India

Why does it always happen? Why can'y these guys change? Why always slums and garbage dumps? Why not hi-tech buildings, pubs and discos?

Something is wrong with American media. India is in news these days - and America acknowledges it. It acknowledges the fact that there are more english speaking people in India than America. It acknowledges that we have more educated people - with a very modern outlook. They say things are changing in India.

But have you ever wondered why these guys always show slums, stray cows, crowded streets, traffic jams, people sleeping on road sides etc. when they show "India" on TV? Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't this the case - always? From CNN to Discovery to BBC to ABC.

A recent video on ABC really disturbed me. It was about the evergrowing "knowledge base" in India. And guess what, they had to show the slums and all.

I am attempting to tell the people of the world that India is not just about the things mentioned above. I don't want people to get the wrong message. India is progressing. In every field. Be it providing services to Americans or improving its own infrastructure.

I am starting (a kind of) a series in which I will post pictures of different cities in India. I want to tell the world that India is not just about beggars, cobras, the Indian rope trick and the things mentioned above. India is about cleanliness; educated & patriotic people; hospitality; and what not.

Delhi:

The national capital of India. This is where I was brought up - and I just love it! Here are some pictures from the most beautiful and amazing city in India.

Historical Places:

Red Fort - Different Views:

Jantar Mantar:

















Qutab Minar:






















India Gate - Different Views:

Important Offices:
Rashtrapati Bhavan - Different Views:

Parliament House:

Religious Places:

Baha'i Temple:

Gurudwara Bangla Sahib:

Jama Masjid:

Laxmi Narayan Temple:

Some important buildings in Delhi:

Shopping areas/ Malls in and around Delhi:

Cannaught Place:

Ansal Plaza:

Malls around Delhi:

Hotels in delhi:

Okay, I just published this post and noticed that the alignment of most of the pictures has gone a little haywire. Apologies for that!

If I Were A Carpenter.....

"If I were a carpenter

And you were a lady,

Would you marry me anyway?

Would you have my baby?

If a tinker were my trade

Would you still find me,

Carrin' the pots I made,

Followin' behind me.

Save my love through loneliness,

Save my love for sorrow,

I'm given you my onliness,

Come give your tomorrow.

If I worked my hands in wood,

Would you still love me?

Answer me babe, "Yes I would,

I'll put you above me."

If I were a miller

At a mill wheel grinding,

would you miss your color box,

and your soft shoe shining?

If I were a carpenter

and you were a lady,

Would you marry me anyway?

Would you have my baby?

Would you marry anyway?

Would you have my baby?"

YahooMail! Photos

Have you guys noticed that whenever you open Yahoo!Mail, you see some amazingly wild picures, selected as "Winner" pictures. I think I have collected most of them. I am posting those pictures here with a few descriptions. First - What I feel about the picture. Second - What the guys in the picture were thinking when the pictures were taken. Third - Probably a song that best describes the photo.


What I think: Sweet! Very Sweet!

What Daddy's thinking: I will do anything for you, my darling!

What Baby's thinking: If I am smiling, it doesn't mean that I like your stubble. I am gonna kick your ass for hurting my soft and tiny fingers after I stop smiling!

Song: "Baby, Now that I have you" - Allison Krauss



What I think: Ya, Sweet! But the baby's a little too fat. I see a prospective school bully in this baby.

What Baby thinks: I am gonna teach you a lesson for putting me in this tub. You knew that I can't swim, but still you did . I am gonna kill you....Oh no! I am drowning!!..aaaaahhh!!!

Song: "Help" - The Beatles



What I think: Sweet and Sad both. This girl is very cute, but she looks damn sad. It seems like she is not too happy with what she has.

What little girl thinks: Damn right, Venky. Have you ever seen such long hair at age 4? And look at this hat - It's bigger than my face. People stoop so low that they torture babies to win freakin' YahooMail photo contests.

Song: "Misery" - Soul Asylum



What I Think: Doggy is confused. I am sure it bit the guy who took this picture - after getting blinded by the camera flash.

What Doggy thinks: I am gonna freakin' bite you if you do something funny. I don't mind going to jail.I am sad already, don't f*c* with me.

Song: "Folsom Prison Blues" - Johnny Cash




What I think: Ya - Sweet. Very ordinary though.

What girls think(both): I'll kill you if you turn out to be more beautiful than me when we grow up!

Song: "Across the Universe" - Rufus Wainwright ( The little girl in orange reminds me of Dakota Fanning).



What I think: How many such pictures have we seen already?

What each of them is thinking: I hope i don't hit "rock bottom"!

Song: "Way Down" - Catherine Wheel





What I think: Somebody tried to be super cool and different, and somebody else just did what many men have never done.

What Girl thinks: Oh Man! Son of a bitch just pooped on my lap! Bad, Bad Idea!!Why is he suddenly so hot, though?

What Doggy thinks: Aaaaahhh! "Time of your life" is suddenly my favorite song.

Song: "Time of your life" - Green Day





What I think: Very Ordinary.

What is kid thinking: I am just gonna scare him. I don't really wanna break my racket.

Song: "Hurt" - Johnny Cash







What I think: Nothing.

What Girl's thinking: Nothing. She's got water up her nose.

Song: "Alive" - Pearl Jam









What I think: Wild. This is what every kid tries to do. Kill everything that moves.

What kid thinks: I am gonna stomp on each one of you and hang you on my room walls.

What Ducks think: Wish we could fly!

Song: "Learn to Fly" - Foo Fighters





What I think: Gross!

What Pregnant woman thinks: "I look just like him now. Cool!

What Buddha thinks: Kill me now!

Song: "Prosthetic Head" - Green Day




What I think: Oh My God! Cho Chweet! The Chweetest photo I have seen on the Internet.

What Mom/Dad think: Our baby is so adorable! Muah!!

What baby thinks: Stop wetting my cheeks with your goddamned saliva!

Song: "Baby, now that I have you" - Allison Krauss

Ring of Fire

"Love Is A Burning Thing

And It Makes A Firery Ring

Bound By Wild Desire

I Fell Into A Ring Of Fire

I Fell Into A Burning Ring Of Fire

I Went Down, Down, Down

And The Flames Went Higher

And It Burns, Burns, Burns

The Ring Of Fire

The Ring Of Fire

The Taste Of Love Is Sweet

When Hearts Like Ours Meet

I Fell For You Like A Child

Ohh, But The Fire Went Wild

And It Burns, Burns, Burns

The Ring Of Fire

The Ring Of Fire"

Saturday!

Saturday was good fun! We decided over a couple of beers (and chicken, thanks to ramakanth!) that we would go to Ming's on Saturday. We decided to leave at 11:45 in the morning to catch the :55 bus that would take us there.

Reached Ming's at around 12:25, only find that there were atleast 30-40 people waiting already (btw, Ming's has lunch buffet for $8). After getting a table, we attacked! Of course, we were impressed by the lo meins and chickens and shrimps and what nots, but what really took the "cake" was the fruits! Yes, fruits of different variety (they looked so exotic!). I must confess that I ate something other than apples and bananas for the very first time ( in America, that is). Water Melon, Papaya, Kiwi Fruit, Grapes - you name it , they had it!

This is my fifth plate *sheepish*. I could not finish the fruits.

The effect of excess food was very much visible. Hrushi was the first to bite the dust.

We survived! And woke up Hrushi for a "group photo" (thank you Ms. Waitress).

It was time to go back home. We were waiting for the bus somewhere near the restaurant, thinking that the bus would come at :30. It was damn windy, so we decided to do something really stupid to get a good laugh and to keep our asses warm.

Well, initially it was just another "photo session".

And then the "fun" part started.

That's it! We came back home and crashed out:).

Point to Ponder

Have you ever wondered how dependent we are on the Internet?

This thought just came to me while I was surfing the Internet. The answer obviously is: "Very Dependent". But why? Why is it that we always log on to the Internet whenever we need information? Why don't we go to the library and sift through all the books available? Why don't we look into the tons of magazines and journals anymore?

Are we happy to know that we get what we want within a few minutes?

Of course we are. The internet is as big as the milky way - maybe even bigger. And smart tools like Google do us a favor by giving us the most relevant information. But don't you think our life has become too mechanical with the genesis of the Internet? Picture this. You wake up one fine day, only to read in the newspaper that the Internet is dead. Kiss it goodbye. Isn't that scary? Do you think you would then make the effort to go to libraries and collect information. You would probably mourn the death of the Internet for many days, thinking about all the good things you used to get easily."He was a good man", as they say.

I realized that libraries are good fun when I sat down to write the summary of an article from the Harvard Business Review. Old habits die hard, so I started by logging on to the Milner Website. When I found the article, I started reading it - only to find that an article 20 pages long is a big pain in the eyes when read on the monitor. I then went to the fourth floor of Milner and got the HBR from one of the shelves. That is when I figured out that pre-historic concepts like "reading in the library" have not lost their charm. And they are good fun!

Internet is good. But don't depend too much on it. There are many people on this planet who don't. And probably they never will.

HP - Way To Go!

HP employees have a reason to smile. Not just because HP's profit increased by 30%, but because they feel that finally they have a boss who they can look up to. Mark Hurd, it seems, is seen mostly "inside" the HP headquarters in Palo Alto, unlike his predecessor who was a frequent traveller and a prominent speaker in major seminars and conferences around the world ( a little bird told me that she has a personal " make-up lady", who accompanies her wherever she goes!). Thanks to cost cutting and structural changes in the organization, HP seems to be back on track. Also, HP seems to be performing well even in the "non printer" segment. Its PC unit revenues rose by 8% as compared to last year and its Storage and Server unit produced revenues of $4.2 billion.

HP's performance was not really up to the mark after the controversial HP-Compaq merger (It seems that Dave Packard's son, who is also a Director in HP oppesed the merger). Compaq stakeholders were looking forward to the merger, but HP stakeholders were not. Anyway, that is history, and under Mark Hurd, I am sure HP is gonna go places.

Bollywood Trivia

Trivia for everybody....

Do you know the full names of "Amar" and "Prem" in Andaz Apna Apna??

Gimme answers!

Batao Batao...Taell Taell!!

Bloomington-Normal

I opened my blog today to post something really interesting about Bloomington-Normal, only to see a freakish comment in my previous post by none other than victimofdesire , my good friend. Victim - to hell with you. Do you really think I am that inept? Well, the answer to my own question is - No. I am very talented and capable (when it comes to lighting cigarettes, that is). I don't know about the other things in life.
Alright, let me get back to my senses and do what I really want to do.

Did you know that....

• Bloomington-Normal was home to the first Steak 'n Shake in the world. It was located at Main and Virginia streets, south of Illinois State University and north of Illinois Wesleyan University. But because it lay in a flood plane, the company opted to close the restaurant at that location in 1999. A new restaurant to replace it was built near Main Street and Raab Road.
• You could say Bloomington-Normal is a Hollywouldbe. In TV and movies in recent years ISU and IWU have educated, among others, John Malkovich, Gary Cole ("The Brady Bunch movie"), Laurie Metcalf ("Roseanne"), Judith Ivey ("The Five Mrs. Buchanans,") comedian-director Robert Townsend and actress Alison LaPlaca (what say victim, eh? ;)).
• The Eureka Company of Bloomington made the first electric vacuum cleaner in 1901. They later did hush-hush work for the Pentagon during World War II, including making bomb sites.
• Abe Lincoln purchased his hard-to-find size 14 shoes at a cobbler's on the downtown Bloomington square.
• Stand on the top floor of ISU's Watterson Towers - it's that huge concrete thing on the south side of the campus - and you are at the highest point in Illinois between Chicago and St. Louis (wow!).
• If you would opt to walk all the sidewalks on the ISU campus, you would put in 19 1/2 miles (hmmm...interesting).
• The president of Major League Baseball's American League is Gene Budig, an ex-ISU president.
• ISU has a higher percentage of minority students that any other institution in Illinois. Wesleyan on the other hand, was the first college west of the Appalachians to admit black students.
• If you trace the origins of the VISA card, it would lead you back to Bloomington. McLean County Bank, now Magna Bank, originated the charge card whose letters stand for Vacation Insurance Savings Account. The concept was sold to BankAmericard ( I got VISA power...now you go get it!).
• The Twin Cities ranks third as a teachers' training center (I think it's kinda ironic...dumb students like me in a city known for teachers' training).
• Next time you listen to the old Creedence Clearwater Revival hit, "Lookin' Out My Back Door" and hear the opening line "...just got back from Illinois," John Fogerty was referring to Heyworth, just south of Bloomington.
• Hugh Hefner spent his childhood summers in Lexington, just north of Bloomington (aaaaeeeeccch!!!...ain't he your inspiration guys??!!).
• The farmland around Bloomington-Normal ranks among the top three areas in all the world for corn and soybean production. Ironically, the Twin Cities have seven streets named after fruits (Cherry, Apple, Bayberry, etc.) but none after vegetables .
• Bloomington's Kathryn Beich candies, a division of Nestles, owns the Guinness Book record for manufacturing the world's largest candy bar. The dream dimensions for chocoholics - 25 feet long, 6 1/2 feet wide, 7 5/8 inches thick and 7,200 glorious pounds.
• Rudyard Kipling's wife was born here.
• John Malkovich once feigned drowning at Lake Bloomington so convincingly, a rescue team was sent out to get him.
• The rock group, "Skid Row" once ordered 100 pizzas here.
• WWF wrestler Randy "Macho King" Savage once checked himself into Bromenn Regional Medical Center.

Source: Pantagraph

Walking....

Picture this - You are walking down the street. Doesn't really matter if it's day or night. What really matters is that you are walking. Ummm, okay so you are wearing a Shirt, sweater and a heavy-duty jacket. Probably a pair of denims down below too. Are you wearing inners? Holy piece of jack sh*t..I don't know. Thick, fat, ugly snow shoes that claim protection from just about any kind of cold. A woolen hat covering your head, you are still walking down. Suddenly you remember that you haven't had food since last morning. Oh no! you haven't even done your laundry since the last 2 weeks for Christ's sake. Well, you haven't even ironed a shirt in the last six months either!You shiver at the thought of going back home and cooking. Because it's 10:15PM and you just got out of your class. Strong winds slap your face constantly. But the slap in the face feels more like a kick in the teeth. You are numb. The cold winds are biting you from head to di....er, toe. To top it all, you are walking in 12-15 inches of snow. The temperature? Maybe -15 degrees celcius. The cold is ripping you apart. But you are determined. You are determined to accomplish what you want...right now. You are colder than a chilled bottle of beer. And then you do it. You slowly (of course, you've been crippled by the cold winds by now) pull out a cigarette from your pocket, light it up( you did it on the 19th attempt. Hurray!!)...and smoke it up!

That's determination...for all the wrong things in life....aaaeeechh!!!!

If the story above seems like deja-vu to you then you are an Indian student in Uncle Sam's abode realising every day how beautiful life was..back home. Right?

Movies

Movies that I watched in the last 10 days or so:

1. Dick
2. Pink Panther
3. High Fidelity
4. The Castle
5. About a Boy
6. Clerks
7. Being John Malkovich
8. Pirates of the Carribean
9. I am Sam
10. Polar Express
11. Caddyshack
12. The In-laws

Man, nothing else to do in life...

People

I think a lot these days.

I have been noticing people. And they make me wonder. Why do they stoop so low to get what they want? Living alone has given me the calibre to come up with an answer to that question. Not that I have found an answer. I am only trying to - and I am pretty sure that I will not get an answer.

They are everywhere. The roaches. The assholes. Scared. Insecure. They will stab you, trip you, hurt you, even kill you. They want what they desire. By hook or by crook. They will mislead you, give you wrong information, pretend that they are smart.They will portray themselves as God - someone who will solve all your problems . But when you know them, that is, when you interact with them you realize that they are all hollow. These kind of people give perfect answers to other people's questions, but when they face the same question you see them running away by coming up with some kind of excuses to dodge the very question.

They are very unethical at times. And as I said before, they will do just about anything to get what they want.

I pity them. I sometimes feel bad for them. But I also feel that one has to be very very cautious while dealing with such people. They can hurt you.

But I am determined. I will stick to ethics , always, come what may. I don't want to cheat myself. I don't want my conscience to keep pestering me - constantly reminding me of my bad deeds. I will be ethical - always. This is a lesson I have learned from such people.

Short Run and Long Run - This is what Economics is all about. And I see a connection here. All the assholes make it to the top in the short run, but in the long run they fail.Miserably. God is watching all of us. Don't mess with him. When he punishes us, we become nonexistent. He can turn us upside-down, inside-out.

The other thing I am determined to do is Believe in God.Always. He makes us go through bad times often, but that is just to make us all the more stronger - Mentally and sentimentally. Believe in God.He can turn the tables. He can do what nobody else can.

Entertainment - Where are We Going?

Have you guys ever wondered how far we have been left behind when it comes to new age TVs and speaker systems? I subscribe to a magazine called "Electronic House" and the Jan 2006 issue has left me spellbound. I could never imagine the kind of plasma TVs and audio systems and what nots to get a permanent place not only in our homes but in our hearts too. They are beautiful. Look sleek and sophisticated. You cannot judge the animal that's inside them by just looking at them , waiting to break free and provide a punch so powerful that would make all the cinema halls in this world feel ashamed of themselves and eventually kick them out of business( I got a little carried away, didn't I?).
I had an oppurtunity to experience a Sony 50" plasma TV at my uncle's house. I watched two movies on that.Trust me, they leave the cinema halls way too far behind. Entertainment for just you and your family - nobody else. Pause it, Stop it, rewind it. If getting way too bored, forward it. You control the movie, the movie doesn't control you anymore. If you miss a dialog - no problem. If you don't understand the language - no problem again. Every action of the TV makes sure that you get exactly what you want - Good audio/video and full control.
Well, what the heck. I have a "Home Theater System" too in my house. Care to take a look at it? Here you go:

*sheepish*

By the way, I wish you all a Very Very Happy New Year!