Got my new laptop :) .. I've become a gizmo guy. An awesome mobile phone and now an awesome laptop. Got a Dell Inspiron 700m .. It's really sleek and light.
Never imagined myself being such a gizmo freak!
Tuesday, December 14, 2004
Friday, December 10, 2004
Wow quote
Just felt "wow!" about this quote .. Dont want to lose it ! So blogging it !
Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.
---- Mark Twain
Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.
---- Mark Twain
Checking the foto thing ..
Just trying a photo blog .. This is a snap from the Flower show i wanted to upload!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/prashm/2073967/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/prashm/2073967/
Thursday, December 09, 2004
Right thing to do
- Why do we all follow traffic rules ? Because rules are meant to be followed. In a way they are in place to avoid accidents and save lives. And setting up a system that saves lives is a 'right' thing ?
- Why do we have democracy? Because it is the most just way of governance? Even though the majority might be foolish, the wish of the fools should be granted ? Over time, from chosing the right person, we have come to define it as chosing the less wrong person!
- Why do we dress in a particular manner? Somebody's defined some way to be the right way and we all follow it. And in dressing there's a rule for eveything - on what trouser goes with what shirt, what tie , socks colour , shoes etc etc. There's an overall harmony in dressing .. And who defined the sense of harmony?
- Why do we have social institutions? Of marriage ? Of religion? They all in a way tell you what the right thing to do is!
- Even the laws are defined to protect the right!
But in cases where the right and the wrong do not have specific boundaries who does our system chose? It's always the richer and the more powerful :
- Between peoples who would be displaced by the construction of a mega dam and the rich who would be benifitted by the dam - the rich always win!
- Between countries who pollute the air the most and others who want to make a change by taking small steps in reducing these emissions, the richer country always prevails upon the rest of the world because they canot compromise on their lifestyle!
- When was the last time an erring politician in Inidia was punished?
Are there any direct solutions to these issues?
Wednesday, December 08, 2004
The Choke ..
After months of struggling with my bike's problems of very bad vibrations when stationary and on, I discovered the root cause of the whole problem - it was in the choke ! My God and I'd completely ignored that aspect.
I told the service guy also so many times that there was a problem with the tuning. And an alarming drop in the mileage ! Even I was trying to adjust the tuning to reduce the vibration .. SHIT ! How very dumb of me ! It was right there in my line of sight and I didn't see it.
Atleast, better late than never .. that's my relief. But I don't know how much the engine would've got damaged as a result of this stupidity.
That's the thing with so many problems .. the solution is simply to look at the problem. But we don't even where the problem is .. and end useless hours trying the wrong solution. I'm supposed to be an observant guy - but what happened here?
I told the service guy also so many times that there was a problem with the tuning. And an alarming drop in the mileage ! Even I was trying to adjust the tuning to reduce the vibration .. SHIT ! How very dumb of me ! It was right there in my line of sight and I didn't see it.
Atleast, better late than never .. that's my relief. But I don't know how much the engine would've got damaged as a result of this stupidity.
That's the thing with so many problems .. the solution is simply to look at the problem. But we don't even where the problem is .. and end useless hours trying the wrong solution. I'm supposed to be an observant guy - but what happened here?
Tuesday, December 07, 2004
Bengalur speak
What are the most common topics of conversation between any two Bangaloreans? Well here's my list in the decreasing order of frequency :
1. Traffic situation on the way to office/home on xyz road ( it just doesn't matter - you substitute it with any road name it's the same story!)
2. How much delayed the flyover at xyz junction is !! (Every flyover is ..)
3. How Dharam Singh is screwing up the entire state and specifically Bangalore
4. How Deve Gowda has acquired more property in Bangalore or Mysore Road
5. The winter's quite severe this time. I've never seen such a rough winter
6. Dravid is the best batsman in the world ;) ..
7. How it rained dinosaurs the other day ( this frequency is reducing , Thank God! But you never know n Bangalore)
8. How even 2 years ago, this road was such a lovely place to walk ( all those green spaces are going going gone ..)
1. Traffic situation on the way to office/home on xyz road ( it just doesn't matter - you substitute it with any road name it's the same story!)
2. How much delayed the flyover at xyz junction is !! (Every flyover is ..)
3. How Dharam Singh is screwing up the entire state and specifically Bangalore
4. How Deve Gowda has acquired more property in Bangalore or Mysore Road
5. The winter's quite severe this time. I've never seen such a rough winter
6. Dravid is the best batsman in the world ;) ..
7. How it rained dinosaurs the other day ( this frequency is reducing , Thank God! But you never know n Bangalore)
8. How even 2 years ago, this road was such a lovely place to walk ( all those green spaces are going going gone ..)
Monday, December 06, 2004
Belated confession
I need to make this confession to my dad sometime. But I've never had the guts to do it so far!
This is related to something I did more than 20 years ago. I was 1st Standard studying in the KV JIPMER campus in Pondicherry. I used to get dropped by my dad to school on his Baja Chetak. My school fees was 15 rupees a term ( 3months)!
There was this Aaya kadai right outside the school premises. This old woman who would sell things like toffees, kamarkats ( i guess people outside Tamil Nadu may not know what it is!) etc. This place used to be hang out for the largely innocent crowd of our days. Ha, don't we all feel that way? No, but seing the kids of today, I'm sure we were pretty naive and innocent.
One such day, we were supposed to pay up the fees for the term. Appa'd given me 15 bucks for the same purpose. Instead, i took the entire class out on a treat of kamarkuts. And I told Appa that I lost the money while he was riding me to school. I told him that the money flew out of my pocket on the raod ;).
There were a lot of discussions at that time. I remember that it was the biggest ever controversy I was involved in for a long time :). Life has moved on since then, but I never had the guts to tell Appa the truth about those 15 rupees! Someday I shall gather the courage and do it. But, not quite yet !
This is related to something I did more than 20 years ago. I was 1st Standard studying in the KV JIPMER campus in Pondicherry. I used to get dropped by my dad to school on his Baja Chetak. My school fees was 15 rupees a term ( 3months)!
There was this Aaya kadai right outside the school premises. This old woman who would sell things like toffees, kamarkats ( i guess people outside Tamil Nadu may not know what it is!) etc. This place used to be hang out for the largely innocent crowd of our days. Ha, don't we all feel that way? No, but seing the kids of today, I'm sure we were pretty naive and innocent.
One such day, we were supposed to pay up the fees for the term. Appa'd given me 15 bucks for the same purpose. Instead, i took the entire class out on a treat of kamarkuts. And I told Appa that I lost the money while he was riding me to school. I told him that the money flew out of my pocket on the raod ;).
There were a lot of discussions at that time. I remember that it was the biggest ever controversy I was involved in for a long time :). Life has moved on since then, but I never had the guts to tell Appa the truth about those 15 rupees! Someday I shall gather the courage and do it. But, not quite yet !
Saturday, December 04, 2004
Black Knight
Watched this movie on Star movies last night. Martin Lawrence at his best !
Outright hilarious movie. Martin Lawrence is this guy called Jamaal. He finds some chain lying and when he jumps into the drain he gets transported back in time to 1398 England.
The scene when he first inreacts with Notty is quite amusing. All his conversations with the old Brits shows the contrast in the language spoken in America and the traditional old english.
There's this part where he tried to inspire the english public into rebellion against the king, and he says "Ask not what your fiefdom did fo you, ask what you can do for your fiefdom!". I literally sat there holding my tummy and laughing.
Might not be technical sound or historically correct. But a wholesome masala entertainer all the way ! I would definitely recommend this movie to be watched - can really brighten and lighten the mood.
Outright hilarious movie. Martin Lawrence is this guy called Jamaal. He finds some chain lying and when he jumps into the drain he gets transported back in time to 1398 England.
The scene when he first inreacts with Notty is quite amusing. All his conversations with the old Brits shows the contrast in the language spoken in America and the traditional old english.
There's this part where he tried to inspire the english public into rebellion against the king, and he says "Ask not what your fiefdom did fo you, ask what you can do for your fiefdom!". I literally sat there holding my tummy and laughing.
Might not be technical sound or historically correct. But a wholesome masala entertainer all the way ! I would definitely recommend this movie to be watched - can really brighten and lighten the mood.
Friday, December 03, 2004
Kerla - God's own Country! - Part 2
Food
-----
Although I've had very high regard for Mall food, I found that all the mallu food I'd eaten were local adaptations of actual mallu food ! My God, the original food was terrible.
Firstly, not having any vegetarian choice inside India itself was horrible. The Cherai beach was the worst! Cold appams and parothas with some vague looking green peas masala was the definition of veg food there. The waiter infact started off ranting "Beef curry, mutton curry ..". That was quite psyching.
But in the main cities of Kottayam and Cochin - there were good udupi/tam restaurants which saved us from starvation. The food at this Udupi place in Cochin was heaven! We ate and hogged like 'veg' pigs ;)
Beach
------
We visited one beach - the cherai beach. The beach itself was pretty neat and clean and gentle. But a bit soily in the waves. But it was nice fun nevertheless to walk on soft non-coarse sands. But, it was very crowded. And there were people wearing burqas and sarees trying to wet their feet. That was kind of funny to watch :). And as usual there were white skinned foreigners who attracted a lot of attention of the locals. Weird people, mallus!
Mallu Christian wedding
------------------------
Very simple and charming. I simply loved the simplicity of the cermeonies and the dressing. No big fuss. Lots of songs were being sung in mallu, apparently all devotional songs dedicated to Christ. It was like a hum-aapke-hain-kaun - lots of songs in a wedding.
Also, the wedding seemed to be a very serious affair. There weren't so many smiles as you see in a normal indian wedding. Very sombre indeed.
Hospitality
-----------
Fantabulous! We were a total of 4 vegetarians there - there was one person dedicated to cater to our needs and demands. Simply amazing hospitality at the wedding.
Other observations
-------------------
There seems to be break in the populated places in Kerala. It's a continuos and densely populated state. There's no concept of end of town, beginning of city etc.
The mallu bus drivers - I've always known them to be a bit rough - but experienced them again :) . They ought to make seat belts for all the passengers!
-----
Although I've had very high regard for Mall food, I found that all the mallu food I'd eaten were local adaptations of actual mallu food ! My God, the original food was terrible.
Firstly, not having any vegetarian choice inside India itself was horrible. The Cherai beach was the worst! Cold appams and parothas with some vague looking green peas masala was the definition of veg food there. The waiter infact started off ranting "Beef curry, mutton curry ..". That was quite psyching.
But in the main cities of Kottayam and Cochin - there were good udupi/tam restaurants which saved us from starvation. The food at this Udupi place in Cochin was heaven! We ate and hogged like 'veg' pigs ;)
Beach
------
We visited one beach - the cherai beach. The beach itself was pretty neat and clean and gentle. But a bit soily in the waves. But it was nice fun nevertheless to walk on soft non-coarse sands. But, it was very crowded. And there were people wearing burqas and sarees trying to wet their feet. That was kind of funny to watch :). And as usual there were white skinned foreigners who attracted a lot of attention of the locals. Weird people, mallus!
Mallu Christian wedding
------------------------
Very simple and charming. I simply loved the simplicity of the cermeonies and the dressing. No big fuss. Lots of songs were being sung in mallu, apparently all devotional songs dedicated to Christ. It was like a hum-aapke-hain-kaun - lots of songs in a wedding.
Also, the wedding seemed to be a very serious affair. There weren't so many smiles as you see in a normal indian wedding. Very sombre indeed.
Hospitality
-----------
Fantabulous! We were a total of 4 vegetarians there - there was one person dedicated to cater to our needs and demands. Simply amazing hospitality at the wedding.
Other observations
-------------------
There seems to be break in the populated places in Kerala. It's a continuos and densely populated state. There's no concept of end of town, beginning of city etc.
The mallu bus drivers - I've always known them to be a bit rough - but experienced them again :) . They ought to make seat belts for all the passengers!
Thursday, December 02, 2004
Bhopal - 20 years ...
It's 20 years gone .. the biggest ever tragedy of our country probably of the world occured in Bhopal ! We were all too young to realise or absorb the statistics and destruction .. there was no television to show us what happened like it happened in the earth quake in Gujrath or the riots there .. there were no reporters like Rajdeep and Burkha who could go right into
the sight of disaster and show us the full picture !
Union Carbide ! The word raises my heckles everytime I even hear the word ! I try not to buy Everready batteries for the same reason - if I have some other choice. Yet, the moral police of the world - America - hides its son of capitalism. What has the Indian govt done? Nothing ..
I haven't met any victim of this big tragedy. But I have read so much about their sufferings.
Dec 2, 1984 ! 20 years gone - there's no justice ! Where is Warren Anderson? Anyone knows ?
http://www.bhopal.net/oldsite/abscond.html - This is what I got from google. How much is he directly responsible for the tragedy ? I don't know. I only know the courts provide justice. They want him. But he's shielded. I'm not big enough to decide what is right, what is not .. But
this day I had some time to think.
Only hope that life of the poor are taken more seriously. This dastardly industrialization and corrupt politicians all over the world only makes it a more unsafe place to live in. If the same incident had occurred in a richer country, things would've been different .. that's when I begin to wonder if the Left is right !
the sight of disaster and show us the full picture !
Union Carbide ! The word raises my heckles everytime I even hear the word ! I try not to buy Everready batteries for the same reason - if I have some other choice. Yet, the moral police of the world - America - hides its son of capitalism. What has the Indian govt done? Nothing ..
I haven't met any victim of this big tragedy. But I have read so much about their sufferings.
Dec 2, 1984 ! 20 years gone - there's no justice ! Where is Warren Anderson? Anyone knows ?
http://www.bhopal.net/oldsite/abscond.html - This is what I got from google. How much is he directly responsible for the tragedy ? I don't know. I only know the courts provide justice. They want him. But he's shielded. I'm not big enough to decide what is right, what is not .. But
this day I had some time to think.
Only hope that life of the poor are taken more seriously. This dastardly industrialization and corrupt politicians all over the world only makes it a more unsafe place to live in. If the same incident had occurred in a richer country, things would've been different .. that's when I begin to wonder if the Left is right !
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