अर्ज किया है.....
दरियामे यु तो होते है कतरे ही कतरे सब
कतरा वही है जिसमे के दरिया दिखाई दे
(From the internet)
दरियामे यु तो होते है कतरे ही कतरे सब
कतरा वही है जिसमे के दरिया दिखाई दे
(From the internet)
Saturday, February 9, 2013
Thursday, February 7, 2013
‘What’s the proof that God exists?’
‘Can you see Oxygen? Or for that
matter, air? But you know it exists because you can breathe and you are alive’
‘Exactly my point, my friend! There
is some proof that air exists. What is the proof that God exists? There are
many that He doesn’t. Poverty, murders, genocides, epidemics, wars….take your
pick’
I could never win the arguments with
my friend who was an atheist. She and KanjiBhai would have got along well. KanjiBhai
who? No, you are unlikely to ask that question - because I was probably the
last person in India to watch ‘Oh My God’ when it was aired on TV last weekend.
But in case you have beaten me to it,
here is the story in a nutshell. Kanji Bhai (Paresh Rawal) owns a shop selling
Idols – Mahadev, Krishna, Hanuman, Sai Baba – name a God and you will find his
idol in the shop. Owing to his expertize in passing off tap water as Holy water
and idols bought in Holy places as ancient treasure personally handed to him by
some saint, he is doing well – albeit at the cost of his hapless religious
customers. But despite being surrounded by God all throughout the day, Kanji
Bhai doesn’t believe in Him, much to the annoyance of his devout wife.
Call it the wrath of God, if you
believe in God, or a mere coincidence if you don’t, an earthquake hits Mumbai. The
neighborhood shop that is decrepit enough to be knocked over by a mere whiff stays
untouched and Kanji Bhai’s shop is razed to the ground. Never mind, he says,
though shell-shocked. There is always the insurance company. He, however, gets
another shock when the insurance company in question calls the quake ‘an act of
God’ and refuses to cough up the money.
Cornered from all sides, Kanji Bhai
decides to sue God, only to find that no lawyer is willing to fight his case.
When one lawyer finally agrees, he tells Kanjibhai that you need an address of
the person who you want to sue. And so the summons is sent to those who
‘supposedly’ represent God on earth – namely the sadhus, the babas and the
maiyyas. India, however, is a secular country. So when people from other
religions come forward to join the claim, notices are also sent to Maulawis and
church priests. The Press, the religious community and common man on the street
all have opinion about this ongoing battle between God and Kanji Bhai. Just
when he feels that he is fighting a lost battle, someone comes to his rescue –
someone who identifies himself as ‘Krishna Vasudev Yadav from Gokul’!
Who is this guy? Where has he come
from? Is he able to help KanjiBhai? If you want answers to all these questions,
you better watch the movie (if you haven’t already!). J
I did. To tell you the truth, to
begin with, I had got a stack of things to be completed while watching the
movie. But when ‘Krishna Vasudev Yadav from Gokul’ turned up, I swept
everything aside and sat glued to the screen. And no, I am not an ardent fan of
Akshay Kumar – though I liked him in Bhool Bhulaiyya and all Heraferi movies.
I did so because I realized that
though I am not an atheist like KanjiBhai, some of his questions are mine too. And
I wanted answers.
I did so because I don’t believe that
keeping fasts, walking barefoot to the temples or going to the Holy men is the
way to reach God. And I wanted to know if I am right.
I did so because I knew who this
‘‘Krishna Vasudev Yadav from Gokul’ was (no surprises there!). And I wanted to
know how, if at all, he helps KanjiBhai.
At the end of the movie, I got
answers to some of my questions and some – like e.g. why a bus full of pilgrims
on its way to a Holy shrine meets with an accident killing all on board - were
left unanswered.
But as I pass 2-3 shops, full of
idols like Kanjibhai’s shop, on my way to and from office, I recall what one of
the Holy men (Mithun Chakrabarti) says to KanjiBhai in the end ‘even if people
are listening to you now, they will come back to us eventually. Because they
are not God-loving people, they are God-fearing people’.
Oh My God! More
prophetic words were never said!
The news - that BEST is thinking of
shutting down its AC service in phased manner within 2 years – will not come as
a surprise to anyone who has observed an empty AC bus plying the city’s
streets. This, however, is a clear case of throwing the baby out with the bath
water.
I agree that there are many problems such
as non-working or leaking ACs and faulty engines. Twice, I have myself had the
joy of traveling in a bus that took forever to get to the other side of the
flyover. The punctuality of the service is nothing to write home about. But
shutting down the service is no solution.
Here are a few points for
improvement, from the perspective of a commuter:
11. The service timings
should be revised after a careful study of traffic patterns as well as commuter
behavior and the buses should ply from South Mumbai to suburbs and vice versa
during these times. e.g. if you check
the BEST site, some of the AC buses, like AC2, don’t operate from suburbs to
South Mumbai in the evenings. I wonder what logic BEST has applied for this, if
any.
22. There is no
reason to ply these buses on Worli-Bandra sea link. Take example of AC-70.
After Kherwadi, it takes the sea link and misses out on commuters going to
Mahim, Sitala Devi, City Light, Shivaji Park & Prabhadevi.
33. I doubt if
any express service is needed on the AC route (e.g. AC 70)
44. Put up the
bus number in neon signs at the front and back. The way things are now,
commuters have to run to the front of the bus to squint at the number that is hand-written
on the lower left side of the wind-shield. Sometimes they run after the bus
only to realize that it isn’t the one that they want to take.
And while the BEST is at it, it can
do something more to make sure that more people travel by bus:
11. Modify the
roofs of all the East-facing bus stops so that they shelter people from the morning
glare, unless the BEST wants its customers to go blind.
22. Revamp the
seating arrangement at the bus-stops such that old people and children can sit
there comfortably while waiting for the bus. There is no need to worry that if
bus stops are made cozy, people will come to stay there.
33. Put up sign-boards
depicting the entire route for the buses that halt at the stop so that people
can figure out which bus they need to take. It’s not often that you find good
Samaritans around who will tell you exactly which bus goes to Haji Ali or
Andheri.
If you look at the long stretch of
the vehicles waiting at any signal during the rush hour, it becomes very clear
that what this city needs is not more cars or cabs or rickshaws – it needs
better means of mass transport. For those of us who aren’t fans of local trains,
mega blocks and broken pantographs, there should be options that are safe,
clean, reasonably fast, reliable and timely.
I don’t think that’s a lot to ask
for.
Sunday, February 3, 2013
China Gate, Atria Mall, Worli
Lately, there has been no reason whatsoever to visit the Atria mall in Worli. From what I heard the mall has worn a desolate look since many of the shops have downed their shutters. Same goes for the food court. So I was surprised when I saw the 'Now Open' sign from Barbeque Nation there and decided to pay a visit. Alas, they seem to have only Buffet option. Since long, I have decided to stay away from buffets. I am not one of those who eat heartily so the exorbitant prices of these buffets make me feel that I am not eating all that I am paying for.
The only other option in the mall seemed to be China Gate (I am not a big fan of Only Parathas after my dismal lunch experience a few days back and I was in no food for pizza!). I have eaten before at China Gate and had enjoyed it.
It's been years since I have started my meal at any Chinese restaurant with a soup because I am not a Soup person. But I couldn't resist the temptation to try out 'Spicy Crab Soup' on the menu, albeit with some trepidation. The soup, however, didn't disappoint me when it arrived. Steaming, thick and wholesome - without even a hint of a fishy smell that sometimes accompanies seafood - it tasted delicious. I could have done without the coriander sprigs in it though. I would have happily consumed another bowlful if I were a big eater.But I wanted to see what was on the Main menu.
Many dishes looked interesting but I went for Honey Chicken and Burnt Garlic Chicken Fried Rice. The Honey Chicken was superbly cooked with a perfect balance of crispiness and chewiness. The honey, however, was more generously heaped on it than was needed. A bit more spice in the form of dried red chillies would have been better.
The pot rice, when served, made me rather alarmed with its dash of green color on the chicken pieces. I hate chicken in green masala. And there was nothing on the menu to suggest that the dish would make use of it. Apart from a few deep fried garlic cloves that did justice to the dish's name, the rest of the dish was pretty bland. I should have stuck to plain Chicken Pot Rice or good old Chicken Fried Rice.
Needless to say, the ambience was good and the staff courteous. All in all, I would still go back so I can try more dishes from the menu.
Oh, and a medium scoop of Gelato's Royal Kulfi to top off this meal means a Sunday afternoon well spent, won't you say? :-)
The only other option in the mall seemed to be China Gate (I am not a big fan of Only Parathas after my dismal lunch experience a few days back and I was in no food for pizza!). I have eaten before at China Gate and had enjoyed it.
It's been years since I have started my meal at any Chinese restaurant with a soup because I am not a Soup person. But I couldn't resist the temptation to try out 'Spicy Crab Soup' on the menu, albeit with some trepidation. The soup, however, didn't disappoint me when it arrived. Steaming, thick and wholesome - without even a hint of a fishy smell that sometimes accompanies seafood - it tasted delicious. I could have done without the coriander sprigs in it though. I would have happily consumed another bowlful if I were a big eater.But I wanted to see what was on the Main menu.
Many dishes looked interesting but I went for Honey Chicken and Burnt Garlic Chicken Fried Rice. The Honey Chicken was superbly cooked with a perfect balance of crispiness and chewiness. The honey, however, was more generously heaped on it than was needed. A bit more spice in the form of dried red chillies would have been better.
The pot rice, when served, made me rather alarmed with its dash of green color on the chicken pieces. I hate chicken in green masala. And there was nothing on the menu to suggest that the dish would make use of it. Apart from a few deep fried garlic cloves that did justice to the dish's name, the rest of the dish was pretty bland. I should have stuck to plain Chicken Pot Rice or good old Chicken Fried Rice.
Needless to say, the ambience was good and the staff courteous. All in all, I would still go back so I can try more dishes from the menu.
Oh, and a medium scoop of Gelato's Royal Kulfi to top off this meal means a Sunday afternoon well spent, won't you say? :-)
The Six Sacred Stones - by Matthew Reilly (Spoiler Alert!)
A chase through the Egyptian desert, a midnight ritual at the Stonehenge, a trip to the land of a mysterious cannibalistic tribe forgotten by time and six ancient stones that hold the key to saving the world from the rays of a Dark Sun. I don't know about you but this list on back cover seemed simply irresistible to me.
And Matthew Reilly lived up to my expectations. This is the story of Jack West Jr., his adopted daughter Lily, her friend Alby and his band of trusted friends - Zoe, Sky Monster, Pooh Bear and Stretch. The year is 2007 and the very existence of Earth is threatened by a planet, a dark Sun, hovering around the edges of our solar system. The problem, however, is not insurmountable. The secret lies in an ancient machine which must be powered by placing six stones inside it so that it can nullify the ill-effects of the dark sun's rays. And the times, as usual, is running out. What is making this more complicated than it already is that whoever sets each of these stones in the machine will be given a reward, thus every nation, from the House of the Sauds to China are in the race to acquire the stones. Plenty of stuff to sit back, relax and enjoy the ride.
There are a few gaffes though. e.g. on page 65, a line is mentioned 'I am Vishnu, the Destroyer of the World'. Unless there is a Vishnu in some other religion of the world, this line runs counter to the Hindu belief that Lord Brahma is the creator of the universe, Lord Vishnu sustains it and Lord Shiva destroys it. And while it is mentioned that during the hunt for the 1st pillar, Colonel Mao Gongli loses 9 men of his squad and one of them falls into a deep chasm (page 183), when Jack and his men arrive there they notice 9 body bags in all (page 185). I rather doubt the Chinese, who throughout the novel have considered their menn to be totally dispensible, would go to the extent of going to the bottom of the seemingly bottomless chasm to retreive a body of their dead man.
It was disappointing to find that the story doesn't end in this novel. I will have to wait to get my hands on the sequel to find out if Jack ever makes it out of the chasm 9of course he will!), if Alby is able to get out of the dark cave, if Pooh Bear is able to rescue Stretch from the Mossad and just what lies ahead of the team in their search of the 4 remaining stones.
Google tells me that the sequel titled 'The Five Greatest Warriors' was released in 2009. Unfortunately, I rather doubt that my library has it :-(
And Matthew Reilly lived up to my expectations. This is the story of Jack West Jr., his adopted daughter Lily, her friend Alby and his band of trusted friends - Zoe, Sky Monster, Pooh Bear and Stretch. The year is 2007 and the very existence of Earth is threatened by a planet, a dark Sun, hovering around the edges of our solar system. The problem, however, is not insurmountable. The secret lies in an ancient machine which must be powered by placing six stones inside it so that it can nullify the ill-effects of the dark sun's rays. And the times, as usual, is running out. What is making this more complicated than it already is that whoever sets each of these stones in the machine will be given a reward, thus every nation, from the House of the Sauds to China are in the race to acquire the stones. Plenty of stuff to sit back, relax and enjoy the ride.
There are a few gaffes though. e.g. on page 65, a line is mentioned 'I am Vishnu, the Destroyer of the World'. Unless there is a Vishnu in some other religion of the world, this line runs counter to the Hindu belief that Lord Brahma is the creator of the universe, Lord Vishnu sustains it and Lord Shiva destroys it. And while it is mentioned that during the hunt for the 1st pillar, Colonel Mao Gongli loses 9 men of his squad and one of them falls into a deep chasm (page 183), when Jack and his men arrive there they notice 9 body bags in all (page 185). I rather doubt the Chinese, who throughout the novel have considered their menn to be totally dispensible, would go to the extent of going to the bottom of the seemingly bottomless chasm to retreive a body of their dead man.
It was disappointing to find that the story doesn't end in this novel. I will have to wait to get my hands on the sequel to find out if Jack ever makes it out of the chasm 9of course he will!), if Alby is able to get out of the dark cave, if Pooh Bear is able to rescue Stretch from the Mossad and just what lies ahead of the team in their search of the 4 remaining stones.
Google tells me that the sequel titled 'The Five Greatest Warriors' was released in 2009. Unfortunately, I rather doubt that my library has it :-(
What happened to Rosa Kirasian?
Who was Rosa Kirasian? I wouldn't have heard of her, ever, had it not been for an article in this month's Geo on the Armenian Genocide that happened in Turkey in 1915-16. The article featured photos - that would disturb anyone calling himself or herself 'human' - and eye-witness accounts by diplomats, nurses as well as survivors. One such account by a survivor mentioned Rosa Kirasian - an Armenian young woman who was part of the group that was displaced from their villages and taken on a death march. The survivor narrates that when good-lloking women in the group were being abducted by bandits, villagers and guards, Rosa surrendered to a guard because he promised that he won't harm her and get her married to his brother instead.
Try as I might, I couldn't simply move past this account. Rosa Kirasian wouldn't let me do so. I wondered about her fate. Did she make a right choice? Was she able to marry that guard's brother and live a quite domestic life? Or was she betrayed, violated and perhaps killed? If she survived this horror, was she able to ever get past it? Why is it that the old, the children and the women end up getting the worst in all wars?
Even the omniscient Google was not able to dig up anything about her. So what happened to Rosa Kirasian?
Try as I might, I couldn't simply move past this account. Rosa Kirasian wouldn't let me do so. I wondered about her fate. Did she make a right choice? Was she able to marry that guard's brother and live a quite domestic life? Or was she betrayed, violated and perhaps killed? If she survived this horror, was she able to ever get past it? Why is it that the old, the children and the women end up getting the worst in all wars?
Even the omniscient Google was not able to dig up anything about her. So what happened to Rosa Kirasian?
"So how was your exam?" I asked a team member who was on leave for 3 days as she is doing MBA from one of the well-known distance learning institutes. 'Good one. I had learnt the sums by heart so no issues there'. "What? What do you mean by learnign sums by heart? It is not necessary that you will get exact same sums in the exams." I said incredulously. "Yes madam, the exam papers contain the same sums that are part of the curriculum' she said, smiling. It was all I could do not to blurt out 'What kind of idiotic course is this? What's the point of doing it if the chances of you learning anything and applying it to newer problems are practically nil?'. Hey, it was her money and it was her business. But that gave me an indication of the sorry state of affairs of the entire Indian Education system.
It's a business - pure and simple. The educational institutes - barring a few, just to make an exception to the rule - are in it to mint money and the gullible students as well as their parents, both from the hinterlands and metros, are spending money to buy degrees. In this mad rush to sell and acquire degrees, the desire to learn, the ability to apply the knowledge and to improve in the process is clearly going out the window.
No wonder then that we keep finding that the candidates who turn up for the interviews fall woefully short of the requirements - even on the basics front. The sad part is that no one seems to care. :-(
It's a business - pure and simple. The educational institutes - barring a few, just to make an exception to the rule - are in it to mint money and the gullible students as well as their parents, both from the hinterlands and metros, are spending money to buy degrees. In this mad rush to sell and acquire degrees, the desire to learn, the ability to apply the knowledge and to improve in the process is clearly going out the window.
No wonder then that we keep finding that the candidates who turn up for the interviews fall woefully short of the requirements - even on the basics front. The sad part is that no one seems to care. :-(
"I had been to the Strand Book Exhibition at Sunderbai Hall and I am pretty disappointed." complained a friend. I didn't believe him. How can you be disappointed with a book exhibition? And that too of Strand's? When so many books are on display, you are sure to find some that you have always wanted to make a part of your private library and at a good price too.
So I went there today morning. The sight of rows and rows of books up for grabs was a sight for sore eyes. I passed a couple of first rows that displayed big books on science, astronomy, biology, even languages. Same for the aisle that had all sorts of cookbooks for sale (I hardly ever flip through those that I have at home. Sorry Mr. Sanjeev Kapoor!). The aisles for fiction and non-fiction books didn't look appealing because one, books from different authors were piled on next to each other making it well neigh impossible to spot any one book unless you were patient enough to check out each and every one and two, I couldn't see the books by the usual suspects anywhere. I was combing through the aisles, mustering every last ounce of patience that I possessed but truth be told, I was losing heart. To top it all, the prices didn't seem that low (maybe I have been to too many exhibitions of Ashish Book Center!).
Then I spotted 'The Blair Years' - extracts from the diaries of Alastair Campbell who has been an adviser for Mr. Tony Blair and Britain's Labour Party. I checked out the price - Rs. 350. What? No way! I checked again. Rs. 350 it said. "Oh okay, let's see at the Checkout counter" I said as I moved ahead with the book. An alert attendant ran to me with a basket. God bless his soul! In another aisle, I found 'Fish! For Life'. I have been wanting to have the entire Fish series in my collection since long. So it went into the basket.
A book on Hillary Rodham Clinton - which promised to reveal all about her ambition to become the first woman president of the USA caught my eye. I know my collection is rather short on books on world politics and both world wars. But when I asked myself whether I would feel like reading this book on Hillary, I realized that the answer was a clear 'No'.
I didn't find much in the rest of the aisles and so I proceeded to the checkout counter with just 2 books in the basket - giving cardiac arrest to my family which is used to seeing me emerge with an average of 5 books from such exhibitions! On my way to the checkout counter, I saw many people with baskets full of 10-12 books and wondered which ones they have bought. Maybe, I need to be aware of work of more authors.
BTW, I indeed paid just Rs. 350 for 'The Blair Years' :-)
So I went there today morning. The sight of rows and rows of books up for grabs was a sight for sore eyes. I passed a couple of first rows that displayed big books on science, astronomy, biology, even languages. Same for the aisle that had all sorts of cookbooks for sale (I hardly ever flip through those that I have at home. Sorry Mr. Sanjeev Kapoor!). The aisles for fiction and non-fiction books didn't look appealing because one, books from different authors were piled on next to each other making it well neigh impossible to spot any one book unless you were patient enough to check out each and every one and two, I couldn't see the books by the usual suspects anywhere. I was combing through the aisles, mustering every last ounce of patience that I possessed but truth be told, I was losing heart. To top it all, the prices didn't seem that low (maybe I have been to too many exhibitions of Ashish Book Center!).
Then I spotted 'The Blair Years' - extracts from the diaries of Alastair Campbell who has been an adviser for Mr. Tony Blair and Britain's Labour Party. I checked out the price - Rs. 350. What? No way! I checked again. Rs. 350 it said. "Oh okay, let's see at the Checkout counter" I said as I moved ahead with the book. An alert attendant ran to me with a basket. God bless his soul! In another aisle, I found 'Fish! For Life'. I have been wanting to have the entire Fish series in my collection since long. So it went into the basket.
A book on Hillary Rodham Clinton - which promised to reveal all about her ambition to become the first woman president of the USA caught my eye. I know my collection is rather short on books on world politics and both world wars. But when I asked myself whether I would feel like reading this book on Hillary, I realized that the answer was a clear 'No'.
I didn't find much in the rest of the aisles and so I proceeded to the checkout counter with just 2 books in the basket - giving cardiac arrest to my family which is used to seeing me emerge with an average of 5 books from such exhibitions! On my way to the checkout counter, I saw many people with baskets full of 10-12 books and wondered which ones they have bought. Maybe, I need to be aware of work of more authors.
BTW, I indeed paid just Rs. 350 for 'The Blair Years' :-)
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