after much contemplation

It is a sad moment.................

2008-05-07T18:20:00.000-07:00

when you realise that you are dispensible for 99.9 per cent of the people who are dearer to you than your own life...

Trust Indian men to show their class!!

2008-04-19T16:06:00.000-07:00

Picture this, US city, the hustle bustle of a post work day crowd returning home. I was standing at a crossing waiting for the light to turn green, when a taxi came and stopped next to me. A sardarji was driving it. Really, really old, santa-claus-esque beard, must be 70 plus. He caught me off-guard, as even though there is no dearth of Indian/Paki drivers in the US, in this particular part of the country I am used to seeing only affluent Indians. I was lost in my thoughts and suddenly that MOTHERFUCKER made an obscene kiss gesture....

Instant disgust, loathing and anger...I should have reacted in some other way, but I just walked on.

I should have...

I have been in the US for long time now, there have been sporadic catcall incidents, but thankfully nothing beyond that...

Trust Indian men to leave thier villages/cities/country and family behind....but never their crassness, their inherent uncouth animal mentality!!

And trust Indian women to behave like I did...Do nothing then like a dumb fuck and keep regretting later....

That I am a glutton?

2008-04-16T08:34:00.000-07:00

I wonder what it tells you about yourself, if one of your ideas of HEAVEN is a chineese or thai buffet!!

10 things I like about being newly married!!!!!!!!

2008-03-19T12:16:00.000-07:00

1. The thrill that runs down my spine every time I use the phrase ‘my husband’ in a sentence. I hope that thrill never goes away, though I am sure the newness will!

2. Of course, the warmth and the fuzziness I feel when talking about the ‘husband’.

3. You are looking at your husband (:-)) and how suddenly it strikes you WHAT a journey it has been and WHAT a journey it promises to be further ahead!!

4. Becoming the part of a new family. Getting a new set of Mom and Dad! Missing your father-in-law’s call and listening to his recorded message. “Beta, this is Papa, call back, we are waiting for your call”!

5. The material signs of being married: the choora (see pic), the mangalsutra (though always hidden in work clothes), the wedding ring!

6. The feeling that you can’t stay away from your husband/keep your hands off each other a second more than absolutely necessary and vice versa. Here’s hoping that never changes too!! (Do I see marriage veterans smirk??)

7. How in the first year post marriage, every festival is a BIG CELEBRATION!! Here’s looking forward to Holi!

8. The way strangers/acquaintances/ go “awwwwwwwwww” when they find out you are a newly wed and the million questions that follow. I don’t know about other women, but surely makes me feel special!!

9. AaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaH!! Having the entire neighborhood and extended family OFF YOUR BACK about getting married before it’s “too late”…Bloody doomsday prophets!!

10. And on that note, the contentment that stems not from the feeling of being FINALLY MARRIED but from the feeling of being HAPPILY MARRIED. The knowledge that you could not have been more loved and neither could you have loved anymore!! Bliss.

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!! Touchwood.

If women are meat, are men then dogs?

2007-10-25T09:15:00.000-07:00

"If you take out uncovered meat and place it outside on the street, or in the garden or in the park, or in the backyard without a cover, and the cats come and eat it ... whose fault is it, the cats or the uncovered meat? The uncovered meat is the problem."

It is statements like the kinds issued by Australia’s senior most clerics that make me feel like picking up an AK-47 and shooting the hell out of all the men (my own similar minded male relatives included) who think on these lines.

If we women are to be continually blamed for being raped, can men at least have the decency to accept in public that they are dogs or cats or anything else but human? Coz you see us women have been living under this illusion for millennia that we co-exist with fellow HUMAN BEINGS…They might have a penis but they still belong to our species…

What would it take for men to understand ONCE and FOR ALL that NO WOMAN, NO WOMAN no matter how desperate she is EVER asks for being RAPED…

When we dress up, it is because we want to feel good about ourselves, yes may be to even attract a few of you who evince our interest…But not in the way that many of you half-wits morons would like to think…

All my life I have lived in places where it gets extremely hot in summers. I wear shorts and sleeveless tops to keep myself cool. I DON’T DO THAT because I want you to ogle at my legs…or pinch my bottom or whatever else it is that cats and dogs do whenever they see “exposed meat”.

I have a cousin sister, who is all grown up now but I will tell you of an incident she had to face when barely eleven. Returning from school, mind you wearing her school uniform, she was accosted by a guy who grabbed her breasts hard and drove away on his bike in a matter of seconds. My sister, who I know to be the most innocent souls ever (just in case someone out there is thinking she too asked for it), went into a SHOCK literally. When she came home she was inconsolable. She was ELEVEN…and she BLAMED herself, of course. After all, we are taught that we are meat, open to be pillaged by anyone….we MUST have done something..

She was in her uniform you fucking morons…she was a kid, she WASN’T meat. I COULD HAVE KILLED THAT BASTARD with my bare hands.

Just the other day, I was telling a guy friend that I do not know a single female friend, sister, aunt, acquaintance who at one time or another has not been subjected to some form of molestation ..

This is what I have always wondered, how is it that men go out and reduce women to boobs, ass, legs and humiliate them in every which way and then return home and face their mothers and sisters (who by the way also have boobs, ass, legs and before I forget a vagina.Grossed out now are ya?? oh come on!!!!!!)?

How do you guys do that?

Also, does this thought ever strike you for a moment that your mothers and sisters are subject to the same victimization every time they step out of the home?

Why does THAT make your blood boil?

Forget about dressing skimpily and swaying our hips, we are not safe even when we are fully clothed and out with family. You know why lots of men go to that infamous annual Trade Fair in New Delhi????? So that they can take advantage of the crowds and grab, push, pinch any part of a female’s body, who is unwillingly pushed against them. Don’t even bother asking me how I know that, you already know the answer…

If none of the above, that is a girl’s age, clothes, or even whether she is with her family, act as a deterrent, when will men (and many women, my grandma included) stop with this fucked up argument, “If you leave meat open, animals will attack it.”

To cut this never-ending story short, if I am forever going to be a target for molestation just by the virtue of my sex…can’t I at least have the freedom to dress/behave the way I want and when I want it????

Oh wait…no, I can’t…After all, I am just a chunk of meat….and a chunk of meat can’t ask for any “rights”…I am there for your pleasure…devour as you please..

Coca Cola India at its tackiest best...

2007-09-08T19:15:00.001-07:00

Apparently Coca Cola India is revamping its corporate strategy and trying to present itself as a more humane corporation (oxymoron hanh....) in the aftermath of the various controversies it has faced in the recent years (Plachimada water crisis, pesticides)...etc. etc.. Their new tagline reads ..."Little Drops of Joy" in English and "Boond Boond Khushi Khushi" (drop drop happiness happiness) in Hindi....

They have also come up with a new "MANIFESTO".... which definitely is one of the tackiest copies I have read in the recent times...this is what it says...(source: http://marketingpractice.blogspot.com/2007/09/coca-cola-india-little-drops-of-joy.html)

A mighty ocean we’re not.But we are the little drops that make one.Because small things go a long way. At Coca-Cola India, we believe that there’s more to a little sip. It’s the moment of truth. A second of satisfaction. An instant of happiness. A bubble of hope. Because we don’t quench your thirst. We recharge your soul. For one moment. One drop at a time.

What are they selling...Holy Water? moment of truth...bubble of hope....Swami Ramdev's famous Toilet Cleaner" tag apart, the world knows carbonated soda is harmful to the last drop...yet the campaign I believe will have a positive impact...such is evil genius of marketing...

You can read here if you want more of an analysis of the campaign.....Or check out the new campaign ads at You Tube....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2xRCVANpsc&NR=1

Sick and tired of Islamic fanatics holding the world to ransom

2007-06-18T12:42:00.000-07:00

The UK government’s decision to bestow knighthood upon Salman Rushdie has scores of Islamic fanatics around the world (noticeably in Iran and Pakistan right now) fuming in collective insanity…..yet again!

Both Pakistan and Iran have lodged strong protests with the UK government and have asked the latter to withdraw Rushdie’s knighthood. Pakistan’s Minister of Religious Affairs (puke) Ijaz-ul-Haq has gone to the extent of calling this an incitement to terrorism on the part of the UK government.

Predictably, effigies are being burnt, slogans are being chanted (Death to Britain, death to Rushdie) on the streets of Pakistan.

Give it a week and news of such incidents would start pouring in from India, Indonesia, Netherlands, far and wide, just like it happened during the Danish cartoon imbroglio.

What really takes the cake is the Pakistani minister justifying future acts of terrorism because of Rushdie being granted knighthood. This is yet another example of Islam-o-freaks threatening the world to fall in line with them or be ready to face the consequences. Their problem is they forget that there is a world beyond the Koran, Prophet Muhammed and Islam, at least for the rest of us. Not everyone in the world has the luxury of being unemployed and illiterate, therefore having the freedom of getting out on the steets protesting this or that/blowing up this or that. We have jobs, not to mention freedom of expression, which may be an alien concept in these societies, but is a way of life for us.

Our world is going a scarier place by the day, if their response to every thing that displeases them is threats of violence. Why is it that they have suddenly become the dictators of what is right/wrong, acceptable/unacceptable to the rest of the world?

Britain is an independent country. Now, if a free country wants to felicitate or punish an individual for their corresponding actions, it should be allowed to do so at free will. How does what the UK government do within its borders, make any difference what so ever to Pakistan and Iran? In fact, why should the latter two give any importance to Britain’s actions? Are they not then claiming Britain’s supremacy to them in the world order? Secondly, Britain’s constitution declares Christianity to be their state faith, with an established church. Given that as well, Britain is not expected to treat other religions at par. Islamic nations should know; they are the worst perpetrators of religious discrimination. In UAE for instance, people from other religions are not allowed to pray in public. Similarly in Afghanistan, historic Buddhist Baamiyan statues were destroyed by the Taliban. I don’t remember Buddhists of the world taking to streets or threatening to become suicide bombers. Would I be committing blasphemy by claiming that this is probably because Buddhism is a religion of peace, and has leaders like Dalai Lama and not the Shahi Imam of Delhi’s Jama Masjid.
A Google search will reveal recent news pieces about Hindus/Christians in Pakistan being threatened to convert to Islam or be killed. While the Babri masjid demolition in India made news around the world and the echoes are still heard, when Malaysia repeatedly bulldozes Hindu temples, no one even blinks.

Why is it that these people are not willing to accord respect to other faiths yet expect the same from the rest of us? Brute force, is what these Islam-o-fascists are becoming and increasingly dividing the world into two factions. Also, would it be too wrong to argue that they know their strength is in their numbers and their spread around the world, and they have now begun to exploit that? Either you are with them or you are against them!!

Given the growing trend of Islamic fanaticism within UK, it won’t be a surprise if the issue soon erupts within the country itself. I for one can only pray to Allah (J) that the UK government doesn’t bow to these bigoted minds!!

15th June, 2007

2007-06-15T08:20:00.001-07:00

This was the happiest day in my life so far. Something that I hadn’t hoped in my wildest dreams would ACTUALLY happen, happened…. Wish me, for I am delirious with happiness. I can see heaven right in front of my eyes…

Day 12

2007-06-15T08:19:00.000-07:00

My favorite pastime these days is taking a hike in Manhattan during my lunch-break. I figured this is the only way I would truly get to see the real New York city, the whole of it and not just the touristy places. The energy in New York is everything you hear about and more, charged, vibrant, uninterrupted.

It’s a shame I can’t carry my camera around!!!

The thing to appreciate the most about big cities in the West is that immigration has transformed them into microcosms of the world. The true meaning of “multi-cultural” is fathomed only on the streets of cities like New York and Toronto. One day I hope, Delhi, Mumbai and of course Bangalore would come somewhere close.

Possibly because New York is much more populated than other American cities, public utilities come at a relatively cheaper price. I found beauty salons to be much cheaper here, even when compared to a small, sleepy mid-western city. In fact, my discovery for the day is PINKY Beauty Parlor, just a stone’s throw away from my office. So, deliciously New Delhi like….

This just suits me fine…J

P.S:

Call it coincidence, but I just stumbled upon a blog that says this about New York.

It's possible to travel around the world in 24 hours in NY!!!

INDEED

Day 11

2007-06-14T09:45:00.000-07:00

New York Day 11

Staff meetings I feel, are the bane of corporate existence. The only purpose they seem to serve is for people to say important sounding banal things just to sound important and knowledgeable. It is amazing to me the kind of BS that goes on in the name of STRATEGY meetings.

I just came out of a marathon meeting, and I guess my frustration is showing. If you were to quiz me on the discussion, trust me you will draw a blank. Just in case you think I am the only lackey in the vicinity, rest assured even the CEO, were she to be honest, would accept as much.

Truth of the matter however is that by the time you reach the upper echelons of management, you become a pro in using high-falutin, jargonistic words. I think it almost becomes a language in its own, which its frequent users understand very well. I am complaining now, but I guess that is where I aspire to be, eventually.

I also wonder whether this has more to do with kind of occupation you are in. Marketing for instance, can be in many cases an intangible exercise. Here, one is dealing with deliverables like memory recall, brand placement, brand image etc, which are terms abstract to an extent that we may attempt to measure them, but cannot really measure them truly. Sales is a different question, you either did or did not make those numbers. It’s a fixed quarterly, bi-annual, annual measurement. Not so in marketing. Guess what I am trying to say is that the amount of pointless bullshit you can get away with is determined, by your profession. Unfortunately for me, I am in one with the highest possible BS scope… Oh well, all of us have to justify that salary we draw…

New York New York

2007-06-13T11:46:00.000-07:00

New York Day 10:

Today marks my tenth day in the city of New York. Ever since I can remember, I have wanted to come here, see the city, figure out what it is all about. The skyscrapers, the statue of liberty, 9/11 and of course the romanticized idea of the city, spawned in my mind by shows like Sex and the City and FRIENDS.

I am yet to do any tourist-y stuff, dependent as my schedules are on those of my friends, but there is still time to do all that, so I am not that worried.

In terms of first impressions, being here was in a way anti-climactic. New York is huge, its loud, its congested and DIRTY…It is almost New Delhi, that is why probably I felt right at home from day one. The BIG AAAH moment that I was hoping would hit me, as soon as I landed in New York, never really arrived. Other US cities I have visited have been strange, alien. Too clean, too white, too quite or too ritzy. New York on the other hand is cacophonously crazy 24 hours of the day. Here, I do not miss the hustle bustle of Indian life, the fact that I see so many Indian faces around all the time, also helps the cause I guess.

Every day when I walk to work, I notice some thing or another that reminds of me New Delhi. Today, I made a mental list of it, so here goes

Things/Situations common to New York & New Delhi

The word New in the name (heh, sorry bad one, could not resist).
Street Food: Chat pakoris, chicken soup and parantha stalls in New Delhi. Kebab, knish, falafel counters in New York.

Tall buildings: Okay, so buildings in CP are no match for the high rises in the midst of Manhattan, but the feeling somehow is the same. Tall new buildings, mingling with small, ancient ones, past and the present existing together. Something or another is constantly being rebuilt or torn down!

Dirty streets, smelly subways: I seriously believe that smells emanating from a New York and New Delhi subway, are 97.6% alike, human urine (or should I say male urine?) mixed with random garbage of an unidentified nature. Either way, breathing in both is impossible. In no other US city, have I seen garbage openly strewn in streets. Bags upon bags of garbage, openly filthy street corners…the whole nine yards. No New Yorker can ever complain about the filth in New Delhi, at least as long as they are honest to themselves..

Beggars, homeless people: Yesterday, while walking back from work, I was approached by a lady speaking a foreign language I didn’t identify, gesturing me to read a laminated sheet she held in her hand. I kept walking as I knew what it was. Today I saw a homeless person, along with his homeless dog, sprawled in the corner of a street looking dead. Not that any one of us stopped to check if he really was. Do I even need to mention the number of times; we run into such people in India? The only noticeable difference is that I am yet to find a single child beggar.

Honking: As a pucca Delhiite, I missed the jarring horns of vehicles of all shapes and sizes….Much to my delight, New Yorkers have this in common with us. Elsewhere in the US, its considered rude to honk, here its almost mandatory to, much as in New Delhi

RICHSHAWS: It surprises me that while the Indian government talks about phasing out cycle-rickshaws, as they are too laborious, in cities like New York and Toronto, these are actually a tourist attraction.

Congestion: I don’t think any other city in the US is a match for New York in terms of the human traffic and congestion. No matter what time of the day, there is always a sea of people walking in your direction and away from it. Buildings may be sky-high but New York apartments hardly have any space. I have friends living bang in the middle of city in apartments that are small as pigeonholes, smelly, non-airy and yet they pay close to $3000 or above in a month’s rent alone. I have never rented a place in New Delhi, but I have been told it’s quite true for the home city as well.

That is it so far, I am sure though I will stumble upon more..

Do the Bachchans owe India an apology??

2007-04-21T18:39:00.000-07:00

I should probably put in a disclaimer right at the start of this post. I am one among the thousands of Indians, who were following the Bachchan-Rai marriage saga. I have no shame in accepting that. It was indeed, as many media outlets put it, the Bollywood wedding of the century...So much to the chagrin of my boyfriend who would rather want me spending my time in more intellectual pursuits, I spent the last few days scanning newspaper, and television channel sights for dope on the Big Fat Bollywood Wedding.....

Up until about yesterday, I was okay with Bachchans being anal about keeping the presshounds at bay. Despite the fact that who's who of India were a part of this event, it was in the end a private ceremony. They could choose the way they wanted to go about it. Secondly, as per other media reports, the Bachchans had sold the sole rights of photos and video footage for a whopping undisclosed sum to an international media company. So far, so good...

What I was also expecting was that at the end of all ceremonies, the least the family would do is to release at least one official photograph of the married couple for national consumption...Not even that has been done however....If you ask me, I consider this an insult to their Indian fan base....

It is not a PRIVACY thing....they have SOLD exclusive footage to an international channel after all....

It is the Indian fans who have made them who they are however....the LEAST their fans deserve is one proper photograph, for which poor photo-journalists didn't have to rough-shod....

Look at any of the other high profile weddings in the recent past... Karishma Kapoor-Sanjay Kapoor, Priyanka Gandhi-Robert Vadhera, even Sachin Tendulkar-Anjali Mehta... While the media was banned from each one of these weddings, post-marriage pictures were released in each case... I feel it is a way of appreciating scores of your fans who want nothing else but wish you well and in this minuscule way, want to be a part of your big day....

The voyeur in me is doing fine, I feel bad for all the people on a stakeout outside the Bachchan bungalows to catch a glimpse of the people they consider deni-gods...The Bachchans are taking for granted the trouble that the general population of Mumbai went through because of the traffic diversions, the crowds etc etc..500 security personnel, deployed for security, thousand of media people...Not to mention fans who travelled all the way from places like Kanpur bearing laddus....And yet, in true ROYAL style..the Bachchans refuse to satiate the public's well placed curiosity even with a single photograph.....Yet, exclusive rights have been sold to an INTERNATIONAL channel...So, it is all about money in the end (Guess, Shatrugan Sinha was right) and to hell with the countrymen who made you are...Priceless arrogance....

The last bit that REALLY adds insult to injury is the manhandling of press photographers by security people at one of the Bachchan bungalows...One of the photographers was hit so badly in the abdomen that he had to be taken to a hospital (read here)....

No comment has been forthcoming from the Bachchans yet....

I, for one, am really disgusted...

Sunshine

2007-04-19T12:59:00.000-07:00

The sun is brighter today,
my step springier...
I smile more heartily....
and the heart is more content...

5 things I hate about US universities...

2007-04-12T14:15:00.000-07:00

1. US universities are all about making MONEY
I think this happens especially for people who come from countries like India. We have grown up to believe that schools and universities are "temples of learning" and "education is sacred"...pardonnez moi for the cliches but here it is all about making money. Students are charged for every small/big thing and then some more. The biggest scams of all is forced insurance for international students....

2. Does the quality of education matches the costs? NOT AT ALL
If you argue with me on this, then maybe I was lucky to go to a really good university in India. I came to the US not expecting magic, but at least keen to find what the brouhaha about an American degree is all about. I study at what may be called "ranking wise" one of the top ten schools in the US and one of the best in the world in my particular area. Yet, I find the teaching insipid, the exposure probably marginally better to what I had an undergrad in India..Though, I would be willing to concede that this malady could be typical of my area of study...the discipline in itself lacks rigor...

3. I hate the over politeness yet the non-helpfulness of the American bureaucracy
I know what you are thinking. That coming from the land of RED-TAPE itself, how can I criticize the American system? Well, see the thing with India is that you get what you see..If the Indian babus are non-helpful then they are that to my face...They don't go about saying stuff in saccharine sweetness..."Oh, I am sorry that you have to pay this..", "Oh, I am sorry but this is the procedure.." (also see later). I could be dying (hypothetically speaking) and go looking for assistance and all these people will do is shake their heads, give me that mocking smile...which seems to say to me.."We might be a GARGANTUAN university and what you say really makes sense and in general you are a very nice person, but helping you is out of our power.." The most annoying department in the US universities....The International Student Services...Bunch of morons who have been employed to make international students feel that they matter more than the money they bring in...

4. I don't know what my professors really mean
This should actually be an extension of the point before. In India, if I was in trouble in any particular subject, professors wouldn't mince any words in telling you as much...Here, I am treated (again on face) as a frigging Nobel laureate yet get passed over for a coveted scholarship over and over again. I am a BIG GIRL, tell me to my face where I really stand....believe me I won't cry....I too can smile till my jaws hurt...

5. This is the procedure, there is nothing we can do
Procedure seems to be the golden word, which University staffer just can't seem to see beyond...Taking personal initiative or questioning the "procedure" is just bureaucratic harakiri, no one is willing to commit..."We work for the University. Kindly do not ask us to think" is like the unwritten motto plate hanging behind the purple halos surrounding their heads.....

Moral of the rant: I have been here,
and I have been there.
Now that I am here,
I wish I was there.

These days..

2007-04-12T14:07:00.000-07:00

I breathe...
periodically.
bitterness in, bitterness out.

Where you are and where you want to be..

2007-03-26T17:48:00.000-07:00

Does it ever happen to any one of you that you would rather be anywhere else than in the place you are at? I have been suffering from this disease all my life, and it continues. Right now, I really want to be in India, right beside my mom, comforting her for the struggle that she has been through.

Why should Anna Nicole Smith's death make any difference to the average Indian?

2007-02-11T15:13:00.000-08:00

Okay, I used to think that the Times of India's obsession with Paris Hilton is ridiculous...but last week when Anna Nicole Smith (ANS) , an absolutely inconsequential starlet/former Playboy playmate died, scores of Indian media sources carried this piece of news..Tell me why does the average Indian, people like you and me, need to know about this..??

I was surprised to find a small piece on ANS's death in the Indian Express, had expected it in the Times of India but definitely not bang on top of the Indian Express website. Later, I found the same story on Indian Express's Screen, their entertainment portal which was still okay...my patience really ran out when I saw the story in nothing less than the Financial Express..

A quick Google search reveals the following other media organizations carried news bits on ANS's death and the controversy surrounding her baby's father:

DNA

The Times of India

NDTV

CNN_IBN

Nagaland Post (really!!! see, www.nagalandpost.com)

The Statesman

Hindustan Times Tabloid

Samachar.com

Indo-Asian News Service

Zee News

The Statesman, otherwise known as the snobbish Bengali mouthpiece, carried the story in its in"international section", along with other stories like:

‘Jinnah wasn’t a real hero’
Another flawed Iraq probe
Fonda, Sally take a decision
N-talks hit Chinese wall

No coup plans, says Bangla army

Sure, they carried the story as a stub, but imagine placing the news item between stories about international wars, a possible coup in a neighboring nation, the nuclear debate etc...

It is really really HARD to get over our colonial mindsets, isn't it?

Indian activists get together to form the Community Radio Forum

2007-01-31T15:50:00.000-08:00

Over 70 organizations from all over the country will meet in Delhi on 1st February for a day long consultation , to take the community radio movement in India to the next level. The National Consultation, organized by the Community Radio Forum, will bring together community representatives, academics, broadcasters, non-profit organizations, UN agencies and government officials.

This will be the first such consultation in the country, marking the beginning of a new era in radio broadcasting. It was only in November 2006, after seven long years of lobbying by groups like the Community Radio Forum, that the government finally accepted to make changes in the Community Radio Policy, to allow community based groups to set up their own radio stations.

Earlier only 'established educational institutions of repute' could apply for licenses to set up radio stations. This policy resulted in some institutions like Universities and IITs setting up low power "campus radios". But the policy drew severe criticisms and oppositions from civil society organizations who were barred from applying for licenses. The consultation will submit a set of recommendations to the officials to further democratize the airwaves.

According to Stalin K., the convenor of this forum and one of the foremost names among radio advocates in the country, "The government should shift paradigms and see itself as encouragers of community radio rather than as regulators. If the government puts in place a simple procedure for application and a single window clearance, then almost every group present in this consultation will set up a radio station in the next two years. And this is just the tip of the ice-berg."

Organizations that work with communities in need of such outlets, hopefully would now come in to take advantage of the changed scenario.

Straight from the heart from matrimonial websites

2007-01-29T19:07:00.000-08:00

A friend of mine just sent me this hilarious post about actual "posts" on matrimonial websites...

Read for some serious laugh-time....

.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~-
Hello To Viewers My Name is Shekhar , I am single i don't havefemale,If anyone
want to Marie to me u can visit to my home. I am not a goodeducation but i
working all field in bangalroe.. if u like me u welcometo my heart...when ever u
want to meet pls visit my resident or send uletter.. Thanks yours Regards
Shekhar
~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~i
want very simple girl. from brahmin educated family from orissa stateshe is also
know about RAMAYAN, GEETA BHAGABATA, and other
homework(Homework?)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Wants a
woman who knows me better and can adjust with me forever. shemay never create
any difficulties in my life or her life by which theentire life can run
smoothly. thank you(The principle of running life smoothly was never so
easy!)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~she should be good
looking and should have a service. she Should haveone brother and one sister.
she should be educated.(ain't it unique !! 1 brother 1
sister!)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~I
am a happy-go-lucky kind of person. Enjoys every moments of life. Ilove to make
friendship. Because friendship is a first step of love. Iam looking for my
dreamgirl who will love me more than i. Because ilove myself a lot. If u think
that is u then why to late come on.........hold my hand forever
!!!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~i am
simple boy.I have lot of problem in my life because of my luck nowi am looking
one gal she care me and love me lot lot lot(I don't know why but this is one of
my
favorites)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~My
wife should be as 'Shivani' as in Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki and as Tanwerras in
KSBKBT......(Ok I haven't seen these soaps but I am sure he must be demanding
toomuch,ain't
he?)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~i
want a girl with no drinks if she wants she can wear jeans in housebut while
stepping out of house she should give respect to our cast(by not wearing her
jeans?
...)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~HYE
I AM A GOOD LOKING BOY,WHO HAS THE CAPABILITY TO MAKE ANY BODY TOLOUGH.I BELIEVE
IN GOD AND ACCORDING TO ME FRIENDS ARE THE REALMESSENGER OF GOD. THE 3 THINGS I
AM LOOKING FROM A GIRL ,THEY ARE1.THEYMUST BELIEVE IN GOD.2. THEY HAVE TO LIKE
MY PROFFESION AND THEY SHOULDNOT GET BORED WITH ME WHEN I WILL TRY TO MAKE THEM
LOUGH.(all of us are loughing
)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~whatever
she may be but she should feel that she is going to be someonebride and she must
think of the future life if she is too like thisshewould be called the woman of
the lamp(I am clueless, I feel so lost. Can anyone tell me what this boy
wants)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~i
love my patner i marriage the patner ok i search my patner and i lovethepatner
ok thik hai the patner has a graduate ok(I am again clueless but I liked the use
of "ok"
)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~HI IAM
VERY COOL NUATHER OK MY HOBBY IS SEE T.V AND NEWS OK I HAVE 1CARAND 1 BONWL OK
MY MOTHER ALSO GOOD OK MY FARUET WORLD IS OK(this one is one of my
Fav)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~I am
pran my family history my two brother two sister and Father&mothersister
complity marred(somebody please explain in comments section how to get
married'completely'?)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~iam
very simpel and hanest. i have three sister one brother and parent.i am doing
postal sarvice and tailor master my original resdence atkalahandi diste naw iam
staing at rayagada dist.(actually what is this guy doing? Postal service or
tailor.??)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~my
name is muhamad and i am unmarried. pleaes you marrige me pleaespleaes pleaes
pleaes pleaes pleaes pleaes(height of desperation! J
)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Iwant
one girl who love me or my mother. she love me heartly or shehavea frank she's
skin colour 'normal'not a black or not a whitey.IThink the main think is heart
if your heart is beautiful then you arebeautiful.butiam not a handsome guy or
not a good looking. but my Mom say that Iam agood guy. My father already expired
. THE CHOICE IS YOUR.bye bye.(uttama
purushan)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~iam
kanan. i do owo businas.one sistar.he was marred.(No
comments)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~I
AM LITTLE FAIR INDIAN COLOUR. I DON'T HAVE ANY HABIT.(maybe the poor guy meant
BAD
habits)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~hello
i am a good charactarised man. i want to run my life happily.idivorced my first
wife.her charactor is not good'. i expect the goodminded and clean habits girl
who may be in the same caste or othercasteaccepted ...(but credit cards not
accepted..???)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~my
colour is black,but my heart is white.i like social
service(Zebra..???)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~i'm
looking out for who lives in bombay , girl simple who trust me lotshould be
roman catholic, LOVE ME ONLY.(Now that criterion is a must, isn't
it?)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~to
be married on jan-2006. working woman perferable(this guy has fixed the marriage
date too! But he is yet to find abride.I wish him best of luck on behalf of all
of us. I am sure he will
getonesoon.)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~i
would like a beautyfull girl. and i do not want her any treasure.because girl is
the maharani.(Now she is going to be a lucky girl! Any
takers?)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ssc
failed three times and worked with privated ltd company which notpaying salary
at present.(Any takers again?)

The sanest advice anyone ever gave me....

2007-01-27T08:39:00.000-08:00

Babe....stop living in the movies....

thus spoke my dearest big brother...

What would you do?

2007-01-26T19:35:00.000-08:00

If you see no way but out, will you take it?

No possibility, no direction....All you have is your life.
Would you stake it?

When the worst solution is the best one for you,
If you saw such such a time.....

Could you fake it???

Goldman Sachs report on India overtaking US by 2050

2007-01-24T08:15:00.000-08:00

It may sound incredible but does not seem impossible....bigger miracles have happened...A recently released Goldman Sachs report claims that not only will India be a superpower soon but will overtake the US of A by 2050. Some excerpts...

Productivity growth will help India sustain over 8% growth until 2020 and
become the second largest economy in the world, ahead of the US, by 2050,
Goldman Sachs has said, scaling up estimates of the country's prospects in its
October 2003 research paper widely known as the BRICs report. The original
report had projected that India's GDP would outstrip Japan's by 2032 and that in
30 years, it would be the world's third largest economy after China and the US.
The new report goes one step further by moving India up from No. 3 and No. 2 in
the global sweepstakes of tomorrow.

For the full article, go here..

The Times of India also gets some interesting reactions from people all over the world about the report...One of them, about previous Goldman Sachs reports, is particularly interesting...

This report needs to be taken with a pinch of salt. In 1977 a news article
claimed that India was headed for utter destruction by 2000. The report claimed
that the way India was going on, it would soon become a military dictatorship.
The reporter obviously had no idea of the IT revolution that was to come. By
2000, India was looking better than ever, and now in 2006, it is being touted as
the next superpower. The point that I am trying to make is that it is impossible
to predict what's going to happen 50 years from now. The economists base their
predictions on what is happening today and simply extrapolate today's growth.
But history is littered with failed predictions, which means you can never be
sure of what is going to happen. A war with China/Pakistan, or US/China war or a
war in the Middle East could turn the whole world upside down.
Murtuza USA

India's very own Oh My News!!!

2007-01-24T07:58:00.000-08:00

MeriNews.com, supposedly India's first "citizen journalism" portal..
I am surprised how this initiative has not been as publicised as the Korean Oh My News...

Promise to put a comparitive piece and a possible interview on here later...

watch the space...

Back to the future....with a RADIO revolution

2007-01-20T14:40:00.000-08:00

It took more than ten years but it finally happened. The Indian government has given a green signal to allowing oridinary citizens, groups, NGOs to open their own radio channels...

Apprently, despite year and years of the policy being stuck in bureaucratic circles, it still makes India the first country in Asia to have its own community radio "policy"..hmmm interesting...

More soon...

These videos below are pretty scary...

2007-01-20T14:17:00.000-08:00

There are occasions, when I wonder if the non-Islamic world is doing a disservice to itself by trying to be politically correct all the time...You know apologizing for anything or everything that comes out of a newspaper or someone's mouth like say the Pope...

The undercover investigative videos which were done by an undercover British reporter leave no doubt in mind about the fanaticism of a particular breed of Islam. They talk about conversions, about killing gays, about women being deficient to men in every sense of the word...they talk about every non-Muslim being a Kafir and therefor not worthy of being an acquaintance of Muslims. It is okay, they say, to kill a non-muslim. Or to throw a homosexual down a mountain...

These are NOT the people one sits and TALKS with...These are NOT the people who believe in Live and Let Live...Why then does the world have to bend over backwards to these despots apologizing and pleasing them??? Correct me if I am wrong, but the world still awaits a Muslim apology over the destruction of the Bamiyaan statues...I don't remember Buddhists breaking into riots all over the world because of that...Bamiyaan was history, Bamiyaan was religion....yet peace prevailed

The Indian government is talking about reservations for Muslims, for more industrial loans etc etc...and in one of the videos below one of the Mullahs is telling the listeners to bomb Indian businesses as a duty...

I know eye for an eye make the whole world blind...but should it be allowed to come to a point where the other person takes advantage of your reluctance to give back in the same measure...I am not sure

Dispatches - Undercover Mosque (3 of 6)

2007-01-19T18:00:00.005-08:00

part-III

Dispatches - Undercover Mosque (2 of 6)

2007-01-19T18:00:00.003-08:00

The wahabis are crazy part-II

its snowing finally...damn

2007-01-15T09:14:00.000-08:00

Time to get sexy

2007-01-12T18:44:00.001-08:00

what a useless video...this guy is plain horrendous

Now, they are talking about lynching this guy

2007-01-12T18:12:00.000-08:00

So, the guy does stand up comedy and uses the Mahatma as his prop....I say what a BLOODY FANTASTIC idea....

The fact that his delivery isn't as brilliant is the least of his woes....suddenly he is the talk of the town with people talking about taking defamatory action against him...

US based stand-up comedian Gautham Prasad might find himself in the middle of a blazing controversy with crazy, unemployed Indians taking to the streets in Orissa protesting against the Gandhi videos he put on YouTube...and the grandson of Gandhi, Tushar Gandhi asking for legal action to be taken against him....In the process, they will give him more publicty than he would have ever got in his entire career, if the damned video is any indication!!

Though I find the video ABSOLUTELY HORRENDOUS...its soooooooooo flat, I would still support Prasad's right to express (I don't know what else to call it)....

As Indians we REALLY NEED TO lighten up....Gandhi ain't God you people...sure we revere him, but then why expect the rest of the world to do that...

Really back off, go to work or find work if you don't have any...Messrs kalinga sena in bhubhneshwar, Orissa

GOI talking about blocking YouTube over Gandhi video

2007-01-12T12:40:00.000-08:00

Read the article by Times of India here....

Some stupid comedian from the US has put what I feel is a rather crass video, on Mahatma Gandhi pole-dancing on You Tube...I am trying to link it here...

The video has the I&B ministry in India frothing at the mouth...and some are talking about blocking YouTube...that is such a knee-jerk bureaucratic reaction...when in doubt take it out!!!...

Here is a link to the video or one of the videos by this guy...I am trying to link the video here but might just change my mind...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CE9_sBZHu1E

My problem with the guy....there ain't no humour what so ever...its just the shock value and the crassness that effects you for a minute...

And nopes I am not bothered coz he is showing.... ouch...Gandhi with pasties on...nopes have no moral compunctions with that....but at least do it right...

But he will get his 15 mins of fame no doubt....wish the I&B Ministry would concentrate on more important things..I mean its a part of this guy's overall mime-acts, he does it offline as one of his routines as well...

And then again, you block YouTube, there are 10,000 other websites people would put it on if they wanna see it...

my point is...its no BIG DEAL...I really think we need to lighten up in the case of Gandhi....he was just another human being I say...

Taking from one hand and giving to the other...

2007-01-12T11:40:00.000-08:00

The Information and Broadcasting ministery has announced some severe funding cuts for the entertainment industry this year. The Hindustan Times reports

"In a list of 27 schemes prepared by the Planning Commission with the help
of the Finance Ministry for discontinuation from the next financial year,
the worst hit are expected to be Film and Television Institute of India
(FTII), Pune and Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute, Kolkata. Eight
schemes related to the institutes including scholarship and exchange
programme may not get any central funding. The younger generation of film lovers may miss globally well-known cartoons, as the government is also likely to stop funding for the International Documentary, Short and Animation Film Festival. The film had failed to generate much interest among children, an official said."

And what would it be funding instead??

Planning Commission officials said the focus would be equipping media, film and
entertainment industry with new technologies. "We have proposed government help
to set up community radio and television centres. Also covering entire country
with digital television by end of the plan period is another priority of the
government," a commission official said.

Donate eggs make anywhere between USD 5500 to 7000

2007-01-12T10:37:00.000-08:00

So, just yesterday I found out what a lucrative business donating eggs could be for women...a first time donor could make USD 5500 and return donors can make 7000..impressive isn't it?

Plus the clinical drug trial industry is big in the US, studies would pay you anywhere between 200 to 2500 plus dollars for your time..of course..more the money more the personal risk....

I had a friend, who for a 100 dollars allowed medico types to play loud, annoying noises in his ears for an hour..another was offered $700 to be injected with artificial cold symptoms in her body...this one refused...chicken!!

Yours truly has made only $1o so far, for some dumb psycho-cognitive test in which this real sweet PhD student brushed my face with hard and soft materials like a feather and a pebble....was funny too...to be attached to a computer in a small cabin with this person rubbing material against you and asking every few seconds...so how does it feel????

Richard Gere to prostitutes: Say no to customers who don't use a condom

2007-01-11T21:09:00.000-08:00

Yeah, and then call Richard Gere to ensure that your family has food to eat....

Really...where do all these rich people get off saying such stupid stuff....

If only a prostitute had the wherewithal to say NO to her customers, she wouldn't be a prostitute in the first place...Gere's statement is so typical of people put in situations they don't really understand....

And what is with making such a song and dance about AIDS...its either fashion shows, or film stars dancing or Shahrukh Khan playing Santa to AIDS effected kids....it is a bloody carnival, they make a mockery out of the damn disease...

And now here is a photo of Bipasha Basu dancing with 1500 sex-workers....a tamaasha really...at the end of the day, Basu would still go back to her film-star life, a bungalow, ten cars and the works...the sex workers would still be sex workers....they probably would go straight to "work" after the show is over..

Basu's dancing and Gere's hollering No Condom No Sex unfortunately doesn't do much to change a prostitute's life...

Go Home Gere...!!!

Looking for cancer support groups online...

2007-01-10T16:27:00.000-08:00

I have been trying to look for cancer support groups online, especially those devoted to breast cancer and based in India...so far I have found nothing except information on the Cancer Patients Aids Association...

Maybe there are groups that exist offline....I don't know how to look for them though.

I really think that having informal support groups would make quite a difference for all those people who are battling such dreaded diseases like cancer or AIDS...Having someone to talk to who can give you the reassurance that things would be okay, who will tell you stuff that doctors generally don't would possibly help a lot.

My mom just had a mastectomy and her courage makes me really so proud....but she did go through a cycle of depression when she lost all her hair...Having someone around who KNEW exactly what she was going through would have made a difference, I am sure.....

Maybe she will be the one to start a group....

Life is like a soap after all...

2007-01-08T16:18:00.000-08:00

You know.....every time i felt irritated by the never ending twists and turns in any flava-of-the-season soap, I used to crib..... no one's life can be that complicated, I am not that sure now...

Sure the chances of you being married ten times, having 25 illegitimate children, becoming an overnight superstar or going bust in a night may be pretty slim....but in its own less dramatic way, life does keep throwing challenges one after the other....Just when you think that yes, you found that comfort spot in life, comes an unexpected jolt out of the blue...

And while we are at it....do we have a Murphy's law that could possibly apply to the life as well? Like the more you think your life sucks, the happiness of your friends would be inversely proportional to that...or something...Almost like having no electricity in your house, when the entire world is celebrating Diwali....

heh, I guess this is me at my crankiest, corniest, tired to the bones late evening self...

IGNORE

end of winter holidays

2007-01-07T11:02:00.000-08:00

Time passes by so soon when you are having fun....can't believe another semester is about to start....mad rush, crazy courses...add on top the crazy winter which is just supposed to be round the corner, waiting biding its time.....

I really can't wait for the summer to arrive....for many reasons...Hopefully, will be gainfully emplyed by then. Really want to live for a while in Washington and New York....wishful thinking? let's see....

Video taping Saddam's execution: Citizen Journalism??? Really..

2007-01-04T11:49:00.000-08:00

This is what Gawker has to say about the filming and the subequent YouTubing of Saddam video....

In another blow to citizen journalism, social media, and the culture of You, two Iraqi guards and an "official" have now been arrested for shooting and distributing the Saddam Hussein execution video.

Citizen journalism....I just hope the Gawker is being sarcastic....

is it just me who finds the Saddam Hussein videos unnerving?

2007-01-04T10:13:00.000-08:00

Seriously, what is the world coming to? The videos of Sadam Hussein's execution were on You Tube in less than 24 hours. What would news channels have not given to be present there?

Yet another example of how the role of the mainstream media is being superceded by ordinary individuals all over the world. What this trend says about our increasingly voyeuristic world is another story...

Isn't this the first execution of a war criminal/nation head/international figure/ call him what you may....shot on amateur video? Are there any other examples of something of this sort?

Yet, I can vouch that a huge percentage of us were scrounging YouTube or random video websites, expecting or knowing in a way that someway, somehow a video would land on the internet....in fact, it would have surprised us had we not found anything....long live the internet???