Right 2 Walk

Hyderabad traffic is frustrating. With all the pedestrians on the road with no footpath around, matter gets worse.

I have been writing about life in Hyderabad and the traffic menace.
(1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)



Right To Walk Foundation is an initiative to make Hyderabad pedestrian friendly. Kanthimathi Kannan started this foundation on 5th Dec 2007. She is fighting for a cause that people tend to ignore in the larger perspective of things.

I have joined the cause and I urge people to join this foundation and make Hyderabad a better place to live.

Shameful

We talk about terror attacks in Mumbai, bomb blasts in various other places in India, but are we turning a blind eye towards other hideous incidents?

On 24th January evening, girls were assaulted at Mangalore pub.

A fanatical right-wing group notorious for creating communal tensions and indulging in moral policing has struck again in Karnataka, this time assaulting women guests at a bar in Mangalore

What are we upto? Is this how we are going to fight terrorism when we cannot solve our internal issues? Is this how we are going to be a super power? Is this how we liberate women? If custodians of Indian culture are to go on a rampage like this then, what happens to safety of the people?

There are other incidents reported where 25 men abused and molested two women and another one where girls were groped and humiliated. Where are these "custodians of Indian culture"?

Have we lost our power to react? Are so into ourselves that we do not even care?

There is strong response to this incident by Sanjukta on Mutiny.

One response to her post was:

I bet those girls had plenty of men,we have people dying of starvation, who give a f*** about a bunch of beaten up sluts

Time and again, we never lose a chance to prove ourselves as descendants of tribals and then dream of becoming a super power ...

God save us ...

(I am frustrated, angry, irritated, annoyed and my blood is boiling hot)

Slumdog Again ...

I wrote about Slumdog hysteria in my earlier post. I had not seen the movie then. Yesterday, I got a chance to watch it.

Narration of the story is unique. It, along with the background score, kept the movie going. I went with huge expectations, but it turned out for me as just another movie with the treatment not even as good as what I have seen in few movies made in India by Indians. (Salam Bombay, Parzania, A Wednesday etc)

The backdrop set in Mumbai is something, I think, that made it a sellout in the US. Like what Mr. Bachchan said, the movie exposes the underbelly of India with prime focus on the flip side of India. Now, I would not, now, say that it was wrong portrayal (Communal violence, poverty, slums, prostitution, underworld ... who can challenge that these are not integral part of the way India is?). Camera was quite disappointing with most shots taken as close-up and I found it very difficult to keep my eyes on the screen. I am not sure if anyone else felt the same way.

A.R Rahman has done fabulous job and I really hope that he wins atleast in one of his nominations for Oscar. Without the music, the movie would not have it's charm. Same is the case with Gulzar and Rasool Pookutty. The movie is a one time watch and I am surprised by the overwhelming response for the movie from all corners.

I, as an Indian, hope that AR Rahman, Gulzar and Rasool win in their respective categories so that, we get a chance to project our creative and technical talent to the outside world and get noticed. Not by the way India is portrayed in the movie ...

The movie has to be taken as a reflection of how we are and what's going on and use it to work on fixing the issues ... We have enough to handle before we point finger at others ...

(Do you think, the way India is portrayed in SM, would change the perception of foreigners about India and Indians?)

One good thing is that India slum dogs are now getting respect and love never seen before.

Obama Inauguration Not So Green

News Junkie reports:

"As crowds cleared the city Tuesday, their trash covered the National Mall and Washington Monument grounds after President Barack Obama’s inauguration.

They left behind plastic bottles, newspapers, food wrappers, gloves and even American flags they had been waving. Trash bins overflowed with items people tossed."

This inauguration was supposed to be the greenest inauguration ever ... Now, this is something that needs to be criticized instead of his inaugural speech.

For a person who has environment and "green" high on agenda, there is enough mess created on the first day to clean up ...

Sign Language

Spotted recently ...



This person who wrote this must have been so confused ....


Courtesy: Telegraph

Vandalism To Monuments

I really really hope this works ...
No more BAIJU Loves MEENUKUTTY on monuments of culture !

In Love With A Jerk?

Spotted this one at Landmark bookstore in Bangalore. I have seen all sorts of self help books, but this one is among the best ...

Beer: The cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems

Man stabbed at York Hotel ignores wound to finish his beer

A man who was stabbed at the York Hotel Saturday night opted to return to the bar to finish his beer rather than seek medical attention.

The quote is so true ...

Beer: The cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems

I am not able to resign

No no I am not trying to. This is one hilarious incident that happened today at work. A guy reporting to me wanted to resign and I promptly agreed because I could not give anything convincing for he had a very lucrative offer from another organisation.

He calls me and says - "I am not able to see the resignation form". I figured that the Exit Management System was not giving him the option. I had no way out but tell him to raise a help desk ticket.

His mail to help desk would probably look like this:

To: Help Desk
Sub: Not able to resign
Hi,
I am not able to resign. Please fix this issue.

Great way for retention :-)

Google Search releases CO2

If you are wondering why Google Search would affect environment, here is something that might be a good read ...

For comparison, the average adult needs about 8000 kJ a day of energy from food, so a Google search uses just about the same amount of energy that your body burns in ten seconds.

This was in response to a study that revealed the environmental impact of Google searches

Am I going to reduce doing complex searches on Google? ... No way ... It's the coolest thing ever ... :)

Will wait for Google to optimize instead ...

Slumdog Hysteria

Slumdog millionaire has become super popular now with 4 awards at the Golden Globes. I have not seen the movie yet, and so will not write anything about that.

Regarding the nominations and awards, I think the award for best original music to A.R Rahman is something that did India proud. I would not say, from what I heard on television, that this was A.R Rahman's best score, but at an international level, probably this was one of the best by him. H Sridhar needs a special mention for this was one of his last albums.

Somehow, I fail to understand why the Indian media is going gaga over Slumdog. Why is that we take pride in something that we have not done? Just because it was made on India? Or is it because it had Anil Kapoor and a bunch of other Indian actors? A.R Rahman is one good reason, but I do not see the soundtrack available in Indian market (Update: It got released last week, after the awards). What are we feeling great about? Something that we have not even heard?

The movie is neither produced nor directed by Indians. It was setup in India and it does not even give out a rosy picture of Mumbai/India. It talks about an impoverished guy who has no desire for any riches attending the "Who wants to be a millionaire?" show. Would this movie have gotten this much popularity and quality if it had not been for Danny Boyle? I doubt it. Coming to think of it, I was wondering how this movie would have been if it had been directed by Karan Johar or RGV (hmmmm ...)?

It's well known that a movie showing non-prosperous side of a nation always sells. City of Gods (thanks Prasant for pointing this out), Blood Diamond, Motocycle Diaries, Salaam Bombay and the list goes on ... I do not recollect seeing one Hollywood movie which programs the movie around a prosperous India. Impoverished India sells. Remember the movie "Armageddon"?

What are the other things that we take credit for just because the person involved was an Indian? Sunita Williams and Manoj Shyamalan to name a couple.

Slumdog Millionaire may be a great movie and may go down in history as one of the best movies made on hope and compassion with India as backdrop.

Something to leave you to ponder about (I am not endorsing it) would be a sketch I spotted on Mutiny.in.



I will come back after I see the movie ...

Ignorance

Was watching Jay Walking on Jay Leno show today:

Jay: You are?
ABC: I am ABC

Jay: What do you do ABC?
ABC: I am a college student ...

Jay: OK. Have you heard of Somali Pirates?
ABC: Yeah ... I think so ...

Jay: Here is the question ... Somali Pirates is:
a. Rock Band
b. Actual Pirates
c. Football team
ABC: errr ... Football team ...
(Stumped !!!!!!!!! ... I lost it here)

Jay: Oh! How did they do this year?
ABC: They did well I guess. They are pretty famous right?

Such is the ignorance ...

People who do not know, please read about Somali Pirates.

An Evening Out

We went out to the Industrial Exhibition in the evening. In Hyderabad, this is an annual event.

The first impression was - "This is huge".

But as we wandered around the place, I realised, "There is NOTHING for men". I would have appreciated if there were some decent stalls for gadgets, tools, electronics or books. Handloom and handicraft stores were all over the place. Women felt like a kid in a candy shop when they moved towards the accessories (ear-rings, bangles etc..) section.

I also noticed a bunch for burkha clad women walking around in groups hand in hand. Puzzling thing that struck me was, if one of them stray out of the group, how would the others even find that person out?

I am forced to assume that they have a way of finding out by looking at the fingers or by smell of the other.

Continuous walk for two and half hours was no joke. Best things for me were:

1. Seeing my wife so happy to be in that place
2. Pop corn and cotton candy
3. The moon in golden color just after sunset ...

Wish I had my camera with me ...

Disgusting

S**t Senders.com

One word ... disgusting !

Raju - The New Johny

Ran in to this hilarious post ...

...
Raju Raju? Yes, papa.
Missing assets? No, papa.
Unnecessarily trying to acquire a real estate company to save your skin?
No, papa.
Okay, show me your balance sheet!
Ha ha ha.
...

Read the post by Sidin Vadukut (popular by the name Domain Maximus in the blog world) for more fun ...

A Thing From The Past

Would these qualify as ancient form of pole dance?

(15th century carvings - pics taken at Vittala temple in Hampi, Karnataka)

Macbook Wheel - Notebook With No Keyboard

Innovation getting better ...

- No keyboard
- Hummingbird battery that powers the laptop for full 19 mins before it needs to be re-charged

What's puzzling is how to type using the wheel to scroll to each alphabet. Looks cumbersome ....

Will wait for the next generation ...

Pls don't allow your wife to watch Ghajini

Received via email from JNK ...

Next Generation Farting !

This one happens to be the #1 App on iTunes Store ...



On a related note, I ran into this post on Geek and Poke:


Still interested? ... Go to iFartMobile.com

"We recognize that it’s just a novelty app, but don’t we need more laughter in times of economic crisis? We think so."

Hampi In (Few) Photos

This was our road trip from Hyderabad to Hampi in Karnataka, India. It is around 900 kms up and down.











 

 



Check my Flickr Album ...