GLEAMS UNRAVELLED

Blogger’s block hit me again.
I should definitely consider increasing my predilection for writing.
Long pending post. About kids.

I am amazed after seeing my neighbors’ children in the apartment.
Why did “Twinkle Twinkle little star” and “Johnny Johnny yes papa” disappear?
When did the rhyme “Out in the garden each fine day, each fine day I love to play” come in to picture?
If anyone knows this rhyme, please give me a break!!!!!

When did brick game go out of the league?
Where did Super Mario elude and when did Kratos (God of Wars game in PS2) became the hero?

Was I too behindhand to have an Orkut account during 2004?
And my 12 year old nephew has a Face book account now?
He even deletes what my “hi how are you “post on his wall and would send me a message on face book!!!

Where is coffee bite, Mango bite?
Frayons in the shape of wheel were my daily side dish once upon a time? Why do kids like only Lays and Kurkure these days?

Where did the jeep and the cars that go around till the key is on vanish?
And remote cars became the proclivity for kids.

My school drawing book contained pictures of house, mountains, trees, Mickey mouse and Barbie doll to be colored.
My 3 year old neighbor’s drawing book has Dora, Power puff girls to be colored.

Why doesn’t my cousin kiddos ask for cake and samosa rather ask me to take them to McD?

Where is Arun Ice cream ,Cone Ice , Milk Ice?
Why are there only softies and sundaes now?

Where is Milka bread ? Why does my nephew go to McRenett to buy bread!!!

The doll that keeps playing the Jallra is no longer needed??
My sil’s nephew gets a brand new piano from UK!!!!

How is that our primary school pics are so funny with each of us facing different direction?
And these day kids tilt their head to one direction and start smiling once I open my camera.

Where is wisdom and Gokulam ? - The books I read during annual holidays.

Mango frooti goes off and Appy is needed !
And Rasna is no longer loved !

The hero pen which you safely preserve to use it only during the final exams are no longer there.
Parker pens .. Mont blac pens.

Where is Nataraj pencil?
Why does Faber castle pencil pack cost so much ?

All the questions remain unanswered.
But the bottom line remains the same!

Prologue : To my friend who said in chat (4:27 PM on Aug 31) I would blog on “Why all ***** are *******?” . Its not about that ! ;)

Reading ‘The Hindu’ after waking up from Saturday morning nap at home recharges my happy stay !
As usual my saga of Saturday morning begun with a strong bed coffee and some music on tv and my hands trying to hold The Hindu and looking out for the news.Two things that caught my eye in the weekend’s edition:
* WiFi enabled palmtops for the waiters in eat outs
* Internet deaddiction centres in the US

I term Technically speaking is reaching all places in posts and publishings.I have seen waiters in Café coffee day keying in the orders which turns out to be bill too.

And now adding up to it , waiters have WI-FI enabled palmtops.Waiters or supervisors just whisk out their hand-held devices and take down orders that are sent through a Wi-Fi device to the chef in the kitchen, with specific instructions from each customer.

The Anjappar Group of restaurants and an outlet of Saravana Bhavan have such facilities.Adding up to my surprise , I kept reading wherein it said they also have blue tooth printers in their pockets that print out order slips to be given to the waiter.I should visit these hotels to dig into the technological advancement aforementioned.

Internet deaddiction centre – this is really pathetic . More and more youngsters are addicted to internet .so what ? crap !
With drug deaddiction tobacco deaddiction , now its point to be proved how technology has taken our lives.

I took this quiz in Facebook “internet addiction test” It said “ you are hopelessly addicted and someone should take away the system from you by brutal means”
Sadly I am internet addict too !

Browse , surf ,consistenly check updates on orkut, facebook and twitter (and my tweets are yet to reach great heights ),blog ,read news, play games, etc etc etc
Long devoted hours online and extensive social networking contributes to internet addiction.

Why don’t they have a online course for Internet deaddiction ! LOL :D


Offlate :
I am trying to complete ‘Doctors’ novel for a long time now . Hopefully I should complete before my next post .
My 'Green day' and 'The Fray' have vanished and I am listening to 'Yeno yeno panithuli' for n times through out the day.
And my usual laughing till stomach hurts at 11 pm with all stories and happenings still exists :D

I read this in a book "Peaks and valleys" by Spencer Johnson.
Penning it down in my own words !




A - how does the above picture look to you ?
B - Tracings of a Heart beat
A - Does that remind you of anything else ?
B - Hmmm..
A - The ups and downs of life , the peaks and valleys in one's life.

So only when the heart beat resembles like the one in the picture , it means heart is functioning well .

------------------------------

A - If your trace of heart beat is like the one above, what does it mean?
B - A Problem, I am dead .
A - Yea, true .

When you have no ups and downs in life , and when you are running in a smooth lane it means you are dead.

So ups and downs are essential part of a normal healthy life .

Very well said . I loved it.
Quite coincidentally, my today's fortune in Orkut read :" If you're never scared or embarrassed or hurt, it means you never take any chances"

I am having UPs and DOWNs.

I woke up at 10 today.I found my way from bed to the hall to get a glimpse of list of sales listed in Bangalore Times.Alternatively I started reading the main paper at the first hand and found myself laughing after a few minutes.Ppl around me started laughing too.

It’s all about the picture!!!!


Union health minister Gulam Nabi Azad couldn’t do it better.His statement is ultimate.

But Times of India beats it! A picture is worth a thousand words.TOI proved it today. Look at the picture below :)




We are talking about population explosion here.India’s population only grows.

India’s population is 1,170,000,000. By the time you read this blog it would have increased by 100 now. By 2011 it would be 2 billion.

OMG. I am still laughing over our health minister’s statement.

“If people have power, they would watch TV till late night and fall asleep.
Then they won’t get a chance to produce children.”

And then goes the statement ‘Let there be light, let there be TV’. ROTFL!


So power cuts and lack of television are the reason for India’s population explosion!!


So is that why televisions are being supplied free of cost in rural areas and in villages? ?


Whatever ! Ultimately the frequency of power cuts would now be reduced to decrease the increase in population :D :D

And I am still laughing :)

Prologue: This is definitely not a blog a Vegetarian would prefer! And it’s NOT intended to hurt the Vegans.
~ Sincerely, A non-vegetarian.

It is a pleasant Monday evening and I am inside my office shuttle. I open my eyes wide to find KFC and McD boards outside Total Mall in Airport road, Bangalore.

McD – Chicken Nuggets, Chicken burger, Chicken burger, Happy lunch meals for Children...

Wait, I am feeling Déjà Vu. I have seen Ronald Mc Donald happily holding a knife in the cover wrapping the sandwich. where was it?
It was in PETA’s webpage!!
McD I am loving it  PETA says ‘Mc Cruelty I am hating it’.


PETA – People for ethnic treatment of Animals having a huge (Really huge) number of volunteers and supporters all over the world including many actors and famous personalities campaigning for the ethnic treatment of Animals. Not to mention my favourite actor (Guess who?:)) also is an ambassador for PETA .

PETA ,an animal rights organisation originally formed in the year 1980 in Virginia and focuses on the following four issues - farming, fur, animal testing, and animals in entertainment, and also campaigns against fishing, the killing of animals regarded as pests, the keeping of chained backyard dogs, cock fighting, dog fighting, and bullfighting. Later this animal right organization spread so widely that it went against Eating Animals.

The slogan of PETA being “Animals are not ours to eat, wear, experiment on or use for entertainment”.


My points here:

Animal testing – I strongly agree . Animals are so cute , they are yet another living organism be it reptile, amphibian, mammal or whatever ! Testing should not be carried out on animals. So what’s the alternative that PETA suggests.E.g.: It says test an eye solution on a dead man’s cornea instead of a Rabbit’s eye.Hmm , Interesting !

Animals in entertainment - horse race, bull fight, cock fight. PETA says NO to all this. And also “Zoo” is a strict NO-NO. Zoos do not allow animals to exhibit their natural behaviour it seems. Come on shut the zoo ! ! Let go all the animals . Let tiger wander around the streets of the city.

Animals in clothing – Animals’ skin should not be used in Clothing. No leather, no fur says PETA.Visit http://cowsarecool.com to know more. So what to wear or carry as an accessory .Shop for products looking for buzz words like "manmade leather,” “all-manmade materials,” “pleather,” and “synthetic” ,“synthetic down,” “down alternative,” “polyester fill,” or a high-tech fabric like Primaloft .
Quite difficult ,I only look for the Price tag while shopping ;) But May be followed.

Now coming to the main point that I want to focus, ” Do not eat animals.”

Let’s say I stop eating chicken ,and KFC,McD is shut down . No one eats animals. All the humans turn Vegetarians. So the animal population keeps on growing. The plants are destroyed because all the vegetarians keep on eating them .


Remember what we studied in school science. The food chain and the ecosystem . The energy flow in the ecosystem .

The transfer of energy happens from one to another and that is how the balance is maintained in the ecosystem. series of steps of consuming and being consumed, energy flows from one trophic level to another.

The plants consume sun, animals consume plants,and human beings consume animals.. and it goes on .When I don’t consume animals what will happen to the ecological balance ?

In a world where everyone is worried about global warming, saving the planet etc why should Non-Vegetarians be the reason for creating an imbalance in the ecosystem ?

So I am not against PETA , but I am sincerely putting in all efforts to maintain ecological balance .

So is McD, KFC and all others who kill animals for enabling the ecological balance !

Point to be reinsisted. I support PETA ! Let’s stop using products that uses animals, that does testing on animals ,etc and support PETA .


PS : My favourite actor is Maddy !!! :)

I have created a poll !
It appears at the bottom of this page.
Vote ! :)

Reality shows are the "in thing" now or call it FAD of the century.They really captured the attention of people in the entire universe .

One such 'in thing' in the Britain is the "Britain's Got talent" which is the talent hunt across Britain.This program is aired in ITV and the judges being Simon Cowell(The famous American Idol's judge) ,Amanda Holden(British actor) and Piers Morgan(Newspaper editor).

I was inspired to write this blog after I hit upon this video on Youtube where talent really matters.
41 year old Susan Boyle sang in this reality show and obtained a standing ovation for her performance. The video of Susan Boyle singing was viewed million times in 72 minutes.There is already a fan club for Susan Boyle in Facebook and Wikipedia has obtained contributions too.

When Susan Boyle walked to the stage, she was mocked by everyone including the judges.When she said her dream was to become a professional singer, audience smiled (wicked smile of course)Asked where she hailed from, Simon referred her place as "Pig City".

After 2 mts, she started singin "I dreamed a dream" of Les Miserables and the judges were amazed. The entire crowd gave her a standing ovation.With her outstading performance Susan Boyle got a big YES from all three judges .

I listened to even the original Les Miserables song and I could make out no difference between the voices.

So a program where Talent really matters ,why did appearance matter? The appearence mattered not only to the audience but also to the judges. And to everyone who had the misconception,Susan Boyle proved it wrong with her outstanding talent.She was referred to "The woman who shut Simon's mouth" .

Susan boyle said to the Washington Post -
“Modern society is too quick to judge people on their appearances. There is not much you can do about it; it is the way they think; it is the way they are. But maybe this could teach them a lesson, or set an example.”

“I know what they were thinking, but why should it matter as long as I can sing? It’s not a beauty contest. ” said she to another magazine.


"All that glitters is not gold" ,
"Appearances are deceptive",
"Dont go by looks "
and more and more adages could now be proved true in this era too :-)

PS: Watch the talent in youtube in the following link:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY

The Godfather of all reality shows of the age is the "American Idol".
The season 8 of American Idol started fresh with this new year.
The judges for the show include Simon, Paula, Kara and Randy.
With overwhelming responses from all over The United States of America, there landed top 12 which after 5 weeks is now "Top 5" .
The point that instigated me to write this blog here is to mention about the Indian who was present in the show till last week.

Anoop Desai, 22 year old chap from Chaplin was one of the top performers in the show till last week and was shown his way out.
During the auditions for American Idol , Randy referred him as "Anoop Dog" .
Hold on ! He dint call Anoop a Dog because he was an Indian , he actually praised Anoop and compared him with "Snoop Dog" and hence "Anoop Dog" became famous.
Anoop doesn't have an Indian accent nor was he born in India,but he sings really well.
So here you go ! All Indian news channels and newspapers pour praise on how an Indian in shining in the American Idol.
Anoop's performance has really been improving through all the weeks. When Simon mentioned Anoop turned from "Zero" into a "Hero" , Paula and Kara always praised his voice.
Unfortunately after country wide record making vote count for this season, Anoop was shown the way out.

Lets take an example of a software engineer Mr.X . Mr.X finishes his study,obtains distinction, goes for his masters abroad and now is trying to settle down there.The entire nation (Humara Hindustan) abuses Mr.X. The voices from the people of India instigate a guilty feeling inside Mr.X .
The voices being
"Why can't young brains like Mr.X serve the nation?"
"Why can't Mr.X settle in India and bring fame to the nation? "
"Why can't Mr.X start his own software concern in India and help the younger generation?"
"Why isn't Mr.X patriotic?"
"If all youth like Mr.X leave India , where is our country heading? "

More than enough are these questions to Mr.X
So Mr.X finally settles abroad bearing all the abuses of the nation or gives up his dream and settles in India ! This is the life of Mr.X !!

Now Anoop Dog , who is an Indian , is trying to become "American Idol".
So what does the voices tell him??
"Go Anoop go" ,
" Proud to have an Indian in American Idol" (hmm,pretty interesting ain't it? ).
CNN IBN reads "Anoop shines in American Idol" .

A reality show where Indians doesn't even get to vote and where an Indian is trying to showcase his talent is to be praised here !
Where are we heading?

The American Idol gets telecasted on two days in Star World. It telecasts all the performances on Thursday and the results/eliminations is announced on Friday.
This time I heard the result on Wednesday. And it was on CNN-IBN news channel.
"Anoop Dog shown the doors out"

When there are thousands of people being killed in Sri Lanka, when the entire nation is choosing their Neta, when a school girl dies of Asthma, there is a news about the "Indian" who is trying to shine in "America".

I totally disagree to the voices of the nation that support such activities !

So here we go. Now its just AMERICANS in the American Idol.
Danny, Kris, Matt, Adam and Allison .
Who do you like? Well, Adam sings really well , but my vote goes to Kris ! :)

Happy Watching :)

These are the two articles I wrote for my office magazine and they got published !! :-)
The magazine is named "Kshitij" .
The theme for this edition was "Celebration of Women" .
So the poem is based on "Mother" and the short story is Brother and sister relationship. Hope you enjoy reading !

Post -1
Mother



I kicked her
She kissed me

I tortured her
She nurtured me

I irritated her
She educated me

I fell down
Her tears rolled down

I broke my neighbor’s flower pot
She broke her friendship with them on that spot

In her I find peace
She makes me feel at ease

The crap I talk when I am mad
She will listen even if she is sad

For me to be outstanding
It was because of her understanding

For all that she has done bearing the pain
I will make sure nothing goes in vain

To her, I have a lot of things to say
About her, springs up new thoughts everyday

Through my thick and thin
She stood by my side
To show me the way and to guide

Her unconditional love knows no end
For me, she will always be best friend

She is an angel
We bonded without any gel

It all started when I was a baby
Now that I have turned into a young lady
I will love her as always
Forever and ever.
I love you mom !

Post-2
“He and She”


Today tears came running down her cheeks.
He stood there watching her cry.
“Happy tears “he said to himself.
It was not always the same feeling he had for her.
Jealousy, care, love, hatred. He has felt all this with her.
A mixed contradiction of all feelings. Women are complex!

He recollected the first time when they fought.
It was for a very asinine reason. He hated her with all his heart.
“How adamant!” he thought.
Women are supposed to give up and be compromising.
“That is how I read in school. But she is mad “he said.
To him, she was stubborn and arrogant.

Then came a time when he grew up. She grew up with him.
She and her best friend were walking in the mall, one day.
“Your friend is cute” he said.
He could see the anger in her face.
Jealousy! Women are known for it.
“Why can’t she accept the truth?” he thought.

She had gone for a trip to Delhi.
She returned back with a gift for him.
It was a shirt. He liked it. He liked her.
He loved her. But he dint tell it out.
“Love “was one of her qualities, he realized.

He remembered the day he needed her the most. He needed her to cry and vent out his feelings. A simple “I understand “would be her reply. But still he missed her. He kept calling her. But her line was busy; At last he managed to talk to her.

It did matter to him to whom she was talking to.
“Whom were you talking to?” he asked
“Ashwin” she said.
A sense of bitter feeling ran inside him. Fighting it, he continued talking to her.
A sense of possession he had felt for her and he realized it now.
“Is he a good guy? Why should she talk to him so long?” and many more questions ran inside his mind.
But he dint tell her anything.

And today she was crying. He was amazed by the way she reacted today.
When he cried she said “Boys don’t cry”.
Her care was one he would miss in her.
She was looking very pretty in her marriage saree.
And now she was someone else’s wife.
She was going to her new home. She cried for missing mom and dad.
The bonding was tightening inside him.
But she was going away from him.

Then she came to him and patted him.
She managed to smile at him amidst her tears.
He let her go.
“Love you sister” he said to himself.
Tears rushed out from his eyes too.
For in all sisters and in all mothers, there is a beautiful woman.
Woman who is an epitome of love, care, understanding, sacrifice, patience, virtues, jealousy, arrogance, attitude and of all.
Woman is a miracle of divine contradictions !!