The World Around and InTeRpReTaTiOnS

Do you know what it means to "take the stones they throw at you and use them to build your castle?" Here's a great example of this. When Chennai was flooded with incessant rains, people started joking on twitter - they said Ola will launch boat services soon. And Voila! Ola sensed the opportunity, caught the idea and actually went on with boat service! Local fishermen and Sports Authorities helped Ola with the numbers of boat owners. The company has provided raincoats and Ola stickers for the boats. The boats are used to transport food and water to people as well as ferry stranded people to safety. This is also a great example of taking business ideas from social media. Read the Times of India report here . Whatt an idea, Sirji!!

This article has an incident - a small proof of why the media is in such a mess today with no unity among themselves, and no integrity or truth in the content that comes out - be it television or online or print. Paid Media is a deep-rooted problem - deeper menace than any of us can imagine. Earlier, in 2000s, it was one person, one reporter here and there, demanding 500 rupees for a TV byte of 20-25 seconds or more, and more for a story. It was also the live telecasts in favour of political parties for some favour to the reporter unknown to the rest. Cash, laptops, car, even flats and other stuff. There are tales of reporters cashing on scandals of politicians -crores of rupees. The colour of reporting changed in accordance with the gains. Clicked by me during one of the trips to my hometown. Symbolises the situation. Then came tele-programmes, soft in nature (cookery, fashion, astrology, cinema, health) but the guests had to pay to appear in such programmes. The probl

RangiTaranga. I thought it was an art film of sorts, then came to know it was a suspense thriller. But before going to the movie I seriously didn't expect such a commercial drama with a psychopath killer! Hats off to the director Anup Bhandari and the team for pulling it off! The movie is full of visual glory, including the colourful dressings of the characters. That, along with the cinematography and music, in my view, is the hero. The actors did their bit too. I loved the look and acting of Radhika Chetan, who plays the main heroine. For some reason I loved the song KeLe Cheluve too. The capturing of the bhootharadhane, yakshagana and the landscape - all beautiful. The plot doesn't let anyone to guess what is coming up next - that also is the hero in this cinema. In many scenes, particularly two murder scenes, the black screen leaves the viewers to imagine the goriness of the scene, though no blood is shown. That in my view makes it all more sinister. All you se

Got to share this seemingly unimportant yet touching event that I experienced today, and many a times before. I have a strange habit of forgetting things. My purse is something I usually forget - in terms of frequency, it stands next to forgetting writing. It usually contains a credit card, a debit card, my office access card, canteen coupons and some loose change. Earlier my mobile also used to be in it, then after losing my purse for a couple of times I realised that keeping everything together doesn't work for my good. So I started keeping mobile separately. Yesterday I had again forgotten my purse on my work table, along with the pile of papers. Usually I clean up all the papers so purse safely gets tucked inside my handbag, but yesterday was a strange bad day for me, so I forgot to do it. I went home, kept my bag aside, and slept with my little one. This morning I did not care to check my bag, and when it was 4.15, I just left home with the handbag. Sat in an auto as

Hi friends, back again to my blog backyard, for some random ramblings. Well, where to start? ABCD of Rangoli Today I officially started learning how to draw Rangoli. I drew a few strands, and a few designs in front of the Tulsi vrindavan, that's there in front of our house. Know what, it looked exactly like what my two-year-old daughter draws! I learnt how to draw 8-petl flower, and Shankha (counch), and couple of other designs. Don't laugh... I'm still a learner yaaa. We the people in South Canara don't cherish such things much usually, but when in Bangalore, act like a Bangalorean. That too, when married to a Madhwa family to head that family, you have to be well-versed in all these! :-) Gardening Mania There are currently around 12 pots in front of my home, four of them just waiting for right plants to be planted. All those pots were kept by our aunty by the side of the house while the construction of new house was going on. It all caught cement, all

I feel like running into the rain lashing around now... and letting the rain wash my soul, too. How therapeutic it is to open my mouth and hands to catch those falling pure drops of life... To get drenched in pureness and fill my soul with pureness... My poor soul needs a lot of healing... the disrupted and devastated state it is in is never imaginable - it has shattered into pieces! They say time heals. But does it, really? Maybe it's all consolation in action. Or maybe it's all psychological. But we should give it a chance... In my experience, Rain, too, heals. It melts away the disjoint pieces of soul and forms a new mixture out of which a phoenix is born again. Words fail me when I start describing rain and its beauty... The happiness and peace I get in the presence of rain... It's beyond all descriptions... it's just ethereal. To me, rain means a lot. Rain is the outcome when the foul-mood cloud, loaded with worries, breaks down and clears itself, catapult

I was going through the emails of Rana / Headley revealed during Chicago trial - It was interesting to check these mails from one Mr. Rajaram Rege, known to Headley as PRO for Bala Thakre. See how well he has narrated the process of government and private tenders in India... It was all well-known, or at least we had doubts - he has just openly unfolded it. These are the very people who rob our nation, heap up black money and become richer themselves, by making the poor poorer. These people don't have any party - they are all-pervasive. Considering that this fellow is in the business for minimum 6 years, just imagine how much he might have robbed from India. And how many people like him India might have? What might be the amount robbed by all these? Just think, imagine - your heart is sure to stop for a while. So nothing can be done to stop this nonsense? Yes of course, a few major things can be done by the central and state governments, and from the corporates.

One day my little princess was playing inside the home, near the pram. I was in the kitchen. After a while I noted that she became silent all of a sudden. I came out to check the reason. I saw that she was chewing something. I thought it must be a piece of paper or something. She had already had her breakfast; there was nothing else I gave her to eat. As I went near her, I could smell the pleasing fragrance of mint - I placed my finger in her mouth and dragged the thing out of her mouth - tried to figure out what it was - yes, it was a Chewing Gum! I wondered who gave it to her... Everybody at home is aware of my reaction if at all they make her eat some junk. So it is unlikely that someone gave her that to eat. I searched all over the home. Finally found the culprit - a pink piece of  half-eaten chewing gum, know where? Firmly gummed on the little wheels of the pram, on which we take her on the road for a round in the evenings... !!! :-( These days we carry her out ourselves

Ever wondered what is this water filter all about? Do you still think the need to have it in your home? Then there are some insights for you here. Water is one precious resource on earth that doesn’t have any replacement. Though our planet is filled with 2/3 of water, most of the water is saline and not potable. Rain, ground water and rivers fulfill most of our drinking water needs. Water has never been created by man so far, but it has easily be polluted everywhere in the world by human activities. Rivers and ground water can be contaminated through chemicals from industries. Negligent discharge of drainage or household waste to water sources also pollutes water. The spilled oil in your kitchen which you poured to the wash basin, chemicals in the detergent powder that reached your drainage from the washing machine, and all organic and inorganic waste pollutes water. Inorganic substances add various metals to the water, while organic things cause various bacteria to grow. When there is

It was suggested by someone to create awareness in our program, on the roadside sellers who put a tent and sell "Ayurvedic" medicines, and promise to cure all diseases. Topic seemed quite interesting, and we started off. The moment we got into the topic, all tent-sellers seemed like villains who indulge in anti-social activities. For the first two days we sneaked around their tents and took lot of video. Then many of their customers were interviewed. There was mixed response on the effectiveness of their medicine. There were doubts too, on their activities. Finally we got to interview the sellers themselves. To our surprise, they faced the camera boldly, and told everything about themselves. Most of them come from Haridwara, Hrushikesh and parts of UP. Their forefathers used to practise native medicine, and these people have learnt that by default. They get to know about what makes a person suffer, by checking the pulse. There are people who come to them, and get their small

Life's too hectic... Can't come out of the silence here... :(