Time for a forwarded शेर:

जाने क्या सोचकर नहीं गुजरा
एक पल रातभर नहीं गुजरा

I wouldn't call them "Freaky". These animals are just different from others of their own kind. Check them out at http://news.in.msn.com/gallery.aspx?cp-documentid=4261243

Last weekend I was watching a program called "Culinary Asia". The episode was on Japan. I came to know lots of interesting things about the culinary practices of this country. There was mention of a particular type of Sushi called Funa Sushi which is made from fish marinated in rice paste for 2 months.

Then they showed what are called as Bento boxes - essentially lunch on the go. The Japanese people love to create beautiful Bentos. These are generally sold at the bullet train stations and many people travel by these trains just to eat these Bentos. Some stations are famous for their Bentos.

Check out this site to look at some sumptuous-looking Bentos. My two encounters with Japanese food were rather disastrous but looking at these I feel like I should give the cuisine another try :-)

This one sums up the tragedy of human life very nicely:

अज्मे इन्सान है के बन जाए फ़रिश्ता लेकिन
हर फ़रिश्तेको ये हसरत है के इन्सान होता

I usually like Shekhar Bhatia's column in The Mint. But this time the first line caught me off guard - Have you ever wondered what happens to your email after you die?

Frankly, I haven't. Who has got time to think of death when you don't even have time to live life fully? :-( But the concept of these websites that help you sort out your after-death business while you are still breathing is interesting. I particularly liked the idea of them sending a message periodically to check if you are alive. Hell, I send such SMSs when I don't hear from a good friend in a long time. My SMSs usually go like -I hope you are alive and kicking. But I would love to see some of my best friends' faces when they get an SMS from me that says 'Please reply to demonstrate that you are still alive.' :-)

And, I do have a list of people who I would like to spook by sending them birthday and anniversary wishes long after I am gone. :-)

I was a bit baffled when I read the title of the news item - Honour sacrifices made for India's independence: US Congresswoman. At first, I thought that this message was for the Indian people. Then I realized that it was meant for the Americans. That confused me even more - till I read that this Congresswoman represents a place that has a large Indian-American community. Aha!

Oh well, at least someone will be honoring these sacrifices - given that the Indian population, by and large, seems to be totally unaware of them, let alone honoring them :-(

हर रोज आपकी यादोमे खोते है
आपकी तस्वीर आखोंमे लेके सोते है
बह न जाए ये तस्वीर आखोसे
इसलिए हम आखोसे नहीं दिलसे रोते है

Correct me if I am wrong but isn't IRDA supposed to be the Insurance regulator? At least the "I" and "R" in its fancy acronym indicate so. Then why is it refusing to mediate between the big hospital chains and the Insurance companies? It is good to say that market forces should determine the premium rate but are our markets efficient enough for that? Can anyone guarantee that the insurance companies won't all collude to set the premiums at an artificial high level?

I agree Leelavati might be high up in the "fancy" hospital scale. I don't know about Apollo, Fortis or Gangaram. But clubbing Hinduja and Jaslok with them won't do. They surely fall somewhere in between the government hospitals and the premium ones.

So rather than just throwing its hands up in the air, why doesn't the regulator work on grouping these hospitals in some tranches. The insurers can then decide the premiums for these tranches. And the policyholders get to choose which one suits them.

Perhaps, we should ask Sebi to find a way to step in this somewhere. That will surely cause IRDA to look seriously into this. Any ideas, Mr. Bhave? :-)

किस तरह पाया तुझे किस तरह खोया तुझे
मुझसा मुनकिरभी तो कायल हो गया तकदिरका

Masterchef Australia

Lately, I have been hooked to this program aired on Star World. It's not just about never-before-heard-of recipes or new cooking techniques. It feels good to see people in their 30s and even late 40s trying to make a career change - all for the passion of food. Plus I like the judges. They don't intimidate or insult the contestants the way chef Gordon Ramsey used to do in Hell's Kitchen. They encourage them and always have a kind word to say to everyone - no matter how his or her dish turned out to be.

It would be good to watch these 24 people cook and see who ultimately becomes the Master Chef. :-)

Chop, shop and 1 smouldering senator

Ow, give Senator Charles Schumer a break, will ya people? It's a tough life being a politician in the US when the economy is in the doldrums and jobs are disappearing every passing minute. On top of it people expect them to find a solution in a jiffy. What are the likes of poor Schumer supposed to do? Oh wait, what about the Indian IT companies? Let's revive the old war-cry of "Stop them, they are shipping our jobs overseas". That's precisely what he is doing.

It's high time that the companies like Infy wake up and smell coffee (!). It was just yesterday that I read an article about how the likes of Cap Gemini are focusing on small clients in India who think that the bigshot Indian IT companies will ignore them once the US market picks up. Agreed that the deal size will be small compared to what Indian IT companies are bagging abroad. But there is potential for growth as well. Besides, the reality is that there is going to be more noise about protecting local jobs in the future. The sooner we start hedging the better it will be for everyone.

Food for thought for today:

पामाल होते होते भी खुशबू लुटा गए
सिखा नहीं बशरने गुलोका चलन अभी

This news is for those of you who absolutely love books and reside in Mumbai - Ashish Book Center has organized a book exhibition at Sunderbai Hall, Churchgate till 22nd August from 9:30am-8:30pm. This time, the exhibition has a small section of Marathi books too.

I had been there over the weekend and needless to say, went back home with a truckload of books :-)

Congratulations to the NDTV Good Times team for completing 100 episodes of "Highway On My Plate"! It was good to see Mayur and Rocky reminiscing about the best places that serve snacks, breakfast, lunch and dinner all over the country. Hats off to all the people who have kept the great culinary tradition of India alive.

As an Indian, how do I feel? Proud! Proud! Proud! :-)

The following lines should be a good lesson for all of us who rejoice in happiness and shun grief:

ऐ बुलबुलों खिजामे शुक्र-ऐ-खुदा करो
तिनके कहासे लाओगी मौसम-ऐ-बहारमे

What a crying shame!

First it was the inadequate preparation of the infrastructure and now the full-blown corruption scandal! Looks like the Commonwealth Games are going to be a major fiasco for the country. Last week, I felt ashamed as an Indian when I read that a foreign country coach warned his team to be prepared for the worst while in India. :-( I think those who are responsible for causing such a loss of face to the country should be publicly flogged. Any other punishment will not be enough!

But the show must go on and we have to find a way to save the situation. During my MBA days I had heard a lot of stories about how the Armed Forces personnel were in great demand in the corporate world because of their discipline and execution skills. I think the government would do well to call upon such people to complete this project. I don't think civilians should be allowed to meddle into this anymore.

Past few days haven't been good to India. As if the violence rocking the valley wasn't enough the cloudburst hit Leh and caused a lot of damage. :-( It hurts to read about the suffering of people and the inadequacy of the aid. When are we going to learn the value of life? When are we going to put well-oiled machinery in place to deal with disasters - man-made or natural? :-(