http://freerice.com/index.php
I think what I love best is the simplicity of the idea, its elegance. For some reason, it feels a tad better than simply 'giving away'.
P.S. Don't forget to check out the 'totals' section.
Wednesday, 5 December 2007
Sunday, 2 December 2007
feeding in
It used to be that you could tell about a person by the kind of friends he had or by the kind of books he read... to that I shall add, you can also tell about a person by the kind of RSS feeds he has!
Thursday, 22 November 2007
Winter's Song
When nights fall early
In the middle of day
Nothing stirs & silence speaks -
That time of the year is now here.
Everything shivers - air crisp, clear
Ripples of Awarenes spread throughout
In the middle of day
Nothing stirs & silence speaks -
That time of the year is now here.
Everything shivers - air crisp, clear
Ripples of Awarenes spread throughout
Wednesday, 14 November 2007
market fundamentalism
"Based on the premise that the market is the solution to all the problems of the human race, it is, too, a very religious fundamentalism. It has its own Gospel: The Gospel of St. Growth, of St. Choice..."
- P. Sainath, http://www.india-seminar.com/2001/497/497%20p.%20sainath.htm
Never thought of it this way. makes you think
- P. Sainath, http://www.india-seminar.com/2001/497/497%20p.%20sainath.htm
Never thought of it this way. makes you think
jobbing an education
http://www.indiatogether.org/2007/nov/edu-jojoe.htm#already
very interesting premise on first being employed & then getting the required education.
"Generally, everyone first studies in anticipation of a job and then searches for a job. What would be better, he says, is if employers first pick up candidates for jobs based on aptitude, direct them to educational courses to develop their particular skills, and upon completion of the courses at the candidate's cost, employ every one of them. This novel approach to employability of rural youth is now over a year old, and has helped some 4000 people get jobs."
Would this work in a non-rural set up as well? Not sure. My only agrument against that would be education helps one in exploring fields and options and by the process of exploration arrive at an area of interest..
very interesting premise on first being employed & then getting the required education.
"Generally, everyone first studies in anticipation of a job and then searches for a job. What would be better, he says, is if employers first pick up candidates for jobs based on aptitude, direct them to educational courses to develop their particular skills, and upon completion of the courses at the candidate's cost, employ every one of them. This novel approach to employability of rural youth is now over a year old, and has helped some 4000 people get jobs."
Would this work in a non-rural set up as well? Not sure. My only agrument against that would be education helps one in exploring fields and options and by the process of exploration arrive at an area of interest..
Tuesday, 13 November 2007
this too is me
fucked up i feel at times
the shoulds curving my space
i dissolve into the would-have-beens
or would have
if not for this curve of my body
holding me in
the shoulds curving my space
i dissolve into the would-have-beens
or would have
if not for this curve of my body
holding me in
Monday, 5 November 2007
"but this, in which there is no I or you"
"If I was pressed to say why I loved him, I feel my reply could be: "Because it was he, because it was I." (Michel de Montaigne, Book 1, On Affectionate Relationships)
the space between by elena georgiou
stuck in an unnamed place
half way between love and in love,
you call me late at night and ask
if i'm sleeping. i tell you, i'm writing.
you ask about what? love, i say.
when i write about us, i stop myself
from saying we make love or we have sex.
i search for a euphemism that won't bind me,
won't define us. i arrive at the phrase
move together. and only now, in writing
this poem, do i see how fitting it is.
the way we moved together vertically
is what made me want to move with you
horizontally. music joined us,
but even in the joining, i didn't know
how to behave, how much or how little
to say, how to choose to be me.
an old friend told me if i feel
smaller than myself with a lover
this is the wrong lover for me.
yes, i make myself smaller; i shrink
my politics, my conversation. i shrink
in mind, but i grow in body.
and don't think i don't know
when the movements are fluid
we look for ways to draw each other
nearer, name each other soulmates.
i have been a two-time witness
to how easily the soul-thread can be
cut, leaving the so-called soulmate
dangling in an empty world of one.
the same old friend comes back
to say a lover should love
in me what i love in myself.
trouble is, we don't know what we love
in each other. we exchange tapes of songs
to hint at the possibility of a feeling,
admitting nothing, partially exposed
in lyrics so, if pushed, we can deny
we meant the words that way.
we skirt around edges hoping
the space between will stop closeness
because close is where we are
fighting ourselves not to be.
i preach distance to you. i inflict it
on myself. i invent barriers like age-gaps
and bad-timing. but only now, in writing
this poem, do i learn how the word
distance can magnetize lovers.
you obey my demands. you don't
call. we don't speak, but you find
a strand of my hair in your freezer
and i still write with the taste of
you in my mouth.
Tuesday, 25 September 2007
Googlescape
I'm not the kind of person who has a ready opinion about everything. Mostly, because I prefer being a non-entity and don't necessarily savour being the center of attention.
Recently, I've also started feeling that you should form an opinion, come to a conclusion, *only* after you've a) heard both side of the stories b) experienced the said thing yourself.
The only problem with 'a' is the way the story is written *is* coloured by that particular side's bias - which is understandable. However, b is also not possible in every situation.
Anyway, I digress.
I came across a very interesting website. The aim seems to be to uncover the affect that evolving technology with its video & audio offshoots is having/will have on the written, printed word.
You can see more at: : http://www.futureofthebook.org
I personally think the new medium that is evolving will not replace the printed word. Instead, it will be one more form to choose from, adding to the existing bouquet of creative expressions.
The second very interesting link I discovered from this very project is: http://www.googlizationofeverything.com/
While I love my google search as much as the next person, the author poses some interesting questions which definitely set one thinking: "How does using Google alter our perceptions of the world? Are Google’s search algorithms inherently conservative, i.e. do they favor the establish and thus limit the dynamism of the Web? How has the corporation altered the rules and practices that govern other companies, institutions, and states? Will advertising ever be the same? Will Google’s relationship with the brutal government of the People’s Republic of China be its undoing? Will China change Google more than Google changes China?"
In its transition from a noun to a verb, google has certainly picked up lots of admirers & fans on its way (including me :). The project/website seems to balance the Google hyperbole by providing an alternative perspective.
One thing which has always puzzled me is how the heck does Google make its millions & billions? Advertising, sure - but that seems too vague. Intangible. How can it be profitable just on the basis of a few clicks?
The following paragraph struck home, especially because most of the news headlines that appear at the top of my Gmail account *do* interest me (*and* I click a couple of them on a daily basis):
"One of the great attractions of Google is that it appears to offer so many powerful services for “free,” that is, for no remuneration. But there is a non-monetary transaction at work between Google and its users. We get Web search, email, Blogger platforms, and YouTube videos. Google gets our habits and predilections so it can more efficiently target advertisements to us. Google’s core business is consumer profiling. It keeps dossiers on all of us. Yet we have no idea how substantial or accurate these digital portraits are. This project will generate a better sense of what is at stake in this “gift” transaction and will generate new theories of corporate surveillance that get beyond the trite “Panopticon” model."
Check it out.
Recently, I've also started feeling that you should form an opinion, come to a conclusion, *only* after you've a) heard both side of the stories b) experienced the said thing yourself.
The only problem with 'a' is the way the story is written *is* coloured by that particular side's bias - which is understandable. However, b is also not possible in every situation.
Anyway, I digress.
I came across a very interesting website. The aim seems to be to uncover the affect that evolving technology with its video & audio offshoots is having/will have on the written, printed word.
You can see more at: : http://www.futureofthebook.org
I personally think the new medium that is evolving will not replace the printed word. Instead, it will be one more form to choose from, adding to the existing bouquet of creative expressions.
The second very interesting link I discovered from this very project is: http://www.googlizationofeverything.com/
While I love my google search as much as the next person, the author poses some interesting questions which definitely set one thinking: "How does using Google alter our perceptions of the world? Are Google’s search algorithms inherently conservative, i.e. do they favor the establish and thus limit the dynamism of the Web? How has the corporation altered the rules and practices that govern other companies, institutions, and states? Will advertising ever be the same? Will Google’s relationship with the brutal government of the People’s Republic of China be its undoing? Will China change Google more than Google changes China?"
In its transition from a noun to a verb, google has certainly picked up lots of admirers & fans on its way (including me :). The project/website seems to balance the Google hyperbole by providing an alternative perspective.
One thing which has always puzzled me is how the heck does Google make its millions & billions? Advertising, sure - but that seems too vague. Intangible. How can it be profitable just on the basis of a few clicks?
The following paragraph struck home, especially because most of the news headlines that appear at the top of my Gmail account *do* interest me (*and* I click a couple of them on a daily basis):
"One of the great attractions of Google is that it appears to offer so many powerful services for “free,” that is, for no remuneration. But there is a non-monetary transaction at work between Google and its users. We get Web search, email, Blogger platforms, and YouTube videos. Google gets our habits and predilections so it can more efficiently target advertisements to us. Google’s core business is consumer profiling. It keeps dossiers on all of us. Yet we have no idea how substantial or accurate these digital portraits are. This project will generate a better sense of what is at stake in this “gift” transaction and will generate new theories of corporate surveillance that get beyond the trite “Panopticon” model."
Check it out.
conversations
subtexts to a conversation I
sometimes
what is not said
is the most important thing
that is spoken
----
silence is empty
and needs words to fullfill it
to complete it
sometimes
what is not said
is the most important thing
that is spoken
----
subtexts to a conversation II
sometimessilence is empty
and needs words to fullfill it
to complete it
Sunday, 19 August 2007
In Peas & Harmony
Care for some peace? :D
Workplace Cafetaria menu on August 14th, the eve of Indian Independence Day Didn't get it?
Here's a closer look:
Friday, 17 August 2007
Saturday, 28 July 2007
In Dinon...
I know - long time, no post. No excuses. Just fell sick and then fell in a funk. However, I'm back to my normal self now and will hopefully be posting more! Here's a song which has stuck itself in my head these days.
| LIFE IN A METRO - ... |
Sunday, 8 July 2007
the long and short of it
Save one, I have not really written any long post here.
Why? Because my longer pieces dissolve into self introspection, self aggrandizement, self neurosis, self speak, self this, self that… and something within me does not really like this, not in the context of words meant to be shared.
Writing meant to be shared should be devoid of the writer. Fading into the background, the writer’s words should strum the shared experiences; the writer should cease to be, letting the piece become the heart of the matter.
No, that doesn’t capture the essence of what I fink (feel + think) either...
Yes, of course the writer cannot write in a void. His experiences shape much of what she writes. Her interactions, the interweaving of her life with those around him is what gives her or him her or his voice.
What I mean is that I, a beginner, a somewhat unskilled novice really as far as writing goes, do not know how to gracefully fade into what I write. I am unable to dissolve in a way that makes the subject that I’m talking about and not my self become the focal point.
Of course there are books, articles, poems, autobiographical in nature. But then I am neither wise nor mature enough, not to mention a dearth of article-worthy experiences, to attempt that!
Poems… yes, perhaps. However, they leave me exposed. Though, something a friend said does haunt me now - “All art exposes the artist.”
So where does that leave me?
It leaves me trying to find my balance between what I write and who I am becoming.
Why? Because my longer pieces dissolve into self introspection, self aggrandizement, self neurosis, self speak, self this, self that… and something within me does not really like this, not in the context of words meant to be shared.
Writing meant to be shared should be devoid of the writer. Fading into the background, the writer’s words should strum the shared experiences; the writer should cease to be, letting the piece become the heart of the matter.
No, that doesn’t capture the essence of what I fink (feel + think) either...
Yes, of course the writer cannot write in a void. His experiences shape much of what she writes. Her interactions, the interweaving of her life with those around him is what gives her or him her or his voice.
What I mean is that I, a beginner, a somewhat unskilled novice really as far as writing goes, do not know how to gracefully fade into what I write. I am unable to dissolve in a way that makes the subject that I’m talking about and not my self become the focal point.
Of course there are books, articles, poems, autobiographical in nature. But then I am neither wise nor mature enough, not to mention a dearth of article-worthy experiences, to attempt that!
Poems… yes, perhaps. However, they leave me exposed. Though, something a friend said does haunt me now - “All art exposes the artist.”
So where does that leave me?
It leaves me trying to find my balance between what I write and who I am becoming.
Thursday, 5 July 2007
Random
On Snowflakes: "That all the sighs drifted up the sky, gathered into clouds, then broke into tiny pieces that fell silently on the people below." - A Thousand Splendid Suns (Khaled Hosseni)
------
Sometimes I wonder if any human being really knows what goes on inside the heart of another?
------
Sometimes I wonder if any human being really knows what goes on inside the heart of another?
Wednesday, 27 June 2007
?
Her: Love's not worth the hassle & heartaches.
Him: It is. With the right person, it is. With the wrong person, it is a disaster.
Her: Silence...
:
:
:
:
But... how the hell are you supposed to know who's right and who's wrong?
:-/
Him: It is. With the right person, it is. With the wrong person, it is a disaster.
Her: Silence...
:
:
:
:
But... how the hell are you supposed to know who's right and who's wrong?
:-/
Tuesday, 26 June 2007
the big.tv contest
Not sure how many people actually slip in here but had to plug this in!
~ After all I owe something to my personal kaaza! besides he's promised me an iphone if I do this - he just forgot to mention it, right motu? ;p
So without further ado, check out these 2 cool contests by Amit & his team:
R U Rajni Enough?
Maa... Mujhe Paise Do!
So whatcha waitin' for?
- Out! Out! Go, shoot! There's booty to loot!
~ After all I owe something to my personal kaaza! besides he's promised me an iphone if I do this - he just forgot to mention it, right motu? ;p
So without further ado, check out these 2 cool contests by Amit & his team:
R U Rajni Enough?
Maa... Mujhe Paise Do!
So whatcha waitin' for?
- Out! Out! Go, shoot! There's booty to loot!
Monday, 25 June 2007
Song for the day
the poetry, the melody, the voice - all of it makes me melt...
Almost like some of Leonard Cohen's poems...
Will attempt a loose translation later.
Almost like some of Leonard Cohen's poems...
Will attempt a loose translation later.
|
Friday, 22 June 2007
what i'm learning i think
is to be one with my uncomfortableness
to let it engulf me
to welcome it inside me
to let the spear of uncomfortableness and aloneness/sadness
pierce my skin
enter my insides
and leave me no choice
but to become one with it in a lover's entangled embrace
---------------
lost
this world is small
you begin someplace
end at another
& realize
you end where you began
this world is small
you look, look
and look
& realize
you are still the onlooker
is to be one with my uncomfortableness
to let it engulf me
to welcome it inside me
to let the spear of uncomfortableness and aloneness/sadness
pierce my skin
enter my insides
and leave me no choice
but to become one with it in a lover's entangled embrace
---------------
lost
this world is small
you begin someplace
end at another
& realize
you end where you began
this world is small
you look, look
and look
& realize
you are still the onlooker
Thursday, 14 June 2007
Let's Talk About Brothers, Younger Brothers
Few reasons why you can't live with your younger sibling... or without them :-/
1. Makes fun of my e-mail addy: gaheri_bindu_andar@ & langdi_taang_ bahar@
2. Calls me:
a) moti (fatso)
b) bhainsi (buffalo)
- when I'm neither moti nor bhainsi, thank you very much!
3. Will hold my hand while crossing the road even though he is younger than me by more than four years and I've probably crossed more roads than him.
4. Will say, "Girna mat, giraana mat" (don't fall & don't let the thing you are holding fall either!) every single time I carry something like a tray full of food etc. - Hmph! As if I am born clumsy!
(ok, so things do seem to have a propensity to fall off my hands for some reason!)
5. Will call me "didi" only when he wants something from me.
6. Will make me laugh when I'm angry with him and ready to blast him off (do you have any idea how annoying that is?).
7. Will ask me to give him a missed call if I'm walking to a relative's place at 8:00 in the night... - Oh, did I mention that the place is just 5 minutes away?
8. Refuses to teach me gaalis (cuss words) and help me build my meager repertoire. :X
9. People who meet us for the first time think he's the elder one.
Sigh!
Got your own younger/elder brother/sister stories?
1. Makes fun of my e-mail addy: gaheri_bindu_andar@ & langdi_taang_ bahar@
2. Calls me:
a) moti (fatso)
b) bhainsi (buffalo)
- when I'm neither moti nor bhainsi, thank you very much!
3. Will hold my hand while crossing the road even though he is younger than me by more than four years and I've probably crossed more roads than him.
4. Will say, "Girna mat, giraana mat" (don't fall & don't let the thing you are holding fall either!) every single time I carry something like a tray full of food etc. - Hmph! As if I am born clumsy!
(ok, so things do seem to have a propensity to fall off my hands for some reason!)
5. Will call me "didi" only when he wants something from me.
6. Will make me laugh when I'm angry with him and ready to blast him off (do you have any idea how annoying that is?).
7. Will ask me to give him a missed call if I'm walking to a relative's place at 8:00 in the night... - Oh, did I mention that the place is just 5 minutes away?
8. Refuses to teach me gaalis (cuss words) and help me build my meager repertoire. :X
9. People who meet us for the first time think he's the elder one.
Sigh!
Got your own younger/elder brother/sister stories?
Sunday, 10 June 2007
Thought Blots
Random thoughts that I want to blog about:
- Parenting Parents: Role Reversal. Children becoming protective of their parents?
- True Loves: Off-beat careers. Case in point "What Not To Wear" on TLC.
- Lookin' Good : Can the awareness that you look good change your life?
- Post-it for Blogs? Have to search for this one so that for future such lists I don't have to write a separate post.
Last but not the least not a bloggable thought but just a thought: Love can be a bitch. A friend of mine had his heart broken recently and feels that his world has come to an end... (sigh)
- Parenting Parents: Role Reversal. Children becoming protective of their parents?
- True Loves: Off-beat careers. Case in point "What Not To Wear" on TLC.
- Lookin' Good : Can the awareness that you look good change your life?
- Post-it for Blogs? Have to search for this one so that for future such lists I don't have to write a separate post.
Last but not the least not a bloggable thought but just a thought: Love can be a bitch. A friend of mine had his heart broken recently and feels that his world has come to an end... (sigh)
Friday, 8 June 2007
What was that?
Speaking of Sex & the City...
"The most exciting, challenging and significant relationship of all is the one you have with yourself. And if you find someone to love the you you love, well, that's just fabulous." - Carrie
“Charlotte [After the wedding]: I finally get to sleep with Trey.
Carrie: Excuse me?
Miranda: You haven't slept with him yet?
Samantha: Honey, before you buy the car you take it for a test drive!”
“Miranda: Maybe it's time that I stop being so angry.
Carrie: Yeah, but what would you do with all your free time?”
“Charlotte: Miranda has a son!
Samantha: Just what the world needs: another man.”
“Carrie: I just love Sleeping Beauty! The music, the sets, the costumes. It's so romantic!
Stanford: You only like it because she sleeps for a hundred years and doesn't age.”
“I don't believe in the Republican party or the Democratic party. I just believe in parties." - Samantha
"No man is worth your tears and the one who is will never make you cry." - not sure which of the 4 said this
Monday, 4 June 2007
Love in last seasons
I just don't get it.
I was reading the Episode Guide of Sex and the City's last season and - oh, yeah! that might be certifiably crazy (reading the episode guide online I mean)! I can't dispute that (especially when I have tons of other stuff to get done as well!) It's just that I like reading the episode guides of shows I can't watch. To be honest, in a way I prefer *reading* the episode guides to watching them - I don't have to go through the suspense of waiting to know what happens next in the subsequent episode.
Anyway, to get back to Sex and the City, Mr. Big "suddenly" goes after Carrie in the series finale. Yes, after turning away from her for the last 8 seasons (or was it 6?), he's hit by a sudden bolt of lightning and realizes that Carrie is the girl for him! So what does he do? Pack his bags and rush to Paris to search for his lady-love (who had moved there just the episode before) in the last show of the last season.
Does he go after her while she was still in New York? Of course not! That wouldn't make for a great finish would it? It has to be the last episode of the last season filmed in Paris to garner enough eyeballs!
I feel like saying, "Give me a break!" I mean did he suddenly wake up one fine New York morning and decide that this is it, "It's get Carrie" day?!
(For the uninitiated, Carrie and Mr. Big have had an on-again, off-again relationship with it definitely being off in Season 4, 5 or 6 (don't remember which!))
Where am I going with this?
Be it 'Sex and the City' or 'Friends', why is it that the lead characters of both these hugely popular pop culture shows are hit by a bolt from Cupid only in the last episode of the last show?
Is it only an eyeball grabbing exercise or does it have some basis in truth? Do you really wake up one day and all of a sudden decide that it's the you're-in-love day?
I don't get it.
I definitely do not have a vast experience walking the minefield of love and relationships but logic, past relationship, and something inside me rebels against the decide-you're-in-love theory.
All of a sudden, how do you know that this is it? How can love dawn upon you in a sudden moment of enlightenment?
In fact the more I think of it the more I feel that being in love or being in a relationship is akin to a state of constant simmer. A meeting, a conversation, even your first kiss is just a starting point. You talk, you converse, you laugh, you joke and then suddenly one day you fight. Hurting, you take a step back. You think, you talk again, and take a few more tentative steps forward. You're scared but you let the other person privy to your darkest moments and fears, to dreams you feel are too lofty but which still dog your mind.
I guess what I'm wondering is - Do you go through all of this because you have already decided or you "know" that you are in love? Or does love dawn upon you while you're in the midst of a conversation or a fight? Or does love leave you startled one day with the force of enlightenment?
The reason Sex and the City rankled is because it ties up everything neatly - too neatly. Don't get me wrong. I love tied-with-big-bow finishes and I guess at heart I am a romantic. But life just is not this neat.
It does not have a 'last' season where you suddenly realize that you're in love or have been in love all along.
It's a little bit more painful and a little more confusing... It kind of leaves you wishing that sometimes, just sometimes, you were on the last episode of the last season of a pop show!
But then again.... maybe that wouldn't be as much fun!
I was reading the Episode Guide of Sex and the City's last season and - oh, yeah! that might be certifiably crazy (reading the episode guide online I mean)! I can't dispute that (especially when I have tons of other stuff to get done as well!) It's just that I like reading the episode guides of shows I can't watch. To be honest, in a way I prefer *reading* the episode guides to watching them - I don't have to go through the suspense of waiting to know what happens next in the subsequent episode.
Anyway, to get back to Sex and the City, Mr. Big "suddenly" goes after Carrie in the series finale. Yes, after turning away from her for the last 8 seasons (or was it 6?), he's hit by a sudden bolt of lightning and realizes that Carrie is the girl for him! So what does he do? Pack his bags and rush to Paris to search for his lady-love (who had moved there just the episode before) in the last show of the last season.
Does he go after her while she was still in New York? Of course not! That wouldn't make for a great finish would it? It has to be the last episode of the last season filmed in Paris to garner enough eyeballs!
I feel like saying, "Give me a break!" I mean did he suddenly wake up one fine New York morning and decide that this is it, "It's get Carrie" day?!
(For the uninitiated, Carrie and Mr. Big have had an on-again, off-again relationship with it definitely being off in Season 4, 5 or 6 (don't remember which!))
Where am I going with this?
Be it 'Sex and the City' or 'Friends', why is it that the lead characters of both these hugely popular pop culture shows are hit by a bolt from Cupid only in the last episode of the last show?
Is it only an eyeball grabbing exercise or does it have some basis in truth? Do you really wake up one day and all of a sudden decide that it's the you're-in-love day?
I don't get it.
I definitely do not have a vast experience walking the minefield of love and relationships but logic, past relationship, and something inside me rebels against the decide-you're-in-love theory.
All of a sudden, how do you know that this is it? How can love dawn upon you in a sudden moment of enlightenment?
In fact the more I think of it the more I feel that being in love or being in a relationship is akin to a state of constant simmer. A meeting, a conversation, even your first kiss is just a starting point. You talk, you converse, you laugh, you joke and then suddenly one day you fight. Hurting, you take a step back. You think, you talk again, and take a few more tentative steps forward. You're scared but you let the other person privy to your darkest moments and fears, to dreams you feel are too lofty but which still dog your mind.
I guess what I'm wondering is - Do you go through all of this because you have already decided or you "know" that you are in love? Or does love dawn upon you while you're in the midst of a conversation or a fight? Or does love leave you startled one day with the force of enlightenment?
The reason Sex and the City rankled is because it ties up everything neatly - too neatly. Don't get me wrong. I love tied-with-big-bow finishes and I guess at heart I am a romantic. But life just is not this neat.
It does not have a 'last' season where you suddenly realize that you're in love or have been in love all along.
It's a little bit more painful and a little more confusing... It kind of leaves you wishing that sometimes, just sometimes, you were on the last episode of the last season of a pop show!
But then again.... maybe that wouldn't be as much fun!
Saturday, 2 June 2007
Link-a-Link-a-Link...
I love stumbling into things which make me soar.
One of these is KarmaTube (which I found off CharityFocus) - "The world is full of wonderful and inspiring stories, some unfolding in distant places and others right next door. KarmaTube is dedicated to bringing more of these stories to light, using the power of video and the internet to demonstrate and multiply acts of compassion, generosity and selflessness."
Here's some of my favourite videos:
1. http://www.karmatube.org/videos.php?id=81 - What does a teacher "make"? A difference!
2. http://www.karmatube.org/videos.php?id=108 - Makes me think that maybe each one of us does have something that makes a difference in this world
3. http://www.karmatube.org/videos.php?id=80 - Impromptu Joy! I love how contagious joy/laughter is!
One of these is KarmaTube (which I found off CharityFocus) - "The world is full of wonderful and inspiring stories, some unfolding in distant places and others right next door. KarmaTube is dedicated to bringing more of these stories to light, using the power of video and the internet to demonstrate and multiply acts of compassion, generosity and selflessness."
Here's some of my favourite videos:
1. http://www.karmatube.org/videos.php?id=81 - What does a teacher "make"? A difference!
2. http://www.karmatube.org/videos.php?id=108 - Makes me think that maybe each one of us does have something that makes a difference in this world
3. http://www.karmatube.org/videos.php?id=80 - Impromptu Joy! I love how contagious joy/laughter is!
Friday, 1 June 2007
Abstractions
Top 5 (+1) Strange/Interesting Thoughts of the Week-That-Was
1. Something I've been thinking, "Do guys read MBs (Mills & Boons)?" And if yes, what do they think of it? (the four I asked, didn't. And two hadn't even heard of 'em!)
2. A co-worker to me, "You won't find a guy here in India. The kind of person you are - you need to be with a guy who's lived in West" - on marriage, relationships, love. In all fairness, the person meant well.
3. People who you think you know well *will* continue to surprise you. Same co-worker to me, "Granted you have your moments of childishness but you need someone who's an intellectual match and with whom you can talk. Else you'll get bored pretty soon".
4. After a disastrous meal or two at office cafetaria - Food at office is going to suck. Why, oh why, isn't this taught as a fact of life in schools?
5. Can a 60+ man really fall in love with a woman 30 years his junior? Rather, is it really possible for it to work out the other way round? (Disclaimer: I DID enjoy Cheeni Kam hugely!)
6. Realization - "Love at first sight" just does not seem possible to me.
1. Something I've been thinking, "Do guys read MBs (Mills & Boons)?" And if yes, what do they think of it? (the four I asked, didn't. And two hadn't even heard of 'em!)
2. A co-worker to me, "You won't find a guy here in India. The kind of person you are - you need to be with a guy who's lived in West" - on marriage, relationships, love. In all fairness, the person meant well.
3. People who you think you know well *will* continue to surprise you. Same co-worker to me, "Granted you have your moments of childishness but you need someone who's an intellectual match and with whom you can talk. Else you'll get bored pretty soon".
4. After a disastrous meal or two at office cafetaria - Food at office is going to suck. Why, oh why, isn't this taught as a fact of life in schools?
5. Can a 60+ man really fall in love with a woman 30 years his junior? Rather, is it really possible for it to work out the other way round? (Disclaimer: I DID enjoy Cheeni Kam hugely!)
6. Realization - "Love at first sight" just does not seem possible to me.
Tuesday, 22 May 2007
Movie Magic
4 movies I'm looking forward to:
1.
Cheeni Kam
With no pretensions of tackling "isues" or KANK type intellectual fart, Balki (national creative head, Lowe Lintas) says, "Cheeni Kam's love story is a comedy. It’s also got Paresh Rawal in it. I have attempted to make a very shallow film with no depth in it. It’s a very light film. Cheeni Kum is as mainstream as a film can get”. (Indiafm)
I kinda like that! No Karan Johar type intellectual hypocrisy here! I am so looking forward to this movie! I've seen the trailer and it promises to be funny (without being slap-stick) and sweet (without being syrupy).
2.
Shrek 3
Who doesn't love the green ogre? And his loyal friend, the dunkey? Or the princess who decides she is happier being an ogress to her ogre? And the cat-in-the-hat!
3.
Pirates Of The Caribbean 3- At World's End
Unfortunately, I wasn't able to see PoC 2. However, I have every intention of watching the 3rd one. Why? Because I have a simple funda: anything with Johnny Depp is at least one time watchable!
4.
Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix
As a true-blue HP fan, there's no way I will miss out on this! It will be interesting to see how they managed to compress the mammoth book into 2-3 hours of cinema.
Let's see whether these 4 step up to the promise they hold out!
Any guesses?
1.
With no pretensions of tackling "isues" or KANK type intellectual fart, Balki (national creative head, Lowe Lintas) says, "Cheeni Kam's love story is a comedy. It’s also got Paresh Rawal in it. I have attempted to make a very shallow film with no depth in it. It’s a very light film. Cheeni Kum is as mainstream as a film can get”. (Indiafm)
I kinda like that! No Karan Johar type intellectual hypocrisy here! I am so looking forward to this movie! I've seen the trailer and it promises to be funny (without being slap-stick) and sweet (without being syrupy).
2.
Shrek 3
Who doesn't love the green ogre? And his loyal friend, the dunkey? Or the princess who decides she is happier being an ogress to her ogre? And the cat-in-the-hat!
3.
Pirates Of The Caribbean 3- At World's End
Unfortunately, I wasn't able to see PoC 2. However, I have every intention of watching the 3rd one. Why? Because I have a simple funda: anything with Johnny Depp is at least one time watchable!
4.
Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix
As a true-blue HP fan, there's no way I will miss out on this! It will be interesting to see how they managed to compress the mammoth book into 2-3 hours of cinema.
Let's see whether these 4 step up to the promise they hold out!
Any guesses?
Monday, 21 May 2007
A nation of readers
Reading is a hobby which makes a regular appearance on resumes. These days it surfaces in one more place -profile section of one of the ubiquitous social networking sites.
Next time you visit one of these sites, take a look at the books that lads and ladies list as their 'favourite':
1. The omnipresent "The Da Vinci Code"
Next time you visit one of these sites, take a look at the books that lads and ladies list as their 'favourite':
1. The omnipresent "The Da Vinci Code"
2. Everyone's favourite "Five Point Someone"
3. "One night at a Call Center"
(Chetan Bhagat sure seems to have done a lot for the reading habits of the youth of India!)
4. Oh wait, how can I forget "Angels & Demons"?
(I think Dan Brown should be accorded the same status as Chetan Bhagat)
Did I mention that these are the *only* books which make an appearance? Hmm, that's only four books and two authors... am I forgetting something?
:-/
Oh yeah! I forgot that for 21st century India, the only reading that's required is Dan Brown & Chetan Bhagat.
In other words, reading one of the above, doth a reader make!
Saturday, 19 May 2007
Redefining Service!
Talk about customer service!
Curious, I headed to zappos.com.
My first impression? A layout which feels cluttered and is not all that pleasing to the eyes. Overall, an amateurish look.
And yet, does it matter? Reading the testimonials, it appears not!
Looks like these guys have their priorities right. They pump their money back where it matters the most - the customer.
I thought I work in a company which always puts customer first - Obviously, we are not the only ones!
Curious, I headed to zappos.com.
My first impression? A layout which feels cluttered and is not all that pleasing to the eyes. Overall, an amateurish look.
And yet, does it matter? Reading the testimonials, it appears not!
Looks like these guys have their priorities right. They pump their money back where it matters the most - the customer.
I thought I work in a company which always puts customer first - Obviously, we are not the only ones!
Friday, 18 May 2007
Summer Loves
Somebody recently said, "The only thing that makes summers bearable are the mangoes".
It got me thinking. No doubt one is almost inclined to forgive summer (its heat) for the mangoes it brings but as I started thinking, bits and pieces of memories started assailing me:
1) Gradual seeping away of all scholarly inclinations as everyone waits impatiently for the summer vacations to start! And of course the general desire that the DM or the Mayor would get the schools closed earlier due to the heat wave sweeping across the city!
2) The last day of the school - ahh, the best! The eagerness, the excitement, the knowledge that there will be no schools for the next 2 months! It's almost like standing on the top of the world.
3) The sondhi-khushboo when coolers whirl to life the first time. The long afternoons spent sitting in front of the cooler and solving mysteries with the Five Find Outers, living the school life at Malory Towers & Chalet school, and adventuring with the Adventurous Four. Summer afternoons for me are synonymous with being lost in another world - from Enid Blyton to Perry Mason to Thomas Hardy to Sydney Sheldon to Jane Austen and so many more.
4) Aam-ka-panna & pudeene ki chutney - a must for all summer lunches.
5) Litchee - succulent, fat, drippy, sticky and yummy. Made all the more dear because they used to be available for only 2-3 weeks in the market!
6) The king of fruits - Aam after lunch, aam after dinner and aam-in-between-slices-of-bread for breakfast. 'Dussheri' was always my favourite and remains to this day though I have yet to find it in Hyderabad :(
7) Swimming classes, going to nani's place, my best friend's home, 10-year-old-skirts meant to be worn only during the summers, the summer holidays spent in Benaras, sleeping on the floor during power cuts, sitting outside and staring at the stars on electricity-less nights during power cuts, rummaging through my dad's book collection to see if I could find some book I'd still not read and the realization one day that I'd read 'em all, cold-coffee with ice cream, watching mostly inane and some good Hollywood 'classics' on TNT (does anyone remember that channel?).
Summer for me is a mosaic of all these memories. In fact, as I re-read the list above it strikes me how seasonal these memories are. Most of them are tied in with one aspect of summers or the other. Hmm... perhaps, something to think about in a future post!
Meanwhile, do you find your favourite memories 'seasonal' too?
It got me thinking. No doubt one is almost inclined to forgive summer (its heat) for the mangoes it brings but as I started thinking, bits and pieces of memories started assailing me:
1) Gradual seeping away of all scholarly inclinations as everyone waits impatiently for the summer vacations to start! And of course the general desire that the DM or the Mayor would get the schools closed earlier due to the heat wave sweeping across the city!
2) The last day of the school - ahh, the best! The eagerness, the excitement, the knowledge that there will be no schools for the next 2 months! It's almost like standing on the top of the world.
3) The sondhi-khushboo when coolers whirl to life the first time. The long afternoons spent sitting in front of the cooler and solving mysteries with the Five Find Outers, living the school life at Malory Towers & Chalet school, and adventuring with the Adventurous Four. Summer afternoons for me are synonymous with being lost in another world - from Enid Blyton to Perry Mason to Thomas Hardy to Sydney Sheldon to Jane Austen and so many more.
4) Aam-ka-panna & pudeene ki chutney - a must for all summer lunches.
5) Litchee - succulent, fat, drippy, sticky and yummy. Made all the more dear because they used to be available for only 2-3 weeks in the market!
6) The king of fruits - Aam after lunch, aam after dinner and aam-in-between-slices-of-bread for breakfast. 'Dussheri' was always my favourite and remains to this day though I have yet to find it in Hyderabad :(
7) Swimming classes, going to nani's place, my best friend's home, 10-year-old-skirts meant to be worn only during the summers, the summer holidays spent in Benaras, sleeping on the floor during power cuts, sitting outside and staring at the stars on electricity-less nights during power cuts, rummaging through my dad's book collection to see if I could find some book I'd still not read and the realization one day that I'd read 'em all, cold-coffee with ice cream, watching mostly inane and some good Hollywood 'classics' on TNT (does anyone remember that channel?).
Summer for me is a mosaic of all these memories. In fact, as I re-read the list above it strikes me how seasonal these memories are. Most of them are tied in with one aspect of summers or the other. Hmm... perhaps, something to think about in a future post!
Meanwhile, do you find your favourite memories 'seasonal' too?
Sunday, 13 May 2007
Blog - In
here a blog,
there a blog,
everywhere a blog-blog...
blogs, blogs eveywhere
one more enters the ring....
Some common types of blogs:
1) Tech Blogs (Tech Talk) - A common variety. Used by the Web 2.0 geek who hops on the bandwagon for its ease and the air-time/platform it gives him. Interested in developing a reputation and building a brand, he posts the in-thing, his expert opinions, and blogs about the next kid-on-the-block in technosphere.
2) Journals & Reflections (Inside Out) - Intimate, pour your heart-out variety, these provide a catharsis and think-space to the writer. The comments and the counter-comments also make for an interesting (and even hilarious) by-play. Some are honest introspections (leaving you touched) and some are written for the galleries.
3) Sport a Blog:
a) Because it's in: Created 'in keeping with the times', out it goes as the new in-thing becomes the next best.
b) Life's Like That: Created in a moment of inspiration it languishes as life catches up with the author who updates it once in 6 months.
4) The Serious Writer: Opinions, thoughts, reviews, experiences, anything which strikes the fancy. Grammar and punctuation in place, some are gems while others are just air-time outposts.
5) Cross-Mix: Cross-mix of all the above (I have yet to see this)
6) The Uncategorized: Far be it for me to presume I can categorize it all. So everything else, falls under this!
So which category does this blog fall under?
That, only time can tell! :)
So what kind of blogs have you encountered?
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