Thought Process

An important information worth sharing !!!

2011-10-03T06:53:00.000-07:00

1. If you see children Begging anywhere in TAMIL NADU, please contact: "RED CROSS SOCIETY" at 9940217816. They will help the children for their studies.

2. Where you can search for any BLOOD GROUP, you will get thousand's of donor address. www.friendstosupport.org

3.    if you want to purchase product direct from company than visit the site.......... www.discountshopping.co.in

4.    Engineering Students can register in www.campuscouncil.com to attend Off Campus for 40 Companies.

5.    Free Education and Free hostel for Handicapped/Physically Challenged children: Contact: - 9842062501 & 9894067506.

6.    If anyone met with fire accident or people born with problems in their ear, nose and mouth can get free PLASTIC SURGERY done by Kodaikanal   PASAM Hospital. From 23rd March to 4th April by German Doctors.Everything is free. Contact: 045420-240668, 245732 "Helping Hands are Better than Praying Lips".

7.    If you find any important documents like Driving license, Ration card, Passport, Bank Pass Book, etc., missed by someone, simply put them into any near by Post Boxes. They will automatically reach the owner and Fine will be collected from them.

8.    By the next 10 months, our earth will become 4 degrees hotter than what it is now. Our Himalayan glaciers are melting at rapid rate. So let all of us lend our hands to fight GLOBAL WARMING.
-       Plant more Trees.
-       Don't waste Water & Electricity.
-       Don't use or burn Plastics.

9.    It costs 38 Trillion dollars to create OXYGEN for 6 months for all Human beings on earth. "TREES DO IT FOR FREE" "Respect them and Save them".

10.    Special phone number for Eye bank and Eye donation: 04428281919 and 04428271616 (Sankara Nethralaya Eye Bank). For More information about how to donate eyes plz visit these sites. http://ruraleye.org/

11. Heart Surgery free of cost for children (0-10 yr) Sri Valli Baba Institute Banglore. 10. Contact : 9916737471.

12. Medicine for Blood Cancer!!!! 'Imitinef Mercilet' is a medicine which cures blood cancer. It is available free of cost at "Adyar Cancer Institute in Chennai". Create Awareness. It might help someone.

Cancer Institute in Adyar, Chennai

Category: Cancer
Address:
East Canal Bank Road, Gandhi Nagar
Adyar
Chennai -600020
Landmark: Near Michael School
Phone: 044-24910754 044-24910754 ,   044-24911526 044-24911526 ,
044-22350241   044-22350241

13. Please CHECK WASTAGE OF FOOD. If you have a function/party at your home in India and food gets wasted, don't hesitate to call 1098 (only in India ) - Its not a Joke, This is the number of Child helpline. They will come and collect the food. Please circulate this message which can help feed many children.

AND LETS TRY TO HELP INDIA BE A BETTER PLACE TO LIVE IN.

Please Save Our Mother Nature for
"OUR FUTURE GENERATIONS"

I feel ashamed to call myself an INDIAN

2011-09-08T11:51:00.001-07:00

ON Rahul Gandhi: "I feel ashamed to call myself an INDIAN after seeing

what has happened here in UP".

Dear Rahul,

YOU REALLY WANT TO FEEL ASHAMED???????

But don't be disappointed, I would give you ample reasons to feel

ashamed... You really want to feel Ashamed..?

* First Ask Pranav Mukherjee, Why isn't he giving the details of

the account holders in the Swiss Banks.

* Ask your Mother, Who is impeding the Investigation against

Hasan Ali?

* Ask her, Who got 60% Kickbacks in the 2G Scam ?

* Kalamadi is accused of a Few hundred Crores, Who Pocketed the

Rest in the Common Wealth Games?

* Ask Praful Patel what he did to the Indian Airlines? Why did

Air India let go of the Profitable Routes ?

* Why should the Tax Payer pay for the Air India losses, when

you intend to eventually DIVEST IT ANYWAY!!!

* Also, You People can't run an Airline Properly. How can we

expect you to run the Nation?

* Ask Manmohan Singh. Why/What kept him quiet for so long?

* Are Kalmadi and A Raja are Scapegoats to save Big Names like

Harshad Mehta was in the 1992 Stock Market Scandal ?

* Who let the BHOPAL GAS TRAGEDY Accused go Scot Free? (20,000

People died in that Tragedy)

* Who ordered the State Sponsored Massacre of SIKHS in 84?

* Please read more about, How Indira Gandhi pushed the Nation

Under Emergency in 76-77, after the HC declared her election to Lok

Sabha Void!

* WHY ONLY HIGHLIGHT THIS ARREST?

Dear Rahul, to refresh your memory, you were arrested/detained by the

FBI the BOSTON Airport in September 2001.

You were carrying with you $ 1,60,000 in Cash. You couldn't explain why

you were carrying so much Cash.

(Incidentally He was with his Columbian girlfriend Veronique Cartelli,

ALLEGEDLY, the Daughter of Drug Mafia. 9 HOURS he was kept at the

Airport. Later then freed on the intervention of the then Prime Minister

Mr. Vajpayee.. FBI filed an equivalent of an FIR in US and released him.

When FBI was asked to divulge the information, by Right/Freedom to

Information Activists about the reasons Rahul was arrested ...

FBI asked for a NO OBJECTION CERTIFICATE from Rahul Gandhi.

So Subramaniyam Swami wrote a Letter to Rahul Gandhi, " If you have

NOTHING to HIDE, Give us the Permission"

HE NEVER REPLIED!)

Why did that arrest not make Headlines Rahul? You could have gone to the

Media and told, "I am ashamed to call myself an INDIAN?".

Or is it that, you only do like to highlight Symbolic Arrests (like in

UP) and not Actual Arrests (In BOSTON)

Kindly Clarify.....In any case, you want to feel ashamed, Read Along...

YOUR MOTHER'S SO CALLED SACRIFICE OF GIVING UP PRIME MINISTERSHIP in

2004.

According to a Provision in the Citizenship Act, A Foreign National who

becomes a Citizen of India, is bounded by the same restrictions,

which an Indian would face, If he/she were to become a Citizen of Italy.

(Condition based on principle of reciprocity)

Now Since you can't become a PM in Italy, Unless you are born there.

Likewise an Italian Citizen can't become Indian PM,

unless He/She is not born here!

Dr. SUBRAMANIYAM SWAMI (The Man who Exposed the 2G Scam) sent a letter

to the PRESIDENT OF INDIA bringing the same to his Notice.

PRESIDENT OF INDIA sent a letter to Sonia Gandhi to this effect, 3:30

PM, May 17th, 2004.

Swearing Ceremony was scheduled for 5 PM the same Day. Manmohan Singh

was brought in the Picture at the last moment to Save Face!!

Rest of the SACRIFICE DRAMA which she choreographed was an EYE WASH!!!

In fact Sonia Gandhi had sent, 340 letters, each signed by different MP

to the PRESIDENT KALAM, supporting her candidacy for PM.

One of those letters read, "I Sonia Gandhi, elected Member from Rai

Bareli, hereby propose Sonia Gandhi as Prime Minister."

So SHE was Pretty INTERESTED! Until She came to know the Facts! She

didn't make any Sacrifice, It so happens that SONIA GANDHI

couldn't have become the PM of INDIA that time.

You could be Ashamed about that Dear Rahul!! One Credential Sonia G had,

Even that was a HOAX!

THINK ABOUT YOURSELF.

You go to Harvard on Donation Quota. ( Hindujas Gave HARVARD 11 million

dollars the same year, when Rajiv Gandhi was in Power)

Then you are expelled in 3 Months/ You Dropped out in 3 Months....

(Sadly Manmohan Singh wasn't the Dean of Harvard that time, else

you might have had a chance... Too Bad, there is only one Manmohan

Singh!)

Then Why did you go about lying about being Masters in Economics from

Harvard .. before finally taking it off your Resume upon questioning

by Dr. SUBRAMANIYAM SWAMI (The Gentlemen who exposed the 2G Scam)

At St. Stephens.. You Fail the Hindi Exam. Hindi Exam!!!

And you are representing the Biggest Hindi Speaking State of the

Country?

SONIA GANDHI's EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS

Sonia G gave a sworn affidavit as a Candidate that She Studied English

at University of Cambridge

According to Cambridge University, there is no such Student EVER! Upon

a Case by Dr. Subramaniyam Swami filed against her, She subsequently

Dropped the CAMBRIDGE CREDENTIAL from her Affidavit.

Sonia Gandhi didn't even pass High School. She is just 5th class Pass!

In this sense, She shares a common Educational Background with her 2G

Partner

In Crime, Karunanidhi.

You Fake your Educational Degree, Your Mother Fakes her Educational

Degree. And then you go out saying, " We want Educated Youth into

Politics!"

WHY LIE ABOUT EDUCATIONAL CREDENTIALS?

Not that Education is a Prerequisite for being a great Leader, but then

you shouldn't have lied about your qualifications!

You could feel a little ashamed about Lying about your Educational

Qualifications. You had your reasons I know, Because in India, WE

RESPECT

EDUCATION!

But who cares about Education, When you are a Youth Icon!!

YOUTH ICON

You traveled in the Local Train for the first time at the Age of 38.

You went to some Villages as a part of Election Campaign. And You won a

Youth Icon!! ... That's why You are my Youth Icon.

For 25 Million People travel by Train Every day. You are the First

Person to win a Youth Icon for boarding a Train.

Thousands of Postmen go to remotest of Villages. None of them have yet

gotten a Youth Icon. You were neither YOUNG Nor ICONIC!

Still You became a Youth Icon beating Iconic and Younger Contenders like

RAHUL DRAVID.

SURNAME

Shakespeare said, What's in a Name?

Little did he knew, It's all in the Name, Especially the Surname!

Speaking of Surname, Sir DO YOU REALLY RESPECT GANDHI, OR IS IT JUST TO

CASH IN ON THE GOODWILL OF MAHATMA?

Because the Name on your Passport is RAUL VINCI. Not RAHUL GANDHI..

May be if you wrote your Surname as Gandhi, you would have experienced,

what Gandhi feels like, LITERALLY ( Pun Intended)

You People don't seem to use Gandhi much, except when you are fighting

Elections. ( There it makes complete sense).

Imagine fighting elections by the Name Raul Vinci...

You use the name GANDHI at will and then say, " Mujhe yeh YUVRAJ shabd

Insulting lagta hai! Kyonki aaj Hindustan mein Democracy hai, aur is

shabd

ka koi matlab nahin hai! YUVRAJ, Itna hi Insulting lagta hai, to lad lo

RAUL VINCI ke Naam se!!! Jin Kisano ke saath photo khinchate ho woh bhi

isliye entertain karte hain ki GANDHI ho.. RAUL VINCI bol ke Jao... Ghar

mein nahin ghusaenge!!!

You could feel ashamed for your Double Standards.

YOUTH INTO POLITICS.

Now You want Youth to Join Politics.

I say First you Join Politics. Because you haven't Joined Politics. You

have Joined a Family Business.

First you Join Politics. Win an Election fighting as RAUL VINCI and Not

Rahul Gandhi, then come and ask the youth and the Educated Brass for

more

involvement in Politics.

Also till then, Please don't give me examples of Sachin Pilot and Milind

Deora and Naveen Jindal as youth who have joined Politics. They are not

Politicians. They Just happen to be Politicians.

Much Like Abhishek Bachchan and other Star Sons are not Actors. They

just happen to be Actors (For Obvious Reasons)

So, We would appreciate if you stop requesting the Youth to Join

Politics till you establish your credentials...

WHY WE CAN'T JOIN POLITICS!

Rahul Baba, Please understand, Your Father had a lot of money in your

Family account ( in Swiss Bank) when he died.

Ordinary Youth has to WORK FOR A LIVING. YOUR FAMILY just needs to

NETWORK FOR A LIVING

If our Father had left thousands of Crores with us, We might consider

doing the same. But we have to Work. Not just for ourselves.

But also for you. So that we can pay 30% of our Income to the Govt.

which can then be channelized to the Swiss Banks and your Personal

Accounts under

some Pseudo Names.

So Rahul, Please don't mind If the Youth doesn't Join Politics.

We are doing our best to fund your Election Campaigns and your Chopper

Trips to the Villages.

Somebody has to Earn the Money that Politicians Feed On.

NO WONDER YOU ARE NOT GANDHIs. YOU ARE SO CALLED GANDHIs!!

Air India, KG Gas Division, 2G, CWG, SWISS BANK Account Details... Hasan

Ali, KGB., FBI Arrest..

You want to feel ashamed..?

Feel Ashamed for what the First Family of Politics has been reduced

to... A Money Laundering Enterprise.

NO WONDER YOU ARE NOT GANDHI'S BY BLOOD. GANDHI is an adopted Name. For

Indira didn't marry Mahatma Gandhi's Son.

For even if you had one GENE OF GANDHI JI in your DNA. YOU WOULDN'T HAVE

BEEN PLAGUED BY SUCH 'POVERTY OF AMBITION'

(Ambition of only EARNING MONEY)

You really want to feel Ashamed?

Feel Ashamed for what you ' SO CALLED GANDHI'S' have done to MAHATMA'S

Legacy..

I so wish GANDHI JI had Copyrighted his Name!

Meanwhile, I would request Sonia Gandhi to change her name to $ONIA

GANDHI, and you could replace

the 'R' in RAHUL/RAUL by the New Rupee Symbol!!!

RAUL VINCI : I am ashamed to call myself an Indian.

Even we are ashamed to call you so!

P.S: Popular Media is either bought or blackmailed, controlled to

Manufacture Consent! My Guess is Social Media is still a Democratic

Platform.

(Now they are trying to put legislations to censor that too!!).

Meanwhile, Let's ask these questions, for we deserve some Answers.
Source: IIT grad Mr Gupta

"Practice Random Kindness & Senseless Acts of Beauty"

2011-08-27T14:30:00.000-07:00

My friend asked me today while watching the Raj sabha and lok sabha ||ly with Ramlila ground live on TV... that who is funding this Ramlila Activities...

Here is a true inspiring and very well written experience from colnel Shivraj. A big salute to the team...

>> Hi,
>>
>> Yesterday I went to the Ramlila grounds. Like you, me too have been glued
>> to the TV from the day the drama started. So, I wanted to get a "feel" of
>> the happenings on the ground. More specifically I wanted to make some
>> contribution (financially) to the cause.
>>
>> I'd like to share with you what I experienced. First the donation part.
>>
>> I approached the vounteer at the counter (there are two/three huge counters
>> and help desks set up by the India Against Corruption volunteers.). "But
>> Sir, we are not taking any donations." Shocked; I informed him that I am not
>> paying by cash, I have brought my cheque book. (They are extremely
>> meticulous in maintaining their accounts. I had experienced this when I had
>> visited their fast site at Jantar Mantar in April. Even if somebody gave
>> them 10 Rupees, they would insist on giving a receipt with details of
>> address, phone no. etc. This had caused long queues. They know that the
>> scoundrels in the Govt. are just waiting to pounce on them with allegations
>> of irregularities in accounts). "Sir, we are not accepting even cheques now.
>> We have stopped collecting donations."
>>
>> I pulled out my copy of the Times of India of the day and showed them the
>> report where it said they had a special cell for collecting donations. "We
>> know it Sir, but thanks to generous people like you, we have collected
>> enough money for our needs for the time being and since last night, we have
>> stopped taking any more money."
>>
>> In more than 65 years of my existence, this was the first time I was
>> coming across an NGO/ Institution/ Movement which was not taking money. I am
>> more used to their pestering.
>>
>> Just to double check, I approached a few other volunteers at different
>> desks. Same response. But doesn't an ongoing movement like this constantly
>> need funds ? The response was that they will restart the collection drive in
>> that situation. But for the time being, they had enough for their needs !
>> "Besides Sir, most of the activities that you see here on a large scale,
>> e.g. water, tea, food distribution etc. are being organised by individuals /
>> organisations. We are not doing anything on that front."
>>
>> (OK, I have made my main point and you may stop reading any further. I am
>> just wanting to put down on paper other tit-bits that I saw, but you may
>> not have the time to go through the same. I am not making any effort to
>> "condense it"!)
>>
>> Talking of volunteers, they are so young and well educated. Replace their
>> "India Against Corruption" T shirts with normal office attire and you will
>> see they fit into finest of the companies. A large no. of them indeed are
>> from very professional organisations. Clearly overworked, they presented
>> such a dedicated face. Not a single case of losing temper, at least as long
>> as I was there. Some achievement, considering that a huge no. of
>> not-so-educated people surround them at any given point of time. Some were
>> not even getting time to sip a cup of tea. The relief on getting a chance to
>> do so was so palpable on their face. There must have been more than a
>> hundred of them there. The true heroes and heroines of India.
>>
>> Every few minutes, a trailer van would be leaving the grounds after
>> collecting all the litter that was filling up the large bins kept all over
>> the ground. These bins kept getting filled up so fast because there was an
>> enormous amount of food being distributed free by individuals and private
>> organisations. There were long queues at the counters distributing full meal
>> (not just snacks). The food, served in clean thermocole type trays and with
>> plastic spoons was wholesome. Rice, Puri, Subji etc. They reminded one of
>> Bhandaras or Langars ! Snacks (Parle G biscuits, Grams (chana), some bananas
>> and sundries), water pouches, tea etc. were being so enthusiastially
>> distributed . They were literally catching anyone passing by and handing
>> over the same ! One such person (a Sardarji) was distributing biscuits; so I
>> asked him if he had come all the way from Punjab. "Nahinji, I am from
>> Faridabad". My chest swelled with pride; people from my town were also doing
>> their bit. Shook hands warmly, but couldn't talk much; he was so busy.
>>
>> The irony of it all was not lost on me. Here were these multitudes who had
>> come in support of a fasting man and were being filled to the brim by rest
>> of the society !
>>
>> Reverting to the topic of litter and bins, the ground, slushy and muddy as
>> it was, was full of litter. Despite the best efforts of the volunteers.
>> After all, we are Indians. How can we live in cleanliness ? Then I saw a
>> very well off, middle aged lady, the kind you will see in your (posh)
>> neighbourhood; pick up a cane basket and get down to the task of picking up
>> littered plates, trays, plastic pouches etc. and transfer them to the bins.
>> It was a strange phenomena. A high caste lady cleaning up the muck thrown
>> around by (metaphorically speaking) Dalits and lower castes ! This was the
>> new, emerging India. For the first time, during my stay at the Ramlila
>> grounds, I felt so ashamed of myself. Instinctively, I too bent down to
>> pick up a few of these. But within 3/4 minutes, realised that my back won't
>> support me. The hardest thing to remove were the plastic spoons that had got
>> embedded in the mud all around.
>>
>> That was not the only place where our sense of hygiene was on full display.
>> An artist had put up a very large no. of thoroughly enjoyable Poster
>> Cartoons on a wall. High quality. I believe they are also on Facebook and
>> Twitter. (For example, there was one showing one politician telling another,
>> "How can they call us all corrupt ? When half of us haven't even got the
>> ministries where we can make money !"). Yet it was so difficult to stand and
>> read all the cartoons. The Pee stink was so strong. My countrymen were
>> merrily peeing on the adjoining wall (at right angles to the Cartoon wall),
>> despite authorities having provided toilets just outside the gates. If that
>> was not enough, consider this : The wall on which they were peeing was the
>> side wall of a temple !
>>
>> When you looked at eye level, you saw a sea of humanity, tricolours
>> fluttering, massive and un-co-ordintaed slogan shouting, but when you looked
>> down, you felt sick. Muddy and uneven grounds with pools of stagnant water
>> every few steps (it has been raining heavily here). So difficult to walk
>> around; often having to jump around. This was Ramlila ground, where every
>> year, Ramlila celebrations take place on a large scale and any no. of
>> political rallies take place every alternate week, so to speak. Could the
>> Municipal Corporation of Delhi not pave it all these years ? You
>> automaticlly turned your face down when you saw a foreigner try to negotiate
>> the grounds. Yet, you just had to turn your face 90 degrees to see a massive
>> (32 stories, I believe), super-modern, massive building just on the other
>> side of the road. I was convinced it belonged to a top notch MNC. Finally, I
>> caught hold of a smart, though grey haired Police Officer and asked him
>> whose building was that. He was surprised, but let me know it was the MCD HQ
>> building and has been there for a few years. What a contrast and what a
>> shame. The rascals (MCD is currently controlled by BJP) can't see the
>> pathetic condition of the Ramlila grounds from their windows every moment of
>> their working day ? And BJP is lecturing us how the entire mess in the
>> country is because of the Congress.
>>
>> Well, enough of the side-shows and tit-bits. Let's come to the main
>> picture. Simply amazing. Huge no. of people. I think the media is grossly
>> under-reporting the same. They talk of the crowd size at a given point of
>> time. A static measurement, if you please. When I was there (it was
>> afternoon; supposed to be at its thinnest), there were at least 20,000 at
>> any given point of time. Yet the actual crowd is far, far bigger. Probably 3
>> times the estimates. For, people are constantly streaming in and streaming
>> out. Just like me. Families, the rich and the poor, handicapped people, I
>> even saw an almost 100 year old villager, barely able to walk, just a loin
>> cloth around him, panting very badly, come up to the main tent with the help
>> of what I believe was his grandson. Whoever has been spreading the canard
>> that it is a "middle class" phenomena needs to have his/her eyesight
>> examined. I saw far greater no. of very poor Indians from all over the
>> country than the so-called "middle class". The enthusiasm is amazing.
>> Slogans, patriotic songs and Bhajans are the dominant theme. The crowd does
>> not fall silent even for a minute. When I was there, Manoj Tiwari, a popular
>> Bihari singer was belting one patriotic song after another. And the entire
>> crowd was singing with him and waving with their hands raised up (no space
>> for any horizontal movement of the hands). For full one hour. And that
>> dynamo of a 62 year old lady called Kiran Bedi. She was waving a large size
>> tricolour vigorously from one side to the other on the stage. For that full
>> one hour. Try doing it for 10 minutes ! Besides them, a quite old, dark
>> complexioned villager, looking just like your or mine grandpa was sitting
>> cross legged on a wooden cot, wearing a constant smile and often swinging
>> his head or clapping lightly with the music. The epicenter of it all : Anna
>> Hazare.
>>
>> While the main crowd keeps up with the Stage, there are a thousand side
>> shows of patriotic commitment going on. Every group, some very small, enter
>> the grounds shouting their own slogans and waving the national flag. So, in
>> a sense, you also have a sense of cacophony. I saw a family consisting of a
>> mother and 4 daughters (I presume) enter through a gate and immediately
>> launch into "Vande Mataram" and other slogans. Irrespective of what slogans
>> or songs were being sung from the stage. They had to let the world know how
>> charged up they were. Total commitment to the cause. Huge no. of (mostly
>> handwritten) placards and painted faces greet you.
>>
>> So, overall, did I feel happy ? Or, proud ? Yes, immensely. This can happen
>> only in India. It was an authentic Indian Mela. For a very serious cause.
>> Where else in the world will you find such lofty ideals existing peacefully
>> with physical filth; where else would you find feasting co-existing with
>> fasting ; where would you have such massive crowds with no leader, yet not a
>> single case of violence. First time that I saw so many policemen and
>> policewomen with not a single one carrying a lathi . Where would you find
>> thousands to keep standing on their feet for 24 hours, for there is so
>> little of dry space to sleep or sit. When I was on my way to the grounds, I
>> stopped at a petrol station to fill in. I heard one attendent telling
>> another that he had returned at 3.30 am. Presumably from the Ramlila
>> grounds. It seems people like him are on duty upto 11 p.m. or so; then take
>> the Metro or some other transport, go to site to support Anna and team; take
>> the first available Metro in the morning to reach home or place of work.
>> What commitment!!
>>
>> I never saw Mahatma Gandhi (seen Vinoba Bhave though). But I got a great
>> feel for what mass movements of those days were like. Let's all pray that
>> this semi-literate man's health remains good and the SOBs in Govt. and
>> political parties see reason. Maybe, just maybe, we might yet see within
>> our lifetime, India move up dramatically from the 87th rank amongst the most
>> corrupt nations in the world. And instead of Gods and Goddesses, start
>> worshipping Anna's team members. The likes of Arvind Kejriwal. Have brought
>> a lost cause to center stage. With their leadership, immense hard work over
>> the years, zeal, sacrifice in personal life and with an intelligence that
>> has completely outwitted the entire Govt. and political class.
>>
>>
>> Till then, enjoy your TV show !
>>
>> P.S. Just when I finished typing the above, I saw a news item in today's
>> TOI that indeed "India Against Corruption" folks have stopped accepting
>> donations, because they have already collected "60 Lacs". What a joke
>> compared to what the policians want to collect. I remember, when my state's
>> former Chief Minister Chauthala was charged with illegally amassing Rs. 1500
>> crores, his retort was "What is 1500 crores for a politician these days" !
>> And here are these folks saying a mere 60 lacs is enough to run this
>> countrywide movement. Long live the new India!!!
>>
>> Col Shivraj

Myths about Cancer... Newsletter from Johns Hopkins

2011-08-25T02:10:00.000-07:00

Cancer Update from Johns Hopkins :

1. Every person has cancer cells in the body. These cancer
cells do not show up in the standard tests until they have
multiplied to a few billion. When doctors tell cancer patients
that there are no more cancer cells in their bodies after
treatment, it just means the tests are unable to detect the
cancer cells because they have not reached the detectable
size.

2. Cancer cells occur between 6 to more than 10 times in a
person's lifetime.

3. When the person's immune system is strong the cancer
cells will be destroyed and prevented from multiplying and
forming tumors.

4. When a person has cancer it indicates the person has
nutritional deficiencies. These could be due to genetic,
but also to environmental, food and lifestyle factors.

5. To overcome the multiple nutritional deficiencies, changing
diet to eat more adequately and healthy, 4-5 times/day
and by including supplements will strengthen the immune
system.

6. Chemotherapy involves poisoning the rapidly-growing
cancer cells and also destroys rapidly-growing healthy cells
in the bone marrow, gastrointestinal tract etc, and can
cause organ damage, like liver, kidneys, heart, lungs etc.

7.. Radiation while destroying cancer cells also burns, scars
and damages healthy cells, tissues and organs.

8. Initial treatment with chemotherapy and radiation will often
reduce tumor size. However prolonged use of
chemotherapy and radiation do not result in more tumor
destruction.

9. When the body has too much toxic burden from
chemotherapy and radiation the immune system is either
compromised or destroyed, hence the person can succumb
to various kinds of infections and complications.

10. Chemotherapy and radiation can cause cancer cells to
mutate and become resistant and difficult to destroy.
Surgery can also cause cancer cells to spread to other
sites.

11. An effective way to battle cancer is to starve the cancer
cells by not feeding it with the foods it needs to multiply.

*CANCER CELLS FEED ON:-

a. Sugar substitutes like NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonful, etc are
made with Aspartame and it is harmful. A better natural
substitute would be Manuka honey or molasses , but only in
very small amounts. Table salt has a chemical added to make
it white in color Better alternative is Bragg's aminos or sea
salt.

B. Milk causes the body to produce mucus, especially in the
gastro-intestinal tract. Cancer feeds on mucus. By cutting
off milk and substituting with unsweetened soy milk cancer
cells are being starved.

c. Cancer cells thrive in an acid environment. A meat-based
diet is acidic and it is best to eat fish, and a little other
meat, like chicken. Meat also contains livestock
antibiotics, growth hormones and parasites, which are all
harmful, especially to people with cancer.

d. A diet made of 80% fresh vegetables and juice, whole
grains, seeds, nuts and a little fruits help put the body into
an alkaline environment. About 20% can be from cooked
food including beans. Fresh vegetable juices provide live
enzymes that are easily absorbed and reach down to
cellular levels within 15 minutes to nourish and enhance
growth of healthy cells. To obtain live enzymes for building
healthy cells try and drink fresh vegetable juice (most
vegetables including bean sprouts) and eat some raw
vegetables 2 or 3 times a day. Enzymes are destroyed at
temperatures of 104 degrees F (40 degrees C)..

e. Avoid coffee, tea, and chocolate, which have high
caffeine Green tea is a better alternative and has cancer
fighting properties. Water-best to drink purified water, or
filtered, to avoid known toxins and heavy metals in tap
water. Distilled water is acidic, avoid it.

12. Meat protein is difficult to digest and requires a lot of
digestive enzymes. Undigested meat remaining in the
intestines becomes putrefied and leads to more toxic
buildup.

13. Cancer cell walls have a tough protein covering. By
refraining from or eating less meat it frees more
enzymes to attack the protein walls of cancer cells and
allows the body's killer cells to destroy the cancer cells.

14. Some supplements build up the immune system
(IP6, Flor-ssence, Essiac, anti-oxidants, vitamins, minerals,
EFAs etc.) to enable the bodies own killer cells to destroy
cancer cells.. Other supplements like vitamin E are known
to cause apoptosis, or programmed cell death, the body's
normal method of disposing of damaged, unwanted, or
unneeded cells.

15. Cancer is a disease of the mind, body, and spirit.
A proactive and positive spirit will help the cancer warrior
be a survivor. Anger, un-forgiveness and bitterness put
the body into a stressful and acidic environment. Learn to
have a loving and forgiving spirit. Learn to relax and enjoy
life.

16. Cancer cells cannot thrive in an oxygenated
environment. Exercising daily, and deep breathing help to
get more oxygen down to the cellular level. Oxygen
therapy is another means employed to destroy cancer
cells.

1. No plastic containers in micro.

2. No water bottles in freezer.

3. No plastic wrap in microwave..

Johns Hopkins has recently sent this out in its newsletters. This information is being circulated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center as well. Dioxin chemicals cause cancer, especially breast cancer. Dioxins are highly poisonous to the cells of our bodies. Don't freeze your plastic bottles with water in them as this releases dioxins from the plastic. Recently, Dr Edward Fujimoto, Wellness Program Manager at Castle Hospital , was on a TV program to explain this health hazard. He talked about dioxins and how bad they are for us. He said that we should not be heating our food in the microwave using plastic containers. This especially applies to foods that contain fat. He said that the combination of fat, high heat, and plastics releases dioxin into the food and ultimately into the cells of the body. Instead, he recommends using glass, such as Corning Ware, Pyrex or ceramic containers for heating food. You get the same results, only without the dioxin. So such things as TV dinners, instant ramen and soups, etc., should be removed from the container and heated in something else. Paper isn't bad but you don't know what is in the paper. It's just safer to use tempered glass, Corning Ware, etc. He reminded us that a while ago some of the fast food restaurants moved away from the foam containers to paper The dioxin problem is one of the reasons.

Also, he pointed out that plastic wrap, such as Saran, is just as dangerous when placed over foods to be cooked in the microwave. As the food is nuked, the high heat causes poisonous toxins to actually melt out of the plastic wrap and drip into the food. Cover food with a paper towel instead.

Matrix - Detailed Analysis and Implementation of Lokpal bill

2011-08-23T01:47:00.000-07:00

Existing System	System Proposed by civil society
No politician or senior officer ever goes to jail despite huge evidencebecause Anti Corruption Branch (ACB) and CBI directly come under the government. Before starting investigation or initiating prosecution in any case, they have to take permission from the same bosses, against whom the case has to be investigated.	Lokpal at centre and Lokayukta at state level will be independent bodies. ACB and CBI will be merged into these bodies. They will have power to initiate investigations and prosecution against any officer or politician without needing anyoneⳠpermission. Investigation should be completed within 1 year and trial to get over in next 1 year. Within two years, the corrupt should go to jail.
No corrupt officer is dismissed from the job because Central Vigilance Commission, which is supposed to dismiss corrupt officers, is only an advisory body. Whenever it advises government to dismiss any senior corrupt officer, its advice is never implemented.	Lokpal and Lokayukta will have complete powers to order dismissal of a corrupt officer.CVC and all departmental vigilance will be merged into Lokpal and state vigilance will be merged into Lokayukta.
No action is taken against corrupt judges because permission is required from the Chief Justice of India to even register an FIR against corrupt judges.	Lokpal & Lokayukta shall have powers to investigate and prosecute any judge without needing anyoneⳠpermission.
Nowhere to go - People expose corruption but no action is taken on their complaints.	Lokpal & Lokayukta will have to enquire into and hear every complaint.
There is so much corruption within CBI and vigilance departments . Their functioning is so secret that it encourages corruption within these agencies.	All investigations in Lokpal & Lokayukta shall be transparent. After completion of investigation, all case records shall be open to public. Complaint against any staff of Lokpal & Lokayukta shall be enquired and punishment announced within two months.
Weak and corrupt people are appointed as heads of anti-corruption agencies.	Politicians will have absolutely no say in selections of Chairperson and members of Lokpal & Lokayukta. Selections will take place through a transparent and public participatory process.
Citizens face harassment in government offices. Sometimes they are forced to pay bribes. One can only complaint to senior officers. No action is taken on complaints because senior officers also get their cut.	Lokpal & Lokayukta will get public grievances resolved in time bound manner , impose a penalty of Rs 250 per day of delay to be deducted from the salary of guilty officer and award that amount as compensation to the aggrieved citizen.
Nothing in law to recover ill gotten wealth. A corrupt person can come out of jail and enjoy that money.	Loss caused to the government due to corruptionwill be recovered from all accused.
Small punishment for corruption-Punishment for corruption is minimum 6 months and maximum 7 years.	Enhanced punishment - The punishment would be minimum 5 years and maximum of life imprisonment.

Why Lokpal Bill is Important

2011-08-22T08:04:00.000-07:00

Government Lokpal Bill is a joke, eyewash and totally ineffective !!!!!!

1)Why

Government is afraid of discussion of bill in public??Is it because its so called lokpal bill is garbage. While team Anna gave arguments regarding the effectiveness of the Jan lokpal bill and severe shortcomings of Government Lokpal bill , Government simply has one argument â€œ Parliament is supremeÂ and its member alone can decide the provision of Lokpal. They do not want any discussion on provision and shortcoming of their bill. Team Anna has asked government to publicly debate on this issue or videotape the meeting between civil society and government but government rejected both demand.

2)Team

Anna will get nothing from having week or strong Lokpal bill. But corrupt politicians will definitely be atloss if strong lokpal bill is passed ( the chances of them getting prosecuted and getting jailed will be more). Â In thiscase, the thief(politicians) himself is making law to lay parameter how investigationwill be done against him.

3) Government

Is acting like a local trader or Blackmailer by coming up with give and take offer. Inother words, it is asking Team anna to tone down their demands for strong lokpal and include weak government recommendations. Why?Why Government dont want strong lokpal ? Also it is following policy of â€œDivide and Rule by bringing fringe elements( like Aruna roy of NAC) and sayingcivil society is divided.

4) Since the Jan

Lok bill will create independent authority regarding the investigation of government officials and its ministers, MPâ€™s etc. Â it is required that independent agency should look after these matters. ( CBI has to start inquiry in 2G and CWG scam only after supreme court initiative).Â In government so called Lokpal Bill.

5) Government lokpal

Will be elected by majority of governments nominees and will be under government control. A Just like CBI, CVC etc. So it will be atoothless body who will never initiate inquiry against government ministers. (Remember a government nominated CVC , supposed to be most honest person, has been charged by SC in corruption case).

6) Government effectively gave chance to accused to be alert and remove/destroy the evidences by telling him that inquiry will be initiated against him/her.

7) Since all scam has its presence from low level to high level officials, by bringing only high level under investigation will effectively way to hamper a proper and full investigation.

8) The person who brings corruption charges against an official/ minister will get 2year Jail term if Corruption charges are not proved. In other words, Discouraging and intimating the person who brings corruption charges against corrupt.

9) The investigation for corruption will be effectively done by government agencies( CBI etc.),Lokpal will only supervise. In other wordno action against government ministers/ officials.

10) Want to bring NGOs under Lokpal investigation thereby increasing the workload of lokpal and remove the focus from political corruption. ( NGO could have been brought under any other investigation agency like CBI, police etc).

11)Governments don't want to provide sufficient manpower to lokpal under its bill making it a toothless body. A See how Lokpal Bill can curb the politicians, Circulate it to create awareness Existing System System Proposed by civil society No politician or senior officer ever goes to jail despite huge evidence because Anti Corruption Branch (ACB) and CBI directly come under the government.

Before starting investigation or prosecution in any case, they have to take permission from the same bosses, against whom the case has to be investigated. Lokpal at centre and Lokayukta at state level will be independent bodies. ACB and CBI will be merged into these bodies. They will have power to initiate investigations and prosecution against any officer or politician without needing anyone's permission.

Investigation should be completed within 1 year and trial to get over in next 1 year. Within two years, the corrupt should go to jail. No corrupt officer is dismissed from the job because Central Vigilance Commission, which is supposed to dismiss corrupt officers, is only an advisory body. Whenever it advises government to dismiss any senior corrupt officer, its advice is never implemented. Lokpal and Lokayukta will have complete powers to order dismissal of a corrupt officer.

CVC and all departmental vigilance will be merged into Lokpal and state vigilance will be merged into Lokayukta. No action is taken against corrupt judgesbecause permission is required from the Chief Justice of India to even register an FIR against corrupt judges. Lokpal & Lokayukta shall have powers to investigate and prosecute any judge without needing anyoneâ€™s permission. Nowhere to go- People expose corruption but no action is taken on their complaints.

Lokpal & Lokayukta will have to enquire into and hear every complaint. There is so much corruption within CBI and vigilance departments. Their functioning is so secret that it encourages corruption within these agencies. All investigations in Lokpal & Lokayukta shall be transparent. After completion of investigation, all case records shall be open to public. Complaint against any staff of Lokpal & Lokayukta shall be enquired and punishment announced within two months. Weak and corrupt people are appointed as headsof anti-corruption agencies. Politicians will have absolutely no say in selections of Chairperson and members of Lokpal & Lokayukta.

Selections will take place through a transparent and public participatory process. Citizens face harassment in government offices. Sometimes they are forced to pay bribes. One can only complaint to senior officers. No action is taken on complaints because senior officers also get their cut. Lokpal & Lokayukta will get public grievances resolved in time bound manner, impose a penalty of Rs 250 per day of delay to be deducted from the salary of guilty officer and award that amount as compensation to the aggrieved citizen. Nothing in law to recover ill gotten wealth. A corrupt person can come out of jail and enjoy that money.

Loss caused to the government due to corruption will be recovered from all accused. Small punishment for corruption-Punishment for corruption is minimum 6 months and maximum 7 years. Enhanced punishment -The punishment would be minimum 5 years and maximum of life imprisonment.

Affirmations

2011-05-10T06:49:00.000-07:00

Affirmations are one of the simplest and most powerful things we can do to change the quality of our lives, and to create the things we want.

The power of affirmations

Affirmations are the force of creation.

“Every thought has a counterpart in a word or sound; the word and the thought are inseparable. The external part of a thing is what we may call the thought. The same thought may be expressed by different words or sounds. Though the sounds vary, yet the relation between the sound and the thoughts is a natural one”.
(Swami Nikhilananda Sri Ramakrishna Math:)

The power of affirmations can be stated very simply: Affirmations are the force of creation. For AUM being the sound symbol of Parmatman (Supreme Reality), it is considered to be the first vibration as sound emanating at the beginning of creation.
“In the beginning was the word….”(John 1:10)

To affirm means to make firm. There is very little mystery about how and why affirmations work, once the principle is understood. An affirmation is simply a spoken declaration, in the present tense, which creates a desired reality.

Affirm what you know to be true in your heart, and you will create that reality. Affirm that you are free, and strong, and attractive, and prosperous, and loving – and you will find, often in a remarkably short time, that your outer world will begin to change as a reflection of your changing inner consciousness.

Stand up and support !

2011-04-08T13:52:00.001-07:00

1. Who is Anna Hazare?
An ex-army man. Fought 1965 Indo-Pak War

2. What's so special about him?
He built a village Ralegaon Siddhi in Ahamad Nagar district, Maharashtra

3. So what?
This village is a self-sustained model village. Energy is produced in
the village itself from solar power, biofuel and wind mills.
In 1975, it used to be a poverty clad village. Now it is one of the
richest village in India. It has become a model for self-sustained,
eco-friendly & harmonic village.

4. Ok,...?
This guy, Anna Hazare was awarded Padma Bhushan and is a known figure
for his social activities.

5. Really, what is he fighting for?
He is supporting a cause, the amendment of a law to curb corruption in
India.

6. How that can be possible?
He is advocating for a Bil, The Lok Pal Bill (The Citizen Ombudsman
Bill), that will form an autonomous authority who will make politicians
(ministers), beurocrats (IAS/IPS) accountable for their deeds.

8. It's an entirely new thing right..?
In 1972, the bill was proposed by then Law minister Mr. Shanti Bhushan.
Since then it has been neglected by the politicians and some are trying
to change the bill to suit thier theft (corruption).

7. Oh.. He is going on a hunger strike for that whole thing of passing a
Bill ! How can that be possible in such a short span of time?
The first thing he is asking for is: the government should come forward
and announce that the bill is going to be passed.
Next, they make a joint committee to DRAFT the LOK PAL BILL. 50%
goverment participation and 50% public participation. Because you cant
trust the government entirely for making such a bill which does not suit
them.

8. Fine, What will happen when this bill is passed?
A LokPal will be appointed at the centre. He will have an autonomous
charge, say like the Election Commission of India. In each and every
state, Lokayukta will be appointed. The job is to bring all alleged
party to trial in case of corruptions within 1 year. Within 2 years, the
guilty will be punished. Not like, Bofors scam or Bhopal Gas Tragedy
case, that has been going for last 25 years without any result.

9. Is he alone? Whoelse is there in the fight with Anna Hazare?
Baba Ramdev, Ex. IPS Kiran Bedi, Social Activist Swami Agnivesh, RTI
activist Arvind Kejriwal and many more.
Prominent personalities like Aamir Khan is supporting his cause.

10. Ok, got it. What can I do?
At least we can spread the message. How?
Putting status message, links, video, changing profile pics.

At least we can support Anna Hazare and the cause for uprooting
corruption from India.
At least we can hope that his Hunger Strike does not go in vain.
At least we can pray for his good health.

Mindset !

2011-02-12T12:16:00.001-08:00

One fine day, an old man was passing through the woods and he noticed few elephants, he suddenly stopped, confused by the fact that these huge creatures were being held by only a small rope tied to their front leg. No chains, no cages. It was obvious that the elephants could, at anytime, break away from the ropes they were tied to but for some reason, they did not. The old man saw a trainer nearby and asked why these beautiful, magnificent animals just stood there and made no attempt to get away.

"Well," he said, "when they are very younag and much smaller we use the same size rope to tie them and, at that age, it's enough to hold them. As they grow up, they are conditioned to believe they cannot break away. They believe the rope can still hold them, so they never try to break free." The old man was amazed. These animals could at any time break free from their bonds but because they believed they couldn't, they were stuck right where they were.

Moral: Like the elephants, how many of us go through life hanging onto a belief that we cannot do something, simply because we failed at it once before? So make an attempt to grow further.... Why shouldn't we try it again?Your attempt may fail, but never fail to make an attempt.

The sory of Eagle - Worth Reading to boost innerself

2010-08-04T11:29:00.000-07:00

TIME DECIDES WHOM YOU MEET IN LIFE

YOUR HEART DECIDES WHOM U WANT IN LIFE

BUT YOUR BEHAVIOR DECIDES WHO WILL STAY IN YOUR LIFE

Our lives are not determined by what happens to us but by how we react to what happens, Not by what life brings to us, but by the attitude we bring to life.
A positive attitude causes a chain reaction of positive thoughts, events, and outcomes.
It is a catalyst, a spark that creates extraordinary results.
Let’s change to make a change!!!

When it rains, most birds head for shelter;

the eagle is the only bird that, in order to avoid the rain, starts flying above the cloud. ...

Winners win by pushing their limits until their limits become the norm.

Apostrophe'O magazine

2010-06-04T04:01:00.000-07:00

The last few weeks carried very few news items worth paying attention to, one of which was undoubtedly the consummation of scientist-entrepreneur Craig Venter’s project of creating life in the lab, or to be fair, the very first steps toward artificial life. In this edition, we get to know a little more about the man of the moment, with a very clean profile of the very controversial Venter by our science writer Mila Mitra. As expected, the journalistic community pounced upon this scoop, and perhaps in their excitement ‘over-reported’ the news. In the throes of inane headlines like ‘Man Plays God’, and ‘Man Creates Life’, writer Nikhil Pawar provides a much needed balance, and points out the flaws in scientific journalism, a form of reporting that generally tends to be exaggerated. Passing the baton to our science writer Preshant Jagannathan who talks about how the Grand Unified Theory remains an unlikelihood. Finally, to lighten the tone a bit, we have a brand new and thrilling science fiction, or as the afficionados would call it, SF, by our fiction writer Aruna Rao.

Moving further from the scientific theme and carrying on, our feature writer Suhas Munshi sketches out the history of political cartooning and the use of humor as a revolutionary tool in his insightful essay. And we end the features with an argument in support of pornography, and that too not just for onanistic purposes.

Author and RJ Ujjwal Bhattacharya continues his enlightening series of literary essays on Rabindranath Tagore with his second installment from a three part series on the poet.

Visions and Perspectives showcase a wonderful painting feature on the fairer sex by Shubnum Gill, a unique perspective of a filtered world and a world bathed in moonlight by our lensmen Sunny Lamba and Atish Aman.

Articles and essays embellished like always with witty and appealing graphics and paintings by the very talented Niharika Singh, Sumit Sond, Raghav Arumugam, Rupesh Dutta, Shubnum Gill and Anarya.

this issue contains
Creating Life, Playing God by Nikhil Pawar

The Maverick Genius – Craig Venter by Mila Mitra

Liberty And Libido – A Case for Pornography by Vineet Gill

That’s Not Funny – The Art of Political Cartooning by Suhas Munshi

Fiction: The Journey’s End by Aruna Rao

Tagore: Seeking God in Pursuit of Self by Ujjwal Bhattacharya

No GUTs No Glory By Preshanth Jagannathan

An Artistic Perspective – Tender to Touch by Shubnum Gill

A Filtered Perspective by Sunny Lamba

Moonlit Nights by Atish Aman

I m L O S T...

2010-05-27T12:11:00.000-07:00

RECAP

Fans who tuned in to the “Lost” series finale hoping to get all their questions answered may have been disappointed. Those who hoped for a believable explanation to the alternate-reality dilemma ... well, for them disappointment doesn’t even cover it. But if, on the off chance, some pined for a partially satisfying, partially infuriating end to the twisting mystery, Sunday’s episode was a winner.

It began as the last installment ended, with a newly Jacob’ed Jack standing in the river. Though he didn’t feel any different, he seemed to know exactly what he needed to do. So he called his troops — Sawyer, Hurley and Kate — into action. Sawyer went off in search of Desmond, while Kate and Hurley followed Jack to the heart of the island.

Sawyer’s search ended before it even began. Rather than finding everyone’s favorite electromagnetically resistant pal, he found Smokey and Ben ruing their similar plan over an empty well. Sawyer hightailed it back to Jack after guessing Smokey’s new destroy-the-island-using-Desmond platform and left Smokey and Ben to continue their own search.

As for Desmond, he enjoyed the company of his rescuers — wait for it — Rose, Bernard and perhaps the most missed castaway of all, Vincent the dog! OK, sure, it felt as if the long lost trio were sort of shoehorned into the scene as a final nod, but it’s Rose, Bernard and Vincent, so who cares?

Did it answer everything you wanted resolved? What was your favorite reveal? Are you satisfied with how it ended? Share your thoughts, and we’ll publish a selection of the best.

As if to explain their complete absence from all things plot related, Rose informed Desmond that she and Bernard broke their cardinal rule by rescuing him. The rule basically consists of staying out of everyone else’s drama. And if they thought they broke it by helping Desmond, the arrival of Smokey threatened to show them just how broken it could get.

It wasn’t long before Smokey threatened to kill the old familiar faces if Desmond didn’t follow him to the glowing source. Needless to say, Des obeyed.

Soon Jack and his gang, once again joined by Sawyer, met up with Smokey, Ben and Desmond. Though an epic battle seemed the logical choice of action, Jack didn’t see the need for it. Instead, he, Smokey and Des made a trip to the heart of the island.

It seems Smokey’s plan to destroy the island meshed pretty nicely with Jack’s plan to destroy Smokey, so they decided to cooperate instead by helping Desmond down into the light in the cave.

Once down there, Desmond somehow knew to pull a stone cork out of a shimmering pool, which turned off the all-important light and triggered a load of earthquakes.

The result left a smug Smokey believing he was the winner. It left Jack believing it would be a great time to attack Smokey. So he did.

Apparently there was one big perk to turning off the island’s light — it also turned off its magic. Smokey was now flesh and blood, emphasis on the latter. He could be hurt. The epic battle was back on.

While the island shook and rumbled and they skies ripped open in storm, Jack and Smokey carried out their attacks along a cliff side. Jack attempted to choke his foe. Smokey stabbed Jack. Kate, appearing out of nowhere, shot Smokey.

What? Yep, just as the fight really got going, Kate stepped in and cut it short. In Jack’s victorious defense, he did get one last kick in — the one that sent Smokey plummeting over the cliff to his death.

But there was still work to be done. If the island was ever going to stop rumbling, someone needed to put the cork back into the source.

Jack volunteered. He urged his friends to leave. After all, Frank Lapidus (who was somehow still alive), Richard Alpert (who was somehow still alive) and Miles planned to fly away on the plane. Sawyer and Kate decided to go, but Hurley and Ben — despite his back-and-forth-baddie status — stayed with Jack.

Just before Jack plunged into the same depths he sent Desmond to, he prepared a special muck-water drink for Hurley. It was the big guy’s turn to be the new Jacob, or Jack-ob. Either way, the dude would protect the island, and thanks to his kind nature, Ben would get a second shot at being the leader’s right-hand man. That’s trust. Crazy trust, but trust all the same.

Once at the bottom of the source, Jack spotted Desmond and helped him to safety before grabbing the cork in one glorious, if equally odd, form of self-sacrifice.

1.Filling the hot-guy void ‘Lost’ leaves behind
From the classic good looks of Jack and Jin, to the sex appeal of Sayid and Sawyer, no other show on TV packs nearly as many hot men.
2. Survival guide to the end of ‘Lost’
3. Imagining a world without ‘Lost’
4. Tale of Hurley: Making of ‘Lost’s’ unlikely hero

The end.

Not really.

It’s a shame, too, because had that been the end, viewers could have cherished it. It would have made for a respectable closure to all that island action. Sure, fans would always wonder about that pesky alternate reality they saw glimpses of all season long, but there are fates worse than wondering — like finding out the answer, for instance.

Well, that sounds a bit gloom and doom, doesn’t it? In fairness to the alt-world, it had its moments. A sugary-sweet, rapid-fire series of “aha” moments, but still, they were anticipated and welcomed by all but the cold-hearted.

There was the moment Juliet administered Sun’s ultrasound and thereby triggered the Kwons other-life memories. Sniff. Or when Sayid attempted to rescue a seemingly random woman only to touch her and instantly know she was none other than his lost island-love, Shannon. Sniff. Or when Kate helped Claire deliver Aaron and suddenly knew everything, and then Claire touched Aaron and remembered everything, and then Charlie touched Claire and … you get the idea. Sniff, sniff, sniff.

Locke had his own somewhat less tear-jerking solo flash after Jack completed his operation. A wiggle of the toes brought to mind another lifetime of mobility.

Of course the big mind-reunions were saved for members of the island’s old love quadrangle.

For Sawyer and Juliet, it was simply a shared meaningful moment by the glow of a vending machine. They went from strangers to passionate lovers in seconds. (Note: Anyone who didn’t cry when Sawyer pulled Juliet to him after he remembered her dying in his arms on the island has a rock where their heart should be. Just FYI.)

Then there was Jack, who despite multiple flashes of the other world just kept trying to push back the memories. He even saw something when Locke had his own moment, but perhaps Locke’s insistence that Jack’s son, David, didn’t really exist inspired some denial for the doctor. But you know what he couldn’t deny? A little contact from Kate.

Although he still wasn’t ready to fully accept his former life, just a touch from Kate was enough to get him to tag along to the big group get-together she and the other folks had planned down the rabbit hole, er, at the church.

Not just any church, either. This was the church where a very tardy Oceanic Airlines finally delivered Jack’s father’s remains. So while Kate joined her pals in the pews, Jack decided to have some private time with his dad’s coffin. Only — and this should come to no surprise to anyone who’s watched a single episode of “Lost” — Jack’s father wasn’t in the coffin.

Did the ending satisfy, or were you thoroughly disappointed?

Empty coffins and Christian Shephard go together like peanut butter and jelly. Still, while that part was predictable, what followed wasn’t.

While Jack mourned, Christian, soon to be known as Exposition-man, stood by waiting for his big moment.

Sometime after his “Hey, kiddo!” and Jack’s understandable “What-the-what?” reaction, the silver fox explained precisely what the alternate reality was — a place Jack and his past pals created to have one giant, post-mortem meet up.

That’s right. It wasn’t a different thread of reality created by the time-changing blast Daniel Faraday suggested. That makes too much sense. Instead, it was all just some oddly plotted excuse for everyone (minus Michael, Walt and loads of other characters) to get together after their respective deaths but before they moved on to whatever follows.

What was the point of everything before that? What about all that alt-action? The alt-escapes? The alt-killings? The alt-family members who don’t really exist? (Sorry, David! And sorry anyone else who paid attention to your now meaningless story.) There weren’t any.

The end.

Really this time.

Those who spent the better part of the last six seasons wondering where in the heck the sometimes frustrating, almost always entertaining mystery could possibly go finally got their answer. If they can make sense of it, that is.

In the end, the electromagnetically charged mystery island gave way to a hug-filled waiting room leading to a pan-spiritual afterlife, led by the aptly named Christian Shephard. Whew!

It’s a daring way to end “Lost” — leaving plenty of questions unanswered and winking out on what has to be its least satisfying twist to date.

At least no one can say they saw that coming.

Do You Have To Be Rich To Collect Art?

2010-04-07T12:22:00.000-07:00

I think that it's high time that I speak out about this.

There is such a strong perception out there that you have to be wealthy to collect art. Of course, being rich certainly helps and poor people who can barely put food on the table probably aren't thinking about their next art purchase.

The connection between wealth and art collecting is so tight that it'll probably never be unraveled. That's such a shame because ultimately the entire "artworld" suffers. The perception creates so many barriers. Living artists suffer because people who aren't rich, but who love art are often too intimidated to even walk into a gallery!

Why look at things that only "rich people" can afford? It's like dangling a carrot stick in front of your own face! Consequently, many people don't even see artists' work, which in turn, doesn't sell. Some struggling galleries often charge high prices (which only the rich can afford) to pay expenses and of course, make money. The perception that only rich people can afford art creates a very small target audience. Everyone has to make money, galleries included.

It's such a sad cycle. What's sadder is that this is happening during a time when contemporary art sales are hot! But guess what? In most cases, it's not the "Average Joe" who is buying art. However, if the "Average Joe" did buy art, even two paintings a year, that would send art sales through the roof! Artists and galleries wouldn't be able to keep up with the demand!

So, how can we get "Joe" to buy? Let's count the ways:
1. I think artists need to get better at promoting their own work. Let's face it folks, we're living in the age of self-promotion. If you don't get out there and promote your own product, who will? Galleries? Yes, but they can't sell everything all at once! Also, when you're showing your work, TRY to be warm and friendly! Dark and moody may work while you're working the canvas, but not when you're working potential buyers.
2. I think artists also need to get better at putting prices on their work and be willing to negotiate just a little. Most people are NOT going to spend even $500.00 on a painting, but perhaps they'll pay $250.00 for something else an artist may have. Artists can simultaneously create "high-end" works and more "affordable" works for people who love art, but aren't rich. Take a cue from designers like Todd Oldham. Again, let's face it, there are too many other things out there competing for "Average Joe's" money. Ipods, cellphones, laptops and flatscreen televisions are mighty tempting!
3. The artworld needs to open up. It can be very insular and snobbish. This keeps MOST potential buyers away. The last thing someone wants is to be snubbed in a gallery after mustering up the courage to visit in the first place! Trust me on this one.
4. People can only buy what they SEE. Visual connection is the key element of desire. I can only want something if I've seen it first! We need to get art on display EVERYWHERE. Galleries, art fairs and websites cannot do it alone. People should be able to see the work of living artists not only in galleries, coffee shops and bookstores, but also in restaurants, hotels, airports, sports arenas, government buildings, hospitals, music halls, public cafeterias, train stations, MALLS ... places where captive audiences gather. Place where REAL people gather. I can only want it if I've seen it first. Then, people would say, "Hey, look at that! I must have it!"

Could this all work? Maybe, maybe not. Isn't it worth a try?

Whenever I tell people that I collect art, I usually get the same response. You must be rich! Or, "How much money do you make?"

We've got to change that, people. There's too much living art to be sold to far too many "Average Joes" who just need a little encouragement. Let's get creative.

Bihar - Madhubani Arts

2010-01-22T11:24:00.000-08:00

Madhhubani - Rural Art

Traditionally this art was practiced by women only to decorate their huts during religious and important occasions. Nowadays men have also taken up this art form and paintings are done on paper, cloth, canvas etc. But even though women in the villages around Madhubani have been practicing their folk art for centuries, the world at large has come to know about these women and to consider them to be "artists" only in the last thirty years. Even now, most of their work remains anonymous. The women, some of them illiterate, are in any case reluctant to consider themselves individual producers of "works of art" and only a few of them mark the paintings with their own name.

The colors used were traditionally derived from natural sources like plants, charcoal soot, ochre etc. Black color is obtained by mixing soot with cow dung.Yellow color is obtained from turmeric or pollen or lime and the milk of banyan leaves. Blue from Indigo. Red from Kusum flower juice, red sandalwood or rose. Green from the leaves of apple trees, White from rice powder, Orange from palasha flowers.

Madhubani paintings mostly depict nature and Hindu religious motifs, and the themes generally revolve around Hindu deities like Krishna, Rama, Shiva, Durga, Lakshmi, Saraswati. Natural objects like the sun, the moon and religious plants like Tulsi are also widely painted, along with scenes from the royal court and social events like weddings. Generally no space is left empty ; the gaps are filled by paintings of flowers, animals, birds and even geometric designs. Objects depicted in the walls of kohabar ghar (where newly wed couple see each other in the first night) are symbols of sexual pleasure and procreation.Legend says that this artform originated during the time of Ramayana when King Janak commissioned artists to paint pictures of his daughter Sita getting married to Rama.

A Madhubani painting in the Godana style by Chano Devi, depicting a scene from the myth of God Salhesa. (right) A painting of Goddess Kali in the Bharni style by Krishnakant Jha.

MITHILA, the birthplace of Sita of the Ramayana, lies in the state of Bihar, bounded by the Himalayas in the north and the rivers Kosi, Ganga and Gandak in the east, south and west respectively. Over centuries, the people of Mithila have developed their own tradition of art, popularly known as Madhubani painting, named after a district and a town in the region. What is unique about this tradition - which dates back to the 7th century A.D., and is prevalent even today - is that it is the women who mastered and practiced it.

In their earliest form, Madhubani paintings appear as aripana (floor paintings) and kohabar (wall paintings), done by the women of the Brahmin and the Kayastha castes. Painters today do it on paper. An exhibition of such paintings, titled "Mithila Paintings", was held in Kolkata from January 3 to January 12. It was curated by Neel Rekha, an art historian, whose dissertation on the women painters of Mithila titled "Art and Assertion of Identity: Women and Madhubani Paintings" is to be published shortly.

Traditionally, Madhubani paintings were made on the eve of certain rituals and ceremonies, such as pujas, vratas, or weddings. According to Neel Rekha, who has stayed with the painters and traced the roots of the folk art tradition, these paintings may have had their origins in tantric rituals. Mithila has from time immemorial been a seat of the tantric tradition, with strong leanings towards the Saiva and Sakti cults. The tradition found expression in domestic rituals, and that is perhaps why the art form was once restricted to women. But that did not stop the artists from transcending the domain of practical utility in order to create something exquisite from an aesthetic point of view.

Agile Methodology

2010-01-15T10:42:00.001-08:00

What Is Agile?

Agile methodology is an approach to project management, typically used in software development. It helps teams respond to the unpredictability of building software through incremental, iterative work cadences, known as sprints. But before discussing agile methodologies further, it’s best to first turn to the methodology that inspired it: waterfall, or traditional sequential development.

Where Did Agile Come From?

In 1970, Dr. Winston Royce presented a paper entitled “Managing the Development of Large Software Systems,” which outlined his ideas on sequential development. In essence, his presentation asserted that a project could be developed much like an automobile on an assembly line, in which each piece is added in sequential phases. This means that every phase of the project must be completed before the next phase can begin. Thus, developers first gather all of a project’s requirements, then complete all of its architecture and design, then write all of the code, and so on. There is little, if any, communication between the specialized groups that complete each phase of work.

It’s easy to see how this development agile methodology is far from optimized. First of all, it assumes that every requirement of the project can be identified before any design or coding occurs. Put another way, do you think you could tell a team of developers everything that needed to be in a piece of software before it was up and running? Or would it be easier to describe your vision to the team if you could react to functional software? Many software developers have learned the answer to that question the hard way: At the end of a project, a team might have built the software it was asked to build, but, in the time it took to create, business realities have changed so dramatically that the product is irrelevant. In that scenario, a company has spent time and money to create software that no one wants. Couldn’t it have been possible to ensure the end product would still be relevant before it was actually finished?

Why Agile?

Agile development methodology attempts to provide many opportunities to assess the direction of a project throughout the development lifecycle. This is achieved through regular cadences of work, known as sprints or iterations, at the end of which teams must present a shippable increment of work. Thus by focusing on the repetition of abbreviated work cycles as well as the functional product they yield, agile methodology could be described as “iterative” and “incremental.” In waterfall, development teams only have one chance to get each aspect of a project right. In an agile paradigm, every aspect of development — requirements, design, etc. — is continually revisited throughout the lifecycle. When a team stops and re-evaluates the direction of a project every two weeks, there’s always time to steer it in another direction.

The results of this “inspect-and-adapt” approach to development greatly reduce both development costs and time to market. Because teams can gather requirements at the same time they’re gathering requirements, the phenomenon known as “analysis paralysis” can’t really impede a team from making progress. And because a team’s work cycle is limited to two weeks, it gives stakeholders recurring opportunities to calibrate releases for success in the real world. In essence, it could be said that the agile development methodology helps companies build the right product. Instead of committing to market a piece of software that hasn’t even been written yet, agile empowers teams to optimize their release as it’s developed, to be as competitive as possible in the marketplace. In the end, a development agile methodology that preserves a product’s critical market relevance and ensures a team’s work doesn’t wind up on a shelf, never released, is an attractive option for stakeholders and developers alike.

The Scrum methodology of agile software development marks a dramatic departure from waterfall management. In fact, Scrum and other agile processes were inspired by its shortcomings. The Scrum methodology emphasizes communication and collaboration, functioning software, and the flexibility to adapt to emerging business realities — all attributes that suffer in the rigidly ordered waterfall paradigm.

business realities — all attributes that suffer in the rigidly ordered waterfall paradigm.

Scrum Methodology

For many developers in the software industry, the agile methodology is nothing new. Most folks know that agile was a direct response to the dominant project management paradigm, waterfall, and borrows many principles from lean manufacturing. In 2001, as this new management paradigm began to pick up momentum, agile was formalized when 17 pioneers of the agile methodology met at the Snowbird Ski Resort in Utah and issued the Agile Manifesto. Their manifesto is now considered the foundational text for agile practices and principles. Most importantly, the manifesto spelled out the philosophy behind agile, which places a new emphasis on communication and collaboration; functioning software; and the flexibility to adapt to emerging business realities.

But for all of the strides the Agile Manifesto made in revising a philosophical approach to software development, it didn’t provide the concrete processes that development teams depend on when deadlines — and stakeholders — start applying pressure. As a result, when it comes to the nuts and bolts of running a team with agile every day, organizations turn to particular subsets of the agile methodology. These include Crystal Clear, Extreme Programming, Feature Driven Development, Dynamic Systems Development Method (DSDM), Scrum, and others. At my organization, we use Scrum and I’ve found it to be an incredibly effective management methodology for everyone involved, including developers and stakeholders. If you’re interested in learning about the other agile methodologies, there are plenty of resources out there. This blog is designed to provide some essential background for those who are new to Scrum.

What’s Unique about Scrum?

Of all the agile methodologies, Scrum is unique because it introduced the idea of “empirical process control.” That is, Scrum uses the real-world progress of a project — not a best guess or uninformed forecast — to plan and schedule releases. In Scrum, projects are divided into succinct work cadences, known as sprints, which are typically one week, two weeks, or three weeks in duration. At the end of each sprint, stakeholders and team members meet to assess the progress of a project and plan its next steps. This allows a project’s direction to be adjusted or reoriented based on completed work, not speculation or predictions.

Philosophically, this emphasis on an ongoing assessment of completed work is largely responsible for its popularity with managers and developers alike. But what allows the Scrum methodology to really work is a set of roles, responsibilities, and meetings that never change. If Scrum’s capacity for adaption and flexibility makes it an appealing option, the stability of its practices give teams something to lean on when development gets chaotic.

The Roles of Scrum

Scrum has three fundamental roles: Product Owner, ScrumMaster, and team member.

Product Owner: In Scrum, the Product Owner is responsible for communicating the vision of the product to the development team. He or she must also represent the customer’s interests through requirements and prioritization. Because the Product Owner has the most authority of the three roles, it’s also the role with the most responsibility. In other words, the Product Owner is the single individual who must face the music when a project goes awry.

The tension between authority and responsibility means that it’s hard for Product Owners to strike the right balance of involvement. Because Scrum values self-organization among teams, a Product Owner must fight the urge to micro-manage. At the same time, Product Owners must be available to answer questions from the team.

ScrumMaster: The ScrumMaster acts as a liaison between the Product Owner and the team. The ScrumMaster does not manage the team. Instead, he or she works to remove any impediments that are obstructing the team from achieving its sprint goals. In short, this role helps the team remain creative and productive, while making sure its successes are visible to the Product Owner. The ScrumMaster also works to advise the Product Owner about how to maximize ROI for the team.
Team Member: In the Scrum methodology, the team is responsible for completing work. Ideally, teams consist of seven cross-functional members, plus or minus two individuals. For software projects, a typical team includes a mix of software engineers, architects, programmers, analysts, QA experts, testers, and UI designers. Each sprint, the team is responsible for determining how it will accomplish the work to be completed. This grants teams a great deal of autonomy, but, similar to the Product Owner’s situation, that freedom is accompanied by a responsibility to meet the goals of the sprint.

Courtsey : Scrum Methodology

Does Management by Objectives (MBO) Work?

2009-12-13T07:30:00.000-08:00

Assessing the effectiveness of MBO is a complex task. Let’s briefly review a growing body of literature on the relationship between goals and performance. If factors such as a person’s ability and acceptance of goals are held constant, more difficult goals lead to higher performance. Although individuals with difficult goals achieve them far less often than those who have easy goals, they, nevertheless perform at a consistently higher level.

Moreover studies consistently support the finding that specific difficult to achieve goals produce a higher level of output than do no goals or generalized goals such as do your best. Feedback also favorably affects performance. Feedback lets a person know whether his or her level of effort is sufficient or needs to be increased. It can induce a person to raise his or her goal level after attaining a previous goal and indicate ways to improve performance.

The results cited here are all consistent with MBO’s emphasis on specific goals and feedback. MBO implies, rather explicitly states that goals must be perceived as feasible. Research on goal setting indicates that MBO is most effective if the goals are difficult enough to require some stretching.

But what about participating? MBO strongly advocates that goals be set participatively. Does the research demonstrate that participatively set goals led to higher performance than those assigned by a manager? Somewhat surprisingly, the research comparing participatively set goals with assigned goals has not shown any strong or constant relationship to performance. When goal difficulty has been held constant, assigned goals frequently do as well as participatively determined goals, contrary to MBO ideology. Therefore, it is not possible to argue for the superiority of participation as do MBO proponents. One major benefits from participation, however is that appears to induce individuals to set more difficult goals. Thus, participation may have a positive effect on performance by increasing one’s goal aspiration level.

Studies of actual MBO programs confirm that MBO effectively increase employee performance and organizational productivity. One of the more critical components of this effectiveness is top management commitment to the MBO process. When top managers had a high commitment to MBO and were personally involved in its implementation, productivity gains were higher than if this commitment was lacking.

How do you set employee objectives?

Employee should have a clear understanding of what they’re attempting to accomplish. Furthermore, as a manager you have the responsibility for seeing that this task is achieved by helping your employees set work goals. Although these two statements appear to be common sense, it’s often a little more complex. Setting objectives is a skill that every manager needs to perfect. You can facilitate this process by following these guidelines:

Identifying an employee’s key job tasks:
Goal setting begins by defining what you want your employees to accomplish. The best source for this information is each employee’s job description.

Establish specific and challenging goals for each key task: Identify the level of performance expected of each employee specify the target for the employee to hit. Specify the deadlines for each gal. Putting deadlines on each goal reduces ambiguity. Deadlines however should not be set arbitrarily. Rather they need to be realistic given the tasks to be completed.

Allow the employee to actively participate: when employees participate in goal setting they are more likely to accept the goals. However, it must be sincere participation; that is employees must perceive that you are truly seeking heir input not just going through the motions.

Prioritize goals: when you give someone more than one goal, it is important to rank the goal in order of importance. Prioritizing encourages the employee to take action and expend effort on each goal in proportion to its importance. Rate goals for difficulty and importance. Goal setting should not encourage people to choose easy goals. When goals are rated, individuals can be given credit for trying difficult goals even if they don’t fully achieve them.

Build in feedback mechanisms to assess goal progress; Feedback lets employees know whether their level of effort is sufficient to attain the goal. Feedback should be both self generated and supervisor generated. In either case, feedback should be frequent and recurrent.

Link rewards to goal attainment: It’s natural for employees to ask what’s in it for me? Linking rewards to the achievement of goals will help answer that question.

Dynamics of Global Population Trends

2009-12-13T07:24:00.000-08:00

Current population, rural/urban population shifts, rates of growth age levels, and population control help determine today’s demand for various categories of goods. Although not the only determinant, the existence of sheer numbers of people is significant in appraising potential consumer markets. Changes in the composition ad distribution of population among the world’s countries will profoundly affect future demand.

Recent estimates place world population at more than 6 billion people, and this is expected to grow to 9 billion by 2050. Further, 98 percent of the projected growth for 2050 will occur in less developed regions. Exhibits show that 84 % of the population will be concentrated in less developed regions by 2025 and, if growth rates continue, 86 % by 2050. The International labor Organization estimates that 1.2 billion jobs must be created worldwide by 2025 to accommodate these new entrants. Further most of the new jobs will need to be created in urban areas where most of the population will reside.

Controlling Population Growth:

Faced with the ominous consequences of the population explosion it would seem logical for countries to take appropriate steps to reduce growth to manageable rates, but procreation is one of the most culturally sensitive uncontrollable factor. Economics self esteem religion, politics ad education all play a critical role in attitudes about family size.

The prerequisites to population control are adequate incomes, higher literacy levels, education for women, universal access the health care, family planning, improved nutrition, and perhaps most important, a change in basic cultural beliefs regarding he importance of large families. Unfortunately, minimum progress in providing improved living conditions and changing beliefs has occurred. India serves as a good example of what is happening in much of the world. India’s population was once stable but with improved health conditions lading to greater longevity and lower infant mortality its population will exceed that of China by 2050 and the two will account for about 50 percent of the world’s inhabitants. The government’s attempts to institute change are hampered by a variety of factors, including political ineptitude and slow change in cultural norms. Nevertheless the government continues to pass laws with the intended purpose of limiting the number of births. The most recent attempt is a law that bars those with more than two children from election to the national Parliament and state assemblies. This would mean that many now in office could not seek reelection based on family size.

Perhaps the most important deterrent to population control is cultural attitudes about the importance of large families. In many cultures, the prestige of man, whether alive or dead, depends on the number of his progeny, and a family’s only wealth is its children. Such feelings are strong, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi found out how strong when she attempted mass sterilization of males which reportedly was the main cause of her defeat in a subsequent election. Additionally many religious discourage or ban family planning and thus serve as a deterrent to control. Nigeria has a strong Muslim tradition in the North and a strong Roman Catholic tradition in the east, and both faiths favor large families. Most traditional religious in Africa encourage large families in fact the principal deity for many is the goddess of land and fertility.

Family planning and all that it entails is by far the most universal means governments use to control birthrates but some economists believe that decline in the fertility arte is a function of economic prosperity and will come only with economists development. Ample anecdotal evidence suggests that fertility rates decline as economies proper. For example, before Spain’s economy began its rapid growth in the 1980s families had six or more children; now Spain has one of the lowest birth rates in Europe, an average 1.24 children per woman. Similar patterns have followed in other European countries as economies have prospered.

Improve your overall skills

2009-12-13T07:17:00.001-08:00

To prosper in the current job market, postgraduates must be able to work hard and manage expectations, while harnessing their skills sets.

Each year thousands of graduates leave India to pursue masters’ courses overseas. They carry with them the hope that after they complete their education they will have the opportunity to work abroad and build their skills, their bank balances and their resumes. This year however, many have been disappointed.

Forced to return home in the downturn they have found themselves absorbed in a domestic job market that was, at least until recently, experiencing its own hiring freeze. What’s more, joining the returnees, were master’s graduates from previous years, who had managed to secure employment broad, but filed to either have their contracts renewed, or asked to take a sabbatical until the economic situation improved.

This seems to a rather challenging situation, yet one of the most important things you have to do if you are to find a job, is to remain positive while working hard at every angle. SN from Bangalore, who is currently pursuing a Master’s in Biomedical Engineering at the New Jersey Institute of Technology in the US says, it is hard, but on the other hand, if you give a hundred per cent to your job search, you can definitely land up with a job. In this situation you need to put that extra zing into grabbing every opportunity you get. You’ve got to be persistent and more flexible in terms of relocating and traveling. You need to open up more areas in your research like networking volunteering or even attending conferences, just in order to be able to meet people that could in turn lead to a potential employer. And you need to keep abreast with the current affairs of your interest.

As far as Indian job market is concerned, the number of postings for masters’ graduates is really picking up. For improving your chances of getting a job when you return is to have good contacts with people working in different fields, improve your socializing skills, and increase your networking. All this exposure and knowledge will really give you the confidence n courage to face and solve all sorts of problems, which is the main requirement of companies in any field.

Anyone studying abroad to build their networks, agrees the executive search agency Stanton Chase International in Bangalore. Join specialized groups, become more active with your institution an alumni. Ensure that summer jobs or internships have relevance to the overall career focus have. Stay connected to trends and economic indictors in your own country as well. There was a time when an international degree had great value in the job market. Now, it may be good, but not as dramatic as before.

What if you yourself returning to India to look for a job? In such a difficult market, it is essential that you stand by your conviction that the experience you have had overseas is valuable. Sometimes returning graduates do get discouraged when they haven’t got a job and have been back in India for two or three months, but you shouldn’t give up. You have to know that you have something special, something that so many students in India my not have.

Multinationals for example want to employ people with international experience because the understanding of different cultural working practices is an invaluable skill. Studying and working abroad, even if only part time gives you an edge over your compatriots. When you have international experience you understand how important it is to evidence decisions or show leadership and initiatives in your job. It is obvious that a non-Indian post-graduates degree brings several benefits to employers. There is the exposure to world class laboratories and other facilities, for example. Experience also helps you think innovatively decision making.

Keeping faith in the quality of your experience and what it can bring to Indian employers is important, but it is also important to articulate that experience in a way that helps people understand what you can do for them. For example, people who are unfamiliar with the shorter UK master’s program might wonder how much you could have learned in a year. It is important to emphasize how intensive a period of learning it was. You also need to articulate your understanding of how another country’s working practices can benefit the employer. Unless they are actively looking or someone with a non-Indian degree, they will not necessarily work this out for themselves.

Some Indian students are under the impression that Indian companies are going to be very receptive to anyone with an international degree adds even with well regarded degree such as one from the UK, you are going to need certain attitude. You need to bring yourself out. You need to bring yourself out. You need to show how valuable you will be to employers by drawing attention to your skills and experiences both on your CV and in the interview Indian CVs can often be too plain.

Rural and Urban Migration

2009-12-13T07:17:00.000-08:00

Migration from rural to urban areas is largely a result of a desire for greater access to sources of education, health care and improved job opportunities. In the early 1800s less than 3.5 percent of the world’s people were living in cities of 20,000 or more and less than 2 percent in cities of 100,000 or more today more than 40 percent of the world’s people are urbanites, and the trend is acceleration. Once in the city, perhaps three out of four migrants achieve some economic gains. The family income of a manual worker in urban Brazil, for example is almost five times that of a farm laborer in a rural area.

By 2030, estimates indicate that more than 61 percent of the world’s population will live in urban areas and at least 27 cities will have populations of 10 million or more, 23 of which will be in the less developed regions. Tokyo has already overtaken Mexico City as the largest city on Earth, with a population of 26 million, a jump of almost 8 million since 1990.

Although migrants experience some relative improvement in their living standards, intense urban growth without investment in services eventually leads to serious problems. Slums populated with unskilled workers living hand to mouth put excessive pressure on sanitation system, water supplies and other social services. At some points, the disadvantages of unregulated urban growth begin to outweigh the advantages for all concerned.

Consider the conditions that exist in Mexico City today. Besides smog, garbage and pollution brought about by the increased population, Mexico City faces a severe water shortage. Local water suppli0es are nearly exhausted and in some cases unhealthy. Water consumption from all sources is about 16,000 gallons per second, but the underground aquifers are producing only 2,640 gallons per second. Water comes for hundreds of miles away and has to be pumped up to an elevation of 7,444 feet to reach Mexico City. This is a grim picture of one of the most beautiful and sophisticated cities in Latin America. Such problems are not unique to Mexico; throughout the developing world, poor sanitation and inadequate water supplies are consequences of runaway population growth. An estimated 1.1 billion people are currently without access to clean drinking water and 2.8 billion have access to sanitation services. Estimates are that 40 percent of the world’s population 2.5 billion people will be without clean water if more is not invested in water resources. Prospects for improvements are not encouraging because most of the world’s urban growth will take place in the already economically strained developing countries.

Population Decline and Aging:

While the developing world faces a rapidly growing population, the industrialized world’s population is in decline and rapidly aging. Birthrates in Western Europe and Japan have been decreasing since the early or mid 1960s more women are closing are choosing careers instead of children, and many working couples are electing o remain childless. As a result of these and other contemporary factors, population growth in many countries has dropped below the rate necessary to maintain present levels. Just to keep the population from falling a nation needs a fertility rate of about 2.1 children per woman. Not one major country has sufficient internal population growth to maintain itself, and this trend is expected to continue for the next 50 years. Europe’s population could decline by as much as 88 million (from 375 million to 287 million) people if present tr6ends continue to 2015.

At the same time that population growth is declining in the industrialized world, there are more aging people, today than ever before. Global life expectancy has grown more in the last 50 years than over the previous 5,000 years. Until the industrial Revolution, no more than 2 or 3 percent of the total population was over the age of 65. Today in the developed world, the over age 65 group will amount to 14 percent and by 2030 this group will reach 25 percent in some 30 different countries.

The manner in which people consume

2009-12-13T07:15:00.000-08:00

The manner in which people consume, the priority of needs and the wants they attempts to satisfy, and the manner in which they satisfy them are functions of their culture that temper, mold, and dictate their style of living. Culture is the human made part of human environment – the sum total of knowledge, beliefs, arts, morals, laws, customs, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by humans as members of society.

Markets constantly change; they are not static but evolve, expand and contract in response to marketing effort, economic conditions, and other cultural influences. Markets and market behavior are part of a country’s culture. One cannot truly understand how markets evolve or how they react to a marketer’s effort without appreciating that markets are a result of culture. Markets are the result of the three way interaction of a marketer’s efforts, economic conditions and all other elements of the culture demands of the market, but they also are acting as agents of change whenever the product or idea being marketed is innovative. Whatever the degree of acceptance in whatever level of culture, the use of something new is the beginning of cultural change, and marketer becomes a change agent.

A discussion of the broad concept of culture as the foundation for international marketing is presented in this chapter. Business culture in Global Marketing discusses culture and how it influences business practice and the behaviors and thinking of managers.

This article’s purpose is to heighten the reader’s sensitivity to the dynamics of culture. It is neither a treatise on cultural information about a particular country nor a thorough marketing science or epidemiological study of the various topics. Rather, it is designed to emphasize the importance if cultural differences to marketers and the need for study of each country’s culture(s) and all its origin and elements and to point out some relevant aspects on which to focus.

Culture’s Pervasive Impact:

Culture affects every of our lives, very day, from birth to death, and everything in between. It affects how we spend money and how we consume in general. It even affects how we sleep. For example, we are told that Spaniards sleep less than other European and Japanese children often sleep with their parents. You can clearly see culture operating in the birthrates tables. When you look across the data from the three countries, the gradual decline beginning 1960s is evident. As countries move, from agricultural to industrial to service economy birth rate declines. Immediate causes may be government policies and birth control technologies, but a global change in values is also occurring. Almost everywhere smaller families are becoming favored. This cultural change now leads experts to predict that the planet’s population will, actually begin to decline after 2050 unless major breakthroughs in longevity intervene as some predict.

Please notice the little peaks in 1976 and 1988 in the Singapore data. The same pattern can be seen in birthrate data from Taiwan. Those extra births are not a matter of random fluctuation. In Chinese cultures being born in the Year of the Dragon (12 animals – dogs, rats, rabbits, pigs etc – correspond to specific years in the calendar) is considered good luck. Such birthrate spikes have implications for sellers of diapers, toys, schools, colleges, and so forth in successive years in Singapore. However, superstitious have an even stronger influence on the birthrates in Japan. A one year 20 percent drop in Japanese fertility rates in 1966 was caused by a belief that women born in the Year of the Fire Horse, which occurs every 60 years will lead unhappy lives and perhaps murder their husbands. This sudden and substantial decline in fertility, which has occurred historically every 60 years since Japan started keeping birth records, reflects abstinence, abortions, and birth certificate fudging. This superstition has resulted in the stigmatization of women born, in 1966 and has had a large impact on market potential for a wide variety of consumer goods and services in Japan. It will be interesting to see how technological innovations and culture will interact in Japan in 2026 the next Year of the Fire Horse.

The manner in which people consume

2009-12-12T10:17:00.000-08:00

LOV (Lists of values :) Segments

2009-12-12T07:11:00.000-08:00

Self respect is the all American value in that it was elected by the largest number of Americans and it has the least distinctive endorsers. People from all age and income groups selected this value as most important. About 21.1 % of Americans selected it in 1976, 23% in 1986.

Security is a deficit value, endorsed by people who lack economic and psychological security. People who endorse it tend to report anxiety, trouble sleeping, dizziness, and shortness of breath. In terms of media preferences they like 20 / 20 and Love Boat by 20.6% of Americans in 1976, 16.5% in 1986.

Warm relationships with others is an excess value, endorsed by people especially women, who have a lot of friends and who are friendly. Midwesterners rate this value highly. Endorsers include divorced men, Lutherans, frequent churchgoers, housewives and clerical workers. People here experience nightmares but have good social support networks and families. The percentage has risen from 16.2% to 19.9%.

Likewise people who endorse sense of accomplishment have accomplished a lot. These people tend to be successful middle aged man. They often have good jobs and high incomes. They tend to be well educated managers and professionals. They may be Jewish or Methodist, but they often do not go to synagogue or church. These people like conspicuous consumption but dislike any television watching that interferes with accomplishment, especially Love boat and Three’s Company. About 11.4% endorsed this value earlier, but more recently endorsement grew to 15.9%. The percentage is higher in the northeast.

People mostly young urban professionals — who endorse self-fulfillment are relatively well fulfilled economically, educationally, and emotionally. They are healthy and self confident. They resent excessive demands from their families that distract from self fulfillment. They like movies more than television. Overall 9.6% of Americans subscribed to this value earlier, but the rate fell more recently to 6.5%. The percentage is higher in the Pacific states.

Being well respected is selected by the Rodney Danger fields of the world. They are often over 50 and have little occupational prestige, yet they love their jobs. This value is endorsed by farmers, craftsmen, operators, divorced women, and retired people. They have low income and lack formal education. It is interesting to contrast self respect which one can achieve alone, with being well respected which requires the cooperation of others. People who values self respect are much better adjusted, according to our measures. Psychologically people who value being well respected tend to be external depressed unhappy, pessimistic and unhealthy. For fun they like to bowl The 1976 and 1986 percentages are, respectively, 8.8% and 5.9%.

Sense of belonging also requires the help of others. Like warm relationships with others, it is a social value selected by women. However, it is less reciprocal and seems to result in greater dependency. It is a home and family oriented value particularly popular in the mountain states. Endorsers tend to be housewives and clerical workers. Although they tend to have only a high school education they tend to be middle income. They are happy in family roles, although physically they experience dizziness, anxiety, nervousness and headaches. They go to church weekly, usually as Presbyterians, Lutherans, or Catholics. They like to read TV Guide and Reader’s Digest. The endorsement rate was 7.9% and has fallen to 5.1%.

You might think that fun and enjoyment in life would isolate the hedonists in America but the cliché that best describes these people is Stop and smell the roses . Young people who appreciate life especially like this value. They are often unemployed or work in sales or labor, but they are optimistic and well adjusted. They dislike family roles, religion and children however. They do like sports and entertainments and they read Playboy, rolling stone and Cosmopolitan. About 4.5% of Americans endorsed this value in 1976, and the percentage has risen to 7.2%. The rise has been especially dramatic among young males.

Action...Fight...Wake up...

2009-11-26T11:28:00.000-08:00

I see all this potential, and I see it squandered. God damn it, an entire generation pumping gas, waiting tables – slaves with white collars. Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don't need. We're the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our great war is a spiritual war. Our great depression is our lives. We've all been raised on television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars, but we won't. We're slowly learning that fact. And we're very, very pissed off.

You're not your job. You're not how much money you have in the bank. You're not the car you drive. You're not the contents of your wallet. You're not your fucking khakis. We are the all-singing, all-dancing crap of the world.

You are not special. You are not a beautiful or unique snowflake. You are the same decaying organic matter as everything else.

The first soap was made from the ashes of heroes, like the first monkey shot into space. Without pain, without sacrifice, we would have nothing.

Stop trying to control everything and just let go.

Time - Tic Tic Tic......

2009-11-14T05:20:00.000-08:00

Time - it is the one thing that we are all running out of. It cannot be replaced. When it is spent, it is spent.

What, then, are you doing to ensure that you are maximizing the use of time?"

Understand that time will pass regardless of whether you spend it wisely or simply waste it.

You can make time your friend or it can be your worst enemy. Most people leave important tasks till the last possible moment then they are forced by self-imposed circumstance to rush everything. This is a lack of planning and responsibility , often borne from that other scourge called procrastination - the inability to begin.

Leaving things until the "eleventh hour" is where that horrible word "URGENT" comes from. Whenever you hear that word you can almost certainly be sure that somebody in the chain is trying to deflect the blame onto somebody else for their own slackness. You don't do that do you?

How many times have you heard people complain that they "haven't had time!"? What they really mean, and what they should be saying, is "I left it too late and ran out of time." Ever hear anybody say that? Uh-uh - that sounds too self-deprecating doesn't it? So they blame time itself.

Time does not care how you spend it. You can use it to create marvelous things in your life or you can waste it. All of us have only 168 hours per week. About a third of that is spent re-charging, that is, sleeping. That leaves 112 hours to use - more than enough to achieve anything you want.

I have a saying about sleep. "You can sleep all you want when you are dead." In the meantime, if you have something really important to do then get up an hour earlier in the morning. Conversely, if you are a "night person" you can stay awake for several hours in the evening to get things done.

The wise use of time is the mark of a successful person.

Plan your actions. Use time wisely - you are never going to get it back. The clock is always ticking. Tick. Tick. Tick...

Weekends have become the most productive days

2009-11-09T05:57:00.000-08:00

A budding professional looks forward to the weekend as a welcome break from the stress and grind of their work life, choosing to spend time with family, catching up on personal errands, heading off to the malls and markets or just sleeping in. Limited time availability makes it difficult to manage this during the week.

However, some executives and entrepreneurs are using the same disadvantage of being pressed for time to out do their peers, boost their skill sets and enhance their careers. They make their week ends the most productive and future focused days of the week. ITM’s Executive Education Center offers programs tailor made for the week day busy professional.

Part time MBA programs have been around for decades and have proven very popular amongst working executives. Many management institutes in Mumbai, Delhi offer part time programs affiliated with the Mumbai University and DU. These programs are usually of three years duration, with a course schedule that sees students attending classes on weekday evenings after their work hours.

With ever increasing responsibility at work, the 9 to 5 workday is long one, making it nearly impossible for many executives to attend MBA classes every evening. What’s more, with the speed at which careers are moving, many feel that three years is too much time to invest in a much needed Masters qualifications.

Distance Education programs are a popular choice for executives who feel the need to add to their qualifications. However, many graduates have realized that employers give little value to these degrees, especially when there are candidates with full time MBA degrees waiting in line.

Empathizing with the lifestyle of today’s working professionals ITM realized that a faster but equally enriching and intensive Executive Masters program was the much sought after solution. Consequently, ITM Executive education Center started offering its students the choice of a weekend class schedule for its Executive Masters programs in 2003. Students could choose to attend classes on Saturdays and Sundays rather than during the week. This format proved so convenient that within a year all new batches were following the weekend format.

Today, ITM Executive Education center is one of the most popular choices for part time executive education in Mumbai. The numbers speak volumes for the success of the program, with over 2,000 students currently enrolled in weekend programs at its 11 centers spread across Mumbai and Navi Mumbai.

ITM wants to give working professionals a competitive advantage over their peers who do not have a Masters qualification, and want to do it in the fastest, most convenient and academically enriching way possible.

All efforts are concentrated towards enhancing the productivity of the schedule for working professionals. The entire infrastructure of ITM EEC is designed around the Weekend Education Programs and this is evidence to the thought put into meeting a very essential need – the need to save time.

Convenient travel from home or work is the perk:

Earlier they had just one campus in Mumbai and students lived far from it would have to travel for hours to attend their courses. But they realized that their sole purpose is time saving and that it was obligatory for them to be located closer to clients’ offices or homes. So they started looking at center locations that would be convenient. ITM Executive Center now has active centers in Sion, Matunga, Vile Parle, Dombivili, Chembur, Vashi and Kharghar, and they are still expanding. ITM has upcoming centers in Oshiwara, Thane and other locations in suburban Mumbai.

The Centers offers two programs – a 24 month Masters program in Business administration, which is for young professionals and a 16 month program, which is for experienced professionals. This distinction allows the faculties to design and deliver the right level of education to their students. Young executives who have below 3 years of work experience need a good grounding in business fundamentals and concepts. Older executive bring a wealth of experience into the classroom and require more advanced exploratory learning. Our facilities are capable of adapting the course content and subject coverage based on the age and experience of the batch.

Students believe that the programs offered are very rewarding and worth the time they spend on it.

ITM are amazed at how many new candidates come to them through the reference of their colleagues or friends who are studying with them. 60% of students come through the recommendation of a colleague. ITM EEC has been so successful with its weekend Maters Program that we have launched it in Chennai, Hyderabad and Kolkata, with similar responsiveness.

ITM EEC’s centers and classrooms are well equipped for modern teaching methods using LCD projectors and other A/V equipment. All students get top of the line Acer laptops along with their book kits. All this technology really comes to the forefront when students have group assignments and projects.

Career progression is our main objective but our students experience many more benefits. The professional and social networking possibility is a big bonus. Many students find their next jobs, business deals and even start new ventures while they’re enrolled with us. The big benefit is getting promotions and new jobs. Most of our students are able to move up of management positions in their organizations within a year of completing the program.

Weekends have become the most productive days of the week for so many working professionals who realize that they need to get qualified, get an edge and get hired.

Social Events shape management

2009-11-01T23:55:00.000-08:00

These are long pending posts,

We conclude this historical review by showing you how social events shape and theorists write about and what practicing managers focus on. Although some management historians may quarrel with the following cause effect analysis, few would disagree that societal conditions are the primary driving forces behind the emergence of the different management.

What stimulated the classical approach?

The common thread in the ideas offered by individuals such as Taylor, the Gilbreths, Fayol, and Weber has increased efficiency. The world of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was highly inefficient. Most organizational activities were unplanned and unorganized. Job responsibilities were vague and ambiguous. Managers, when they existed, had no clear notion of what they were supposed to do. There was a crying need for ideas that could bring order out of this chaos and improve productivity. And the standardized practices offered by the classicists were a means to increase productivity. Take the specific case of scientific management. At the turn of the twentieth century, the standard of living was low; wages were modest, and few workers owned their own homes. Production was highly labor intensive. It wasn’t unusual, for instance, for hundreds of people to be doing the same repetitive, back breaking job, hour after hour, day after day. So Taylor could justify spending six months or more studying one job and perfecting a standardized one best way to do it because the labor intensive procedures of the time had so many people performing the same task. And the efficiencies on the production floor could be passed on in lower prices for steel, thus expanding markets, creating more jobs, and making products such as stoves and refrigerators more accessible to working families. Similarly, Frank Gilbreth’s breakthroughs in improving the efficiency of bricklayers and standardizing those techniques meant lower costs for putting up buildings and, thus, more buildings being constructed. The cost of putting up factories and homes dropped significantly, so more factories could be built, and more people could own their own homes. The end result: The application of scientific management principles contributed to raising the standard of living of entire countries.

What stimulated the Human Resources Approach?

The human resources approach rally began to roll in the 1930s when two related forces were instrumental in fostering, this interest. First was a backlash to the overly mechanistic view of employees held by the classical view. Second was the Great Depression.

The classical view treated organizations and people as machines. Managers were the engineers who ensured that the inputs were available and that the machines were properly maintained. Any failure by the employee to generate the desired output was viewed as an engineering problem. It was time to redesign the job or grease the machine by offering the employee an incentive wage plan. Unfortunately, this kind of thinking created an alienated workforce. Human beings were not machines and did not necessarily respond positively to the cold and regimented work environment of the classicists’ perfectly designed organization. The human resources approach offered managers solutions for decreasing this alienation and for improving worker productivity.

The Great Depression swept the globe in the 1930s and dramatically increased the role of government in individual and business affairs. For instance, in the United States, Franklin D Roosevelt’s New Deal sought to restore confidence to a stricken nation. Between 1935 and 1938 alone, the Social Security Act was created to provide old age assistance: the National Labor Relations Act was passed to legitimize the rights of labor unions; the Fair Labor Standards Act introduced the guaranteed hourly wage; and the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act established the first national unemployment protection. This New Deal climate increased the importance of the worker. Humanizing the workplace had become congruent with society’s concerns.

Human relations movement

2009-11-01T23:48:00.000-08:00

Another within the human resources approach is important to management history for its unflinching commitment to making management practices more humane. Members of the human relations movement uniformly believed in the importance of employee satisfaction – a satisfied worker was believed to be a productive worker. For the most part, the people associated with this movement – Dale Carnegie, Abraham Maslow, and Douglas McGregor were individuals whose views were shaped more by their personal philosophies than by substantive research evidence.

Dale Carnegie is often overlooked by management scholars, but his ideas and teachings have had an enormous effect on management practice. His book How to Win Friends and Influence People was read by millions in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s. In addition, during this same period, thousands of managers and aspiring managers attended his management speeches and seminars. What was the theme of Carnegie’s book and lectures? Essentially, he said that the way to succeed was to
(1) make others feel, important through a sincere appreciation of their efforts;
(2) make a good first impression;
(3) win people over to your way of thinking by letting others do the talking, being sympathetic and never telling a man he is wrong and
(4) change people by praising good traits and giving the offender the opportunity to save face.

Abraham Maslow, a humanistic psychologist, proposed a hierarchy of five needs: physiological,
safety,
social esteem and self actualization. In terms of motivation,
Maslow argued that each step in the hierarchy must be satisfied before the next level can be activated and that once a need was substantially satisfied,
it no longer motivated behavior.

Douglas McGregor is best known for his formulation of two sets of assumptions -
Theory X and Theory Y – about human nature.

Theory X presents an essentially negative view of people. It assumes that they have little ambition, dislike work, want to avoid responsibility and need to be closely supervised to work effectively.

On the other hand, Theory Y offers a positive view assuming that people can exercise self direction accept responsibility and consider work to be as natural as rest or play. McGregor believed that Theory Y assumptions best captured the true nature of workers and should guide management practice.

A story about McGregor effectively captures the essence of the human perspective. McGregor had taught for a dozen years at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) before he became president of Antioch College. After six years at Antioch, he seemed to recognize that his philosophy had failed to cope with the realities of organizational life.

He believed for example, that a leader could operate successfully as a kind of advisor to his organization though without being a boss. Unconsciously he hoped to duck the unpleasant necessity of making difficult decisions, of taking the responsibility for in course of action, among many uncertain alternatives, of making mistakes and taking the consequences. Good human relations would eliminate all discord and disagreement. He couldn’t have been more wrong. It took a couple of years for him to realize that a leader cannot avoid the exercise of authority any more than he can avoid responsibility for, what happens to his organizations.

The irony in McGregor’s case was that he went back to MIT and began preaching his humanistic doctrine again. And he continued to do so until his death. Like Maslow’s McGregor’s beliefs about human nature have had a strong following among management academics and practitioners.

What common thread linked the advocates of the human relations movement?
The thing that United human relations supporters, including Carnegie, Maslow, and McGregor, was an unshakable optimism about people’s capabilities. They believed strongly in their cause and were inflexible in their beliefs, even when faced with contradictory evidence. No amount of contrary experience or research evidence would alter their views. Despite this lack of objectivity, advocates of the human relations movement had a definite influence on management theory and practice.

Avoid getting distracted

2009-11-01T23:41:00.000-08:00

To cut yourself off, get a pair of headphones that block out noise. Your colleagues will get the message that you do not wish to be disturbed(Somehow I need more oxygen then others, need more space for myself but people around u are always good lechers; they will suck your blood till death).

Diwali is the time for festivities. There always is a lot to do from planning parties to making time for shopping during lunch hours. Losing focus of work is inevitable. Here are some tips to avoid getting distracted by the Diwali festivities:

Everyone at the office either wants or is expected to contribute in some way or the other towards the festive preparations. At the same time, your boss won’t want your productivity to get affected. It’s best to schedule a time for those brainstorming sessions that involve decisions like theme of decorating the office, lunch menu for Diwali party etc. If everyone agrees to come in early for such meetings, it is easy to get this off your agenda and concentrate on work for the rest of the day.

If you are responsible for scoring any of the requirements for Diwali, don’t waste time going through Yellow Pages and looking for vendors. Use the Internet to find vendors, draft a common e-mail and shoot it off to them asking for quotations to be either emailed or faxed back. This way you can go through the quotations when you are free instead of answering or making phone calls in the midst of an assignment.

The first rule of time management and avoiding distractions – any work that can be handled by someone else should be delegated. Break up the task assigned to you for the Diwali run up into smaller steps. If any of these chores be handled by your secretary or colleagues request them to do so. This makes it easier to keep your work and Diwali schedule on track.

The one time when you aren’t likely to get frowns from the boss for focusing on Diwali preparations is when you use some time of your lunch hour. This could also be perfect for having impromptu, meetings on the subject. In fact, it could just brighten up your lunch hour and then have you in good spirits to focus on work.

There will always be a buzz about Diwali preparations around the office. It may be difficult not to get drawn into a conversation with colleagues in the next cubicle. The best way is to completely cut your self off – get a pair of headphones that block out noise. Your colleagues will get the message that you do not wish to be disturbed and if they don’t, hang a “Do Not Disturb” sign on your chair.

Above all, one needs to have the right mental attitude – festivals are fun, but being a responsible adult means that you know how to draw the line between fun and work.

The above is one conservative thought. Office Diwali celebrations are brief with a Puja and may not require any executive time. There are people like Attendants and contract cleaning staff under the supervision of Administrative department or Union leaders in case of Factories. First of all in an office environment there will not be any noise because holidays for the festival are declared. So such gadgets like headphones may not be required. Even if somebody wears them with a good intention the boss can think that you are listening to Music during working hours.

Effective Time management is required on all working days. Enjoy festival holidays with family and forget the work at that time. Once back to office deliver your tasks. Keep aside the conservative advises and thoughts.

This is an experience i just had and believe me you really need to prioritize your work accordingly. Don' speak for the results let the results speak for you.....

Katana Martial Art !

2009-10-11T02:17:00.001-07:00

Day start with half and hour chant, then went straight away to park for some fresh air, took some photos senior people laughing, youngster at baddy, old ladies sitting cris crossed attempting yoga, young cubs playing football, Half a dozen joggers on their toes hopping around and me with camera in hand pondering like a dry leave in the whole arena.

Time 6:30 AM
Date 10th October, 2009
A perfect Day !

Q: What was so special about this day?
A: I was the MC (Master of Ceremony) for the Zadenkai.

A big Wow!! Quite fortunate to be a mc to fill energy into many lives, taking care of all the minutest of things to the delivering of speech.

District Name : Hope
Song: Aashayien (again hope)
Discussion: Not bregudging ones life
Cultural fest: A surprise package from Cubs Division - Performance on Soka bodhi tree song

A wonderful milestone created after the discussion, will share that in separate blog.

Went to CP attempted a new way of enjoying life with Katana Martial art and believe me it is one speedy thing that will give you goose bumps allover your body.
A baby among the professionals watching them with wide eye and tried for two hours,
Broke
Shattered
into bits and pieces
Not in one shape

Now on bed sharing my experience with all of you.

Here is the video of the Katana Art which I tried in CP @ Delhi.

Cheers!

Think and take ACTION

2009-09-18T23:05:00.000-07:00

How long we should wait for red to turn into green, why are we not standing up all together to fight with this situation.

Topic : Transport
Subject: How can we improve this!!!
Tag Line:WE MUST FIGHT FOR PUBLIC TRANSPORT. NEVER SHY AWAY FROM IT
Solution: Use bus as a solution to traffic

BMTC has just 5000 buses, and carries 37 lakh people every day.
Bangalore's 32 lakh cars and two-wheelers carry 32 lakh people.
By G V Dasarathi
14 Sep 2009,
(Read again !!!!)

During commute time in Bangalore when people are traveling to their offices, how many people do you see:
1. In a car?
2. On a motor bike?
3. In a bus?

Answer : 1 in a car, 1 on a bike, 75 in a bus.

Here’s a small transportation engineering exercise.
If you count the number of vehicles on the flyover in the picture below, you’ll find that they add up to 150. Assuming the people in these vehicles are all going to or from work, each of the vehicles is carrying 1 person.

That means there are 150 people between the two red lines.

Lets now divide these 150 vehicles into two groups of 75 vehicles each.

If each of these groups of people decide to travel by bus instead of in their cars and two-wheelers, this is what happens (remember, we already decided that the average bus carries 75 people during rush hour).

The congestion magically disappears !
This is no magic. It is proven every day on Bangalore's roads by BMTC.
BMTC has just 5000 buses, and carries 37 Lakh people every day.
Bangalore's 32 lakh cars and two-wheelers carry 32 lakh people.

This means that 0.15 per cent of the vehicle population is carrying 50 per cent of the human population.

To carry a person 1 km, a bus:
1. Uses 1/30th the space of a car, and 1/20th the space of a two-wheeler.
2. Emits 1/6th the pollution of a car, and 1/10th that of a two-wheeler
3. Uses 1/15th the quantity of fuel of a car, and 1/3rd that of a two-wheeler

With extensive use of buses this is what can be achieved in Bangalore:
1. Number of vehicles reduced to 1/10th
2. Air pollution 1/6th of what it is now.
3. Traffic density 1/10th of what it is now.
4. Commute time reduced by 1/2
5. Commuting cost reduced to 1/5th.
6. Accidents reduced dramatically.
7. The money that the government spends on road infrastructure will be available for improving water, power, education, medicare and housing.

We don't have to travel uncomfortably, 75 people in a bus. We can have multiple classes of buses, like BMTC already has.

So where is the problem ? Why can't we do this?

Let's hear it from someone who solved the problem in Bogotá, Colombia, which has the same population as Bangalore, in an area twice the size, and had a similar traffic problem.

When Enrique Peñalosa became mayor of Bogotá in 1998, he asked a question that is changing the way people all over the world think about cities: “In Bogotá, where 85 percent of the people do not use cars for their daily transport, is it fair that cars occupy most of the space on the streets?

The city built 70 miles of bicycle routes and closed several streets to cars and converting them into pedestrian malls. Car use was restricted during rush hour, each car banned from the downtown area two days a week, based on the license plate number. The results were dramatic: the average commute time dropped by 21 minutes, and pollution was reduced significantly.

The city had been debating a multi-billion dollar train subway system for decades, but Peñalosa decided to build a rapid transit bus system (BRT) that was far cheaper.

In the words of Peñalosa, who says he succeeded because he focused on improving the lot of people, not their cars. “All over the developing world, resources are used to help the affluent avoid traffic jams rather than mobilizing the entire population,”

People ask him why this is not done everywhere, if it is so simple and inexpensive. “I tell them the only issue is a political one. They don’t want to take space from cars and give it to buses, bicyclists, and pedestrians,”

After Peñalosa showed the way, scores of cities the world over have switched to bus systems.

Think and act wisely !!!

Mentors and Mentees

2009-09-07T09:58:00.000-07:00

A teacher /or and a student / mentor begin their journey as strangers. But the lessons learnt out of this relationship go beyond just the level of the textbook or business manual, for both involved. After all, learning is a two way process. As we celebrate Teacher’s Day on September 5th, let’s meet a few India Inc, mentors / mentees as they share their learnings derived out of their experience of donning both hats at some point of time in their careers.

Mr.X’s favorite mentors were E A K Faizullabhoy and R K Krishnamurthi; they were his first employers as well. As a mentee, X learnt from that organizations and teams are built on faith and trust. A true balance of trust, human understanding and symbiotic working between different hierarchies in a team is the fundamental premise for successful teams. In one instance, where X had taken a decision to advise a client without their authorization, which turned out to, be a wrong one, they professionally handled the wrong advise, corrected the damage done and ensured that they trained X on similar factual situations. More importantly, they took time out to equip X for similar situations in the future, while discussing the reasons and facts which were wrongly applied by X. X always believed the greatest virtue of a mentor is not only to be superior in knowledge, but also display patience to enable learning and wisdom.

X is now presently mentoring one person in his organization with a view to create a successful career on one hand and to sow the seeds of mentoring on the other. The greatest of the challenges in mentoring is the resistance to change and willingness to unlearn certain preconceived positions of understanding and decision making. Also X is not sure how and when the mentor takes over from being a mere superior in terms of administrative hierarchy.

Now take the case of Y, his mentor was Naren M P executive director of Vaspar Concepts Pvt Ltd. Naren always kept saying that people feel like they have too much to do and not enough time and lack of time is blamed for everything from not getting enough exercise, unachieved goals, bad relationships and so on. Through him, Y learnt ways to compartmentalize time and work and even honed the art of multi tasking.

As a mentor, Y is mentoring three people. In the process of mentoring, Y developed an ability to absorb their experiences which they have acquired through their course of life. Y learnt that every person’s problem is a case study by itself, through them you can enrich your learning.

Now take the case of Z and his mentor was his boss, Kiran Bali. When Z was with GE during 2001-04 it was the time Z transformed his career from technology to leadership. Z’s mentor demonstrated good mentoring skills in shaping me up as a good leader and to see the clear difference in technical leadership. Mentor taught me ways to handle people, give feedback, maintain work life balance in a very demanding job that we are in. To narrate an incident, Z was aggressive by nature and demanded the deadlines from teammates when Z started his career as a project lead. One of the incidents triggered conflict between Z’s colleague and Z, and as Z was the lead, Z stressed the need and asked him to stretch instead of motivating him to do so. Z’s teammate completed the job on time as required but he escalated the issue to Z’s boss. That’s where he stepped in and helped Z learn ways to handle high pressure situations, while still respecting people.

Z is mentoring five people in his current job. Understanding their view is sometimes difficult for which Z needs to step into their shoes to understand the problem before guiding them to the right pointers. Also, mentors gain from a mentee’s experience. Hence, look out for opportunities for improvement on both sides, both mentee and mentor.

M’s best mentor has been his current boss SJ – COO. A few learning sessions M derived from her are: (1) once performance levels of people are established, don’t delay telling people where they stand. In case performance isn’t meeting expectations, they may need you to ensure they know that (2) establish a relationship with people beyond what they do at work and remember the small things about them and (3) the devil is in the detail.

At the moment, M directly would be mentoring four people. M thinks the strongest lesson he has learnt is that you have to let people go and make their own mistakes. Don’t give solutions as much as ask questions that help them to take the decision for themselves.

Extra education is always beneficial

2009-09-04T10:27:00.001-07:00

Since management is an amorphous field where you can have an immediate impact on the operations of any business and all organizations use Management methodologies it can always stand you in good stead. Techniques that are focused on these courses are problem solving and maximizing knowledge pools. The importance of doing this from an institute shows up in the varied interactions that a correspondence course cannot provide. The latter typically has a much lower resume and market value.

Any kind of extra education is always beneficial and your future prospects also increase. I have done my Bachelor’s degree in advertising and my job profile is also marketing, so doing my MBA in marketing gives an extra edge to my career and helps me in my internal growth with salary hikes and good positions in the office. I think doing relevant courses in your own profession will be very useful. The MBA degree on my CV will give an extra edge over others. I am able to manage my job and course perfectly as my classes are on Saturday and Sunday.

The Executive MBA programs help because of the typical nature of the people doing it—all professional, who are from different streams, with the common objective of learning and sharing experience to the fullest. This creates an intensely challenging and informative learning environment. Usually, faculty of such programmes is drawn from senior management with thorough industry experience. These programmes have smaller and more personalized classes as it is considered a more interactive curriculum. An accelerated timetable does not mean that any facet of the programme will be glossed over – it is merely that as all are with work experience, it is that much simpler to get concepts across. There is a huge emphasis on case studies and overall learning.

This kind of skill enhancement program should be viewed as a long term investment which will pay rich dividends when the next opportunity presents itself. A very big difference is in the way immediate peers and seniors perceive any professional who is willing to forgo weekends or evenings and put in the kind of hard work that is a requirement of such programs. It will always be a tangible plus. Also in the matter of learning, it will open the trainee’s mind to concepts and strategies that will help in later life – both professional and personal! The cost of the programs varies but it cannot be quantified. Opportunities for professionals once they broaden the skills do definitely increase, especially for a world economy suffering from recession; an investment in further study will be an asset for the future.

1) Training in management equips a professional with overall skills that are evident to seniors.
2) Sharpening existing skills and introducing new concepts is what an executive MBA program will do for people in the field
3) Techniques that are focused on these courses are actual case studies and maximizing pools.

Weekends can be the most productive days of the week for executives who want to forge ahead in their careers with the help of Executive MBA programs.

Executive Masters progarmmes at ITM Executive Education Center

1) 16 month Executive Masters porgramme in Business Administration
2) 24 month Masters program in Business Administration (with specialization).

Part time MBA programs have been around for generations, and have proven very popular amongst working executives. Many management institutions in Mumbai offer part time programmes of Mumbai University. These programs are usually of three years’ duration, with a course schedule attending classes on weekend evenings after work hours.

Modern Life savers

2009-09-04T10:27:00.000-07:00

It’s the dream of almost every parent to see their child as a doctor; and today, students can see why. As India’s population urges, there’s a huge leap in the number of people afflicted with chronic and acute diseases and / or in need of emergency care. Health issues that come with longer life spans also multiply. No wonder then that qualified health professionals are in great demand.

The recently formed Global Alliances for Chronic Diseases, in its inaugural summit in New Delhi, declared that heart diseases, chronic respiratory conditions, cancer, and diabetes are the four biggest killers leading to loss of life (388 million people) and loss of foregone national income (India, China and the UK are set to lose $ 558 billion and $ 33 billion respectively) all over the next ten years.

Heart of the matter:

Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery>>

Heart ailments claim the maximum number of lives in India and across the world. In fact, according to a report by an international group, by 2010, 60 per cent of heart diseases patients will be from India. It doesn’t end here. Studies have proved that a genetic mutation affecting four per cent of Indians and one per cent of people worldwide is responsible for the creation of a protein that almost certainly guarantees heart ailments. Add to that the growing number of young professionals who love fast food and have little time for physical activity and you’ll begin to see why health experts believe we’re sitting on a time bomb.

Cardiologists and cardiac surgeons work to prevent, diagnose and treat heart diseases. Cardiologists are physicians who use non-operative measures to treat diseases. Cardiology can be categorized into two broad subsets: Invasive cardiology. Non-invasive cardiology is suitable for those who prefer fixed working hours, because this field primarily deals with non-emergency, elective procedures like echo cardiograms, treadmill testing, 24 hour ambulatory hotter monitoring for blood pressure recording and EECP.

However, if you’re considering a career in invasive cardiology be prepared for extremely demanding work hours. Cardiologists work 12 to 14 hours per day, and it is not uncommon to have to attend to patient in the middle of the night. Cardiology comprises methods like angioplasty/angiography which imply minimally invasive vascular intervention. Other cardio specialties include electrophysiology (electrical properties of biological cells in the heart), pediatric cardiology and adult pediatric cardiology (adults who were treated for heart problems as children).

Not to be confused with cardiologists cardiac surgeons are trained in a surgical specialty and perform surgical procedures on the heart or its blood vessels in the case of heart transplants, or to treat congenital, valvular or ischemic heart diseases. The life of a cardiac surgeon is even more demanding than that of a cardiologists clocking between 16 to 18 hours. Unless an individual is completely committed, he shouldn’t get into cardiac surgery. It takes a minimum of eight to 10 years to become a surgeon. However, while the monetary gains may be better in other fields like ophthalmology and orthopaedics, this is one branch where satisfaction is immense. You are treating a dying patient, and five days later, he is leaving the hospital, on the road to recovery.

After completion of the 5.5 year MBBS (inclusive of one year compulsory internship) a student must decide whether to pursue an MD in Internal medicine (to pursue cardiology later) or MS in General Surgery (to pursue cardiac surgery later) Both these courses are of three years duration, and are followed by a DM in Cardiology or an MCh in cardiac Surgery, of three years respectively.

Serving the Rural Poor

2009-08-23T03:42:00.000-07:00

Its been long awaited post archived in my drive, finally got time to shape this and to put the last full stop.

2009 hasn’t been the best year; especially since it was only a year ago that we were still basking in the glory of “India Shining” a catch phrase coined at the outset of the new millennium and blatantly abused ever since, to convince believers and cynics alike.

The cynics interjected: Is India shining? Rampant farmer suicides littered the tiny food producing villages across the country as the Sensex crossed 20,000 points, but expectations of the future were hardly dampened. Still, in the global economic meltdown, the fact that agriculture and its allied industries account for about 60 per cent of jobs in India, might just have kept us afloat.

Even if the two refer to the same expanse of land, the realities of India are entirely different and their fates, inextricably intertwined. But could you care less about the trials of a distant and unknown community when you are struggling to become a consummate professional and justify the monetary and emotional investments your parents have made towards your education? As you wade through the diminishing Jobs Classifieds, or struggle to hold on to one you already have, you can hardly be expected to bear the weight of the nation. There are those who have managed to find the balance ensuring they do their bit to propel the nation forward. These professionals are nation builders. Still, more are needed.

The healthcare industry in India is said to be worth US $35million and is expected to grow further, due to the low healthcare costs and professional excellence found here. In fact, medical tourism flourished on account of the stellar reputation of Indian doctors, and as international patients realized they could afford complex surgeries at $ 6000 in India, as opposed to $30,000 in their home country.

However, for many in far flung rural areas, health care is as inaccessible as ever. While the number of primary health centers, sub-centers and community health centers continues to grow, as always, few medical professionals are willing to man these centers. Factors for this trend include the exodus of qualified medical staff both nurses and doctors to countries like the US and UK (more than 30 per cent of doctors in the US are Indian) and the unwillingness of doctors to work in rural areas due to poor amenities.

A former Dean of Sion Hospital, explains why rural locations are not popular with medical students, saying, firstly when you make something compulsory you start off on the wrong foot. You don’t give them the right to choose. Secondly, if students are sent to a preplanned primary health center, they are not welcomed in that area by the people within the center itself. These people are from, the government service, and have their own processes in place. Even the amenities provided there are poor. Also, because students have to take the CET to make it to a post graduation program a tough process they prefer to use the internship period to study.

Experience in a rural areas is of immerse importance. There is an example of a group of AIIMS students, who, after working in tribal areas were inspired to start their own NGOs. When people are exposed to that life, a small percentage may be inspired to continue in that line. Most doctors will do it if they think it will make a difference to people’s lives.

Here are others as well, who has devised a way to be of service to the poorer sections, while pursuing their individual goals. A dentistry student at a college in rural, Maharasthra reveals, there are many students who run two clinics after their internship, one in a rural area, and one over the weekends in a larger town or city.

Mind can defy laws of universe

2009-08-22T21:10:00.000-07:00

Remember that your mind can defy the laws of the universe in one crucial way. It can go backward. Time can’t, nor can events – but your mind can. Let’s say you go into your office, and the first thing you notice is that an important report you needed was not written. The incomplete report tends to put in a less than resourceful state. You feel mad. You feel frustrated. You’re ready to go out and scream at your secretary. But screaming won’t produce the result you want. It will only make a bad situation worse. The key is to change your state, to back up and put yourself in a state that will allow you to get things done. That’s what you can do by rearranging your internal representations.

You are a sovereign, being in control, running your own brain. Now you are seeing the way to do it. In just some few exercises one can see that one has the ability to totally control your own state. Think what your life would be like if you remembered all your good experiences as looking bright, close, and colorful as sounding joyous, rhythmic, and melodic; as feelings soft, warm, and nurturing. And what if you stored your bad experiences as fuzzy little framed images with almost inaudible voices and insubstantial forms you could not feel because they were far away from you? Successful people do this unconsciously. They know how to turn up the volume of the things that help them and turn off the sound of the things that don’t.

It is suggested you ignore problems. Some things need to be addressed. We all know people who can go through a day in which ninety-nine things worked out right and come home totally depressed. Why? Well, one thing went wrong. They may have turned the one thing that went wrong into a big, bright, blustery image and turned the others into small, murky, quiet insubstantial ones.

Lot of people spend their whole lives like this. There are people who keep telling, “I’m depressed”. They almost say it with pride, because it’s become so much a part of their world view. Well, many therapists would begin with the long, arduous task of unearthing the causes of that depression. They’d let the patient talk for hours about his depression. They’d rummage through the patient’s mental garbage bin to uncover seminal experiences of gloom and past emotional abuse. Of such techniques are very long and very expensive therapeutic relationship s made.

No one is always depressed. Depression is not a permanent condition like losing a leg. It is a state that people can pop into and out of. In fact, most people who are experiencing depression have had many happy experiences in their lives – may be even as many or more than the average person. They just don’t represent these experiences to themselves in a bright, large, associated way. They may also represent happy times as far away instead of close. Take a moment now and remember an event that happened last week and push it far away. Does it seem as recent an experience to you anymore? What if you bring it closer? Doesn’t it now seem more recent? Some people take their happy experiences of the moment and push them far away so they seem like long ago, and store their problems up close. Haven’t you ever heard a person say I just need to get some distance from my problems? You don’t have to fly to some distant land to do this. Just push them far away from you in your mind and notice the difference. People who feel depressed often have their brains filled to capacity with big, loud, close, heavy, insistent images of the bad times and only thin, gray wafers for the good times. The way to changer isn’t to wallow in the bad memories; it’s to change the sub-modalities, the very structure of the memories themselves. Next, link what used to make you feel bad to new representations that make you feel like taking the challenges of life with vigor, humor, patience, and strength.

I will continue this post with quoting examples and making it simple with the concepts of Buddhism, Watch out this place for ENLIGHTENMENT.

Marvelous Medicos

2009-08-22T05:18:00.001-07:00

The World Health Organization (WHO) has stated that more than 220 million people worldwide are afflicted with diabetes with 50.8 million of these from India alone – the largest diabetic population in the world. With one diabetes related death occurring every 10 seconds this silent epidemic has now become a matter of serious concern for health professionals.

Diabetology is a branch of internal medicine that can be pursued after a student completes his MBBS. The two year residency program is affiliated to medical colleges, and students can pursue it after appearing for an open entrance exam. The course covers all areas that aspiring diabetologists must be familiar with, as diabetes can lead to other complications namely retinopathy, nepthropathy, diabetic foot, cardio and neuro.

Diabetologists also have a role to play in the counseling OPD, wherein they help patients to come to terms with chronic illness, and make the required lifestyle adjustments. Diabetologists will provide dietary advice personal/skin care advice and even counsel patient to self monitor their condition and adjust dosage accordingly.

Countering cancer:

Oncology>>

Cancer accounts for 13 per cent of all deaths worldwide and there are 1.5 to two million cases of cancer in India at any given time. Oncologists deal with tumors or cancer, and must deal with the whole spectrum of services for cancer patients, i.e diagnosis treatment – surgical oncology, radiation oncology, chemotherapy, and finally palliative care (terminal cases and post treatment recovery). Oncology consists of treatment of patients in four different ways: surgical oncology involves a simple or complex procedure for removal of tumor, radiation oncology involves using radiation from the outside (Teletherapy) or from close to the tumor (brachytherapy), medical oncology or chemotherapy employs chemicals that are injected or ingested as well as biological therapy to intercept the pathway of tumor development.

Other areas include onco-pathology (diagnosis using various markers) anaesthesia, biochemistry radio diagnosis, and preventive oncology. For surgical oncology a student should have completed his MS in General Surgery or in a specific surgical field, and then go on to pursue the MCh in surgical Oncology, focusing on cancer treatment in the area of his MS. For radiation oncology students will have to pursue MD in Radiotherapy while medical oncologists must have an MD in Medicine, and then a DM in medical Oncology.

Seeing Straight:

Ophthalmology>>

The average urban Indian’s life has changed. We spend hours chained to our work desks focusing on a computer screen, or have excessive exposure to dust and pollution while traveling. But these aren’t the primary reasons for the tremendous growth opportunities for ophthalmologists. The biggest growth in the ophthalmology field is possibly in cosmetic areas – laser correction surgery has become extremely commercialized and is a very lucrative business. We are also witnessing an increasing number of diabetic patients consulting ophthalmpologists concerned about retinopathy. And obviously cataracts are the bread and butter for most ophthalmologists every individual needs a cataract operation at least once in life.

To pursue ophthalmology, students must complete an MS in Ophthalmology after their MBBS and develop their expertise in a sub-specialty by working with a surgeon after their MS. Sub-specialties under ophthalmology can include glaucoma, cornea (laser surgery), oculoplasty (eyelids and cosmetic botox) as well as vitreo retinal surgery among others.

Bone of Contention:

Orthopaedics>>

With increasing instances of osteoporosis and arthritis, besides other common accident related bone and joint treatments, orthopaedics is a specialty that will continue to grow. As the number of vehicles on city roads multiplies, the number of accidents has also grown.

Though orthopaedics is a surgical branch, orthopaedic surgeons can use both surgical and non-surgical methods to treat musculoskeletal trauma, degenerative bone diseases, tumors, sports injuries. Orthopaedics can concern themselves with with a certain part of the body specializing in spine surgery, hand surgery, joint replacement surgery, oncology orthopaedics, pediatric orthopedics and even sports injuries.

Students need to pursue an MS in Orthopaedics after their MBBS to pursue a career in the field.

Institute Indicator:

1) All India Institute of Medical Science , New Delhi
2) Jawaharlal Nehru Institute Medical education and research, Puducherry
3) Christian Medical College , Vellore
4) Manipal University, Manipal

Swine flu

2009-08-22T05:18:00.000-07:00

Swine flu has killed over 60 Indians so far, and may soon claim hundreds, even thousands. That is a tragedy. Even so, swine flu remains a very minor cause of death, far behind other diseases that kill millions. The panic generated by the media is unwarranted, and is worsening health outcomes.

In 2001-03, the Registrar General conducted a survey to gauge the main causes of deaths in India. Heart disease came first (19%), followed by respiratory diseases like asthma (9%), diarrhea (8%), respiratory infections like pneumonia (6.2%), tuberculosis (6%), and cancer (5.7%).

Applying these percentages to India’s annual deaths of around 9 million, we find that 1.37 million people die annually of respiratory diseases and infections, 720,000 of diarrhea, and 540,000 of TB. These are staggering numbers. They imply that on an average day, 3,753 people die of respiratory diseases and infections, 1,973 of diarrhea, and 1,479 of tuberculosis.

Seen in this light, 20-odd swine flu deaths are almost laughably trivial. I do not laugh, because every death is a tragedy. But I am infinitely sadder for the millions whose plight has been swept out of public view, and is actually being worsened by upper-class panic.

Make no mistake, swine flu panic is substantially an upper class worry. Why do the media overflow with news of swine flu while ignoring other diseases that kill thousands every day? Because those everyday diseases are the problems of the poorer half of India, and the media target the upper half. Some upper class folk do get asthma or TB, but they are quickly treated and rarely die of these diseases. The millions who die come from the bottom half, lacking access to doctors and medicines. They die so regularly in millions that their deaths are no longer considered news.

Then along comes swine flu. It is a new disease, and that itself commands media attention. The richer half is terrified that not even its money and access to doctors provides safety. As a disease carried by air travelers, swine flu is a quintessential elite concern. Elite panic soon spreads to lower rungs of society, as the media project a new apocalypse. This is true across the world. Globally, swine flu has infected 177,000 people and killed 1,126. The numbers are trivial compared with deaths from malaria, respiratory disease or diarrhea. Yet the global media focus on swine flu.

Panic over a new disease of limited impact is hardly new. The 2002-03 epidemic of SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) hogged global headlines for almost a year. Yet WHO data between November 2002 and July 2003 listed only 8,096 infections and 774 SARS deaths globally.

India had a plague panic starting in Surat in 1994. Half a million people fled Surat, and more fled Mumbai and other cities in Gujarat and Maharashtra. Schools and businesses closed down across India. Business losses in Surat alone were $ 260 million. Foreign countries stopped buying Indian agricultural exports, causing losses of $ 420 million. Foreign investors pulled out of stock markets, 45,000 foreign tourists cancelled their trips to India, and some international airlines stopped flying to India.

The media duly reported these economic costs. Yet arguably the greatest costs were borne, unseen, by the poor. Tetracycline, a cheap antibiotic popular with the poor, disappeared from chemists shops because of panic buying by plague suspects. Hospitals everywhere were inundated with lakhs of citizens wanting to be checked for plague. Only a handful of these were found infected. Indeed, only 53 deaths were ultimately attributed to plague, and some experts cast doubt on whether even these were plague cases. But doctors and hospitals across India were overwhelmed by plague suspects, and so had no space, time or medicine for those dying of other everyday diseases. This suffering, mainly of the bottom half of society, attracted no media attention whatsoever.

In dealing with swine flu, we must remember lessons from the plague panic of 1994. The media must put swine flu deaths in perspective by also reporting how many people are dying of other diseases. Politicians and the media must repeatedly highlight lessons to be learned from the plague panic: how it hugely inflated fears and death estimates, how it crowded out medical attention to sufferers of other killer diseases, and how it imposed huge financial and psychological costs unnecessarily. The Prime Minister has appealed to the media not to spread panic. Yet panic is inevitable when the Health Minister says in a Times of India interview that one-third of all Indians could ultimately be infected. We need cool heads and discreet tongues.

Free hugs - Life is beautiful

2009-08-22T03:53:00.000-07:00

I don't mind where you come from
As long as you come to me
I don't like illusions I can't see
Them clearly

I don't care no I wouldn't dare
To fix the twist in you
You've shown me eventually
What you'll do

I don't mind...
I don't care...
As long are you're here

Go ahead tell me you'll leave again
You'll just come back running
Holding your scarred heart in hand
It's all the same
And I'll take you for who you are
If you take me for everything
Do it all over again
It's all the same

Hours slide and days go by
Till you decide to come
And in between it always seems too long
All of a sudden

And I have the skill, yeah I have the will
To breathe you in while I can
However long you stay
Is all that I am

I don't mind...
I don't care...
As long are you're here

Go ahead tell me you'll leave again
You'll just come back running
Holding your scarred heart in hand
It's all the same
And I'll take you for who you are
If you take me for everything
Do it all over again
It's always the same

Wrong or right
Black or white
If I close my eyes
I's all the same

In my life
The compromise
I close my eyes
It's all the same

Go ahead say it you're leaving
You'll just come back running
Holding your scarred heart in hand
It's all the same
And I'll take you for who you are
If you take me for everything
Do it all over again
It's all the same

If Everyone cared

2009-08-22T03:41:00.000-07:00

Today we sang a song by -Nickel Back

"If Everyone Cared"
From underneath the trees, we watch the sky
Confusing stars for satellites
I never dreamed that you'd be mine
But here we are, we're here tonight

Singing Amen, I, I'm alive
Singing Amen, I, I'm alive

[Chorus:]
If everyone cared and nobody cried
If everyone loved and nobody lied
If everyone shared and swallowed their pride
Then we'd see the day when nobody died

And I'm singing

Amen I, Amen I, I'm alive
Amen I, Amen I, Amen I, I'm alive

And in the air the fireflies
Our only light in paradise
We'll show the world they were wrong
And teach them all to sing along

Singing Amen, I, I'm alive
Singing Amen, I, I'm alive
(I'm alive)

[Chorus x2]

And as we lie beneath the stars
We realize how small we are
If they could love like you and me
Imagine what the world could be

If everyone cared and nobody cried
If everyone loved and nobody lied
If everyone shared and swallowed their pride
Then we'd see the day when nobody died
When nobody died...

[Chorus]

We'd see the day, we'd see the day
When nobody died
We'd see the day, we'd see the day
When nobody died
We'd see the day when nobody died

Pub Rock Fest

2009-08-22T02:40:00.000-07:00

Rock Street Journal is proud to present this year’s edition of the Kingfisher Pub Rock fest. With a successful series of shows last year, we here at RSJ aim to bring you a larger and louder festival this year with over 75 gigs’s spread over 19 cities in India in association with Romanov Red as a co-sponsor.

The festival kicks off on the 1st of August with Galeej Gurus, October and Lazy River at Mocha Bar in Nehru Place. The festival promises to be a platform for up and coming musicians as well as new talent to play on the same stage and perform to the masses of the country. The festival also aims at spreading live music in Pubs and venues around the country with a mix of genres and styles that form the core of the India music scene.

Schedule for North Zone -Dilli

DATE	CITY	VENUE	BANDS	TICKET PRICE
01/08/09	Delhi	Mocha Bar	Galeej Guru's, Lazy River, October	Rs. 150/-
02/08/09	Delhi	The Mezz	Undying Inc. Scribe, Artillerie, Rabbit is Rich	Rs. 150/-
05/08/09	Gurgaon	Turquoise Cottage	Indigo Children, The Circus, SHM	FREE
06/08/09	Delhi	Mocha Bar	Teddy Boy Kill, Higher Conscience	Rs. 150/-
08/08/09	Delhi	Haze	Lou Mojaw(Acoustic Set), HFT	Rs. 150/-
09/08/09	Gurgaon	Club 18	The Great Society, Five8, English Wine Shop	FREE
14/08/09	Noida	Chicane	Gates of Assault, Undying Inc. Bhayanak Maut	Rs. 150/-
16/08/09	Delhi	Cafe Morrison	Half Step Down, Lucid Recess, Jester	Rs. 150/-
23/08/09	Delhi	Cafe Morrison	Spark, The Supersonics, Under Siege	Rs. 150/-
28/08/09	Lucknow	Zero Degree	Raghu Dixit Project, Warm/ H. Ex	TBA
28/08/09	Jaipur	The Rock	Half Step Down	TBA
29/08/09	Jaipur	The Rock	Faridkot	TBA
29/08/09	Lucknow	Aura	Feedback, Swarathma	TBA
30/08/09	Lucknow	Aura	Faridkot, The Original Brats	TBA
30/08/09	Delhi	Opus	The Supersonics, Cyanide	Rs. 150/-
02/09/09	Jaipur	The Rock	Half Step Down	TBA
03/09/09	Gurgaon	Xtreme Sports Bar	Sajid Akbar, Zinc, Constellation Project	FREE
06/09/09	Delhi	Mezz	Demonic Ressurection, Guillotine, Acrid Semblance	Rs. 150/-
09/09/09	Noida	Chicane	Prestorika, Tearcube, IIIrd Sovereign	Rs. 150/-
11/09/09	Delhi	Quash Qai	Parikrama, Seven Degrees, Bridge to Elsewhere, Hypnosis	Rs. 150/-
13/09/09	Noida	Superstars	Frequency, IAFWAY, Paradigm Shift	FREE
07/10/09	Chandigarh	Score	Them Clones, Annus the Menace, Harmonic Friction	TBA
08/10/09	Chandigarh	Score	Half Step Down, 21st Rebel Street, OST	TBA
09/10/09	Shimla	Ritz Complex	The Circus, Anus the Menace	TBA
11/10/09	Chandigarh	Score	21st Rebel Street, The Circus, Area 231	TBA

May your head swings, banged, rock n roll over the place.

When you feel Lonely on this planet !!!

2009-08-20T08:55:00.000-07:00

Define loneliness, he asked himself

“Loneliness : when you scroll the phone book of your cellphone only to find that you got no one to talk to”

As the moments turn into hours, hours into day, days into year and years into perhaps life, one cannot reconcile with the fact that he is alone. Its like stary sky where moon seems to be crowded with stars but in fact he is alone.

Things are going strange lately, even language seems to have left me.

Many silent long walk in the nights are also not helping a bit. Its so strange that with each passing year, as you age more, it feels like I am disintegrating. Living life in abeyance has started to show signs of permanency.

Stealer - STUD- Male Chauvinism

2009-08-19T10:07:00.000-07:00

Ever had a crush on a woman, and found out that she was already seeing someone? What did you do next, went home and cried, pussy boy? Losers aside, here are a few things that determined men do. They steal girlfriends. So if you think you’re ready to sweep the girl of your dreams from right under her guy’s nose, here’s Confetti, raising a toast to you, you… you little desperado.

So here we go again, on this exciting voyage of being the player and the best man to have existed on the face of this Earth. Casanova is history. So let’s hit first base here. You like a girl. And cupid’s struck the wrong butt… again. And you’re left in the dark. She’s with another guy. Alright, life can be a bit harsh at times. So will you stop with your whining and crying already?! For crying out loud, there’s a way to have her. Thankfully. And it’s all in my, as Chris Gardner says in ‘The Pursuit of Happyness’, “Ten Gallon Head”. Once you’re done blowing your nose and sticking the snot under the couch, let’s get to the deep, dark world of girlfriend stealing. Brr... I can feel the adrenalin already, that sick taste in the mouth and the annoying hair on the back of your neck that stands on end. Girlfriend stealing is an art, not some club swinging clumsy hit-and-miss techniques used by the lesser mortals. So sharpen your mind, and play it smooth, playboy.

Shut the doors, and keep everyone out. This lost art is the final nail on any boyfriend’s coffin. Have you ever come across any guy who could always get any girl he wanted, even if she’s been going out with her guy since the last millennium? It doesn’t matter if you’re a dodo who hasn’t noticed that yet, or if you’ve got so few friends that you don’t have one smooth talker around you, because in just a few minutes you’re going to be able to hold that coveted title in your very own hands. This is unlike me, helping a guy shatter another guy’s heart, but I’ve been hounded by guys who’ve wanted to know how to go out with a girl who’s already been taken, because they’re just so madly in love with them. It may have been the hardest thing on planet earth but with these little pointers, stealing girlfriends could just turn out to be as easy as stealing coins from a genuine blind beggar! So cheer up, lift your chin out of the dirt and keep your eyes peeled if you want that special girl. And if you’re a man who’s going out with a girl already, don’t hate the player, buddy, hate the game!

VALS 2 Segments

2009-07-25T11:16:00.000-07:00

Actualizers: Actualizers are successful, sophisticated, active, take charge of people with high self esteem and abundant resources. They are interested in growth and seek to develop, explore, and express themselves in a variety of ways – sometimes guided by principle and sometimes by a desire to have an effect to make a change. Image is important to actualizers not as evidence of status or power, but as an expression of their taste independence and character. Actualizers are among the established and emerging leaders in business and governments, yet they continue to seek challenges. They have a wide range of interests are concerned with social issues, and are open to change. Their lives are characterized by richness and diversity. Their possessions and recreation reflect a cultivated taste for the finer things in life.

Fulfilleds and believers are principle oriented. Fulfilleds are mature satisfied, comfortable, reflective people who value order, knowledge and responsibility. Most are well educated and in (or recently retired from) professional occupations. They are well informed about world and national events and are alert to opportunities to broaden their knowledge. Content with their careers, families and station in life, their leisure activities tend to center ground the home. Fulfilleds have a moderate respect for the status quo institutions of authority and special decorum, but are open minded about new ideas and social change. Fulfilleds tend to base their decisions on strongly held principles and consequently appear calm and self assured. While their incomes allow them many choices fulfilleds are conservative, practical consumers; they look for functionality, value and durability in the products they buy.

Believers are conservative, conventional people with concrete beliefs based on traditional established odes: family, church, community, and the nation. Many believers express moral codes that are deeply rooted an literally interpreted. They follow established routines, organized in large part around their homes, their families, and the social or religious organizations to which they belong. As consumers, they are conservative and predictable, favoring American products and established brands. Their education, income and energy are modest but sufficient to meet their needs.

Achievers and strivers are status oriented. Achievers are successful career and work oriented people who like to, and generally do, feel in control lives. They value consensus, predictability, and stability over risk, intimacy, and self discovery. They are deeply committed to work and family/. Work provides them with a sense of duty, material rewards, and prestige. Their social lives reflect this focus and are structured around family church and career. Achievers live conventional lives, are politically conservative, and respect authority and the status quo. Image is important to them; they favor established prestige product and services that demonstrate success to their peers.

Strivers seek motivation, self definition, and approval from the world around them. They are striving to find a secure place in life. Unsure of themselves and low on economic, social and psychological resources, strivers are concerned about the opinions and approval of others. Money defines success for strives, who don’t have enough of it and often feel that life has given them a raw deal. Strivers are easily bored and impulsive. Many of them seek to be stylish. They emulate those who own more impressive possessions, but they wish to obtain is generally beyond their reach.

Experiencers and makers: action oriented. Experiencers are young, vital, enthusiastic, impulsive and rebellious. They seek variety and excitement savoring the new, the offbeat and the risky. Still in the process of formulating life values and patterns of behavior, they quickly become enthusiastic about new possibilities but are equally quick to cool. At this stage in their lives, they are politically uncommitted uniformed and highly ambivalent about what they believe. Experiencers combine an abstract disdain for conformity with an outsider’s awe of others’ wealth, prestige and power. Their energy finds an outlet in exercise, sports, outdoor recreation and social activities. Experiencers are avid consumers and spend much of their income on clothing, fast food, music, movies and video.

Makers are practical people who have constructive skills and value self sufficiency. They live within a traditional context of family, practical work, and physical recreation and have little interest in what lies outside that context. Makers experience the world by working on it – building a house,, raising children, fixing a car, or canning vegetables and have sufficient skill, income an energy to carry out their projects successfully. Makers are politically conservative, suspicious of new ideas, and respectful of government authority and organized labor, but resentful of government intrusion on individual rights. They are unimpressed by material possessions other than those with a practical or functional purpose (e.g. tools, pickup trucks, and fishing equipment).

Strugglers’ lives are constricted. Chronically poor ill educated low skilled without strong social elderly and concerned about their health they are often resigned and passive. Because they are limited by the need to meet the urgent needs of the present moment, they do not show a strong self-orientation. Their chief concerns are for security and safety. Strugglers are cautious consumers. They represent a very modest market for most products and services, but are loyal to favorite brands.

An Expedition with Solar Eclipse @ Patna

2009-07-25T11:12:00.000-07:00

A Project well executed

Searching S.P.A.C.E @ 360 degrees

S.P.A.C.E

interview to local News c

Nasa Scientist’s with me and Rik

Victory Sigh :)

Eclipse Chasers Atheneum (ECa), the eclipse sphere of SPACE calls all photographers and photography enthusiasts.

This year, on morning of 22nd of July, the umbral shadow of the moon passed over the rich heritage of our country. The Greatest eclipse of the century was actually a tailor-made for India. It crossed the entire breadth of India starting from the westernmost state of Gujarat to the easternmost state, Arunachal Pradesh. The path of totality passed over 13 Indian states including the small area called the Chicken's Neck in West Bengal. Not only this, partial eclipse was visible throughout the country.

A Life time Photographic Opportunity.

The total solar eclipse which just occured on the 22nd of July 2009 was the longest in terms of maximum totality duration of the 21st century – lasting over six and a half minutes. Not since Saros 1991 have astronomers and eclipse chasers been treated to such a length of time! The eclipse footprint started in India along the western shore near Surat moved towards Butan and reached the southern tip of Nepal and the northern edge of Bangladesh. For other lucky astronomers, the eclipse path also took the event over the Chinese cities of Chengdu, Suining, Chonging, Wuhan, Xiaogan, Hangzhou, and Shanghai – yielding five minutes of totality. Leaving Shanghai the shadow raced across the ocean to fall across islands such as Toshima and Akusaki south of Japan and eventually the Marshall islands. Where did the longest time occur? The maximum eclipse duration of 6 minutes and 43 seconds was far off the coast in the Pacific Ocean! And opportunity of a lifetime where we had captured the ephemeral eclipse casting its shadow over the monuments/heritage sites across all states . The eclipse was visible from many important sites like Taj Mahal (90% eclipse), Mahabodhi Temple (Totality), Sanchi Stupa (Totality), Khajurao Temples (99.7% eclipse), City of Temples - Varanasi (Totality).

The Project

With so much in the offer, we can't miss this once in a lifetime opportunity. Cosmic Crossroads - a project proposed by Atish Aman, Deepanshu Mehta, Vikrant Narang an avid photographers, astronomer and a member of SPACE -, endeavors to bring together a group of photographers who are passionate about photography as well as this project, and volunteer to go to Patna to capture this phenomenon on camera, and contribute the images to the collective pool.

Patna Stats

Eclipse begins at 05:29:57 AM
Total Solar Eclipse begins at 06:24:37 AM
Greatest Eclipse Phase at 06:26:31 AM
Total Solar Eclipse ends at 06:28:24 AM
Eclipse ends at 07:29:29 AM

Victories

We have covered the longest total solar eclipse in the 21st century and will not surpass in duration until next 123 years.

Data Ware housing - DWH Concepts

2009-07-10T09:58:00.000-07:00

Data Warehousing

A data warehouse consists of a computer database responsible for the collection and storage of information for a specific organization. This collection of information is then used to manage information efficiently and analyze the collected data. Although data warehouses vary in overall design, majority of them are subject oriented, meaning that the stored information is connected to objects or events that occur in reality. The data provided by the data warehouse for analysis provides information on a specific subject, rather than the functions of the company and is collected from varying sources into one unit having time-variant.

Data warehousing professionals build and maintain critical warehouse infrastructure to support business and assist business executives in making smart business decisions. Warehouse ETL (Extraction, Transformation and Loading of data) is an essential part of data warehousing where the data warehousing professional populate data warehouse with information from production databases. Data warehousing professionals work with business analysts and make changes to warehouse ETL in order to maintain consistent and accurate reporting on warehouse table structures.

Comprehensive Data Warehouse tutorials are made available in this section. Data Warehouse tutorials enable you to learn all necessary aspects of data warehousing. Managing data warehouses, understanding data marts, maintaining records, issues surrounding data warehousing, benefits of data warehousing and important business principles about data warehousing are covered in detailed articles.

For all the articles please visit

Tech Enclave

Cosmic Cross roads- Centuries Longest Solar Eclipse

2009-07-09T08:28:00.000-07:00

Centuries Longest Solar Eclipse

Eclipse Chasers Atheneum (ECa), the eclipse sphere of SPACE calls all photographers and photography enthusiasts.

This year, on morning of 22nd of July, the umbral shadow of the moon will be passing over the rich heritage of our country. The Greatest eclipse of the century is just few days away from us and is tailor-made for India. It crosses the entire breadth of India starting from the westernmost state of Gujarat to the easternmost state, Arunachal Pradesh. The path of totality passes over 13 Indian states including the small area called the Chicken's Neck in West Bengal. Not only this, partial eclipse is visible throughout the country.

A Life time Photographic Opportunity.
India itself is full of great photographic opportunities, with its diverse culture, people, landscape and the anatomy of the nation changing every few miles. The Total eclipse of 22nd July 2009 is visible from 13 states of India, each having a unique flavor, a unique culture and rich heritage of our past. And here is the opportunity of a lifetime where we can capture the ephemeral eclipse casting its shadow over the monuments/heritage sites across all these states and can preserve a rare happening in time for posterity. The eclipse is visible from many important sites like Taj Mahal (90% eclipse), Mahabodhi Temple (Totality), Sanchi Stupa (Totality), Khajurao Temples (99.7% eclipse), City of Temples - Varanasi (Totality).

The Project
With so much in the offer, we can't miss this once in a lifetime opportunity. Cosmic Crossroads - a project proposed by Atish Aman, an avid photographer, astronomer and a member of SPACE -, endeavors to bring together a group of photographers who are passionate about photography as well as this project, and who would volunteer to go to an assigned location to capture this phenomenon on camera, and contribute the images to the collective pool. Thus we could build a rich and resourceful collection of images showcasing the eclipse cast its shadow over many important heritage sites across the breadth of the country.

For any information please contact

Vikrant narang: # 91+ 9312286904
Deepanshu Mehta: # 91+ 9871888874
Atish Aman: # 91+ 9958925011
E-Mail: cosmic.crossroads@gmail.com
mehta.deepanshu@gmail.com
Website: Eclipse Chasers

When..

2009-07-09T08:21:00.000-07:00

When there remain no words to be uttered…
No thoughts to be shared.
When there are pools of illusion between your worlds and mine.
When the droplets of the first monsoon showers,
Neither fill my heart with love nor succor
When futility seems to be the only companion,
And relationships fade into the complexities of “me”, “mine” and “my own”.
When a vision languishes into dream and dream into harsh reality,
When life loses its colour in blinding individuality.
When it hurts, yet the heart forgets to sigh.
When tears freeze into vain laughter,
And eyes forget to cry.
When I am not myself and you, not you.
When everything else is a silent desertion…
Suddenly then!
Tinkles a tiny bell somewhere in the distance,
And the rays of the evening deeya forces in through my shut doors.
All questions then silence themselves into mute answers.
The stormy heart seeks neither dreams nor prayers,
But just for a languorous peace,
Melting the soul into a silent trance.
Away from the realms of Being and Becoming…
Here I dwell in a few fleeting moments,
In the embalmed emptiness of my soul…

Good or Bad Philosophy

2009-07-09T07:41:00.000-07:00

Leaving in six hours…

A thought – I love philosophy, when applying notions to everyday life.

But when it comes to professional discourse, the actual field itself – those prolix and extraneous terms and labels get wearisome, and stray too far from the emphasis.

It seems that people know everything about philosophy except for its utility.

This is not the only purpose it could have – instead it is used to fetishize knowledge.

The academics engender predatory capitalism and thought-control as much as any other.

"Empty Faces" - Reverse Polarrity

2009-06-29T08:24:00.000-07:00

Hardcore act Reverrse Polarity (yup, that’s an extra R there) impressed us with their rendition of ‘Bittersweet Symphony at the Launchpad eliminations, but seemed to lose steam with their own material in the rest of the elim shows. They are the winner among the final three bands in the competition along with Cassini’s Division and favourites Faridkot.

The band is giving away the song ‘Empty Faces’ as a free download. In its essence, it’s the song we were hoping Reverrse Polarity wouldn’t be after seeing them live. Vocalist Gaurav Kataria is nowhere as gripping as he is live, and the entire song comes off as too forced with lyrics like “Faces/The faces are taunting me/These empty faces”.

Reverrse Polarity on MySpace

Download: ‘Empty Faces’ - Reverrse Polarity

Khooni Murga - Dedicated to all rockers!!

2009-06-29T07:46:00.000-07:00

Workshop Debut album KHOONI MURGA released on May23

Demonstealer Records is proud to announce the signing and album release of the band‘Workshop’, India’s only funny man band.

Their debut album titled ‘Khooni Murga’ (which in English means ‘Murderous Cock’) is released on 23rd May features a whopping 10 tracks of musical masturbation and a laugh riot thrown in for good measure. The album features songs primarily in English as well as in Hindi but flavored with a few local Indian languages as well.

Tracklist:
1. She Folked Up My Jazz
2. Pudhe Sarka (Means Go Ahead in Marathi)
3. Chhati Ke Saath Panga (Song about large breasts and a bandit queen)
4. I Came
5. Garba Gandu (Garba is a kind of dance and gandu means ass)
6. How To Make A Demonic Omelet
7. Kothai Doro Cho ( In Bengali and it means ‘Where you Running To?’)
8. Bunty Aur Malika Sherwat (Parody on a Bollywood Movie)
9. Cookie Monster
10. Khooni Murga (English Translation: Murderous Chicken)

That’s not all, the album also features a FREE DVD with it featuring over 2 hours and 20minutes of footage including recording blogs, music videos, photos, interviews etc etc..

you can reach to them @ workshopband@gmail.com

You can meanwhile also preview 4 songs from the album on

www.myspace.com/workshopindia

& www.myspace.com/demonstealerecords

Channel V launch pad - It's Rocking again!

2009-06-27T23:21:00.000-07:00

The third season of Channel V’s Launchpad reality hunt show has been kicked off.
Channel V Launch Pad 3 reality show

In January 2009, bands were called for auditions from all over the country. Finally seven bands, Faridkot, Reverse Polarity, Cassini’s Division, Blank Noise, Workshop, Circus, and Prachir, were shortlisted. These seven bands entered the House of Rock on February 7, 2009, where they will stay for ten days and perform challenging tasks to win the contest.

During the ten days, the bands will be totally disconnected from the outer world. The seven bands will be trained and mentored by Vishal Dadlani and provided a jam room to make their music.

On his stay in the house, IP Singh, vocalist of Faridkot commented, “It’s good being here, it’s definitely better than working at the office, and we are doing what we like here - making music.”

Faridkot have also been nominated for the Jack Daniel’s Rock Awards to be held in coming weeks for their song Madhav. ” I don’t think we’ll be able to attend that,” Singh said.

One of the tasks given to the seven bands on Day One was to voluntarily pick out one word and make a song out of it in ten minutes. Songs were made on words like Mummy (Faridkot), Pappu (Prachir), Waxing (Cassini’s Division), Bra (Reverse Polarity), Boyfriend (Blank Noise), 420 (Workshop).

There are some band members who have to sit for exams in a few weeks time. Despite that they are completely focused on their music.

The bands will also perform three gigs at the Blue Frog, on February 2, 5, and 9, 2009. They will be judged by a jury comprising Vishal Dadlani, SHAA’IR + FUNC, Ashutosh Phatak, Dhruv Ghanekar, Shekhar, and Raghu Dikshit.

The band that wins the Channel V Launchpad 3 reality show will get to cut an album, secure a record label deal, publish their photo on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine, and shoot a music video with Channel V.

Faridkot, Cassini's Division and Reverse Polarity were the three finalists of Channel [V] Launch Pad's newest season. Reverse Polarity unexpectedly triumphed at the talent hunt, while the crowd swayed to Faridkot's tunes.

The Launchpad was special this year for another reason - not only the English bands but also the regional bands were featured. It was a 'Concert for Change' wherein all the social issues including voting, terrorist attacks, political issues were raised. The high point was that, Channel V partnered with BigAdda.com, the Reliance ADAG social networking website, to promote the show.

After the bands performed, there were performances by Anoushka Manchanda, Raghu Dixit, Bappi Lahiri and Kailash Kher.

Bappi Da and Raghu announced their upcoming albums whereas Kailash premiered 'Kailasa Chaandan mein',the third album of Kailasa which is to be released in June. He sang two tracks from his new album, apart from his old hit numbers like, Teri Dewani and Bum Lahiri.

It was really astonishing to witness Lahiri perform at a youth concert, and have the youth swaying to his restructured disco numbers. Bappi Da's son Bappa was on the drums, working in tandem with Bappi's hit disco tunes.

And the winner for channel V launch Pad Season III is Reverse polarity. Song they played on final concert was JOHNY - HORNY , BRA.

However from the curent bands, Reverse Polarity and Faridkot are worth the money. RP have a great drummer and cheeky lyrics. Their song ' Johnny Horny' is worth a laugh and must be heard. Their lead singer is naughtylicious! :P

Individual and group leisure activities

2009-06-16T07:07:00.000-07:00

People more highly endorsing a sense of belonging tend to be heavily involved in individual and group leisure activities with others. In other words, they search for activities that enable them to fulfill their important values or needs. Consumers endorsing fun and excitement in life apparently desire more exciting media, such as police dramas, and engage in more exciting activities, such as sports like jogging and skiing. Conversely, those who more heavily stress security seem to like passive activities more, such as watching sporting events and having hobbies, and they have different media preferences.

Both the Rokeach Value survey and the List of values can prove helpful to the marketer in understanding important consumption facets. Knowing that consumers who endorse certain values more highly than other values have different lifestyles may be extremely useful in determining promotion appeals, product positioning and design, channels of distribution, and pricing approaches. In market segmentation decisions, Knowledge of personal values can significantly enhance demographic understanding. For example one study involving a national chain of family restaurants and its leading competitor found that brand preference was not differentiated with respect to demographic characteristics of consumers who ate at both chains and had a stated preference for one or the other. However, market segments based on value orientations of these fast food restaurant customers did reveal differences that related to consumers’ Brand preferences. This kind of information is useful in designing effective advertising campaigns and developing products with salient products attributes, thereby enhancing the competitive posture of the brand. Values have also been also been found to relate to contributions to charitable causes to help explain automobile importance ratings, to predict mass media usage, and to relate mass media vehicles to promotional messages. However, more research is needed on the subject of values as they relate to purchasing behavior. There is still much disagreement on how widely and how intensely values must be held among consumers. A greater understanding is also needed on the origins and consequences of values. In addition, more research is necessary to understand cultural value influences cultural value on consumer behavior across a broader range of products than has so far been investigated.

Several companies are pursuing such a goal of broadening the application of consumer values to understanding the behavior of users of a wide range of products. For example, SRI International combines value and lifestyles (termed VALS) information with available demographic data. The purpose is to create a general psychographic that can be used to understand consumers of a variety of products, from deodorants to television sets.

After over a decade of research into consumer values and lifestyles, SRI has created VALS 2 which identifies eight types of distinctive behavior and emotional makeup that it is held to constitute specific market segment. The five major categories and their subcategories are identified as representative demographics of these consumer segments. The typology is built on two dimensions. The first, self orientation pertains to the patterns of attitudes and activities that help people reinforce, sustain, or even modify their social self image. Principle oriented consumers are guided in their choices by their beliefs or principles rather than by feelings, events, or desire for approval. Status oriented consumers are heavily influenced by the actions, approval, and opinions of others. Action-oriented consumers are guided by a desire for social or physical activity, variety, and risk taking

The second dimension resources involve the capacities and means that enable to act on their desires and decisions. This dimension is a continuum ranging from minimal to abundant. It encompasses education, income, health, self confidence, eagerness to buy intelligence an energy level. Resources generally increase from adolescence through middle age, while they decrease with extreme age, depression, financial reverses, and physical or psychological impairment.

Based on information gathered by SRI on dozens of products the VALS 2 program appears to have much usefulness for understanding the activities, product purchases and media habits of each category of consumer.

Researchers involved with the LOV system claim that it work better than does VALS while VALS researchers claim that their system is preferred over LOV as a segmentation basis. Nevertheless, SRI’s pioneering work on the values and lifestyles of consumers has achieved much notice and success within the business community

Mathematics Paradox

2009-05-07T22:44:00.000-07:00

“For my part I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of the stars makes me dream.”

-Vincet Van Gogh

Prime numbers..They are like life.. logical but yet difficult to comprehend their pattern. He has been brooding over this trying to find his way out through the galleria of peculiar numbers. He tries to scribble something but pencil lead breaks. He scratches the paper with the broken pencil as if trying to sympathize with the fate of broken lead. How rough and weird is this, he thinks.

He takes out the dices from his left pocket and starts playing with them. He rolls them on the table and the numbercomes ‘2′ and ‘3′.

“Huh prime!”

“So you got a 5” someone speaks from behind. Taken aback as someone has just spoken his mind aloud he turns back.

“Actually I would say its 23 my friend”, He says

“You are again at it, aren’t you?”

“Well my friend it’s the way you want to see it”, saying that he smiles.

He has always wondered at the obscurity of life. Always been so unsure of the purpose. It has never been so right, It has never been so wrong either. This is he believed is the genesis of the confusion that clogs the mind of perhaps all the people around.

He picks the dices from the table and braces them back to his left pocket.

It has been raining heavily outside.

“Are we going to wait for the rain”, His friend enquired. His friend has been always been kind of person to throw certain subtle question on him and used to watch his expressions. He always attributed this behaviour of his friend as a new religion called sadism.

He observes the tiny minuscule droplets of water on the window pane. The window was quite dusty and with showers it was looking like the holy heaven was spitting on them as if saying this is what you deserve to be there.

“Funny!” he says to himself. Funny is the nature of windows. The classic humour of the light or rather darkness being filtered through so called transparent matter. Colourless they are, yet trying to be prismatic. May be they are like the signature of our souls. Deep within everything gets filtered with the deviations. May be it’s the nature of our souls that makes us so colourful.

“Are you ready now, the rain has stopped”, His friends informs him.

“uhhh..Yes I am”, A sudden sadness engulf his face which gives an appearance of hollowness. It’s seems to be another act of luck. Bloody luck! That he is in so much need of money. A tool created by man to trade. And today he is going to trade a life for another.

“bah! Humbug”, He groans in despair.

“What! I hope you are not having second thoughts, remember you need money, and for that you have to kill this guy!”, His friend says.

“Yes I know, let’s go”.

Life they are full of permutation combinations entangled with tight strings of thoughts.

I cant kill anyone. I am not a killer. Life is what I have cherished all along in perhaps most subtle simple things. I love life how can I take one. Its the enigmatic force of joy that binds my soul with this colour. If I loose it I will loose everything.

His friend shakes him to wake him up from his thoughts.

“C’mon pull the trigger”,

“What!”

He finds himself in front of a stranger pointing the gun towards him. Is it real? Am I going to do it? Suddenly everything seems to have stopped. Sometimes your heartbeats starts to amuse you in these times. The adrenaline gush takes you to another intersection of plane where you can see how your heartbeats slow down than your thoughts. You can see how you disintegrate in the moment with thousands of voices screaming in an obtuse manner. Every second takes a timeframe of hours and…and they scream. They scream so you can realize, realize those moments of truth

He also realizes that and shouts “NO!!”

“No! I won’t take his life, We have never been imparted on this land to do this. To save someone by taking another life is death in itself. I won’t commit this mistake. I am not a KILLER. My heart is clean and any kind of killing is unforgivable”

“You swine, coward!, I will do it myself then..”, His friend punches him and takes away the executioner from his hand.

He feels as if pierced by numerous needles from all directions and in response he jumps on his friend and tries to snatch away the pistol.

A crashing sound blurts out and He could feel the warm blood. His eyes widens seeing this and in acknowledgment of the fact that it was not his. The horror fills his mind. His friend’s body gets heavy tearing away his left pocket from which the dices rolls out bearing no ‘1′ and ‘3′

“4” his friend utters his last word.

He whispers “Nah! It’s 13, the prime number of death”*.

*Acc to Chinese tarot card. Number 13 is death card.

Mothers day !

2009-05-07T02:08:00.000-07:00

Google has been changing its home page logo every Mother's Day in a tribute to mothers everywhere. And although the images for the years 2000 and 2001 don't look very different, take a closer look (images below) and you'll find a small but interesting distinction.

I took this years image from Google Australia, but you should see it on all of Google's sites very soon.

Google 2009 Mothers Day Logo

Google 2008 Mothers Day Logo

Google 2007 Mothers Day Logo

Google 2006 Mothers Day Logo

Google 2005 Mothers Day Logo

Google 2004 Mothers Day Logo

Google 2003 Mothers Day Logo

Google 2002 Mothers Day Logo

Google 2001 Mothers Day Logo

Dedicated to all mothers of the world.

Mere happiness is not the song I'm singing:
Of mothers' joy a jagged piece is pain.
To love is to be amply burdened, bringing
Hearts with gifts to an uncharted plain.
Even so, one longs to be a mother,
Remembering a richness unreserved
'Ere one could barely recognize another,
Sustained by love unsought and undeserved.
Deeper than oneself is one's communion,
A revelation reached alone by union
Yet yearned for, though through years of love well served.

Wishing all of our readers and all of our moms (and mums) a happy Mother's Day!

Realizing the Dignity of Life

2009-05-03T23:04:00.000-07:00

Francisca Annan has worked as a nurse at the Tema General Hospital in Ghana for the past 23 years. Although she was always dedicated to her work, Ms. Annan feels that she has gained increased compassion for others, as well as a clearer understanding of the purpose of life, since she began practicing Nichiren Daishonin's Buddhism in 1981. Before that, she approached her work purely from a professional point of view, working according to the dictates of her profession.

Ms. Annan was introduced to the practice of Buddhism by a former patient who wanted to thank her for nursing him during his illness. She recalls, "He told me about Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, which he referred to as the greatest treasure he could give me ... one that would benefit me the rest of my life."

At first, because she was already a firm believer in another religion, Ms. Annan was not interested in what he had to say. However, because he was so sincere and well-behaved, and a true gentleman, Ms. Annan accepted his invitation to attend a culture festival held at the Arts Center in Accra.

Eventually, she would accept his hand in marriage. Ms. Annan was deeply moved by the enthusiasm and dynamism of the show, especially because she had thought that members of a religious organization would be quiet and reserved and would not engage in traditional Ghanaian drumming and dancing with such vigor. In fact, she was so impressed with the SGI's objective of promoting culture and education that she decided to begin practicing Buddhism.

Treatment with Dignity
As her understanding of Buddhism deepened, Ms. Annan's views on life began to change, leading to a change in attitude towards her patients. She recalls, "I realized how precious life is and learned that every human being should be treated equally. I became more compassionate towards my patients, instilling them with hope, confidence and joy, no matter how hopeless their situation seemed to be." She also developed a more serious attitude toward her work, and especially toward patients with communicable diseases: "Many nurses are reluctant to treat such patients, but I make a special effort to treat them with dignity, based on my conviction that they also have a right to live."

"My patients and colleagues alike have confidence in me, and they notice that I am somehow different from the other nurses. Whenever I am on duty, my colleagues feel at ease because they are confident that I am capable of handling difficult and complex cases."

Because of this experience, Ms. Annan began to practice Buddhism even more vigorously. One day, however, thieves broke into her home and stole all her clothing. In the midst of all these problems, she remembered the words of Nichiren Daishonin, "As practice progresses and understanding grows, the three obstacles and four devils emerge, vying with one other to interfere...." Ms. Annan recalls, "I therefore encouraged myself not to waver and courageously carried on in my practice. I also tried to encourage my three young children. They never complained, even though on many occasions we had to walk long distances to meeting places."

Poison into Medicine
Another experience which put Ms. Annan's faith to the test occurred when her son suddenly started having convulsions and seemed to be on the verge of death. Despite all her medical knowledge and her best efforts, his condition worsened. She rushed him to the hospital, chanting daimoku with the firm conviction that he would recover. Today, her son is the epitome of health.

Ms. Annan recalls a time when she experienced difficulty concentrating during gongyo and had doubts about her practice. About the same time, her husband started complaining that she was participating in too many Buddhist activities. She was so surprised by his change in attitude that she wondered if he was really the same person. At one point, she even felt like quitting the practice.

Demoralized and confused, Ms. Annan turned to a senior member who advised her that instead of giving up, she should strengthen her determination to encourage her husband in his Buddhist practice. Soon after receiving this guidance, she attended a study seminar in Accra where she was deeply encouraged by the following passage from the writings of Nichiren Daishonin:

"Although I and my disciples may encounter difficulties, if we do not harbor doubts in our hearts, we shall as a matter of course attain Buddhahood. Do not harbor doubts simply because heaven does not lend you protection. Do not be discouraged because you do not enjoy an easy and secure existence in this life. This is what I have taught my disciples morning and evening, and yet they begin to harbor doubts and abandon their faith. Foolish men are likely to forget the promises they have made when the crucial moment comes."

Actual Proof
While at the seminar, she renewed her determination to work for world peace after viewing the film "The Human Revolution," which details the challenges faced by the successive presidents of the Soka Gakkai. On New Year's Day 1995, Ms. Annan made a determination to have an "Everything first" attitude. In order to have more time available to do Buddhist activities, she rearranged her work schedule. She was able to obtain permission to work night duty for an entire year. This schedule change enabled her to do her best at work as well as to participate in the culture festivals and other SGI Buddhist activities together with her husband and children throughout the year.

Last year, Ms. Annan was presented the Tema Municipality Best Nurse of the Year Award. She was truly surprised to receive this rare honor and believes that it was bestowed upon her as a result of her Buddhist practice. Moreover, the award encouraged her in the fight to protect and cherish the dignity of human life in her profession as a nurse.

Filled with confidence, Ms. Annan says, "Looking back, I realize that all those problems in my practice have given me the hope to continue and never falter along the way. I am convinced that no matter what situation may confront me, I will always overcome every problem with faith in the Gohonzon."

Fortifying

2009-04-06T18:45:00.000-07:00

Their was a great guidance share in one of the meetings, I will try to portray it better. A nice way to look at inner self.

There are 5 things you need to know," he told the pencil, "Before I send you out into the world. Always remember them and never forget, and you will become the best pencil you can be."

1. You will be able to do many things, but only if you allow yourself to be held in someone's hand.
2. You will experience a painful sharpening from time to time, but you'll need it to become a better pencil.
3. You will be able to correct any mistakes you might make.
4. The most important part of you will always be what's inside.
5. On every surface you are used on, you must leave your mark. No matter what the condition, you must continue to write."

The Pencil understood and promised to remember, and went into the box with purpose in its heart.

Now replacing the place of the pencil with you. Always remember them and never forget, and you will become the best person you can be.

1. You will be able to do many great things, but only if you allow yourself to be held in God's hand and allow other human beings to access you for the many gifts you possess.
2. You will experience a painful sharpening from time to time, by going through various problems in life, but you'll need it to become a stronger person.
3. You will be able to correct any mistakes you might make.
4. The most important part of you will always be what's on the inside.
5. On every surface you walk through, you must leave your mark. No matter what the situation, you must continue to do your duties.

Allow the parable on the pencil to encourage you to know that you are a special person and only you can fulfill the purpose to which you were born to accomplish.

Cheers !!

High gravity

2009-04-05T02:43:00.001-07:00

Postmodernist identities

1. searching for self in the fast moving world
and
2. Teresa Carreño Youth Orchestra

And if you are an Hegelian or as fucked up as I am then you’ll see the whole cycle. Humans.

Once Arthur Schopenhauer was visiting a famous green house in Dresden, Germany. He was captivated by a particular plant and spent an unusual amount of time studying it. The curator of the house, taking him for a biologist asked him - ” Sir, who are you?”

Schopenhauer slowly turned around and regarded the curator for a moment and replied "If you could only answer that question for me, I would be eternally grateful."

References IMDB for the movies and SGI for wisdom to explore the black hole around me.

A reason to Hate you

2009-04-05T01:57:00.000-07:00

It is been a long awaited words banging here and there, never got time to shape up my thought process in poetic form,someone said it right Writing is a slow poison.

No!
You are mistaken.

I did not
hate you when
you seduced me that night
and
dropped me like a fulfilled dream.

No!
I did not
hate you when
you pretended
to be busy
and
did not
return my calls

But,
I hated you
when
you split wine on my new skirt
and
tried to wipe it off with your tie,
Of all the things.

A game of 0 & 1- When Digital Disaster Strikes

2009-04-04T11:27:00.001-07:00

What is the degree of possibility (I know, degree is associated more with probability than possibility, yet) that your life is contained in the binary notation of a hard-disk? It will vary. From you to me. As lives become more digitally stored and lived, a hard-disk crash can account for a major event in your life.

Funnily, an “Invalid Node Error” occurring on a hard-disk is covered by a three-year warranty through an email residing on the corrupt hard-disk. Talk about irony.

I can almost imagine the dialogue when I take the machine to a service centre.

Losing access to your digital self can be daunting. And I have experienced it twice in the last three months. After the initial seven-minute itch, this time however, I was very normal. So here I am, back on paper, writing for an online medium, staring at a handwriting that has gone really bad.

In my mind, I pose a few questions in front of the mirror.

What is the value of an identity? Is it itself or does it become the medium that makes it possible? Do you travel the world from the confines of your desk, or do you go to the world? The classic hardware/software supremacy argument. When and how did the vehicle become more important than the passenger? Why do we admire the vehicle more than the one who drives it? Why do we decide the character of a person by the vehicle he drives, rather than (for example) how he drives it?

My camera wails for a day out.
My books scream to be out of cardboard boxes.
My movies beg to be seen.
My self yearns to live in my land.

In a single day I have experienced a wild roller-coaster of emotion sets.

From a crashed hard-disk to owning my new car in a span of four hours.

The evolution of verbiage in this post and the metaphors, you will acknowledge are just a natural coincidence.

An awesome prayer

2009-04-04T10:59:00.000-07:00

दरारें-दरारें है माथे पे मौला
मरम्मत मुकद्दर की कर दो मौला।

A friend who doubles as my Urdu consultant and dictionary was not very pleased with the word for “repair” in this song. I was asking a question that wasn’t relevant to this line, yet she had to make known, her displeasure (which, of course did sound more like disapproval, then).

Why, I asked?

The word repair is so incongruent with the word destiny, she said. I ran far and wide in the dark corridors of my mind to find a response. She is very strong in her language and I didn’t want to sound Urdu-illiterate (though I am). Unable to find any argument worth deploying at that time, I let go.

Only to get back to her later, i.e today afternoon.

I asked her the proper meanings of the words मरम्मत (marammat) and मुकद्दर (muqaddar). Confirmed, that they meant repair and destiny, respectively. She added, vividly remembering our conversation from two weeks ago, that the choice of words came across as unsophisticated; it wasn’t incorrect and neither did it damage the context of the message.

I have come to love the song since I first heard it, in my office when two of my very best pals was singing with enjoying the work in their cubicle.Amit was on tabla and Praneet was giving direction to words, I was so much touched about the words viz e viz that it leads me to retrospect and to write about this beautiful prayer which open the doors to en route to heaven.This song, if you haven’t guessed (or do not read Devanagari or the font hasn’t rendered well on your browser) is the song “Arziyaan”, from Dilli 6 . Since the in congruent comment from my mom, I have been thinking a lot about this song; the love for it, however, growing and the interest strong as ever, if not more.

Today morning, I thought about the song, and this line in particular. Whilst allowing myself broad and loosely worded poetic license, I thought:

Fissures, fissures deep, etched on my forehead,
Fill them, fix them; repair my destiny, oh Lord!

I was wondering of the person who approaches God with a damaged, broken destiny. I wondered of myself in places of worship. How I have prayed, other than the prayers and the chants I have been taught, when I really wanted to reach out. I remember, when younger, I wasn’t thinking straight, I once prayed in English. It was a request-prayer of sorts. All the way back from the temple, I was gripped by a cold doubt; would my prayers be answered? What if He doesn’t accept prayers in English? What if He gives preference to prayers in the local dialect? I have been to temples where I saw folks engaged in vigorous and involved rituals. The environment and the perceptive belief system that I grew up in, caused some sense of insecurity — till such time I stopped going to temples and places of organised worship for the sake of prayer (I now visit them as a a tourist).

I (think I) understand my friend’s mild annoyance at the choice of the words. This is a poem and in the language employed, there is infinite scope to make things beautiful - effortlessly. Part of the annoyance probably comes from what we are accustomed to listening. Asking the Lord to “repair your destiny”, I agree, is unconventional prayer. However, there is a raw, unconstrained honesty in the request. That, to me encompasses all the beauty possible in a prayer. Devoid of convention, bereft of formulations, empty of sycophancy. I also imagine the state of the devotee — the pain and numb helplessness, where only restoration of destiny will help. Imagine the state, also, when there is only one who is capable of the repair. In many ways, it makes you experience the same that the singer is expressing.

There aren’t many songs I pay attention to, but one of my good friend Praneet, caused me to dwell on this for a long while and forced me to find and make meaning of what I hear with such joy. That is, perhaps, God’s way of answering prayers, through friends. When reduced to their minimalist state, all prayers are questions and all blessings are answers.

There is much beauty in this song; made delicate and pure, because of the unsophisticated presentation.

Life in Between

2009-04-04T10:54:00.000-07:00

There is a life we plan to make, and live it.
( )
Then, there is a life that happens and we tag-along.

Where I put the parentheses between the two sentences above, is that very small world, where we dwell; our reality. This world is a tense space, a continuing pulsation between the push and pull of the two sentences. Yet, somehow, that space never breaks, in spite of the pressures that surround it.

The space is an important separator between the two sentences — without that space, one of the sentences has to die. The two sentences cannot coexist.

We often threaten the second sentence. We sometimes ask the first sentence to go away. Nothing happens. We continue to live within the parentheses. More often than not, this is what happens with most lives.

But, some lives resign. They kill the first sentence.
And, some lives rebel. They kill the second sentence.

Their world becomes meaningful. Not just an empty bracket.

Change - Changing life IN N OUT

2009-04-04T10:49:00.000-07:00

I dunno why i am so much attached to the fucking word Change

'I' Think
c=k, something constant and to balance that 'k' out in every realm of our life we CHANGE.
Growth causes change. And growth is painful, right from your first set of teeth to the recent promotion in your professional or personal life. There is a native memory of that pain, and we often avoid change in anticipation of the growth pains.

Not everybody resists change. Many do, however. And they grow too. Those that display the graph of their fine evolution of growth, are the ones who are the most likely culprits of this resistance. They hoard the incremental changes that they never effected; invited. They are also the most likely to complain of a wickedness in the world or in the changing behavior of others or be so comfortable that they are oblivious to earthquakes even.

Then there those that effect change. And there is only one way, I believe, that they make the change happen. They embrace it with complete and utterly blind trust. Not in the result of what that change may bring, but in the change itself. The complete surrender. Because, there is no such thing as a better tomorrow. Either there is a tomorrow or there isn’t. Your notion of a better tomorrow is your today being recycled and realigned to make you believe that your today is better than yesterday. Take the last thirty days and run through them you will know what I mean.

Tomorrow can either be impregnated with the sameness of all your suspicions, cynicism and skepticism, or it can be the tomorrow that rids you of that sameness that you so despise, yet safeguard as a survival tool.

So think and Change .......

Oxymoron - Painkiller Proofs

2009-04-04T09:18:00.000-07:00

Well, I must confess I think abstract many times. Which is why I can relate very well to every abstract post of Gaizabonts. And here is my first attempt at putting it across.

One likes to ignore the tangle. The complex web of intricate relationships, discords and disagreements. When one refuses to admit there’s a web, it’s easy to deal with it. Go around it in a old deserted house as if it has to be there to complete it.

And there is disharmony only when one makes an attempt to untangle it, to break the cobwebs. The attempt to eliminate disharmony contributes to creating it. Or it makes one painfully aware that it was present and the aspect you tried to ignore is real. It removes the option of escaping. The safe and secure cocoons are shattered, just like the person who tried to untangle it.

Harsh but true!!!

Thought Process

An important information worth sharing !!!

I feel ashamed to call myself an INDIAN

*"Practice Random Kindness & Senseless Acts of Beauty"*

Myths about Cancer... Newsletter from Johns Hopkins

Matrix - Detailed Analysis and Implementation of Lokpal bill

Why Lokpal Bill is Important

Affirmations

Stand up and support !

Mindset !

The sory of Eagle - Worth Reading to boost innerself

Apostrophe'O magazine

I m L O S T...

Do You Have To Be Rich To Collect Art?

Bihar - Madhubani Arts

Agile Methodology

What Is Agile?

Where Did Agile Come From?

Why Agile?

Scrum Methodology

What’s Unique about Scrum?

The Roles of Scrum

Does Management by Objectives (MBO) Work?

Dynamics of Global Population Trends

Improve your overall skills

Rural and Urban Migration

The manner in which people consume

The manner in which people consume

LOV (Lists of values :) Segments

Action...Fight...Wake up...

Time - Tic Tic Tic......

Weekends have become the most productive days

Social Events shape management

Human relations movement

Avoid getting distracted

Katana Martial Art !

Think and take ACTION

Mentors and Mentees

Extra education is always beneficial

Modern Life savers

Serving the Rural Poor

Mind can defy laws of universe

Marvelous Medicos

Swine flu

Free hugs - Life is beautiful

If Everyone cared

Pub Rock Fest

When you feel Lonely on this planet !!!

Stealer - STUD- Male Chauvinism

VALS 2 Segments

An Expedition with Solar Eclipse @ Patna

Data Ware housing - DWH Concepts

Cosmic Cross roads- Centuries Longest Solar Eclipse

When..

Good or Bad Philosophy

"Empty Faces" - Reverse Polarrity

Khooni Murga - Dedicated to all rockers!!

Top 10 Unbelievable Vintage Cigarette Posters

Channel V launch pad - It's Rocking again!

Individual and group leisure activities

Mathematics Paradox

Mothers day !

Realizing the Dignity of Life

Fortifying

High gravity

A reason to Hate you

A game of 0 & 1- When Digital Disaster Strikes

An awesome prayer

Life in Between

Change - Changing life IN N OUT

Oxymoron - Painkiller Proofs

"Practice Random Kindness & Senseless Acts of Beauty"