पेरू चा पापा

I walked in at work today in a huff without carrying my keys, wallet or watch! A friend of mine asked me to memorize "पेरू चा पापा" & say it once everyday before leaving for work. He promised that I'll then never ever have to face the same situation. I think it will work!
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Here is why --
पेरू चा पापा = पेन रुमाल चाबी पाकिट पास
Of course its origins are in Bombay but I'm sure i could use it. :-)
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Here is about the origins of the phrase, courtesy Kaustubh.

This has its origins in the milieu of the mill workers of Mumbai. In the mills every worker was required to sign in the muster with his own pen:to distinguish handwriting and unique attendance... this was before the slot card, hanky,wallet, need no clarification, while the key here was the key to their lockers..where their working clothes and tools would be stored..which later evolved to house keys in subsequent use. Pass again for a train commuting Bombayite is the commuting pass of life The wives would get their hubbies to remember this as the std after lunch snack would be the cut guavas ladled with salt and chilli powder...peruchey paapey gheta na..hey hi lakshaat asu dya... and the phrase caught on

Opening Soon! -- Pune's Rain Museum

With the monsoon fast becoming an extinct season, at least from Pune, I see a potential in opening a "Rain Museum" at Lonavala. Lonavala is a small town perched on hills about 50kms from Pune towards Mumbai. It is the location I choose cause when the monsoon becomes extinct in Pune, i hope this place will continue to experience at least a drizzle. I know my idea is waaaay ahead of its time but if I start today, I will have an enviable collection on display in 10yrs time when the Museum opens its doors.
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A few things I've in mind as exhibits:
1. A Section to display just Rain Gear -- Umbrellas, Gum Boots, Rain Coats (Duckback & Transparent Polythene kinds)
2. A clothes Section to display variety of clothes splashed with muddy water -- Dhoti's, Sari's, Shirts, Lungi's, School Uniform, T-Shirts, Jeans, Skirts etc. All with a lot of daag-dhabbe. Framed ala the Emporer's clothes we see enclosed in glass at any museum.
3. Animal Section displaying -- Species of Frogs, Earthworms, Snails

4. A Motion Picture section -- This will show case all those ads, movies, documentaries, news clippings about or show casing Rains, Floods, Thunder Storms, Tsunami, Water Falls, Rivers. The news clips would give interesting insights into city life since the archives will be filled with how rains would maroon the urban life bringing it to a stand still in those golden years of monsoon!
5. Working exhibits displaying -- Roads full of pot holes, A Rain Shower simulating various degrees of down pour (You can rent rain coats, umbrellas etc and get wet in real!!), Working models of Water Parks, Working models of Dams & Bridges with Water flowing.

6. A Pictures section -- It would have pictures on display that would bring out the essence of monsoons. The experience will be enhanced to ensure people travel back to the days of monsoon with this section being softly fragrant with the smells of wet earth (Pretty hi-tech!). The pictures on display would show kids playing in puddles, people walking to work-kids to school with umbrella's, Vehicles sailing through knee deep water on roads, people flocking under the water falls around Pune, the green carpet around Pune, kids making paper boats, traffic jams on express highway due to accidents, pictures of walls collapsing. The list is endless!

7. A Food plaza -- The main draw that will allow people to sample the food/snacks that used to be a hot favourite amongst people during monsoons. Wada Pav, Bhajiya, Bhutta, Steaming Sadha Waran-Bhat-Kadhi with Ghee & piping hot Chai.
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I'll try to make sure that the entry fees are within the reach of the common man but without generous donations, the "Rain Museum" will only remain an idea. So donate generously! :-)

Michael Jackson - No more comebacks...

No more come backs for MJ! I still remember making endless trips to the local music store to lay my hands on to the "Pepsi Smash Hits" audio cassette cause it had songs from MJ's new album Dangerous.
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The Scream goes quiet for ever!

RIP MJ! (28 Aug'58-25 June'09)

Whats in a name? -- Power, Glamour, Money & a place in the International Ranking.

"Whats in a name?" Asked Shakespeare. I know of two recent examples, pretty well known, where the name seems to be making a lot of difference!
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Here we have Obama trying to save the world from evil and his own country from economic ice age. Well he hasn't been too successful with either but is still looked upon as a saviour of the new world order by many. Gets a lot of TV time, print space and what not (tax payers money).
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And then we have Osama trying to make sure Obama succeeds at neither of the above. And surpisingly, he has been a hell lot more successful than his peer. He gets a lot of TV time, print space and what not (guns, oil-money etc) too but is looked upon as the perpetrator of evil in the post cold war era.
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A single misplaced alphabet and world is facing so much angst!! Given a choice, I would prefer two inexperienced Obama's over an inexperienced Obama and an Osama, who's greyed his hair spreading terror!
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The other pair is closer home. We have the media darling with no real tournament wins to her credit - Sania Mirza. The 24yr old hogs all the limelight, gets tons of endorsements, has half the Bollywood trying to woo her but makes an early exit from most tournaments. And when she isn't losing, she is unfit to participate so is pulling out. A patchy performer having failed to make much headway on the international scene. Currently ranked #85, down from her career best rank #27. A lass to be proud of but the honeymoon seems to be over.
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And then we have another Hyderabadi lass - Saina Nehwal. Someone who has grown leaps and bounds in terms of world ranking and the tournament wins from 2003, the same year Sania made her debut. She has an impressive list of wins and is currently ranked #7, rising from #86 in 2003. Rarely the one to get front page space or TV time worthy of her, she probably has to make do with what ever little prize money. No congratulatory calls from political bigwigs, no endorsements and no bollywood going crazy behind her. I guess that leaves the 19yr old a lot of time to focus on her game. I hopes some one wakes up to make sure she isn't left struggling to fend for herself.
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I'm sure Sania, if not Saina, would like to go meet "Jumaannii" to fix her name. Who knows, it may fix her (professional) career!

Elections -- Of loud anchors & Amar's changing political brotherhood.

Like most of you, I did spend a fair amount of time on 15th May watching election analysis/results on TV. I spent my time switching between CNN-IBN & News-X. Not long ago, i wasn't switching so much since i would simply stick to CNN-IBN. But the CNN anchors seem to have caught the strange "Barkha Virus". Every Anchor who has become a popular face has turned up his volume and at least doubled the decibel levels. A case in point being Rajdeep Sardesai. Another one is Sagrika Ghosh.
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Whats with being so loud? Loud voice & loud body language. Raising your hand in front of a participants face to cut him short is plain rude. I simply couldn't stand the pitch in their voices for more than 15mins! Does being loud and aggressive indicate your own authority on the subject? It was a ridiculous sight when Rajdeep Sardesai would talk in a shrill voice cutting the voice of the participants who were labelled "experts"! It looked like he himself needed an audience on the show to exhibit his own theories. Same goes for Sagarika Ghosh. Whats it with shouting? For gods sake (& the viewers) stick to being the facilitators of a discussion and let the true experts on the subject talk. Else if you are so fond of talking like a guru, let someone else host the show and sit on the other side of the table.
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Damn the Barkha Virus! There just seems to be no cure! So now i stick to News-X. Maybe they are good cause they are new and its been the very first election for them. But for now, its only News-X that my ears can tolerate!
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And whats with Amar Singh and his changing political brotherhood? He refers to a new neta as "Bhai" faster than i can call my own brother! Mulayam is "Mere Bade Bhai", so is Manmohan. Amitabh is "Bade Bhaiyya" & Sanjay Dutt "Chota Bhai". Azam Khan is bhai as well and just today, Rajnath Singh has joined his brotherhood. Mayawati would bring in the much needed freshness to the relations if Amar makes her his "Behen" and she starts acting (and looking!) like a lady.

A good "waste product".

School is a terrifying place when you are taking classes. The homework, unit tests & prayer time definitely top the list of everyday irritants. Often you would have other nightmares like having to read the news or "thought of the day" on the dais or the Wednesday PT in the school ground under scorching sun (and fake that blackout).
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One day when you would hate the teachers most is when they would hand out the unit test results every month. I never understood why evaluate us every month, 12 times a year, when year after year, the same teachers would see no improvement in their subjects and subjects refers to us! If there was new teacher, it would be worse cause the counter would be reset. It takes years of hard work to create a solid bad impression on the teacher for him to ignore you completely and spare the beating! For most in the class just like me, there wouldn't be a reason to rejoice on a day if results of more than 1 subjects were handed out. The day would be spent nursing - knuckles, ears, cheeks, back and what have you. In extreme cases even thighs! Can you imagine the trauma of a ruler striking your legs! Well I've been through it all (like most of you suckers!).
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One such teacher from my school days was Lakshmaiah Sir, my Chemistry Teacher. A tall, dark, curly haired man with fiery red eyes (We never looked into them so I'm guessing!). Strict is an understatement in his case cause he would not hesitate one bit to plant a slap across your face at silliest of reasons like not completing the homework (they ARE silly reasons for students). It seemed to us that he would enjoy the game of asking questions and randomly picking on one of us who would never raise their hands to answer. He was no less than a terrorist for us on judgement day, day of the test results. He wasn't like the nice teachers who would fling the notebook to you. He would call you over to his desk near the blackboard and pinch your ears or slam the notebook on your head. If you tried to grab the test notebook and run back to your desk, he was capable of grabbing your shoulders and planting a firm fist on your back. He wouldn't call you an idiot or donkey or a shameless bugger. He was a chemistry teacher to the last chemical particle in his body so he would brand you a "Waste Product". Like he would shout at you and say -- "What re waste product? Why only 7 out of 35 in this test? Did not get a chance to copy or what?"
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But for all his heart-of-steel image, he was the one of those who would care if you were sick and ask you how you were feeling even after the class, in case you bumped into him. He would slap your face during the class but then softly (as soft as he could get) talk to you during the practical and ask you to do better in the next test. We also saw him smiling a lot of times and he would let us eat "bondas" in the school premises from the old lady frying them in what looked like crude oil! He was the only teacher where I improved my grades all the way thru till the 12th board exams. In fact my best score was always in Chemistry though I loved the languages a lot more. He was simply a nice man trying to do his job honestly. He was just one of the old school teachers who were nice but would continue acting tough outside the class lest we take them less seriously during the Chemistry period.
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Now why did I get so grateful after decades? Cause for some reason I do not know, I've been using the words "waste product" a lot in the last few days. My school days, in spite of all the horrors & terrorist teachers, somehow shaped me into a pretty good "waste product". In the hindsight, Lakshmaiah Sir is definitely one of my favourite teachers ever!
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A picture blog?

After spending a cool sum on my new camera and looking at all the pictures I've clicked over the years, a picture blog seems a good to have. I'm looking for a name and maybe you've something in mind. So leave me a comment and win a cool thank you from me! :-)

The top job during recession...

If you recently had to take a paycut or have been unfortunate to lose your job, I know how hard you must be looking to find another job, similar in nature & pay. But after watching the T.V. News channels being aired in US for well over two months, I think an easier, more glamourous and much more lucarative job is right in front of you. I mean really right in front of you! Its recession proof & pays exponentially well during a bull run.
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Become an Analyst! Yes, just do something and get yourself on a chat show about anything to do with recession or economy. During good times & bad, the amount of analysis that gets done & shared on T.V. beats the total amount of research documented in the living history. And with the option of tuning into well over 100 channels playing News 24x7, there are lot of Analyst jobs out there! Wear an expensive suit (rent it!) and mumble things that you have already heard on some other TV channel but didn't understand. Chances are that no one else would understand them either. Even if there are some who understand, the probability of them choosing this particular news channel over 100 others is what?
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A couple of shows and you can become a regular. And once you are regular, you can virtually talk about any topic that starts with syllables "Eco" or "Mar"! There you go! A permanent, recession proof job. And guess what? You are on T.V.!! Look at this picture. Does it look so hard???? :-)

Tata Nano -- Just what we needed to increase road safety!

Out there, there are a zillion reasons being thought of to condemn the Tata Nano for all the troubles it is going to cause on the roads even before it hits the roads. I paid a visit to Westside a couple of weeks ago to dekko the car. I must admit that its actually a "Car" and not a 4 wheeled rickshaw. Now that the first looks set my mood settings to "feels nice", I started wondering if there were any advantages of having a million of these out there on the roads.
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A little far fetched but if the traffic conditions do turn out to be as per the predictions of the naysayers, there will be a significant increase in road safety. Road accidents are the biggest cause of fatalities in India and this number will dramatically get reduced. The government has to do nothing but promote the Nano. Give Tata all possible tax breaks to make the Nano a Rs.50,000 car. From the "Common Man's Car", lets make it "Garib Rath" cause with zillions of these teeming on our roads, no body is going to commute above 30kmph in the cities. Now you can't possibly be dead even in a head on collision at 30kmph unless you stick your head between the cars!
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And let me be very clear, I didn't start the extrapolation. The naysayers started it first!

GreenIT -- The new cost cutting mantra!

I attended a full day training session last Friday. I'm used to walking into trainings with no worldly possessions since notepads, pens, papers etc is all provided for. Even drinking water in old bisleri bottles! To my surprise, this time there was nothing. Not even the pseudo-bisleri! When I met up with the training co-ordinator on Monday & complained about our miseries, she said it was all for the environment as per the "GreenIT" initiative. It forbids the companies from providing any pen/paper during training to help save the environment. That gave me an additional reason along with the training contents to scratch my head!
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I was also in for another surprise once I came back from an official trip after 2 months. I happily said no to my lunch box so as to eat Paneer Parantha at the office cafeteria. And I was in for shock cause the vendor tells me that they have stopped making Parantha's altogether in the cafe. When i met up with the cafe manager, he said he was asked not to have Parantha on the menu since the Tawa consumes more electricity to cook the Parantha. And the Parantha was way too popular! So Dosa was introduced instead! And the directive came from the Admin Head probably as a part of the, you guessed it, "GreenIT" initiative.
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I guess the final frontier in the quest to save the environment would be to ban eating and stop the 5billion population from increasing CO2 emissions!

For Work-Life Balance, Happiness & More - Stay 1 Step Ahead of Your Job..

Yes, I said 1 step ahead "of" the job. I actually meant to say that it makes perfect sense to be 1 step ahead of what you have to do today. Imagine that you are qualified to do the job of a PM. You have the potential, but you actually choose to remain a Team Lead for a little longer. You are ahead of your job so hopefully there are chances that 80% of the time, you finish your work in 8hrs and head home. Also, you do the job bloody well to earn lot of appreciation and more. You get more time to do the so called "value add" activities for the company and earn even more accolades. You then spend some time learning the PM's job and move into the PM role when you already have done a lot of standard activities involved. So there again, you are better than what you are to do.

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Given that most of us have 35yrs or more of a career to survive, why not spend enough time at every step learning & doing things. Nothing beats experience. Not even great talent. Sometimes you just have to be there long enough to know things. So why rush from a Programmer to Module Lead to Project Lead to Project Manager in 8years and then stagnate for the next 10? All the while losing sleep and the prime years in life??

Bollywood : Can we pluheeez keep it away from too much realism?

Watched Madhur Bhandarkar's latest offering, Fashion, last week. It isn't really hard hitting as Page 3 was but i must admit that it was pretty engaging. There weren't too many moments when i grumbled the words "Move on!". The cast is all there doing typical things. So as a movie, ignoring Madhur's history/claim of making movies close to reality, I would rate it 3/5. I do not need to deep dive in a review to shred every piece of expression of the cast to like it.

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Which is why Masand's review pissed me off. I don't know why I watch his show! Masand says the movie is far from reality cause Madhur did not include a single shot of designers at work. All that sketching, snipping, cutting, embroidery etc that goes into making a fashion week. My point is - It isn't a "Idiots guide to fashion designing"!! For gods sake, let it be entertainment and not education!! But i do agree to his point that the movie was better titled "Super Model" over "Fashion"! The only sane point he made in the entire review.

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Which brings me to this whole Bollywood-realism debate and movies closer to actual lives we lead. These champions of realism like Masand are only limited to cities. Go to smaller cities like Jodhpur, Ahmedabad, the two I've been to, and you will see that people love our very own song-dance-high drama fare. It some serious escape from the mundane lives. Its very true that Bollywood sells dreams. It needs to continue so. We sure have place for the so called "mature cinema" but why ape the Hollywood market? I for sure would love to watch the typical Shahrukh-Yashraj DDLJ kind of movies once in a while! I'm not saying no to introduction of new subjects in tune with times, Rock On!, being a perfect example. But then, pluheeez! I still want to see song sequences with long flowing Saree's draped precariously over pretty lasses while Shahrukh stretches out his arms from some absolutely stunning Swiss locales!
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Nice! Really Nice! :-)

Breaking News : Obama trounces Pt.Bhimsen Joshi

India's highest civilian award bestowed on a maestro, who has spent his entire life nurturing the soon to be lost treasure of Hindustani Classical music, on the same day as arguably the worlds most influential (if not powerful) nation went on to elect a new President.
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And had you turned on any channel, i bet my savings (cause i don't have any now) that you will see a complete run down on Barack Obama, his parents, his birth, his upbringing, his family, his non-existent political resume, his perfect electoral campaign and his historic win as the first ever Black president of the USA. Our own hero, a full 36yrs elder to Obama, with an impressive resume, found cursory mention on one Marathi Channel during news for a full 5mins. No "Vishesh", no breaking news, no special reports, no programs charting the course of the Maestro's journey so far!!
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The print media was much more caring going out of their way and printing the news on front page with the Maestro's picture in some corner. The web again, for example, ibnlive.com, were perfect twins to the TV. No news, no pictures, nothing. I actually searched on "Bhimsen" on ibnlive.com to look for the news and all i found was 5 lines!
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So much for national pride! When India was all gung ho about Obama and the channels were analysing what he could do or not do for India, the Bharat Ratna was reduced to a mere piece of insignificant news. It was just such a non-event! If world today is a global village, the celebrations at the main square seem to be attracting all the attention. Wonder if Pt.Bhimsen Joshi would want it if he were younger/healthier and more aware of the current goings.

Formula 1 - Its not over till its over!

This is the new Formula 1 World Champion! And the youngest ever! And he made it here only by the skin of his teeth.

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It was as if someone had hit the rewind button of life to take things back exactly an year ago. The same track in Brazil, the same difference in drivers standings, a similar story of thrilling wins traded by two greats of F1 in the season so far. One, a veteran driving the red prancing horse, the best & most dominant team in F1, all but slipping behind a rookie. Driving for a rival team that was once just as cult, trying to regain the most coveted title for past 10yrs or so without much luck . A season that went down to the last wire. Finally experience prevailed over sheer talent and Kimi became the F1 champ.

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This year, things were almost the same with minor differences. It wasn't Kimi from Ferrari but Massa. No less dominant this season with 5 wins (same as Hamilton) so far. Driving on his home track and hoping to wipe out a 7 point deficit with some brilliantly perfect driving and some luck.Hamilton, no more a rookie. Same talent but with the experience of last season under his belt. But was that enough? 7 points ahead, enough to be crowned the king if he could finish 5th or better.

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Massa never made a single wrong move all through the race. A perfect race from a brilliant driver. Lewis, unlike last year, played it safe with none of that foolish aggression. When it seemed it was all sealed in his favour, it was all lost!! With no hopes but real no need either, of catching up with Massa, Alonso, Kimi at the front, Lewis had almost sealed it with his 5th place drive with only the little known Timo Glock in front. Thats when he slipped again running wide! A chance that Vettel didn't miss and slid into 5th place, as Massa crossed the finish line, leaving the championship dreams in dust! It was all OVER! Till Timo slid (poor choice of tyres on a wet track) and Lewis slid into 5th behind Vettel in the last corner even as Massa & Ferrari had already begun the celebrations. Guess when you get a push from the Lady Luck herself, you win no matter who finishes first. So it was all over - but for Massa!!!

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A perfect race from Massa, just a tad late. A not so perfect race from Lewis after another brilliant season, but I guess his time had come. He had as much talent as last season, more experience than the last season, but definitely more luck! Hail the new king!! Watch out for 2009 since now we have 4 serious contenders in Massa, Kimi, Lewis & Alonso, who managed 2 wins this season inspite of a not so great car. Guess we won't be missing Schumacher much...

Up against Maharashtra & Maharashtrian's?

Its always comes a full circle. Time to say thank you to Raj Thackrey for making lives of scores of Maharashtrian's, making a living outside Maharashtra, so unsafe. The rampage of the goons of MNS is sponteneous outburst of the long neglected Marathi youth and its actually only irritating. They break public property and beat up the innocent. I dread to imagine the retaliation Maharashtrian's in Bihar, MP & UP will have to face if the local goons in Patna or Ranchi start their version of these sponteneous outbursts! (Thank heavens there aren't many jobs in these states due to years of neglect!) Most of our so called Marathi leaders will sit in their comfy homes in Mumbai and dare the Bihari's remotely. Not one will dare step into Bihar to defy them and protect the Marathi's. It was just yesterday that i was chatting with a few friends when we were dreading such a backlash and its actually happened!
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Jamshedpur: Security was tightened at Telco township after the residence of the plant head of Tata Motors S B Borwankar was ransacked allegedly by activists of Bharatiya Bhojpuri Sangh (BBS).
They said the activists ransacked the residence of Borwankar, who is a resident of Maharashtra, to protest against the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena's (MNS) assault on North Indian job seekers in the railways in Mumbai.
Deputy Superintendent of Police Madhusudan Bari said, "more than 100 activists armed with lathis gathered in front of Borwankar's bungalow and climbed up the main gate after security personnel refused to hand them over the keys of the gate."
courtesy - ibnlive.com
edit : 5.00pm : Here is more new from the same site.
New Delhi: In what seems like a backlash against MNS-led violence against north Indians in Mumbai, two bogies of a train – reportedly with Maharashtrian passengers on board – two bogies of Vikramshila Express were set on fire in Barh area of Bihar.
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Think its time to ask Raj to stop protecting the interests of Maharashtrian's. It is he who will seem to be up against Maharashtra & Maharashtrian's very soon! If he insists, he needs to be compelled to let go of his violent ways and do something really sensible for Marathi's. (Off topic -- For a start, please do something to save scores of Shivaji Maharaj's forts decaying due to neglect! Feels sad when I trek all the way up to find nothing but a few broken walls.)
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Sometimes I wonder if we are going the USSR way. There is nothing national anymore. Who ever shouts the loudest about his state makes it a national issue even if it doesn't connect to the rest of the Indian population. Maybe there won't be India eventually 20yrs from now. Just 29 smaller countries. Watch this space for an update on 21 Oct'2028! Hope you will have access in your new home country! :)

Promotion on Probation?

Just another thought after meeting someone at work who does not deserve to be at the level he currently is. Good for him cause he was actually great at doing what he did before. A basis for his move up. Bad for people like me who work with him and for the company itself cause he isn't fit for the current role at all.
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Wonder why there isn't a probation period post promotions to validate if the potential of the candidate,the basis for his promotion, can really translate to actions? If it does, you have a winner on your hand. If it doesn't, save others and in many cases, the candidate himself, a lot of trouble by making him spend more time in the previous role. Just a thought....

And what do you have to say for this?

A freak moment in life when i decided for this look after sporting the regular harvest on my head all my life. This was taken last week and the specs are strictly for visual effects. I've perfect eyesight and that got proved again when i made it back home safely from Khandala thru all that fog and mist. And of course the credit should be shared with the barber (whose name i do not know) and the photographer - Dharam. ;-)

Subprime Crude

I just read this --
http://revolutionradio.org/2008/06/23/happy-birthday-subprime-crisis-oil-price-up-96/ .
It is nicely written and makes sense. The final para says -
"When you take a step back, it’s hard not to see what’s going on. The worse the credit crisis gets, the higher the oil price goes. The more the Fed creates new liquidity to try and contain the damage in the credit markets, the higher the oil price goes.
Can you blame investors for wanting to own commodities? Joe Lieberman wants to ban people from doing the sensible thing. Investors see that central banks have lost control of inflation, or are even making it worse. It is not speculation to find a better store of value for your money. It’s common sense. No wonder certain governments want to ban it."
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This is reason. The suspicion is what I've in mind. Could the investment banks that turned turtle cause of the subprime losses try and spike oil to cover for their bad investments? That they didn't succeed is an altogether different story.

Ganapati, Politics & Terror.

No..i'm not penning anything brilliant to tie these up. Just that these were the 3 things i had in my mind.
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I see all of Pune suddenly getting damn too religious during these months. The number of pandals are growing exponentially every year. Music is more and more loud. More and more filmy with no place for bhajans or arati's. The pandals are bigger and grander (consuming more space on the roads and more free electricity). Wonder if people even remember the reason why Lokmanya Tilak started these celebrations. To get people together. With every nook and corner, every society, street and mall having their own Ganesh Mandals, its just lost the purpose! Sad. We need more reasons for people to come together and bind and all we do is lose the context and get better of each other!
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"Patil under pressure, not invited to party meet" -- Screams a headline on ibnlive.com. The text in the report further says - "The meeting was reportedly convened by Sonia to assess the mood in the country after the blasts as it prepares for the next Lok Sabha elections."
What sad state of affairs. Sonia calls for a meeting only with the backdrop of elections in mind? Shouldn't she have called it right when it happened in Jaipur or bangalore or even Ahmedabad? No. It was still time for elections. There is never a dull moment when Congress is in power. History speaks!
And ---
"Intelligence Bureau gives vague information. They are not specific. Don't blame the ministers alone. Bureaucracy and the police are also responsible. We cannot fight terrorism just by introducing POTA. These things have been happening before also," Lalu said.
Who is to pull up those in the IB, Bureaucracy & Police Mr.Lalu? And just cause these things have been happening before also, we let them happen again and again and again? So when does the Political leadership (hate to use this word cause its just so sarci!) do something? Only when one of your flock gets killed? Time isn't far away when that will happen. Sooner or later, killing the innocent won't get them the response they seek. So? Who do they kill next?

And Jaya (Bacchan) turns 60!

If the proverb "Sathiya Jana" has truly anything to do with people losing it at 60 then Jaya Bacchan has turned 60 last week & lost her mind. Just when the Raj & MNS anti-North Indian tirade was sounding tired, Jaya had to poke the bee-hive once more with her remarks. What was she thinking when she laughed & said “We are from Uttar Pradesh and we will speak in Hindi—Maharashtrians will forgive us”. That this was a verrry smart jab at the anti-UP brigade that will do nothing but voice their civilized anger on TV chat shows like Face The Nation?
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What did she think she was going to gain? Junta's sympathy for having been at the receiving end? Some publicity before the release of Drona & The Last Lear when both Big B & Small B need a hit desperately? Or some non-existent political gain for the SP in Maharashtra? All that it resulted in was a huge loss of face & potential commercial loss to the Bacchans! I understand that this was a fallout of all the pressure that the Bacchan's have been facing but its their own doing. They aren't the guardians of the UP brigade just as Raj isn't of the Marathi Manoos.
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I was all pumped up when i saw the first speech by Raj in May that has caused all this. He spoke with a lot of fire and guts and seemed to point to some true facts. And then on, every time he spoke, it felt like just a replay of the same speech with some edits. Same facts, same expressions and same threats of using misplaced means to meet the goals. Another fringe (now not so) politician trying to get to the kursi. But someone with a very visible violent streak! Started wondering if he was ever really going to address any issues. In fact I started wondering if he was going to create new ones. I do not like my routine-boring life disturbed & paralyzed by vandalism & fear. I started feeling that he stood for all that we shouldn't be wanting, and then arm twisting, to achieve in a true democracy. And that he was all wrong! And then. Just then. Jaya Aunty decides to take a completely unnecessary stance to prove him right all over again!!
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Happy Birthday Jaya Aunty! But we all wish you had decided to turn 60 with a lot less pomp!