My heartfelt condolences to the families of the soldiers and cops who gave their lives in the Mumbai Massacre.
I hope the departed souls rest in peace.
You are our true heroes.
Because of you, I sit in my cozy room and write these blogs.
Because you protect us each day.
My salute to your fearlessness, courage and sense of duty.
Jai Hind!!!
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Late but still . . . . .
I used to listen to a ghazal whose lyrics were somewhat as follows:
Der lagi aane me unko|
shukr hai fir bhi aaye to||
Aas ne dil ka saath na choda|
Waise hum ghabraye to||
When I saw Shivraj Patil's resignation (what did he wear while writing his resignation note - Gucci/ Givenchy/ Giorano ;))
I thought -
Der lagi jaane mein unko|
Shukr hai fir bhi Gaye to||
Though he is a miniscule non-existent thing, but each time I heard or read his comments, statements, I just hoped he gets kicked out of the government.
Look at Madeliene Albright and look at this ex-hommie of ours. I remember he visited that Gujarat 2008 blast site in peak monsoon wearing all white with white shoes and palms folded one over the other in front of him as though he is in a prayer meeting.
Countries like Spain and Argentina also have strong female leaders who are miles better then this dud.
I hope he lives a long life on the sidelines of abject anonymity and each of these terror deaths haunt him and make him gaunt. Words like failure, weak, useless etc are understatements for him. There is actually no word in our English dictionary to describe this "thing".
Der lagi aane me unko|
shukr hai fir bhi aaye to||
Aas ne dil ka saath na choda|
Waise hum ghabraye to||
When I saw Shivraj Patil's resignation (what did he wear while writing his resignation note - Gucci/ Givenchy/ Giorano ;))
I thought -
Der lagi jaane mein unko|
Shukr hai fir bhi Gaye to||
Though he is a miniscule non-existent thing, but each time I heard or read his comments, statements, I just hoped he gets kicked out of the government.
Look at Madeliene Albright and look at this ex-hommie of ours. I remember he visited that Gujarat 2008 blast site in peak monsoon wearing all white with white shoes and palms folded one over the other in front of him as though he is in a prayer meeting.
Countries like Spain and Argentina also have strong female leaders who are miles better then this dud.
I hope he lives a long life on the sidelines of abject anonymity and each of these terror deaths haunt him and make him gaunt. Words like failure, weak, useless etc are understatements for him. There is actually no word in our English dictionary to describe this "thing".
Mumbai Mayhem 26/11
It was a usual week night for me.
Now my schedule revolves around our new born son's need to feed and change.
I spent the day watching Ind vs Eng ODI in Cuttack and then surfed to Raising Helen.
The movie had sub titles so I could watch it without any sound.
12 in the night my best friend smsd me - Have you seen the news? I called her - What news? She said firing in South Mumbai - Leopold and all.
Through the news channels I came to know about the mayhem that was ensuing.
I woke my husband and told him what is happening. His office is in South Mumbai.
It is shocking to see the events over the entire night while feeding and changing diapers.
One moment you see the ATS chief live on TV and next moment it is flashed that he has become a "shahid". Next day a cousin mentions about Karamvir Kang and his loss. Soon we come to know that he was a batchmate of one of our brother in law and some acquaintances' cousin. Suddenly these are not nameless people but people you know somehow.
What are we headed for? How many more lives have to be slaughtered before the government does something constructive? We need concrete plans and swift execution not the usual speeches that we have been seeing of Manmohan Singh and Shivraj Patil.
If we still dont wake up then many more Taj, Oberoi, Nariman House will happen and I dread to say that it could be any of us.
Wake up India!!!
Now my schedule revolves around our new born son's need to feed and change.
I spent the day watching Ind vs Eng ODI in Cuttack and then surfed to Raising Helen.
The movie had sub titles so I could watch it without any sound.
12 in the night my best friend smsd me - Have you seen the news? I called her - What news? She said firing in South Mumbai - Leopold and all.
Through the news channels I came to know about the mayhem that was ensuing.
I woke my husband and told him what is happening. His office is in South Mumbai.
It is shocking to see the events over the entire night while feeding and changing diapers.
One moment you see the ATS chief live on TV and next moment it is flashed that he has become a "shahid". Next day a cousin mentions about Karamvir Kang and his loss. Soon we come to know that he was a batchmate of one of our brother in law and some acquaintances' cousin. Suddenly these are not nameless people but people you know somehow.
What are we headed for? How many more lives have to be slaughtered before the government does something constructive? We need concrete plans and swift execution not the usual speeches that we have been seeing of Manmohan Singh and Shivraj Patil.
If we still dont wake up then many more Taj, Oberoi, Nariman House will happen and I dread to say that it could be any of us.
Wake up India!!!
Our Newborn
On 13th of November 2008, I and my husband were blessed with a baby boy.
It has been one of the most surreal experience for us and the best gift ever from God.
Life has changed for good for the both of us. :)
Thank you God :)
It has been one of the most surreal experience for us and the best gift ever from God.
Life has changed for good for the both of us. :)
Thank you God :)
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Dada - The End of a Saga
Today was the last day of the Nagpur Test match between India and Australia. Why I am mentioning it is because it also happens to be the last day in Saurav Ganguly's Test career for Team India. And what a remarkable send off by the team. A victory over Australia! The whole world will remember that Saurav Ganguly retired on a winning note when the Indian team wrested the Airtel Border Gavaskar Trophy from reigning world champions - Australia.
It has been one long journey for the Boy from Behala.
I happened to stay a few streets away in Behala in late 2000 for few months. Dada's house was slightly away but the whole area was known as the place where Saurav Ganguly lives.
What is remarkable about this successful captain and cricketer of India is that he brought out the aggression in the team and its members. Yes, it is a gentleman's game but does it seem so when the Aussies or the Proteases play.
Look at the swagger and the bullying attitude of the Aussies. Today they are so hurt and disoriented by the Indian attitude of fighting back that happened after Monkeygate in Australia is palpable from the fact that even now people like Gilly, Ponting and Symmo are talking about it. I am sure they are not able to forget it and remember the incident each night they go to sleep. :) Somewhere Saurav is responsible for making the team fight back and not take things lying down. Captains should not be like the decent front bencher school boy who is always in the teacher's good books but a wily fellow who works with and for the team and ensures that they win. Dhoni also is showing lot of promise in these lines.
The TV channels will be showing his bare chested t-shirt dance in Lords for sometime now and then everything will die down but the legend called Prince of Calcutta will live on in the minds and hearts of Indian cricket lovers for a long time.
I wish him all the very best for his future and hope he has a great post-cricket life both professionally as well as a family man.
It has been one long journey for the Boy from Behala.
I happened to stay a few streets away in Behala in late 2000 for few months. Dada's house was slightly away but the whole area was known as the place where Saurav Ganguly lives.
What is remarkable about this successful captain and cricketer of India is that he brought out the aggression in the team and its members. Yes, it is a gentleman's game but does it seem so when the Aussies or the Proteases play.
Look at the swagger and the bullying attitude of the Aussies. Today they are so hurt and disoriented by the Indian attitude of fighting back that happened after Monkeygate in Australia is palpable from the fact that even now people like Gilly, Ponting and Symmo are talking about it. I am sure they are not able to forget it and remember the incident each night they go to sleep. :) Somewhere Saurav is responsible for making the team fight back and not take things lying down. Captains should not be like the decent front bencher school boy who is always in the teacher's good books but a wily fellow who works with and for the team and ensures that they win. Dhoni also is showing lot of promise in these lines.
The TV channels will be showing his bare chested t-shirt dance in Lords for sometime now and then everything will die down but the legend called Prince of Calcutta will live on in the minds and hearts of Indian cricket lovers for a long time.
I wish him all the very best for his future and hope he has a great post-cricket life both professionally as well as a family man.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
TMT vs BEST
Today politics rules over every conceivable idea or initiative in India.
The city of Thane has its own city bus service called TMT. Mumbai has a similar service called BEST. As the name suggests, it is one of the BEST services in India. The quality of bus, maintenance, punctuality, service everything is worth appreciating. TMT fares poorly in all these parameters.
Recently, a good initiative was taken and a bus service of BEST was started to connect Thane and Borivili (central and western suburbs). The price of the ticket is reported to be Rs. 15 compared to Rs. 500 that you might shell out if you came by a cab (personal experience). And the buses will ply at regular intervals from dawn to dusk.
TMT might have 1001 reasons why its services are poor compared to BEST but the bottom line is that the BEST service is going to be helpful for the common man. Yesterday there was a bus and auto strike but I am sure they also know that the BEST service is the BEST move.
How long should such lame services be given shelter and protection? One might argue that the average driver or conductor of TMT is not responsible for its plight and hence their interests should be protected but what about Commuter's Interest?
Such innovative and lateral initiatives should be promoted further instead of letting TMT and autos to resort to strikes etc. This is what brings out the competitive streak and ensures that government services shrug their laid back attitude and perform.
Hail BEST!!!
See what today's Mumbai Mirror has written on the same issue.
"Commuters make the BEST of new Thane-Borivli route" and "What’s wrong with the TMT"
The city of Thane has its own city bus service called TMT. Mumbai has a similar service called BEST. As the name suggests, it is one of the BEST services in India. The quality of bus, maintenance, punctuality, service everything is worth appreciating. TMT fares poorly in all these parameters.
Recently, a good initiative was taken and a bus service of BEST was started to connect Thane and Borivili (central and western suburbs). The price of the ticket is reported to be Rs. 15 compared to Rs. 500 that you might shell out if you came by a cab (personal experience). And the buses will ply at regular intervals from dawn to dusk.
TMT might have 1001 reasons why its services are poor compared to BEST but the bottom line is that the BEST service is going to be helpful for the common man. Yesterday there was a bus and auto strike but I am sure they also know that the BEST service is the BEST move.
How long should such lame services be given shelter and protection? One might argue that the average driver or conductor of TMT is not responsible for its plight and hence their interests should be protected but what about Commuter's Interest?
Such innovative and lateral initiatives should be promoted further instead of letting TMT and autos to resort to strikes etc. This is what brings out the competitive streak and ensures that government services shrug their laid back attitude and perform.
Hail BEST!!!
See what today's Mumbai Mirror has written on the same issue.
"Commuters make the BEST of new Thane-Borivli route" and "What’s wrong with the TMT"
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
How Barack Obama has become the 44th Prez of USA
This is an interesting picture from Rediff.com dated. 05.11.2008.
Have a look.
Original source of the picture: Click Here
Have a look.
Original source of the picture: Click Here
Monday, November 3, 2008
Sadhvi Pragya's Conversation and Indian Media
Yesterday I was surfing through various channels trying to understand where the market is whirring to. I happened to see a news item in couple of staple news channels about some conversation between Sadhvi Pragya and an accomplice or whatever one Mr. Ramji which has been released by the police or ATS.
First of all it was not a recorded audio tape. It was a script which was shown on the screen and read out by a male and female voice.
The funniest thing is after 5 minutes when I shifted to another channel, the same news was being aired but the script has changed. The sequence of conversation has changed.
I really dont know how far you can trust these channels and their reports and biases.
My purpose of writing this is not as a support or criticism of what the Sadhvi has or hasn't done rather it is about the type and quality of report that are being fed to us by our "responsible" media and fourth estate.
First of all it was not a recorded audio tape. It was a script which was shown on the screen and read out by a male and female voice.
The funniest thing is after 5 minutes when I shifted to another channel, the same news was being aired but the script has changed. The sequence of conversation has changed.
I really dont know how far you can trust these channels and their reports and biases.
My purpose of writing this is not as a support or criticism of what the Sadhvi has or hasn't done rather it is about the type and quality of report that are being fed to us by our "responsible" media and fourth estate.
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