well... i will try and keep this one short and to the point ....
What is this post about?
read on if you wanna fly in the sky and enjoy the bird's eye view of Pune at an unbelievable price of Rs 187/- (One hundred and eighty seven only!! - that was not a typo!) - only at the Gliding Center, Hadapsar, Pune
wait...Gliding?? Para-Gliding?? Hand-Gliding??.. m confused...
Center is open for general public on SUNDAYs only!! it closes
Can i book online?
a BIG NO!
Where is the center exactly??
just search with keywords 'gliding center pune' and it will show you the right place :) ...take the immediate right afterHadapsar Bus Depot on the solapur road which goes to Saswad .. after driving few meters .. you should see these boards on the right .. the gate between these boards leads to the registration office... dont worry if its locked..just park your bikes/car outside for now ..
Where do i register myself?
Once you enter that gate.. on your left after walking few steps you should see the Technical Area (image below)... this is the place where registrations for gliding are done on first come first served basis ... your target should be to reach before others (as long as you dont want to enjoy the hot winds blowing in the ground during noon!)
How early?
I would say be there by 7:00 am. People start coming by 7:30 ... when we had visited by 7:45 already 20 people had registered (thankfully we were the first ones ... and dont be relieved if you find just one person who came before you.... he might be representing 20 of his friends!!! welcome to india! .. so better reach before others!) ... if you are the first one to reach there ...carry a sheet of paper and pen .. and write down your name, phone number and time of arrival on that sheet. circulate that sheet among others who start arriving after you ... basically this sheet would be used when the center opens up at 9:30 and entries have to be made in the official register (we all know how much indians love jumping queues.... this unofficial process is to avoid any chaos during the official registration... make sure you explain this to whoever comes after you!) Note that a person has to be physically present when the entry is made in the official register ... so if you find a person entering 10 names of his friends .... and only two of them are there .. then the official register would have only two names the other eight names would be entered on their arrival (again, i am talkin about the official registration which begins at 9:30 am)
Gliding begins at 11:00 (as mentioned on site) .. so you would have few more hours of wait ..... by this time make sure to get your vehicles inside the ground as the runway is about a km away from the hangar ( btw.. the registration office is the hangar .. having atleast 5-6 gliders!)
What to carry along?
Rs 187/- , no dress code as such ... it would terribly hot as gliding time is 11:00 hrs to 16:00 hrs so dress accordingly... girls would have to take their usual hot weather precautions ... with changing times few guys are also included in this category :P ... carry lots of water (they have a water cooler inside ..just in case you run out of stock!) and some timepass food to eat ..... few people enjoyed their picnic sort of arrangement in the lawn which is in front of the technical area.. while others were enjoyed the cricket match between the locals... once the technical area opens up .. make sure you visit the neighbouring hangar as well.. there they had the workshop where they made the aero-modelling planes ... (the one that you can fly with remote)
Age/Weight limit?
10 yrs is the age limit ... better check with the office and confirm again.. i am not sure about max weight limit..
Can i click pictures from the glider?
of course you can! .. all the pilots are friendly and helpful and would provide you statistical information during flights .. (height, speed etc)...
Do they provide a parachute?
No!
More Questions??
bus re .. main kya enquiry counter khola hai idhar?? ..
If the Earth is attracted towards the Sun why does it not reach the Sun? What is holding Earth back?
[Answer from Internet]
The earth's orbit is a perpendicular motion to the gravitational force of the sun. If the earth slowed, it would fall towards the sun, if it slowed enough, it would fall into the sun. If it sped up, it would get more distant from the sun. If it sped up enough, it would have the escape velocity to escape the solar system.
Actually, both of these things happen... well, not the falling into the sun and the escaping orbit, but the earth's orbit is elliptical.
Kepler's Second Law tells us something about the speed of a planet and it's proximity to the sun. It goes faster when it is closer, and slower when it is farther. So, when the earth is farther away from the sun, it is orbiting more slowly, this slower movement results in the earth moving slightly closer to the sun. But as it gets closer, it gains momentum... which, in turn, makes it start to inch away. Perihelion (closest approach to the sun) for earth usually occurs on or around January 2, while aphelion (farthest distance from sun) is approximately around July 4.
The way our orbit system establishes the equilibrium really fascinates me. It gives me goosebumps.
How can we deny the existence of 'Superpower' when something like this is happening all by itself!
Question to the Atheists:
Why is the earth's orbit a perpendicular motion to the gravitational force of the sun?
I got up one day to find out that my lower jaw was paining awfully; also I could not swallow anything without causing much trouble in my throat. I knew the reason for the latter but not for the former. It happens every winter. According to my observation, whenever I drink chilled water or anything icy, the next day I am definitely going to wake up with sore throat. The technically correct name: Pharyngitis. The pharynx swells up and in worse cases you will have trouble even while drinking water. But thats not it, this one is a package offer. You get many more offers along with the base offer of pharyngitis. The others are headache, fever and body ache. Imagine all this on the same day. I couldn’t have my lunch properly and as if that was not enough I started shivering on my desk. I knew it was time for doctor’s appointment but then that was two hours from then at 16:00 hrs. I was fighting with time and then I finally made it to the doc. He convinced me that all this was indeed because of pharyngitis and the reason is simply viral infection. And the dentist was to take care of my tooth ache.
After the general physician's appointment I rushed to the dentist who in less than a minute showed me the condition of my wisdom teeth. The one on the left upper jaw had made it appearance long back and it had grown in the wrong direction and the one on the left lower jaw was trying to tear out my gums to come into this world. Not only that, it was also trying to make room for itself by misaligning the formation of other teeth in the lower jaw. Picture three people sitting on the seat in the local train of Mumbai and how they make room for the fourth person. Well sometimes they don’t and the fourth person has to tell them a word or two and he makes his own room. The poor guy in the center and the one who just sat are the ones who suffers the most. It was the same condition with my lower jaw. The dentist gave me a prescription of some mouthwash to gargle everyday and I was to take an appointment soon to get the wisdom teeth removed.
My daily chores now involved medication along with two different gargles and one mouthwash. The mouthwash was for the wisdom teeth, the other prescribed by the physician for the pharynx and warm salt water (half a teaspoon of table salt dissolved in a glass of water) again for the pharynx but something which was tried and tested long back my me and I found it quite effective. From last 3-4 years I had not been to any physician for any sort of health related issues but the pharynx always reminded me of its presence every year and after its first visit I was always prepared for the next one. The pills worked as pain killers and my fever and body ache was gone by next day. The pharyngitis was cured in another day or two. Anything that I ate now was ambrosia for me as I could enjoy it like before. Eating with a smile I was a happy man until I took the next appointment from the dentist.
16:00 hrs, 27th February, 2009. I was at the dentist's clinic right on time. Workmates saw me leaving at 15:30 and gave me their best wishes when they came to know of the reason. My roommate had accompanied me to the clinic and it was his first visit. There was a room right in front of us and on its right side there was a passage of around 2.5 meters after which one could find entrance to another room. As we settled ourselves on the sofa, waiting for our turn, we saw lady with her daughter entering the first room. After few minutes of dead silence in that place, where I could hear nothing else but my heartbeat, we heard some moans from the other room. "Best of luck!” my friend wished me with that never ending smile on his face. I so badly wanted to hit him but at that very moment the lady and the daughter stepped out of the room. I knew it was my turn, so I got up and entered the first room. A female doctor was going through some of her patient’s papers when she looked at me and gave me a very unlikely expression of "Yes??” she asked as if not expecting me to be there."Uh.. I'm here for my wisdom tooth problem, have an appointment for that.", I said. I came out from that room; the embarrassment could be seen on my face. My friend noticed it but he thought thats for losing my teeth. "Wow...that was in seconds, how are you feeling?" he asked. "This was the gynaec, the dentist is in another room!", I said embarrassingly. Watching my friend's reaction, I understood why people use the ROFL (rolling on floor laughing) expression. We both bursted into laughter. Just then the intern at the dentist opened the door and asked my name. I knew it was my turn, she asked me to step in after checking the appointment list. "Don't worry", advised my friend. "Yeah, yeah ... ", I said not knowing whats gonna come next.
The dentist asked me to sit and relax on the dental chair. He asked me if I was nervous and afraid. "Yes", i confessed. "Don’t worry, I am too", he said and started laughing at his joke. I just gave him a smile and started praying that everything goes fine. He painted some gel on my gums."Just some skin numbing gel so that you don’t feel the injection" he said. I told him frankly that I haven’t been thorough any dental procedures apart from cleaning and something like this was totally new to me and unwanted. He asked me to relax and assured me that it won’t hurt. He was right, it didn’t but still I didn’t like that needle going deep inside my gums. You will know why when you check out this image which shows the injection that was used.
I raised my hands as if I was in excruciating pain when he applied the injection in the extreme left corner of my lower jaw. He stopped and asked me if I was in pain. I was not, it was just my psychological reaction to the injection and not physical. I was convinced that all injections hurt, and this type of mind set usually resulted in a self-fulfilling prophecy. Then he continued with another dose of local anesthetic injection to the upper one. After few minutes passed, i started feeling dizzy. Now I could not even see the clinics board which was hanging outside the window and was not far from my chair. When I told this to the dentist he said, "it’s because you are afraid. Relax!". He asked the intern to apply a cloth dipped in cold water on my forehead. I started feeling better when that was done. I had already started feeling the numbness on the entire left side of the upper and lower jaws including the lips. He asked me to let him know the moment I felt that he can go ahead with the extraction.
If your 'AIMING" skills are not good please make sure your "CLEANING" skills are!!
Needless to say why I had to put up this notice. So which category do you belong to ?? .. aimers or cleaners? I can only pity on you if your answer is 'none of them'
If you are in Dubai and haven't rented a car and you find it difficult to use the public transportation then you don't need to worry anymore. The Dubai Mall provides free shuttle bus services which will pick you up and drop at the major hotels in the city. Please check out the attached files which has the route details. I wanted to write a lot about my visit there , something like a travel blog but then need loads of time in hand for that. For now see if this helps you in anyway. Keep visiting for more information.
What would you tell your grandchildren about 2008 if they asked you about it in, let's say, 20 years' time? If the answer to a quiz question was 2008, what would the question be? The year that markets collapsed, or perhaps the year that Obama became US president? Or the year Heath Ledger died? Well for all these events there is always wikinews, for now I would like to summarize the significant events of 2008 that affected me in one way or the other.
January: Cyprus adopted the currency of Euro as official currency with an exchange rate of 1.71 euro per Cypriot Pound. This had a huge impact on us as when the local currency was Cypriot pound we used to get paid in U.S. Dollars. The conversion to local currency with high commission rates was killing and to keep an account of income and expenses was a really arduous task. After the island adopted Euro as its official currency, we started getting our salaries in Euro which eased our life here.
February: I had a business trip to U.S. Although this was my second visit it was a very special one as this time I had spent weekends with two of my best friends. Everyone was busy in weekdays with work and hanging around in the night. But weekends were wild, we used to drive hundreds of mile every weekend to check-out new places. We went to New York, Washington D.C., Atlantic City etc.
March: I was supposed to return back to Cyprus in the first week but there were change in plans and my stay in U.S. was postponed for a month. My friends who were doing M.S. had a vacation of a week in the first week of March. This was the best time for me to take a vacation. Me and Monish left from Baltimore for Los Angeles while Sonu (DivyaKumar) was supposed to travel from San Francisco and meet us on the airport. L.A. was fun especially six flags where they have the craziest roller coasters one could not even imagine. We headed to Las Vegas after the L.A. I could write a new blog just for this entire trip of 2 months but may be some other time. After returning back to Philadelphia work continued on weekdays and so did our escapades which included driving more than 400 miles to Niagara Falls.
April: Coming back to Cyprus from U.S. was a feeling of coming back to home just that I miss my family and friends.
May: Luckily, few of my friends from Amdocs, India had a chance to visit us for a month. They were on a business trip. We used to show them the places around. The sea - water is usually very cold during these times but still we had dip.
June: Living on an island for a long time could get really boring if you don't know how to swim. I realized this after an entire year of just watching the people relaxing on the beaches after the swim. The turquoise waters of the island were very tempting and I could hardly resist them this year. I started to learn swimming. By the end of the month I was so comfortable that depth of the waters didn't matter anymore. Another blog post soon on this one.
July: After 20 months I visited my home. Just don't have any words right now to express the emotion. Drought hits Cyprus. Following a succession of droughts in Cyprus, water has become a rare luxury for many residents. Is the water being shipped from Greece enough to significantly tackle this problem? Check out the video for more info: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hxywr7l9mGc
August: Perfected swimming to such an extent that I jumped into the sea water from a cliff which was around 30-40 feet in height.
Witnessed live by at least 90,000 spectators and a million others on television screens, the Opening Ceremony of the 2008 Olympic Games was held at the National Stadium — nicknamed "Bird's Nest" — in Beijing China at 8:00 pm on 08/08/2008. The spectacular opening ceremony has already raised a high bar of expectation for London 2012 Olympics and questions were raised if ever Olympics were to be hosted India could it match China.
"With so many people saying it couldn't be done, all it takes is an imagination," said Phelps after realizing he had set the new medals record for the most gold medals won in one Olympic games by winning his eighth gold medal of the 2008 Olympic games, beating the previous world record of seven that was set by Mark Spitz in the 1972 Olympic Games, which took place in Munich, Germany.
September: By this time I know around five or more people who had suffered from the problem of slipped disk. But this time it was a very grave situation for me as this time it was my mother who had to undergo an operation for the same. These were one of those worst days of my life when I couldn't be with someone who needed me the most.
October: I don't remember any significant event in this month. That's shameful I guess.
November: Obama becomes the first African American to be elected President in U.S. His election campaign is what impressed me a lot. An older lesson learnt again, market a product well and it would definitely be a HIT!
Not to forget that this was the same month when the city of Mumbai was held at ransom by a handful of people. I was filled with anguish and anger because all I could do I sit helplessly and watch television praying moment after moment to ease of pain of the affected. Lesson learnt, it is not the time to say “The Spirit of Mumbai ” mourn the martyrs and the innocents and just move on with life with that “chalta hai” attitude. It’s time for CHANGE. More on this in my future posts.
December: An Iraqi journalist for an Egyptian Newspaper named Muntazer al-Zaidi was tackled by authorities after he threw his shoes at United States president George W. Bush during a press conference on Sunday in Baghdad. Before throwing his shoes at Bush, the reporter, Muntader al-Zaidi of Al-Baghdadia, a local television station, stood up and said, "This is a farewell kiss from the Iraqi people, dog!" The words were followed by the reporter's two shoes being thrown at Bush, who had to duck in order to avoid being hit with them. Shortly after each shoe flew within a few inches of Bush, authorities quickly neutralized the reporter and took him out of the room.
In Arabic culture, hitting or throwing shoes at someone so the soles hit them is considered a great insult. Now, this reporter should win the man of the year award because he is the first great Gandhian of the 21st century. He may not be a Gandhian by Indian ideals, but he is certainly one by Iraqi standards. If it's Gandhian, it must have a moral. There is one. A single alphabet separates 'shoe' and 'shot'. If al-Zaidi had aimed a bullet, he would have been vilified and his country could have been burdened with another decade of war and misery. A thousand cartoons celebrated the miracle of a shoe ripping up Bush's reputation with a thoroughness no arsenal could have achieved. A hundred American stand-up comics could not have asked for a better Christmas gift.
Sources: Times of India and WikiPedia
Our office had organized a Christmas Charity Bazaar in one of the local government schools. They had plans to have Indian dance along with other programs for the entertainment of the people. We were informed only requested to arrange something if possible. We agreed and had only 9 more days left with us. We were a group of 8 guys. Everyone worked very hard to get the steps right. The dance was of around 6 mins with five songs. The task was challenging but then everyone was enthu about it. The result: ROCKING! The crowd applauded and cheered everyone. More info. in future posts for now check out the video. I have a better one will upload it soon....
I had been to Israel last week for a vacation of five days. I will say it's a geographically diverse holy land. The people are very friendly especially towards Indians. In the span of five days we encountered deserts, sea, snow, waterfall and many such exotic natural beauties. More on this in future posts.
For now I wish you all very happy new year filled with good health, new hope and new beginnings!
I received this very well written poem in one of the mail forwards. I can relate to most of the lines may be thats the reason I liked it. Full credit goes to the original author.
2006, 2007 and 2008 was when.........
when we got a job.........
when we passed out of college....
when we made new amazing friends.....
when some of us moved to a new city.....
When some of us celebrated our 21st - 25th birthdays.....
When we waved good bye to our buddies leaving to the states for higher
studies...
when some of us fell in love........
when some of us fell out of love
when some of us got hurt
when some of your 'friends' screwed up your love life...
when some 'one' you liked, did not like 'you'....
when we would have made mistakes
when we made life decisions.......
when these decisions turned out to be a tragedy
when some of us felt lonely ....
when some of us made an amazing friends in a new city
when some of us would have learnt to be stronger.....
when some of us would have realized that everything happens for a
reason.....
when some of us let out our anger.....
when some of us never opened up to our friends about how we felt....
when some of us felt so glad and happy to be the way they are.....
when we go out every day and meet up with our friends...
when we had serious talks with our dad about our future.....
when we missed each other when we were at hometown...........
when we missed our mom here .....
when we cried for each other .......
When we celebrated our first Christmas with our friends ....
When we were jobless all the time in office ........
When we walked around the streets late in the night ......
When we put budget for the next month (but strictly not following it)
Last year has taken us through all our ups and downs we faced in our
life...
2009.......one more year.....A year to....
To find our life partner (might be)
to forget old crushes...
to smile........
to let people know how much u care...
to learn from our mistakes.......
to cry when we are feeling down.....
to follow our dreams.......
to fight against everything for our dreams to come true.....
to be more confident.........
to be more strong at heart and mind.....
to enrich our knowledge.........
to make others happy....
Let’s take each day as it comes........
Forget about the downs we came across in the past year........
And remember every lesson we learnt through them........
One of my current favorite songs is “Tu raja ki raj dulaari .. ” from the movie Oye Lucky, Lucky Oye! Check it out here …
The general meaning of the song is that it tries to emulate the conversation between Shiv and Parvati when Parvati (a princess) proposed to Lord Shiva (a monk). He says that you are a princess whereas I am just a monk who is barely clothed, has no belongings, lives a harsh life, eats ash, has snakes on his shoulder etc. and she should look for someone else, someone rich.
There are several other popular songs that follow this conversation such as Bam Lehri (by Kailash Kher, latest album) and Maye ni Maye (Hum Apke Hain Kaun). I assume it must be a folk tradition to use this incident as an allegory for class difference among lovers
Heres the interpretation of the song:
1)Tu Raja Ki Raj Dulari, Main Sirf Langote.., Aala Su.. : The first half in this line is obvious, the rest half means “main woh hoon jo sirf langota pehenta hai…” aala is haryani of waala and su is similar to hoon.
2)Bhang Ragad Ke Piya Karu Main, Kundi Sote Aala Su: yahaan bhang ragad ke peene ki baat ho rahi hai, kundi ka matlab hai pathhar(stone) kaa bartan (bowl type) aur sotta is piece of wood. This is desi grinder used in haryana for making chuttney and all. You put the stuff you wanna grind in kundi and beat it with sotta. Try it sometimes, its fun! :P
3)Kis tariya dil Lage Tera, Satran Chaul Prakash Nahi: kis tarhe tera dil lagega sab taraf andhera he andhera hai……..
Rest all lines are pretty obvious ones we know that the context is the conversation between Shiv And Parvati.
Lyrics:
Tu Raja Ki Raj Dulari, Main Sirf Langote.., Aala Su.. ) - 2
Bhang Ragad Ke Piya Karu Main, Kundi Sote Aala Su
Tu Raja Ki Raj Dulari, Main Sirf Langote, Aala Su
Bhang Ragad Ke Piya Karu Main, ( Kundi Sote Aala Su ) - 2
Tu Raja Ki Chhori Se, Mhare Ek Bhi Daasi Daas Nahi
shawl dusale Odhan Aali, Mhare Kambal Tak Bhi Paas Nahi
Tu baagan Ki Koyal Se ,aade barf pade Hari Ghaas Nahi
Kis tariya dil Lage Tera, Satran Chaul Prakash Nahi
Kise Saahukar te Byah Karwale,Saahukar Ke Byah Karwale
Main Khaali sote Aala Su
Bhang Ragad Ke Piya Karu Main, Kundi Sote Aala Su
Tu Raja Ki Raj Dulari, Main Sirf Langote, Aala Su
Bhang Ragad Ke Piya Karu Main, ( Kundi Sote Aala Su ) - 2
Main dhuna me tapa karun, tu aag dekh ke darr jagi
Rakh ghol ke Piyaa Karu Mera, Bhag Dekh Ke Dar Jaagi
Sau Sau Saap pade reh gale me, Naag Dekh Ke Dar Jaagi
Taandav Naach kare ban me,Rang Raag dekh ke darr jagi.
Tane Julfan aala Chhora Chaiye, Julfan aala Chhora Chaiye
Main Lambe Chote aala Su
Bhangh Ragad Ke Piya Karu Main, Kundi Sote Aala Su
(Tu Raja Ki Raj Dulari, Main Sirf Langote, Aala Su
Bhangh Ragad Ke Piya Karu Main, Kundi Sote, Aala Su ) – 11
I am using xobni from quite some time. It is the Outlook plug-in that saves you time finding email conversations, contacts and attachments. After a quick install, I saw the new Xobni toolbar which appeared in Outlook - and suddenly information became much easier to find. When a new email arrives, the sender's full communication history appears in the Xobni sidebar, including past conversations, attachments and contact details. Xobni also includes a blazing fast email search tool.
Too many words for a company’s product that is not going to pay me for writing good things about them on my blog. But it is indeed a very handy tool that. I would leave it up to you to try it out.
It has a feature of e-mail analytics which displays rankings, graphs, and statistics detailing how you and your contacts use email. Today I make my statistics public. Well, it is up to you to accept them or not but what I have heard is – ‘There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics’
The above analysis shows the hourly average of the mail traffic over a period of 26 months. The trend clearly shows the email culture. The peak between 9:00 to 12:00 indicates the ‘productivity’ at these hours. The drop between 12 and 2 is the lunch time. People are active again after lunch time but only till 4 when they break for coffee and snacks. The curve starts going down along with the sun on the horizon. The activity between midnight and early morning is because of the colleagues working in US.
Barack Obama of the Democratic Party becomes the first African American to be elected President of the United States. Everyone awaited this moment. The world wanted to witness the 'Change'. I am not an American, still the acceptance speech which President Obama gave yesterday evening moved me, I can only imagine how his supporters might be feeling. Here is the best part of the speech. Watch this, if not for the the President's elect delivery, then for a succinct chronicling of the powerful events of the century.
For those who cannot access youtube, here is the transcript. But believe me, the video is worth a watch!
This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations. But one that's on my mind tonight is about a woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta. She's a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election except for one thing - Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old. She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldn't vote for two reasons - because she was a woman and because of the color of her skin. And tonight, I think about all that she's seen throughout her century in America - the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we can't, and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes we can. At a time when women's voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot. Yes we can. When there was despair in the dust bowl and depression across the land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New Deal, new jobs and a new sense of common purpose. Yes we can. When the bombs fell on our harbor and tyranny threatened the world, she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness and a democracy was saved. Yes we can. She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that "We Shall Overcome." Yes we can. A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination. And this year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen, and cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change. Yes we can. America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves - if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made? This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment. This is our time - to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American Dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth - that out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope, and where we are met with cynicism, and doubt, and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes We Can.
Recently, I moved to my neighboring cubicle. The person who used to sit in that cubicle has left behind many gems. I would like to share one of them with you. He had the following comic strip on display in his cubicle:
Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. 22nd October. Morning 06.21.50. Countdown 10..9..8..7..6..5..4..3..2..1..0 and there it goes - Chandrayaan - 1. India's first mission to moon. The cliche in hindi films goes like this 'duniya chaand par pahuch gayi hai aur aap..' This statement is usually used to criticize someones narrow minded thinking. I guess this would be changed to 'ab toh Bharat bhi chaand par pahuch gaya.. aur aap!!'
We should really applaud the efforts of ISRO for the successful launch. The budget for this mission was around 80 million US Dollars. ISRO has many missions planned for future which include few more unmanned missions to Moon, unmanned mission to Mars and the day I am waiting for - Manned mission to Moon.
But in midst of all this success lets have a reality check.
One-third of India's population (roughly equivalent to the entire population of the United States) lives below the poverty line and India is home to one-third of the world's poor people.
According to the new World Bank's estimates on poverty based on 2005 data, India has 456 million people, 41.6% of its population, living below the new international poverty line of $1.25 (PPP) per day.
The World Bank further estimates that 33% of the global poor now reside in India. Moreover, India also has 828 million people, or 75.6% of the population living below $2 a day, compared to 72.2% for Sub-Saharan Africa. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty_in_India
On the news channel you could see farmers outside the space centre of Sriharikota cultivating a piece of land.This is the place where cultures of centuries blend together. The very idea of this post was supposed to give everyone a thoughton the 'Development' of the nation. What kind of development are we expecting? Do we want to spend millions of dollars and reach space which wouldonly create a foundation for the generation next to go one step ahead in finding out the mystries of universe OR work on planet EARTH to resolve the grass root level problems of the nation.
Not that India is not trying. If poverty has decreased the population has also increased which keeps on affecting the figures. A study by the McKinsey Global Institute found that extreme rural poverty has declined from 94% in 1985 to 61% in 2005, and they project that it will drop to 26% by 2025. Report concludes that India's economic reforms and the increased growth that has resulted have been the most successful anti-poverty programmes in the country.
Anyways, there will always be a tradeoff between socio-economical development and technological advancements for a country. What shocked me more is the amount spent by ISRO. Well, the expense in itself might be enormous but when compared to other expenses (not by the govt) will really seem insignificant. You will, in fact, give a standing ovation to what ISRO has achieved. Here is some trivia about it:
India's mission to moon has cost less than one-tenth of the amount which was paid by SET(Sony entertainment television) to get the rights of IPL(Indian Premier League).
The amount is about half the price of a Jumbo Jet.
The IPL deal of about Rs 5,000 crore or $1 billion is equivalent to Isro's entire annual budget, while NASA's is 20 times as much.
Chandrayaan-2. Deadline: 2010. The cost: Rs 500 crore. That is still only one-tenth of IPL rights.
Lately, I stopped watching cricket. In fact, after reading this it makes me hate it even more.
What is the solution out of this?
- Stop marketing through cricket? Of course, not!
- Put a full stop on our space odyssey? A big NO!
And there are many more questions which need some answers. You may comment on few such QnAs.
For now, as Mahatma Gandhi rightly said - We need to be the change that we wish to see in the world.
Guys, rrrusssssel is back! I am sure you don't want to miss him this time. He is hilarious and the best part is the ethnic jokes. His parents are Indian he was born in Mumbai and brought up Canada. Perhaps thats why most of his shows focus largely around his Canadian upbringing and racial stereotypes. Much of his material explores the cultural divides between many different ethnicities and upbringings in a way that includes many impressions.
I have seen the last two of his shows on DVD, first on ebing 'Russell Peters: Outsourced' and the second on 'Russell Peters: Red, White and Brown'. Both of these are a must watch for anyone who needs a dose of laughter.
This time Russel Peters is on his India Tour. While on his tour he is going to perform at Mumbai, Kolkata, Bagalore and Delhi. In Mumbai , the show would be held on 27th October'08 at Shanmukhananda Hall, Kings Circle,Matunga. This reminds me that when I was in 1st standard, I had participated in annual function of my school. I was supposed to play on of the characters of Ramayan. The fuction was supposed to be held at the same hall in Matunga. However, for some reason we reached late and when we reached there we saw that hall was taken up by a distratous fire. It was devastating and took around 8 years for the committee to renovate and bring the hall back to life and what a LIFE I must say! Because its none other than Russel Peters.
Please hurry up and and buy the tickets before they are all sold out! Show details and ticket could be bought from the following website:
http://www.ticketpro.in/UpcomingEvents/russell_peter.html For those of you who have never heard of him, please check out the following videos. I bet you will just rush for tickets after watching them ( Not sure even after knowing that the ticket price is Rs.1500! .. we 'cheap indians' as Russel says it :P)
meri tamanna hai ke dil ke dabe raaz aapko sunaau haalat kyaa hoti hai ishq mein ye aapko batlaau
aap se kyaa sharmaana aap sab ho mere apne toh sunaata hoon kaise dil ki baat kehne par tut jaate hai sapne
ek din mujhse raha nahi jaa raha tha dil ke armaano ko dabaa nahi paa raha tha dil ki baat kaa humein izhaar karna tha humein usse pyaar hai bus itnaa kehna tha
ladki kunwaari hai yeh humne suppose kiya aur sidha uske ghar jaake use propose kiya
lekin mera time thoda kharab chal raha tha jo kabhi socha na tha woh aaj sach ho raha tha
mere saamne dekhta hoon toh kyaa ladki ki god bharai chal rahi thi aur uski poori family bhi wahin khadi thi
mujhe lagaa mujhse yeh bhool kaise ho gai kambakht zabaan bhi sabke saame dil ki baat keh gai
phir hona kyaa tha , uski family ne mere prastaav ko oppose kiya aur hameshaa ke liye mujhe dispose kar diya
lekin mere dil kaa fuse tab bhi jal raha tha kisi ke pyaar ke liye maano tadap raha tha
aur yeh gaana bhi gaa raha tha ke "tu nahi toh koi aur sahi koi aur nahi toh koi aur sahi"
mere din guzar rahe the kuch aise hi mujhe kyaa hua tha pataa nahin
maine socha main phir kabhi pyaar nahi karungaa kaanton se bhare is raaaste par kabhi naa chalunga
lekin har baar hum uski or khiche chale jaate hai jaane kyon kaamdev apna teer hum hi pe chalaatein hai
is baar phir hum ishq ke nashe mein doob gaye aur jis par itni der se nazar tiki thi us se apni dil ki baat keh gaye
lekin usne mujhe seriously nahi liya , use lagaa usne din mein hi sapnaa dekh liya, maine kaha
"sapna nahi haqiqat hai , mujhe sirf tujhi se mohabbat hai"
woh boli, "kyaa musibat hai, ab yeh kaisi aafat hai "
maine phir kaha "tumhaari taaarif mein ek nazraana pesh karta hoon ijaazat ho toh ek sher arz karta hoon"
shaayad use bhi mujhe karnaa tha aabaad is liye usne bhi keh diya irshaad irshaad
maine kaha "tu hi meri nisha hai tu hi mera nasha hai " mujhe bich mein hi tok ke woh boli "shakal aaine mein dekh kar aa tu hi balbeer paasha hai!!"
main toh chala tha hone aabaad par usne mujhe kar diya barbaad
jab apna hi sikka khota ho toh kis se karoon main fariyaad kis se karoon main fariyaad ...
toh janaab, aapko bhi agar aisi koi fariyaad hai toh bejijhak humein bataayiye ... aakhir ghum baatne se halka hota hai :P
Colors. Music. Movements. On 11th October 2008 if you would have been to Panikos Dimitris park you could smell a sense of happiness in the air. As I saw people circling in their traditional attire dancing, the spirit of life took a triumphant turn. It was the time to celebrate the very spirit of life at none other than the ASC Garba’08 event. Navratri basically means "Nine Nights" ("Nav" meaning nine and "Ratri" meaning nights). These nights are devoted to the reverence of Goddess Durga (Maa Durga). Though the season had already ended with Dassera being celebrated all over the world on 9th, the festival was celebrated here with complete devotion, love and fervour.
The event started off with everyone arriving in their colorful and traditional attire. Few of them arrived with their decorated aarti thaalis(see picture). Most of them were teamed beautifully with all the required pooja essentials for the occasion. Then a wonderful heart and soul touching and cleansing Aartis were sung in praise of the goddess. Following the aarti was the ‘Garba’ where people were dancing in a circle clapping rhythmically. At every step they gracefully bend sideways, the arms coming together in sweeping gestures, up and down, left and right, each movement ending in clap resulting in a highly energetic dance. The garba event lasted for an hour after which there was a break for refreshments. The trademark of the Navaratri festival is the dandiya dance – where men and women join a dance circle, holding small polished sticks or dandiyas. As Amdocsians whirled to the music, they striked the dandiyas in rhythm.
“When I was young, I used to dance on the nine nights. There was so much excitement. Navratri is the time to celebrate. This is a festival which brings in so much of colour. Girls dress up in their traditional dress. Everybody is in a festive mood. When I was a student, we used to do garba together at the campus. I have very fond memories of those days. It was a community affair.”, said one of the enthusiastic players. “Navratri is a vibrant festival. There is so much of colour, music and spirit associated with this festival. Everyone seems to enjoy this festival. I am proud to see that even though we are distant from our country we are not distant from our culture and traditions.”, added another. “I enjoyed it a lot. I tried my best but sometimes I got the beat wrong but it was lots of fun.”, said a participant of non – Indian origin.
The whole atmosphere was very joyful. Some people enjoyed by playing while others participated from a distance as they were watching others playing garba. The colorful dresses and jovial mood during the revelry was a big motivation to the localites as even they joined into the celebrations. The following prizes were given on the night: Best Aarti Thaali, Best Dressed Male, Best Dressed Female, Best Dancer Male and Best Dancer Female.
I would like to thank the judges and all the organizers and volunteers from Amdocs Social Club, here at DVCC, to have organized an event which managed to incorporate veneration along with commemoration by means of song and dance.
Ehsaan Quereshi - I liked this guy's style. The way he narrates his writings is something which I appreciate. His poems give you an experience of roller coaster, not that you will get an adrenalin rush, but it takes you up somewhere and then with some slapstick humor brings you down(even the intonation follows this principle). I have tried to write something which could be narrated in his style. If you plainly read the following lines then you will enjoy it but if you read it in Ehsaan bhai's style then i bet you will LOVE it!
Bus ka "Safar"/suffer ek din main bus mein jaa raha tha bus kaa driver bhi gajab dhaa raha tha najaane kyon baar baar brake dabaa raha tha
main badi mushkil se sambhal paa raha tha mera haath bhi handle se fislaa jaa raha tha
mera haath bhi kyaa kahun badaa shaitaaan hai jo sambhaale naa sambhaltaa hai jo nahi karna chahiye wahi kartaa hai
phir kyaa tha , bus handle se mera haath fisla , aur
ganje ki khopdi par jaake tehraa ganje ne gusse se mujhe kiya ishaara maine bhi chup chaap apna haath uski khopdi se diya utaara , aur phir maine liya handle kaa sahara , lekin
handle kaa mujhse shayaad puraana naata tha use bhi mera saara hisaab aaj hi chukta karna tha
usne phir mujhe dhoka de diya , aur maine haath phir usi ganje ki khopdi par rakh diya
is baar toh ganje kaa bhi chadh gaya paara turunt hi khadaa ho gaya bechara
aur mujhse kaha , "baith , aa mere sar pe baith !!!" maine kaha , "baith toh jaaun, par kyaa mujhe sambhaal paoge ?" usne pucha , "kyon ?" maine kaha , "itni chikni khopdi hai , kahin main vahaan se bhi fisal gaya toh ?"
public ko lagaa dum meri baat mein bhi tha , kyon ki ganje ki khopdi pe tel zara bhi kum naa tha
ganje ne meri baat ko seriously nahi liya aur jahaan baitha ta vahin chup chaap baith gaya
waise upar ki do panktiyon ke beech vaali ek ghatna maine aapko nahi hai sunaai , kyon ki hinsa se mujhe sakt nafrat hai mere bhai
aap samajh hi gaye honge mere haal kyaa hua hoga aage jo hua woh aapke saamne hai aur meri sujhi hui aankh bhi ab thik hone ko hai
is haadse ke baad main bus mein thoda aur aage badhaa aur ladies seat ke paas jaakar hua khadaa
aurtein svabaav se naram hoti hai , par saavdhan andar se kaafi garam hoti hai
yehi khayaal mere man mein aa raha tha , ke
tabhi driver ne phir brake dabaaya aur mera haath bagal waali ladki ki kamar sair kar aaya shaayad use yeh pasand nahi aaya , isliye usne mujhe do kheench ke lagaaya
thappad kaa asar itna gehra tha shaayad main vahin ho gaya behraa tha
woh boli , " yeh kyaa karte ho , jahaan ladki dekhi wahaan chance maarte ho ?" main bola , "chance toh kyaa , dance bhi nahi kartaa apni biwi ke alaava kisi aur ke saath romance nahi karta
meri mat hi gai thi maari , ke main is bus mein aakar tha chadhaa aur baaki rahaa toh tumhaare paas aakar mein hua khadhaa
ab kabhi naa main bus mein savaari karunga naa kisi ladki ki bagal mein jaakar khada rahunga
aise anubhav karne se behtar hai main umr bhar paidal chalunga ...... main umr bhar paidal chalunga ......
I arrive at the office and head straight to the pantry to have some breakfast. Co-workers meet up and we talk everything from the Large-Hadron-Collider to “Large-Hadron-Collider”;) . The wink should explain it all but if you are still dumb enough and don't understand what guys talk about then this post should help you out. After all the daily rituals, finally, I realize that it is time to do some work. Yes I do work when people are not watching me. Part of my work involves checking my e-mails. I get mails of different kinds everyday which range from daily tasks from my managers to some funny forwards from my friends. So I open my mailbox and check the first one. It says, “Make the small man in you stand strong and proud with our simple remedy ”. For a minute I sat there in stunned silence. I thought, “What was my manager even thinking before sending me such a mail, I mean what kind of task is this!!”. To my relief when I scrutinized the mail I found out that it was yet another SPAM!
What I don’t understand is that how on earth, for SPAM, someone comes up with a different subject everytime! I get SPAM wherein the subject says - Get hard lightning fast, Britney drops top at mall, watch her suck off, Reach so needed measurement, She'll beg for more, We offer you happiness, More pleasure wit less efforts, Get her in the mood every night, Take her in many different ways, but always deep!! and many, many more which makes the list endless.
Now, back to my work place. I go through my to do list. Start working on one of them and there it comes - another mail pop-up. This time it says “Pamela Anderson stunning porno dvd.” Get another one after that which says “Drew Barrymore Nu de. She's been known to take her top off for just about anyone. See her n'ked!” I am not sure what the spammers wanted to proove. Were they trying to say that, “Yes, we do SPAM about things other than your genitals!”? I like the content of the SPAM which I receive because tt is written very “articulately”. Now that is some skill which I would like to learn. Of course, not to market these products (but that's only for now, the IT industry may be in crisis anytime!) . They use words such as “rod”, “pole”, “gun”, “monster” and not the acutal words which may sound quite "indecent". Sometimes I do wonder if these spammers are actually some teenage girls!
Co-incidence is what I want to believe in. We talk about the news where a kid uses a gun in school to shoot his fellow classmates. Later, I see a spam which says “When your lassie sees your new big love gun, she'll be beside herself with excitement!Take a step towards pure male power!” I wonder why the kid did not use his "love gun" instead of a real gun. Atleast there would have been some peace!
Let me throw in few more from the ones which I have received today:
“Powerful help for boosting your libido and stimulate your girl to a new high.”
“Watch her writh in ecstasy from your longer length”
“Make your man rod thick and strong with our natural herbs. It worked for thousands of men worldwide. Now it’s yours."
“Drive her crazy with desire and lust once she sees your monster”
“She is crazy for you, and she will keep craving for you every night”
“Celebrate independence day in bed with your wife”
“Photos of your wife cheating you Video”
Quite innovative innit?
They are celebrating “Innovation Week” at my work place. Here they talk what innovation is all about and how to be innovative at your work place. Ironically, I started receving the most innovative spam during this time period!
I came across this advertisement in the newspaper today. Click here to check it out. It says 'I' can make a difference. Further down it says 'Believe in the Power of One'. This is when I remembered that long back i had actually written few lines on this punchline. Here they are:
Power of One lets be one lets drop all our guns fighting with friends will profit none & lest we stop killing mothers & sons this earth will burn like scorching sun burning the hearts of everyone but before that happens to anyone lets be one with my efforts i have almost done but for the rest i need your help will i get some? if some day i do get some that day i will show you the 'power of one'
61 years of Independence?? Really?? - Give it a thought!
Two weeks before my home leave I started doing some shopping. One weekend I was roaming around the Flea Market to find something unusual for my friends or relatives. The market looks something like the image on the left except for the fact that the stalls in this market do not have their name boards while the one which I visited had them. Not that there are not many gifts shops around but I guess this kind of market offers you a very good alternative to find some unusual things under one roof.
While I was roaming around and checking out different stalls, I came across one which had several chains on display. As I approached the stall I noticed that the lady at the stall didn’t seem to be interested in selling them. I had noticed how on approaching other stalls the stall owners had started greeting me. They ask you all sort of questions like, “What are you looking for?”, “How may I help you?” Or at least they don’t forget to mention about the best deals they have for ex: “Buy 3 for five euros only!” Not the way a pitchman does but in a polite manner. And this lady at the stall did not even greet. She was an English lady. I could say this because of her looks. After spending one and a half year on this island I guess anyone can distinguish between a Cypriot, an English and Russian lady just by a glimpse of her. Ahem! I will talk in detail but sometimes later on that topic. Back to our stall, the chains which were on display looked somewhat like the ones in the picture below.
I took one of them in my hand and started thinking. You know the typical act people do when they are doing some shopping. They will hold the thing they want to buy view it from different angles and while they are doing that there are various questions going on in the head like “Will she like it?”, “Worth it?”, “hmm okay” and other crap like that. I was doing the same – the self talk. “What kind of chain is this? Not sure if they are to be worn around neck or is just a bracelet. Anyways who cares, girls might be knowing it. I just have to gift it; rest will be taken care by them. But then is this a right place to buy jewellery? I guess not, the mall has better quality. No harm in asking the price. Arghg … racist lady .. why is she staring at me?? God forgive her, she knows not what she is doing. ” Then I asked her the price. The prices were not appealing as her. Also, the way she mentioned the price clearly showed away her enthusiasm to sell them! I simply moved ahead.
The stalls at this market were big. The name boards of these stalls were almost above 9 feet. This way if you are standing under a stall you won’t be able to read the name of the stall at which you are standing. You will have to move two or three steps backwards to do that. After few minutes of checking out other stuff and buying few things it was time to go home. As I turned, I saw the stall with chains and the lady. This time I could read its name. It read “Bra Straps”. At that point I was like “Ohhhh myyy goddd!!! ” I was very embarrassed for a minute but then started laughing hysterically after recollecting the entire incidence. Now, how the hell am I supposed to know what those chains, actually, were? Gifting them to my friends, sister or worst case mother would have been even more embarrassing. This would be difficult to understand for people who are not from India. Actually, I have never seen anyone using bra straps in my family. Not even anyone in my locality. We just see them on television. It is an accessory which girls from my place might have taken notice of but not me! Only after reading the name of the stall did the actual purpose of the chains dawned on me. Thank God I did not buy one of them otherwise it would have really been an ‘Unusual Gift!’
Amitabh Bachhan. The name itself is enough. I believe it is his personality and character that make him superior and not his acting skills. I started admiring him after learning about his ups and downs of life. The way he came back after failure of the ABCL corp was simply commendable. He had been a superstar for almost 20 years but what happened after that? People just did not accept his films. Imagine what kind of turmoil he must have been through and also his audience. Jokes apart, we all know his success story and that is what makes everyone appreciate this guy. Well, who does not? Ah , wait a second I don't, actually NOW I don't to be precise. I was talking to my friend the other day and here is the piece of conversation that we had. "Amitabh is an over hyped personality." was my comment. "Come on, do you really mean there are many people who can act like him?", my friend defended. "I am not talking about acting skills but about the current status which he holds, the kind of impact he can make on people is tremendous and he never made the right use of it. At this stage of life he could do something good for the nation. If ever there are millions of people who would admire me, I would never be doing a world tour. I would rather concentrate on issues that would help me make a difference in the society. Of course, he his building colleges, donating money to charitable organizations and many other things but who doesn't do that? Its high time and he should start learning something from Aamir Khan. I guess you got my point." Awestruck, my friend ended the conversation at that point.
Things were different few years back. Back in my school days I always wanted to participate in KBC. I was under eighteen when the first season was being telecasted. By the time of second season I was eighteen. The promos of the second season were in full swing. I dialed the numbers everyday trying to answer the question of the day and hoping to get a call from the studio. In the second season the show was known as 'KBC-Dwitiya' and the punch line said 'Umeed se Dugna'. Almost all the participants who made it to the show were really excited about this unforgettable rendezvous with Mr. Big B. For the entertainment of the audience, the participants use to request him to say a dialogue or sing a song and sometimes the participants even read out poems written by them. I also wrote one. I never made it to the show to read this out to Mr. Bachhan himself so it goes here in my blog.
Umeed se Dugna
socha tha kabhi hum milenge aapse magar hum mil naa sake waise galti aapki bhi nahi thi , yeh toh kambakth computer thaa jis wajah se aap humein bulaa naa sake
magar ek din pappu paas ho gaya aur computerji kaa phone aa gaya
kaha , KBC mein aao aur Umeed se Dugna paao
magar humne bhi kah diya ke , "naa chahein hum Umeed se Dugna naa chahein hum Umeed se Tiguna hum toh chahein bus Amitji se Milna"
akhir aaj sach ho gaya sapna aur yeh ab toh humien bhi padega kehna , ke vakai yahin milta hai Umeed se Dugna!
Captured this one at Parsik Hill. This is one place where we love spending our time. Colors, expressions and last but not the least timing are the main assets of this photograph. What do you say? ;)
