weeks, I've been slowly and carefully weeding out characters in my Orkut 'friends list' who don't deserve to be there. I simply don't see the point in connecting ourselves with people for whom we, in our daily lives, wouldn't bother lifting an eye-brow in recognition for.

Which brings me to the topic of 'FRIENDS'. Who are these people we call 'friends'?

Are they people who's company we tolerate and sometimes enjoy? Or are they people we hope to one day call on for help, (in the fear that the day may come)?

If they mean so much to us now, why do we forget them in time? Why aren't we able to keep the ties that bind?

Why is it that certain people find a reason to be my friend but I just cant seem to find one in return, no matter how much I try?

Is it ok to stay amicable but never tell the person who cares about you that you've never really cared at all(but only pretended to, so you wouldn't seem bad)?

What do you do when one of those people expresses how much you mean to them when you know how you've been feeling all along?

My mind is straying... but these are some of the serious questions that pop into my mind every now-and-then.

Why I love my brother...

2006-12-01T06:32:00.000-08:00

Because, he's had to live with the demon himself all his life and never once complained about it.

Because inspite of all that I do, he knows and treats me like I still love him.

Inspite of his ability to drive me nuts, he still manages to teach me to be human :D

Because he is the one person who reminds me that the world survives on the mercy of people like him... Never forgets to forgive so we can be brothers like we are meant to be.

Tangerine SUCKS!! - the restaurant on Murray's Gate Road, Alwarpet.

2006-11-30T08:45:00.000-08:00

This is not the first time that I have been repulsed by this place but the last time was The LAST STRAW!!

The 1st time I went to Tangerine, I was impressed by the setting which reflected that the owner of this place has clearly been outside India. And it was perhaps this 1st impression that made me a bit forgiving in terms of what I was soon to experience.

Well after my first luncheon there I went home and ended up violently ill. I wasnt sure if was completely tangerine's fault cuz I had only been in India for like 2days and perhaps my insides were only beginning to adjust to the conditions here. So fine.. I let it slide.

The second time I went there was to meet up with two of my dearest friends. This time, while I was waiting at the table with my brother we saw a roach crawl out of the cleanly folded napkin. I flicked it off as soon as I saw it and didnt give it much thought. What can a person do, rite? Couldnt get all sissy ass and start complaining. It wasnt the end of it though. While we were having our pastas about a half hour later I noticed what was clearly another roach!! This time i was pissed, called on the waiter and had him switch our tables. We still didnt intend to make any issues and just decided to let it go.

The last time I went there was just a few days ago. It saddens me to say at this point that one of the worst dinners in Chennai offers some of the most scrumptious dishes in the city. And Im refering to the restaurant's amazing french fries. With an appetite for more I ordered another round of fries. This time it was served with a fresh batch of mini roaches!! About 7 of them (we counted) swarmed out of the basket an quickly took over the table. We didnt hesitate to call on the waiters and inform them. And what did they do, one might wonder... Easy...

NOTHING!!

They did absolutly nothing to control the situation. Even the dinners at the adjacent table were taken by surprise with little joy-riders of their own to deal with on their table. We quickly switched our tables and continued discussing our own problems among us friends. The waiters on the other hand took back the fries and inspite of our request to cancel the order they brought it back. What the heck were they thinking?? Its not even like they brought us a new batch... They just took back the previous, tossed it back into the oil and served it again!! To add insult to injury, the waiter for the table was now filling our glasses quarter at each round. What were they getting cheap on us now!>?? I called the waiter and asked him "who's genius plan" was it to serve the customers this way... Perhaps it was my serious tone, but I could see that he was panicking like he was under 'third degree'.

Shortly after we were done, they served us our bill shamelessly. Not a reduction in price nor an apology for their shoddy service. I was so infuriated by this I vowed never to go back there again!

Pathetic Morons!

CHennai - StinK

2006-11-02T20:48:00.000-08:00

Whats with the terrible stink in the City??

We've had heavy rains before. But I dont quite recall such terrible stench emanate cuz of it the last time around.

Just the other day while my folks and I were travelling around the T.Nagar area we were pretty over-whelmed by the stench in the air. What was going on??
We looked around.. frantically searchin for the source of the horrible smell till we finally noticed a garbage-truck just a few vehicles behind us. Fortunatly the driver took another route and we were glad to be outta there!

Nope! It wasnt the truck... It was this smell that one gets near the ONYX trash dumping area in T.Nagar. But we were nowhere near it at the time and we couldnt get free from it. When the driver got back on the main road... we ended up right behind the truck that we tried dodging earlier. LoL =D

This time the truck-driver decided to keep the traffic behind him suffering by driving in the middle of a two lane road!!

Somehow, after much honking, we managed to get ahead of the truck, laughing our asses off with disbelief over such a weird situation.

We reached Adyar by now and I honestly thought it was all over. Wrong again! I also noticed many of the two-wheeler passengers and pedestrians stuffing their faces with anything they could grab off themselves... kerchives, dupattas, dhothis...whatever! It wasnt just us. Chennai seemed to be repulsed by the stink, just the same.

Im pretty surprised however, by the fact that 'the Hindu' ( the newspaper I subscribe to ), didnt find this an issue serious enough to report about.

This whole stink experience that I had to endure that evening (about 5days ago) repeated itself when I had to head out to a restaurant on G.N.Shetty road last-night.

After running searches on google, trying to read on articles that might explain the situation, I found NONE!

seriously.... surprised!