A relaxed weekend

Last 3 weekends, I skied at Snoqualmie. When I went skiing for the first time 3 weeks ago with Ravikant, I was worried it would leave me too tired the rest of the week. However, I survived that week and went skiing the following weekend also. I decided I won't do skiing the next weekend and take some rest. However, the week after that, the weather was great and some of my colleagues decided they wanted to try skiing too. I couldn't have let them down. We did Skiing on Saturday. I took some rest on Sunday, but it wasn't sufficient. Fatigue made me sick the rest of the week. This weekend, I have decided to take rest. I haven't stepped out of house last 27 hours, and I hope I don't have to go out next 27.

I saw a nice movie yesterday. Richard Gere's An officer and a gentleman. It was a wonderful movie. I loved it. Right now I am half watching 1950's In a lonely place. I am half browsing the web. I don't fully follow English movies until I watch with full concentration. I think it's a good movie, but not a great movie. I plan to watch another movie tomorrow. But haven't decided which one.

A - Z of Congress achievements

I had read this on a message board on Rediff. I liked it but didn't copy it down. It reappeared in the form of an email from Vikas Kerkar:

Spread these achievements and help Congress and others to get back in power.

A: Afzal guru not hanged by the congress government inspite of SC order.
B: Bomb blasts happen in hundreds, in 5 years of Congress misrule.
C: Cost of living and food prices rise, making life difficult for Aam aadmi.
D: Dr Manmohan Singh says muslims have first right to India’s resources.
E: Economy and business suffer like never before.
F: Farmer suicides continue. Where did our money for ‘farmers loan waiver’ go?
G: Gujarat police has to provide evidence to enable SIMI ban to continue.
H: Home Minister shivraj patil kicked out only after 4.5 years of sleep and 26/11.
I: India bullied by china, but NO diplomatic response by the government.
J: Jihadis offered pension in Kashmir by the congress government.
K: karunanidhi and congress insult Lord Ram and call Lord Ram a fake.
L: LeT becomes a household name, before congress forced to re-do POTA.
M: Media makes Hindu bashing a fashion.
N: Naxalism active in 165 districts of India.
O: Orissa conversions by missionaries lead to assassination of Hindu saint.
P: Padmashri awards not given to Olympic winners. Padmashris given to mediamen, who are now involved in pro-Congress propoganda.
Q: Quattarochi is helped to escape. Jai Mata Rome (sonia gandhi).
R: Report by Sachar committee advocates more minority appeasement.
S: SP’s amar singh calls Batla house encounter a fake.
T: Torture of Sadhvi Pragnya sanctioned by congress government.
U: UK rule over India was good for India, says PM Dr manmohan singh.
V: Vande Mataram NOT SUNG by PM and sonia gandhi. National shame.
W: Wheat imported by Sharad Pawar not fit for cattle..
X: (e)Xtremism bleeds our country. Soft approach on terror hurts us.
Y: YS Rajsekher Reddy sanctions subsidy for christians to visit Jerusalem.
Z: Zero development in fields like electricity generation, highways, etc.

Sikh massacre of 1984

3,000 Sikhs were massacred in 4 days by Congressmen in 1984 pogrom following the assassination of Indira Gandhi. 25 years later Congress government has given a clean chit to the perpetrators of the genocide. Read this report by two NGOs that investigated the carnage.

My Favourites

These are my favourites:

Favourite Novel: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper_Lee
Favourite non-fiction: What Religion Is by Swami Vivekanand
Favourite comic strip: Tintin
Favourite fictional characters: Salvatore Giuliano (The Sicilian), Atticus Finch (To Kill a Mockingbird)
Favourite Hindi movie: Deewar
Favourite English movie: The Bridge on the River Kwai
Favourite song: Noori Noori ... of course not! :-)
Favourite actor: Amitabh Bachchan
Favourite actress: Waheda Rehman? Nutan?
Favourite singer: Lata Mangeshkar
Favourite place: Myeong-Dong (in Seoul)
Favourite cities: Mumbai & London
Favourite season: Monsoon
Favourite sportsmen: V Anand, Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar
Favourite sport: Chess
Favourite freedom fighter: Lokmanya Tilak
Favourite politician: Atal Bihari Vajapayee
Favourite world leader: Abraham Lincoln
Favourite historical figures: Adi Shankaracharya and Shivaji
Favourite business leader: Narayan Murthy
Favourite scientists: Einstein, Darwin

What are yours?

I love DST

A couple of weeks ago when I left office at around 5:30 p.m. there was still some natural light. Until a few weeks ago it would be pitch dark long before 5 p.m. I noticed how the days are getting longer and was glad to see the change.

This Sunday the clock was moved ahead by 1 hour. At 2 a.m. on Sunday the clock skipped an hour and moved to 3 a.m. We moved from Pacific Standard Time (PST = GMT - 8 hrs) to Pacific Date Time (PDT = GMT - 7 hrs). This means that we have natural light for one more hour in the evening. This is such a welcome change after cold and dark winter. Today there was natural light even at 7:30 p.m.

A few months ago I had met someone from Phoenix, Arizona, who said that DST was useless (Arizona is the only state in the US that does not observe DST). I didn't think so, but I didn't argue with him, because then I wasn't so sure about myself. But next time some says it, I will surely support Daylight Savings. It's such a useful concept. Why waste an hour of natural light at wee hours of the morning when we are fast asleep (or trying not to wake up despite the light), when we can use it to light our evenings. I love Daylight Savings Time.

A plane with a view

It was not a part of our itinerary. When we planned our trip to San Diego and Los Angeles, we planned to see Sea World, Universal, Hollywood, and Disney. We even considered visiting LegoLand, an idea that we eventually dropped. However we never thought of adding Mount Rainier on our itinerary. You would say, it's obvious that you won't be visiting Mount Rainier if you are travelling to southern California.

To our utter surprise and much joy, we saw the most unexpected view of Mount Rainier on our way to California! How? Here's how it happened. The Seattle sky was covered with clouds as usual. For a moment we could see nothing as the airplane pierced through the layer of clouds. When the plane was above the clouds all we could see were clouds all the way to the end of the horizon, and one more thing - a huge Mount Rainier standing tall above all. It was a good view, but there was more to come. As the plane moved ahead it went very close to Mount Rainier. A few minutes later we were just top of Mount Rainier to its North West.

Then the plane took a turn and cruised to the south of the peak. The view that we had of the peak of Mount Rainier from the top was one of them most amazing views I have ever had in my lifetime. Unfortunately I did not have my camera at hand, and the fasten seatbelt sign was on. So I couldn't capture the picture for you all to see.

The most interesting personal email I ever got

I am so pathetic at replying to friends' e-mails and returning calls that I often drive my friends crazy. Here's an example of a good old friend of mine who went mad at me.

---
From: My Friend <"my_friend@gmail.com">
Date: Wed, Feb 25, 2009 at 4:50 AM
Subject: Congrats
To: Jayprakash Acharya <"me@gmail.com">

Dear Mr Jayprakash,

Congrats on your long journey from being a spectacular computer
engineer in an Indian MNC to top adviser to the Obama regime. I am
guessing by the lack of responses to my mails that you are actively
involved in battling the multi headed Hydra that is the current
financial mess. Infact its more difficult to get a response from you
than it is to contact Mr Obama.

I am confident that with such dedication napping at its heels the
financial issue is all but licked. Please accept my humble
congratulations again and do deign to respond at your earliest
convenience.

Thanks in advance for your valued response which shall be awaited with
bated breath and the right expression of fascination and awe.

warm regards
Real Name (aka Nickname)
---


My dear friend, you are amazing!

Monday musings

All things come to an end. My stay here will also come to an end some day not too far away.

One Oscar to Lagaan ...

This year's Oscars have been swept by Slumdog Millionaire. Earlier, there has been debate within India about this movie and how people reacted to it. Amitabh Bachchan in his blog had criticized the movie for showing India in bad light, but he was criticized by others for it. It is likely that the debate will be opened again. So, I would like to make my contribution to the debate by voicing my opinions.

Let me first begin by saying that the individuals (A.R.Rehman, Sampoorna Singh Gulzar, and the rest of the team) who delivered world-class performance need to be congratulated. No other team of Indians in the past has shown such a performance at the Oscars. So, kudos to them.

Now let's talk about the result of their work. The way the movie portrays India is not something that will make us proud. One might say that poverty is a reality in India and so there is nothing wrong in showcasing it to the world. Well, that's right. Poverty is a reality in India. It is only as much a reality as India's mission to moon or India's nuclear program or India's rise from a third-world country to a potential economic superpower within a short span of less than two decades. It is no more a reality than India being the largest market of mobile phone connections.

India has list of spectacular achievements and spectacular failures to its credit. What do we want the world to see and know about us? Our failures or successes? Things that make us proud or things that make us shamefaced? As individuals we have our short-comings and our achievements? Do you go around the world flaunting your weaknesses or your strengths? Why then should it be different for the nation?

Within the borders of our nation, let's talk about our poverty to the death. But why showcase it in international fora? Those who have worked on this movie haven't done anything wrong. But if we start glorifying them, it would not be right. We always knew that A.R.Rehman was a great music director. Was his music in Slumdog Millionaire better than that in Lagaan or Roja? Why did Slumdog Millionaire win Oscars, but not Lagaan or Roja?

Why does the western world fete only those creations that depict the poverty and degradation in our country? It's not just true about India, but it's true about the entire developing world. A couple of years back, the movie "Borat", which won several awards in the western world and was big commercial success, became a topic of debate in Kazakhstan, because it made mockery of the culture of Kazakhstan.

We should ponder whether anybody in Hollywood would ever make a movie on Virginia school shoot-out? If such a movie is ever made, will it ever win an Oscar, no matter how good the movie is? Will Americans go ga-ga over it?

Despite it's Oscar performance, Slumdog Millionaire is not something that would make us proud. We would have been proud if Lagaan or Roja would have won an Oscar. But we can't be proud of Slumdog Millionaire. That's why I believe that one Oscar to Lagaan would have been equal to a hundred Oscars to Slumdog Millionaire

Indian economy

Indian economy is in a bad state, and it's not just on account of global recession. Here's a good article by Bibek Debroy.

Oh! How I love these folks!

I love Congress party! These guys are amazing! The way they twist the system ... no one can beat them at that!

Buying MPs is dangerous and costly game. Why take the risks? Go to the root - buy the Election Commissioner himself. Then rule in peace for five more years!

I just love these folks!

Moved

We moved to a new apartment last weekend. The new apartment has lot of natural light. That changes the disposition for better.

What should be our response to Mumbai attacks - An excellent viewpoint

An excellent article on responding to terrorist attacks emanating from Pakistan. Thank you Jeffrey for sending this!

There are many (bitter) truths in this article. The words that I liked the most are:

... We should recognise that it is our war and nobody in the world is going to wage it on our behalf. What the Americans are thinking, or what the Britishers are going to do will not help. A determined country should have a sense of dignity and independence to fight its war.

A billion appeals to the rest of the world to brand Pakistan a terrorist state will not yield any fruit until we don't start treating it the way a terrorist state has to be dealt with.

How we forget to live

Yes, the memories will never ever fade!

I scrolled down from Twenty most memorable ... , to read blog entry titled "Very few photographs of Korea trip", and I realized how true are the words I wrote three years ago!

Even today I can feel the freshness of the air in Namsangol. I still remember the thoughts I had as I strolled in the soft green grass there. I can still feel the inexplicable concoction of achievement, affection and longing, I experienced in my last ride from Suwon to Seoul. When I peep through the window of my mind, I am blinded by memory of the reflection of the rising sun on Building 63, seen through the window of the train cruising over Han river. Even today I lose the sense of time as I stroll down the memory lane in amzaing Myeong Dong! And till date no one else, except my wife, my mother, and the waitress in Seoul hotel, has been so concerned to voluntarily pack my breakfast everyday and force it on me.

I was right ... "these images on my mind will never ever fade ... their freshness will forever be the same"!

While browsing the past, swept away by Korea

I was reading random entires on my own blog. I was surprise at how many interesting thoughts I had scribbled over time. I felt inspired and moved, until I read Twenty most memorable experiences of Korea trip. And then I was overwhelmed with emotions - of nostalgia, awe, tenderness and something indescribably warm! It almost moistened my eyes. I could read no more. After the Golden Years of my life, the six months I spent in Korea are probably the most memorables time of my life. Even in these times, when inspiration has gone into an unending hibernation, images of my days in Korea stirred me to emotion.

I our mind, every place we stay gets associated with some feelings. With Ipswich, it's joy and beauty, with Pune it's activity and fun. With Korea, it's indescribable awe and warmth. If I ever want to fall in love with myself, I will think of Korea!!

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.