Tuesday, November 10, 2009

insurance renewal frauds galore

so i got my car, and an insurance from the dealer and then forgot all about the latter. i never needed the insurance, and i was busy enjoying the car, stuck in the traffic jams galore.

and yesterday i get a phone call, sweet woman reminds me to renew my car insurance. she is calling from Reliance from which i had the insurance already, so it all seems safe and secure. but she asks me to bring my old policy and cover letter paper. now, i seriously don't know where they are! used to US ways of giving my SSN and the operator having all my information, i said the same thing - 'can you send a copy of my policy with the agent you send to collect the check?'

the lady on the phone is taken aback.
she - 'surely, you must have your cover letter?'

me - well if i can find one, i can find the other!
she - but sir, we can't send a copy with the agent, we only have your name and number, no other information.
me - well, i will have to dig up my papers.
she - sir, you may also want to take insurance from ICICI, they are offering 32% discount compared to 30% of Reliance.
me - (surprised) so which company are you with - Reliance or ICICI?
she - (laughs sheepishly) it is the same company! you can buy either one.

i am of course extra cautious now, and don't promise anything.
and then in 5 minutes after hanging up,i get another friendly voice cajoling me to renew insurance. then subtly the topic of ICICI instead of Reliance insurance is brought in!


today, i got an SMS from my car dealer, saying that - "don't give insurance renewal checks to agents without proper investigation as to who they are!"

so, people, be careful out there. don't believe on phone calls. make a call yourselves to teh number on your contract papers and then proceed. the scams are getting so elegant and smooth, that sometiems i feel that your end service provider itself is doing scams - you never know why you are paying how much for what!!!

be careful out there!

--sj

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Sunday, August 30, 2009

रास्ते में अटकी उपलब्धियाँ - hindi satire


if you read hindi, here is a wonderful deep-hitting satire in the guise of rustic humor.
written by shri ramesh joshi, a retired vice principal of kendriya vidyalaya and a lifelong hindi teacher, a prolific writer, this is a series of upcoming publications.

read a sample PDF

some other articles that were published in newspapers, and some new ones are regularly posted on jhootha sach

--sj

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Tuesday, July 21, 2009

total solar eclipse on jul 22 2009 and the feat of human scientific progress

just think -
a glowing soccer ball is moving.
across the field is a pea rotating and revolving.
around the pea is pinhead rotating and revolving.

a single cell on the pea is asked to figure out the path of the shadow of the pinhead as it comes in between the soccer ball and the pea.

how amazingly impossible is that?
and it has been done! precisely.
vedic astronomers did. chinese did. aryabhaTTa did it to precision unknown before!
and now we have interactive maps and movies of the event before it has happened!

i think i should just get back to SMS, iPod, iPohone, iWhere, iCan, iAm and the Wii (which i don't have) rather than trying to fathom the tremendous scientific progress we have made.


don't miss these amazing link -

amazing comparative sizes of celestial bodies - keeps things in perspective! http://www.co-intelligence.org/newsletter/comparisons.html

interactive map of the eclipse - very good! - http://xjubier.free.fr/en/site_pages/solar_eclipses/TSE_2009_GoogleMapFull.html


from wikipedia - also very good - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_eclipse_of_July_22,_2009

http://www.iiap.res.in/solareclipse1

--sj

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Monday, July 20, 2009

practical sanskrit on radio


on friday 17th july, 9:30pm there was a brief on air discussion on practical sanskrit, on AIR bangalore 101.3 radio rainbow,

the talk is available on slideshare, the quality of sound is not the greatest since i was not able to manage a good recording device in time.

check it out: http://practicalsanskrit.blogspot.com/

--sj

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Wednesday, July 1, 2009

the altruism in economics



sorry for the delayed response, i was busy hoarding money! :)

it is interesting article indeed. http://www.odemagazine.com/doc/63/altruism-vs-economics/all

it takes 200 years for the british to wipe out any self image (forget pride and respect) an indian or anyone else could have in indian values, teachings or heritage.

it takes the wealth of old india and new america to usher in the jet age of mass production and en masse consumption of material, even at the cost of the spiritual.

it takes centuries and lot of mistakes for the west to realize that taking armed forces everywhere doesn't always work; or even insulting civilization, or other monolithic, frozen-in-time religions doesn't work; making a junkyard of environment doesn't work.

so now, manufacturing (of everything but weapons) is done by china, hand work done by india (and the likes), so the west has a much cleaner environment, much more debt, but very little to pay, and stockpile of weapons to keep the debt collectors out.

so now, after making the biggest blunders of economic history like enron, worldcomm, crash of 2007 all because of greed, unbridled greed, we come to the conclusion of a 40 years' research - "hey, think about your fellow human being also, else who will you show off to!"

and now, the newly ushered indians in the age of development, reaping the fruits of greed and selectively free economy will be taught by the masters of greed that altruism is the way to build your economy.

what!! we can't learn from own mistakes? can we dominate the world with our satyam like greed and IT super power, and make our lives miserable with material things, do our own research for 40 years and write books, hold seminars, teach MBA colleges, that we made a mistake to think of an employee as a resource to be managed, a RFD tagged asset!

so please open YOUR (developing world) economy for GM food, our clinical research, our missionaries and what not.

it has always been held by indian wisdom from ancient times, that money gives no joy, it is only for living in this world as a means, things are not consoling (except to a little child who has got mean friends)

vidyA dadAti vinayaM, vinyAdyAti pAtratwaM |
pAtratwAt dhanaM Apnoti, dhanAt dharmaM tataH sukhaM ||

or
- knowledge gives humbleness (at least true knowledge does),
- from humbleness comes worthiness (ever wanted to hire an arrogant bastard? even the mafia wants honest non-arrogant killers!),
- from worthiness comes money (someone may actually hire you for some work and pay),
- from money (one can do) good deeds,
- from there comes joy.

so the joy comes not from money, but doing good with the money!
and this could be done in the process of making money, by being human and not a rabid dog after a stinking bone with rotten meat.

another gem goes -
earn what you haven't got, save what you earn, invest what you save, and do good with the increased wealth!

how much of research has gone into these gems?
maybe 1500 years of watching society, human behavior closely with no multi-trillion agenda, but a simple wish to see the immediate community in harmony.


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-- sj

Saturday, June 27, 2009

teenage mutant ninja scooter

Guess what this innocent looking machine is?



found this at the newark international airport, new jersey, usa, display piece.
looks like a normal scooter!





here is the mutated scooter, yes! it has TWO front tires! it can't even be content to be an auto rickshaw, though it claims to be a distant cousin. some consolation!


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-- sj

Monday, June 15, 2009

future of indian cricket

so the news i heard from some distressed colleagues is that it is a 3-day national mourning. well, i left watching cricket when sachin was clean bowled in world cup. the pressure was too much. it can get you sometimes.

well, if performance under pressure is exempt, i am a world class batsman, bowler, wicketkeeper and fielder, even an umpire!

so, what should we do?

from test matches to one-days, one-days to t20, we keep changing the format in hopes to win.

here are the future trends in indian cricket.

next in line is the F5 (Freaking 5 over) match.

if that doesn't do the magic, it will be OBMs (One Ball Match).

if that too doesn't bring us much needed glory, then we will go for the last format the OTM (One Toss Match) where a single toss will decide the winner, and horoscope pundits will be the main stars, to decide which of the 11 players should go and say "heads", the lucky chum!

and the biggest loser in this all is not india, but the indian ad market. so for their sake, there is a last solution, which will guarantee that india plays all the matches till the end.

presenting the IVW or India Versus World, where india plays every team, even twice if the sponsors feel like it. and gets points for winning, losing costs nothing.much like 'whose line is it anyways' "where everything is made up and points don't matter."

this is called win-win-win situation. we get lot of cricket, they get lot of money, the world doesn't care!

don't play to win or lose, play it for the money honey!

show me the money!


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-- sj

Monday, April 20, 2009

How do I find my name in the voter's list

If you want to find out your name in the voter list for Indian Election 2009, try this link for Karnataka: http://stg1.kar.nic.in/searchfinalroll_2009

This lets you search by PIN code or Constituency

For other states try replacing kar.nic with other states like ap.nic for Andhra, etc.

like it? then become a fan of the blog

-- sj

Friday, March 13, 2009

yoga and philosophy at barcamp bangalore 8 (bcb8)

presented the session on 'the lesser known aspects of - yoga the philosophy.
had a decent attendance, search flickr for bcb8 for some pics.
upon request from some attendees, here is the material used for the presentation.
remember, this is in short and cryptic, so if you didn't attend the session to hear the explanations, then you will most probably misunderstand it.

click here to view the presentation PDF

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-- sj

Sunday, March 8, 2009

bachana e hasino!



shot at PSBB bangalore playground, during sports day is azeem-o-shaan-shahanshaah, chikki!

i always thought this can't be commanded , but pranjal is almost there! he can already pose at will, and hold it as well.
i hope that when becomes a bollywood heartthrob, he still remembers how much i love him, spend on digital SLR and 300mm zoom lens and tell him stories.

that is my retirement plan!

what is yours?

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-- sj

Thursday, March 5, 2009

barcamp bangalore 8 - sessions

so, i finally registered my sessions at barcamp bangalore 8 (bcb8). here is some detail:

session 1: lesser known aspects of yoga - the philosophy (click to join)
  • - yoga is Asanas? or more?
  • - why the philosophy? aren’t the Asanas enough?
  • - the basic 4 questions of philosophy - what is heya (to be avoided)? what is its cause? what is its absence? and how to avoid it?
  • - the one line answer to ‘what is to be avoided?’ (from sage patanjali, the most prominent figure in yoga) - and its meaning
  • - the one line answer to ‘what is yoga?’ (from sage patanjali, the most prominent figure in yoga) - and its meaning
  • - which is better - gyaan, karma or bhakti yoga? and by the way, what are they? how to combine all three?
  • - where do Asanas fit in all this then?
  • - some powerful shloks that shed light on the true meaning of yoga!
  • - when rAma meets hanumAn for teh first time, he says, ‘you are dearer to me than my own brother’. why? where is the philosophy of yoga in there?
  • - the embedded system! how is sanskrit unique language? apparently the only language with inbuilt prANAyAm in it! why is that important?




session 2: ancient wisdom modern times (click to join)

a general session on ancient wisdom of india and how it can be of use to modern hi-tech world. ideas in the form of symbols of culture and religion? how words and language convey ideas specific to a culture.
understanding ourselves in the process. demystifying concepts, clarifying misunderstanding, and sharing amazing insights, many other verbs on many other nouns
e.g.
  • - qualities of a good leader? - from bhAsa’s kAdambari!
  • - what does the visual representation of shiv mean? - the names mahAkAl, mahAdev; the snakes, ashes, two earrings? what does lakshmI, saraswatI, viShNu, durgA, ayodhyA, dharma etc mean? understanding the meaning will give a totally new insight into our ’superstitions’ 
  • - a simple daily practice that reduces chances of heart attack? - there is actual a hard science reason for this, even recent TOI news (reported too late) says heart attacks happen mostly in early morning hours, the waking hours.
  • - mantras for every occasion? - right from waking, bathing, eating, sleeping etc. why? and what is the psychlogical/spiritual significance.
  • - status of women in ancient indian society? - in the recent ‘culture protector’ events in news, this will be an eye opener.
  • - where not to live? - before moving to a place, what should you check out?
  • - do we have no rights on the results of our deeds? - the most misunderstood concept of indian philosophy!




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-- sj

Monday, March 2, 2009

barcamp bangalore 8 is at Yahoo! EGL on 7-8 March 2009

so barcamp bangalore 8 is happening this weekend, 7-8 march 2009.

where? no, not IIM-B this time, but at Yahoo! EGL facilities.
(disclosure: the author currently works at Yahoo! India Bangalore EGL office, but has nothing to do with BCB8 planning)

where is it?



what is barcamp? total anarchy? total pedestrian? rule of two feet and 32 teeth apply!
you suggest a topic, if they like, they will come, else you are the village bum!

simple huh? then show up. 
me? i might be buried in work, but will be in vicinity anyways!



like it? then become a fan of the blog

-- sj

Sunday, March 1, 2009

net hoax - "Through a Rapist's Eyes (No Joke)"

another of the hoaxes, this time guised under a sensitive topic.

i got this as a forwarded message, 1000s of emails in the mail that i got, wonderful for harvesting emails. no one bothers to remove the older emails, so much for your privacy.

well, everyone wants to make sure others know how many friends they have forwarded to!

now, why am i so worked up for such a good cause? after all, the mail only prepares women against a possible rapist! well, two reasons, one there are many false information or assurances in it. and second, the email i got, had EVERYTHING, lines, blanks, paragraph markers as a LINK.

LINK as in to a website. hmmm? where to? some web based mail site called "wowmails - dot- com"

aha! so no matter where you put your mouse, or click by mistake, you go to their site! you think, clicking on the line about hairstyles will give you more info on that, nope! it merely takes you to their website.

now that is cheap publicity.

here is the full email text (without any links) and here is the link for the hoax at snopes (floating since 2000!) 

let me repeat again - THIS IS A HOAX, DO NOT FOLLOW THIS BLINDLY
while SOME of the common sense information IS useful, e.g. being distracted on dimly lit streets/places. 

----------------- start of forwarded mass email ----------------

Through a Rapist's Eyes (No Joke)

This is important information for females of ALL ages.

When this was sent to me, I was told to forward it to my lady friends, but I forwarded it to most everyone in my address book. My men friends have female friends and this
information is too important to miss someone.

Please pass it along

A group of rapists and date rapists in prison were interviewed on what they look for in a potential victim and here are some interesting facts:

1) The first thing men look for in a potential victim is hairstyle. They are most likely to go after a woman with a ponytail, bun, braid or other hairstyle that can easily be grabbed . They are also likely to go after a woman with long hair. Women with short hair are not common targets.

2) The second thing men look for is clothing. They will look for women who's clothing is easy to remove quickly . Many of them carry scissors around specifically to cut clothing.

3) They also look for women on their cell phone , searching through their purse, or doing other activities while walking because they are off-guard and can be easily overpowered.

4) Men are most likely to attack & rape in the early morning, between 5:00a.m. and 8:30a.m.

5) The number one place women are abducted from/attacked is grocery store parking lots . Number two: is office parking lots/garages. Number three: is public restrooms.

6) The thing about these men is that they are looking to grab a woman and quickly move her to another location where they don't have to worry about getting caught.

7) Only 2% said they carried weapons because rape carries a 3-5 year sentence but rape with a weapon is 15-20 years.

8) If you put up any kind of a fight at all, they get discouraged because it only takes a minute or two for them to realize that going after you isn't worth it because it will be time-consuming.

9) These men said they would not pick on women who have umbrellas , or other similar objects that can be used from a distance, in their hands. Keys are not a deterrent because you have to get really close to the attacker to use them as a weapon. So, the idea is to convince these guys you're not worth it.

10) Several defense mechanisms he taught us are: If someone is following behind you on a street or in a garage or with you in an elevator or stairwell, look them in the face and ask them a question, like what time is it, or make general small talk: 'I can't believe it is so cold out here,' 'we're in for a bad winter.' Now you've seen their face and could identify them in a line-up; you lose appeal as a target.

11) If someone is coming toward you , hold out your hands in front of you and yell STOP or STAY BACK ! Most of the rapists this man talked to said they'd leave a woman alone if she yelled or showed that she would not be afraid to fight back.
Again, they are looking for an EASY target.

12) If you carry pepper spray (this instructor was a huge advocate of it and carries it with him wherever he goes) , yell I HAVE PEPPER SPRAY and holding it out will be a deterrent.

13) If someone grabs you , you can't beat them with strength but you can by outsmarting them If you are grabbed around the waist from behind, pinch the attacker either under the
arm (between the elbow and armpit) OR in the upper inner thigh VERY VERY HARD. One woman in a class this guy taught told him she used the underarm pinch on a guy who was trying to date rape her and was so upset she broke through the skin and tore out muscle strands - the guy needed stitches. Try pinching yourself in those places as hard as you can stand it - it hurts.

14) After the initial hit, always GO for the GROIN. I know from a particularly unfortunate experience that if you slap a guy's parts it is extremely painful. You might think that you'll anger the guy and make him want to hurt you more, but the thing these rapists told our instructor is that they want a woman who will not cause a lot of trouble. Start causing trouble and he's out of there.

15) When the guy puts his hands up to you, grab his first two fingers and bend them back as far as possible with as much pressure pushing down on them as possible . The instructor did it to me without using much pressure, and I ended up on my knees and both knuckles cracked audibly.

16) Of course the things we always hear still apply.. Always be aware of your surroundings, take someone with you if you can and if you see any odd behavior, don't dismiss it, go with your instincts!!!

You may feel a little silly at the time, but you'd feel much worse if the guy really was trouble.

1. Tip from Tae Kwon Do: The elbow is the strongest point on your body. If you are close enough to use it, do!

2.Learned this from a tourist guide in New Orleans . If a robber asks for your wallet and/or purse, DO NOT HAND IT TO HIM . Toss it away from you....chances are that he is more interested in your wallet and/or purse than you, and he will go for the wallet/purse. RUN LIKE MAD IN THE OTHER DIRECTION!

3.If you are ever thrown into the trunk of a car, kick out the back tail lights and stick your arm out the hole and start waving like crazy. The driver won't see you, but everybody else will. This has saved lives.

4.Women have a tendency to get into their cars after shopping, eating, working, etc., and just sit (doing their checkbook, or making a list, etc.) DON'T DO THIS! The predator will be watching you, and this is the perfect opportunity for him to get in on the passenger side, put a gun to your head, and tell you where to go. AS SOON AS YOU GET INTO YOUR CAR, LOCK THE DOORS AND LEAVE.

a. If someone is in the car with a gun to your head DO NOT DRIVE OFF, repeat: DO NOT DRIVE OFF! Instead gun the engine and speed into anything, wrecking the car. Your Air Bag will save you. If the person is in the back seat they will get the worst of it. As soon as the car crashes bail out and run. It is better than having them find your body in a remote location.

5. A few notes about getting into your car in a parking lot or parking garage:

A.) Be aware: look around you, look into your car, at the passenger side floor, and in the back seat.

B.) If you are parked next to a big van, enter your car from the passenger door. Most serial killers attack their victims by pulling them into their vans while the women are attempting to get into their cars.

C.) Look at the car parked on the driver's side of your vehicle, and the passenger side. If a male is sitting alone in the seat nearest your car, you may want to walk back into the mall, or work, and get a guard/policeman to walk you back out..

IT IS ALWAYS BETTER TO BE SAFE THAN SORRY. (And better paranoid than dead.)

6. ALWAYS take the elevator instead of the stairs. (Stairwells are horrible places to be alone and the perfect crime spot. This is especially true at NIGHT!)

7. If the predator has a gun and you are not under his control, ALWAYS RUN! The predator will only hit you (a running target) 4 in 100 times. And even then, it most likely WILL NOT be a vital organ. RUN, preferably in a zigzag pattern!

8. As women, we are always trying to be sympathetic: STOP! It may get you raped or killed. Ted Bundy, the serial killer, was a good-looking, well-educated man, who ALWAYS played on the sympathies of unsuspecting women. He walked with a cane, or a limp, and often asked 'for help' into his vehicle or with his vehicle, which is when he abducted his next victim.

9. Another Safety Point: Someone just told me that her friend heard a crying baby on her porch the night before last, and she called the police because it was late and she thought it was weird. The police told her 'Whatever you do, DO NOT open the door.'

The lady then said that it sounded like the baby had crawled near a window, and she was worried that it would crawl to the street and get run over. The policeman said, 'We already have a unit on the way, whatever you do, DO NOT open the door.' He told her that they think a serial killer has a baby's cry recorded and uses it to coax women out of their homes thinking that someone dropped off a baby. He said they have not verified it , but have had several calls by women saying that they hear baby's cries outside their doors when they're home alone at night.

Please pass this on and DO NOT open the door for a crying baby ----This
should be taken seriously because the Crying Baby theory was mentioned on America's Most Wanted this past Saturday when they profiled the serial killer in Louisiana.

I'd like you to forward this to all the women you know. It may save a life. A candle is not dimmed by lighting another candle. I was going to send this to the ladies only, but guys, if you love your mothers, wives, sisters, daughters, etc., you may want to pass it onto them, as well.
----------------- end of forwarded mass email ----------------

like it? then become a fan of the blog

-- sj

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

enter the PIN of your ATM card in reverse order and it will inform the police - hoax

so you got this wonderful email about a life saving tip!
and you were one of the 50-100 people to get it one go. like, getting a free laptop or microsoft sending you money for using IE. or even entering the ATM card PIN in reverse order will alert police of any crime going on (someone forcing you to withdraw cash)

and you are ready to email to the next 100 peopl you know.
if this ever happens to you, then please do a quick check on the net yahoo or google

a good place to find out if there is an existing internet hoax or not is to go to snopes.com

usually when something is too good to be true AND it asks you to send it to forward to all those you know, there is the red signal! stop and check the facts before you spread it!

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Friday, January 30, 2009

caretakers of hindu culture - do you know the hindu culture or history?

just posted a comment on Times of India website about the malegaon blasts and muthalik's statements.


these are the same people who say that they consider women as their mother, and expect their mothers to kill (muthalik praising women who helped in blasts) or to beat their own mothers (the women in the pub who got beaten)? what culture are they trying to preserve and protect? hindu culture has never banned celebration. they have advised on the result of your actions - good or bad.

even manu has said in manusmirti that meat eating and drinking are not unnatural to humans as a result of being born (having a body), but one should know the effects of ether. lets not become the caretakers of the society with violence, that is exactly they had set out to fight to begin with. e.g. the church and mosque has had iron grip on their societies for a long time (some still do).

instead of vandalizing on valentine day, the caretakers of hindu morality should organise their own grand "vasant utsav", the celebration of spring, for that is what our culture and tradition says. no one can curb the energy of the youth and hormones, if the 'elders' don't know how to channelize this energy of the youth, they should stop being the 'leaders' of the society and simply go to mountain tops seeking their own moksha.

be it mrichhkatika, kaadambari, kamasutra or meghadoot, it is full of social festivals that everyone relished.

there are ways to protect or protest against degradation of morality or increase of wantonness, but that is not through violence. even if one doesn't know alternative, they could protest peacefully like gandhiji would have - just do a dharana and don't let anyone get inside, request them politely to not encourage such behaviour. it is amazing what shame and guilt can do as well, without resorting to violence.

but those who have raised their kids only by scolding and yelling at them, may not know there are other ways to motivate and influence a child. similarly, the caretakers of hindu culture should learn a few things in motivation and influencing,or in culture and politics, or in human decency.


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Thursday, January 29, 2009

Sony Ericsson phone synch software - MyPhoneBrowser

ever since i got the sony ericsson W810i i found i could not save the SMS messages.
i could not change the location where to store the SMS.
so even though i have a 2GB memory card, the SMSes are stored in the SIM card and started to fill it up.

the SE PC Suite was of no help, it could only synch/save contacts, calendar, todo and notes.

but here is a wonderful software MyPhoneBrowser that worked like a charm and could do a lot more. very simple to use.



just install the software, plug the phone in USB and click other->profile or view->other->profile and it looks up the phone.
saving the SMS? go to Messages->Inbox , select all messages, then go to Extras->CurrentList->Open with and viola!


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why are children so photogenic













while taking picture of pranjal, and browsing the net and seeing some other baby pics, the thought came to mind, that why are kids so photogenic. rarely you will find a normal kid, baby who is not photogenic? what happens when we grow up?

i think we are all born happy and beautiful, and we just grow up to learn to deny both beauty and happiness in the pursuit of 'happiness' of material kind, learning to 'move around the career ladders' or whatever the name maybe.

we forget our own true nature, and hence are no more 'natural', unlike a baby who never forgets ts true carefree, trust in mommy nature and a big smile or a bigger laugh!

so, for a change, just be. be yourself, above all judgments, all pressures, above your sofa, car, house, bank balance, and just be.


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Wednesday, January 28, 2009

meeting with aamir khan

so this january bollywood bigwig is here in IIM bangalore for almost a month.
times of india bangalore edition has been abuzz with this news. and then guy himself openly invited people to visit him.

so we landed up at the shooting site, and met the 'taraa zameen par' (सितारा ज़मीन पर)। on friday 24th jan, the shoot was in hostel C. it was indeed a very down to earth star. in between takes, he met his fans with disarming pleasantness. gave enough time for all the fans to not feel neglected.

then today 27th jan, pragya and pranav went along with shalini and were more lucky. after the long wait, pragya as usual got tired and ended up writing her emotions on paper -

To Dear Aamir Uncle

It has been a long wait
Since we entered IIM gate
We would like to meet you
Want to give a gift and greet you

I hope the movie 'Three Idiots'
Is a hit
Because you're the best
So smile a bit!


and here are the results. the star is so caring of all his fans, that he interrupted his conversation with his director and gave full attention to these three fans -






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Sunday, January 25, 2009

solar ecplise of jan 26 2009

here is the NASA link to get an idea how the moon's shadow will travel on earth, on the first solar eclipse of 2009.

what also hits, even after all technical knowledge, is how a small animal called human (smaller than an ant in comparison, can develop system of computation to measure the path, size, timing of the shadow of one heavenly body on another, when no one can have a measuring ruler that large.

that is power of the mind, system of notation, and logical development of science (maths), that one can with certainty predict the path of one almost spherical rotating and revolving orb (moon), around another rotating and revolving orb (earth) which is yet again going around another rotating and revolving orb (sun). just thinking of all this can make the mind start revolving!

hence also is the power of conceptualization. not all things in life can be measured directly. they can be verified later.


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Friday, January 23, 2009

a closer look at the inaugural ceremony and US presidency

here is a fantastic closer look at the inaugural ceremony of US president barak obama.

click on the link below. when you see the photo, double click and zoom in, move mouse over and see the names of important people.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/01/20/us/politics/2009-inauguration-zoom-photo.html

and for all the inaugural speeches till now check this out, a very useful site indeed:
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/01/17/washington/20090117_ADDRESSES.html

you can read the entire speeches of all past and present presidents.

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Tuesday, January 20, 2009

join my SMS channel - if you are in india

i have started a SMS channel to keep in touch with friends, family and acquaintances.
this currently works only for INDIA.

if you know me and would like to keep in touch, please join my SMS channel in one of the two ways:

1. if you are a gmail user, go to http://labs.google.co.in/smschannels/subscribe/ShashiSMS and follow the instructions.

2. OR send an SMS to +919870807070 with message as "ON ShashiSMS" (without the quotations)

this is purely for my personal use and only i can send messages to this, so you need not worry about anything. this is a one way communication channel so i can keep in touch with you.

if you have ANY problems, just type your name and mobile number in the chat window below (in the right side bar, 2nd from top). i directly get the chat message.

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Thursday, January 15, 2009

KA/bangalore traffic violation charges - find out online!

try this link. enter your vehicle license plate and find out if you owe anything to the traffic police!

http://www.bangaloreone.gov.in/public/BPSFineDetails.aspx

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Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Contact Me

If you want to contact me, please leave a comment with your contact info. i will respond directly to your email as soon as i can.

you can also ping me (live chat) or leave your contact info in the chat window on the right side-bar (2nd from top). the message reaches me only and is NOT stored in the website. it is a pingbox from yahoo messenger - a neat way to integrate web and messenger! try it.




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