tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80155813224145179502024-03-13T16:29:54.384+05:30Bangalore ChroniclesRockStahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09647266304022684368noreply@blogger.comBlogger125125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8015581322414517950.post-64541987127857653782011-01-01T14:19:00.000+05:302011-01-01T14:19:47.701+05:30Happy New Year<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_0GCZ84cyqZo/TR7pTOEXAJI/AAAAAAAAAl4/oMqd-SggkPQ/s1600/Memories.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="244" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_0GCZ84cyqZo/TR7pTOEXAJI/AAAAAAAAAl4/oMqd-SggkPQ/s320/Memories.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here’s a collage (a very big thanks to Kiran) of some of the cherished and happy moments at our old office on 80 feet road.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>It’s been nearly 3 years since we, 4 crazy media analysts, came up with this blog “80 Feet Road”; blogging right next to the actual 80 feet road. Now this blog has tons of contributors’ blogging on a wide array of topics. This blog has remained and will be a symbol for freedom of speech. People say that we have a right to “freedom of speech”; after all, it is enshrined in our constitution as one of the fundamental rights. However, one will truly understand the difficulties that need to be overcome only when he/she decides to exercise that ‘right’. Some of us found out that the hard way, encountering corporate red tape and the necessity to remain completely neutral, when blogging on a company blog. Necessity is the mother of invention and “80 Feet Road” was born. It was like setting a caged bird free. We could blog with complete freedom. We were our own ‘Masters’. It was this freedom to blog that attracted our people to write on our blog.<br />
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Over the years, we learnt a lot about blogging. Though it looks very simple, it is not. We decided to opt for custom templates for the blogger platform and therein started our learning process. Editing the CSS templates to our needs; learning about the various java script widgets that could be used in our templates and tweaking them according to our preferences; creating a header image in Photoshop; creating custom signatures; learning about and experimenting with various hosting options for our scripts and image files; and finally, the big daddy of them all - Search Engine Optimization.<br />
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A very big shout out here for Kiran K. who, with all the workload that a full time graphics designer has to deal with, has steadfastly endured our various requests for tweaking the templates, creating header images for us, edit some of the images that we have put up in our posts and so on… Thank You.<br />
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Guru Bhai, the heart and soul of this blog, is responsible for most of the editing with regard to the widgets and templates that we have used over the years. Without his expertise, we wouldn’t have come this far. Thank You.<br />
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Guna Bhai was always ready with inputs and without his unwavering support and motivation; this venture would not have started in the first place. He has championed various causes, right from social to green causes on our blog and we are the ever more richer, both in terms of knowledge and soul. Thank You.<br />
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Arunava Das, whom I fondly address as Dassappa, has been an engine that drove our little group of activists – GreenHorns. His posts on Bhutan have brought the exotic flavor to our blog. His posts are always a delightful read. Thank You and please post more frequently!<br />
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Shilpa, “The Quintessential Phoenix” has been blogging like a phoenix. One thing was certain, when she blogged – it rained blog posts. :) Her range of topics brings out the entire gamut of feelings in the person reading them. Blogging from the heart, we are honored to have her write on our blog. Thank You.<br />
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‘A’ Corner, a.k.a. “the management swamiji” has had us in splits with his tongue in cheek satire and has been a welcome relief in our gang of bloggers, bringing in the rare touch of humor to our blog. A very big THANK YOU and please post more frequently!<br />
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Rakesh S. a.k.a “the spiritual swamiji” has been kind enough to share his thoughts and views, which inevitably led to debates and discussions. Miss the debates Swamiji and a huge Thank You.<br />
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And lastly, a very BIG “Thank You” to all our 80 Feet Road bloggers, without them this blog would not have been – what it is now. And special mention to Verghese Sir and Pravda, for being the beacon light that will always guide us, Thank You.<br />
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Our office has shifted to Hosur road. We are now no longer beside the 80 feet road, from which the blog has acquired its name. But this blog will go on. As long as the World Wide Web exists, so will our 80 Feet Road blog. That is a promise.<br />
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Enjoy! and here’s whishing you all a Happy New Year.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/BangaloreChronicles" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml"><img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon32x32.png" alt="" style="border:0"/></a><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/BangaloreChronicles" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml">Subscribe in a reader</a></div>RockStahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09647266304022684368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8015581322414517950.post-52821365162652803652010-11-25T21:45:00.000+05:302010-11-25T21:45:24.696+05:30Holiday Blues!!!Finally, four days of bliss. Months of hectic media monitoring had left me craving for some personal time, time to introspect, time to indulge myself… you get the point.<br />
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First off, I would like to congratulate my friend Kiran K on getting married. Kiran has been with 80 Feet Road since its birth, helping us with the template coding and designing header images. On behalf of the 80 Feet Road bloggers, I wish you a happy and a prosperous married life.<br />
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Oprah giving away cars to the audience had grabbed a lot of eyeballs everywhere, making it one of the hot topics to discuss at the water-cooler gatherings. Pamela Anderson’s entry into Big Boss was the most popular.<br />
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Thanks to a very learned friend of mine, whose scholarly knowledge in almost all disciplines leaves us spellbound; I’ve been and continue to be treated to classic movies of different genres. As a result, I have now a huge collection of movies lined up to be seen this long weekend. Thank you KB!<br />
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Moving on to my favorite topic – Corruption. Not any more! Looks like it has become the favorite topic of an entire nation, instead. At least, that’s how the newspapers and the news channels making it look like. Reams of print and airtime are being allotted to the spectrum scam while closer home, it’s the CM’s largesse in allotting land to his family members hogging the headlines.<br />
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Now, I am not against the newspapers and the news channels making a big hue and cry, after all the government should be held accountable for its wrongdoings, right? But the point here is what does it accomplish? Committees will be set up to investigate these allegations and after a decade or so they come up with their findings, by which time, the perpetrators would have moved away from the limelight (or better - dead), nobody would be interested. Someone else would have taken their place; someone who having learnt from their predecessors mistakes would be more careful to not to get caught.<br />
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What does all of this accomplish? Does it kill corruption? Will it go away?<br />
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NO!!!<br />
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Let us be smart and go after the small fish. I mean the small ones. Kill the small ones and the big ones will cease to exist. Makes sense right?<br />
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Charity begins at home. But unfortunately, it has lost out big time to Corruption. Yes, these days we are most likely to indulge in corruption rather than charity. The delivery man, who brings in the gas cylinder when the one at the home runs out, demands 20 to 40 rupees extra on the bill. It is extortion. Refuse at your own peril. The next time your cylinder runs out, you will have to run from pillar to post to get the replacement on time. The garbage man demands anything between 10-20 rupees at the end of every week. If you refuse, then don’t be surprised to see your garbage lying un-collected at your doorstep. So, you learn the hard way. When the electricity conks off in your area, better be prepared to pay the repairmen something when they are done or learn to do it the hard way. The same goes for the sewage repair, water leakage, and the list goes on.<br />
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Do you think anyone would be interested in charity after being forced to pay thorough the nose. I am not talking about taxes here!<br />
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Let us begin at our homes. Let the media highlight our problems. Let the authorities take action against these perps. Once these problems are taken care of, lets move on to something that’s a little bigger. Let us take baby steps in fighting corruption. However, we need to dig in because it will be a long, hard and a dirty fight. These greedy bastards are not going to change (give in) that easily.<br />
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Enjoy the long weekend. Happy Thanksgiving!<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/BangaloreChronicles" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml"><img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon32x32.png" alt="" style="border:0"/></a><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/BangaloreChronicles" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml">Subscribe in a reader</a></div>RockStahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09647266304022684368noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8015581322414517950.post-12792856052093006732010-09-19T21:16:00.000+05:302010-09-19T21:16:28.376+05:30Heights of Selfishness!Two schools of thoughts are vying with each other - - for my attention, which is usually followed by rationalization and giving them a logical conclusion.<br />
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<span style="color: blue;">Recently, I had come across reports that violence has flared up in Congo. In this month’s GQ mag, I came across a letter to the editor where the reader had written about an article that was published in an earlier edition of the mag. The article “Congo: The Horror” written by Ed Caesar.</span><br style="color: blue;" /><br style="color: blue;" /><span style="color: blue;">I did a quick Google search and got the article, but what impressed me was that situation in Congo was given print space in one of the elite magazines’. My enthusiasm was however, short-lived as I wondered how many people would really care (as most of the people subscribing to this magazine would be the upper crest of the society). Then reality struck me; even if the above mentioned article had appeared on the front page of all the leading Indian dailies’, nobody would have cared. Even if someone did, what could they do? There is enough crap in our own homes, why worry about somebody else’s crap?</span><br style="color: blue;" /><br style="color: blue;" /><span style="color: blue;">What Congo needs is action. What is being done right now is not enough. Empathy, pity and care are nothing but feelings that soothe our guilt of inaction and their contribution towards solving / finding a solution to Congo’s problem, is <b>ZERO</b>. However, there are people who have set up camps decades ago, dedicating their lives to helping the people (by setting up aid and medical camps) of Congo. We need more of them, very badly.</span><br style="color: blue;" /><br style="color: blue;" /><span style="color: blue;">I am tired of writing about the inhumane horrors the fighting in Congo has brought about. You can do a Google search and read for yourself. But what caught my eye was that men are now being raped in Congo.</span><br style="color: blue;" /><br style="color: blue;" /><span style="color: blue;">I had read some where that “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” Right now there are very few good people who are doing their bit, but they are powerless to bring about a change. Change is what the people of Congo need.</span><br style="color: blue;" /><br style="color: blue;" /><span style="color: blue;">The colored people had played their part in the revolution that saw slavery being abolished and racial discrimination being made unlawful. But what I do not understand is why this racial discrimination is being perpetrated by the colored people on their own kind.</span><br style="color: blue;" /><br style="color: blue;" /><span style="color: blue;">It reminds me of a line spoken by the protagonist in the movie “Hotel Rwanda” where he laments that the ‘whites’ have abandoned them to their fate cause they are nothing but dirt to them (whites). In the case of Congo, the world has abandoned it. Nobody cares about what is happening in one of the poorest countries of the world. Let them die. They are nothing but cockroaches. Apparently, it is good for us that these cockroaches are killing each other as the world becomes a better place to live in with fewer roaches. </span><br />
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<span style="color: purple;">Now about things more local in nature, I saw our Honorable Chief Minister, on TV, allotting crores’ of rupees at the drop of an hat, to build memorials, for two noted film and theater / music personalities who had recently passed away. I cannot comprehend how the CM can allot crores’ of Indian rupees for memorials. That is criminal waste of the taxpayers’ (our) money.</span><br style="color: purple;" /><br style="color: purple;" /><span style="color: purple;">There are far more pressing issues at hand to deal with and that require such sums of money. Is there no one to question the rationale behind such idiosyncrasy? Why are we letting this happen, unless this is nothing but a gimmick and everybody is in on it, except me?</span><br style="color: purple;" /><br style="color: purple;" /><span style="color: purple;">In another part of our country, another Chief Minister is on a mission to erect statues of her mentor, party symbol and of course, her statues all over the state; all at the cost of thousand crores plus to the exchequer. The law has somewhat woken up and put a halt to it, but there are strong indications that the government will get away with it. Substantial amounts of money have already gone down the drain.</span><br style="color: purple;" /><br style="color: purple;" /><span style="color: purple;">I did not realize that India is such a RICH country. We spend billions to satisfy petty whimsical notions that do nothing but assuage the egos of such ministers. Lots of Indians are getting onto the Forbes’s Billionaire list. But, when you go deeper, it hits you like a Shatabdi running on nitrous. We are selfish. I might be wrong, but I read somewhere that India is a country that has the largest number of billionaire’s (includes both legal and illegal). Yet, we are a poor country, still stuck with the tag “developing nation”. I have been hearing that since I was a small kid. We have billions to erect statues and build memorials, but we do not have money to build proper roads, public sanitary facilities and put in place an efficient public transport system. I am not even going to bother to talk about the corruption that has saturated our lives.</span><br />
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In both cases, of Congo’s and ours, we have accepted it. The people of Congo are used to the violence as generations have born and died under the umbrella of war, accompanied by the violence that is unique to the region. We Indians, we have accepted it, cause we are so selfish. We go to work, earn money, take care of our family and enjoy life. We do not worry about our neighbors and friends, apart from the show of concern. How many people go out of their way to help out? Very few. What about complete strangers. We certainly do not give a shit about them, do we? Why the hell should I worry about them? I have got enough to worry about – my job, my family, etc. That is why we have Governments. Is it not? To take care of the welfare of the citizens as a whole. And what is the Government doing? It is taking care of itself. Nobody cares. Complains fall on deaf ears. Life goes on…..<br />
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Sometimes I wonder, whether India would become as lawless as a Congo or a Somalia. But if such a thing were to happen, I wish it would happen after my time. Long after I am dead and gone. See, I am selfish!<br />
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But wait. Can we change? Is there hope for humanity? Will the world awaken and bring about a change in Congo? Will India get rid of corruption and become a transparent, peaceful and an honest country to live in. I certainly hope so. Do you know why? I am <b>SELFISH!!!</b><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/BangaloreChronicles" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml"><img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon32x32.png" alt="" style="border:0"/></a><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/BangaloreChronicles" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml">Subscribe in a reader</a></div>RockStahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09647266304022684368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8015581322414517950.post-88686601910998832952010-09-07T09:00:00.000+05:302010-09-07T09:00:34.056+05:30Help! I have transmogrified into an AP pickup.I was lost in the world of 3D TVs and back-to-school deals for the past couple of months and was really looking forward to this Labor Day weekend.<br />
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Alas, my hopes of relaxation and fun over the three day weekend was horribly shattered as I came down with fever, cough and cold; also, add sore throat to that mix.<br />
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Yesterday, the last day of the extended weekend, was the worst. I had this really high temperature fever running throughout the night and had slipped into an incoherent and a hallucinating dream where I had become a pick-up of an AP article.<br />
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Yes, you read that right! I had become one of those innumerable, ubiquitous, pain in the *** pick up of an Associated Press article. In my dream, I was somehow transported into the world of online news, where the AP was the dictator and everybody else were nothing but pickups / repeats of the AP. I had lost my identity and was fighting against the corrupt dictator – the AP. However, unlike the endings in movies where the hero always wins, I was losing the battle and was on the verge of becoming an expired link / URL. And yes, unlike in movies, there was not beautiful damsel that needed rescuing either. Damn! That is so sad; pathetic actually, because it is my dream.<br />
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Then I woke up, with relief streaming through my whole body, that I was no longer an AP pickup. On the downside, my body was really sore and did not feel like getting out of the bed, I guess all that fighting had drained my energy.<br />
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The funny thing though is that I don’t remember the heading of the AP article.<br />
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That really tells me that it is about time I take a break long break. In fact, one is in the pipeline already. Just need to get it approved by the “powers that be”.<br />
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Media monitoring is really getting under my skin these days, with people quitting and their work being unloaded onto the existing employees heads; painfully slow pace of hiring replacements; working overtime which means that past couple of months I have been working on accounts / projects for free! cause the company does not pay for overtime.<br />
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It is a crazy world of media monitoring and we being crazy media analysts……. you get the point, right?<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/BangaloreChronicles" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml"><img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon32x32.png" alt="" style="border:0"/></a><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/BangaloreChronicles" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml">Subscribe in a reader</a></div>RockStahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09647266304022684368noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8015581322414517950.post-78142785687097670892010-07-03T17:36:00.000+05:302010-07-03T17:36:12.234+05:30A Festival No MoreThe Tour De France starts from a few minutes from now. But for the first time, I have no desire to watch it.<br />
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It feels strange.<br />
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The king of cycling is back (with a perpetual shadow of dope allegations still following him), which in all probability is his last Tour (still unconfirmed). The defending champion has already made his plans on neutralizing the king’s threat and win one more Tour.<br />
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I don’t care anymore. The black swirl of doping allegations around this sport, has robbed all the credibility, interest, spark and soul from it. The Yellow Jersey has lost its meaning and purpose.<br />
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Long live the Peloton.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/BangaloreChronicles" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml"><img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon32x32.png" alt="" style="border:0"/></a><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/BangaloreChronicles" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml">Subscribe in a reader</a></div>RockStahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09647266304022684368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8015581322414517950.post-27117003980455550402010-05-30T21:16:00.001+05:302010-05-30T21:20:07.349+05:30CredibilityI watched in awe as a teenager, religiously making sure that no one takes control of the TV remote when the Tour De France was being broadcast on the television. I used to get goose bumps witnessing Lance Armstrong attack - a rare phenomenon. Simply put – Lance was my idol, my hero and heroes do not need credibility.<br /><br />On May 20 2010, Floyd Landis dropped a bombshell. I am not concerned about his admission of doping. What shocked me was his accusation against “My Hero – Lance Armstrong”.<br /><br />It is an open truth that Cycling and Doping are synonymous. Yet once in a blue moon, someone like Lance Armstrong comes along and rewrites the script. He doesn’t cheat; he is a cancer survivior and has won the Tour De France a record number of times.<br /><br />When Lance responded to the allegations leveled by Landis, he did so by invoking ‘credibility’. Expressing doubt over Landis’s credibility might have been a valid and legal point. But that got me thinking…<br /><br />“Since when do Heroes need Credibility”?<br /><br />I am no longer interested in Cycling. Lance Armstrong is no longer a hero to me. I don’t think there would be anyone who would be exalted to that status anymore – I have no need for ‘Heroes’. Whether the allegation sticks or not; it doesn’t matter anymore.<br /><br />Credibility is not a virtue of a Hero. They don’t need it.<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/BangaloreChronicles" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml"><img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon32x32.png" alt="" style="border:0"/></a><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/BangaloreChronicles" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml">Subscribe in a reader</a></div>RockStahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09647266304022684368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8015581322414517950.post-6788986748095175902010-05-25T00:25:00.001+05:302010-05-25T00:37:39.636+05:30Between the rungs of a Corporate LadderIt is all hunky-dory, when one remains neutral and ignorant. I realized today, to my horror that it is an in-inescapable black hole into which one gets sucked into. Yeah. I am talking about the murky underworld of office politics. I have heard horror stories from my friends about how bitchy, cut-throat and sometimes downright pathetic, the office environment becomes; when one is entangled in the vicious web.<br /><br />Seniors who are inferior in both talent and skills, resort to sabotaging the work of juniors (it is nothing but insecurity and lack of skill up-gradation that would otherwise put them on par with the juniors), and then lick the boss’s ass to secure their position. The juniors cannot complain because the boss turns a blind eye, leaving them with very few choices:<br /><br /><ul><li>Put up with it and wage a lone battle. Bide your time, establish yourself and then show everyone who’s the boss (this rarely happens).</li><li>Start licking their holy asses.</li><li>Quit.</li></ul><br />Why does the company tolerate such inferior talented seniors? I can think of two reasons:<br /><br /><ul><li>Experience is on their side and the company cannot afford to lose seniors. Hence the company overlooks the lacunae that might be in them.</li><li>They have been licking the boss’s ass so much that the boss has gotten used to it and cannot live without them. Hence, the boss uses his/her all-mighty powers to protect the undeserving ass lickers.</li></ul><br />There are some ‘<span style="font-weight: bold;">museum pieces</span>’ (read senior management level employees) that ought to be pickled, bottled and shoved up a donkey’s rear (<span style="color: rgb(204, 51, 204); font-weight: bold;">poor donkey</span>: it will probably die of constipation). They keep flipping (faster than a chameleon can change its color) according to the situation, deny what they said few minutes ago, come up with absurd reasons and excuses for their actions, total control freaks (need to consult with them for everything) and most importantly black tongued hypocrites. I don’t believe in God, but if one doesn’t pucker up to such pieces of shit then God help us. There is every possibility of being fired for some absurd reason, re-instating to everyone that they are indeed ‘the shit that matters’.<br /><br />In the midst of all this, the company makes all the right noises about being just, transparent, fair and so on… If the company does not have the balls to take on the leeches that have dug in deep, the least they can do is job security to those who are unfairly targeted, as a result of office politics.<br /><br />When the soul of a company is being raped by such vested, uncouth employees, undermining its foundations; where is the joy and satisfaction in working for such a company?<br /><br /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/BangaloreChronicles" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml"><img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon32x32.png" alt="" style="border:0"/></a><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/BangaloreChronicles" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml">Subscribe in a reader</a></div>RockStahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09647266304022684368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8015581322414517950.post-12623156532867907782010-04-20T14:05:00.003+05:302010-04-20T14:16:22.718+05:30Windows in High Definition!This one is really good. A detailed DIY guide for <a href="http://www.rationalcraft.com/Winscape_MakingOf.html">Virtual Windows</a>, dubbed as <a href="http://www.rationalcraft.com/Winscape.html">Winscape </a>can be found on <a href="http://www.rationalcraft.com/Main.html">RationalCraft.com</a>.<br /><br />For those who are wondering what it is, here is the You Tube video:<br /><br /><object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Vqu9NuINKbc&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x234900&color2=0x4e9e00"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Vqu9NuINKbc&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x234900&color2=0x4e9e00" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object><br /><br />If the Embedded Video does not show-up, then please click on the following link:<br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vqu9NuINKbc&feature=player_embedded">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vqu9NuINKbc&feature=player_embedded<br /></a><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/BangaloreChronicles" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml"><img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon32x32.png" alt="" style="border:0"/></a><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/BangaloreChronicles" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml">Subscribe in a reader</a></div>RockStahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09647266304022684368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8015581322414517950.post-15178147734701313612010-04-05T16:32:00.002+05:302010-04-05T16:51:42.751+05:30Castrate and Hang all Drunken Drivers! Especially Carpenters.I was least bothered about DUI until now. Now that I am a victim, I realized that there is no <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">FUCKING </span></span>point.<br /><br />Around 10:45 in the night, on Wednesday, March 31st, 2010; I was going back to home from office on my Honda Unicorn. At the intersection of 100 feet road and Old Madras Road (under the metro construction), a drunk carpenter on his 100 cc bike drove through the intersection, looking straight ahead without blinking. I was already half way through the intersection and watched helplessly as he rammed into my bike at top speed, from the left. No amount of honking helped as he was pretty drunk and was looking straight ahead.<br /><br />All I remember is screeching sound of metal and plastic. Next thing I remember is someone lifting the bike (I had fallen on my left side with the bike on me and my left foot stuck under the bike’s silencer) and helping me up.<br /><br />A big thank you to the locals and the metro construction workers. They apprehended the carpenter who was trying to flee (the boisterous ones rained a couple of blows on the unrepentant, inebriated dickhead as he tried to pin the blame on me, for causing the accident) and were there till the traffic police arrived.<br /><br />In the meantime, the drunken prick had called up his relative. This relative of his started suggesting a compromise and settle the matter before the police arrived. The compromise was:<br /><br /><ul><li>to leave the scene immediately and me going to a hospital and get treated, </li><li>then call up the relative who would then give the prick’s house address, </li><li>go to the prick’s house and ask for reimbursement of medical expenses; </li><li>forget the damage to the bike as he was a daily wage labourer (the relative also pointed out that the prick’s bike had been damaged too) who is struggling to make his ends meet.</li></ul><br />The compromise was refused and in retaliation the relative (an impotent crossbreed b/w pig and a donkey) threatened that he would file a police complaint on my father and brother (who had reached the spot by then) for assaulting the dickhead carpenter. We still did not budge and did not allow the drunken dickhead prick to leave the scene of accident and continued to wait for the arrival of the traffic police. The relative started to taunt us saying that he will get the prick released on bail for less than 1500 INR.<br /><br />The Indiranagar police station is around 500 meters down the road and was almost deserted. A wireless message was flashed and after an excruciating wait of 1 and half hours a traffic sub-inspector and a constable arrived on the spot. They took my mobile number and noted my bike’s registration number. Then the inspector asked my father and brother (who had come to my aid) to bring the vehicles involved in the accident to the police station which was around 500 meters away. The dickhead was in no condition to push his bike that far. The so called relative (kinky bastard) was no where on the scene (he had gone down to the police station to file a complaint as he had threatened).<br /><br />The sub-inspector then asked us to leave and get first aid. He also told us to file a complaint on the next day at Jeevan Bhima Nagar Police Station. We were shocked as the police confiscated the dick’s bike and let him walk free. I received first aid treatment at CMH’s Emergency Casualty Center. An x-ray revealed no broken bones. However, the knuckles on my left hand were severely damaged (5 days later I still can’t bend my fingers on my left hand) There are bruises on my left hand and shoulder and on my left knee and toes. A big blood clot has developed on my left toe.<br /><br />My father promptly went to the police station to file a complaint, but the inspector started to coerce my father into reaching a compromise. Frustrated, my father called up our family lawyer for counsel. Surprisingly our lawyer suggested the same thing. He spelt out the following hard facts:<br /><br /><ul><li>With the current backlog of cases in the courts, it might take more than 5 years for a decision. This is the situation in fast-track courts.</li><li>The police have every reason to ensure the case drags as they can fleece bribes from both the parties. (my father had to pay around 1500 when he went to the police station to file a complaint)</li><li>The lawyer’s fees over a period of 5 years would amount to more than 30,000 INR. Meanwhile the accident has resulted in loss of around 5000 INR (which includes my medical treatment and bike repair costs).</li><li>Instead, get the bike repaired and claim insurance by telling the insurance company that I damaged my bike when I applied brakes suddenly and the bike skidded off the road. </li></ul><br />Forgetting, as if the entire incident never happened, was the best thing to do and that is what I am trying to do. Problem is that these painful injuries are a constant reminder that it has happened. The injuries I have sustained will put me out of action for at least two weeks. But, what gets my goat is that drunken <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">PRICK </span></span>escaped with few scratches!<br /><br />I am ANGRY.<br /><br /><ul><li>I am angry with myself for staying back in the office till 10:30, when my shift actually ends at 8:30.</li><li>I am angry with myself for not leaving the office at least 5 minutes earlier or later as I could have avoided this accident.</li><li>I am angry with myself, the society, the law, and basically everyone; on seeing that <span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">PRICK </span></span>walking away with no injuries and punishment.</li><li>I am angry at the apathy shown by the police.</li></ul><br />What The Indian Law says?<br /><br />According to the Central Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 Sec 185 states that: Whoever, while driving, or attempting to drive, a motor vehicle,-<br /><br /><ul><li>has, in his blood, alcohol exceeding 30 mg. per 100 ml. of blood detected in a test by a breathalyser, or</li><li>is under this influence of a drug to such an extent as to be incapable of exercising proper control over the vehicle,</li></ul><br />shall be punishable for the first offence with imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months, or with fine which may extend to two thousand rupees, or with both; and for a second or subsequent offence, if committed within three years of the commission of the previous similar offence, with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine which may extend to three thousand rupees, or with both.<br /><br />In Bangalore, the fine for first conviction for drinking and driving is Rs. 2000 and Rs. 3000 for repeat offences (according to a recent research paper by NIMHANS).<br /><br />This is not enough. We need to make DUI laws stricter. In 2008, a parliament standing committee has recommended stricter laws to tackle drunken driving. Sadly, the government is yet to accept the recommendations. For more information please read Times of India article “Stiff law for drunk drivers” dated May 01, 2008.<br /><br /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/BangaloreChronicles" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml"><img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon32x32.png" alt="" style="border:0"/></a><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/BangaloreChronicles" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml">Subscribe in a reader</a></div>RockStahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09647266304022684368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8015581322414517950.post-68870273685825580522010-03-09T07:58:00.001+05:302010-03-09T08:01:31.638+05:30Indian Green Revolution: Flattering to Deceive?India was once a prosperous nation, abounding in its cultural heritage and moral values. But I am more interested in the ‘prosperous’ part! Being a prosperous nation, she not only attracted traders from various parts of the world but also invaders who looted her riches. History shows that we have been plagued by invaders throughout the time. However, they were not able to loot one thing – Land. The British did exploit our natural resources, but the land remained. They couldn’t take it away. India is blessed with fertile lands capable of feeding billions. Unfortunately, at present India is facing a serious food crisis, amidst a raging debate on Genetically Modified (GM) crops. Let’s delve a little deeper and investigate.<br /><br />A major part of India’s disability to feed its population stems from the mismanagement of the agricultural system during the colonial rule in the 18th century. The partition made matters worse. The areas that were well irrigated were lost during the partition. India was left with more population but more importantly less food production capacity.<br /><br />After gaining Independence, the educated middle class increasingly gravitated to the idea that ‘science and technology’ alone is the answer to India’s poverty. In the 1960’s the government started importing food from the Americans under their ‘Food for Peace’ program, failing to understand the need to develop India’s ancient cultivation methods. Obviously the domestic food production was way too short to meet the demand, especially when some of the major food producing northern states were reeling under famine. The Indian government had misplaced its priorities by focusing on industrialization, rather than achieve self sufficiency in food production.<br /><br />Timely intervention by private philanthropists saw successful implementation of new agricultural practices in select farming regions, in the country. The Indian government was finally goaded into bringing about “The Green Revolution”. It consisted of cultivating high yielding varieties of crops that required high use of fertilizers. However, the Indian government was hasty in adopting this technology without proper planning. Seeds of High Yielding Varieties (HYV) that were developed for a different geographical region were imported in large quantities. These varieties required very high nitrogen content in the soil to grow and the use of large amounts of fertilizers became necessary. The HYV’s lacked in-built local resistance (to flood, drought, disease, pest and frost) and hence pesticides had to be used. In order to provide for all this to the peasants, at an affordable price, the government subsidized fertilizers and to some extent the pesticides too. Taking advantage of the Indian government subsidies, number of international and local fertilizer and pesticide manufacturing companies sprung up in India.<br /><br />The overuse of fertilizers eroded the natural soil fertility. Un-abated use of pesticides resulted in the pests acquiring resistance to it. The results are telling. India has the lowest yield per hectare in Asia for certain food crops. Farmers are resorting to the costlier and complex pesticides to overcome the resistance. This raises the health hazard not only to the consumers of such food crops, but also to the local fauna. The subsidies are a huge burden on the Indian financial resources and many companies are resorting to fudging records to rake in the moolah.<br /><br />In the 90’s, the stage was ripe for multinational seed companies to introduce their patented, genetically altered plant varieties as the solution to India’s fast becoming nightmare. They started with cash crops, more specifically cotton. If that gets accepted and successful, it would then lay a very strong platform to introduce genetically modified food crops. However, it took quite sometime for the Bt cotton to be approved by the regulatory authority amidst a raging storm over ‘terminator’ technology. The volume and nature of protests against GM Crops sent a strong message across to the multinational companies, that getting established in the Indian market would be anything but cakewalk.<br /><br />What the multinational companies failed to gauge is that there was a lot at stake. The GM crops would require no pesticides, less fertilizers (when compared to the HYV’s). Hence, the fertilizer companies and the pesticide companies would lose out as the government would no longer subsidize them. This would mean that there is no longer a level playing field. Competition would result in cut-throat pricing when compared to the luxury of fixed government subsidies. However, having the advantage of entrenching themselves in the country for decades before the arrival of the new upstarts (read multinational seed companies), the fertilizer and the pesticide lobby played dirty. On one hand, they lobbied the government to withhold granting permits to the upstarts; on the other hand they spread false rumors about the technology among the un-educated farmers. However, they did not count on nationalists, anti-globalization groups, environment protection groups and several more joining hands to protest against GM crops. It was certainly a blessing in disguise and it enabled the fertilizer and pesticide lobby to work behind the scenes. They have been quite successful as they have not been exposed yet!<br /><br />The GM crops not without issues either. There is a possibility that they can transfer the foreign gene to the native flora around the fields where they are grown, a phenomenon called gene pool contamination. Can they be safely used as fodder? What are the effects of consuming the meat and other products from animals that feed on such fodder? In the case of GM food crops, what are the effects when consumed by humans, both in the short and the long term? Is it safe for multiple generations of human beings to feed on such crops? The scientific community still feels that there is a need for a more in-depth study to be conducted before the above mentioned fears can be allayed.<br /><br />The GM Crops were designed for the developed countries like America where the farms are huge and mechanized. It becomes futile to expect the GM crops (those that have been introduced so far in our country) to deliver similar benefits in a country like India, where the lands are highly fragmented and would cause many people (like farm laborers who weed) to lose their livelihoods.<br /><br />However, GM crops have the potential in them to do wonders for India. In fact, they have the potential to be the proponents of a second “Green Revolution” in India. India can make do with crops that survive drought and saline conditions. They can be further enhanced with vitamins, proteins and other essential nutrients which would help in combating malnourishment. Even though it is far fetched right now, Edible Vaccines makes a lot of sense in a country like India!<br /><br /><br />Sources:<br /><br />Confronting Agrarian Crisis: Historical Food Insecurity, the Indian State, and the Green Revolution By Joseph A. Arena<br /><br />Genetically Modified Crops: Issues For India By Dr. Suman Sahai<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/BangaloreChronicles" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml"><img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon32x32.png" alt="" style="border:0"/></a><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/BangaloreChronicles" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml">Subscribe in a reader</a></div>RockStahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09647266304022684368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8015581322414517950.post-45478347136617291012010-03-02T20:18:00.004+05:302010-03-02T20:26:10.142+05:30Intelligent Power RegulatorCame across this nifty little device that disconnects itself from the plug point. A cell phone which is being recharged, is used here in this video as an example.<br /><br /><object height="300" width="300"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><param name="movie" value="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=9392135&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1"><embed src="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=9392135&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" height="300" width="300"></embed></object><p><a href="http://vimeo.com/9392135">Outlet Regulator Video</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user3158678">conor klein</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.</p><br /><br />Alternatively, one can watch the video here: <a href="http://vimeo.com/9392135">http://vimeo.com/9392135</a><br /><br /><br />For more information, please visit: <a href="http://conorklein.com/index.php?/ongoing/outlet-regulator/">http://conorklein.com/index.php?/ongoing/outlet-regulator/</a><br /><br /><br /><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/BangaloreChronicles" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml"><img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon32x32.png" alt="" style="border:0"/></a><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/BangaloreChronicles" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml">Subscribe in a reader</a></div>RockStahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09647266304022684368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8015581322414517950.post-87926257437730365772010-02-20T12:09:00.002+05:302010-02-20T12:14:54.456+05:30PUMA launches Solar-Powered Smartphone!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_0GCZ84cyqZo/S3-EGirru3I/AAAAAAAAAlk/8AYD-DpiBMI/s1600-h/Puma+Phone.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 263px; height: 265px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_0GCZ84cyqZo/S3-EGirru3I/AAAAAAAAAlk/8AYD-DpiBMI/s320/Puma+Phone.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5440212122810956658" border="0" /></a><br />It is said that PUMA starts in Sport and ends in Fashion. The PUMA PHONE certainly reflects that!<br /><br />PUMA, of all the companies, has jumped on to the smartphone bandwagon. PUMA AG and Sagem Wireless have taken the wraps of their PUMA PHONE at the recently held Mobile World Congress.<br /><br />Weighing 115g, the phone features a solar panel on its back, reminding me of the Samsung’s Blue Earth. It’s got a 2.8 inch, 240 x 320 QVGA touchscreen; 3.2 megapixel camera with LED flash and x6 zoom; a VGA video call camera; GPS; a pedometer for the fitness conscious; GPS tracker and stopwatch; and FM radio among other things.<br /><br />The phone will be available in Europe and on PUMA website from April this year.<br /><br />Here’s the teaser website for the PUMA PHONE - http://pumaphone.com/<br /><br />For the full specifications, you can download the spec sheet available for free at the above mentioned teaser website or refer to the press release here - http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/puma-phone-roars-into-life-84464137.html<br /><br />Of course, one can always Google for the hands-on reviews of the phone for more information. It is said to cost around 25000 Indian Rupees (400 Euros).<div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/BangaloreChronicles" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml"><img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon32x32.png" alt="" style="border:0"/></a><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/BangaloreChronicles" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml">Subscribe in a reader</a></div>RockStahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09647266304022684368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8015581322414517950.post-30205925611734700652010-01-01T20:48:00.003+05:302010-01-01T20:59:22.282+05:30Matter of Trust<span style="font-family: georgia;font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;" >People have lost their trust in you. The company has lost its trust in you. But the most painful thing is when you are aware about it. When you see your colleagues “pretend” around you, it is torture; probably for both you and your colleagues.<br /><br />To be aware of your work being double checked behind your back by your colleagues will make you feel hollow.<br /><br />There is no one but you to blame, for getting into such a mess. Maybe you got distracted and screwed up your job slightly. Maybe you took things for granted and were a little careless. However, you need to realize that someone had to clean up after you and that ‘someone’ did not like doing that. A disgruntled colleague will grumble and soon the word would have spread. It is hard to stop a wildfire in a corporate world.<br /><br />You might have experience on your side. But it is time to stop resting on past laurels, especially when you have lost the trust of your colleagues and the company you are working on. Work experience is invaluable as it makes you indispensable to the company. But be careful, you are on borrowed time.<br /><br />Gaining trust back helps if you are prepared to start with a clean state. Do not pull your weight (‘experience’ and the ‘ego’ that comes with it) around. Ask for responsibility and be prepared to have your work monitored. Deliver with consistency. That is the only way to get back the trust of your company and your colleagues. This is also a good time to upgrade your skill sets. You will earn respect not only from your peers, but also from your superiors.<br /><br />In such times do not give in to temptation of taking the easy way out. Quitting and moving to a different company does not solve the fundamental problem that you have gotten into; which you might have to face again at the new company.<br /><br />The line from Rocky movie:<br /><br /></span> <blockquote style="font-family: georgia;font-family:trebuchet ms;" ><span style="font-size:130%;">“But it ain't about how hard ya hit. It's about how hard you can get it and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done!”</span></blockquote><span style="font-family: georgia;font-family:trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;" ><br /><br />….sums it up quite nicely.<br /><br /></span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/BangaloreChronicles" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml"><img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon32x32.png" alt="" style="border:0"/></a><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/BangaloreChronicles" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml">Subscribe in a reader</a></div>RockStahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09647266304022684368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8015581322414517950.post-65577411330356606512009-10-22T21:12:00.004+05:302009-10-22T21:25:30.913+05:30The Tiger<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_0GCZ84cyqZo/SuB_Oc_A_YI/AAAAAAAAAlA/Ak35kqSMCCs/s1600-h/Bengal+Tiger+Clip+Art.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 210px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_0GCZ84cyqZo/SuB_Oc_A_YI/AAAAAAAAAlA/Ak35kqSMCCs/s320/Bengal+Tiger+Clip+Art.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5395452239865249154" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:78%;"> Courtesy PDClipart.org</span><br /></div><div style="text-align: center; color: rgb(153, 51, 153); font-family: trebuchet ms;"><blockquote><span style="font-size:130%;">TIGER, tiger, burning bright<br />In the forests of the night,<br />What immortal hand or eye<br />Could frame thy fearful symmetry?<br /><br />In what distant deeps or skies<br />Burnt the fire of thine eyes?<br />On what wings dare he aspire?<br />What the hand dare seize the fire?<br /><br />And what shoulder and what art<br />Could twist the sinews of thy heart?<br />And when thy heart began to beat,<br />What dread hand and what dread feet?<br /><br />What the hammer? what the chain?<br />In what furnace was thy brain?<br />What the anvil? What dread grasp<br />Dare its deadly terrors clasp?<br /><br />When the stars threw down their spears,<br />And water'd heaven with their tears,<br />Did He smile His work to see?<br />Did He who made the lamb make thee?<br /><br />Tiger, tiger, burning bright<br />In the forests of the night,<br />What immortal hand or eye<br />Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?</span></blockquote></div><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">I had to revisit this classic by William Blake (1757–1827), especially when Radio Indigo is plugging its “Engage Indigo: Get Involved, Get Engaged Campaign” so vigorously that it is actually bordering on irritation. This campaign by Indigo is actually supporting an initiative by The Wildlife Protection Society Of India (WPSI).</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">The </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.wpsi-india.org/wpsi/index.php">WPSI </a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">website is quite informative, but lacks information on how our donations will be utilized it its efforts to save the Tiger.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">I was really disappointed with the </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.radioindigo.fm/Save_Tiger/index.html">Radio Indigo’s webpage</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">. There are the following options:</span><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">• E-mail them to show support.</span><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">• Send in donations to their office</span><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">• A link for the WPSI website for more details and</span><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">• A ‘Save the Tiger’ pledge link.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Apart from these, there was no information regarding what would happen if someone decides to mail them as a show of support or decides to take a pledge. If they are expecting people to send in their donations to their office, after listening to those advertisements or visiting their website; how about some information on how their contributions would be used to save the Tiger.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Nope. We are expected to visit the WPSI website and find the information, which was really unhelpful as I have mentioned above earlier.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Here’s an interesting take on Radio Indigo’s campaign by Paul Nixon. Please go through this interesting blog post titled “</span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://india-aaagh.blogspot.com/2009/10/ronseals-quick-dying-tiger.html">Ronseal's quick dying tiger</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">” at </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://india-aaagh.blogspot.com/">India-aaagh</a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Then, is this a well managed publicity stunt created for the sole purpose of saying we care, but actually it is just another corporate soul cleansing activity? All those e-mails and pledges, will they really save a Tiger?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Following a tiger census carried out in 2007 which said that the wild tiger population in India has declined by 60% to approximately 1,411 Tigers, the Indian government pledged $153 million to further fund the Project Tiger initiative, set-up a Tiger Protection Force to combat poachers, and fund the relocation of up to 200,000 villagers to minimize human-tiger interaction. Additionally, eight new tiger reserves in India are being set up</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">I found that on Wikipedia. How much of the pledges and planning has found the light of the day, is unknown. I guess an RTI would divulge something. But then what is the point? If all these measures do not result in saving the Tiger population, then of what help would our pledges, e-mails and donations to Radio Indigo’s campaign achieve.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">But if you want to clear your guilt, even though you know that it is pointless. Go ahead. Pledge your support. Write e-mails. Donate! </span></span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 0, 0); font-family: trebuchet ms;font-size:130%;" >SAVE THE TIGER</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">.<br /><br /><br /></span></span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/BangaloreChronicles" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml"><img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon32x32.png" alt="" style="border:0"/></a><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/BangaloreChronicles" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml">Subscribe in a reader</a></div>RockStahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09647266304022684368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8015581322414517950.post-62520066016483018512009-08-28T10:03:00.000+05:302009-08-28T10:08:09.693+05:30Money Matters<span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">It is ironic that here in India, the left hand is completely out of sync with its right hand and also the rest of its limbs!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">The Indian sports ministry has apparently rejected the proposal of holding an F1 race here in India, which would have cost the exchequer around $36.5 million. It contended that the money can be used instead to promote other lesser known Indian sports. If the ministry really does what it believes, then it would be holding a candle for the rest of government machinery here in India to follow.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">On the other hand, the UP Government has told the Supreme Court that installing various statues (including that of the Chief Minister’s) in the state at the cost of around $100 million was approved by the state Legislature. This was in response to a petition filed in the court alleging waste of taxpayer’s money.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">The state machinery in UP is in dire straits. Encephalitis has been plaguing the state, causing the death toll (mostly children) to approach the 200 mark this year alone. According to a World Bank report, infant mortality rate in UP is the highest in India. Swine flu is slowly spreading its wings. The public sector has failed to create an investment friendly atmosphere. The biggest stumbling block here in UP is deep rooted caste and gender inequalities.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Is the $100 million for building statues justified? How did the State Legislature approve it? If it did, then what was the Central Government doing? The biggest question here would be is why the public of UP not raising its voice?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Blissful ignorance would be the perfect answer. Or would it?</span><br /><br /></span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/BangaloreChronicles" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml"><img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon32x32.png" alt="" style="border:0"/></a><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/BangaloreChronicles" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml">Subscribe in a reader</a></div>RockStahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09647266304022684368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8015581322414517950.post-3143126204748249102009-08-15T19:13:00.007+05:302009-08-15T19:30:35.551+05:30This Is Where We Stand After 62 Independent Years<span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" ><span style=""><br />“</span><a href="http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Hard-copy/entry/why-we-indians-fail-the">Why we Indians fail the nation</a><span style="">” by Ramesh Khazanchi is a good read. However there are a couple of points which require a different perspective. Here is my perspective on them.</span><br /><br /></span> <blockquote style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 204);">We keep our homes spanking clean and dump all the garbage outside, on the streets.</span></span></blockquote><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" ><br /><br />Should we be ashamed of our behavior? No. The civic agencies are corrupt, lazy and don’t clean the streets at all. I have never seen any worker from any of the civic agency cleaning the streets in my life and I have been living at one single place since my birth. Most of the families here have put in place a wonderful system of cleaning the street in front of their houses, either by employing a maid or doing it by themselves.<br /><br /><span style=""> The garbage collection system is erratic and the driver of the garbage truck is always drunk. Moreover, we pay him 20 – 50 bucks every now and then to ensure he does not forget to come and collect the garbage.</span><br /><br /><span style=""> What should we do, set up garbage disposal units outside our homes? I guess the civic agencies wouldn’t mind as it would give them another opportunity to fleece us with extra taxes, not that we are paying them enough already.</span><br /><br /><span style=""> The community bin concept does not work here as they are hardly cleared and always overflows. Obvious isn’t it? Oh and the one thing that the so called civic agencies are good at is sending notices if we fail to pay our taxes on time.</span><br /><br /></span> <blockquote style="font-family:trebuchet ms;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 204);">We routinely employ children below 14 years of age as domestic help or in jobs of hazardous nature.</span></span></blockquote><span style=";font-family:georgia;font-size:130%;" ><br /><br /><span style=""> I am totally against this as I believe in the basic fundamental right to education which these children are entitled to. But spare a thought for those who have received education and are languishing on the streets without jobs.</span><br /><br /><span style=""> What is the guarantee that the education will land the child a job? What if the child does not want to learn and wants to work in order to support a family. The child may be the sole bread winner for its family. Pulling the child out of a job and putting in front of a blackboard does not help as its family might die of hunger. The child might die of hunger. Learning to read and write does not satisfy the hunger pangs.</span><br /><br /><span style=""> Our social security system does not exist as it does in the developed countries that frown on such practices. The poor and the jobless are left in the lurch to fend for themselves, with no help coming from the government that is busy in introducing legislations for an increase in the salaries and perks of the netas. They don’t care if we are eating our own shit, as long as we are paying sanitary taxes on time.</span><br /><br /><span style=""> 62 years of independence, after spending countless years of being ruled under different invading hordes; does it matter anymore? Corruption is gnawing away at the roots of our freedom. How long will the stability last? Something’s got to give. Every day we inch closer to tag of a failed nation. (Look at Congo for an extreme example). All our successive Governments and their policies have failed us and we as citizens have failed it by not raising our voice against corruption and allowing it to flourish.</span><br /><br /></span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/BangaloreChronicles" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml"><img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon32x32.png" alt="" style="border:0"/></a><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/BangaloreChronicles" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml">Subscribe in a reader</a></div>RockStahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09647266304022684368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8015581322414517950.post-60645063252769843012009-08-07T15:04:00.002+05:302009-08-07T15:08:35.435+05:30Samsung Reclaim<span style="font-size:100%;"><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_0GCZ84cyqZo/Snv1pQuzXtI/AAAAAAAAAk4/3kCBryTaFyE/s1600-h/Samsung+Reclaim.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 97px; height: 200px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_0GCZ84cyqZo/Snv1pQuzXtI/AAAAAAAAAk4/3kCBryTaFyE/s200/Samsung+Reclaim.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5367153470156791506" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">It costs less than 50 dollars at Sprint and according to the Samsung, the Reclaim is 80 percent recyclable as it is made from bio-plastic. The packaging is made from 70 percent recyclable material, while the ink used for printing text and images on the package and the phone warranty is made from soy. The charger consumes about 12 times lesser power than the Energy Star standard.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Samsung has positioned it as an eco-friendly messaging phone. 2 dollars will go to the Nature Conservancy’s Adopt an Acre program in the U.S.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: trebuchet ms;">Image Courtesy: </span><a style="font-family: trebuchet ms;" href="http://www.samsungusanews.com/photo-gallery/wireless-products/?album=3&gallery=272">Samsung</a><br /><br /><br /></span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/BangaloreChronicles" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml"><img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon32x32.png" alt="" style="border:0"/></a><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/BangaloreChronicles" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml">Subscribe in a reader</a></div>RockStahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09647266304022684368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8015581322414517950.post-43462315280231605222009-08-02T00:35:00.000+05:302009-08-02T00:35:15.106+05:30Retour des Champions<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">What an amazing week it has been!<br />
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Seven time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong finished 3rd at this years Tour. Eight time Grand Prix winner “The Doctor” Valentino Rossi extended his lead in this years Moto GP Championship. Last but not the least; Michael Schumacher has announced his comeback to Formula 1 this year, albeit only as a replacement to the Felipe Massa.<br />
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However, there is the sad news of BMW confirming that this year would be its last in F1. But the good news is that 12 teams have signed a new Concorde Agreement that lasts until 2012.<br />
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I was really hoping that this year’s Tour de France would be dope free. But I guess I was hoping against hope. Mikel Astarloza, winner of the 16th stage, has tested positive for EPO and has been suspended by the ICU. Is he the only person to test positive for doping at this year’s Tour or will there be more? Only time will tell.<br />
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</span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/BangaloreChronicles" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml"><img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon32x32.png" alt="" style="border:0"/></a><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/BangaloreChronicles" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml">Subscribe in a reader</a></div>RockStahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09647266304022684368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8015581322414517950.post-64322926280668243482009-07-03T23:10:00.000+05:302009-07-03T23:10:03.816+05:30Festival of Cycling is back!<span style="font-size: small;"></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_0GCZ84cyqZo/Sk5CA86zLkI/AAAAAAAAAkU/LwLGMzLMslM/s1600-h/Tour+De+France.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_0GCZ84cyqZo/Sk5CA86zLkI/AAAAAAAAAkU/LwLGMzLMslM/s200/Tour+De+France.png" /></a></span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The Tour de France 2009 kicks of its 96th edition, covering roughly 3,500 kilometers over 21 days. But it not an ordinary tour as Lance Armstrong is back riding in his favorite event.<br />
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In terms of geographical boundaries, the tour will be passing through six countries this time around: Monaco, France, Spain, Andorra, Switzerland and Italy.<br />
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Another novelty is the communication between the riders and their team managers being banned in stages 10 and 13.<br />
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I am will be following this year’s event on the web, hoping against hope that it turns out dope free.<br />
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</span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/BangaloreChronicles" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml"><img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon32x32.png" alt="" style="border:0"/></a><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/BangaloreChronicles" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml">Subscribe in a reader</a></div>RockStahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09647266304022684368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8015581322414517950.post-61359063491897209252009-06-27T00:18:00.001+05:302009-06-27T00:22:00.308+05:30The King Lives On….In Our Hearts.<div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="color: #674ea7;">“We are the World….” he sang. We were the World to him. Now he is no longer in this World.</span></b></span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><blockquote><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: purple; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">There are people dying</span><br style="color: purple; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><span style="color: purple; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">And it's time to lend a hand to life</span><br style="color: purple; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;" /><span style="color: purple; font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The greatest gift of all</span></span></blockquote></div><br />
<div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b style="color: red;">There were none to lend a helping hand to him when he was down with financial troubles. Creditors were always circling around him like vultures. They still are.</b></span></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><blockquote><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: purple; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">That a change will only come</span><br style="color: purple; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;" /><span style="color: purple; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">When we stand together as one</span></span></blockquote></div><br />
<div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b style="color: #e06666;">That change never happened because he was the only one who believed in it.</b></span></div><br />
<div style="color: purple; text-align: center;"><blockquote><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Heal the world</span><br style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;" /><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Make it a better place</span><br style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;" /><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">For you and for me and the entire human race.</span></span></blockquote></div><br />
<div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b style="color: #6aa84f;">The world was a better place when he was there. Now that he has gone, the world will never be the same again.</b></span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b style="color: #0b5394;">Nevertheless, the King of Pop lives on having moon-walked into our hearts, forever.</b></span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b style="color: #0b5394;"><br />
</b></span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><span style="color: #666666;">Long live the King! May his soul rest in peace.</span></b></span></div><b><br style="color: #666666;" /></b><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/BangaloreChronicles" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml"><img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon32x32.png" alt="" style="border:0"/></a><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/BangaloreChronicles" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml">Subscribe in a reader</a></div>RockStahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09647266304022684368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8015581322414517950.post-58177986830743013012009-06-26T22:14:00.000+05:302009-06-26T22:14:44.897+05:30Formula One has averted the crisis - for now<span style="font-size: small;"></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_0GCZ84cyqZo/SkT6k1fLBOI/AAAAAAAAAkM/IeGkTI6RcVg/s1600-h/Kiran.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_0GCZ84cyqZo/SkT6k1fLBOI/AAAAAAAAAkM/IeGkTI6RcVg/s200/Kiran.jpg" /></a></span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">The revolt has been put down, compromises has been made and the show goes on. The eight teams have agreed to participate in the 2010 Formula One World Championship until 2012 and eventually cut costs to the levels of the early 1990’s. In return, the FIA has agreed to impose no further regulations. The 2009 regulations as well as further regulations agreed prior to 29 April 2009 will be in force for 2010 and onwards.<br />
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The big cheer is that FIA President Max Mosley will not to stand for re-election in October this year.<br />
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Gentlemen, start your engines.<br />
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</span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/BangaloreChronicles" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml"><img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon32x32.png" alt="" style="border:0"/></a><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/BangaloreChronicles" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml">Subscribe in a reader</a></div>RockStahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09647266304022684368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8015581322414517950.post-57795423378386652922009-06-20T16:46:00.000+05:302009-06-20T16:46:20.514+05:30Formula One no more!<span style="font-size: small;"></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;"></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; font-size: small;"></span><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_0GCZ84cyqZo/SjzDwbxAbFI/AAAAAAAAAkE/MqAmkzHcKn0/s1600-h/Formula+One+Flag.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_0GCZ84cyqZo/SjzDwbxAbFI/AAAAAAAAAkE/MqAmkzHcKn0/s320/Formula+One+Flag.png" /></a>The news hasn’t sunk in yet. In fact, it refuses to sink in. A formula one race featuring Williams, Force India and a couple of entrants, is simply not acceptable. It is not the Formula 1 that I am so familiar with, having watched the likes of Benetton’s, Jordan’s, Minardi’s, McLaren’s, Renault’s, BMW’s, Ferrari’s jostling for positions at the first corner.<br />
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I am still hoping that the FIA and FOTA would put aside their differences and continue racing. But that would only satisfy my greed.<br />
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Watching cars trundling around in a procession is not exactly exhilarating. At one point in time, certain manufacturers with deep financial pockets had achieved so much of technological development on their cars; they were ahead of others at least by two years. This resulted in the same old teams racking up podium finishes while the rest were just also-rans, filling up the grid. This made Formula 1 boring. In order to bring parity, the FIA continued introducing fresh rule changes almost every year, thereby reducing the technological gap. It almost paid off this year where the Brawn’s have dominated along with the Red Bull and a couple of other manufacturers putting in competitive performances.<br />
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But at what cost? The regulations have made the F1 races less thrilling to watch. Technically speaking, the engine size has been constantly whittled down. The cars are no longer as fast as they used to be in the 70’s and the 80’s. Simply putting it, it is no longer the driver stomping on the gas pedal and going as fast as possible, harking back to the old adage: better the driver faster the car. Just look what technology has done these days. There is no point having a supremely gifted driver driving the car because the car is the limiting factor. There is so much of electronics aiding the driver these days; one does not need to be a Senna or Schumacher.<br />
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Formula One is supposed to represent the ultimate, to be the most advanced and most competitive racing formula. However, with budget caps and regulations it is no longer Formula One. High end sports cars these days almost match the performances of a Formula One. That should say it all. Formula One is supposed to be “the next level” that is very difficult to reach. Sadly they have it all screwed up.<br />
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I have never seen the yellow helmet race, having tuned in to F1 when the red one was making its mark. We will never see them again. I will probably stop watching Formula One as it has come to embody rules, regulations, budgets and restrictions. It is not about racing anymore.<br />
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</span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/BangaloreChronicles" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml"><img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon32x32.png" alt="" style="border:0"/></a><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/BangaloreChronicles" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml">Subscribe in a reader</a></div>RockStahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09647266304022684368noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8015581322414517950.post-21690673572057056322009-06-01T23:43:00.001+05:302009-06-01T23:45:24.260+05:30Chhattisgarh: Flattering to deceive?<span style="font-size: small;"></span><br />
<div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_0GCZ84cyqZo/SiQZlIK4zEI/AAAAAAAAAj8/Nj5PCYVO3eI/s1600-h/Clip+art+courtesy+-+clker.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_0GCZ84cyqZo/SiQZlIK4zEI/AAAAAAAAAj8/Nj5PCYVO3eI/s200/Clip+art+courtesy+-+clker.png" /></a> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">Chhattisgarh, carved out of Madhya Pradesh as the 26th state is largely a forested area dominated by tribals and blessed with rich mineral resources.<br />
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The <a href="http://www.pppinindia.com/state-economy-chhattisgarh.asp">Ministry of Finance</a>, Government of India, the state government has decided to set up four 'Star Industrial Areas in the districts of Bilaspur, Raigarh, Rajnandgaon and Raipur.<br />
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Chhattisgarh is rich in minerals. It is endowed with rich deposits of coal, iron ore and bauxite. No wonder Chhattisgarh has integrated steel and aluminium factories. The state also has deposits of copper-ore, manganese ore, rock phosphate and limestone. Most of the mining activity is concentrated in the areas of Raipur (cement), Korba (coal), Durg (iron ore and dolomite) and Bastar (tin and corundum). Though mining holds a bright future for the state, a substantial portion of the regions identified with mineral resources are covered by forest areas and/or occupied by tribal communities, thereby making their extraction impossible.<br />
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Anyone reading the above mentioned facts would feel that the state is poised on the cusp of development.<br />
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Let’s do a reality check.<br />
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I came across a document on the web that labeled Chhattisgarh as “a rich state inhabited by poor people.” It boasts of a Per Capita Income of $ 264 which works out to 72 cents per day. The tribals’ eke out a living by selling forest products. However, even this occupation has been endangered as the government seeks to rehabilitate tribals away from the forests with an eye on the rich mineral deposits. The government has been acquiring land for industrial activities, saying that the ‘industrialization’ would benefit the tribals. I wonder how?<br />
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On the other hand, the tribals also have to contend with naxals on one side and the Salwa Judum on the other. They are caught between the devil and the deep blue sea. Reports of Naxals massacring the tribals are plenty and so are the reports that the state government backed civilian militia, the Salwa Judum who loot, murder, rape the tribals regularly with impunity. Ultimately, it works to the government’s advantage as the tribals flee their birthplaces to the neighboring states, thereby posing no threat to the land acquisitions.<br />
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The ordeal does not end there. The tribals who have flown the coop to other states are suspiciously looked upon as supporters of naxalites and are being denied basic amenities.<br />
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This is the real face of India. The government prefers to cater to mining and industrial lobby rather than the welfare of these dirt poor tribals in Chhattisgarh.<br />
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Ramachandra Guha portrays a more vivid picture in his article “<a href="http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070716/guha/single">A War in the Heart of India</a>.”<br />
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</span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/BangaloreChronicles" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml"><img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon32x32.png" alt="" style="border:0"/></a><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/BangaloreChronicles" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml">Subscribe in a reader</a></div>RockStahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09647266304022684368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8015581322414517950.post-34324410037893828132009-05-23T23:11:00.000+05:302009-05-23T23:11:31.958+05:30Children of God<span style="font-size: small;"></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_0GCZ84cyqZo/Shg0hFAI1UI/AAAAAAAAAjs/hE4zRo1wWkI/s1600-h/blood+bar.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_0GCZ84cyqZo/Shg0hFAI1UI/AAAAAAAAAjs/hE4zRo1wWkI/s320/blood+bar.gif" /></a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_0GCZ84cyqZo/Shg0tfpfjOI/AAAAAAAAAj0/Wxe1ikgXzeQ/s1600-h/i-heart-god.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_0GCZ84cyqZo/Shg0tfpfjOI/AAAAAAAAAj0/Wxe1ikgXzeQ/s200/i-heart-god.jpg" /></a></span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">I had <a href="http://bangalorechronicles.blogspot.com/2009/04/conflict-minerals-and-rape.html">written</a> earlier about Congo being the most unsafe place in the world for women. Let me add children to the list too. Children are being looked upon as unnecessary burden. Families accuse their children of being witches and throw them out onto the streets. It is even worse if it is a girl child because once they are thrown out onto the streets; they are raped and forced into prostitution.<br />
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Earlier, families used to accuse older members of being witches and throw them out, when they no longer were useful. With non-existent economy and the civil war still ravaging, children are being viewed as un-necessary burden. Hence, witchcraft is used as an excuse to get rid of them.<br />
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Congo being one of the poorest nations in the world, has spawned corrupt Christian pastors who are making a quick buck by performing brutal and mentally scarring exorcisms. Please refer to this <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=7613395">ABC News article</a> that chronicles in details the horrific rituals, both in print and video.<br />
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According to UNICEF, 70 percent of the 20,000 street children in Kinshasa have been accused of being witches. Most of the families living in Congo have experienced, at one point of time either death, divorce, rape and sometimes all of them. Out of desperation and belief, when they turn to God for deliverance the corrupt pastors mislead them by accusing the children in their family as the root cause for their evils and that they are witches.<br />
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It is a costly deliverance too as the pastors’ charge anywhere between $50. It gets worse when families cannot afford the costly exorcism and they resort to beating, burning, starving and in the extreme cases – murder their children. The ordeal does not enc there for families who can afford such barbaric rituals. The children, who are exorcised, are often thrown out of the house as they appear to be tainted in the eyes of their family members.<br />
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The Congolese government is of the view that it is legal to accuse children as long as there is proof. All it takes for a child in Congo to be labeled as a witch is to have big eyes, black eyes or a bulging tummy.<br />
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I was wondering how much worse it could get. In the near future, will I be writing a blog post on cannibalism in Congo? If parents are desperate enough to throw their own children out on to streets, then the time wouldn’t be far away when we might hear about parents devouring their own children! Maybe I have watched too many horror movies.<br />
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Please visit the following links for more details on the horrific witchery that is ravaging Congo:<br />
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http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1130/p12s01-woaf.html<br />
http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=7613395<br />
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2009-01-30-congo-children_N.htm<br />
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A quick Google search would throw up many more horror stories.<br />
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<b style="color: red;">TIA – This Is Africa, the cradle of our civilization. What went wrong?<br />
</b><br />
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</span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/BangaloreChronicles" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml"><img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon32x32.png" alt="" style="border:0"/></a><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/BangaloreChronicles" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml">Subscribe in a reader</a></div>RockStahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09647266304022684368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8015581322414517950.post-54651983136180538252009-05-22T14:38:00.000+05:302009-05-22T14:38:27.105+05:3080 Feet Road in all its glory!<span style="font-size: small;"></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_0GCZ84cyqZo/ShZp2LHGPyI/AAAAAAAAAjU/YVE4zEAK5sM/s1600-h/Photo+0097.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_0GCZ84cyqZo/ShZp2LHGPyI/AAAAAAAAAjU/YVE4zEAK5sM/s200/Photo+0097.jpg" /></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_0GCZ84cyqZo/ShZp4eRp_CI/AAAAAAAAAjc/SD_-7CvXa80/s1600-h/Photo+0098.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_0GCZ84cyqZo/ShZp4eRp_CI/AAAAAAAAAjc/SD_-7CvXa80/s200/Photo+0098.jpg" /></a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_0GCZ84cyqZo/ShZp7b9VD0I/AAAAAAAAAjk/iBY_vSGuWoU/s1600-h/Photo+0099.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_0GCZ84cyqZo/ShZp7b9VD0I/AAAAAAAAAjk/iBY_vSGuWoU/s200/Photo+0099.jpg" /></a></span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
</span></div><div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">What an evening it was, providing some of us a much needed break. We jostled and took turns to stand near the window facing the 80 Feet Road, watching the rain in all its fury (a full 45 minutes of it dumping around 45.6 mm of water) and the hapless motorists and pedestrians struggling in knee deep water.<br />
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We gleefully encouraged the hesitant car drivers to go ahead on a 20 meter stretch of road submerged in 3-4 feet of water. We started betting amongst ourselves on which car would die in the pool of water and which one would scrape through safely. We watched in awe as the BMTC bus drivers drove through the pool of water, reminding me of WRC races.<br />
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Opportunists were earning money by offering a hand to push the stalled cars to safety. Talk about good Samaritans!<br />
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The cyclists were the hapless of the lot, wading in the water with the cars and bikes ploughing ahead around them. Some of them, including the bikers had opted to use the footpaths which were wrought with danger as some of the stone slabs on the footpaths were missing. We were watching all this from the 3rd floor window and only thing missing was a packet of hot roasted peanuts.<br />
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Once the water had drained away, the road was left covered with sand and stones, making it quite a motor cross experience riding home.<br />
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Bangalore is already groaning while the monsoons are yet to come. As usual, the BBMP, despite their tall claims that Bangalore would be better prepared this monsoon; gave inexplicable excuses for the flooding that Bangalore had witnessed yesterday.<br />
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PS: I apologize for the low quality pictures as they were taken using a cell phone camera (2.0 MP) from a window on 3rd floor.<br />
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</span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/BangaloreChronicles" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml"><img src="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/images/pub/feed-icon32x32.png" alt="" style="border:0"/></a><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/BangaloreChronicles" title="Subscribe to my feed" rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml">Subscribe in a reader</a></div>RockStahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09647266304022684368noreply@blogger.com0