Open Letter To Susan Candiotti of CNN

Dear Susan,

I just saw you on Television reporting from Haiti about rescuing a quake victim from under a collapsed five-story building and read the story on cnn.com as well. I think it has been great work by CNN selling the whole story to the World. Especially, I was touched by this part:

Verpre lay on his right side, and by Thursday morning, the men had managed to free him enough that he move his left leg.
He also could talk, with enough English to speak with CNN national correspondent Susan Candiotti.
He remained jammed, and his father and brother remained determined.

.... the part where, you/your crew, with great pain pushed a microphone through the rubble to get to the victim who was under terrible pain still trying to find a way out and other rescuers desperately trying to get him out, just to ask "What's going on in your mind?". I thought your next question would to ask him who he loves most in Hollywood.

I hope you will continue the good work and in an case where an accident victim is lying on the road needing immediate medical attention, I hope you will not forget to ask "How do you feel?" or "Walk us through what you are going on" before getting him medical aid.

Thanks,
KK

More Trouble With Technology

As if there not enough trouble for women right now, a new product rolls out requiring women to wear thicker fabric.



You can use the direct link to the video as well.

Of all the demos that are possible for this product, this one inclines more towards tapping the horny side of men. This could well become a troublesome product and probably an illegal one at a lot of places. Lets see where this goes.

(thanks @_mariabc for posting this)

Looking Back At The Decade

The decade just got over and I was thinking of what I would remember from the last decade.

- The hostel life - 2000 - 2001
- Passing out off college - June 2001
- Struggle for 2 years to get a job (thanks to Osamaji) - 2001 - 2003
- Getting my first job - April 2003
- Being one of the youngest to get a promotion in my organization - December 2004
- Buying a car - May 2005
- Buying a house - August 2005
- Bro getting his first job - 2005
- Meeting my wife - March 2006
- My first trip to the US in 2006 - May 2006
- Getting married - November 2006
- Trip to Thailand - October 2007
- My first birthday after marriage - October 2007
- My first wedding anniversary - November 2007
- My relentless slogging at work - all of 2008
- Trip to Sikkim - October 2008
- Trip to Hampi - December 2008
- The moment when I came to know that I was going to be a father - Feb 2009
- Trip to Goa - August 2009
- Birth of my son - November 2009
- The day I had to leave my wife and son and travel to the US - December 2009

Well, this was quick list that popped out and there could be more if I think more about it. And now I see that what I remember more is all the things that are personal and pretty less around work even though I spend most of my life at work. Hmmm ... reminds me of the song from 3 IDIOTS.

"Sari umar hum, mar mar ke jee liye
Ek pal tho hamein jeene do jeene do"

Good quality time with my family and time enjoy the good things in life is all I ask for. Putting all the forgettable things behind ...

What about you? ...

2009 in Words

Copenhagen
Telengana
Austerity Drive
Elections '10
Advaniji (the to-be PM)
Twitter
Liberhan
Shashi Tharoor
Obama - The Nobel Peace Prize Winner
Slumdog Millionaire
AR Rahman and Resul Pookutty
26/11
Mayawati and the statues
Twitter (... again)
Kasab
Avatar

One a personal note - This was a big year for me with my son Neel joining me and my wife on Nov 25th.

TED Talk by Sunitha Krishnan

I thought I should share this with people who don't follow TED. Just watch this ...



Speechless! Standing ovation is just an acknowledgement, but what after that? Social Media is a great platform to address this. Make people aware of it. And here we have Twitter and other media being used to discuss non-sense.

We are no considerate. We are still not civilized. We are not compassionate.

My heart feels heavy ... :|

Happiness

On 25th November, at 10.10 am, I was sitting very anxious on the 3rd floor of Apollo Hospital. I had not received any news in last 40 minutes.

I couldn't take it long and I ran down to the 1st floor and tried get a peek to see if I can talk to some nurse. In a minute, a male nurse came out asking for Uma Nair's attendant and I raised my hand.

I was called in and then a doctor came and said, "It's a boy. He was born at 9.56 am and he has a birth mark on his right palm!".

I couldn't stop smiling. My son is here.

(Note: Mother and child doing well)

Pure and Stunning Talent

Again, it was a long break for me from blogging.

This time I come back with something stunning that I ran into on Facebook and finally dug out the actual thing from YouTube. When Britain's Got Talent and America's Got Talent topped charts and shot people like Susan Boyle to fame, Kseniya Simonova, the winner of Ukraine's Got Talent was probably unnoticed for a while till she came up with this performance. Her fingers work magic. I can't do stuff with pencil, paint and brush on paper, using sand and creating stories live on a back lit table with sand on it is beyond me.

Watch this video and if you are not moved, let me know.



If you are not able to see the video above, you can go to this here to watch her performance.

When I go back and think about people like Sanjaya Malakar making it big, it all looks like a joke that is not even funny.

Long Time

Its been a long break from blogging and I have been very infrequent on Facebook and Twitter as well. Thanks to the disaster recovery exercise I am doing on an underestimated project which was terribly understaffed.

I like the idea of them trusting me with the recovery exercise, but then, felt very depressed not being able to enjoy the small glimpse of monsoon that Hyderabad got. Added to this, going home just for sleeping was not making me feel any better. But few people working with me truned out to be good and that helped me make things better.

Situation is slowly improving ...

I think I said this before, but I say this again. Incompetence rules the world and the whole world actually is running because of few heroes and "free electrons".

Whatever be the field, "team work" is just theory if you don't have the right people.

Think Of The Chances

Just read a bizarre news:

... bullet from a gun that was accidentally dropped injured a Tampa woman sitting in a bathroom stall. Police said the bullet hit 53-year-old Janifer Bliss in the lower left leg. She was taken to a hospital with minor injuries.

Just think of the chances.

In India, people do "potty" in public places giving a feast to the eyes (especially the passengers of Indian Railways). No casualties reported till date even in the case of communal riots or gang wars.

India - "order amongst the chaos ..."

Solution To Our Energy Problems

A solution to our energy problems are found and I see a huge potential for this in India.

Recent study from Ohio University shows that urine is a clean energy source.

One molecule of urea, a major component of urine, contains four atoms of hydrogen bonded to two atoms of nitrogen. Stick a special nickel electrode into a pool of urine, apply an electrical current, and hydrogen gas is released

Now, this is some useful research being done and some serious output. The article says that we could end up having Hydrogen (read: Urine) powered cars and electronic devices in as soon as six months. 

VOILA! We are turning into walking energy sources and at any point, if your car runs out of fuel, the solution is right INSIDE you. Probably people can pee into their fuel tank instead of trying to find a bush to go behind or trying to find a urinal (which seldom happens). 

Now I think India can become a superpower!

But, I am just wondering how to manage the stinking smell from your car's fuel tank or errr ... from the iPod in your pocket which is going to be powered by urine!

On a serious note, do read the benefits of hydrogen-powered vehicles. With a huge livestock supply in India, I see a tremendous potential in generating energy by processing the animal waste and hopefully most people ( ... usually filthy in nature by urinating anywhere) will stop passing urine at public places and consider urine as a precious asset and put it to good use.

The Great American Airplance Toilet Experiment

(if you are not able to view it here, please use this link)

So what did we learn?

(via bitsandpieces)

Thought On Budget 2009-2010

It is great to see more funds for welfare and infrastructure in the Budget for 2009-2010. I-T exemption limit has been increased by Rs. 10,000. 

Considering that only close to 1% of Indian population pays taxes, the benefits for the salaried class who pays tax looks to be considerably less than what was anticipated. Interesting part is that this 1% population usually don't have much impact on the election results. 

Does it not sound like 1% is funding the entire machinery?

Dream Gadget For New Moms

Managing a crying new born is inevitably the biggest challenge that new moms face. And to their rescue comes "Why Cry Baby Analyzer".

Its advanced frequency analysis technology only needs 20 seconds to let you know why your child is screaming to the heavens. Whether your baby is Stressed, Sleepy, Annoyed, Bored or Hungry, this device will identify it on its LCD screen.

Now, that is one hell of a relief for just $99.99. I am getting one for my wife with our baby due in December. 

With so much advancement in technology, a much useful gadget for "man"kind would be one which detects why a woman is crying. One preferred feature added to the basic functionality is to find what it means when a woman says:

1. Fine

2. Nothing

But I guess the armageddon will happen by the time we find a gadget like that!

Thanks God! We Have Electronic Voting Machines

Atleast Election Commission don't have to put in their FAQ if you are allowed to eat the ballot or not!

What Will Change After Delhi HC Ruling On Sec 377?

Today, Delhi HC legalized gay sex between consenting adults.

In a breakthrough judgment, the Delhi High Court on Thursday legalised gay sex among consenting adults holding that the law making it a criminal offence violates fundamental rights

Note that, law that worked against gay sex has been "changed" to decriminalize such acts. #repeal377 was trending on Twitter, but the fact is that It has not been repealed and the law still hold non-consensual and non-vaginal sex as illegal.

How does the ruling change things?

My point of writing this post is different. Hundreds of gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgenders took part in the Queer Pride 2009. The intention was to protest against discrimination and violence against lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders and also to repeal Section 377 of IPC. While Delhi HC ruling is going to come as a relief from a legal perspective, I am not sure if things will change in the society. 

There are millions of homosexuals who have suppressed themselves and gone into a shell fearing the society. With the way things work in Indian society, HC rule will hardly have any effect on people's mindset. Yes, people who participated in the Queer Pride march were forthcoming and will feel certain level of relief, but the people who have suppressed themselves, I am afraid, will remain in the shell. 

A woman wearing some "bold" clothes anywhere in India or a woman stepping out of the house alone after 8.00 pm in Kerala stand a huge chance of inviting some harsh comments from own relatives or neighbors and even worse, get attention of the horny Indian men and resulting in eve-teasing or sexual harassment. Some of these reactions are unlawful and some are not. Much to the disliking of the "subject", typical reaction is - "don't wear "bold" clothes" or "don't step out of the house late in the evenings". Now that's society for you. Things are not going to be any different for homosexuals. 

Changes to the law is great, but the mindset of the society needs to change. Till then, their fight against discrimination and violence will continue ...

Dogs Are Taking Over

In a recent story, a dog ate a teenager's passport:

 

A Wisconsin teenager using a classic excuse for evading schoolwork missed a class trip to Peru despite his tale being true: The dog ate his passport. 

And in another one, a dog ate a 50 yr old ladies personal checks:

"Her dog got into her purse and ate all her personal checks." The 50-year-old woman reportedly told police she had no choice but to take money from her former husband's account.

 

In the UK, Dangerous Dog Act is getting updated with law to protect postmen from dog attacks.

The bill aims to extend the law to offer protection to workers such as postmen and women from being attacked by dogs on private property.

It does not stop here. After the beauty pageants for dogs (Barking Beauty Pageant), the baddies of the "Dog World" had a competition for themselves, where Pabst, a 4 year old boxer mix was crowned World's Ugliest Dog. 

They are demanding attention!

Things are getting even worse and this time in the search engine land. If I search for "search engine" on Google, "Dogpile Web Search"* gets listed above even Google on the first page!

Is this an indication that dogs are taking over the world? 

This post does not intend to harm the sentiments of dogs or dog lovers. No hate mails please.

*Dogpile Web Search has nothing to do with dogs and is just a mashup of search engines.

Traffic And Premature Birth

Very smart scientists, after research, have found that traffic is causing premature births.

As famous for its traffic jams as it is for Hollywood star power, the Los Angeles, Calif. area has another dirty little secret: Air pollution is sickening pregnant women who live near roadways, more than doubling their risk of a premature birth, according to a new study.

I just wonder that if this is the case, then 90% of the births in India would be premature. Forget about the air pollution levels - Unborn babies will push themselves out of the womb, flip the bird and walk away because of the abnormal noise levels from all the honking, gutters and foul smell from the overflowing drainage.

There Are Teachers, Then There Are Educators

According to a news report, a certain private school in Washington was recently faced with a unique problem. A number of 12-year-old girls were beginning to use lipstick and would put it on in the bathroom. That was fine, but after they put on their lip stick, they would press their lips to the mirror leaving dozens of little lip prints.

Every night the maintenance man would remove them, and the next day the girls would put them back. Finally the principal decided that something had to be done….She called all the girls to the bathroom and met them there with the maintenance man. She explained that all these lip prints were causing a major problem for the custodian who had to clean the mirrors every night (you can just imagine the yawns from the little princesses).

To demonstrate how difficult it had been to clean the mirrors, she asked the maintenance man to show the girls how much effort was required. He took out a long-handled squeegee, dipped it in the toilet, and cleaned the mirror with it. Since then, there have been no lip prints on the mirror.

There are teachers.... and then there are educators

(via)

Mayawati Case: Show Us The Power Of Judiciary ...

After a PIL was filed against Mayawati asking for a probe on crores of public money spent on statues of herself and Kanshi Ram, Ms. Mayawati came out with a statement that:

Memorials, parks and statues dedicated to eminent persons served as “lighthouse,” which provided inspiration to society for centuries

My eyes are still stuck at the word "eminent". This is way beyond narcissism. After reading this quote, my wife said - "Yeah! Inspiration to throw chappals".

I followed the story a bit and then I ran into a statement that she made in April:

"In his will, Kanshiramji stated that as 'Mayawati is my true follower, her statues shall also be installed', ...

Following Kanshiramji's will, my statues have been installed next to those of him at Bahujan Prerna Kendra in Lucknow and New Delhi, where his ashes are kept," ...

Quoting Kanshiram, Mayawati said memorials and statues of a person should be installed while he or she is alive. "That's why my statues have been installed in Lucknow and New Delhi,"

The concept of setting up a memorial for a person who is alive beats me ... that too by a person who was a teacher by profession before getting into active politics.

Now that SC has asked for explanation on the use of public money for statues, I really want to know what judiciary is going to do about this.

If it is about taking the statues down, just don't bother because the money is gone.
If it is about recovering the money that was spent on "inspirational" activities, then show us how.

New York Review: Thankfully Does Not Define "Mohabbat"

New York is a very watchable movie with decent performances from John Abraham, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Ifran Khan and Katrina Kaif.

For a change (that too a huge one ...), Yash Raj films does not define love, commitment, parenting or any of those things. Usually, there is an overdose of "mohabbat", "pyaar", "shaadi ka pavithr bandhan", "dosti" and stuff, but New York was so much better with none of those cliched concepts being put to use. Moreover, it exposed the audience to a different side on 9/11 which is very less known.

With Mohabbatein, Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham, Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai being greatest tortures of all times (... and then being termed as *larger than life*), New York is the most watchable movie from Yash Raj banner after DDLJ.