Shocking!

Rs. 1000 crores for a birthday bash! So shocking, it leaves me dumbfounded.

saang saang bholaanaath, barfa paDel kaay...

...office bhovati barfa saaThun suTTee miLel kaay?


Well, someone's prayers have been answered with a vangence! It's the second day Seattle is at home. The entire city and its neighbourhoods are drowned in snow. Not an inch of ground in sight. The entire landscape is covered with snow. Tons and tons of snow. Bored of brown and green, nature wanted some change of colour, and it chosen white. Ground, trees, houses, cars, roads - everything has been whitewashed! It's so beautiful all around!

I will upload some photographs.

rab ne banayee joDi

Saw rab ne banaayee joDee on Friday evening. It's a decent movie. Worth watching once.

First snow of the season!

As forecasted, it snowed yesterday evening. I love snow. Everything is so beautiful when covered with snow. It started snowing at around 6 p.m. At 7 p.m. we drove to Boeing Museum Flight, where had an office party. The drive to Boeing was exiting. While returning it was snowing heavily, which was very thrilling! At midnight we went for a drive in the snow.

The tempreture this week is expected to remain sub-zero (do they call it sub-thirty two over here?). That's quite cold by Seattle standards.

Not just Shivaraj, the entire government has to go!

The attitude of Congress governments in Centre and the states, towards Islamic terrorism in India, can be summed up in one statement made by R.R. Patil - "baDe shahron mein aise ek aadh haadse hote rahte hain". It seemed as if he was speaking on behalf of Congressmen and all other 'secular' politicians in our country.

One of the first decisions taken by UPA government when it came to power was to abrogate POTA. Ever since terrorists have had a field day. Islamic terrorism has spread to all over the country. They have struck every state barbarously and with shocking audacity. And the governments are in deep slumber, dreaming of their Muslim vote bank. It doesn't matter how many innocent lives are lost. These are just minor irritations, as R.R. Patil explains us, in their journey towards power.

It is more than two years that Supreme Court of India convicted Afzal Guru, who was involved in attacks on the Parliament. The government has done it best to stop his execution, despite public opinion to the contrary. Soon after the grieving for the victims of Mumbai terrorist attacks is over, we will the media and politicians displaying their sympathy for Azam Amir Kasav, the lone terrorist captured alive.

This government is not a government of the people. It's a government of terrorists, working for terrorists. The earlier it goes, the safer will be our country.

Shock & condemnation not adequate reactions

Just expressing shock and condemning attacks is not adequate reaction to Islamic terrorist attacks in Mumbai. The government has to take tackle terrorism with seriousness and keep vote bank politics aside. Turning a blind eye to Islamic terrorism has allowed it to grow beyond any imaginable limit.

Oridinary citizens should not tolerate government ineptitude. We have to react strongly against this useless government that has not done anything to contain terrorism.

Bought an iPod

I am not a fan of gadgets and gizmos. I first heard of iPod couple of years ago. I knew that it was some gadget from Apple to play music, which had become the latest craze. But my knowledge was limited to that much until recently. When Poornima started asking me to buy an iPod earlier this year, I ignored it. On her birthday, I made first attempt to understand what iPods and MP3 Players are. I remember doing a google on 'difference between an iPod & MP3 Player' a few months back. Then I made an unsuccessful attempt at buying an MP3 Player. I searched the web to buy an MP3 Player online. But the more I searched, the more confused I became.

One day Poornima and I searched the Net for cheap models of MP3 Players and iPods. She liked iPod Nano, but I thought it was too costly at $150. We then gave up on the idea without a fight. Then Diwali passed and I blissfully ignored shopping and gifting. Today is our 3rd wedding anniversary. Yesterday evening after coming back from office I walked to RadioShack and inquired about iPods. They had 3 models - the Shuffle, Nano and iTouch.

Shuffle was already rejected because it did not have a screen to view and select songs. I had gone there to buy Nano, which was priced at $150. When I saw iTouch for $220, I thought why not pay another $70 and buy it rather than buying Nano, which is a very basic iPod. So I immediately doled out $251 ($31 of tax over the price of the iPod) and purchased it.

That's the way I shop. I don't buy much stuff. I hate shopping and rarely buy anything for myself. When I buy, I don't waste much time on doing research. I just go out and buy what I like. I don't care much about the price. That's the way I am.

Anyway, the iPod is really cool and we are enjoying it!

Schindler's List

Poornima & I saw Schindler's List yesterday. It was the second time I saw it and I realized what an amazing movie it is! In Marathi there's a saying - vaalyaachaa valmeekee jhaalaa. That's really true about Oskar Schindler, who first began his business by exploiting Jewish labourers, but later gave up all his wealth to save the lives of as many Jews as he could.

In 1967, Schindler was honored at Israel's Yad Vashem memorial to the victims of the Holocaust as one of the Righteous Among the Nations, or "righteous Gentiles", an honor awarded by Israel to non-Jews who saved Jews during the Holocaust, at great personal risk. Schindler was the only former member of the Nazi party to be so recognized. He was also honored with the German Federal Cross of Merit and with the Papal Order of St. Sylvester during the 1960s. He is buried at the Catholic cemetery at Mount Zion in Jerusalem, the only member of the Nazi party to be so honored.

Historic day for America - Obama wins

It is quite exciting to witness this historic day for America - Obama has won! Opinion polls had indicated that Obama was in the lead. However nobody had written off McCain, until at around 8:30 pm PST, he conceded defeat in front of his supporters in Arizona, Biltmore, and congrulated Obama, now the President Elect of the USA. It was a very interesting campaign. First Obama-Hillary fight and then the Obama-McCain dual - both very interesting.

I had watched all the 3 debates between Obama and McCain, and Obama had impressed me with his views and thoughts. His views are extremely rational and progressive. To top it, he is an extraordinary orator. His victory speech should have been very inspiring to Americans.

Tonight, however, I was also impressed by the speech that McCain made. The graciously manner in which he accepted defeat was exemplary.

Quote

A nice quotation I came across in an email signature of someone at work:

"Let your mind be a prism for your thoughts, focusing on the subject of your choice and burning through to the truth".

Go-live! A sense of satisfaction

After close to three years of work our project went live today. For me it was culmination of an year of toil. It gives a great feeling of satisfaction to know that all the efforts have borne sweet fruit!

Happy Diwali!!

This year Diwali has been much better than last year. The weather has been much more pleasant. There has been a lot of sunshine until recently. Even in first week of November we can go out without having to wear thermals. We can even keep our windows open! This gentle weather has made Diwali more pleasant. It is only after coming to this western world and experiencing the harsh weather here that one realizes the obsession of the people here about weather. When so much of your joy is linked to the whims of weather, it is no wonder that the people here become obsessed with it and discuss it so frequently. Here, in Seattle, no day passes without mention of weather. We discuss weather with every other person we meet. It's either a great day or a lousy day depending on whether the weather is sunny or not.

Google Chrome

I have installed Google Chrome on one of my laptops. It seems to be a good browser. Like all other Google products it's designed to spare the user of the pain of being bombarded by pop-ups, flash and other attention-sucking bombardments.

There is one issue I have observed. When you press Esc key while watching videos in full-screen mode on youtube, Chrome hangs. However, you can recover from that, and it doesn't get stuck so badly that you have to kill it.

Sense & Sensibility

On Friday, Poornima & I saw Sense & Sensibility on a DVD. It was nice movie. Poornima was releived to finally watch a movie with a happy ending. Last three movies before Sense & Sensibility were Muqaddar ka Sikandar, Braveheart and Gone with the Wind - all of which had tragic endings.

Last year I had read Jane Austen's Sense & Sensibility. It enjoyed the movie more than the book, because the movie was more fast-paced than the book. Emma Thompson has played Elinor well and so has Alan Rickman (who played Prof. Snape in Harry Potter) played the role of Col. Brandon. Kate Winslet and High Grant have done a fair job of Marianne and Edward Ferrars respectively.

It rained!

It rained here this weekend. The sky was overcast for most of the two days, with sun peeking in through the clouds a few times on Sunday afternoon. This rainy weekend marks then end of the short summer and marks the begining of long depressing cold and wet season that will last till June next year! :-(

Reading

What am I reading these days - John Grisham's Playing for Pizza....
though I better be reading Rita Mulcahy's PMP Prep Guide!

Loose English

People often confuse between similar sounding words while talking or writing. We often see people incorrectly using ‘there’ in place of ‘their’ or ‘your’ in place of ‘you are’, etc. However, I haven’t seen any other word used incorrectly, more frequently than the word ‘loose’. I have seen people using the word ‘loose’ in place of ‘lose’ in personal emails, official emails, word documents; and today I saw it incorrectly used in Oracle User Guide.

Support the troops

Not so frequent this time around, however, when I visited the US in the fall of 2005, I frequently saw cars inscribed with message "Support the troups". Even then the US was fighting the war in Iraq. Ordinary Americans know well that often we can do very little for those who are risking their lives and fighting for us on the frontlines, except for providing them moral support. We, the people of India (belonging to religions) should give our moral support to the determined fightback being given by the Hindus of Jammu to long established policy of our governments of giving in to demands of Muslim seperatists and fundamentalists in Kashmir.

The lost inspiration

Where is the belief that made me wise?
Where is the inspiration that made me rise?
Where is the belief that defied the reality?
Where is the inspiration that delivered victory?

Where is the belief that made pain bearable at least?
Where is the inspiration that killed the beast?
Where is the belief that made this life worth the fight?
Where is the inspiration that made each dark day bright?

"Child, I led you this far. Now you go alone", are these words real?
Oh God! Say that not to me for I am still not able
How do I lead myself to inspiration?
When lost is the desire for salvation

Losing Trust & Confidence

Don Manmohan Singh and his gang of thugs took Indian democracy to a new low with most blatant use of bribery to stay in power. The whole thing was so shamelessly open that people are stunned to silence. This corrupt Congress government of crooks has lost whatever little moral right it had to rule the country.

Taller than the Statue of Liberty

The tallest of them all!!

Stop this!

Stop these unethical conversions. And preserve our culture and the integrity of our nation.

My nieces - Monu & Sonu

Monu on her baarasa.

Chocolate bones for loyal dogs!!

Political masters throw bones to their loyal dogs.

Lies about the man who stood for truth

“Right from 1948, I have been saying Gandhiji did not utter a word when he died. But no one listened to me. Tushar Gandhi has not even seen his great grandfather. How can he say that Gandhi said ‘Hey Ram’ while dying?” wondered Kalyanam. “While Gandhiji had repeatedly said that his wish was to die uttering the name of Lord Ram, that was not to be. He could not say a word when he was hit by the bullets,” added Kalyanam, Gandhiji's personal secretary, who was standing right behind Gandhiji on that fateful day.

Read the complete article: Mahatma did not utter a word when shot: personal secy

Wasn't it Nehru & his gang who perpetuated such lies about the man who is a symbol of truth and honeshty? Sixty years after Gandhiji's death the truth is being brought to light.

Day after so-called "Super Tuesday"

I hope he wins Democratic party nomination for presidential election in US. Why we do I support Obama? There are two reasons that come to my mind immediately - one, due to his multi-cultural background, he is more likely to be sensitive to the opinions of the rest of the world (something that most of the US don't even know exists), and two, he is not a spouse of an ex-President. It would ludicrous if Bush dynasty is voted out only to be replaced by Clinton dynasty.

Poornima's recipe site

Savour it.

Good article on Gujarat elections. Read it till the end.

Sri Lanka to promote Ramayana sites

Sri Lanka to promote Ramayana sites. Interesting!!

Know the facts

Over last one month almost every news article on Gujarat elections mentioned one ugly word about Gujarat riots - "pogrom". Yet our so-called "secular" media avoids using this word when (on rarest of all occasions) they write about the 1984 anti-sikh riots executed by Congress following Indira Gandhi's assassination by her Sikh bodyguards.

Every Indian voter who is concerned about communalism in India should read about what happened in 1984. Mentioned above is a good link from wikipedia. Only thing the wikipedia article does not mention is that in 5 days of rioting, 2733 Sikhs were killed (these are official figures, real figures might be higher), while the entire government machinery watched in silence. (On 4th Nov 1984 alone, 1000 Sikhs were killed!). Compare these figures with 254 Hindus and 790 Muslims killed in over two months in post-Godhra riots in Gujarat.

Know the facts, then read your favourite newspaper.

How Indian "secular" media labels events

While reading news reports on BJP's election victory in Gujarat, I came across this post by a reader on rediff, which is a beautiful expose of the India's "secular" media. Here it goes:

---
* Sikhs getting slaughered in thousands = A MISTAKE.
* Hindus getting killed in Kashmir in thousands = Political problem.
* Muslims getting killed by a few hundred = Holocaust.
* Poor protestors getting shot in WB under Left Govt = Misunderstanding.

* Banning Parzania in Gujarat = Communal.
* Banning Da Vinci Code and Jo Bole So Nihaal = Secular.

* Kargil Attack = Government failure.
* Chinese invasion in 1962 = Unfortunate betrayal.

* Fake encounters in Gujarat [Sohrabuddin] = BJP Communalism.
* Fake encounters under Cong-NCP in Maharashtra [Khwaja Younus] = Police atrocity.

* Talking about Hindus and Hinduism appeasment = Communal
* Talking about Muslims and Islam = Secular.

* BJP freeing 3 terrorists to save 100 Indian hostages = Shameful
* Congress freeing 4 militants to save just a life of one daughter of a
Congress minister in Kashmir [Rubina Sayed] = Natural Political dilemma.

* Attack on Parliament = BJP ineptitude
* Not hanging Afzal Guru the mastermind despite Supreme Court orders =
Humanity and Political dilemma.

* BJP questioning Islam = Communal.
* Congress questioning Lord Rama existance = Clerical Error.
Is there any end to Congress and it shameless supporters hypocrisy
---

Depressing days

My last 2 months here in US have been so depressing. I had thought that my confined state, on account of not having a car, was causing me to be depressed, and that once I get a car, I will start feeling better. However that has not happened. Although the car has made life easier, it hasn't alleviated the general gloom that I am experiencing. I am feeling home-sick. I wish I were in India. Much of what I feel is because of the situation at work than anything else. I must bear this situation for many more months. The weather in Seattle doesn't help make things better either. (Seattle has the highest rate of depression and suicides in US, and it is largely attributed to its perennially overcast weather). I pray to God to give me patience and strenght to go through this depressing days.

Minorityism at its worst

Good editorial from The Statesman: Minorityism at its worst

Little to write about

There is little to write about.

Missing India

It's two months since I came to US. And never before have I missed India so much. Every moment I feel that I was better off in India. I have stayed in other parts of world, outside India. I stayed for six months in Korea; seven months in UK. I had come to US before. But never before have I missed India so much as I do now.

Patna University tries to break down caste barriers in its hostels

What is a "Smiley Curve"?

China is said to be at the flat middle portion of the smiley curve.

But what is this "Smiley Curve"?

The curve is named for the U-shaped arc of the 1970s-era smiley-face icon, and it runs from the beginning to the end of a product’s creation and sale. At the beginning is the company’s brand: HP, Siemens, Dell, Nokia, Apple. Next comes the idea for the product: an iPod, a new computer, a camera phone. After that is high-level industrial design—the conceiving of how the product will look and work. Then the detailed engineering design for how it will be made. Then the necessary components. Then the actual manufacture and assembly. Then the shipping and distribution. Then retail sales. And, finally, service contracts and sales of parts and accessories.

The significance is that China’s activity is in the middle stages—manufacturing, plus some component supply and engineering design—but America’s is at the two ends, and those are where the money is. The smiley curve, which shows the profitability or value added at each stage, starts high for branding and product concept, swoops down for manufacturing, and rises again in the retail and servicing stages. The simple way to put this—that the real money is in brand name, plus retail—may sound obvious, but its implications are illuminating.

The implication of this is that although Americans import huge volumes of manufactured goods from China, most of the money spent on those imports stays in American hands. For e.g. not much of Apple's iPod is manufactured in the United States, but the majority of value added is captured by Apple... Apple made $80 in gross profit on a 30-gigabyte video iPod that retails for $299. Its profit is 36 percent of the estimated wholesale price of $224. [Not to mention the retail profit, if it is sold in an Apple store.] The total cost of parts was $144.

References:
The Personal Computing Industry Center at the University of California
More on the "smiley curve": China makes, Apple takes

Philanthropy

NRI doc donates $20 mn to a village

India needs more such philanthropists. Nay, we have to be one of such philanthropists.

upaas

Peace of mind

I searched for "Peace of mind" on google. The second link I got was from hinduism.about.com -

Ten Commandments for Peace of Mind

The ten commandments are -
1. Do not interfere in others' business
2. Forget and forgive
3. Do not crave for recognition
4. Do not be jealous
5. Change yourself according to the environment
6. Endure what cannot be cured
7. Do not bite more than you can chew
8. Meditate regularly
9. Never leave the mind vacant
10. Do not procrastinate and never regret

Read the full article for elaboration.

Our car, Getz!!

Snaps from Cambridge

 

 

 

Relaxed but bored

It is a holiday today. I slept all through the morning and continued my reading of Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility in the afternoon. It is good relaxed day. Something that I haven't got in a long time. But I am bored and feeling a bit dull. I need something to keep my mind engrossed and alert.

Back in India

I am now back in India. Getting used to Pune life. Busy in completing a lot of activities that were pending since long. Nothing much to write about. One interesting episode. After coming back from UK, I visited a cousin of mine. He told me of another mutual relative of ours who stays in US. Speaking about his stay in US, he told my cousin, "When I go to US, I miss India, and when I come back to India I long to go back to US"! This is a very common situation of many NRIs. My cousin asked me whether I felt the same. I said that when I love my stays abroad, and when I am back in India, I love the life over here. Baba commented that it's all about considering the glass half empty or half full. On a different occassion, but on the same subject, Poornima said that when we are abroad we long our friends and relatives to visit us, and when we are back in India, we wish we got more time to be alone.

What happened under Aurangzeb?

"Aurangzeb ordered all Hindu temples to be destroyed. The number of temples destroyed by Aurangzeb is counted in four figures. Sikh Guru Tegh Bahadur was beheaded because he objected to Aurangzeb's forced conversions. Nehru might have known about them, but chose to keep quiet and instructed his historians to downplay Aurangzeb's destructive drive and instead praise him as a benefactor of arts. Since then Indian historians have done the same and betrayed their allegiance to truth. Aurangzeb was the Hitler, the asura of medieval India. No street is named after Hitler in the West, yet in New Delhi we have Aurangzeb Road.

People might say: 'OK, this is all true, Aurangzeb was indeed a monster, but why rake up the past, when we have tensions between Muslims and Hindus today?' The first is that no nation can move forward unless its children are taught to look squarely at their own history, the good and the bad, the evil and the pure. The argument that looking at one's history will pit a community against the other does not hold either.

Today the Shariat has been voted in Kashmir, a state of democratic, secular India, UP's Muslims have applauded, and the entire Indian media which went up in flames when the government wanted Vande Mataram to be sung, kept quiet. The spirit of Aurangzeb seems to triumph."

These are some excerpts from Francois Gautier's splendid article on Aurangzeb and our outlook towards our history.

About Scotland and a bit of its history

Haven't you wondered on seeing Scotland's football team playing in world cup why do we have Scotland's football team in the world cup? After all we don't have Maharashtra cricket team in cricket world cup, we have Indian cricket team. So why do we have Scotland (and England and Wales) team(s) and not a British football team? After all England, Scotland, Wales and N. Ireland are four "states" that make up UK. I am sure you would have wondered. I too could not understand this until I came to UK and visited Scotland.

The reason is that Scotland is not a "state" of UK in a way Maharashtra is a state of India. In fact England, Scotland, and Wales are never refered to as "states" of UK. Even in UK, England, Scotland, and Wales are refered to as countries that make up UK. Well, if England, Scotland, and Wales are countries, then what is UK? UK as the name suggests is a Kingdom. And England, Scotland, and Wales are component countries that (along with N. Ireland) make the United Kingdom. It takes some time to understand this and being here in UK helps.

When I was in Scotland for a few days in November, I spotted a very widespread and conspicuous contempt among the Sctoish people for England and Englishmen. A little knowledge of history of Scotland helped me understand why it was so. All through the Medieval period England and Scotland fought each other, with England often having an upper hand. The way we feel about Shivaji and Rana Pratap, the Scots talk about William Wallace, who fought fought for Scotland's freedom from English occupaction. (He was captured by the English in 1305, beheaded after brutal torture, and his limbs thrown in four corners of Britain. He was 35 years of age then).

(hope to continue later)

Beautiful Thames

A beautiful snap taken from the Golden Jubilee Bridge on Thames river in London. On one bank is London Eye (the huge wheel) and on the other bank is Westminster (British Parliament) & the Big Ben (the tower with the clock). Rays of of setting sun are beautifully reflected from a skyscraper.

Let the truth be known to all

There is a quiet controversy going round with a website alleging Rahul Gandhi having gangraped daughter of a Congress party worker in Amethi. As expected, the Indian media has swept the issue under the carpet. If it had been any other politician or celibrity the media would be sensationalized the issue, held its own investigation, given its decision and convicted the person. But not when somebody from the Nehru-Gandhi family is involved.

Internet Service Providers in India have blocked the website. The so-called intellectuals of our country to whom freedom of speech is so important are silent about it. Again that is to be expected. However other websites across the globe have picked up the issue. So you might be able to read the same stuff here, assuming that this site isn't blocked in India.

These allegations may be false. They may be true. In either case, the truth has to be investigated, told to all, and appropriate legal action has to be taken. Unfortunately like all alleged crimes of the Nehru-Gandhi family, this issue too will be covered up. Those who loathe the Nehru-Gandhi family would blindly believe this allegation to be true, many others would blindly believe it to be false, while most of the people of our country would never hear about it at all. And that's not a good thing to happen. The truth should be known to all.

Sanskrit

Our President Dr Abdul Kalam on the importance of Sanskrit.

Surya Siddhanta

I have written only 25 posts in 2006 (of which 4 are still in draft state), compared to 179 posts I wrote in 2004-05. It is not because I was too busy last year or because I have lost interest in blogging (after getting married, as you would be tempted to add). It's because I didn't have internet at home last year. But now I do have internet connection at home, so I think there will be more frequent entries on this blog than in near past. And hopefully most of those entries won't be links to articles from newspapers and other sources.

Having said that, I am too tempted to refer you to this link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Standard_Time#History

An excerpt:
"One of the earliest descriptions of standard time in India appeared in the 4th century CE (i.e. AD) astronomical treatise Surya Siddhanta. Postulating a spherical earth, the book defined the prime meridian, or zero longitude, as passing through Avanti, the ancient name for the historic city of Ujjain (23°11′N 75°45′E), and Rohitaka, the ancient name for Rohtak (28°54′N 76°38′E), a city near the historic battle-field of Kurukshetra."

Unfortunately, you will never read this in any history book in India. Because the government-published history of India begins with the Mughals and ends on 15th August 1947 (while remaining silent on all the atrocities commited on the people by Muslim rulers in this period). But our great nation existed before the the marauders conquered it and has great stories to tell of that era. We have to read about it and tell it to all. In my own insignificant way I continue to do that here.