Welcome to 2009

Do you take new year resolution? What resolution do you plan to take up this year? Is it 'I will eat less this year', 'I will reduce weight', 'I will talk less', 'I will study hard' or something else. Are you wondering why I am asking about your new year resolution this year; maybe this write-up will help you in making a decision.

In India every year floods occur, riots take place, blasts happen. Was 2008 different from this and the answer is NO. This year Bihar and Orissa were hit by floods badly. Many people died. Rail and road transport were disrupted. Relief camps setup, donations given for the flood victims. There is a saying precaution is better than cure. So why not find a solution for the flood problem? Is it just the responsibility of government to find a solution? As a citizen of India don't we have some duties towards our country?

What about the riots that happen on the name of religion or region? Alteast floods are because of nature but communal violence is created by humans. A fight on the name of different religion or region is really bad. Be it the violence against Biharis at Maharastra started the MNS Chief, Raj Thackeray. Or a communal violence at Orissa between Hindu and Christian community after the death of Hindu leader, Swami Lakshmanananda Saraswati. Did a person before getting born select the place or religion of his/her birth? Riots don't do anything good but just spread hatred between people. Also think about those innocent people who lose their life in this violence with no reason. Let's stop fighting with a reason as to where one comes from or which caste s/he belongs. Stop hating someone because you don't like his/her culture. Try learning his/her culture and you will feel that his/her culture is as good as yours. If your food doesn't have spice in it; it wont taste good. Meet people who are from different culture or region and see how interesting your life becomes because of this new person. Look at Bollywood the 3 actors whom most Indians love are muslims – Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan and Salman Khan.

This year bomb blasts at various places in India was also common. Killing innocent people and children. Has mankind become so immoral? After Mumbai blasts on 26/11 everyone said enough is enough. Do people really mean these words? Have the people of India got united? Is an Indian not just ready to make donations for blast victims but also fight against it? For how long do we Indians plan to survive under terror? Remember the saying united we stand, divided we fall. So lets stand united against terror and let it go away far from us. Don't let the sacrifices of Our Indian soldiers go waste. Contribute in the smallest way possible. You don't always need to be on the battle ground to fight.

If you are a technical person, think on how to improve India technically so that in future such cases don't happen. If you are a doctor, treat every patient equally. If you are a lawyer, spread the basic laws related to humanity among common people. If you are a media person, don't hype things; just show the news and let people ponder upon it. Make sure whatever you do, you are not harming humanity. You know the solution so this is a humble request SAVE HUMANITY.

On a lighter note, the sports year for India was really good. Inspite of bomb blasts at Jaipur, IPL was a successful event. In cricket legends like spinner Anil Kumble and ex-captain and batsman Sourav bid adieu to international cricket to let the young guns of cricketers take charge on the sports. India won against Australia, England in the test series. Apart from cricket India also showed its skills in other sports by winning medals in Olympics 2008. Abhinav Bindra won a gold medal for Shooting. Vijender Singh won a Bronze medal in Boxing. Sushil Kumar again won a bronze medal for wrestling. So this year it was good to see new sports person emerging in India.

As such overall for me 2008 was a year of more sad things happening in the country than the good ones. I hope that in year 2009 good things happen more. Atleast we can stop fighting with each other on a reason of culture and place which came to us by birth. What we selected was our profession, the friends we made, the way we want to lead our life. But this also doesn’t give the right to fight with someone. So this year I take a resolution to help and save humanity. Take a resolution to fight against terror in the smallest possible way.

This message is for everyone: "Make India to be remembered as a place where a Catholic lady asks a Sikh to be the Prime Minister of the nation who is sworn by a Muslim President."

At the end, be human which means be good at heart, help others, respect others. Don't fight because it doesn't give any solutions but just create more problems. Hope you will bring a change in the year 2009.

Bomb Blast in India in 2008

· Dec 06, 2008: A bomb blast at Assam injured 9 people.
· Dec 02, 2008: A bomb blast in Assam train killed 2 people and 30 injured.
· Nov 26, 2008: A series of ten coordinated terrorist attacks across Mumbai, India's financial capital atleast 173 people killed and 308 people injured.
· Nov 08, 2008: A bomb blast rocked Meerut’s Zakir Nagar killed 6 people.
· Oct 30, 2008: 18 serial bomb blast rocks Guwahati, Assamm killed 32 and injured 130.
· Oct 14, 2008: 1 bomb blast at Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh injured 7.
· Oct 08, 2008: A bomb blast near Durga puja pandal in Guwahati 5 injured.
· Oct 01, 2008: 5 serial bomb blast rocks Agartala, Tripua 2 killed and 35 injured.
· Sep 30, 2008: A bomb blast Malegaon killed 7 and injured 70.
· Sep 27, 2008: Blast in Delhi's Mehrauli flower market killed 1 and injured 23.
· Sep 13, 2008: Serial blasts in Delhi killed at least 24 people and injured more than 100.
· Aug 22, 2008: A bomb blast in Madhya Pradesh injured 1 person.
· Aug 08, 2008: 1 bomb blast at Siliguri injured 3 chidren.
· Aug 03, 2008: 1 bomb blast at Kolkata killed 4 and injured 5.
· Jul 26, 2008: Serial blasts in Ahmedabad killing at least 30 people and injuring more than 100.
· Jul 25, 2008: Nine explosions in Bangalore create terror killing two people and injuring twelve.
· Jun 20, 2008:
· Jun 11, 2008: A bomb blast at Meghalaya temple injured 4.
· Jun 05, 2008: 1 bomb blast near Lalu Prasad’s house in Gopalganj 1 killed and 1 critically injured.
· May 13, 2008: Eight serial blasts rock Jaipur in a span of 12 minutes leaving 65 dead and over 150 injured.
· Apr 24, 2008: A bomb blast near Manipur’s CM residence injured 3 people.
· Mar 30, 2008: A bomb blast exploded at Muradabad killed 4 children.
· Mar 25, 2008: A bomb blast at a railway station in South Assam’s North Cachar Hills district killed 4 and several injured.
· Mar 19, 2008: Bomb blast Flyover in Srinagar killed 1 and injured 8.
· Mar 15, 2008: A minor blast in local train in Mumbai injured 3 people.
· Mar 16, 2008: 1 bomb blast at Assam’s Dhemaji district killed 1 person and 20 injured.
· Mar 13, 2008: 3 serial blasts rocks Udalguri district of Assam 1 killed and 19 injured.
· Feb 20, 2008: A bomb blast in cinema hall at Mumbai injured 4 people.
· Jan 10, 2008: A bomb blast near the Srirampur check-gate in the Assam-West Bengal border in Kokrajhar district injured 2 people.
· Jan 10, 2008: Terrorist attack on CRPF camp in Rampur kills 8.

Can government guarantee right to life?

He grew up watching the terror inflicted dance of death around the world, in India and around him. As a seven year-old, he did not understand the gravity of terrorism in the horrifying live pictures of the burning ?twin towers? crashing down and claiming thousands. He had seen teary-eyed citizens silently light candles at ground zero.
In 2006, he was aghast watching suburban trains ripped by bomb blasts in Mumbai. Overcome by emotion, he and his friends expressed solidarity with Mumbaikars by lighting candles in Delhi.
Now a teenager, he saw terror merchants snuffing out lives on the streets, in railway stations and playing their macabre game for three days holed up in prominent hotels of Mumbai. He heard the bursts of AK-47s. He saw a beaming NSG commando walking out of the hotel -- unusually poised yet high-fiving mates who played with their lives to silence the death merchants.
A TV correspondent asked this commando -- "How difficult was the operation". We all knew how difficult the operation was and were about to ridicule the reporter for the stupid question, when the key figure answered, " Hamare liye kuch mushkil nahin hai (nothing is difficult for us)."
The boy was stunned by this immensely positive answer. It probably erased all negative feelings generated by the continuous beaming of gory pictures 24x7 on TV. He possibly saw in the commando a protector of life, who can guarantee right to life -- the most important among our fundamental rights.
He took a decision -- he will not light a candle this time for those who were killed by terrorists in Mumbai, instead he will study hard to join the Army and try for an assignment in NSG.
He may mirror the thinking of many among us, for our politicians show a complete lack of seriousness and professionalism when it comes to citizens' right to life guaranteed under Article 19 of the Constitution, which also assures a right to live in a secure atmosphere.
The Batla House encounter, five days after Delhi serial blasts, is a grim reminder. On September 19, Delhi Police personnel went there on a mission to pre-empt a situation, who might have turned into something similar to what happened in Mumbai.
Leaving his ailing son in hospital, Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma went to take part in the mission. He was felled by the bullets of the desperadoes. The politicians, who are lavishing praise on the richly deserving bravehearts of the NSG, Army and Mumbai Police commandos today, were then among those doubting the encounter.
Cops like Sharma have been dying since 1993, when Mumbai was first targeted on a massive scale -- 13 blasts and scattered firing from AK-47s by terrorists resulting in the death of 250 people. Intensity, frequency and spread of the terror attacks have increased since then. Instead of uniting the political class for a joint strategy against terrorism, disgustingly, it has led to diverse views, basically on religious lines.
The supremacy of people is understood by politicians only for a few days during election time. They would do well to read this judgment in the D K Basu vs State of West Bengal case [1997 (1) SCC 416]. The Supreme Court, in this judgment, had said, "The Latin maxims -- salus populi suprema lex (the safety of the people is the supreme law) and salus republicae suprema lex (safety of the nation is the supreme law) -- coexist and are not only important and relevant but lie at the heart of the doctrine that welfare of an individual must yield to that of the community."
The teenager had not read this judgment, but understood the vital importance of right to life and safety of people. The politicians, at least those who are at the helm of affairs, must have read this. Then why the dithering for a joint fight against terrorism, notwithstanding the ceremonial all-party meetings in the aftermath of a massive tragedy?
Courtsey: Times of India
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Mumbai/Can_government_guarantee_right_to_life/articleshow/3776666.cms

Mumbai Bomb Blast

Everyone has seen, heard or read about the recent terrorist attacks. We are a country of more than million people. We have seen the delay in combating the terrorists in Mumbai. It took 9 hours for the NSG forces to reach the terror sites. Also how easily the terrorist group came to India through sea route is known.

Is it that when there is a terror attack then only security checks are done? Also are there so less people in our defence forces that anyone can enter our country from anywhere? Or is it like they dont have adequate resources, the latest technique to fight terrorism?

I know I have asked too many questions. Everyone is saying enough is enough. So has India really got united and are people ready to be a part of the various defence forces in India? Now have the Indians become strong enough to fight in a war and die rather than get killed in some terror attacks like this one? Will we see Indian women going in the war front and facing a real war and not just sitting in the office like many other countries?

Has the common Indian got up and is he/she ready to fight back?

Diwali - A festival of lights

This is a blog dedicated to the festival of lights-Deepawali or Diwali. Diwali is celebrated at various places with various reasons. Hindus celebrate diwali as the return of Lord Ram, to Ayodhya, alongwith his wife Sita and brother Lakshman after a 14 year exile. It is believed that the people of Ayodhya lit ghee lamps along the way to light their path in the darkness.

Diwali celebration start with Dhanteras where people buy something new for the house. A day before diwali people lit up diyas and celebrate chotti diwali also known as Naraka Chaturdasi. On the day of diwali people perform Lakshmi Puja for prosperity and well being. After the Lakshmi Puja people lit diyas around the house. And celebrate diwali by buring fire crackers.

Now this was a brief detail about diwali and diwali celebration. Diwali, one of the festivals in India which I really love, takes me back to my school days. The bursting of crackers, the celebration started way before the schools closed for diwali. Crackers bursted at various places in the school like toilets, fields, below teacher's desk, in the classroom. Teachers would do rigorous checks but still there would be crackers blasting at some place or the other. On the day of diwali good food will be cooked and loads of sweets would be there.

Every house would look beautiful with diyas lighted outside the house. And with techology coming up we have eletronic diyas and many other eletronic items to decorate the house. People would buy new dress for the occassion. Crackers would be bursting outside. The sky would be filled with lights and fire works.

There is air and noise pollution during diwali. But its just a one day festival, infact few hours festival celebrated at night. And if people are careful this festival is real fun. The hope of light will keep on glowing. :)

What is fashion?

"What is fashion?" How does one say this is the latest fashion? This is an in-thing or this is a very out dated style; who decides this; who sets the fashion; who follows the fashion? One thing is true about fashion and that is fashion changes constantly.

What one wears becomes fashion for him/her. This depends on the place one is staying, the weather of the place, the culture, the people which sets the fashion for a person. One can wear woolen clothes in summer but that wont be comfortable. Similarly one can go out wearing a sleeveless shirt with a bermuda in winters.

If I look at fashion in India then it ranges from Indian Traditional wear to western casuals to gym wear to office formals. Then there is a specific dress code for a policeman or an astronaut or a swimmer or a doctor. So sometimes the uniform of that place becomes the fashion of the place.

But is the cloth only thing which makes a fashion statement? To this I would say no, there are accessories to compliment the cloth and make a fashion statement. Accessories ranging from jwellery to belt to shoes which compliment the dress and make it look more trendy.

At last I would just say you dont need to follow the latest fashion. Just follow your heart and wear what you like because that is what will make you look cool. But if there is a dress code at your place then follow that but you can try different accessories to be different in the group.

Wrong Number

Everyone must have received or made a call and in return the response is 'Sorry wrong number'. I remember around 10-15 years ago when there were very few landlines, at that time this was a common thing you are trying to reach someone and getting connected to someone else.

Many people did it for fun. Even I with my cousins and friends did it. Take a yellow page phone directory look for some interesting name or number and call the person. Once my cousins gave a call to someone and said 'There is fire in our house. Our cooking gas is burning'. Once a kid had made a call and was saying 'Ek khoka bhej dena peeple ke padh ke neeche'. With one such wrong number I had become friend but then our house changed and number changed and we lost touch.

Many a times it was irritating when once the person was told that you have called on a wrong number but he/she was still hanging up and explaining this is the number he/she was given. I really didn’t understand what was the fun in calling and talking to someone whom one doesn’t know. But then if the other person is interested then there is no problem in hanging up and raising his/her bill. Getting blank calls was also one of the irritating thing that too at 1 o'clock at the night.

Once our phone had become a telephone exchange. Our phone would ring even when someone else was getting a call in our area and if interested one could hear some interesting conversations of 2 aunties discussing about the rates of food, a new recipe or some household stuff.

Maybe the problem of wrong number was common then because at that time there were no mobile phones to store numbers like we can do today. Thanks to the mobile phone where we can save the number and avoid calling the wrong person. But even today some people do make calls to wrong number. Maybe one can make a phone-a-friend through these wrong numbers; else make a complain if the person is disgusting. What will you do if you get a call from a wrong number? :)

Happy Independence Day

This is an article on people with disabilities who have come across in my life. The person I am going to tell about first is the one who was at our house even before I was born. She was deaf and dumb. My grandmother had kept her at our house. She did all the household work. Because of her I had learnt sign language. Next is the person whom I saw when I was in school. He had no legs just 2 feet. He stayed at an auto stop and many a times he helped auto wallahs in getting passenger. Next is a man I saw in train. He could not walk straight and his legs shaked while walking. But with this problem also he sold items in train and made his living. In our college there was a girl in architecture who didn’t have one hand and still she was the best designer in her batch. Infact here at Infosys BBSR I saw a girl with one hand, she had come up for an Akansha event. Akansha is the social initiative group here and she helped in making batches. This is the most recent one when I had gone to Kanya Kumari and I saw an old man who had gone there with his family. His one leg was artificial and it was really commendable that even with such a problem he had traveled all the way to visit Vivekanand's rock at Kanya Kumari.

These are the people who even being disabled in a way have done something for living. It really makes me feel bad when people having all the parts beg at various places, especially small kids. So this Independence day I hope that one day beggars will be gone from India.

What would be your wish this Independence day?

Play with Mobile Numbers

Try this using the calculator on ur comp...Enjoy!!! :)

1. Grab a calculator. (You won't be able to do this one in your head)
2. Key in the first six digits of your mobile number
3. Multiply by 80
4. Add 1
5. Multiply by 250
6. Add the last 4 digits of your phone number
7. Add the last 4 digits of your phone number again.
8. Subtract 250
9. Divide number by 2

Do you recognize the answer??? :)

A tribute to Ismeet Singh

For me Star VOY winner Ishmeet Singh's death would be one of the most shocking news of the year. So many people have died about whom one can blog but it really feels bad when someone dies at such a young age. I was wondering how could he get drowned in a beach. But when death has to happen it happens and no one can stop it.

He defied my thought about a Sardar. A Sardar I thought as a strong, powerful man. But he was a guy with a sweet smile and a lovely voice.

To know more about Ishmeet, follow the link

http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Ishmeet_is_Voice_of_India

I just hope his soul rests in peace. Definitely India has lost a good singer.

Roadies 5.0 - The game goes international

Roadies 5.0 the game goes international was an exciting and I will miss it. The politics, the bitching, those tasks, the vote outs and definitely Raghu. :)

I am very happy that Ashu became the winner of Roadies 5.0 because he had the ability to do the tasks. But still he also has the ability to convince people as said by Ranvijay. More important was to make friends and stay till the last. And people should learn from him, there is no need of quota to do something in life. If one has the wish he or she will definitely do it.

I also liked the fact that finally in some reality show someone had a crush on someone. I mean people stay with together for a long time and no crushes, how is it possible. Arey koi toh pasand aayega kisiko. Atleast small crush can happen. Loved it when Sonel asked Ashu for a date. :)

Camping episode was great where people asked all sorts of weird questions. I really didnt like the task where these people had to eat all those crap things. That was yuck. The come back of voted out Roadies for going to international was awesome. Some of the tasks though not that good but still I enjoyed watching Roadies. Lets see where does Roadie go for the next season. Any favourites for you people? :)

April Fool's Day

1st April, a day celebrated as April's Fool Day. Where everyone is thinking of new ways to make someone an April Fool. Everyone is conscious not to become a fool.

One such incidence I remember when I was a kid. My mom is a doctor. One of my neighbor's came to our house and told that her daughter had met with an accident. Being a doctor my mom rushed to their house. We also went behind her being just to see that her daughter was hale and healthy roaming around the house. And the news was broken that its 1st April and we have been made a fool. :)

Then one more incident I remember which happened in the college. One of my friends told her roommate that hey, your bucket is leaking. And her roommate started to look at her bucket.

There are many common ones like I am getting married and this is my invitation card. The new company policy. This year I came accross Deepika Paudkone's latest pics, new song from the movie Tashan.

One of my friends from CHD DC, he is also into infy blogs :), pinged me yesterday and said that he is at BBSR DC. But I knew its 1st April and I could become a fool so didnt believe him. But it sure was a good way to make someone fool if he/she didnt remember the importance of the day. :)


Finally in the night before leaving the office I decided let me send the correct song from Tanshan to all the people in my mailing list and see what these people do. In the mail I had written that of he/she feels that this is an April Fool's prank then should reply me back and even if not then also should reply back saying that I didnt become a fool. And most people have not replied back. So sometimes doing something in the correct way one can become a fool. :)

After all I feel its better to be a fool then to be a wise. ;)

Jab we met

I hope most of you would have seen the movie. I am not talking about the movie. In this month people celebrate Valentine's day. So those who have met just share your experience of meeting your loved ones.

Those who have not met how do you expect to meet your loved one? Like Shahid and Kareena in train, Kareena and Vivek in disco or SRK and Kajol in DDLJ? :)