अर्ज किया है......

देखे करीबसे तो अच्छा दिखाई दे
एक आदमी तो शहरमे ऐसा दिखाई दे
-- जफ़र गोरखपुरी

Have a nice weekend, folks!

Logging into this site to post has become a pain these days. Patience is not one of my virtues and I am not sure that the keyboard of my laptop will take the abuse of my impatient fingers for long :-(

Now that I have managed to log in after repeated attempts, tell me one thing - is it just me or you too felt that this week has moved in a rather fast-forward fashion? Suddenly, it's the EOD on Friday! I ain't complaining though. :-)

So the tamasha called World Cup starts tomorrow. The other day I worried about my hearing ability for a moment when I heard "One Day Mataram" instead of "Vande Mataram". Turns out I heard it right!

Oh well, let's see how it pans out for Team India this time :-)

अर्ज किया है.....

सर झुकाओगे तो पत्थरभी देवता हो जाएगा
इतनाभी न चाहो उसे, वो बेवफा हो जाएगा

(Forwarded)

If you type the words "Sudan Separation" you will find that about 99% of Sudan's population voted for the separation in January of this year. Yet, I came to know about it 2 days back. Oh, I am not saying I should have been informed about the same by the Sudan government. I am wondering whether the newspapers I read didn't carry the news in eye-catching fonts or I was just too blind to see it.

Be that as it may. I am not fully conversant with the political or social reasons behind this separation but I suspect that the multi-ethnicity of the country has something to do with it. The partition of any country in itself is a sad affair but when one of its reasons is the conflict between different ethnic groups, it is even more lamentable. Makes one wonder whether enough attempts were made to bridge the gaps.

And every time a country erupts in violence or breaks apart somewhere in this world because of its ethnic conflict, I worry over the future of my own country. Sadly, the only 2 events that have the power to bring the Indian populace together are cricket and war - and not necessarily in that order. :-(

I find myself getting more and more addicted to the "Food Food Channel" these days. My favorite programs are Chaai Nashta (hosted by Chef Rakesh Sethi), Sanjeev Kapoor's Kitchen, Southern Spice and Firang Tadaka. :-)

"Travel India" hosted by Harsha Bhogale (Travel & Living Channel) is a good one too. A few days back Harsha was in Rajasthan. You should have seen him sitting in the desert in the night, eating simple daal and roti cooked by the person manning his camel. I really, really envied him. These are the moments that life should be filled with and yet, almost all of us seem to be having so few of them :-( At one point Harsha commented that he knows almost next-to-nothing about the camelman's life though the camelman is his (and yours and mine as well!) fellow countryman. How true it is!

I just hope that I get to visit the width and breadth of this country before I die!

Ordinary people, Extra-ordinary Acts

I have decided that henceforth I will be publishing such links here under the heading "Ordinary people, Extra-ordinary Acts". Who knows, some of you who are reading this might want to join in.

Teacher sets up a meal centre with VRS money

जलदिंडी!

अर्ज किया है...

आखोंमे रहा, दिलमे उतरकर न देखा
कश्तिके मुसाफिरने समंदर नहीं देखा

(Forwarded)

Good Luck Team India!

I am very afraid for Team India. The country always expects them to win and this time the burden of expectations is heavier because everyone wants Sachin to bring home the cup. On top of it, rather than letting their play speak for itself, Dhoni and company has gone ahead and declared that they too want to win this cup for Sachin. The mood is euphoric after our win against the Aussies in yesterday's warm-up match.

I must confess that I too will be the happiest person on earth if India wins the Cup but I will not be sad if the team fails, provided they play to the best of their ability and try their level-best to win. Because it's the journey that counts, not the destination.

I wish Team India all the luck. I will be praying for you guys!

Way to go Egypt!

I couldn't help but feel very happy for the Egyptians as I saw footage of the celebrations that erupted all over Egypt after the news of President Hosni Mubarak's stepping down came in. If anyone deserves democracy in this world it is these guys who braved it out in the Tahrir Square for 18 days , despite threat to their lives. I was amazed when I read that after the celebrations the residents of Cairo took it upon themselves to clean up their city. Way to go people!

I guess it is no use hoping that my fellow countrymen will learn anything from this. Most of us have been handed over democracy and freedom on a silver platter. We have been taking it for granted for years. We never fail to enjoy its privileges and rights but have turned a blind eye to the responsibilities and duties that come with it. India has been riding the high horse of non-violence, peace and ancient culture for so long that we don't think the rest of the world can teach us anything. :-(

I just hope and pray that one of my favorite countries of the world makes a peaceful transition to democracy soon. The world doesn't have any fond memories of countries being ruled by Military or Junta. And I definitely don't relish the thought of planning a visit to a country where fundamentalism is the rule of the day. :-(

बकवास बंद, काम चालु!

One wonders whether to laugh or cry at EA minister SM Krishna's gaffe at the UN. Just goes to prove that those who are supposedly in charge of the country's external and internal affairs have been asleep for so long that even smelling coffee won't wake them anymore.

To be fair to the poor guy though, if he never wrote a word of that damn speech himself, how in the hell is he supposed to figure out that he is reading the wrong one? On top of it, the section that he so nonchalantly read up did contain very general material, we are told. Do the speech-writers have a sort of "boilerplate" material that can be pasted at the beginning of any speech in the UN? Oh Boy! This just keeps getting better and better.

Why can't the UN get rid of this ridiculous practice of giving speeches and get right down to the action instead? The world has always needed more action and none of the speeches!