A visit to a ghost town...

There was a time when i would swear by orkut. Higher the number of scraps i had, so would be my social standing in the virtual "Social networking" world. One was judged by the number of friends he had and how many scraps he would get. Somewhere down the line, facebook came and changed it all. People got crazy of Farmville and Mafia wars. Orkut did try to catch up by building new themes, providing status updates..However, it was a bit too late. The customers were already frenzied about the cool features of other social networking sites.

A recent visit to my orkut profile made me experience the same feeling, that perhaps one would experience when he make a visit to a ghost town. Every wall (oops scrapbook) had outdated scraps some more than a year old, the picture of people when they really looked different seem to be their last updated photos. Friends who have kids had just shared the pictures of their marriage....And yeah those who got married a few months back, still had their single statuses on.

It felt almost as if something had happened suddenly and almost all of a sudden all activity was gone. Many of my friends were now missing, mostly because they are no more on Orkut. Wikipedia showed me that still the traffic on orkut coming out of India was second in place to the entire traffic that the Google owned site experienced; Brazil being the highest contributor to the traffic on orkut.

The feeling that i experienced in those couple of hours when i browsed orkut was that somewhere we had suddenly changed and a large part of  lives are still chronicled there for everyone to come and have a look at. And now its on Facebook...We are documenting everything there. Just a few clicks on Orkut would reveal a lot about a persons past. Worst, is that since we don't use Orkut anymore, it is clear that the information there is just lying orphaned. There is a big difference in "Social Networking through internet" and "Real world Networking" and that is in Internet everything is logged, cataloged and chronicled for someone to go back and have a look at. I just when through my profile and really felt nostalgic. It seemed like a long time since things have changed, although i don't know for the good or for the bad....

Meluha & its woes: My take on book 1 from Shiva Trilogy

"The immortals of Meluha" seem to have received really rave reviews and people seem to have celebrated the birth of one more IITian turned, Young author who can drive the youth to new highs with his skills at penning down literature which can draw our youth back to the lost art of reading and comprehending. There were  very flashy Youtube videos that added impetus to the launch of the trilogy series of books.

I am not someone who can comment a lot about how people write or if their writings are good. However, going by the right to express my free opinion and also by the line that

"Opinions are like assholes, each one has one and it stinks to the other"

i thought of giving my opinion a form of words in put it in my blog.

Fortunately or unfortunately, i read Amish's Meluha after reading the first version of the "Prison Dairy" by J. Archer. I don't know if all consider Archer as an pro author, but to me he is one of the best. The high levels of Archer's book are no way even comparable to Amish's Meluha, thereby perhaps adding an extra angle to my criticism.

The book is filled with common-day english and American slangs. "Goddamit", "What the devil is going on"...Ok, they seem good but not always.The bigger problem seems to me is the lack of creativity in the language. "His chest puffed with pride"...The same sentence has been repeated three times in the span of two pages, whence making the puffing in Amish's book more than what Sherlock Holmes would have perhaps puffed in his entire detective lifespan.

Yes, there is romance, there is drama and there is violence. A full package , if i may compare it with Bollywood films.

Some other readers who hold a view similar to time are below

[1]  [2]

But then i also realize that these books are also necessary. It is the same way you really need to have nerves of Steel to be able to learn "C- Coding" from the "kernighan and Ritchie" and most likely you would love to do it with "Balaguruswamy" instead for the the first time, so is Amish's book good for a beginner but might be too much of a let down for someone who has been reading for sometime.

Will i buy the next book? Definitely ( so Mr. Tripathi you have got your marketing right!!), why not read some harmless fun if bookadda or flipkart gives it to me with huge discounts...

By the way, I got the 1st book for just 100 bucks...Thanks to indiaplaza.in

A habit getting rare - Reading

 I am sure the day is not far when, "U" will be an oxford dictionary word which means "You" and "gr8" is considered and optimized replacement for the word "great" since it needs one to type 2 more letters. The article here describes, how a study UK brought the problem of SMS and Facebook to light. Today we all are busy though we are not doing much, our internet time has increased many a times and reading seems to be something one has to do when he gets a new Email or a SMS. 

One need not understand expressions like "Searching something in a Hay stack" or a "As you sow, so you reap". Infact, it is difficult for me to understand how can one live without reading the wonderful books like "The famous Five" or the "Three investigators". I still remember when i would frantically cycle to the nearest library after my UT or unit test, to read the latest issue of "Chacha Chaudary" or "Champak". Looks like the cartoon network and the bevy of other channels, with their tons of poisonous episodes displaying strong emotions like envy, hatred etc although with an good intention...That good wins over the bad; have replaced these weekly or fortnightly magazines. Uncle pai is dead ( May his soul rest in peace!!)...I just wonder how long before Tinkle and Amar chitra katha too vanish in the oblivions of our ever advancing society....

Data Data Everywhere....and that is my biggest scare

I am back. Yeah that is not the best of starting lines one can give when he write after more than 3 months. Blogging for me has been more like a fashion statement i guess, when it was in fashion i too was blogging big time. You can see that from the number of posts have constantly come down over the last 12 months. 

This blog comes at a time when i have almost given up on bangalore traffic and also on my company policies that dont allow working from home. It is quite surprizing that the dudes who make the best cars in the world, dont want their folks to work from home. Yeah!! we are paranoid about the confidentiality of our data.

However, when i think about this i find it quite shocking. About 20 years back, when i used to go to school, there where still sparrows at the window sill, the First rain was interesting because of the warm smell of water on dust would entice your senses to the extent that you would want to eat it, when the air we breathed had still a the measure of oxygen that it was supposed to have, when going to office was boring but not a near death experience, when we happily used to carry waterbottles and fill water from every other station where the train stopped during a journey without worrying about weather we would live after drinking such water, When going to see Ramayan in neighbours house was not embarassing, when Bisleri was the only bottled water which no one cared about, when Goldspot & Tinka were famous, when kids read more than just textbooks and in India libraries where more than wine shops, when letter to the editiors where written in paper and posted by walking till the post box;  at that time there was very little data that was flowing around us, as compared to today.

Today there is data flowing everywhere, my computer is speaking to thousands of other computers spread all over the globle, at the same time it is talking to my phone wirelessly which is also taking to another phone via Bluetooth. Messages are flying all around me at Gigahertz frequency and going from my mobile phone to phones & Towers via Satellites that are thousands of kilometers above the earths surface. My pc is also talking to my LCD TV which is getting data via a Dish antenna placed on the top of my roof and picking up high-definition video from some other transponder the same satellite maybe. Btw, the satellite itself is getting commands from somewhere in Hassan ( small town in Karnataka). 

Data is there everywhere and even then we have long queues in banks, hospitals and stores because the data is still not accesible fast enough....I have to stay in front of the ATM machine looking like an idiot till it decides that i am the genuine ( My brother who is seeing down my back says i look like an idiot otherwise too!!), I have to stay till the credit card machine gets the authentication...Well, the point is that data is playing a very strong role in our lives and everything about this data needs to be taken care of. Unfortuately, technology is not so simple like how my father used to keep all the bills, contact numbers and addresses in a separate file under lock and key. 

It is quite evident that all the data that is flowing around in the air, in the wires and everywhere else can have a significant damaging impact if they get into the wrong hands. I guess it is time we step back and think, can we do something to put this whole network in order and ensure that we still know that when i send a letter ...oops email...I know that it goes to the right person, with no other person able to get this information. 

....Food for thought!!

 

Back in Germany

Aparently the only time my blog gets my attentions is when i am in Germany. However, attempts are on-going to ensure that it gets my attention even at my motherland. However, this post is because i read something that really made me feel quite honored. Its about Ms. Rajawat. Before you say, Rajawat who?....she is one of the youngest "Sarpanch" or village head and perhaps the only one who holds an MBA. She took part in the 2 day conference conducted by the UN. You can read more about her here.  We in India need more of such women and men who can help our villages and are having the vision to look beyond the computer screens & AC rooms. Ain't it great that we are getting such an important message from a women in a so called "Male dominated Indian Society"?

 

 

 

When Technology bites

Hasn't our life become too dependent on our gadgets. There was a time when the only real gadget i relied upon was my alarm clock, that too would become more of a formality once my bio-clock got adjusted to the timings. Now, we our morning begins when the Iphone rings, the TV opens up our favorite channel while the digital Geyser would have kept the water warm enough to suit our needs. Some read the newspaper on the large screen mobile using the 3G network or on the hand-held tablets (ipad or similar). 

Our presence on the Internet is more than the time we spend meeting our friends face to face. Facebook is more visited than the school, temple, library or cafe. Our memories are no more in our albums kept in the cupboards safely but on the "Cloud" either in picassa, flickr or FB. Google, Facebook and Hotmail know more about us then we ourselves...What if one day they all plot against us???

No i am not paranoid, but i am worried and concerned about our over dependence and misuse and abuse of technology....

Check out these two small software bugs that had really huge impact on people's lives..

1 - Hotmail loses ur emails

2 - Iphone screws up yet again with Time and Alarms

Ain't it time for us to look back and control and properly decide how much of net presence is good for us?

 

 

Ms & Ms Khatua

After reading this report, the title is what i could think of....

It took more than six months for 27-year-old Minati Khatua here in Rourkela to realise that she had married a woman and not a man. 

This is perhaps one of the first lesbian (unknowingly though) marriages in India. What is surprising is that the lady managed to pull off the act for more than 6 months. It is very clear that the motive of the marriage was just cheating from day one.

One of the best solutions to such problems -  "Pre-maritial Sex" ;-)....Food for thought!!

Inflation leads to deflation

The article here claims that the inflation has gone down this month...Hmm, the only thing i can see getting less inflated or deflated for the English enthusiasts; is the common man's wallet (Which includes me too). My dad does the shopping of the fruits in the house and if i may be a bit wordy here, he is one of the most persnickety person's when it comes to making note of prices and comparing. He tells me that none of the fruits are any cheaper than the last month. On one had there are crores of rupees being discussed in Air-conditioned rooms over "under the table" deals for almost everything under the sun starting from "Road Projects" to " Telecom bandwidth allocation", From "Cricket Teams" to " Land allocation"; On the other hand there are people who are dying everyday on our streets because of hunger and poverty. 

While Mr.Mukherjee claims that it (Inflation) will ease to just 6% here  I really have my doubts if this is really going to effect my expenses in anyway. 

I hope my manager dudes take a note of this...when they decide upon my salary for this season...

God, Soul auf Life - 2

I have been such a wonderful writer ( especially going by the experience in my blog) that except for myself and a few forced readers...my blog is not even read by the google-crawler.  However, the last post generated some interest among a few i know. And that is why i am typing this continuation to this. 

There are wonderful things written about the soul in the Gita. Starting with the fact that it is neither born nor can be destroyed, is perpetual, cannot slay or be slain etc etc. However, if we try to compare this with some of our known physics then that is almost matches what energy is. Energy cannot be created or destroyed, and really we know that nobody can really answer how did energy come to being. Ofcourse, the clever would say matter can transform to energy. Wow!! Great realization :-). But how did that matter come to being ?

Quoting from one the great physicists of our time, Feynmen has explained in one of his lectures a bit about how matter and energy are so related and how matter can be thought of roughly as a battery that traps energy. You destroy the matter you get the energy back which in turn can again be converted to matter. Well no explaining here for this part because then we would get deviated into a completely different path of physics. However, we have to believe scientifically or spiritually that there is a need for energy to be there for life to exist. So for those who can get easily convinced, i would like to make a direct comparison or even claim that soul can be equated to the energy that exists and drives our life. 

Assuming that i have been able to put forth my idea of the soul, i think i am now better qualified to present my ideas on god, which again would be fully based on the arguments and hypothesis that have been discussed in the previous paragraphs. The simplest way to understand god is to understand him or her as someone who knows the answer to the question, how did everything come to being. Matter or energy. We know that the SUN which is almost the entirely the source of every form of energy, note almost every form of energy on earth ( directly or indirectly) is something which is getting its energy by fission of Hydrogen into Helium. But Why should Hydrogen or helium exist? Why be there? Confused? I am too!!! 

Astronomers and Astrophysicists have come to a theory that the universe started from a blackhole that blew up. The universe is expanding and some day the expansion is going to stop. It is hypothesized to be like a big rubberband that is being stretched and some day it is going to stop and it will fall back. Is God the one who is stretching it? That is something I cannot answer. Nevertheless, my take is that if one has to simply visualize god as something or someone who is making the whole show run i.e. conversion of matter to energy, energy to matter...making new organisms come into being by adding some life into them, exiticntisizing (if i may use the word like this) some other races etc, then God can be considered as a Summation of all the energy that is there in the world. 

Which means he exists in you, your neighbor and neighbor's dog. ( Maybe thats why bible has ...Love thy Neighbor...Though most of it think of as Love thy Neighbor's Daughter ;-) ). He also exists in the thief who picked your pocket, and also the Nuclear bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima & Nagasaki. So is god good or bad...? From the second line he look bad ain't he? Why do we pray him them? why are such great things said about him? .....

Well my ideas on that are for another post....I hope its worth the wait :-)

 

Has the Internet...netted us?

Out of my class today my classmate asks me ..."Why do you blog?". It got me thinking, why i blog or better why people blog, tweet use more of the so called social networking sites? Is is that we are not able to express ourselves well enough in our physical forms by talking to people, by interacting with them ? or is it because we live a dual life were we are what we want to be, in our internet self and are what are expected to be, in flesh and blood?

At the outset of internet, there was a huge rush of people who found it as a wonderful way to express their ideas and let their creative juices flow all over the electronic media. People used it to connect to people who were earlier only available via the telephone. Soon the internet manifested itself into a space where people not just ventured to express their creativity, but also to express their views over topics which otherwise were out of their bounds. It also became a playground for demonstrating ones wit and wisdom. Mud slinging via internet is no more new. Attention grabbing via controversial statements on social networking sites has become a modern day fad. Sashi Tharoor being the baton bearer for the Indian youth by making statements about  "Cattle class" and sorts. 

What was initially designed to just transfer information between a group of computers has gone to become so huge that it has a personality of its own. It is almost like the internet is something that has its own life and we all have made this a part of our life. I for one cannot imagine a life without internet, because for every bit of information that i need, i just google it. This shows how much i am dependent i have grown to this beast. I call it a beast because when it is good it is great and when internet turns bad it can be worse then your darkest nightmares. There have been umpteen number of cases where Internet has played a lifesaver. At the same time with malicious worms, viruses and hackers on the prowl it is almost as scary as a walk in the darkest streets of Pennsylvania in a cold winter night. 

Online gaming, chat sites and public forums give us a new perspective of life. We can be what we want, who we want and do what we like to do . However, we have got so much involved in this that we have started to be more of what we are online and in reality we are trying to lead a life which suits the demands of the polished society that we try to impress all the time. It makes me wonder if there has been more that the necessary amount of intrusion into our lives by the so called " Social Networking". 

Food for thought, ain't it?

 

The profession less chosen!!

These days we are having quite some interesting discussions going on in our German class. These are usually based on very interesting social aspects like Child Education, Vacation and various other topics like alternative medicines and their influence on our life. Though the main aim in the German class is not to make us aware of these social problems or provide us with interesting topics to brood over, it does influence my mind and my thinking during the day to day activities that i do. 

Last week i saw a really heart rendering sight. It might not be what many people would find amusing. Most might not even agree that there was anything heart-rending in what i am about to describe. However, I am sure who ever is doing it, is doing it because there is a very good reason to do so. The scene - Heavy rain is pouring down with all its vengeance on the pothole ridden streets of Bangalore. On the dark corner are standing a few girls who are inordinately dressed in dresses which neither suit the climate or the location. They don't seem too happy about standing there but stand there trying to manage their makeup in spite of the wrath being showered by the rain gods. Some are negotiating with potential customers, some of whom shamelessly are feeling them, as one would normal touch and feel a vegetable in the Saturday market before deciding to purchase it. Yes, I am talking of the scores of Sex-workers, Prostitutes or any other sick name in the abundant set of Indian languages.

I am sure many of you who belong to the class of people, who consider even reading the word "Sex" is a crime would have started creating opinions about me. However, Opinions are like assholes, everyone has one and it stinks to the other!!. I am sure that the girls standing on the side of the road on that cold evening were not thinking about making money but rather were perhaps trying to make their ends meet. It is quite clear, that on an evening when most of us would love to sit in our houses and drink a cup of hot tea, let alone venture out in the cold rain, these ladies or girls ( some of them being too young to qualify to be called ladies) were standing that side of the street, upholding their bosoms just to attract the potential customers. Yeah, they have to do this else most would just feel them an leave. It is such a sick thing that this is all being done just to meet their frugal needs and to ensure that some of their loved ones are not dragged into this flesh trade. Neither do these Sex workers get proper education nor do they have a regular income. Use of condoms and ensuring safe sex is a luxury that these beings can barely afford. 

My question is very simple. Are they also not doing a job like any of us? I am sure the highly critical would start protesting that we are selling our skills while doing our job and not our body. India being a highly cultural land, we are not supposed to do such things!! Bullshit!! Hunger or basic necessities in life do not understand the borders of land or greatness of our culture. When a girl ( these days guys too) have nothing else to offer, they can offer their bodies. Sickly enough, we have enough buyers in both categories to buy these wares that are for offering. This brings us to the pointed question - Should this be banned? For whatever reasons!! Maybe we turn passionate towards prevention and revival of our culture or maybe we realize that Sex-workers are leading a life no better than slaves in the yesteryears and try to uplift them...However, the question still remains...should we ban them? 

This question has been lingering in my mind, not because i am a pervert but because i wonder if banning solves the root cause. The Root cause is that there are lot of girls who are not able to make their ends meet by any other means or because they have already become a part of the so called "Dirty" class of the society and can no more come out of it. Instead of banning which anyway will do no good and ensure that our law enforcers can further more extort these people, how would it be if we legalized the whole things. Provided the Sex-workers with a decent identification, ensure that their kids go to decent schools...make laws for them by which they can ensure that condoms are used, ensure that they get proper medical care and social recognition when needed. I am sure that such topics would mean shaking up the hornet's nest but these are hard issues that one needs to think over and come up with solutions that can really stand the test of time. 

I find it funny that we all live in the society, understand the problems and most of the time know the root cause...but unfortunately try to choose the solution that is the most inappropriate, inadequate and sometimes introduces further social problems....

Food for thought...ain't it?? 

 

Osama wants to create Mumbai in Europe.

In the report here Osama claims big as per the report below

World's most wanted terrorist is masterminding an unfolding plot to launch Mumbai-style attacks on European cities and top US officials have told Islamabad that LeT and Haqqani network are working on the plan with al-Qaeda.

All i can say that if anywhere in the advanced European countries like Germany or France anything like this is planned, then Osama would be soon more than sorry. Going into the land of Walters and Heckler&Koch is not a childs play. Though Germany is a generally peaceful country, the cops are very well equipped and trained. Unlike the Mumbai police quipped not more than Qualis and world-war-2  leftover iron helmets these European nations have access have latest intell coming from multitude of sources, drive fast Mercs and carry powerful firearms. 

My message to Osama : Dude how many more innocents will you kill? Is killing your passion?

 

 

Tech Robber

Now that is intelligent use of technology....

"Robbers loot using vaccum"

What is interesting that they could do it so many times. Monoprix has nothing to comment...can it?

 

Hard work at CWG

Child labor is something i abhor. However, after the debacle that has already unfolded in the past few days with respect to organisation of the well known "Common Wealth Games-2010" a new dent in the already dilapidated International image of India came when CNN reported here  about incident of child laborers being used for the construction work at CWG. It is a well known fact that some families in India can make the ends meet only if the children bring their earnings at the end of the day; Be it by toiling hard in the sun and rain or by begging on the streets or by turning into a pickpocket. Having said that, i think it should have been at least a point on the agenda for the CWG organizers to ensure no use of child labor for the activities related to the CWG. Any team now taking part in the CWG would look as if they were supporting the act ( i was tempted to write cause, because in a poor country like India it might be a cause!!).  

Listen to the comment by Ms. Dikshit below 

If this gentleman, whoever this student was from Harvard, if he had come to us, told us that this is what was happening there, we would have taken immediate action," Dixit said.

Wow...now Dixit wants to get "Student Labor" done...that too for free of cost without even recognizing the person. 

How i wish there is a bomb threat or even a short bomb blast (claiming Mr. Kalmadi for example!!) that would at least qualify us to declare the venue unsafe for the event and postpone the event. I think we have had enough of embarrassment already.  I don't want a country to sue us if an athlete gets killed when for example a tile lands on his head. 

"Bharat badnaam hua, CWG Tere Liye!!"

 

The growing crowds

The sole consolation in the following headline was that atleast we were world leaders in one category.

India's burgeoning population has seen a five-fold increase over the last 100 years and will surpass that of China by 2050

The problem of population has plagued this country for long and even though there have been initiatives taken up by the government, not much has really come out of it. Yes we have arrested the population growth to some extent but not to the extent we would ideally like to have. While some countries have to worry about a diminishing population, India has to worry about managing its depleting natural resources among a mammoth population which only seems to keep growing. Sustained growth is only achievable when the stress on the natural resources is not extremely overwhelming. The problems of crime, exploitation and a widening social chasm is only looking northwards even in the backdrop of a growing economy primarily because we have many more mouths to feed, more bodies to clothe & bathe.
Lack of proper education is one of the driving factors behind teenage pregnancies. Uninformed youth, poverty and lack of awareness leads to unplanned growth of families. Religious beliefs are good to have, however individuals should understand that these ideas of avoiding contraceptive measures etc were coined in a different age where the demands of the society were completely different from the socio-economic conditions of today. Today we are at a point where the social economic fabric is already stretched to its extremes and may not be able to support the kind of population explosion we are talking about. Anarchy, increased crime rates and woefully low health and Sanitary conditions are in store for us if we do not act now and act well.

This is something of a black humor ...real meaningful cartoon

Sports India

This shows the apathy of sports and sports-promotion in India. No wonder we hardly win medals at the Olympic games. Imagine that on hand there is so much of hype associated with Cricket. Money seems to be flowing to cricketers, BCCI being the richest Cricket Control Board in the world; and on the other hand talents in other all areas seem to be not only neglected but also insulted.
A wonderful article here shows us why China can manage 100 medals in one Olympic season and we can manage only 3.

Status update from Germany

I am in Germany at a good time by "Jahres Zeit" or Season and at a bad time in practical. Why good time? because the outside temperature is around 30 degrees today, the sun is shining bright and the birds are all happily chirping all around. Further to add some icing over the cake it is almost like vacation time here with schools closed and folks cycling around in their bicycles which look at times as complicated as our mopeds with around 40+ gears. Why bad time? I have very little company that is interested in going around and enjoying what nature has to offer us. Though i could travel alone everywhere, which i did a couple of times with not much fun, it is always advisable to travel in Germany in a group.

There are many reasons why group travel is better than an individual travel in Germany. For one you have company to talk to and express what you feel when you feel it. Furthermore it is extremely cheap when we travel in groups. For example a ticket to the entire Bundesland or State of BW ( Baden-Wuttenberg) will cost you around 20 € if you are alone. The same will cost you just 27€ when traveling in a group of five people...bringing it to roughly 6€ per head. If that is not just enough, you will be entitled to get some discounts at some museums if you are in a group of 5 folks.

There are many ways to travel in Europe. The car being the most common transport for an earning European. However, for folks from India who go more on a shoe-string budget...or simply get enough per Diem just to manage their meals, it is better to use the public transportation. bahn.de   is a good place to look for cheap offers to travel various places within Europe. By common sense it is clear that the slower transportation mechanisms like RE (Regional-Express) or the IRE ( Inter-Regional Express) are way cheaper than the faster trains like IC (Inter-City) or ICE. However, that does not mean that you cannot travel by the IC or ICE. The IC or ICE tickets will be very cheaply sold about 6 weeks before the day of travel. However, then you cannot afford to miss this train because the amount is not refundable and not valid on any other train too.

The big problem that i faced in booking tickets in advance was that my date of travel was not decided for a very long time. This is the reason why i could not get some good offers which otherwise would have been normally available.
Anyway so much for now....need to get ready for the office tomo...signing off until next time...chio

Air Hosting Nude?

Well that is a unique way of showing your protest ....but i am not really sure the authorities would be willing to give the paychecks after what these air hostesses did.....

So how can we make sure people take us seriously? I know, let’s take our clothes off and pose for a nude calendar!

I have two problems when i see the same problem in the Indian context....

1. The most troubled air line in india.... Air India has a very old crew...i don't know if posing nude would be an option even if they air hostesses did want to. Also the crew is known for its display of "Indianism" via flexing of muscles. 
2. Even if some young ones got a job of posing nude to make a few extra bucks....All i expect our ministers to do is show their support by buying the calender with nudies instead of trying to "really" help them.
   

But then we have another good way of showing protest ain't it...the one which we have mastered.

The time's running out!!

Today after a while, i could spend a long day shopping for a impending journey. I had to wait at the restaurant in the mall, while my trousers where getting altered for the right length. On keen observation what i saw was that most if not all of the couple who were feasting there had a few things in common. All looked to be in their late 30's or mid 40's, all had atleast one kid ( obviously meaning that they were married!!) and apart from a high end mobile phone were sporting a really huge bulging waist (waste) line. With great feeling of guilt i looked southwards to see my own miniature version of a paunch that i had just seen a couple of minutes back and wondered, "Was this the same way a decade back?".
                                Sedentary lifestyle, high calorie diets and extremely stressful work atmosphere combined with the lack of interest in physical exercises seems to be taking its toll on a vast majority of the Metro population. Though it is very easy to see this with number of gym's and Spa's that have made home in towns like Bangalore and Mangalore, what really is more shocking is that it is not just the in the people on the wrong side of 30's that suffering from Obesity related problem, it is also the kids who prefer to spend more time in front of the Television or the Computer playing "Ungli Cricket" and "FIFA" as compared to the real versions of the sport. A report from Hindu here states that obesity is taking the form of epidemic. On one hand an argument crops up, and very rightly so that the youth these days are more health conscious and visit Fitness-Clubs more often then the youth from the yesteryears, What needs to be understood that inspite of this the figures of health problems relating to obesity related are only going northwards. Wiki here gives a list of how the obesity profile of India is currently.
                                Brisk walks in morning when you still have a chance of breathing clean air, a diet with controlled amount of saturated fats with higher concentration of fibers should help us in fighting this. However as with everything the first thing that needs to change is the mindset. We should try to accept and realise that we are sitting on timebomb that is ticking fast and realize that if we don't take care of our bodies then we would be ending up suffering from the same issues that we read about in newspaper and wonder ...."How could they let that happen to themselves??". It is something to a spare a thought to. 

Unique attack

Well that is the most "Brave" use of the Organ!!...

Marium Varinauskas, 28, tried to strike the officer on the head with his penis when she was called out to his flat, but she got out of the way.

Thank god the female officer did not use her baton against the Weapon of attach...