AirTel

Yes, you read it right this Blog is dedicated to all the wonderful Airtel ads and Airtel the Brand it self.. I cannot think of one bad ad by Airtel. First of all the jingle is very nice and catchy secondly they take care to make the most brilliant ads with greater meaning or an inspiratio or a simple fact of life we have forgotten or something nice. And no complains about the service either I have used airtel back home in India from like 2000( the plan I guess use to be called Airtel Magic ) and now the airtell call home calling card provides brilliant clarity and the biggest bang for the buck. I load it with like 100$ and it gos on and on and no worries of the copaniy shutting down over night ;-) ( Yes , it happened to a couple of my friends who had taken some card they lost like 20 - 30$ ). AS the slogan goes "We bring you India like no one else does". Thanks a ton Airtel I am connected home 24x7. GO AIRTEL!!!

Sexual Abuse

Joseph Fritzl(Austria) , Ashok Taneja (Punjab) , Kishore Bachhubhai Chavan (Mumbai) , some sick ass cousin brother , some uncle , some male relative ,some granddad- what do all these people have in common???? These are people who are lurking around the corner to sexually abuse a girl they can lay their hands on it does not matter to them the relation they share with her. As in the first 3 cases it was their own biological daughters and in the other cases it is a sister , niece , grand daughter etc etc.

These animals ( Yes, I call them animals because a human being should be able to control their feelings, since they cannot and are expressing their animal behavior and have no right to be addressed as humans) are soo shameless and ready to have sex with their own daughters , feel up their own cousins. Don't they feel guilty/ashamed when they touch the innocent girl ??? Aren't these people suppose to be protecting her from strangers ???

Some girls are brave they confront their abusers ,some choose to ignore it and try and get over things and some are scared and scarred for life they loose faith in people and life. I want to tell any girl who have been sexually abused to be strong. I know its easier said than done. Believe in GOD.

Just have faith and believe in GOD he will punish these people as they deserve, in most cases these people will die of some grave disease and rot in hell.

I know they will pray to GOD and ask What did I do to you?? I have not hurt any body WHY ME?? I ask them why not you??Dint you feel up people?? Dint you hurt an innocent person??
Why ask GOD WHY ME?? now When you did not think of GOD when you were doing things????

Table etiquettes

NOTE: Before you start reading this is no blog with how to place your fork and knife or which fork to use for what or which spoon is for what. If you can here hoping for it I advise you read no further.

As the saying goes one mans food is another mans poison( or vice versa ).
That does not give the person who thinks the other food is poison ( mind it he only assumes and thinks does not know for sure) to sit on the same table and make dirty faces or pass comments about the other persons food. I have met quiet a few people who sit on your table and then look at your food and make a face with an expression "MY GOD HOW THE HELL CAN YOU EAT THAT?? " or the ones who taste what you have got before you can taste it yourself and then make "THE GOD SAVE ME I AM DYING THE FOOD TASTES SO BAD " expression and to add to it they say "THIS IS THE WORST THING I HAVE EATEN OR THIS TASTES LIKE CRAP (I am not sure if they have tasted crap to compare it ) OR I HAVE EATEN BETTER ONES OR GOD!!! HOW ARE YOU GOING TO EAT IT " . This blog is an open letter to all those people . Please stop it right now I am not going to shove my food down your throat and you do not have any right to impose your liking and taste on me. You have a problem then shut up and keep your "IDEA/OPINION" to your self. Just because you eat different stuff or have different taste does not mean that you sit on a table with 5 people and say what you think of my food.

Happy Ugadi ( Lunar New Years day )

Happy Ugadi.

A new year a new beginning. Hope to write more this year marked by the Kannada New Year.

Ugadi is like a BIG event in Karnataka (most south Indian states) .It starts with the planning of buying new clothes almost a month plus in advance ( yeaaaaaaaah shopping ).

This is how an ideal Ugadi at home is.

Scene 1 ( Day before Ugadi ,usually the evening ) it all starts with my Pappa telling me, we will go shopping to get all the pooja stuff. Me being me will say no no no noo like 10 times ,then Pappa will get angry and say BM[sorry cant say what it stands for its a code word at home ;-) ] come/or will get angry and complain to Mumma.Then Mumma will tell me once and leave it at that. Then after all the no noo nooo drama Pappa decided to go alone ( a little angry and grumpy) that is when I have a change of heart and as he is steeping out of the door there it comes "Papppaaaaa wait give me 5 minutes I will get ready and come".And like always we go together to the local market/sante(fair) and buy loads of fruits ( as many kinds as possible ) ,flowers ,Mango leaves for the main door , Neem leaves , betel leaves ,Banana leaves , a pair of small Banana tree ( if I may call it so ).
Get back home all happy ,chatting about everything possible.

Scene 2 ( Day of the festival ) : As its a holiday to all offices. I try and make the best use of it and try ( note I only try cant do it ) to get up as late as possible. The day starts with the a song from an old kannada movie being played on the radio http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3O211xkJ8o and my dear loving Pappa screaming at the top of his voice saying get up its a festival day you should not sleep in late not a good omen ( in about 10 minutes Mumma will join in ).We( sis and me) wake up and then take a nice shower and wear new clothes. Then you need to eat something bitter( usually the neem leaves or flowers) and something sweet(Jaggeri) . It is suppose to signify taking all good and bad things in life or suppose to signify that the coming year will be filled with all good and bad things in it. Then the pooja preparation like everything else has to have a small drama with Pappa, Mumma,Sis and me.Usually dad wants us to do all the preparations but we are lazy and finally end up doing it any ways ( come to think of it I have always done it in fact, I feel good doing it wonder why the drama is there :-) ) .For the pooja kalasha is decorated with jewellary, new sareer and alll.
The Pappa does the pooja. Mummma makes the most tasties of the dishes -payasa , ambode , happala , kosambari , saaru, anna ( GOD my mouth is watering ).Eat all the good food and go and crash in my room for a good 2/3 hours and get up and watch some movie being played in the kannada channel as the Ugadi special and then the night poooja and eat second round of good food.Night hmmm sulk about having to get to work/school the next day and go to bed.

Ohh, almost forgot Ugadi marks the beginning of the all new things new year , the spring with all the trees in full bloom filled totally with flowers. As a kid we use to have a huge garden and there was a honge tree that use to be in full bloom.One day I guess in my summer vacation my sis and this nice maid we use to have woke me up and took me to the corner of the house on the ground floor and the maid was on the first floor terrace with a big bad of flowers and it was emptied on me and it is the best way I have been woken up every in my life. Thanks a ton sis will always love you for all those small small things you have done for me.Muuuuaaah

The Green Earth

I read about Maldives President considering moving the whole country out of Maldives, to escape the rising sea level. My first thought - " Man I need to visit this beautiful place before it vanishes off the face off the earth". Wait, this whole country is going to loose all its beautiful land, relocating to a different place and they will have to almost start like a new civilization may be they will have to change their food habit and traditions and rituals( most of the rituals are based on your habitat).How selfish can I get ??? I was a little ashamed of myself.


As soon as there is a mention of Global warming or rising sea level or climatic changes as a result of human activity you will find three category of people -
One - People like me who want to slow down the process and try to plant more trees , reduce my carbon foot print , conserve water, use less resources and in what ever you do think of what it is going to do to the earth.
Two - People who argue that all this is crap and don't believe in all this and go ahead and use stuff as long as they /their credit cards can pay for it.
Three - People who are not bothered either ways.

I just want to say the number two and three types is why do you take a vehicle insurance when you know you are an amazing driver and know will not crash up??????
I guess the answer to that question form most of the people will be just to be on the safer side :).
Well, you have your answer to the global warming situation too. You are not sure if it is the the effect of human activities just to be on the safer side reduce the utilization and play it safe.

Things each one of us can do in our daily life to help the earth.
1. Take the stairs instead of the elevator .It is good exercise .
2. Walk/cycle as much as you can instead of taking a vehicle.
3. Use your washer ,dryer , dishwasher on cold cycle ( NOTE : you get detergents for cold wash).
4. RECYCLE every small thing you can and as much as you can.I WOULD SAY THIS IS RULE NUMBER ONE as we cannot completely stop the consumption of things.
5. Buy local stuff that do not come in multiple packing with cartons and plastic casing etc.
6. Turn off your the power in a room if no one is in the room.
7. Buy a bottle and keep refilling it and using it instead of buying bottled water.
8. Take your own personal coffee mug to work instead of using the paper cups.
9. Cook with the lid closed that way things get heated/ cooked faster.
10. Use a sweater preferably than turning on the heater
11. Open the blinds for sunlight instead of turning on the light.
12. Carry your own shopping bags made of cloth instead of getting the double or triple plastic bagged grocery.
13. Can be done mostly in India separate all the compost and non compost stuff and dig a pit and put all the compostible stuff. If you are a plant lover you can use this as a fertilizer for your garden/kitchen garden.
14.Plant more trees :-)

As of now I can only remember these as and when I remember will keep adding stuff to this list.If any has any ideas please let me know will be more than happy to add them with credits given.

NOTE : I do not mean that you completely stop all the stuff you do.But just spare a moment to see what it does to the earth.

Some of the interesting links to read on more
How to compost stuff - http://www.howtocompost.org/
How things are made and stuff - http://www.storyofstuff.com impressive site.
Stop global warming - http://www.stopglobalwarming.org/default.asp
Save the earth - http://www.savetheearth.org/

Photography & DSLR

Do you believe in signs???

Well, I do.

Lately I am seeing "signs" of photography everywhere. I see good photos taken by my friends with their "DSLR". I have been looking at DSLR cameras, reading up reviews on them for a long time now, I guess the times has come that I own one.

I have always loved photography.Its like magic!!! Its like you stop the moment right there forever.You capture the feeling of the moment with the camera to make it last long or even capturing the moment for some one special who could not be there.

My spirit walk with cameras and photography ( as they put it in HEROES)

My Pappa has a conventional Yashica camera got about 20 years ago and I must say it has helped me preserve a lot of wonderful memories of my childhood for me. I have pictures of me doing all sorts of stupid things ( trust me when I say stupid, I mean stupid - things like making fish faces and my mouth stuffed with banana). Then, some one gifted an automatic Cannon point and shoot camera to Pappa. The Yashica was replaced by the easy to use no hassle Cannon and then I had to come to New York to do my masters so, I got a brand new Sony digital camera ( MAN I MISS THAT THING AND PROBABLY WILL ALWAYS MISS IT ). It has taken some of the best pictures I had ever taken till then (day and night). Unfortunately some one misplaced it and lost it (If I could possibly turn back time that would possible be the one thing I would want to change ) and then I was camera less for almost a good 2 months. I had to get another one soon else I could die with out a camera ( Seriously!!!! I use to carry it every where possible, it was always in my bag and would come out at the drop of a hat). Some of the pics from that camera.
ITS A SONY

Then I started looking for a camera and my only criteria this time was it should be small sooo small that I can slip it into my pocket and walk around and not bother giving it to any one and hence I ended up buying a Casio exilm. Well it is nice and handy but does not match up to my Sony DSC-W5. The casio takes decent pictures at day time and sundown but lousy ones at night( Its all blotchy, grainy, not soo great as I want it to be ). Soo here I am in search of a DSLR finally fully inspired from the sighs I have been seeing soo much lately.
Some pictures from the Casio
May be the Casio does take decent pictures,its just that I was more attached to my Sony.i knew all sorts of setting in it.

NEW YORKER for you

Yes got it from face book but may most if it does make sense.
NOTE: I take no credit for it some one had it.Made use of the famous copy paste technology and got it here

You know you're from NEW YORK CITY when...

1.You say "the city" and expect everyone to know that this means Manhattan.

2.You have never been to the Statue of Liberty or the Empire State Building.

3.You can get into a four-hour argument about how to get from Columbus Circle to Battery Park at 3:30 on the Friday before a long weekend, but can't find Wisconsin on a map.

4.Hookers and the homeless are invisible.

5.The subway makes sense.

6.You believe that being able to swear at people in their own language makes you multi-lingual.

7.You've considered stabbing someone just for saying "The Big Apple".

8.The most frequently used part of your car is the horn.

9.You call an 8' x 10' plot of patchy grass a yard.

10.You consider Westchester "upstate".

11.You think Central Park is "nature."

12.You see nothing odd about the speed of an auctioneer's speaking.

13.You're paying $1,200 for a studio the size of a walk-in closet and you think it’s a "steal."

14.You've been to New Jersey twice and got hopelessly lost both times.

15.You pay more each month to park your car than most people in the U.S. pay in rent.

16.You haven't seen more than twelve stars in the night sky since you went away to camp as a kid.

17.You go to dinner at 9 and head out to the clubs when most Americans are heading to bed.

18.Your closet is filled with black clothes.

19.You haven't heard the sound of true absolute silence since the 80s, and when you did, it terrified you.

20.You pay $5 without blinking for a beer that cost the bar 28 cents.

21.You take fashion seriously.

22.Being truly alone makes you nervous.

23.You have 27 different menus next to your telephone.

24.Going to Brooklyn is considered a "road trip."

25.America west of the Hudson is still theoretical to you.

26.You've gotten jaywalking down to an art form.

27.You take a taxi to get to your health club to exercise.

28.Your idea of personal space is no one actually standing on your toes.

29.$50 worth of groceries fit in one paper bag.

30.You have a minimum of five "worst cab ride ever" stories.

31.You don't notice sirens anymore.

32.You live in a building with a larger population than most American towns.

33.Your doorman is Russian, your grocer is Korean your deli man is Israeli, your building super is Italian, your laundry guy is Chinese, your favorite bartender is Irish, your favorite diner owner is Greek, the watchseller on your corner is Senegalese, your last cabbie was Pakistani, your newsstand guy is Indian and your favorite falafel guy is Egyptian.

34.You're suspicious of strangers who are actually nice to you.

35.You secretly envy cabbies for their driving skills.

36.You think $7.00 to cross a bridge is a fair price.

37.Your door has more than three locks.

38.Your favorite movie has DeNiro in it.

39.You consider eye contact an act of overt aggression.

40.You run when you see a flashing "Do Not Walk" sign at the intersection.

41.You're 35 years old and don't have a driver's license.

42.You ride in a subway car with no air conditioning just because there are seats available.

43.You're willing to take in strange people as roommates simply to help pay the rent.

44.There is no North and South...

45.It's uptown or downtown.

46.When you're away from home, you miss "real" pizza and "real" bagels.

47.You know the differences between all the different Ray's Pizzas.

48.You're not in the least bit interested in going to Times Square on New Year's Eve.

49.Your internal clock is permanently set to know when Alternate Side of the Street parking regulations are in effect.

50.You know what a bodega is.

51.You know how to fold the New York Times in half, vertically, so that you can read it on the subway or bus without knocking off other passenger's hats.

52.Someone bumps into you, and you check for your wallet.....

53.You cringe at hearing people pronounce Houston St. like the city in Texas

54.Film crews on your block annoy you, not excite you.

55. People from other states cant tell a polar bear from a peanut, but they know you're from NY the second you open your mouth.

56. When you are able to make a right turn at a red light.. you think it's the best thing ever.

57. Rather than waiting safely on the sidewalk to cross the street, you wait inches away from speeding traffic waiting to cut through it.

58. Your local news is national news.

59. You walk a mile in 13 minutes and think that everything should be open 24/7.

60. You know who Dr. Z is...

61. You think you know better than everyone else in the world.. when in reality.. well.. you do.

62. Yellow light means speed up.

63. Red light means speed up because you know have that 1 second pause until the other light turns green.

64. Communicating with people on the road only takes one finger.

65. You order your dinner and have it delivered.. from the place across the street.

66. You cross the street on a greenlight, and if you get hit by a car you blame the driver for "not watching where they're going.

67. You can tell a gunshot from a firecracker and not get scared, but when you go to the burbs you get scared of hearing a cricket.

68. You know the lights above the skyscrapers is the closest thing we have to stars.