Dil Se ....

Vastr Samman

2010-04-26T04:54:00.000-07:00

"Open your cupboard at home and the first thing you will notice is a shirt of yours which you have not used for the last 1 or 2 years" says Anshu Gupta, the founder of Goonj. Goonj is working on clothing which one of the so called three basic needs (The Food, Clothing and Shelter). Goonj collects contributed clothes from all over the country and distributes them to the needy. Depending on the state of that clothing, it is processed. The clothing is used till the last inch. Some are washed and distributed as it is, some are repaired, some are converted into school bags, some into sanitary napkins, and the last inch is weaved into some products like doormats.

In IIIT-Hyderabad, a group of students ran a cloth donation drive with campaign name called Suraksha. Can you guess the numbers of contribution ?

Shirts/Tshirts - 2000
Jeans/Trousers - 1000
Suits - 500
Footwears - 100
Other Material - Bags Bed Sheets Stationery etc.

Isn't that awesome ! These 60 bags of donated cloths are being sent to Goonj.
Check out the pics. (http://picasaweb.google.com/piyusharora07/SURAKSHA#)

Congratulations to the Team SURAKSHA.

She said NO !

2010-03-26T12:06:00.000-07:00

You don't believe that? Read the post and you will see I am not lying ...

IIIT Hyderabad is a place where the good always gets a push. Recently a bunch of students launched a "say no to polythene bags" campaign. Posters of "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" explaining why polythene bags should not be used were put up all over the campus. Not just that, the alternative was also provided. Cloth bags made by students at Satya Special School in Pondicherry were procured and kept for sale at Rs 15/- each. Many bags were bought by students. Then came the question, buying is one stage but how many are able to use them. To carry a cloth bag where ever you go, to plan things in advance. Some also hesitate carrying a cloth bag because might not be considered "cool" etc. How many have actually said "NO" to polythene bags was the question that was floating around.

It was exactly then that this incident came to my notice. My friend Haritha, an MS student here went for shopping in some cloth showroom. After she was done with her selection when it came to billing, the person in the counter was putting her goods into a plastic bag. Hari says "NO" .. yippee .. she said NO ! :) .. she takes out her cloth bag which she carried along with her, asks that person to put those goods in that cloth bag. The story is not over yet. That store manager was so happy with what just happened that he gave her 5% extra discount on her purchase to encourage such acts ! .. again yippee ... definitely something to celebrate right ?!

I wanted to celebrate this wonderful incident through this post ....

But yes, not always we can celebrate saying a NO ! :D .. hehehe !

Are you going to the party ?

2010-03-07T19:38:00.000-08:00

This is a post triggered by a talk titled "Globalisation of Inequality" by P Sainath in 2005. (available on google videos for download) . Sainath presents bitter facts about inequality in India and goes on to prove that it is not just happening in India, but all over the world.

The Nero Story :

Following is a Roman story (supposedly a true one) of a an incident during King Nero's time.

Roman historian Tacitus writes about "Nero and the burning of Rome". Tacitus, though he hated Nero was honest enough to say that Nero in-fact had not set Rome on fire, but Nero was scared as hell, as people believed he did (set Rome on fire). So, Nero had to do something to distract the population of Rome. He decided to hold the biggest party ever held in the history of the Roman empire. Nero offered his gardens for the spectacle ( as tacitus says in book 15 of The Annals). They had a problem with this party because his garden was a concave kind of place surrounded by higher spots and it was a bit dark. The problem was how to provide nightly illumination for the party to which anyone who was anyone in Rome was an invitee. The intelligentsia, the gossip columnists, certainly the political correspondents, anybody who mattered in Rome was at that party. And they had the problem of nightly illumination. How did they solve the problem of nightly illumination? .......... They solved the problem, writes Tacitus, by bringing the wretched criminals and prisoners and burning them at stake around the garden !

We now do know that Nero was mad. (Unlike some of his saner predecessors who routinely fed thousands of human beings to animals at the Coliseum!!).

The issue is not Nero. The issue is Nero's guests. Who were the guests at that party? What sort of sensibility did it require to pop another fig into your mouth as one more human being went up in flames nearby to serve as ‘a nightly illumination?’ For the party to go on, singing and dancing, as the spectacle unfolded? These were people who were the intellect of Rome, the best and the finest. They knew what was happening and they could see what was happening. They did not have the option of averting their gaze as it was happening in front of their eye balls.

P Sainath says "I was always mystified who Nero's guests were much more than any interest in Nero. In the last five years of covering thousands of suicides which need not have occurred, I have answered my question about Who were nero's guests. I guess we all are !! One more farmer goes up in flames. One more widow takes her life. One more farm goes bust for no fault of its own ..... but the party continues. Apart from many strategies we can discuss about what to do. One starting point we all could do is that in this world of inequality, we can refuse to be Nero's guests! "

How is that !?

Sounds very illogical when sainath concludes and blames each of us to be the Nero's guests. Instead of simply rejecting it as yet another “sensitiser”, and as some typical communist/socialist talk (to my surprise I realised this was highly possible), lets try to give a serious thought and analyse. Lets start that by looking at a few facts sainath mentions in the talk "Globalizing Inequality".

The In"Sensitive Index"

P Sainth: Immediately after Tsunami, when it was confirmed that the damage is devastating, the stock markets of the five worst effected countries including India reached their historic high. If stock market is the central indicator of how nation is doing, it should have gone down on such a major disaster? The people effected were mostly fisher folk and marginal farmers and they hardly had any effect on the functioning of the stock market. What soared the stock markets? It was the smell of the reconstruction dollars !!

On the other hand when the largest democracy of the world had to gone to elections in May 2004 in an orderly democratic fashion, the Sensex (Sensitive Index) collapsed ! We have completely divorced how economies are doing from how people are doing!?

The town of allopath (http://www.mercola.com/townofallopath/index.htm) though was made in another context is a very good 3 minute illustration of the kind of system we have built. We can take an example of health sector to understand sensex. If everyone in the nation are healthy and there was nothing spent in the health sector, the sensex would collapse. Whereas on the other hand if there were a lot of hospitals and they were full of patients, lots of money being spent on medicines, global pharmacy companies setting up companies next door, lots of jobs for the emergency services etc etc the sensex would soar because the market has grown. It is very sensitive to investments and transactions. I think it mainly represents the scope for businesses and how the businesses are doing and it is highly insensitive to the well being of the nation. Forget about the other aspects of the "well being", does it even capture the economic well being of the whole nation? or is it only an indicator of the economic well being of a few big boys ?

It's my generosity, not your right

P Sainath: 34300 homes were destroyed in Tsunami in the worst effected districts of Nagapattanam in Tamil Nadu and during the same period, the Govt. of Maharashtra has forcibly evicted 84,000 households out of Mumbai in a week or two. And they were stripped of their voting rights too (you know why). This mumbai demolition news stories could reach only the News rooms but not beyond that! and if Tsunami is getting so much coverage, or a devastated family is getting a new house, its my generosity towards you, its not about your right as a individual of a decent society and nation.

I can make a lot of sense out of this statement of sainath. And I am also sure he is not doubting the intent of those generous ones. But it is true and unfortunate. Different sections of a nations at any given point of time have been at different levels of economic status or social status. What is important is the response of the rest of the nation to this inequality. Currently we choose to be generous to a few where there is no conflict of interest like in case of Tsunami where the effect are located somewhere away from us, but when they are next door in the middle of the city where the land value is costliest in the world, the treatment is different. What kind of insensitivity must it take to evacuate a lakh families off their dwellings in which they have lived for generations. It definitely conveys a lot about us and our values.

The beautiful people

P Sainath: “We all remember SARS. SARS was perceived as the moving of the black death. SARS killed 0 people in India! Total number of cases identified in India was 3. From the kind of coverage SARS got, one would think that the sub continent was in danger. All over the world, around 800 people died of SARS and that is half of the number of people who die every day in India of T.B. Why did SARS get so much attention!???. Because TB kills the wrong people. SARS kills the beautiful people so it gets that kind of attention everywhere.”

Sainath predicts in 2005 that we would be seeing much more of SARS in the coming future and yes in 2009 we saw SwineFlu. I am sure when the real number would be out, we will be surprised to the disproportion of the kind of coverage that swine flu got and the number of people that are actually affected. As a civilized society, how just is it to pay so much attention to a section of people who are economically “well to do” and ignore the rest.

Sainath goes on to show that this kind of inequality is not just in India but its a global phenomenon. Countries across the global are doing things which would only increase this gap more and more.

Do we want to be Nero's guests ?

If not spoiling Nero's party, the least we could do would be to refuse to be Nero's guests. Wondering how you are a Nero's guest? Welcome to the latest form of violence! Structural violence. This form of violence does not seem so at the face of it.

Let me take an example here to demonstrate what structural violence could be like. The Express roads to Airport. There is an outer ring road to airport from all directions of the city, and recently some 10-15 KM long fly over (the PVR express way) was also inaugurated for the traffic to airport. And the most striking aspect of these express ways is that only 4 wheeler traffic is allowed on it. There is no entry for the two and three wheelers and also trucks. Adding to this magnanimous fete are some fly overs at the junctions which connect to these ring roads so that the traffic to airport is least interrupted (e.g. gacchibowli). On one end when the state is facing severe forms of inequality leading to a political crisis and on the verge of becoming a law and order problem, what kind of a mind set would result into such a bright plan. I feel handicapped since I do not have the statistics to support this extreme form of inequality where an immense chunk of state funds is being spent on the comfort of a few hundred people. After all they(we) are beautiful people.

I am sure there would be thoughts like, these people are the ones who would setup companies in our state, they would create employment in our state, they are making our city and state richer! Unfortunately that's the majority view as of today. We fail to see that these are the big boys who with their unfair advantage of having millions already in their pockets kill the many small and medium businesses here with their captivating ad campaigns and irresistible “sale“ offers. I very much remember how reliance fresh priced bananas at a price lower than that at the banana farms to attract people to their air conditioned shops destroying the lives of hundreds of small vendors.

No one does things being fully aware that it is hurting people (though sometimes we tend to justify our acts). Unfortunately, things are not so straightforward and obvious, hence I consider it as the most dangerous form of violence. One is not even aware that he/she is causing harm. I am sure each one of us is capable of understanding things. All that is needed is a little more attention.

I would like to conclude by saying that as long as we are doing things and taking decisions that would contribute to the perpetuation of a system in which violence and inequality are inherent and implicit, we are definitely being Nero's guests. What are those acts and what are those decisions by which one is contributing and what are those structures and organisations which are causing a great deal of inequality ? .... I leave it for each one of us to decide.

Magical Pots!

2010-02-03T20:57:00.000-08:00

In a world of confusing messages, where environmental problems seem so huge that each of us feel that we cannot affect them, one of the easiest ways to have a positive impact on the world is to reduce and manage our individual wastage.

Wondering what I am talking about ? I am talking about composting.

70% of the waste from each household is organic waste. The vegetable peels, the left overs, paper waste, dry leaves all this is organic waste. Typical story of this waste is that it goes into a

dustbin along with their other friends like plastic waste and polythene waste. From the dustbin it goes to the waste collecting guy (sometimes it ends up in open areas beside houses). The guy transfers it to a bigger dustbin. The municipality van collects all these bigger bins and take the waste to a dumping yard away from the city (but closer to some village). The director of ASCI was one telling me that around 2000 garbage collecting vans operate daily to collect the waste from various parts of city. Since there are huge amounts of waste collecting in dump yards and there are no organised mechanisms to handle such huge quantities of waste, the waste creates lots of issues. The soil, water, air and health of surrounding villages is spoiled. Lots of effort, lot of fuel, lots of issues! At the rate our cities are growing, municipalities are not able to cope up with such huge wastes.

Composting helps solve lots of these issues. I came across this beautiful compost design at Daily Dump and I kept reading about it. I have seen it in operation at my friend's place. He has used it in his house and all the waste from his house of 6 people for 3 months has got converted into just a small flower pot of rich compost. Otherwise that waste of 3 months would have travelled some hundreds of kilometers and still create problems. Here it has turned into a bag of compost and is enriching the soil.

Composting is a natural process of decomposition of plant remains and "once-living" natural waste into dark soil like material which enriches soil. It has been happening for ages now, especially in rural areas for enriching the soil in the fields. Now, with invention of such beautiful, easy to use composters, it can be done at every house.

Why should one think of composting?

1) This is one aspect and possibility of living an eco-friendly life

2) My waste, so I will mange it.

3) It reduces the load on public waste management system

4) Why spend so much effort and fuel on transporting waste!

5) It is simple, everyone can do it and takes 10 mins per day.

6) Results in compost which can enrich some flower pots or garden.

7) We get connected to nature, its an opportunity to understand many things about nature.

8) All raw materials are available! (currently lying in dustbins!)

When we read this, the immediate apprehensions are like Not my job, I pay taxes ... might look like just a expensive dustbins ... it might smell ... will I have time .. will I be able to do it .. I do not have all that knowledge etc. About issue like smell, they are all addressed. Meticulously designed Dailydump website has all info. There are simple solutions for it. About time, convenience, I think its just a matter of confidence, motivation and awareness. Reading more about it would help.

I plan to try this out very soon ... will update you what my learnings are :-) ...

Social Innovation

2010-02-01T21:20:00.000-08:00

I attended Vinsh's class in the "Social and Technical Innovation" course. It was a very interesting. After defining Social Entrepreneurship as a business idea that is more focused on social impact i.e. adding value to the community and people along with making a good livelihood for all those working for the organisation. Unlike conventional businesses where profit is what drives the organisation, in social entrepreneurship the social impact this organisation has is what matters. Even conventional businesses add value to community, but due to the continuous growth model that they are fit into, there is immense pressure on them to increase profits continuously. If I made 8% growth this year, this 8% is over the last year's. Now I am expected to grow at least at that pace by share holders. In case, I fail to do so, the company's share value falls. We have seen so many instances of manipulation just to show growth (Satyam collapse being still fresh in our memories). Anyway, the point is that in Social Entrepreneurship, focus is on how much social impact could the organisation have. 3 examples were taken

1) Grameen Bank: It started with one man's passion to help the needy. He found a few basket weavers who were stuck in a debt. All they needed to come out of that debt and earn for themselves was a few hundred rupees. So, he lent that money and they could in no time start earning for themselves. Then he pursued banks to ask why they cannot help such people who are in large numbers. Banks wanted securities and it was tough to manage such small amounts. Also, banks cannot ensure that the funds are just spent and soon the people give up. So, he started his own grameen bank which gives small amounts as loan with very less percentage of interest. They also ensured that the loans were for some productive activity and they trained people in small workshops in some skill. E.g. Making paper bags. This 2 day workshop would empower a women to make her living or stitching etc. This brought immense changes. People started repaying the loans and Grameen Bank made huge profits. The bank has given 7 million loans and 97% of these are women. Its recovery is over 98% which is more than conventional banks. Many Micro-credit organisations have started drawing inspiration from this effort. DWCRA , SKS etc. Muhammad Yunus was awarded Nobel prize for this effort.

2) KIVA: Kiva came up with peer to peer financing. All people and organisation (again small) who needed some money were listed and people could lend small amounts to these proposals. This became a big hit. Even this had 98% refund, over 3000 were funded, about 20000 people lent their money.

3) GreenMango: There were hundreds of people who wanted plumbers but did not know how to approach them and there were hundreds of plumbers sitting idle waiting for work. GreenMango emerged out of this. Small services in Hyderabad were listed in GreenMango. One can browse and look-up for services in their locality and get the work done. It seems the average income of people listed in GreenMango increased by 2000 per month! Around 30000 people and services got listed and now they are expanding to Bangalore.

Social entrepreneur is someone who recognizes a social problem and uses entrepreneurial principles to organize, create, and manage a venture to make social change. I am greatly inspired by such possibilities. I see that it is packaged with a lot of satisfaction, challenge and at the same time there is no space for sacrifice. I for one would want to make a livelihood this way! :D .. lets see .. :)

Nampally Exhibition

2010-01-30T18:59:00.000-08:00

The sudden unplanned visit to All India Exhibition in Nampally which happens every year has turned out to be a very fruitful one.

a) I was looking for a place where the wooden

disposable plates can be procured from. I saw this plate for the first time when I went to Adilabad Kala Ashram on Ugadi in 2009. Since then I have been enquiring now and then but I could not find a place from where they come. Finally I got a contact in the stall setup by APEC(AP Environment Connect) stall.

These wooden platets, cups are priced at Rs 2-4/- and in bulk I am sure the price can be lower. They can be a very good alternative to the plastic plates disposed in most of the parties and functions these days. The contact for the same is Mr. Suresh from Palam Packers (+91-9849364539). I have not checked this yet though.

b) There was a THRIVE solar energy solutions stall selling Solar Lights. It was designed for farmers to go into the fields in the night. The brightness is adjustable too. They had solutions for urban areas too where the person said he can give 2-3 tubelights, 1 fan and TV from solar power. The installation costs were around 20000 and it is expected to go on for long without issues. Added to the "for future" list ! (http://www.thrive.in/led_lighting/led_home_lighting.htm)

c) The most important thing that happened was that there was a register put up in the APEC stall and I write my name and email ID to get updates related to environment. The next day onwards I started getting some very interesting mails. I am suddenly in touch with like minded people working towards environment. Many of them have already experimented things that I was planning to do. That helped a lot in getting insights into issues. apenvconnect@googlegroups.com is the group name and those who want to join this group should send an email to apec365@gmail.com

Trees Planted and Adopted

2010-01-26T20:55:00.000-08:00

26th Januray's tree plantation this year was a confluence of many nature enthusiasts. Sriram, Shilpi and me, we bought saplings from a nursery in Telecom Nagar. We bought some saplings of Jack fruit, Amla, Bel (Bilva), Custard Apple, Lemon. First year students from Shilpi and Sriram's groups started the work by 2Pm and it went on till 6PM. These were planted around the felicity ground(kalakshetra).

Parallel to this was another group headed by Neelima ma'am. 10-15 varieties of medicinal herbs and plants were taken from the garden between NBH and GH. These were planted in OBH lawn.

The whole show included search for gardening tools, collecting them from some faculty houses, some of them were "discovered" behind some bushes where the gardeners have hidden them.

It was great fun. Now, lets see how well these trees and plants would be taken care by the first year students.

2009-11-09T22:23:00.000-08:00

After two major technical report submissions anyone would crave for a break and thats what triggered this trip. Prashanth was desperate to go somewhere. Sriram and Shilpi agreed to join and then I had to join them :D (though there was a project submission coming up!).

I plan to write this post in minute detail,so hat it would be useful for anyone who plan to go there. Please bear with some minute details!

Day 1

We reached Sevagram railway station at around 7:30am and took an auto(Rs.80) to the Gandhi Ashram. If we want to stay within the ashram campus, we need to talk to the authorities there in advance. However, right in front if the Ashram is Yatri Nivas which was built in the form of a resort. There are some 20 mini houses build for accommodating 4 in each. They gave us a cement one which was newly built. The charges are nominal. It was Rs 150/-per day. Each room had 2 beds and an attached toilet.

All of us were very hungry so we got fresh in no time and rushed to "Prakritik Aahar Kendra" which is adjacent to the Yatri Nivas. This complex which houses this canteen also has the photo exhibition of Gandhiji, a Village Industries products outlet. The menu was very different ! :-).

What grabbed our attention at the Prakritik Aahar Kendra was the fact that there was an attempt to make everything Eco-friendly. From dustbin to the washbasin tank everything was made Eco-friendly. There was a beautiful painting done on the wall of this canteen. The painting was about life style in Indian village. All the things from drawing water from well to ploughing, every small act was captured in this huge painting. It clearly gives an idea of what all we used to do ourselves at home ! :-). The artwork of bull which was done with thread was also very attractive. The window frames were yet another wonderful creation.

After having light breakfast, we moved to the sevagram ashram. The story goes like this. Gandhiji gave a call to the nation that all of us should go back to our villages and work for overall development of our villages. He proposed a village construction program. There were 7 Lakh villages in India and Gandhiji did not know where to go. He said," Tell me a place which is most economically backward and I will settle in that village". Jamnalal Bajaj was a rich man and he owned a lot of lands around Wardha. He invited Gandhiji to Wardha and then they moved to this Sevagram ashram after seeking permission from the locals. Gandhiji was 67 when he moved there. Today's ashram was in a dense forest and living there was a tough task. He had a condition on building this place. There was a limit on which they can spend and all the materials required to make this place were supposed to be obtained from within a 20KM radius.

There are 5-6 huts in all. First was named Adi-Nivas. This was where he stayed first. When the number of guests increased and there was pressure to move to a bigger place, they moved to "Bapu Kuti". Bapu Kuti was also getting crowded with men and that's when "Ba Kuti" was constructed for Kasturbaji.

All kinds of thoughts were going on in my head. For a moment, It was a great feeling to see the place where Mahatma lived. Then a contradicting thought immediately. Is this what we are here for? To see where he sat, what he used, where he walked etc?. Then I pushed myself to try to understand his thoughts, peep into his life, life style. When I see something, I try to match it. Is it as per the image I have for Gandhiji. Was he really such a great soul or is it the kind of hype today's leaders get? For example, there was a bath tub in the bathroom. I was surprised! This way there were a lot of random thoughts going on.

It was getting hot, we had a quick lunch, bought some books written by Gandhi and prepared ourselves for plan up next. We had to go to Center of Science for Villages(CSV) and then to Paunar Ashram. By now, we had friends in sevagram :-). Hira bhai, who is the cook in the Gandhi ashram arranged an auto for us. We reached the center for science in villages.

It is every social entrepreneur's dream. Work was going on in many dimensions. We could see some models of modified carts, there were vermi composting pits, there was design for houses, some products out of plants, a hand-made paper factory and loads of products out of hand-made paper. There was some research going on in irrigation methods also. All of these were Eco-friendly products. The staff there had patiently explained us most of the things in detail.

From CSV we headed to Paunar Ashram. Its actual name is Brahma Vidya Mandir Ashram and its located in a place called Paunar. The ashram was established by Acharya Vinoba Bhave,the disciple of Mahatma Gandhi. This ashram dedicated to swarajya, rural sufficiency, is run by women. It was quite some time back this place was established. This place also hosts the mortal remains of Vinobha Bhave. The women who are running the ashram are now very aged and no new ones have joined. So, what is going to happen to this place in future is a big question. It was a beautiful place and we immediately felt home as two elderly ladies came to us and explained the whole story behind it. How they worked together, produced all necessities like food, dairy products, clothes and were self-sufficient. It was an inspiring and touching story. It was a brave social experiment. I wish some young ones join that place and take it further.

PS: Pardon me for the formatting of this post. The editor is not friendly.

Each effort counts ...

2009-10-27T11:21:00.000-07:00

With the collection of one day's salary of faculty and staff of IIIT Hyderabad.A team of the following members of the Institute along with the staff of EERC visited the Duvasipalli village in Mahaboobnagar district as per the suggestion and guidance given by the District Collectorate, Mahboobnagar District on 26-10-09 and distributed the 300 kits to the villagers.

Team :- Dr. Pradeep,K.Satyanarayana,V V Ramana,B. Lakshminarayana,Kamalakar,Manohar, Sekhar,Ramesh,Security guard.

The village was inundated with floods for 3 days.
Each kit consisted of Kirosene stove,Kirosene Lamp,Plastic mat,1 tarpalin to cover, the shed,1 dhoti.

Some photographs of the visit.
http://picasaweb.google.com/satyanarayana.iiit/FloodReliefCamp?feat=directlink

100days, 47centers, 5dead

2009-09-22T02:27:00.000-07:00

This post is not about swine flu as the title might suggest. Wanted to share something interesting which came up in recent converstations ..

Sometime last week we were going to mehdipatnam. In the bus, samar, prashanth and me, we were discussing some general stuff. Our conversation moved into expressing our awe on the number of deaths or let me put it as the "counts" reported after YSR death .. it was then this statement came from prashanth ..
"Arey these days when they are reporting movie news they say .. 100 days .. 47 theaters .. 5 dead!". We all burst into laughter. It was something very unusual. The 5 dead is the count of number of fans who died on various occasions like first day stampede, 50 days celebrations etc! We were surprised the way human lives were reduced to mere counts and the way the success of the movie has this as a parameter. So,a movie has got more value than the lives of those people in the current society !!

Yet another funny statement was from a traffic constable. When prashanth was stopped by a traffic police, the police asked for the documents and prashanth had everything except for an insurance. So, when prashanth was waiting to hear an amount from him, the traffic police says "iste yabhai ... raste 400!". It seems he had to try a lot to control his laughter (I would not have). The interesting thing here is, the way the constable has without any hesitation and with a lot of comfort communicated his deal with a very filmy dialog! :-) ...

Right utilisation of our resources ...

2009-08-19T02:46:00.000-07:00

I have myself seen such efficient use of resources ... this story though I am not sure whether it happened between Buddha and his disciples, definitely poses a challenge ... why cant I use my resources properly ..
Forget about the right utilisation, we don't even know how many resources we have. How many of us know exactly how many shirts and trousers we have? Hardly any of us. Then how can we rightly utilise them?

Imagine the amount of energy that goes into a polythene bag and the kind of use that we are putting it to !! and we call it progress :D !! ..

Sixer!

2009-04-24T05:21:00.000-07:00

This post is to keep a record of the dates on which I could donated blood.

June 14th 2006 (Moto-blood donation camp)
October 31st 2006 (ZPHS - Banswada camp - Uncle's retirement function)
April 4th 2007 (Moto-blood donation camp)
August 28th 2007 (NIMS - for a friend's father)
March 8th 2008 (Usha Mullapudi Cardiac Center - for a friend's father)
April 23rd 2009 (Apollo hospital - for a student in institute)

6th donation was for meeting the need of platelets of a student in my college.
Get well soon my friend ..

Plastic Water Bottles

2009-04-19T07:08:00.001-07:00

Recently, we have been buying a lot of bottled water during our travel. I have tried to carry the empty ones back with me. This was because, to my knowledge they are not disposed off well. They are dumped along with the other bio-degradable waste, but unfortunately a plastic water bottle might take around 1000 years to decompose!

I brought all these bottles and tried to put them to re-use. Today, as I got curious and wanted to check out if its "okay" to reuse them for holding water. I found the following information.

==> To be certain that you are choosing a bottle that does not leach, check the recycling symbol on your bottle (bottom usually). If it is a #2 HDPE (high density polyethylene), or a #4 LDPE (low density polyethylene), or a #5 PP (polypropylene), your bottle is fine. The type of plastic bottle in which water is usually sold is usually a #1, and is only recommended for one time use. Do not refill it. Better to use a reusable water bottle, and do not mix these single-fill bottles with other organic waste from your house.

==> Cost of bottled water is : Manufacturing cost of bottle + Cost of "purified" water + Cost of transporting it to outlets + Cost of disposing the plastic bottle + Cost of handling over-water-extraction from ground issue .. and many more which is undoubtedly much much much more than the Rs 15/- we pay ! The balance "price" would be collected by Nature in its own methods. :-)

==> There is no question that clean, affordable drinking water is essential to the health of our global community. But bottled water is not the answer, nor does it solve problems for the 1.1 billion people who lack a secure water supply. Improving and expanding existing water treatment and sanitation systems is more likely to provide safe and sustainable sources of water over the long term. In villages, rainwater harvesting and digging new wells can create more affordable sources of water.

Sources:
BOTTLED WATER: Pouring Resources Down the Drain

Choose your water bottle

The Scribe

2009-03-21T01:57:00.000-07:00

I was so afraid of missing the alarm that I could hardly sleep. After waking up 3-4 times in the middle of the night, finally I was glad to see the clock tick 5:30AM and my alarm took off with its "my heart is beating" tune. Yes it was indeed beating aloud.

I volunteered to act as a scribe for a visually challenged student. The very thought of not being able to make it to the examination hall in time would give me shivers because I am reminded of a scene in Stalin Telugu movie where the agony faced by the student is shown. I informed Ranjith when I was starting and by 7:15Am I was there at the hall even before Ranjith himself arrived.

Ranjith arrived with his mother and it was hard to believe that he was visually challenged. He would look at your face when you are talking! He is that sharp. I checked the room number at the hall and sat in the staff room. As soon as the bell rang, I was asked to get the question paper from the hall that was assigned to Ranjith. The hall was wrongly allotted, after some running around, I could finally catch hold of his question paper.

I read out the questions to him once and he was cool. He seemed to know most of them. He wrote the exam well. He attempted almost all questions. The interesting thing here was that we were writing the exam in a staff room and the staff were all excited to help him with his answers while he was pretty comfortable answering himself :-) !! ..

Everything went smooth except for one thing that Ranjith was being troubled by the authorities there for getting a different scribe for every exam. (It seems only one scribe should write all exam and that too a scribe not from his subject). He was requesting me to check if its possible for the same scribe to go on 17th and 19th for him. That would lessen the pressure on him. They were literally scolding him.

And as an experience for me .. it was new ... the way he was presenting the answers .. he would say.. "this in the next line sir" .. "leave a space of 2 words here sir" .. etc .. and in the middle .. "lets assess the time once sir... how many more questions do I have and how much time is left sir" .. etc . these were some things i will not forget .. and the kind of issues he was going through .. his mom was saying that the other day he fell sick due to the pressure and the uncertainty about the scribe!! .. and I could relate that because when I called up to tell him he was like .. I was very tensed sir.. thank you very much sir etc ..

I was trying to ask him how do you usually arrange for your scribes. He said his ma'am arranged or something. I could sense a lot of uncertainty in the whole thing. After struggling so much with the audio lessons for hours and days .. they definitely deserve some help to present the things they have grasped. It is a very sad state to see that they need to worry so much about it .. I felt very bad about it.

Guess what .. some of the questions in the exam .. he said .. i don't have this material in form of cassettes sir .. so they are out of my scope sir !!! .. I wondered what the text to speech systems are doing lying idle in the labs of research centers if they cant reach out to such needs.

I felt an urgent need for some kind of streamlining of this scribing process. There are so many volunteers and there is so much need .. its only the gap of a bridge ... a platform .. . And if rules like same scribe should write all exams is there, then some kind of pay to scribe system can also be thought of. There are hundreds of students who are in need of small money also. So, something like if they are paid 200 or so for each exam they scribe, the students can avoid these kinds of issues from authorities .. and I am sure there will be many to sponsor for scribes. Lets see if these thoughts take some shape some day ...

I thank Samvedana for providing me with this opportunity.

It Worked !!

2009-03-19T11:29:00.000-07:00

After a tiring day, I was walking towards my room at 1 AM in the night. Climbed the stairs and when I was at the last turn which would lead me to my room, I heard a continuous loud noise. Sounded like some waterfall. Went to the window to check out what was going on and it seemed to be some kind of over flow. It should either be a water tank overflow or a break of pipe leading to uncontrolled water flow. It was quiet a heavy noise and seemed like lot of water was going underutilized.

I was too tired and lazy to climb the hundred stairs again. I said to myself, "How many times will you keep doing this. To what extent will you do this. There is no end to it". The background to this being switching off lights in bathrooms in hostel, conference rooms at work place and closing the taps whenever there was no one to use them. Every time I answered to myself, "let me do whatever I can, instead of taking this lame excuse of how long and to what extent and in parallel put in some efforts to convey the importance".

After some internal negotiations, I decided, let me take it to the notice of people responsible for it and there I can leave it. The onus would be on that person. It would be his choice to do whatever he would want to. If he acts on it, well and good and if he doesn't let him feel the guilt. At least I need not! So, accordingly, I went to the ground floor again and searched for the security guard. They were watching some movie. I told him that water was overflowing and lot of water is going waste.

He came out of that room and pressed a red button which is next to his desk as if he knew what was going on!. It seemed to be the switch to a bore well and he sounded like he forgot to switch it off! :-) .. I was not even having the energy to ask him to be more careful the next time! :-) .. Felt thankful for the issue getting closed so soon and felt good that my reasoning which pushed me till there worked.

So it got strengthened. I said to myself again "If I find something happening the way it is not supposed to, my minimum responsibility would be to bring it to the attention of people responsible for it. From there on, the choice is theirs!"

My friend, I didn't mean that !

2009-03-03T21:39:00.000-08:00

...The world of opposites

Recently in many of my interactions, I am experiencing how language can be a big barrier in communicating what one wants to and how the understanding of something changes drastically depending on the existing mental categories. Let me try to give those real incidents.

Proposal: This institute is not for those who are looking for just a job at the end of the course. ( Assumed understanding: This is a place of learning and one would like to see students excel in computer science and grow into responsible individuals. Job is a natural consequence, but it should not be the ONLY target).

Conclusion Drawn: If you are interested in making a living after college, this is not the place for you.

When the students were suggested that they should sleep early, and not trouble themselves much, It was surprising to see that the student(s) actually concluded that sleeping late is not allowed in their campus! And they seem to feel the pressure of losing their freedom of sleeping late!

In another instance, some students ate the food of a canteen which is supposed to serve healthy food on campus. They did not like the food. It was not tasty. And everyone says that the food there is healthy food. And in a short period, guess what the conclusion was. “Healthy food can never be tasty”! I was surprised to see this conclusion.

Yet another surprise was when the discussion of “how much do we need?” was going on. I proposed that what all we need as of today in terms of food, clothing, shelter, the instruments (accessories) for making a non-compromising living can be listed down. And that usually this need remains like that with minor variations. The conclusion drawn implicitly was that one should not live a comfortable life, we need to cut down our requirements and that we can do with little money! :-) All this without even actually doing the exercise of listing down the things that one is looking for!! While the exercise actually was aimed at illustrating that the “things that we need” which we felt to be an infinite list is not really so long, its just that we have not attempted to collate all of them!

Pawan ji says “In languages we tend to make (false) categories and these are given to us as realities from early childhood. We get used to a binary world of opposites – day/night, sunrise/sunset, man/woman, girl/boy etc.etc. Though these are all different from each other we start taking them as opposites. The notion of opposites reduces the space for understanding things properly”

Proposal: You are encouraged to eat food within campus. (And we are striving to improve the food on campus)
Conclusion: Students are not allowed to eat outside campus.

May be in some other instances even I was making such conclusions! One way I think of avoiding or at least minimizing such interpretations, especially when the audience is new and skeptical about anything we speak is to speak out the assumptions too. Speaker need to probably take more care in communicating what was really meant. For example, the case of telling that the institute is more interested in you learning the courses and excelling in the field and it is not about just finishing the courses could be explained in more detail.

Apart from the way we are brought up in the world of opposites, one thing that pushes us towards concluding the opposites is the lack of Trust. When we are sure that the other is trying to tell something which he wants to be of good to me, we cannot easily concluded the opposites. It is the sense of feeling exploited or the feeling of being dominated that might trigger these negatives easily.And these conclusions only aggravate the situation.Not good for anyone. So lets be more careful in communication.

Tatas Vs Turtles

2008-06-12T11:55:00.001-07:00

Children Learn What They Live.......

2008-05-17T21:52:00.000-07:00

If children live with criticism they learn to condemn...

If children live with hostility they learn to fight...

If children live with ridicule they learn to be shy...

If children live with shame they learn to feel guilty...

If children live with tolerance they learn to be patient...

If children live with encouragement they learn to be confident...

If children live with praise they learn to appreciate...

If children live with fairness they learn to be just...

If children live with security they learn to have faith...

If children live with approval they learn to like themselves...

If children live with acceptance they learn to love the world...

courtesy http://www.chordindia.org/ (Child Welfare and Holistic Organisation For Rural Development)

Transforming rural India

2008-05-03T22:47:00.000-07:00

The National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme not only provides a stable economic base to households but is also directing capital investment to rural areas and creating valuable assets that are changing the rural landscape. Following are some of the highlights::

* The guarantee of 100 days of wage employment
* The programme has enabled children to go to school, improved nutrition within the family, increased wages, reduced indebtedness and migration and significantly, even empowered the poor.
* Asset Creation::
- Lands transformed into productive farming units
- water tables have risen in “backward” districts
- drinking water wells save time and effort of women
- water-harvesting structures, minor irrigation tanks, community wells, land development, flood control, plantations and so on.
- Contrary to construction of roads which are washed away with each monsoon.
* This is also of special relevance today with greater concern for water, global warming and climate change.
* If sustained over the years, will have a visible impact on the landscape of rural India.
* The poor possess more than 15 million hectares of land — government assigned, ceiling surplus and bhoodan, as recorded tenants, lands restored to tribal communities. At present, these lands are often left fallow or produce one crop with a low yield. Such lands invariably have no source of irrigation, are away from the village and are undeveloped. But they share an important feature — they are invariably in compact blocks and are therefore suitable for integrated development packages. These holdings could therefore be transformed into productive farming units, often with irrigation from wells, tanks, other water harvesting structures, lift irrigation schemes.
* This can be extended to watershed development, drinking water, agriculture, horticulture, farming systems, fisheries, handlooms, handicrafts — each can synergise with the employment guarantee, enhance production from rural areas ...

There has been an aggressive urgency in attracting overseas capital to India; can a similar concern also be shown for a programme of capital investment that we ourselves have initiated, and one which has great potential and meaning for the nation’s development?

Complete Article @ http://www.hindu.com/mag/2008/05/04/stories/2008050450010100.htm

A retired civil servant, the author is a former Director General of the National Institute of Rural Development, Hyderabad, Ministry of Rural Development, Govt of India.Email: lalitmathur45@yahoo.com

My friend's experience ..

2008-04-18T05:25:00.000-07:00

Folks,

Word of advice from the now experienced: whenever you get married, consider getting the marriage registered, a part of the rituals and get it done on the same day you tie the knot!!! All you need is:
- invitation cards from both - bride and groom's side
- age proof for both
- residence proof for both (i.e. before marriage)
- marriage photos
- 3 witnesses
AND
- loads of patience

The whole process should ideally takes about 5 -10 mins max!!!

Figure out before hand, at which registrar office you need to get the marriage registerd! This will typically be the same office where your house is registered! And if possible, go and invite that particular office's sub-registrar to the marriage! It'll help!

Evarikaina eppudaina ... (If at some point of time.. someone...)

2008-04-10T05:12:00.001-07:00

One of my friend has been to this place and she says .. its actually very impressive ...

5th ...

2008-03-13T21:46:00.000-07:00

June 14th 2006 (Moto-camp)
October 31st 2006 (ZPHS - Banswada camp)
April 4th 2007 (Moto-camp)
August 28th 2007 (NIMS)
March 8th 2008 (Usha Mullapudi Cardiac Center)

my 5th blood donation .. this time also it was for a friend's father's surgery .. hoping that he recovers soon ...

cheers
Suman.

Not Mine !!!

2008-02-15T20:59:00.000-08:00

Recently I have been interacting with some organizations and I am surprised at the kind of attitude I have seen !!! ....

I used to see this in movies, the government employees lacking a sense of responsibility and the general public facing issues with such behavior. I always thought i was an exaggeration of the reality because my father who is also a government employee has been amazingly responsible, in fact he even works late hours and rushes to work even on sundays (the only day off) to get things done and for the public not to suffer... and apart from him I have known some of his colleagues too who are very sincere. So i was under the impression that there is a minority of this workforce which is creating this impression !!...

To my surprise I am not sure if it is a coincidence, all my interactions with many organizations have been pathetic !.. it started off when I was traveling , the immigration check ... he wanted some money for me to move ahead !! .... then the corporation bank (unfortunately our company's account) credit card application ... it has been 5 months and they have no idea about where the card is ... it took me not less than 40-50 follow ups to ask them to cancel it(not yet done!) !! ....
Then the SBI .. I had to transfer some money to my brother ... the head office says the online banking is working in cyber towers branch .. and the cyber towers branch says it is not .. and they are not sure in which branches it is working and which it is not !! ...
BSNL .. one of my colleagues had applied for a connection and there is only one mantra that he has got to hear .. "this week" ...
The phone store in our office, the person says "No stock" , but when I escalate the issue, the stock is there !!

Everyone is doing their so called "duties" .. it is not the SBI person's duty to inquire where it is working and tell me .. and it is not the BSNL officer's duty to dig the line !! :-) ...

What is lacking is a "sense of ownership" !!! ....
We keep shouting and cribbing that computerization of everything is reducing the employment opportunities !!! ... but what is the reason that we are moving towards computerization !! ?? :-) ... our very own attitude towards work.

No human being likes uncertainty .. when I step in to an office I am not at all confident that I am going to get what I am looking for ... I am not sure if they are telling the truth ... which makes me very uncomfortable ... so i look forward for something very definite ... I prefer automation ...

This is a clear scenario of hitting our own legs .. :-) ..
Enjoi madi ... we are all set .. and moving in the right direction to get automated :D ... and lose lots and lots of jobs ...
Everyone can sit happily in your homes and enjoi ... :D

~A very irritated soul

kannepillavani kannulunnavani

2008-02-14T23:31:00.000-08:00

kanepillavani kannulunnavani ennenni vagalu potunnave chinnarii
chinna navvu navvi vannelanni ruvvu ennenni kalalu rappinchave ponnarii

sangeetham nuvvaitee
saahityam nenavutaa

swaramu neevai
swaramuna padamu nenai
gaanam geetham kadaa

kavini nenai
nalo kavita nevai
kavyamainadi .... talupo paluko manasoo

http://www.raaga.com/channels/telugu/movie/A0000002.html

awesome song ..

The ambiguity ...

2007-10-24T00:19:00.000-07:00

Here I am ..
staring into infinity ..
tracing the roots ..
of the ambiguity ..

it is the one ..
that drives me crazy..
makes me sleepless..
screws up my responses..
in fact everything I do..
me being its host..

the sun has set..
yet I reach nowhere..
tired I am ..
figuring out what it is..
its identity..
its whereabouts..
its solution..
and I fall asleep ..

I wake up..
and .. Its life again..!

~Suman.

Fulfilling 4th time ...

2007-08-29T10:14:00.000-07:00

June 14th 2006
October 31st 2006
April 4th 2007
August 28th 2007

These dates are memorable for me ... I gave my blood on these four dates .... First time it was at a camp organised by me at Motorola 100 employees donated .. then it was in october when my uncle was retiring , he organised a blood donation camp .. then on April 4th was my second camp at Motorola .. this time 150 employees .. I worked hard promoting the cause and it showed in the numbers .. the 4th time was different .. it was just before a bypass surgery to one of my friend's father ... today morning the surgery took place and the condition is declared stable .. I am very happy for him ..

If the awareness about it increases, the need of blood for Thalessemia patients .. for the ones who need during surgeries can be met with ease ..

Lets share something that can be replenished.

Good for us ....

2007-03-26T07:27:00.000-07:00

Yes, I am also one of those who is not feeling bad at all about the loss of our team @ World Cup ...

And for me its not about more work hours ... nor money retained .... but about attitude ... attitude of people.. the sportiveness in people ...

Now they get a chance to think about what sport is all about ... the same people who have garlanded the team are burning their effigies ... !!!

And I would say its not the problem with the Team .. they have performed what they can .... but its the people who have assumed high things for a team not soo competent .. and created problems for themselves ....

Can you imagine our crowd appreciating the opponent team for a boundary or six ?? !!! or at least for a century !!... not possible ... but if you see the crowd at England .. I have seen them appreciate the century of Indian team also !! .. and felt good about it .... that's sportsmanship ... lets appreciate Bangladesh for their good play .. and empathize with Indian team for not being able to perform ...

Appendix:

Sportsmanship is an attitude that strives for fair play, courtesy toward teammates and opponents, ethical behavior and integrity, and grace in losing.

Empathy is defined as one's ability to recognize, and feel the emotion of another.

Listen vs Hear , React vs Respond

2006-11-20T22:37:00.000-08:00

How well do your discussions go ? Do they very often end up in a disagreement or in refined terms "agree to disagree" mode ?

Listening is a skill. We usually don't listen, we hear. And that makes a lot of difference.

Next time when you are discussing something with a friend of yours, observe it.

Are you reacting or are you responding ?

Reacting: You just hear what the other has to say, don't think about it from his perspective. All you want is to prove that your point is correct. Not just that, your point is the Only Correct one.

It is not out of intention to hurt the other, it is just in a rush of the situation that this happens, influenced by the group/situation.

Responding: You feel the responsibility towards other. You feel that you are related to the other. If there is something that you do not know, you learn, if you have something to tell, you convey it with utmost responsibility. One does not need any so called special communication skills/spoken English techniques, your sense of responsibility reflects in each and every word you speak and the other can perceive it. And hence, the discussions usually lead to mutual learning/happiness/satisfaction to both the persons involved. Here we listen, not just hear.

Jeena kya hai? (From lage raho munna bhai)

2006-11-07T03:18:00.000-08:00

"Shaher ki es daud me daud ke karna kya hai?
Jab yehi jeena hai dosto to phir marna kya hai?

Pahli barish me train late hone ki fikr hai
Bhul gaye bhigte hue tahelna kya hai?

Serails ke kirdaaro ka saara haal hai malum
par maa ka haal puchhne ki fursat kise hai?

Ab ret pe nange pao tahelte kyu nahi?
108 hai chanel phir dil bahelte kyu nahi?

Internet ki duniya ke to touch me hai,
lekin pados me kon raheta hai jaante tak nahi.

Mobile, Landline sab ki bharmaar hai,
Lekin jigri dost tak pahuche aise taar kaha hai?

Kab dubte hue suraj ko dekha tha yaad hai?
Kab jaana tha shaam ka woh banana kya hai?

To Dosto Shaher ki es daud me daud ke karna kya hai
Jab yahi jeena hai to phir Marna kya hai?"

Day 3 (I made this poster :D) .. the idea to use abhishek was bharath's .. thanks bharath :)

2006-07-27T22:29:00.000-07:00

Day 2

2006-07-27T22:05:00.000-07:00

Day 1

2006-07-24T23:52:00.000-07:00

Is there no end to this :-( ?!

2006-07-14T00:08:00.000-07:00

Lashkar-e-Toiba:

In a pamphlet entitled Why Are We Waging Jihad, the group defines its agenda as the restoration of Islamic rule over all parts of India.

Naxalites :

Advocate that Indian peasants and lower classes must overthrow the government and upper classes whom they held responsible for their plight.

Terrorism in India

There are 28 pages in this section of this category.

1

2

2006 Varanasi bombings

A

B

2005 Indian Institute of Science shooting

H

I

Indian Airlines Flight 814

J

K

Kurnool train crash

L

R

T

W

Wandhama massacre

Tamil nationalism

Tamil nationalism is a strong aspiration by some Tamils to establish traditional Tamil home lands in India and Sri Lanka as separate nations.

Insurgent groups in Northeast India

Some groups call for a separate state, others for autonomy while some extreme groups demand nothing but complete independence. Many groups are alleged to be surreptitiously funded by Pakistan's state intelligence organization — the Inter-Services Intelligence and the Chinese. The chief sources of income for these groups include the narcotics trade originating from Myanmar and extortion.

Khalistan

Khālistān (Punjabi: ਖਾਲਿਸਤਾਨ) (lit. "The Land of the Pure") was the name given to the proposed nation-state, encompassing the present Indian state of Punjab and all Punjabi-speaking areas contiguous to its borders, the creation of which has been violently agitated for by separatist organisations.

Vishva Hindu Parishad

The Vishva Hindu Parishad (Sanskrit for "World Hindu Council"), widely recognized by its initials 'VHP', is a Hindu organization in India, an offshoot of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. It was founded in 1964. Its slogan is "Dharmo rakshiti rakshitah", or "By defending what is righteous, you will be protected." Its symbol is a banyan tree.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

What is Right ?!

2006-07-07T07:47:00.000-07:00

When we need to take a decision, most of the times we take it based on what we "feel" is Right. How do we verify if this decision is The Right decision ?

It is not very difficult to see whats Right and whats Wrong. Anything which is Right would be UNIVERSALLY ACCEPTED ! It might not be Understood initially. At the face of it, if might look like deniying someone. But whatever is Right would be understood and accepted over a period of time. The decision would be true across time, location and person. It should not deny any person at any place at any point of time. That any person includes ourselves too. It should not make me unhappy. There is more to it that it should not effect/disturb anything in existence. (Includes Nature, Society, family and you). Such decisions are Right decisions.

To make sure that one takes Right decision, one needs to have a proper understanding of the functioning of everything. Like what does Nature expect from us. What does society expect from us. What does family expect from us and what do you want for urself!! . It is only then that you can make sure you are not messing up with any of them.

The moment we start looking at ourselves, seeing what is going on because of our decisions. Are they Right i.e. are they accepted by everyone. Am I happy taking such a decision. Once we start contemplating on such issues, we start correcting our decisions. To correct our decisions, we seek more knowledge, correct knowledge and hence our KB gets purified. Outcome : Decisons would be Right.

Note: Decision here does not only mean a major step/advancement (like chosing a career) . It can be as small as uttering a word(what word .. we are responsible for the consequences of our words), taking a step(walk), deciding what to eat and wear ....

Disclaimer : This is just a proposal. I am not advocating it !

The grouping phenomenon

2006-06-07T04:15:00.000-07:00

Hello all ... wanted to tell a few words .. applicable all thourgh our lives ..

Every human being in this world wants to be happy. He wants to live a meaningful life.

To be happy an individual needs

1) Trust : One can be happy only when he is confident that the people around him wants him to be happy ...

2) Respect .. for what he is ..

3) Affection .. that friendliness .. the comfort ..

4) Care ..

5) Guidance to do good things

6) Appreciation for being good .. and doing good things ..

7) Gratitute .. thanking him when he helps you ...

8) Love ..

It is natural that one tries to find a company of friend(s) which provides him with the above things he expects ...

Actually noone wants to deliberately make someone unhappy .. the situations turn out to be so ... ( situations are the tests .. which test the strenght of the bonds)

So when someone notices that as time passes by ..due to unavoidable circumstances .. a company of friend(s) which used to provide the above things is no longer in a situation to do so.. he/she has two options ...

1) Look for another such company of human being(s)

2) Try to make the friend(s) realise that what they are doing is a mistake .. which can be costly .. and that it is not the right way ...

If he has time and resources and the oppurtunity .. he can pursue the second options ... but in most cases they leave it for them to realise it for themselves that .. what they have done is a mistake .. and go ahead and live his life ... this time making sure such situations do not arise ...

and this is a contunuous process .. all throught the life ...

You can observe that .. when we meet a big set of people ... initially this shifting happens very rapidly (1st sem) (they find the company that suits u) .. (option 1) .. over sometime ... once the grps are formed (sem2 to sem8) option 2 (trying to help others realise ) happens ... then .. when there is complete change in locations (join companies) .. again new people .. again shuffling .. again grouping :)) ... (until u shift to another company :)))) ) ...

ha haaaaaaa .. so that is life .. :)

but remember one thing .. one grp of friends from whom you cant escape is FAMILY ... some people still do that .. by seperating .. divorcing etc .. but most cases you cant escape .. option 2 is the only option :DDD ..

enjoi .. have fun ..

Suman.

Noone is bad. Some are good !

2006-05-14T00:46:00.000-07:00

Evvaru cheddavallu kadu ane na statement miku correct ani anipinchakapovacchu. Let me try and explain why I made such a statement. You might empathise with me towards the end of this reading.

Prati manishiki knowlege anedi untundi. For any decision he has to take, he refers to his knowledge and based on the answer he gets, he takes the decison. Tanaki telisi evaru tappu cheyaru. Tappu ani atani knowledge cheppina sare aa pani cheyyadam is also possible but it is very less.

Andari knowledge base (lets put it as KB in short) okate na ? Kadu. Evaru experiences batti vallu, valla rules, principles, habits, in short KB ni developchesukuntaru. So, naku telisinantha varaku nenu tappu cheyyanu, kani edutuvaadiki nenu chesina oka pani tappu ga anipistundi, enduku ante vaadi "KB" ala undi.

Oka manishi entha manchivaadu annadi ee conscience batti aadharapadi untundi. His personality is defined by this. Inkola cheppali ante vaadi KB entha varaku Correct anedanibatti aadhara padi untundi. The whole purpose of our life is actually to Correct, Purify, Recitify this KB. The purest form of this KB being God (What we/scriptures/elders have been calling as reaching God/Moksha). Such a person would be in perfect harmony with everyone. With himself, with his friends and family, with all the people around him, with nature, with everything that exists.

How do I know whether my conscience is correct ? We need to observe, we need to verify , we need to think , and we need to realise. In other words, don't accept things blindly. We have been accumulating this KB since our childhood from what our parents have been telling, or what the "idiot box" has been showing or what we read from the books. Now it is time, it is time to verify each rule in the KB, each principle, check if it is correct or wrong, rectify. It glorifies our personality.

How to verify whether something is Correct or Not? I will try to put that part in my next post, meanwhile think if the whole concept is correct or not ! :) . Dont accept things just like that. If it is correct, start seeing at your decisions, every move is based on a core value, see what that value is, start observing things :).

One Happy Moment

2006-05-09T04:14:00.000-07:00

A role play was going on in a HR Management session that I was attending. If you are the HR manager how would u recruit was the task given. We were given the choice to decide the Organisation, the post u want to recruit was also left to us.

Our team decided we should prepare an Advertisement. we zeroed on the post as a teacher and first we thought we will go for any NGO. we prepared a rough draft. It was nothing very attractive just a plain advertisement we generally see. I was thinking and thinking, trying to make it better. Suddenly an idea sparked off.

Last week we visited a workshop called "Play For Peace" .. and suddenly this was what I wrote there on the board.

=================================================================

Were you a child ? o
^
Did you play games ? ooo
^^^
Invented some of them ? >->O O<-<

Then probably you have it in you !

Can you engage a group of young childred, have fun, laugh your stomach out ?
"Play for Peace" an organisation world renowned for its innovative ways of teaching
is here with an opportunity for you.
Call : 987654321.

============================================================

Everyone in the class , the people attending, organising, and the ones who were taking the class were so happy with this that someone went to get a cam to take a picture !.
I was very happy that it came out well :D ... it is indeed a memorable moment.

Bangaaram !

2006-05-03T04:12:00.000-07:00

Indaka when i was on my way to office .. I saw something interesting ..

Oka band vinipinchindi ... enti abba ani kitiki lonchi tongi chusanu .... fist oka pedda grp of guys were dancing ... nothing unexpected till there ...

Then I was looking out for the Car ... I mean the pelli koduku car ... what I found was a truck !! .. shock tinoddu .. pellikoduku truck lo ledu :) .... in the truck is a biiiiiig pawan kalyan cutout ....

There are some people doing puja ... and again behind the truck are some guys ... !!!!!!!!!!

koncham sepu padi padi navvukunnamu :))))) .... I heard a lot of such things .. kani first time ivvala na kallaaara chusi tarinchipoyanu !!! :)

PS: Disclaimer :p : .. Nenu fan ani... leka fan kadu .. ani nenu emi cheppateldu .. just oka incident matrame .. :p ... any resemblance with any person/event is purly coincidental :)) ...

Visit to Mr ACP Ashok Reddy

2006-03-09T21:31:00.000-08:00

As a part of the initiative from wellness committee, we had to arrange a talk by Mr ACP Ashok Reddy and so we(2 of us) went to the Police Control Room to meet him. First impression about the building was that over time it has been modified and now it looks modern. We reached the entrance and there was a plolice man standing behind a huge pile of sand bags. I think for facing an emergency situation such an arrangement was made. Then there was a metal-detector.

And then came the most unexpected scene. I was expecting some modern infrastrucure inside, but my surprise what I find is a scene very similar to one in a government general hospital !!. There were some bags and some clothes put up for drying !! . I was wondering what those bags were, when I relaised that those were the bags of some policemen put of deputation. They dont have a proper place to stay. They put their bags there and go on duty. As we went on, things were even worse. Very dirty surroundings!

We reached the room of the ACP, huge bundles of files. Files files files everywhere. Someone comes and asks for so and so file and an assistant starts searching for the file in the unending collection. After searching for half an hour the file is still untraced ! Leaking walls, broken windows but latest computer equipment and printers !. Felt so sorry about the plight of such government buildings and processes.

Then came the best part. We knocked the door and asked for permission. "Please
come in" was the answer. A very pleasant person probably in his mid fifties. We told the purpose of our visit. He explained how to go about doing it. He explained about the "Toffee" program and the process involed in it. He took us to his computer and showed us some material and presentations he has and enquired if it was relevant to us. All through the conversation he was very soft spoken and was speaking with utmost respect. Even the slightest form of rudeness that is portrayed in films could not be found. It was very good speaking to him. Towards the end he has asked us to get in touch with Mr AK Khan (The commisioner of police) and on his order he would come to our office and give the presentation.

We came back with joy of satisfaction. We need to discuss with the other members and go ahead with the formalities.

Sunrise ?

2006-03-01T03:33:00.000-08:00

Looks like a very pleasant sunrise right ? But unfortunately no, it might be the process which generates the energy in sun but .. The 15-megaton hydrogen bomb Castle Bravo was detonated on Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean, resulting in one of the worst radioactive contamination ever caused by nuclear testing.

Maha Shivaratri

2006-03-01T03:30:00.000-08:00

I was feeling very uncomfortable when I was praying yesterday .. I really din't know what the significance of shivaratri was .. all I knew was ppl fast and do jagaram .. but the question WHY always haunted me .. and this is what I found today ..

Maha Shivaratri

Maha Shivratri or Shivaratri (Night of Shiva) is an Hindu festival celebrated every year on the 14th day in the Krishna Paksha of the month Phalguna in the Hindu Calendar. The most significant practices on this day are offerings of Bheel (Bilva) leaves to the Lord Shiva, fasting and all night long vigil.

The legend associated with it ::

Samudra manthan

During the samudra manthan by the gods and demons, haalaa-hala, a poison came out of the ocean. It was so toxic, that it effects would have wiped out the entire creation. At this juncture, as per the advice of Vishnu, gods approached Mahadev and prayed him to protect life by consuming this poison. Pleased with their prayers, out of compassion for living beings, Lord Shiva drank this poison and held it in his throat by binding it with a snake. The throat became blue due to the poison (Thus Lord Shiva is also know as Neelakantha) and Shiva remained unharmed. The doctors advised gods to keep Lord Shiva awake during the night as part of the therapy. To amuse Shiva and to keep him awake, the gods took turn performing various dances and playing music. A vigil was thus kept by the gods in contemplation of Shiva. As the day broke out, Shiva, pleased with their devotion blessed them all. Since then, on this day and night - devotees fast, keep vigil, sing glories of Lord and meditate.

The Hunter

Once upon a time, a hunter worshipped Lord Shiva unknowingly on Shivaratri. He did this by dropping bheel leaves on a shiva linga at the base of a bheel tree from its branches where he was hiding and fasting all night. For this he was forgiven of all his sins. This forms the basis behind the offerings of bheel to the Lord on Shivaratri.

Sri anjaneyam

2006-03-01T03:18:00.000-08:00

Everyday I go home and watch the movie that is telecast in SitiCable. Yesterday it was Sri Anjaneyam. The story of an innocent and pure at heart person Anji. Some things I wanted to make a note of were :

=> Ramayana is not just a story, it sets an example for how a person should live a life of Dharma. Doing the Right thing ALWAYS. It might be at the cost of some short term dissatisfaction but remember always Righteousness is what remains.

=> Sankalpa balam. It is the commitment to do something and that what one is doing is for the good of everyone, that brings so much of energy to a person. It might sometimes even cross the limits of physical constraints.

=> Purpose of life: There is happiness in living a life which serves some purpose of existence. Each individual should look for such purpose and fulfill it. It leads to happiness of the individual as well and good to everyone in this world.

The graphics were little unrealistic otherwise it is a decent film with a message to convey.

Uttama mitrudu

2006-02-21T00:55:00.000-08:00

I was browsing some article on eenadu.net and found an article called "uttama mitrudu". I liked it. The author quotes Bahuvrihi's words , "One who comes just for getting his work done and leaves after his work is done is not a friend" instead " One who warns you from doing wrong things, who encourages you to do good things, who doesnot disclose the secrets you share, he doesn't speak about your good qualities in front of you but does tell them to everyone around you, when in financial crisis comes to your rescue" is your friend.

And attached is a story of a tree and a bird. The bird has its nest on a tree and the tree gets some wierd disease. Loses it leaves and liveliness. When asked why the bird is not leaving the tree and instead go and live its life on another tree, the bird replies "I was born on this tree, was brought up on this tree, I played on this tree, learnt a lot from it. This tree has protected me all these days. That is why I love this tree. Now, when it is in some problems, How can I leave it ?" straight from its heart, very softly. It was none other than Indra, and he was moved by the birds goodness, grants it a wish. The bird instead of wishing something for itself, asks him to bring the tree back to life.

This story conveys the fact that a friend is not someone who is with us in goodtimes having fun and enjoing life, but also in tough times also.

:D thought this is a children story, felt good reading it :) ... and wanted you all to read it :p

http://eenadu.net/sahithyam/display.asp?url=panchatantram18.htm

India Honours System

2006-01-29T22:31:00.000-08:00

India : Honours and decorations

Gallantry
========

Param Vir Chakra:
The Param Vir Chakra is an Indian military decoration given for valour in combat operations. It is India's highest military honor. The name is sometimes abbreviated as PVC. It literally means 'Wheel (or Cross) of the Ultimate Brave' (Sanskrit: Param, Ultimate; Vir (Pronounced veer), Brave; Chakra, Wheel, or its western equivalent, Cross). Equivalent awards in the United States are the Medal of Honor and the Victoria Cross in the United Kingdom.

The Param Vir Chakra (PVC) is the highest gallantry award for officers and other enlisted personnel of all military branches of India for the highest degree of valour or self-sacrifice in the presence of the enemy. It may be awarded posthumously and, indeed, most of the awards have been posthumous.

The PVC was established on 26 January 1950, by the President of India, with effect from 15 August 1947, and presently it is the second highest award of the government of India after Bharat Ratna (amendment in the statute on 26 January 1980 resulted in this order of wearing).

Ashoka Chakra:
Ashoka Chakra is an Indian military decoration awarded for valor, courageous action or self sacrifice away from the battle field. It maybe awarded to civilians as well as well as military personnel. It may be awarded posthumously. It is the peace time equivalent of the Param Vir Chakra.

Maha Vir Chakra:
The Maha Vir Chakra (MVC) is the second highest military decoration in India and is awarded for acts of conspicuous gallantry in the presence of the enemy, whether on land, at sea or in the air. It may be awarded posthumously.

Kirti Chakra:
Kirti Chakra is an Indian military decoration awarded for valor, courageous action or self-sacrifice away from the battlefield. It may be awarded to civilians as well as military personnel, including posthumous awards. It is the peacetime equivalent of the Maha Vir Chakra. It is second in order of precedence of peacetime gallantry awards; it comes after Ashoka Chakra and before Shaurya Chakra.

Vir Chakra:
Vir Chakra is an Indian gallantry award presented for acts of bravery in the battle field. To denote this award, the awardees can append the letters Vr.C. to their name. It is third in precedence in the war time gallantry awards and comes after the Param Vir Chakra and Maha Vir Chakra.

Shaurya Chakra:
Shaurya Chakra is an Indian military decoration awarded for valor, courageous action or self-sacrifice away from the battlefield. It may be awarded to civilians as well as military personnel, sometimes posthumously. It is the peacetime equivalent of the Vir Chakra. It is third in order of precedence of peacetime gallantry awards and comes after Ashoka Chakra and Kirti Chakra.

Civilian
======

National Service:
--------------------

Bharat Ratna:
Bharat Ratna is India's highest civilian award, awarded for the highest degrees of national service. This service includes artistic, literary, and scientific achievements, as well as "recognition of public service of the highest order." Unlike knights, holders of the Bharat Ratna carry no special title nor any other honorifics, but they do have a place in the order of precedence. Bharat Ratna roughly translates as 'Gem of India'.

While there was no formal provision that recipients of the Bharat Ratna should be Indian citizens, this seems to have been the general assumption. There has been one award to a naturalized Indian citizen — Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu, better known as Mother Teresa (1980); and two to non-Indians — Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (1987) and Nelson Mandela (1990). The awarding of this honour though, has frequently been the subject of litigation questioning the constitutional basis of such state awards.

Padma Vibhushan:
The Padma Vibhushan is India's second highest civilian honour. It consists of a medal and a citation and is awarded by the President of India.

It was established on January 2, 1954. It follows the Bharat Ratna and precedes the Padma Bhushan. It is awarded to recognize exceptional and distinguished service to the nation in any field, including government service. The award was briefly suspended from July 13, 1977 to January 26, 1980.

Padma Bhushan:
The Padma Bhushan is an Indian civilian decoration established on January 2, 1954 by the President of India. It stands third in the hierarchy of civilian awards, after the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan, but comes before the Padma Sri. It is awarded to recognize distinguished service of a high order to the nation, in any field.

Padma Shri:
Padma Shri (also spelled Padma Shree, Padma Sree and Padma Sri) is an award given by the Government of India generally to Indian citizens to recognize their distinguished contribution in any sphere of activity including Arts, Education, Industry, Literature, Science, Games, Sports etc. (The word "Padma" (Hindi) means "Lotus".) It stands fourth in the hierarchy of civilian awards after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. On its obverse, the words "Padma" and "Shri", in Devanagari, appear above and below the lotus flower.

Literary:
-----------

Jnanpith Award:
The Jnanpith Award is the highest literary honour conferred in the Republic of India. It is presented by the Jnanpith Trust, which is largely owned by the Jain family, publishers of The Times of India. The award carries a cheque for Rs. 500,000, a citation plaque and a bronze replica of Vagdevi. The award was instituted in 1961. Its first recipient was Malayalam writer G Shankara Kurup in 1965. An Indian citizen who writes in any of the official languages of India is eligible for the honour.
Its name is taken from Sanskrit jnāna-pīṭha = "knowledge-seat".

Sports:
-------

Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna:
Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna award is India’s highest sporting honour. It was instituted from the year 1991-92 in the memory of Late Rajiv Gandhi, the former Prime Minister of India. The award carries a medal and a scroll of honour apart from a cash component.

The award honours either an individual sportsperson or a sports team for outstanding performance in the sports disciplines included in any of Olympics, Asian Games and Commonwealth Games, as well as Billiards & Snooker, Cricket and Chess in a year.

Typically, performances from 1 April of a year to 31 March of the next year are taken into consideration for the award. A selection committee of people affiliated to sports is constituted by the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports for selecting the awardee every year.

A key difference from the Arjuna award is that the Arjuna award is given to the best sportsperson in each sport every year, where as the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna is given to the best sportsperson across all the sports disciplines in that year. Khel Ratna literally means "Sporting Gem" in Hindi.

Arjuna Award:
The Arjuna awards were instituted in 1961 by the government of India to recognize outstanding achievement in National sports. The award carries a cash prize of Rs 300,000, a bronze statuette of Arjuna and a scroll.

Over the years the scope of the award has been expanded and a large number of sportspersons who belonged to the pre-Arjuna Award era, were also included in the list. Not only that the number of disciplines for which the award was to be given was also increased to include indigenous games and also in the physically handicapped category.

Dronacharya Award:
Dronacharya Award is an award presented by the government of India for excellence in sports coaching. The award comprises of a bronze statuette of Dronacharya, a scroll of honour and a cash component. The award was instituted in 1985. As the best sportsperson award is named Arjuna Award, it is appropriate that the coaching award is named after Dronacharya, as he was the Guru of Arjuna.

The winners of this award in 2005 were Mr. Arvind Savur for Billiards & Snooker, Ms. Sunita Sharma for Cricket (incidentally the first woman cricket coach to get the award) and Mr. Cyrus Poncha for Squash.

Movies:
---------

Dadasaheb Phalke Award:
The Dadasaheb Phalke Award is an annual award given by the Indian government for lifetime contribution to Indian cinema. It was instituted in 1969, the birth centenary year of Dadasaheb Phalke, considered the father of Indian cinema.

The award for a particular year is given during the end of the following year along with the National Film Awards.Some well known ones are :

# 1989 - Lata Mangeshkar, singer
# 1990 - A. Nageswara Rao, actor
# 1994 - Dilip Kumar, actor
# 1995 - Rajkumar, actor
# 1996 - Sivaji Ganesan, actor
# 1998 - B.R. Chopra, director, producer
# 2000 - Asha Bhosle, singer
# 2001 - Yash Chopra, director, producer
# 2002 - Dev Anand, actor, director, producer
# 2003 - Mrinal Sen, director
# 2004 - Adoor Gopalakrishnan, director

Others:
---------

Gandhi Peace Prize:
The International Gandhi Peace Prize, named after Mahatma Gandhi, is awarded annually by the government of India for outstanding work and contribution to social, economic and political transformation through non-violence and other Gandhian methods.

Recipients have included Nelson Mandela, John Hume, Baba Amte, Vaclav Havel, Sir Shridath Ramphal, Shri Ramakrishna Mission (in 1999, received by its president Swami Ranganathananda) and the International Red Cross.

For more info : India Honours System

A good article on "Living".

2006-01-20T03:00:00.000-08:00

-> In this life we don't have winners and losers. We have winners and learners!

-> When the rocket went to the moon, how often was it on course?

ONLY 2.5 % of the time!!!

What was it doing the rest of the time?

Correcting!

-> Don't focus on working for money. Instead, focus on adding value.

-> Doing more with less.

-> What were Japanese products known for before WW2? Being shoddy, cheap and copy cats.

What are Japanese products known for today? Being good quality, still cheap and innovators.

What changed Japan? A man called Dr W. Edwards Deming.

-> You CAN'T change people! You CAN change the environment. You CAN change systems!

Extracts from:: http://www.relfe.com/life_purpose.html

Related Links :
http://www.relfe.com/plus_5_.html (<--- I Want The Earth Plus 5% This is one of the best articles I have read till date !!!! .. Amaaazing)

http://www.wateraid.org/international/default.asp

Feminity, an Opportunity ?

2006-01-18T21:27:00.000-08:00

ABCDEFG - A Boy Can Do Everything For a Girl

Girls are very powerful. I am sure many would not agree to this statement but I will try to justify why I put it that way by the end of this post.

Women can stir the passions within men.(Not necessarily beautiful women).If a guy can make a girl smile, he is on the top of the world. He does anything to see her happy.

Some attempts can be like this (orkut):
- "hi..preeti.. can i b ur frnd"
- "hiii rekha...................yaar muthse dosti karogi?
i know purana hai
but kaam karta hai.........."
- "Hi you are so cute, can we be friends. BTW .. I am frm hyd .. working with Microsoft"
- Some try to impress by constantly romanticizing, craking jokes, winning something, working hard, coming out of their bad habits, taking the girl to places, etc etc. I am sure the number of ways in which the attempts were made is countless.

How should the girl react to such a situation? How many of you have handled such a situation properly? Very few are sucessful in handling it the right way.

How many of us have such an opportunity to bring about a positive change in a person ?.
If the person is a stranger, there is nothing wrong in ignoring him. If a friend of a girl is ready to do anything for her, just to make her happy and all he is willing is a heart to express himself , instead of running away from him, the girl if she has the time, can bring about a tremondous change in his life.

Many girls would argue saying that initially he would start off saying its friendship and one fine day he will come with a red rose and say he can't live without her ! :-) . No offence intended but I can say with confidence that if the girl is very clear about herself, it would reflect vividly in her behaviour. She can respect their admiration and help them improve. A very good example of such a girl is the character played by Bhoomika in the telugu movie "Na Autograph .. sweet memories".

I would like to make it clear that it is not their duty or responsibility to do so. I think it is a opportunity they have. The choice is left to them, it is upto them to tap the potential in their friends, get them on to right track. It depends on the time and resources available and above all, the clarity of thought, maturity of understanding levels.

In short, girls can do a lot ! ;)

Precious

2006-01-18T06:02:00.000-08:00

One of the toughest things to find in this world is a "soulmate".A person whom you can speak with anything and everything comfortably.

We come across hundreds of people in our life. Some are just aquaintances with whom we exchange a smile. Some are friends with whom we speak often, crack jokes, discuss things. Some are good friends. When you need something or you are in trouble these are the people whom you approach. One has very good memories with them and they are an important part of your life. AND some are "SOULMATES", person(s) who UNDERSTAND you, there will be many things that one cannot share with parents or even good friends, but it is this best friend(s) whom you express your heart to WITHOUT ANNYY HESITATION. Such people are Precious.

It is inherent property of humans to search for such people. SUCH people are rare, and it is at this level of understanding that a human relation reaches the stage called Love, one of the highly misinterpreted words in the english dictionary!. You trust, you respect, you care, you appreciate, you admire, you guide.Its then that you Love!

Do not take such people for granted, most people in this world die without having even one such person in their life!. If you have one such person in your life, you are fortunate. You can see that the day gets brighter. Times of loneliness are gone. The confidence is higher. They become the elixir of life. They are PRECIOUS!.

Fortune

2006-01-01T21:11:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I went to the Railway Station to send off my brother to chennai and on my way out of station, I checked my weight.

Lets forget about the weight ;).Its 82.5 :o, need to start some fitness schedule :D.

This is what the fortune at the back of the card says.

"Dabbu chesukovadaniki premamayamaina sahrudatvaniki anukulamaina samvatsaram"

"A Favourable year for money-making and for all matters of affection and friendship"

and Orkut says ..
Today's fortune:
You will be unusually successful in business

Lets see what this year turns out to be in Dec-06 ;).

New mobile innovation .. The best of both worlds

2005-12-20T23:39:00.000-08:00

While the cost of mobile calls has fallen, a landline is still cheaper to use if less convenient. However, the situation is changing.

"Now your mobile phone will recognise when you are calling from home and route your call through a wireless broadband hub that means, although you are calling from your mobile, you can take advantage of UK[1] landline rates.

Using Bluetooth technology, BT Fusion acts like a normal mobile when you are outside the range of the hub’s reach [1] that is, when you leave home. There’s no interruption to your conversation; instead the technology automatically and seamlessly switches over to the BT Mobile Network from the landline. "

Complete Article :: http://business.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,25469-1868182,00.html

Print version ..

2005-12-15T04:25:00.000-08:00

I have faced this problem quiet a number of times and I think this can be a good product to make ...

I have a webpage and I want to print an article from that webpage .. but most webpages have a lot of content that the user does not want to print. In some webpages there is an option of "print version" which shows a printable format .. but in most websites that facility is not there.

So, I was thinking it will be good if there is a software which when we copy paste the stuff we want to print on to it, parses the document into different pieces and then the user can remove the pieces he doesnt want to print and then print the remaining document. An auto format option would be every more user friendly.

:D .. If I get sometime .. it is not a bad option to work on ...

what say ??

Some miscellaneous thoughts !

2005-12-08T02:58:00.000-08:00

Lately I have been thinking a lot about these dimensions and projections.

There is some reality. i.e. matter. In an infinite dimensional space.

Suppose there is a sphere, it is a hollow sphere. And when our capability is to see only at the level of 2 dimensions, all we will be able to see a sphere's projection on 2 dimensions i.e a ring.And we think that is the reality (The biggest mistake we make). As our capacity to see increases (through knowledge) to a higher dimension say 3. We will be able to see a sphere and not a ring. And at much higher dimension it could be something else !!!. So something (ring) which we thought was the reality was not reality!!.

When our capacity reaches infinity, we will be able to see the actual reality !. and that is God !. All the rishis and gurus are all people with a lot of knowledge and they are capable of seeing "things" from a higher dimension.

If you notice, there is this thirst for knowledge in every person. And that is the desire to reach God. The thirst to "see" the reality. In terms of mathematics the thirst to reach a higher dimension !.

Excellence is all about reaching a higher dimension. When one is a kid there is a desire for things like choclates, kids even fight for a choclate. As human being grows, they have a better understanding of life. They dont fight for things like a choclate. So what is the goal of every person in life ?? To improve himself/herself. In mathematical terms, reaching a higher and higher dimension.

and Moksh and liberation is all about reaching that infinite dimension !. Where you see the reality.!!

In Love With Someone?

2005-12-07T00:37:00.000-08:00

When you are together with that special someone, you
pretend to ignore that person.
But when that special someone is not around, you
might look around to find them.
At that moment, you are in love.

Although there is someone else who always makes you laugh,
your eyes and attention might go only to that
special someone.
Then, you are in love.

Although that special someone was supposed to have
called you long back,
to let you know of their safe arrival, your phone is quiet.
You are desperately waiting for the call!
At that moment, you are in love.

If you are much more excited for one short e-mail from
that special someone than other many long e-mails,
you are in love.

When you find yourself as one who cannot erase all the
messages in your answering machine because of one message
from that special someone, you are in love.

When you get a couple of free movie tickets, you would
not hesitate to think of that special someone.
Then, you are in love.

You keep telling yourself, "that special someone is
just a friend", but you realize that you can not
avoid that person's special attraction. At that
moment, you are in love.

While you are reading this page, if someone appears
in your mind,
then u are in LOVE with that person ..

(Yet another pick .. I hope its not illegal !!)

Another pick

2005-12-07T00:35:00.000-08:00

Did you know that when you envy someone, it's because you really like that person?

Did you know that those who appear to be very strong in heart, are real weak and most succeptible?

Did you know that those who spend their time protecting others are the ones that really need some one to protect them?

Did you know that the three most difficult things to say are: I love you, Sorry and help me

The people who say these are actually in need of them or really feel them, and are the ones you really need to treasure, because they have said them.

Did you know that people who occupy themselves by keeping others company or helping others are the ones that actually need your company and help?

Did you know that those who dress in red are more confident in themselves?

Did you know that those who dress in yellow are those that enjoy their beauty?

Did you know that those who dress in black, are those who want to be unnoticed and need your help and understanding?

Did you know that when you help someone, the help is returned in two folds?

you know that those who need more of you are those that don't mention it to you?

Did you know that it's easier to say what you feel in writing than saying it to someone in the face? But did you know that it has more value when you say it to their face?

Did you know that what is most difficult for you to say or do is much more valuable than anything that is valuable that you can buy with money?

Did you know that if you ask for something in faith, your wishes are granted?

Did you know that you can make your dreams come true, like falling in love, becoming rich, staying healthy, if you ask for it by faith, and if you really knew, you'd be surprised by what you could do.

(picked up from http://sunshineshere.blogspot.com/ -- I liked this blog a loooot )

Three Words

2005-12-07T00:05:00.000-08:00

There are many things that you can do to strengthen your relationships.
Often the most effective thing you can do involves saying just three words.
When spoken sincerely, these statements often have the power to develop new
friendships, deepen old ones and even bring healing to relationships that
have sourerd.

The following three-word phrases can be tools to help develop every
relationship.

1.Let me help
Good friends see a need and then try to fill it. When they see a hurt they
do what they can to heal it. Without being asked, they jump in and help out.

2. I understand you.
People become closer and enjoy each other more when the other person accepts
and understands them. Letting your spouse know - in so many little ways -
that you understand them, is one of the most powerful tools for healing your
relationship. And this can apply to any relationship.

3. I respect you
Respect is another way of showing love. Respect demonstrates that another
person is a true equal. If you talk to your children as if they were adults
you will strengthen the bonds and become closer friends. This applies to
all interpersonal relationships.

4. I miss you.
Perhaps more marriages could be saved and strengthened if couples simply and
sincerely said to each other "I miss you." This powerful affirmation tells
partners they are wanted, needed, desired and loved. Consider how important
you would feel, if you received an unexpected phone call from your spouse in
the middle of your workday, just to say "I miss you."

5. Maybe you're right.
This phrase is very effective in diffusing an argument. The implication
when you say "maybe you're right" is the humility of admitting, "maybe I'm
wrong". Let's face it. When you have an argument with someone, al l you
normally do is solidify the other person's point of view. They, or you, will
not likely change their position and you run the risk of seriously damaging
the relationship between you. Saying "maybe you're right" can open the door
to explore the subject more. You may then have the opportunity to express
your view in a way that is understandable to the other person.

6. Please forgive me
Many broken relationships could be restored and healed if people would admit
their mistakes and ask for forgiveness. All of us are vulnerable to faults,
foibles and failures. A man should never be ashamed to own up that he has
been in the wrong, which is saying, in other words, that he is wiser today
than he was yesterday.

7. I thank you.
Gratitude is an exquisite form of courtesy. People who enjoy the
companionship of good, close friends are those who don't take daily
courtesies for granted. The y are quick to thank their friends for their many
ex-pressions of kindness. On the other hand, people whose circle of friends
is severely constricted often do not have the attitude of gratitude.

8. Count on me
A friend is one who walks in when others walk out. Loyalty is an essential
ingredient for true friendship. It is the emotional glue that bonds people.
Those that are rich in their relationships tend to be steady and true
friends. When troubles come, a good friend is there indicating "you can
count on me."

9. I'll be there
If you have ever had to call a friend in the middle of the night, to take a
sick child to hospital, or when your car has broken down some miles from
home, you will know how good it feels to hear the phrase "I'll be there."
Being there for another person is the greatest gift we can give. When we are
truly present for other people, important things happen to them and us. We
are renewed in love and friendship. We are restored emotionally and
spiritually. Being there is at the very core of civility.

10. Go for it
We are all unique individuals. Don't try to get your friends to conform to
your ideals. Support them in pursuing their interests, no matter how far
out they seem to you. God has given everyone dreams, dreams that are unique
to that person only. Support and encourage your friends to follow their
dreams. Tell them to "go for it."

B o n u s : 11. I love you
Perhaps the most important three words that you can say. Telling someone
that you truly love them satisfies a person's deepest emotional needs. The
need to belong, to feel appreciated and to be wanted. Your spouse, your
children, your friends and you, all need to hear those three little words:
"I love you." Love is a choice. You can love even when the feeling is
gone.

(picked up from http://sunshineshere.blogspot.com/ posted by Deez)

What is this phenomenon ?!

2005-12-06T05:08:00.000-08:00

I see forwards from many of my friends saying "realise the importance of relationships in life and do your part of it to live a happy life". But what I see in reality is something quite different.

Where is the mistake? What went wrong? Is it because forwards are just meant to be forwards and are meant to be forgtten after having some good time reading them? or the whole corporate world is isolating their employees from the world outside, breaking the means of communication if not literally,but implicitly by putting heavy load on individuals leaving no time for them to "live" .. but just "work"?

I ask this question to my friends. How many of you can confidently say that you are doing your part of the relationship?. Be True to yourselves. You are not answerable to anyone, but at the same time remember that you cannot escape from yourself.

I see my friends forming new relationships at their workplace. Good and great that there are new people in their life and that is how one's life is supposed to be. But in the joy of having new friends and great moments of fun, I advice my friends not to forget the ones they met before (their older friends).

"Busy", "Tied up", "Hectic", "No time", "Deadline" are some of the reasons I hear. True that work is hectic, no doubt about that but I think it is important that one takes time off to make sure that his/her relationships are not strained. Giving a reason is not going to bring back your relationship to the state it was before.

Another class of friends are the ones who went to higher studies abroad. "Hectic work", "Exams", "Quizzes". In the weekends, enjoing the beauty of the new world around them!. Where is all this leading to !.

It is my sincere advice to my friends that by making sure that your "true" friends are not feeling uncomfortable/missing you, make yourself and your life more lively and meaningful.

Take time out from your "cyber world" and "New found land" friends and wake up before it is too late and things turn to worse in the "real world" ...

Some important definitions we overlook ..

2005-12-05T21:14:00.000-08:00

Engineering :: Engineering applies scientific and technical knowledge to solve human problems. Engineers use imagination, judgment, reasoning and experience to apply science, technology, mathematics, and practical experience. The result is the design, production, and operation of useful objects or processes.

Software engineering :: Software engineering is the profession that creates and maintains software applications by applying technologies and practices from computer science, project management, engineering, application domains, and other fields.

Software :: Software is the set of instructions that enables computer hardware to perform useful work.

SE pioneers include Barry Boehm, Fred Brooks, C. A. R. Hoare, and David Parnas. There is extensive debate about what SE is, who qualifies as a SE, who sets the standards, etc.

testing Adsense

2005-12-05T07:11:00.000-08:00

For a fresher looking for a job...

2005-12-05T06:35:00.000-08:00

http://www.chetanas.com/jobs/index/fresherjobs.html ( fresher jobs)

http://www.chetanas.com/jobs/index/experiencedjobs.html (experienced jobs)

http://www.chetanas.com/jobs/index/walkinindex.html Walk In Information

http://www.chetanas.com/papers/index/index.html Question papers ..

More fresher jobs ..

http://www.jobsassist.com/jobs/

http://www.jobsahead.com/search/searchresult.html?roles=47;cat=1;from=browse

http://www.freshersworld.com/jobs/displayjob.asp?fwid=1949

http://www.freshersworld.com/jobs/catjobs.asp?cat=Software (this one is important and good )

http://www.123oye.com/jobnet/fresher-jobs.htm

http://www.coolinterview.com/ (Interview questions )

http://www.vyomworld.com/placementpapers/ (Previous papers of different companies)

Rules for happy life ..

2005-12-05T06:28:00.000-08:00

--> Winners are ordinary people with extraordinary determination

--> Watch your thoughts; they become your words.
Watch your words; they become your actions.
Watch your actions they become your habits.
Watch your habits; they become your character.
Watch your character for it will become your destiny.

--> When you are sorrowful, look again in your heart and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.

--> Rules for a happy life ..

1. Free your heart from hatred - Forgive.
2. Free your mind from worries - Most never happen.
3. Live simply and appreciate what you have.
4. Give more.
5. Expect less.

keep smiling :D

2005-12-05T06:02:00.000-08:00

Guide in buying Digital Camera ...

2005-11-24T21:28:00.000-08:00

I have been doing a lot of analysis about digcams past few days .. since I am planning to buy one .. and here is some important colclusions and information ..

First of all some websites which are worth visiting ...

http://www.dpreview.com (very well organised)

http://www.photoxels.com/buyersGuide.html ( A must visit if you are a first time buyer .. the classification into user categories is the best part .. and the conclusion he gives in the review for each cam is simple awesome)

http://www.steves-digicams.com/ (The reviews in this site are used by many other sites)

http://www.myproductadvisor.com/mpa/camera/inputSummary.do ( A good product recommendation site)

http://www.deals2buy.com/ ( This site is to check out for some latest deals on cams)

http://dealnews.com/categories/Electronics/Cameras/Digital-Cameras/168.html (This is another site which puts up some latest good deals .. and it intimates via email also .. it is very good)

Murphy's laws

2005-11-24T21:22:00.000-08:00

Murphy's Laws

Murphy's Original Law
If there are two or more ways to do something, and one of those ways can result in a catastrophe, then someone will do it.

Murphy's Law
If anything can go wrong -- it will.

Murphy's First Corollary
Left to themselves, things tend to go from bad to worse.

Murphy's Second Corollary
It is impossible to make anything foolproof because fools are so ingenious.

Quantized Revision of Murphy's Law
Everything goes wrong all at once.

Murphy's Constant
Matter will be damaged in direct proportion to its value.

The Murphy Philosophy
Smile... tomorrow will be worse.

I found this at http://asankhaya.blogspot.com

NOT ALWAYS !! ;) … + … LUCKY ESCAPE

2005-07-25T05:49:00.000-07:00

I was sitting in the bus station waiting for my bus and there was 15 mins still for my bus to arrive. I was sitting in a bench and there was no one next to me. A girl with a bag and stood at the other end of the bench. I noticed that she was hesitating to sit probably because I am a young handsome guy ( :) ) and how can a typical Andhra girl sit next to me !!. Till this point I have not observed how she looked. I moved completely to one end of the bench to give room for her to sit! But I was afraid because I have to be careful with girls .. somehow I gel very easily with them !! :p .. so did not look at her and pretended as if I did not notice her at all ;) .. now finally she sat down after sometime. Later I noticed that she was actually in some hurry and was searching for her bus !! .. I looked at her .. but hesitated to keluku … she got up roamed here and there and was looking tensed .. still I thought I should not interfere .. but my conscience was telling me to ask her what the problem was and there was this other force telling me not to interfere with girl’s issues.

Finally when I saw her getting disturbed, I asked her what happened.She said she was looking for her bus and is not able to find it. It was 7 25 pm when I asked her and the departure time written on the ticket was 7 30 pm so she had little time. I looked at the ticket there was some number written on it and there was no bus there with that number. I had a heavy luggage so I could not ask anyone also. I calmed down, thought for a while saw a Jubilee bus white in colour. The destination written on this girl’s ticket was JBS. I thought this must be it so asked her to go and ask the conductor she went and came back running saying that was the bus and thanks a lot. Finally realized that she was confusing the “service number” of the bus to “the registration number” :)) .. so.. there ended the story she was very happy with a broad smile. Looked like some Engineering student. She got in the bus and immediately the bus moved. So girls are NOT ALWAYS dangerous ;).

In the night when I was going in my bus, I saw a white bus had gone out of the track and is lying on the road side in a position that seems to have hit a lorry!. For a moment I was shocked to see it. The face of the girl whom I helped in getting into the bus flashed in front of me. I felt it was the same bus she got in and it turned into a reality when someone came hurrying, stopped our bus and said that the 7:30 service bus has gone out of the track when trying to escape from a lorry. I went blank. I thought had I not helped her she would have missed the bus and be safe at some place in Bangalore, don’t know what must have happened now.

Then the words that came were a huge sigh of relief. The bus did not have even a single scratch. It just went into the bushes when the driver tried to escape the lorry. I thanked God for it. Otherwise I don’t know what my reaction would have been!. There were 8 seats empty in our bus ( that’s what the conductor told while there were more in reality) and 8 passengers from that bus came into our bus. I was waiting too see that girl but she never came. I was happy that at least she was safe and would somehow get to her place. That was a real LUCKY ESCAPE.

AN EYE-OPENER ( .... BEWARE OF STRANGERS)

2005-07-22T16:56:00.000-07:00

July 21 , 5 pm : I had a decently peaceful exit from the paying guest accommodation when the owner has agreed for the replacement of my place with a friend of mine and has paid back my advance. I took an auto to vivek nagar, which was within the mininum auto fare, approximately 1.5 km from the PG. I was waiting for the bus which goes to Majestic, the interstate bus station. The bus has arrived I was carrying 4 bags, and was struggling to get into the bus when the conductor came to my help. I got into the bus and sat in one end of the bus so that my bags wont disturb the normal movement in the bus.

6:10 pm: I got down and was heading towards the platform where my bus was supposed to arrive at 7 : 45 pm. After struggling through the overhead bridge, I reached the place I was supposed to wait. I had 1.5 hrs more and I was sitting watching at different people come and go. I had a lot of luggage, so could not even stroll. It was a hard bench where two persons can sit.

6:20 pm: An elderly person comes and sits beside me. A coolie brings his luggage and placed it next to him. He asked the coolie to wait and place it in the bus when it arrives. I was very hungry since I did not have proper lunch. I asked him to look after my luggage for 2 mins and went to a nearby stall to get something. Two persons were sitting at the shop. I asked how much the bananas cost. “3 each” said the shopkeeper. I asked give 2 for 5 rupees. Immediately, one said “No” the other said “Ok take”. J . They looked at each others face in embarrassment and one guy pulled out two bananas and gave them to me. I came back to my waiting place.

6:30 pm: The Garuda ( a Volvo bus of APSRTC which is heavier and faster ) arrives and the luggage was put in the bus, the old man leaves.

6:45 pm: A person of age around 35 years comes and sits beside me, closer than one would expect a stranger to sit. He was neatly dressed, his perfume was strong enough to aromatize his surroundings. He enquired if I am going to Hyderabad. I said “yes” and asked “what about you?”. He replied “Ya, I am also going to Hyderabad”. He also asked where I stay in Hyderabad and at what time was my bus. Then he was staring here and there, I did not encourage him much. After sometime, he was staring at my luggage. There was a tag that the AIR SAHARA has put to my bags when I was going to Bangalore from Hyderabad, and it was hard so I did not pull it. He was looking closely at it. In 5 mins, he gets up and leaves, stands here and there for sometime and vanished out of my sight. I smelled something wrong, but since he has left, I did not bother much about him.

6:55 pm: Another person who is also of the same age group as the previous person came and sat beside me. Just like the previous one, this person was also neatly dressed and had some perfume put on. He stared asking details, which place, what time is the bus, where I work. He said his brother works in a software company and has come to Bangalore meet him. He also enquired about how much I earn, I was getting suspicious. A person with a small handbag comes and leans over me and speaks to this person sitting besides me. He said “Sir, I have some costly sarees, pure silk from kanchipuram, I want to sell them, I will give at a less price, please have a look at them”. I said I am not interested and the person beside me said “What do we do with sarees, not interested”. Then he said to me “This fellow must have stolen them from somewhere and he is trying to sell them at some or the other price”. I smiled at him, nodding in agreement.

Then the person next to me said “I am into clothes business, I work at Chandana Brothers in Hyderabad”. I was surprised, wow then he must have a very good idea of the sarees and all.

This person with the bag comes again, asks to atleast see them once. Then the person next to me said “Lets see, if they are good, I can sell them at my shop and get some good profit”. The person opened the bag and there were around 6 sarees in it. He gave it to the person sitting with me. He took the saree and started biting it and was doing all kind of testing, he was looking like a very experienced person in that field. The person selling shouted “Arey sir, what are u doing? Don’t spoil my sarees”. Then he replied “I am into clothes business.. don’t worry” .. then he said “Oh .. then u must be knowing things better .. ok go ahead”. He was doing some tests and said to me “ This seems to be original zari .. if one keeps this saree for some years and sell it ,it will be as costly as the gold at that time is, in our shop(chandana) this saree will be around 13k .. if this fellow gives it for 4-5 K it is a very good bet, I can get around 5K profit on each saree .. but who will carry so much money, I only have 5k right now ” .. he showed me his purse .. he was having some 500 rupee notes

He started bargaining, the seller was going here and there coming back with a new price each time lesser than the previous one. He finally came down to 5k a saree. The person with me asked “Do one thing .. can you come to Hyderabad along with me .. I will buy all your sarees and give you the money on the spot” .. he replied “sir .. if you want take it now .. I wont come here and there .. I am also into business, but since we are in losses, I am compelled to sell it at a lower price otherwise each one will not be less than 13k”.

Then he goes somewhere and comes back again telling “sir, my bus is going if you want them tell me, I will give all of them at 5k each” .. the person next to me was telling to me “arey .. this is a very good opportunity .. if I had money I would have bought all of them” .. then a new person enters .. some stranger again .. he comes and sees the saree that the stranger1 was testing .. says “what sir some marriage at home?. . you seem to be buying sarees .. that too costly ones .. I recently bought them for my daughters marriage.” … then stranger1 replied “yes sir .. this fellow is selling them .. seems to have robbed them from somewhere, he is selling them at a very low price” .. stranger2 replied in excitement .. “Is it .. that is really great .. it is a very nice opportunity to make some money and he too took out some money around 5k” … they both decided lets take one saree each and they called that fellow who was still making rounds here and there. They said “we will take one each, give at 4k”. He took out two sarees and they hurried to pick a good colour. Then that seller replied “what .. only 2 ? .. no sir .. if you want all of them tell me .. or else leave me”. All this I was watching with a dull face .. I was hungry. I was just looking how greedy people can be .. to the extent of buying things from strangers at 4k !. The stanger2 asked for a rupee coin to conduct more tests. “They were worried, if they had some more money, it would have been great ..bolke”.

Then stanger1 asked if you have some money, please I will return it to you as soon as I get down at Hyderabad, you just come to our shop with the saree and I shall return you. I said I have only 100 bucks and moreover I am not at all interested in such things. Then he said .. “oh .. no .. do you atleast have some ATM card ..” that struck some cords in me .. I started being cautious about these people .. “I replied .. no I don’t have any cards and stuff” … now I was not even watching at what they are doing .. then I recollected .. first .. salary .. then money .. then ATM cards .. that is too much .. something is seriously wrong .. I wore a serious face and was on the verge of getting furious.

They both spoke to each other, “come on lets see if that fellow agrees for 4k” and they went towards that seller and they vanished among the buses. The series of events flashed in front of me .. 4 strangers .. 1 person looking at me .. then one guy coming and getting closer to me .. telling he was is clothing business .. then projecting the saree and a very good bet to make some quick money .. then one more person coming and deciding to buy it in 2 mins .. then they all vanishing in one go …

7:15 pm: I could see all the events to be linked up .. I was handicapped because of huge luggage .. I could not move around here and there .. otherwise I wanted to watch all of them together. I was waiting and ……….there comes the climax .. all the actors (seller followed by stranger1 and stranger2 and the person who was staring) one after the other move together out of the bus stand and all gather at some place.

For a moment ..I was not able to compile all that was going on .. I was happy that I did not fall in their trap and the words that my elders keep telling me echoed .. “Don’t tell personal things to strangers .. keep away from strangers” .. I always thought that they are over cautious .. why would someone come and ask me my details. And this event was an eye-opener. People can come and ask what your salary is, your ATM cards. So, now on be careful with the strangers and don’t go for tempting things like quick money. After all there is nothing called FREE LUNCH.

Patience pays !!

2005-06-03T23:55:00.000-07:00

I have been observing the attitute of my prof since 6 months .. initially he was very irritated towards me .. not happy with whatever I do .. did not have faith in me .. that I was working well .. etc .. but what could I do !! .. i was working .. I tried to improve .. and did whatever I can do .. and the most important thing was that ..even though all the people around me were abusing him .. and were saying that is how he is etc! .. I remained silent and unperturbed .. telling myself that is all for me !! .. finally .. recently .. i have noticed that he started being a bit calm and composed .. now he doesnt shout saying .. "this is not how it has to be done" .. "you are still not getting what I want to say " .. etc .. he seems to have finally realised that .. it was not my mistake .. and I have done all I could do ..

First Post in the First Blog

2005-05-27T22:52:00.000-07:00

This is my first post ... I have started bolgging to keep track of how I am utilising time ... most of the time I do things which I forget often .. so after sometime when I look back and try to recollect what I have done! .. NOTHING !! .. no no .. I have been working .. but what ?!! .. so this is a result of that .. an effort to answer such questions myself .. confidently ..