We Are Not Humans Any More !!

How can we be humans with all this cruelty, prejudice, hatred and above all the indifference, the feeling that as long as we are not affected it’s OK? It really amazes me to see all the inhuman brutality by humans on other humans; it makes me wonder whether this is the same kid with the sparkling eye's and the innocent smile.

How can he grow up to be so indifferent, to inflict so much pain, to kill without a blink of an eye, where did we go wrong. Is it the careless upbringing, the biased society or the huge difference in financial wealth. We can blame the criminal politics, the systematic religious vote banking, and the conceited caste system.

It really baffles me how men can kill a fellow human being for such simple things like a traffic brawl to a property border dispute. How religion which is supposed to bring discipline, unity, promote kindness is misinterpreted to take lives. We have to surrender to the universal conclusion that all religions are good by principle but it is the follower who takes advantage, who misinterprets and comes into his own selfish conclusions. Have you heard of any religion preaching ethnic cleansing or any society impartially subjugating a sect, caste or creed.

Humans have killed more humans than tobacco, reckless driving, coronary diseases, malignant cancers and hungry stomachs combined. And we sit in front of our LCD screens, flickering picture tube screens, tilting computer screens and criticize and advocate breast cancer campaigns, anti tobacco advertisements and promote safe driving. Before all this we have to educate humans, nurture kindness not policing, not screening and not even useless debating. We have to promote compassion, explain empathy and bring up universal love.

We don't want radical preachers telling us whom to hate, whom to subjugate, whom to rent our properties, where to teach our children and even what to think. Let us wake up to the realities of life, the stark naked authenticity's of everyday living. Let us not be stopped by the sanctimonious grin of the better followers, and the derogating comments of the true believers. Wake up people, let us live us humans for a change.

Will We be Ever Happy?

What is happiness, this like the question who am I is very flexible and vague. What makes you happy one day doesn't even bother you another day. Have you ever thought about it, being happy is something everyone aims at and never achieves. Some chart happiness through money, others through love, some through loneliness and even some through pain.

We have always been unhappy from the time you remember as far as you can. No iam not being pessimistic, at every point of time we have felt unhappy and believed a moment before that was bliss. When we were in school unhappiness came in the form of class tests, rude teachers, brawling bullies and continuous classes. The when the schools were over you look back and say “wow it was so great, the classes were so fun, no tension at alll bindaaaz."

Then the adventurous, loafing around college era started, when the HOD was a terror, attendance was always in short, you never got enough sleep, always short of money and missed school life like never before. You just want to be from all these and start earning on your own. Once its over you look back and cherish bunking classes, snacks at the canteen, the happening birthday parties, the occasionally adventurous night life and even you feel bad about missing your enigmatic teachers. Hehehhe Even today i delivered this line " oh college life what a life it was macha"

Then finally after getting a job and receiving the first salary, you feel independent but never content. This is something we should be taught from an early life, to be content with what we have, never compare and conclude on silly materialistic possessions. Then the job becomes monotonous, it becomes boring, you feel burdened and what not, the vanishing elixir called happiness is not even there. Then your next aim is for a better job, a higher position a bigger designation the list is unending and the money never becomes sufficient. Then when you get a better job then you want to settle down, marry start a family the next hunt for happiness begins there.

This never ends then your aim is for a child, then more, better job, Child's education, children's marriage bigger house, wealth and the list keeps going. You always feel that you were happy on an earlier day (like i always feel i was thinner hehehhe) it’s a vicious circle. The one fine day you are diagnosed with surpluses and deficiencies in your blood, your pump house is blocked and need repairs, your legs are weaker and can’t walk like before, the list can be as creative as it can get.

This is the synopsis of most of our lives, in search of happiness and contentment we keep dragging ourselves in the rat race. No this is not meant to be the half empty glass post. What iam trying to say here is that happiness is not in achieving landmark goals and ticking away the to do lists. It is in the small small moments in life, the ones which might not even last a minute but leaves you happy for a long while. The feel of gushing wind in you hair when driving along lonely road (not possible in Dubai) with you favourite music playing along. The funny smile of a child gazing through window of a car struck in traffic. The bakraas and prangs that you play on your friends, the delicious snacks that you savor with a blink of an eye. The list can get more and more cheesy and ridiculous.

Find happiness in the least expected places, look optimistic even when the whole world is crumbling, stay positive when the biggest companies are dying and be happy every moment. Do what your heart says, you might not have this moment tomorrow, you might not be this fortunate next week. Take the long walks you always wanted to, call up those long lost friends, shuffle through the old album and laugh at your self (my favorite).

P.S I know this post sounds very weird, just wait and see what i have to write next, its a complete paradigm shift.

What is NEWS ?

What is news, when there are 215 news channels and 97 more news channels in various levels of approval, this becomes a very interesting question. All these many TV journos, reporters and camera men vying for anything that's sounds spooky, interesting, disastrous, scandalous or even mundane. They are just looking for anything that can make the TRP graph climb upwards.

In this hunt for news ethics, empathy and compassion becomes irrelevant. The rat race becomes so stressful that some of them create their own news to keep up the pace. They create their own masala and mix it on anything they think can make some heads turn.

Like one of my good friend said if you switch to Aaj Tak it will look like the world is going to end and there is so much crime and corruption all around. And then you come outside life was as it was slow, steady and uneventful as usual. They are responsible for lot of panic and hysteria on many normal circumstances. i think someone should reeducate them on what is news and whats not. Like today there was too much buzz on this situation where the SDM (for the uninitiated the Oscar winning Slum Dog Millionaire) child stars father slapped him for not giving an interview. And all of a sudden you see people discussing it with panels and calling in experts ranging from child psychologists to forensic doctors to human rights activists to get expert reviews. Last heard someone approached Sreeshanth for a comparative analysis with the slap he got and how he would react in such a situation lol.

I know how difficult it can be to find news when me the obsessive blogger with 2+1 readers are finding it difficult to find topics to write on. But there should be some self respect on giving publicity for the unnecessary. It wont be late before these people start placing control centers in each localities for identifying ordinary things that can be made into an issue any time.

I don't deny the fact that they have been doing an excellent job off late reporting on issues of national and international significance. i really appreciate on the minute to minute update on the Mumbai attack and the way they have handled the Oscarmania.

Iam pretty sure many of you would have felt the irrelevance of some flash news or some major cover story that was broadcasted recently. I dont expect any of you to comment but if you do it could be interesting lol.

P.S The word news was derived by joining the first letter of north,east,west and south.

Generation Gap a New Perspective

This thought has been lingering in my mind for quite some time, especially when you hear things like "When i was of your age i used to study under the street lights" "I had only two pairs of clothes when i was in school" "i used to walk 5 Kms to school everyday". It’s true some of them might sound really exaggerated and impossible for us to practise today.

The main emphases of these conversations are to let you know that you are so lucky to have all these materialistic possessions and to avoid day to day struggles. These are generally followed by statements like “These youth of today have no manners, respect, and value for money or any inappropriate character suitable to the situation"

I know iam at the other end of being youth and my appearance may not look youthful lol at most but even then iam lectured regularly by strangers and family alike like mentioned earlier. Being on the other side of youth I and my friends have these regular discussions like "My brother, Cousine etc. Don't have any value for money, they don't have any responsibility, he doesn't spend any time studying" (look who's talking). This is a vicious circle and at some point of time every generation has felt superior to the later ones in terms of character, discipline and fashion (yes i don't find the new generation dressing cool and classy)

There was a funny incident when my cousine in blore got a surprise visit from my self righteous uncles and had been fortunate to get a class on why he should not ride a rickshaw to college which is 2 Km away citing their struggle in youth. But this young man was smart enough to ask them why they are not walking to places like their fathers and uncles used to. (It might not sound funny unless you know of this legendary walk made by my great grandfathers for distances ranging from 50-100 km taking weeks and months together) .

So practices, discipline and characters tend to adopt as and when necessary. I had planned to write about what i or my generation preachers would be telling my children and grand children in these situations. It might sound something like " you know when i was of your age i did not have Wimax connection for browsing" or "you are lucky enough to have an iphone in 2 std when i got my first mobile after degree" or " i didn't even have an original branded watch and i used to wear fake Montblanc's heheheh (yes its fake) " or some o us might be preposterous enough to lie that " when i was of your age i used to walk to school 5 kms everyday" heheheh.

But i guess as we say necessity is the mother of all inventions we might come up with some really compassionate and empathetic examples to guarantee discipline when the need arises.

P.S This dosen't give any of my mischievous and adventurous cousins, brothers and younger friends reason to ridicule my lectures and shrug it of as advices of a self styled hypocrite. :)

Now What !!

Now that Slum dog has maxed the Oscars and we have got out share of the pie, what next. We also saw our national prodigy performing live for the crème de la crème of Hollywood and being acknowledged for that.

I know it will be followed by all the domestic recognitions and praises “we always knew you would make it “, “Resul is such a talented and handsome guy” “India has truly gone international now”. We will have the ardent AR Rahman fans chanting “AR Rahman Ki JAI” and saying things like if Ar Rahman didn’t get it this time I would have taken my life lol. Like all proud Indians iam happy for our achievements and recognition.

But did we need an English Director and an English Adaptation of an Indian story to recognize our talents. Iam pretty sure many of you were unaware of Mr. Pookutty a day before and would have gone hysteric if any one would criticize you on your ignorance with this regard. We are a set of people waiting for someone to tell us whom we should respect, whom to ignore and even whom to follow. Iam pretty sure there wil be an exodus of youth to study Musical Mixing and other similar courses from now. Mr. Resuls Alumni will have an increase in applications, recommendations and recognition after this.

But we have to remember one thing Slum Dog is only as Indian as a McDonald's veggie burger or as English as Chicken Butter masala (food always can make good examples). Like the potato, masala and workers, the cast, crew and score is Indian. But the recognition, revenue and acceptance is foreign. Yes the revenue is important as it has already crossed the $ 100 million mark and the adopted casts from the slums have got pittance compared to that.

I know it celebrates the optimistic nature of Indian slum dwellers and the slum dog name is meant to be a synonym for underdog but it really hurts to know that what we couldn't’t do in many years has been achieved by the director in a year. It is not that the story of the movie will bring any reprieve to the slum dwellers and make the producers philanthropic enough to donate a part of the money to rebuild torn lives.

I won’t be surprised if this movie will revive an affinity towards Indian culture and we will have to look foreward to Hollywood heavy weights starring in Indian remakes and originals. What if Sholay is remade with Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise with Angelina Jolie playing the female cast and the movie is renamed to Shaolin (can attract Chinese viewers too) lol.

I would love to see Will Smith playing SRK in a DDLJ remake with Salma Hayek (the rain dance will be something I look forward to heheheh). Even we can see mythological and historical Indian characters coming to life in Hollywood studios, what about one more remake on Asoka's life or maybe even a new Bhagath Singh (Not meant to hurt antibody's patriotic feelings).

One thing iam sure is that the flash back wont have Brad Pitts younger version jumping into shit holes lol and hopefully we wont have to see them experimenting with Anu malik for a change in perspective lol.

P.S I hope Resul wont come down to Gods own country and start appearing in Mattress and Sandal advertisements hehehe

Our Man @ Oscar Mr. Pookutty ! !

I have always advocated the superiority of Malayalees (aka malabaris) in many creative fields including, art, literature and movie direction. My theory is looking more promising than ever as Mr. Resul Pookutty is being nominated for the much awaited Oscars. Hopefully by the time you read this post we will know whether he has made it or not.

I know many of you cant digest a malabari winning an Oscar and that too the first among any Indian to win it. Mr. pookutty a Bsc graduate hailing from Vilakupara, about 50 km from the Kerala capital did his specialisation in sync sound recording or on-location recording from the prestigious FTII, Pune. Mr. Resul has had a very unceremonious career for the last 13 years doing many films which didn't even see commercial success.

Resul, 36, the youngest of eight children has been nominated for the best sound design for the highly debated Slum Dog Millionnaire at the 81st Academy Awards Ceremony. He has already proven his mettle for the same score at BAFTA the Britsh Oscars.

When the whole country is fascinated by the Nomination for AR Rahman we have forgotten this underdog. It is not that i have anything against the Musical genius from the south, it has been quashed by the aggressive sycophancy exhibited by other Better Fans. The extend of admiration goes from detailed analysis of background music to making a mockery of it by singing along with it lol. I believe Mr. Resul Pookutty and i have this in common,about changing his name but ignored due to the effort involved lol.

So lets whole heartily wish that Resul is lucky enough to hoist the black,ugly, naked statue. And this prayer goes to our own genius Mr. Rahman.

Adios

Tyre Changing: An Ordeal

The day I always dreaded came today without any notice and warning. If the fear of tyre changing had a name it will be called tyrophobia (can’t come up with anything else). As usual my loathing towards anything involving manual labour and physical effort is legendary. It can go into the extend of not taking the initiative in regular exercise to not cutting toe nails because it involves bending, crouching and picking up the after effects.

My worst nightmare came true when we earnestly went out after a long sweet slumber for driving to the nearest restaurant (main hobby) for lunch. I have to make a confession at this point, I have been relatively late in honing my driving skills and getting a certified licence to drive. As far as I remember I was illiterate in this basic skill as late as my degree final year (yes I went to college tooo…). I was the pillion rider and front seat critic for many of my unfortunate friends. There are some really hilarious stories involving knocking down water pumbs to endangering human lives in the pursuit of this skill.
Sorry for drifting from the content, ok I cam out to see that the tyres were as flat as my abs (lol) and there was no chance of moving the vehicle. We compromised our eatery joint and had something meagre taking into consideration the impending exercise. I opened sections of my car boot which I never knew existed and was happy to find that all the weapons involved like jacky (I don’t know the spelling and spell check was of no help), spanner, screw drivers and above all a spare tyre.

We got into action as soon as possible, set the jacky and started turning the lever to start the levitation process. It felt good initially but the cranky lever has this unusual way of falling of the jacky after every few rotations. I had to slouch on the road and continue my effort despite of the interruptions, the car started lifting of the floor and our first step felt successful. We looked at each other like the battle was half won unknown to the later ordeal.

The Nut for removing the tyres is concealed with some cover which is clipped into the wheels like they were never apart. This cover was so difficult to remove and we had to involve additional services of a coin, ball point pen, screw driver and lot of patience. This took us agood 10 minuted and we where already loosing patience. The exposed nut bolt gave us so much relief and we waited no longer to start the next process.
The Nut bolt were so tight that despite of my weight on the spanner (which is literally heavy enough to stumble any body) I literally jumped on it and to comfort me my friend who is a serious competitor to my physical excess also tried his best. I think the tyre took sympathy on us and strted undoing with cacking noises. By the time we removed all the four nuts we had digested what we had for lunch. Removing was the major part and replacing the tyre was not so laborious.
One lesson learned from this is that iam really bad with basic things like this and needs lot of improvement, Machines are invented for a reason and that is called laziness cultivation. As a precautionary measure I have checked all the other tyres for fault and fixed the faulty one with immediate effect.

P.S The credit for a successful tyre change goes to my friend who is also a popular tyre reseller and a serial entrepreneur with lot of grandiose dreams. Tyrophobia is fear of cheese, unlike my assumptions. If I was the only one left in the world and a tyre punchered, I would rather walk than take all the effort lol.

Memories Of What I Remember & Why ?

I have forgotten twice on what I had planned to write on and hence opted Memory, Memories and the tricks it play on us. It is very strange if you think of what u remember and what u tend to forget. Whose name we successfully relate with faces and whose we fail to recollect.
I have always been fascinated by the way our brain works in storing these data. We remember something that happened 10 years ago yet don’t know about what dress we wore last week. It is like a selective amnesia, but the only difference is that we don’t have control on what to keep and what not to.
What is the oldest memory you have, do you remember the class teacher you had in kindergarten or the annoying boy/girl who sat next to you in 2nd Std. I don’t, remember anything so old, is it just me or a common phenomena.
We all have this Ghajini syndrome but the only difference is that the time may wary (5 Minutes) shorter or longer and we also don’t have private jets and Kalpana on our side lol. Have you had this feeling when you hear the occasional humming of an old song or an odd smell reminding of you some past events? In our school (aka pvs) in 8th /9th and 10th standard we had this warden who played this same cassette in luud speakers every day at 5:00 Am to wake us up (yes i was spoiled by comfort and useless rituals). It was from an AR Rahman block buster called Sapnay (Minsarakanavu) and even now when I hear that song on radio I get this yawning and sleepy sleepy feeling out of the blue.
But a fading memory is a boon in disguise, what if you remembered everything that has happened to you both good and bad. What if you can’t get over a brawl, argument at home, guilt etc? We are made like this for a reason may be the art of forgetting meant us some relief on forgetting what we had to forget. I couldn’t dare think of a situation where you can forget the loss of a dear one, a true friend, a spouse. We have solutions for forgetting day to day events like reminders, to do lists, wake up calls etc. Some of us got so dependant on these that you might not be surprised to find people putting reminders for natures call hehehe.
So if this post turns out to be really boring, I wish the systematic amnesia works out faster in making you remember that I had written crap like this ever.

Namashkar

Marriageable Age, a Necessary Argument !!!

The biggest advantage of a blog is that it gives you the freedom to opt the topic you consider important and socially enlightening.

There are several reasons why i have chosen this topic for discussion and these arguments are something many of my peers under pressure can accept to. The topic has its on benefits and short falls like the fact that iam/ iam not married from the reader’s perspective, reassuring some on their early decision, ridiculing others and yet coming into a consensus on what can be the ideal solution.

Like always before starting this topic i googled to find out the statutory age for marriage world over. You will be surprised to find that India along with China and Singapore have the minimum age set at 21 and 18 (21 & 20 for China) for Male and Female, which is considered to be relatively late compared to European, American and MENA region. Check out this link and you will be surprised to find that the minimum age for marriage in much pro development demography's criticizing our occasionally illegal child marriages are far below us. Http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marriageable_age But there is a relief news to all those youngsters who cant wait to get married and start over, the Indian law commission has presented a recommendation for bringing down marriageable age for both male and female to 18.

Now personal insight into this highly debatable topic will look very emotional and empathetic to many of you. It gets really irritating when everyone you have grown up with guys and gals are rushing to get married like dooms day is approaching in the horizon (some people call this peer pressure). And when your decision to delay the nuptial ceremony makes you look like a looser and some consider it as a curtain to shield my ability to find an appropriate match.

What does marriage mean to me? I won’t dramatize the concept with statements like meeting of hearts, actualising what was decided in heavens or plagiarize any famous dialogue from bollywood tear jerkers. Neither can it be as defined by dictionaries as the state of being a married couple voluntarily joined for life (or until divorce). It is a mutual agreement to tolerate each others tantrums and fallacies until a period it becomes too unbearable to continue. I know it sounds too scientific and intelligenzia type, but that is what i have brought it down to.

So what is my recommendation? Since i have crossed the mandatory marriageable age by a considerable time (no i won’t give figures to work out an age) i have to make a suggestion that will make me in a safe position for some more years. I would consider 28 as a reasonable age at which an individual can be worldly wise (hopefully) to accept the responsibilities involved in an espousal contract. Now you can at least understand that iam couple of years short of the deadline. And for females i would recommend 24 to be an ideal age taking into consideration various maternal, materialistic and spiritual reasons into consideration.

Everyone has personal landmarks to achieve before committing like financial independence, identifying an appropriate life partner, waiting for the mesmerising love at first sight and yet some grandiose ones like visiting five continents. The one who commented on such an exhaustive plan called up the next day to inform about his impending wedding next week. He consoled himself by running across the atlas looking at each continent with utmost dedication. I wont expose my to do list this time because one of you may question me on it later.

I have personal reasons like an anxious cousine threatening to overtake me in the vicious circle if i dont comply sooner or later, this put together with central department argument on delaying my chance till the waiting list gets cleared up. Iam not surrendering my ego and beleifs in front of any impending threats.

P.S. The conclusions i have arrived at have not been influenced by any past experiences like the greeting card fiasco or my escapade involving a helmet chase scene. It is true that i have had limited success with romance and running aound trees and i blame it on lack of availability of resources (both physical and materialistic) and opportunities to meet ideal candidaites.

Adios

Me, My Friends, Google and Our Stories

I know the title is kinda odd, like we started the site with Larry and Brin. It is meant to look cool, so if u dont find it that way read it back wards, just kiddin.

No i am not going to write about how google has changed my life and the impact of googling on generation next. iam actually tembted to write some economics, figures and percentages trying to let you now that i have read the book " The Google Story". I will spare you all this time, iam trying to downsize my intellectual image (if any existed) to a more candid one.

I will confess myself, like many of you i belong to the PGG (profusive googler club) googling for anything that i see, read, doubt etc. including myself when i come across in the mirror. I know many of you would have done this and unfortnately i come across all these pakistani cricket players, personalities, page 3 heroes etc. when i type in my name expecting to find something good written about me by some secret admirer. Luckily like some of my friends i dont see hen breeds and genus of ducks, when prompted. A small note in between, i have always wanted to change my name, everytime i convice myself i find some good reason to keep it, like not having to get new passports, liscence, credit cards (not like they have anything left in it) etc.

If google comes up with a list of all its funny, whacky and strange search terms, it will surely be a best seller ( atleast ill buy to check whether i have made it). Try searching anything you like, anything you want to ask or any doubt that lingers in your mind, google never lets you down, they always come up with some answer, like "why am i hugry after eating two burgers and 2 large fries ?" lol . Check it out to find what comes out. I have developed this new search hobby wherin i image search for names, feelings, places, terms etc. you will be surprised to find very funny images for some words. Search your name and you will be happy to know that there are other more unfortunate, ugly and hopeless people other than you alive. I know you have searched images for attractive body parts and famous hour glassers, this will just be a different experience. Dont switch off the moderate safe seacrh than you may be surprised to find celebrities (yes exactly what you are thinking) you share names with.

If you pattern a persons google search, you can know what he is thinking, what he is planning and above all what he is ignorant about. I have had this friend who very innocently searched for (keralarailway.com) when asked to book a railway ticket back home and came up with a conclusion that railway dosent have a site. Google is also promoting ignorance in this way.

There will be some real whacky searches done out there, if you have any persona stories, do write in. Iam feeling sleepy and i didnt find any suitable results when i lookd for " How not to sleep when you are writing something boring?"

Salame

Why Valentines Day Should be Banned ?

Before you come into any conclusion please read the whole post and try to understand my justifications and reasons. No i don't belong to any sword flashing Sena inclined on moral cleansing and my half grown beard does not indicate my membership to any Taliban style organisations. Before understanding the argument do not subjugate freedom of opinion even if it is against the common notion held by a generation fascinated by live in relationships and one night flicks.

There are various premises to my argument on prohibiting the v day ranging from logical, argumentative and some suggestive. I don’t know when this valentines day which is a commemoration of St. Valentines love notes he wrote to the jailors daughter started to be interpreted as an occasion to present your new proposal to a damsel or bachelor, renew the missing content of love in the marital contract or restart your search for an unfounded love. There are various explanations to the celebration of V day on Feb 14th every year; i will give you a brief insight on some of them. Some sources say it was a pagan (a group of people believing in religions before Islam, Christianity and Judaism) celebration where men stripped naked, grabbed goat- or dog-skin whips, and spanked young maidens in hopes of increasing their fertility.

According to another popular story, in the third century A.D. Roman Emperor Claudius II, seeking to bolster his army, forbade young men to marry. Valentine, it is said, flouted the ban, performing marriages in secret, for his defiance, valentine was executed in a.d. 270—on February 14. And yet another story goes like this, when st. Valentine was arrested for defying the brutal emperors orders he had many visitors and admirers supporting his act and cause including the jailors daughter, with whom he spoke a lot and passed letters with the sign “from your valentine”. This tradition has promoted it as a day to exchange notes of love and affection to your dear and near ones.

Now what reasons do I have to suggest its abolishment, as an intellectual friend puts it this is a tradition revived by global greeting card manufacturers like Hallmark and Archies to boost their sales and make some windfall gains? This looks like a logical explanation when you look at the benefits, even as the economy is going on a break less roller coaster valentines day sales are expected to generate retail sales of 14.7 $ billion in US alone. So it looks like a large scale propaganda to make money and sell some old unsold cards.

We are from a nation who has so much of love stories in history to adopt as a day and yet we are again trying to ape western culture, which you should understand is inferior to us in this context. We have had a science dedicated to the art of love making thousands of years before the first greeting card or inflated red colour balloon's were invented. We should get inspired from the characters and chapters in our history like Shajahan and Mumtaz, where the grief struck emperor on his loving wives death erected a mausoleum of immense beauty and unheard scale to proclaim his unending love for her. This is a story which has its signature still visible in the form of one of the seven wonders in the world. We could adopt the mythological love story of Shakuntala and Dushyanta for our inspiration to commemorate the day of love. We have an option to opt for the love of mythological love story of Shri Krishna and Radha. If you want a fresh perspective let us choose the love story of prince Salim and Anarkali, the options are unlimited more apt and realistic. All these options have been selected in a positive perspective to celebrate the history of true love.

On a more serious note special days to celebrate love is a cliché evolved in the lines of other celebratory days like anniversary, memorial etc. Any body who has a true love for someone do not need the justification and support of a day to express it, he/she has a whole life time of opportunity left to them for this. These special days are for loveless lovers, husbands, and wives etc to renew their contract of love and to be reminded about their affection and express some truth into it.

If I had an option I could celebrate love on any given day or time, I wouldn’t need or for a matter of fact any true romantic wont need a balloon or a card to express their gratitude and affection. So don’t go by this grandiose marketing plan and express true love any time anywhere, nothing can stop you.

P.S my suggestion to ban V day has got nothing to do with my failure to get a date nor does it have anything to do with my previous mishaps and failed proposals hehehehe. This is purely a suggestive post and any greeting card seller or chocolate shop owner is unhappy about my views, it is purely unintentional. :) :) lol

-Au Revoir

Why Indian Rupee is Falling Against US Dollar when the US Economy is in a Mess ?

I hope at least some of you would have been curious about this topic at some point of time. The whole world is screaming about US economies inefficiencies and evident deficiencies and yet our currency is falling further down against it. And to make the confusion worse we are one among the few markets touted to grow at a healthy rate of 6-7% in 2009 and hence we should have the better side of the bargain. We have a strong domestic demand and have immense potential of growth in all the industries considering the under penetrated market left in the country. So this question drove the researcher in me to analyze the situation and bring it down to the layman understanding.

I know it is a boring topic and will do utmost justice to make it look as interesting as possible. So initially i will put forward some of the basic factors affecting currency valuation

Balance of trade - the difference between the total import and export in the country,Demand for the Currency,Interest rates, Investments in stock markets, Interference from Central bank and Financial Authorities, Political Stability, Economic growth rate, Crude Oil prices etc.

S, o where are we going wrong to get our currency devalued, to analyse this we have to consider the various political and economic situations. The economic meltdown has led to fall in demand and consumption world over resulting in falling imports, exports and demand projections. To emphasize on the impact of meltdown consider the basic indicator of crude oil prices. The crude has fell from an all time high of 150 $ in mid 2008 to a drastic low of 35 $.

So lets come back to our main point, when the crude oil prices fell so much, the currency in which it has been traded world over has got an instant demand and hence the circulation of the currency has widened. Another reason can be that due to the economic meltdown a lot of institutional investors like banks and insurance companies from USA has withdrawn their investment from our stock markets approximately 9 $ billion against the inflow of 2 $ billion so this has led to a negative balance of fund influx. And due to the withdrawal of financial investments from the market the demand for our our currency has also reduced to a large extend.

Adding to the financial factor we have impending elections, brutal terrorist attack, a hostile neighbour and a falling stock indices has created a instable image in the world market. This is compared to the baston of hope and expectations which has risen under the brand name Obama in our comparative market. They have also influxed a total of +1 trillion into the economy as a bailout package which has created further currency circulation. This amount is almost equal to our annual GDP and can further affect our currency negatively.

As a conclusion i will pointout that a falling currency rate can be a boon in disguise because it will help the cause of our struggling exporters by making Indian products cheaper in the world market and hence attractive. The undervalued currency strategy has been followed by economies like japan and China to boost their trade over the years. So we don't have to fret about this at least and believe that everything is for our economies benefit.

tc.

Our Endeavour with Swedish Breakfast

The success behind a successful weekend start with a sumptuous early morning breakfast and a gracious afternoon nap. But when you sleep at 4 AM after a night full of discussions, arguments and movies it becomes really difficult to get up early for the strategic meal. As usual today wasn't different we stumbled from our bed at 10: 45 Am and looked perplexed like being kicked out of a magnificent dream.

We argued for another 15 minutes on the ideal late morning breakfast and upon the revelation that Ikea has reduced its breakfast rate to 4 Dhs we didn't think further. As the breakfast is served only till 11: 30 we dressed up, brushed our teeth's and rushed to the location.

Reaching there we found two counters one with a crowded premier show feel and another relatively deserted one, we opted for the later only to find out shortly that it was meant for lunch. So all the people waiting on the other Que was for our planned breakfast and eventually we became too late for the deal.

We were not ready to give up so out of our necessity we stumbled upon ready made plates of Swedish breakfast "eureka" we didnt think twice and hurried to the counter. When the bar code detector beeped the dishes turned out to be 19 and not 7 as we had seen (first tragedy) so three plates of Swedish breakfast put us back by 57 dhs against the planned 12 dhs (4 X 3). We gathered our nerves and the little self respect left with us and payed up the exhorted bill that was presented to us.

We managed to find an empty table to sit for the three of us in the middle of all the hustle and bustle. We looked both happy and sad at the same time, happy for making it to the breakfast after all the struggle and sad for paying the princely sum for an unknown breakfast.

I was the first one to notice that the dish contained raw slices of fish, uncooked prawns and more slices of fresh salmon. It also included a couple of meat balls, bread with cheese slices, little bit of jam and and some mayonnaise decorated with vegetables and leaves. The dish as a whole was designed very pleasingly to attract any wayward eyes.We started tasting each item separately and had enough of it after the first few bites, it was a disaster to the core, the hurry, the exaggerated rates and finally the exotic tasteless taste.

We looked at each other with our bewildered faces like being pushed out of a running plane without parachutes.Left the whole thing on the table and walked out of the food court like being robbed in the daylight out of our last penny. We learned a big lessonout of this special experience, don't take what you don't know about, you don't know everything like you think you know, if things can go wrong it will and finally everything that is set into a beautiful plate will not be a culinary marvel.

To conclude i am still hungry and have that odd taste lingering in my mouth waiting to come out any time without any notice. Hopefully i will recover from this and nurse my tastebuds back to health in no time.

Namashkar

Luck By Chance, a Review

First things First, i have never written a review for any movie prior to this and this is officially my first shot at it. If there are any wrong terminology or indigestible sentences, blame it on my inexperience.

The movie is Directed by debutant director Zoya Akhtar casting Farhan Akhtar and Konkana sen in the lead roles. So basically it is yet another power packed performance from the Akhtar family, increasing their clout in the industry by the day. It is a relatively short movie spread over 121 minutes.

The movie is unique in its own way criticizing and ridiculing the Bollywood industry on its family casting culture and occasionally punning at leading industry bigwigs. The lead actor has yet again proved that he has got more talent than the industry can handle and the heroine has kept up her power packed performance. It is a movie that has a pleasant flow and doesn't bore you at any point of time. It has a unique mix of a feel good movie crossed with ample emotions a smear of romance and a lot of real life situations.

Apart from the lead actors Rishi kapoor, Hrithik Roshan and Sanjay kapoor has done utmost justice to their roles. Watch out for the cocktail of guest appearances ranging from Amir, King Khan, Small B, John, Kareena, Rani, Akshay, Diya Mirza in real life roles. The not to miss scene is the guest appearence of King Khan and like his answer to the feeling of being the ruling king, my response for the movie is same INSANE, yes insanely good. It is a must watch movie for all Farhan Akhtar fans and a great motivator for going through struggling times.

I don't know how to put stars, but if i had an option i would give 4 stars out of 5. If any of you find the movie boring, your ticket money will be refunded (Joking), please send your complete contact details.

10 Interesting List's that should be Compiled

We are so preoccupied with making lists every day and even more efficient in ensuring that we don't fulfill half the items in them . We have To Do lists, Wish list, Shopping list, exam schedule list, to read lists, to watch lists, to listen lists it can go on and on and on.

Like the value of Pi this is something that can go on and on and yet be unique in its own way. I have had my set of list's and personal adventures with them. Now i have come up with a list of 10 interesting lists that someone should take effort and compile, some are worth trying, some are to be ignored and some are still worth being listed (iam confused) .

There are so many types of lists and there are sites dedicated to listing only lists likehttp://www.oddee.com/ (great blog, must visit). you will be really amazed to find the number of different types of lists


1. 10 Poorest People in the world

Everyone is so obsessed with richness and extravagance and we have eventually ignored the majority class who are generally poor. Iam a self obsessed Forbes and Fortune browser looking for rise and fall of business moguls and royal inheritors. We should really find out who are the poorest people in the world, it will be easer than identifying the rich because the pauper wont have cross holding business structures and fluctuating currencies and stock indices to consider.

2. 10 Things Not to Do
This is something we should practice and perfect for our own sake. We all are familiar with the daily to do lists, but this will be an antonym to our usual cause. I could probably add all those stupid mistakes i keep repeating day after day like dont spill food on my clothes, don't over eat (heheheh) Dont write bullshit. This could really help a lot of us.

3. 10 Movies not to Watch

I have a list of to watch movies every month and i somehow make sure that i cover at least half of it, and as such i go and watch these bullshit movies exaggerated by catchy trailers and start studded promotional campaigns. If i had a choice i will come up with a list of movies not to watch and get people to read this. It could avoid a lot of despair and financial loss which looks like an interesting prospect now.

4. 10 most Happiest People.

This is something a creative journalist should work on and do justice to. I know happiness is a relative feeling which is experienced differently by different people. But it could be useful to learn the secrets of happiness from the leaders in the field. I know this is not a right time to take a census on happiness and might be a difficult task to complete but the prospect of seeing the happiest people are far more motivating.

5. 10 Numbers that can win you a lottery

I know the whole idea sounds absurd, but as per the science of statistics and probability if you look back over any kind of history there are going to be little clumps of irrational occurrences and relationships between events, numbers, characters etc. So if somebody can analyse the wining number for Lexus Raffle draw over the years, iam sure we can come up with the highest probable numbers. Sounds Interesting !!

6. 10 situation when you should keep quiet

This will be more useful than any other lists you have come across ever. If we knew when to speak and when not to, it could really make a difference in most of our relationships, personal, work related etc. This is just a hypothetical option because what we say now might be right right now and wrong some other time (what ?), what i mean to say is that if we can device a complex algorithm based on behavioral tendencies and develop this list, it could possibly avert the next world war or on a day to day basis, you will be smart enough to keep quiet when your girlfriend/wife asks "Do i look fat in this Dress ? "

7. 10 types of Fat Free Junk food.

This is a personal favorite from the junk food fan in me. Why do we have to always blame the poor fast food owners on making high calorie food items concentrating purely on our health benefits. Already it has become so confusing on what to eat and what not to (like i care), whats good for you whats not, what contains carbohydrates and what contains fats. This list will lay all the lists into further more confusion and will give a guilt free reason to gulp on all those sugary drinks. One piece of request to the compilers, please include Black forest pastry and Crispy Creme Donuts to it.

8. 10 Companies who recrited during the Recession.

I think i have been jinxed with the word recession, i cant sleep without putting this word somewhere in my article. When the whole world is discussing layoffs and profit lossess, it will be agood idea to come up with a list of companies who have recruited maximum number of people in this financial turmoil. We could feel good atleast for a while if we knew atleast someone is recruiting.

9. 10 ways not to waste time.

This is dedicated to all the people who spend their valuable time browsing all the possible sites and data on the net during office hours. I know most of us are jobless and we have an easy victim to blame now, recession but that dosent give us the luxury to waste our preious time. so we should come up with a list on how not to waste time which is yet again a waste of time (actually i have run out of ideas, so adding some crap to finish the list)

10. 10 Blogs not to read

This will be a relief for some of you. No my blog wont be listed here because i am taking all the efforts to keep the topics intersting and different from the other . This will be a wake up call for me everyday, to stay away from the list and come up with new interesting things.

Adios

My Obsession with Comments

Why am i so obsessed with seeing comments from readers, is it reassure myself that iam not the only jobless one reading my own blabbering. The only benefit of me checking the comment section of each post again and again is increasing the number of visitors to the blog. But that justification has also been stuffed into the dustbin after one of my geeky computer expert friend explained that one IP will be counted only once in a day.

So why am i looking forward to comments and reviews, i need to be reassured that iam not wasting too much of time worthlessly, interested in getting expert reviews and comments that might help me improve and correct. Basically it could give me a reason to write on and on. So many of you would be thinking thank God if we don't comment this looser will stop this, no it might slow me but nothing can stop me from posting my thoughts and ramblings. I don't care about the content of the comment, disheartening, criticizing, motivating, ridiculing or about the spelling and grammar involved. As long as it has got to do something with the post or its content, i will be happy.

I have read about this street artist who writes a story in a minute about any topic you give him, like that iam interested to write about any topic you give me, it will surely help me avoid a lot of thinking job which iam evidently not good at. So hopefully now atleast some of you will start commenting.

Childhood Ambitions !!!!

This is a rather out of context topic to write on by an amateur blogger specialising in misery and stupid financial advices. Why write on childhood ambitions, is it because i don't have one now or is it because the earlier one's sounds more realistic. This will be a topic many (if google analytics is to be trusted) of you will be able to relate to and empathize on, that early admiration for a wayward skill or sparkling eyes for an exotic profession.

We have changed so much from our bubbling schooldays and grown into these calculated, cynical, sarcastic, hopeless adults specialising in unnecessary skills and useless habits. Some ambitions are funny, some are spiritual, some were creative and still some made it to their goals.

The innocence of childhood made everything look possible and simple, easy to reach, achievable. Everything was possible from world peace to time travel. Like my favourite author and motivational speaker Robin Sharma said " What will the child that once you were think about the adult you have now become ?" the words look simple enough but will keep you pondering on.

If you take a popularity contest i think pilot would top the rank, like many of you mine was too to have that stylish pilots uniform, walking away with pretty stewardess into those cockpits with a zillion controls. But when i grew up the career planner in me found the sector less career growth oriented and the glamour was short lived(actually i was bad in science and my eye sight is not good enough to ride a bicycle heheh). I had a cousin who wanted to be a bullock cart driver because he found the circulating wheels incredible added to the freedom of travelling anywhere. That looks like a realistic career now looking at the investment and availability.

A friend wanted to be a KSRTC (Kerala State Road Transport Company) driver commanding huge buses through uncharted routes. He found the swaying of the bus an art needed to be practiced and made a talent. Now looking at the unquestioned dominance on the road and inpropotional responsibility the career looks lucrative enough to start fresh.

Movies have played a big role in shaping ambitions, like Mr. India would have inspired many of you to be that MAD scientist inventing incredible gizmo's bringing down evil villains. In our land we have had these mind blowing dialogue bashing cops and bureaucrats bringing ministers and villains down to their knees with jaw breaking vocabulary. We have all wanted to be that police commissioner or that District collector threatening chief minsters and humiliating central ministers (looked so real and possible hehehe).

Some of you out there would have had more different and creative ambition's in childhood which would make my plans dwarf like. But our only option to know these are if you share them, so do put in your views and ideas.

Money Saving Ideas for Recession

Over the past 6 months the most commonly used word from Iceland to Australia and the most searched word overtaking Paris Hilton, Obama and Osama is none other than RECESSION. Everyone is obsessed and opinionated on basic concepts like Unemployment to complex theories like economic cycles. Personal opinions with exaggerated figures and mind blowing statistics are the order of the day.

Some people take it to the next level by advising on recession friendly business ideas and dissecting theories floated by world renowned economists. Adding to the confusion and expert ism i have come up with my own list of money saving ideas for recession.

Self Washing

wash your own clothes for a change, mess up yourself with all the detergents and foamy soaps, operating washing machines and fiddling with heavy iron boxes. This cost saving activity has an added benefit of fat burning, you can burn an average of 200 calories. this practice can save you 200-250 dhs per month.

Self Cooking

This is a very adventurous idea and can be advised only for the strong hearted survivors. You will have to cope with eating burned rice and spoiled curries till you gain expertise on cooking edible food. The added benefit for this practice will be the empathy and gratitude you develop towards your Mom for cooking all those delicious meals. Cooking can be a very good hobby for foodaholics (like me and my friends) who have the knack for appreciating good food. Here you can save anything from 400-1,000 dhs depending upon your choice of eateries.

Self Car Washing

I know it is very nice and relaxing to go through the automatic car wash assembly lines, the sprinkling water, gushing foam and thrusting air, it is a beautiful experience. All ardent car lovers will agree with me on this, it is a great feel to wash your own car, its like nursing your own baby, caressing its contours and brushing away minuscule dirt marks, you become one with the car (i know iam over doing it). This belongs to the first category of fat burning with higher chances of calorie destruction (upto 400 Calories) and a cost saving of 100 Dhs. per month.

VOIP Calling

For the dummies on Internet calling VOIP stands for voice over Internet protocol and is the economical version of calling through the net to phones abroad and back home. This method of calling is highly economical if you are ready to forgo the temporary glitches and echoing pleasantries. If you are married or engaged and cant bear the grief of distance then this is a perfect way to blabber sweet nothingness over hours and hours. The average saving can be from 500-2500 depending upon your purpose and duration of flirting. VOIP calling is not legal in UAE and we do not promote using VOIP there .

This might be small individually, but if you can implement all of these you can save a n average 2000-2500 Dhs. per month. This is not rocket science and advanced molecular physics, you don't need a passing blogger's direction to identify this, but the secret is in implementing it. like they say the smallest action is far more powerful than the biggest dream.

Why do I Procrastinate ?

This is a very interesting topic and something very close to my heart. I have finally found something iam really good at "procrastination" ( delaying things), iam so good that i have started this post from last 3 weeks and finally took so much effort to reach your screens. This will be a good post to start with for the new year, when we are looking forward to the future with gloom and despair.

some believe that this has been the biggest factor which has held back humanity from progress and success. I dont know about humanity, but for me it has really played some role, its not that i have not progressed or succeeded (if you consider the progress in weight gain and my success in gluttony). If i had not delayed those early morning jogs or bin ch diet plans, i would have been something else. If i had not delayed my PG plans i would have been a graduate by now (not that it would make a difference in anything). If i had not delayed my post on procrastination, you would have been spared this blabbering, the possibilities are immense.

But iam someone who believes in the theory that everything happens for a reason, that includes my habits and beliefs too. If iam delaying things i think it has had it benefits too at times. But i think it is basically human in nature to delay things, because if everyone did what they said or thought then we will be leaving in a different world. Don't consider this post as something that i have written to drive some sense or intellectually dissect, but as my passing fancy for a usual habit.

So now to make a difference i take the oath against the evil P, with one hand on my chest and the other stuffing the last lonely cookie into my mouth. I £%$£$£ promise myself that i will not procrastinate any more, what ever it is. This oath includes posting on the blog atleast once in a week and trying not to be as boring as this time. As i have taken my first step towards reviving the blog, i expect my readers (1+2) to promise that they will comment on my posts, however silly that maybe and i wont mind if it is more stupid than my useless chatter. This does not promote commenting on any advertisements, for which iam happy to browse myself. Chao

New Year Resolutions

What is so special with new years that we redraw our old plans, reflect on failed goals, chart riskier routes. Is it the revival of hopes and expectations from yet another wasted year (vice verse) or is it just the awakening to passing time. however you put it we always come with a new or a set of new resolutions every year, expecting to full fill the grand plans with a pinch of pessimism in the deepest corners of our minds. Then eventually the pinch mounts and mounts to cloud the goals. So what are these resolutions ? plans to improve on something, plans to remove some habits, plans to acquire some other, materialistic goals,targeting spiritual awakening what and what not.

But this year will be unlike any other, the gloomy financial conditions, continuing international conflicts, first black president in office, alarming rates of global warming, falling crude prices, loosing jobs, in short it looks more grim than merry. But i believe there's nothing like a bad year or a good year it is all in the mind a good idea is always in demand however bad the economy is.
Now back to me and my resolutions, if you haven't made any dont do it, this is for people fascinated with to do lists and living on reminder alarms. I have never made any resolution till now but since i have had 25 new year's without resolutions why not try one with them.

I have still not decided on the number of resolutions will it be 5, 7,10 or unlimited with a clause to add a resolution every other day. As the pinch still tells me iam not gonna achieve even one why not have many, then when i go down on them i will have many excuses tooo. finally i have decided on five which looks like a strong number to bid on.

Loose weight- as long as i have existed i have had this war with the weighing scale which has always been a loosing battle. Every year i put on more and more weight and the bloody step stool with zig zag running numerals always thrust the sword through my heart. now it feels like my weight was ok that year, it was not too bad the other year and it kept on changing. 2008 has been the year of 50 year old bollywood stars trimming down to 6,8, 10 (10 is reserved for Sanjay Dutt) pack abs and putting all the youngsters into a workout frenzy. if you don't feel like reducing now you will have to wait for Boman Iranis dozen pack abs. So i take the oath of reducing my weight before the year 2009 ends (since blog archives ae not easy to access i hop you will forget it by the time i put on more weight)

The second goal for 2009 would be to learn a new language, atleast tit bits or useful words like please, sorry, thank you, etc. the choice of language is not decided yet since i am planning on taking the effort it might as well be Spanish, it has got a special touche to it. so dont be surprised if my next new year post is mixed with Spanish jargon's. This goal looks more realistic because i f iam asked to choose between double burger with cheese and few five letter words in Spanish you know who will win.

Now that i have lost some weight and acquired a new language my next step would be intellectual and possibly a little bit spiritual. I plan to read at least 20 new books in 2009, i have made up my list, i wont bore you with the details. this looks like a more realistic goal given my taste for boring books and unlimited time spend on them. the problem with reading books like writing blogs is the lack of initiative (AKA laziness). So i will be more smart and knowledgeable by the next year end.

The eternal quest for true meaning of life, finding the elixir of life called love can be an interesting entry to the list. Since the marriage season has already started and iam getting cornered by the day, i have to give some thought on the possibility of getting married sooner or later. So the choice is between the fulfilling the family tradition of finding my own choice or accepting the age old practice of arranged marriage. My choice would be to wait for another year as 2009 doesn't add up to a good fadic number and we already have so many gloomy news to await, then why add one more. But if i have to surrender the struggle to give up wont be very evident and earnest. Hopefully i wont have the chance to add a prefix to some poor girls name this year.

One thing iam earnestly looking forward to do in 2009 is to do a sky dive. Ever since a dear friend has completed this task this year and he has started starting his conversation with phrases like "when i was in the aeroplane ready to jump" when i landed after the free fall " i have made up my mind to do it this year. But there are more things than resolution that stops me from jumping out of a sky diving plane like my lightness (antonym).

So now you know that iam above the mandatory weight for sky divers. So first i will reduce my weight, then learn a new language, read some interesting books, escape all marriage proposals and jump out of a plane expecting the parachute to open in time. But even if it doesn't open i will have the benefit of dying in a different way (optimistic to the last heart beat) and it will look good on the tomb stone Born December 6th 1982, Died jumbling out of a plane from 4 kms in the sky.