I will sign off for today with these beautiful lines (forwarded of course!)

मै ज़िंदा था की तेरा इंतजार ख़तम न हो
जो तू मिला तो अब सोचता हू मर जाऊ

Take care of your health, folks and have a nice weekend! :-)

Hats off to Saina Nehwal for reaching the 2nd spot in World Badminton rankings! You have made all Indians proud! :-)

A Salute for Sipoy Karamchand!

Ever heard of a martyr who was consigned to the flames almost 48 years after his death? Sipoy Karamchand is his name. He had died in the 1962 Indo-China war. His remains were discovered by the team responsible for building roads in the border area. His relatives were proud to bid a farewell to this brave soldier. If you can read and understand Marathi, check out this news.

Let's take a moment to salute Sipoy Karamchand!

Ah, the Blessed Friday evening! I am really looking forward to the weekend to unwind after a tiring week. I had said earlier on this blog that I was determined to finish off Ludlum's "The Sigma Protocol" last weekend. I am ashamed to state that it stays unfinished as of now. :-(

However, I have a shorter to-do list this weekend and so I can make a sincere attempt to finish it off. Let's see.

This joke goes out for all the "supposedly-harassed" husbands:

आदमी: सर, मेरी पत्नी कही खो गयी है
पोस्टमैन: ये पोस्ट ऑफिस है, पुलिस स्टेशन नहीं
आदमी: सॉरी सर, साला खुशीके मारे कहा जाऊ कुछ समझमे नहीं आ रहा है :-)

Rattled by the news that the major state-run Health Insurers have excluded many private hospitals from their Preferred Provider Network, I placed a call to the person through whom I have purchased my health insurance. He didn't seem to be having any idea about it so I asked him to get back to me on it. But judging from his track record, I am pretty sure that it will be me who will be calling him again next week :-(

The news says that the Health Insurers have agreed to expand this network but I don't have much hopes because they have agreed to do include only those hospitals which agree to abide by their conditions.

So I guess it is now a matter of who blinks first. :-(

Now our very own Rupee can boast of its own new symbol - it is a mix of Devanagari "Ra" and Roman "R", they say. Way to Go!

If you love songs composed by duo Lakshmikant-Pyarelal, then you should tune in to Radio Mirchi 98.3 today and tomorrow night between 9-12. They are going to be the guests on RJ Anmol's program "Puraani Jeans"!

Forwarded Sher:

गमका चमन खिला है, जख्मो के फूल चुन लो
शायद इसी बहाने कट जाए जिंदगानी

A friend forwarded me this one:

Love is when we drink water from the same coconut using 2 straws.
Friendship is when we have one coconut, use only 1 straw and say "भिखारी पूरा मत पी जाना" :-)

For those of you who are 007 fans, there is a veritable treat this month. Star Movies is showing 17 Bond movies in all - Monday to Thursday, 11pm. Since I am no Bond fan, this news has neither shaken nor stirred me :-)

I still remember one guy from my mobile service company who was trying to sell me their Caller Tune package. When I told him I didn't want it, he told me that it was free. I again declined. Exasperated, he said, in an incredulous voice "But M'am, it is free for 6 months". He sounded as if I was dumb not to jump at something that was being offered free. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry so I just hung up.

Do the Customer Service people at the Banks and Mutual Fund Houses have some quota to fulfill by the end of the month? I am getting at least 2 calls daily from people who are trying to sell me one thing or other. I am so sick and tired of saying "I do not need any financial products, insurance products, credit cards or personal loans" that I am seriously thinking of recording and making it my caller tune. :-(

One particularly persistent lady from a bank asked me why I don't want any credit card. I actually toyed with the idea of telling her no uncertain terms what I think about the banks that fail to tell their customers about the charge structure and all the fine print that goes with it. But I was pressed for time. So I just said "because I don't need it". :-)

One is so used to negative news these days that a bit of a good news seems like a breath of fresh air. Here's one about Chhattisgarh's Food Revolution.

Will the warring Maharashtra and Karnataka governments take a leaf out of their book rather than fighting over a city?