Travelogs That I Liked

I came across a travelog http://www.sadanandsafar.blogspot.com/. The author has been to a lot of places in India (Mostly north and a little of south India as well), US and a couple of places in Europe (France, Switzerland) too. I was googling for some scenic places in India when I came this link and I went through a few.

About his travels, the author mentions the itinerary, describes the places, provides interesting titbits, costs of stay/hiring a car etc. It isn't written like a tourist book. There is a personal touch, it's about his travel. It's an interesting read with lovely photographs.

I read another good article about a scenic trip in South India (I don't have the link to it). The author talks about traveling from Kollam on the west coast by Tinnevely (Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu) passenger in a second class compartment. He recommends second class for the leisure traveler.

A nice site for people planning to travel in India is http://www.incredibleindia.org/.

Another site which is lovely is http://usandeep.com/trekking/nilambur.html. The formatting and page layout is very pleasing. This site is mainly about treks in Kerala.

This could be another nice site: http://www.goseekandhide.com/

Modest Women's Dressing

Women's dress used to interest me a lot, primarily because I found it lacking in any kind of sense, rationality. The sole objective of the dress was to wear too much (or too little) of it, make it obsolete faster than a new piece of software and create many different variants from a basic style. 

For example, you have the pants and a shirt, then you have the pants (which reach till the knee or calves and a shirt and a skirt), then you have the bikini. All of these (and hundreds of other variants of these) are formed from the same basic design with some pieces of dress made 1. shorter 2. longer 3. slightly different 4. eliminated. And there is a hoopla around this industry from New York to Paris to Milan to Mumbai referring to a few words (I guess they are French) "avant le Garde" and "Haute Le Couture". I can only silently tap my forefinger against my temple and shake my head sadly when I hear about women's dress.

Many colleges in Chennai have a dress code imposed on women in the city. And guess what, women (in their teens and early 20's at the maximum) have been up in arms against the establishment crying foul. Women believe that it's their constitutional right to wear (or not) what they please. Now these are the same women who complain of eve teasing. They believe it's a fair expectation to be not teased. Sure, just as it's a fair expectation to not have your house stolen. But would you keep your house open when you go on a vacation? Right, try explaining this to women.

Having said that, today I came across on article about what (woman's) modest dressing is all about. I liked it a lot but for the fact that it keeps dragging Christianity into it. I wonder what religion has to do with dressing. (When do we understand that good sense is religion agnostic?)

If I overlook the religious stuff in the article it makes good reading and explains nicely what modest dressing is all about http://www.therebelution.com/blog/2007/02/the-responsibility-of-modesty-part-two/. (In a lighter vein: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=311971462163479&set=a.190990430928250.52403.130067003687260&type=1&theater)

I never thought I would like to read anything written by a feminist until I read this: http://fearlesslyfeminine.blogspot.com/2006_08_01_archive.html. Thanks BLBLBLBL.

BLBLBLBL refers to a close relative of hers who insists that my friend not wear cheap dress. And that a dress should be "heavy" meaning it should have lots of embroidery, made in silk and be heavy. That got me thinking. How would I look in shorts tailored that way?

Oh To Be 12 Again

My Friend Jalani (29-1) sent me this. I loved it..

http://prince.org/msg/100/315157

The moral of the story: Even when a man is listening, he is gonna get it wrong.

Predicting Labor - The Layman's Way

A friend sent me this https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiryaGlIQYyhG-qb_-x4MojetiLgNH5k0RK_18gCo1ShOaUlNU37Y8qIummPqtqobhhBgiH6gXuul5fvsp2eXgQjVapXczbi21b6LmJCbn7206VWF_WfMsH0FvN0L3M2NIT3I1O4C6nrEQ/s1600/0.0.PNG to explain to laymen (husbands) how to know that the time has arrived. Hope it's useful to all the menfolk.

Picking The Right Person

I found this when I was browsing. I thought it would be very useful for a few of my friends. http://www.funtoosh.com/jokes/men_women/596. Hope you like it.

Description Of People Across India

I came across this link which explains the differences in culture/accent/behavior of people from different states of India. I thought it was fairly comprehensive and hence is a good reference. http://www.funtoosh.com/jokes/indian_jokes/490.

Pictures Of Atom Bomb / Nuclear Explosions

I came across a link with some fantastic pictures of nuclear explosions. Here is the link

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/09/14/science/20100914_atom.html?ref=science. One of my friends is an ardent fan of this topic (especially about nuclear rectors, the fast breeder ones and about Plutonium, Thorium and Uranium and its many isotopes). I hope he sees the pictures.

Trusting Relationship

I used to think that women these days don't trust their husbands much. But an incident today made me rethink.

I have a friend who copies my song lists, copies the way I travel, copies whatever I do. She, needless to say, is a snob. She comes from a wealthy family and  has never seen the interior of a 2nd class sleeper compartment. I think I am exaggerating a little here, I think she has  been inside of one in the year 1983. And then of course she has seen it in movies or on TV.

Today she said she had booked the return ticket by sleeper class from her home town (she was going to visit her parents). And I was reminded of an old dialog from the movie "Dilwale Dulhaniya Leh Jayenge". This is when Kajol (the heroine) leaves London for Punjab (India) and Shah Rukh Khan aka SRK (the hero) follows her and meets her there. He asks her "Do you trust me?" and she replies coyly "khud se zyada" ("more than I trust myself").

I realized this friend and her husband shared such a special relationship. And she had implicit trust in him that he would force her to cancel the second sleeper class tickets. So she went ahead and booked 2nd class, trying to prove a point. I explained to her that I am envious of her beautiful relationship with her husband. I thought she would blush sweetly.

I was dumbstruck to see her being furious at me. I still don't understand her reaction. Nevertheless it's nice to see such a trusting relationship.

Mysore Palace

A friend sent me this link of Mysore palace.. Its a must watch.. http://www.mysorepalace.tv/360_Eng/index.html.

And these are couple of pictures of Brindavan Gardens that I picked from the net.

http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTBubUU8BXy5J5b1ykXbqCSIxGUDeJTovADWRuxo6a521Qi5zY&t=1&usg=__WRmp_UFjEpt7YpuHMKIEzpb_tE0=

http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTWhL2szfPW2Csfv3kP3q8gfi_6SVx7bqdS7GSjOoqByPHq-_E&t=1&usg=__s7OLLy3SFTyC2MTxycWicHxP8Mc=

The Gardens are a must see place. You should visit it in the evening.

Nice Dress

This is a picture of a dress that I liked.

http://www.hindu.com/mp/2010/10/12/stories/2010101250140600.htm. 30 years back, this was called pavadai chattai I think. Now perhaps since its sold in Khadar Nawaz Khan Road which is upmarket and sells only avant garde/ethnic stuff this dress is probably called bottomings. 

Shopping Behavior - Men and Women

I found couple of interesting links on shopping behavior. http://news.discovery.com/human/men-women-shopping-evolution.html.

http://www.wharton.universia.net/index.cfm?fa=viewArticle&id=1446&language=english

Enjoy.

Commonwealth Games

Isnt this nice? http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/matthewpinsent/2010/10/can_home_nations_overhaul_indi.html

http://www.smh.com.au/commonwealth-games-2010/comm-games-news/athletes-embrace-taj-trip-20101011-16g10.html

Commonwealth Games Opening Ceremony 2010: Pictures

After all the issues in the month before the start of the Games (http://vbala99.blogspot.com/2010/09/what-can-go-wrong-in-commonwealth-games.html)

I saw a blog now with some stunning pictures of the opening ceremony.

http://blogs.sacbee.com/photos/2010/10/commonwealth-games-opening-cer.html. 

Here are some videos of the Opening Ceremony: http://www.stichtingmilieunet.nl/andersbekekenblog/agenda/the-xix-commonwealth-games-2010-delhi-india-the-green-games-october-3-14.html#comment-22774 (don't miss the AR Rehman video. AR Rehman incidentally won Oscar last year for Slumdog Millionaire).

And here is the coverage from Times of India on the Opening ceremony: http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&BaseHref=TOICH/2010/10/04&PageLabel=1&EntityId=Ar00100&ViewMode=HTML&GZ=T

Here is a picture of AR Rehman at the Ceremony http://www.hindu.com/2010/10/04/images/2010100461731501.jpg

And this is a picture of a 7 year old boy playing the tabla. Amazing isn't it? http://www.hindu.com/2010/10/04/images/2010100461731501.jpg

Baby Videos

Friends of mine gave me couple of baby videos which were just too good.. Here they are.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYt31nQabYA&feature=related: This one shows a baby enjoying his food.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B9NO0uIJ3rs/: Baby in pram

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cd8PSH6gC9k/: Doll like baby with blue eyes

A baby replying to questions http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cSudpyEU9w&feature=player_embedded#!

And this one shows many babies dancing to an arabic song

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MIHpf3_TzE&NR=1.

A baby playing billiards: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjYiJsSjWIM

Boy getting a kiss: https://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=178244018892310

A definant baby: https://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=123797101015105

Guitar Seniors: https://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=169772946407702

This is another video of a baby (very funny).
https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B1xQDlpMnLKxZTc1YTg4MDQtZTJlNi00MzViLWJjZmMtOWY2NWU4ODMxNDQ1&hl=en. While the baby in this video reminds me of the way some of my friends behave when their mom goes out of town and the baby in the 1st video reminds me of my friends' children. These videos were not shot by me and I don't know any of the characters in the videos.

These are a couple of nice photos, the links to which were given by a friend.
http://j3.tagstat.com/image04/b/be1f/009P052yXUv.gif
http://i3.tagstat.com/image05/b/4acb/002x054CQHb.gif

Arunachal Pradesh

For a long time I have been thinking of visiting the north east (of India) and especially Arunachal Pradesh where the altitude goes above 4000m. I found a very nice travelogue: http://vishal1967.blogspot.com/2008/05/tawang-travelogue.html. I hope you find it nice.

Indian Foods That Are Good for Health

There was an article in a newspaper today on indian foods that are good for health. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/health-fitness/diet/12-Indian-foods-that-cut-fat/articleshow/6559721.cms.

Many of the items mentioned are easy to get. I don't know whether chilies refers to red or green chilies. Cabbage, honey, cabbage are readily available everywhere. Mustard oil is the primary medium of cooking in West Bengal. It has a nasty smell but as per the article it seems to be very good for health. 

Moong dal (Payatham paruppu in Tamil), garlic, turmeric, clove, cardamom may be primarily available in India or in Indian shops. Turmeric is considered especially good for a sore throat (to be mixed in hot milk).

Hopefully we can change our diet a little in line with the article above, so that we live longer and healthier.

Bus Stops Around The World !!!

A friend sent me this and I loved it.. So here it is.. (Apologies if this is copyrighted material)

USA 

Italy

Holland 

Dubai 

France 

China

Malaysia 

South Africa 

Greece 

Switzerland 

Bangkok 

AND Finally India (after heavy rain in Bombay)

Serious External Affairs Problem In A Neighboring Country Due To The Commonwealth Games

My cousin was telling me about a mail written by terrorists (from a neighboring country trying to ruin Commonwealth Games) written to the their boss, the head of ISI.

"

Boss,

1. Some of our bombs got wet and deactivated, because of leaks in the plumbing system

2. Rats ate many detonators so some bombs are out of action

3. While Kalmadi was inspecting a toilet, he pulled the flush in the toilet and the flush broke and the bomb inside the flush also fell down and got wet.

4. The rains have wreaked havoc. Two people in our team have caught a cold, a third slipped and fell down because the roads have been dug everywhere.

5. One of our team members was bitten by mosquito, got dengue and died..

The Indians are hampering our attempts at every step. Our presence here is not adding any value. Can you please tell us what we should do now?
"

I understand the country is complaining that India is quite unsporting, that India is not allowing them to make an honest living since Indians are doing by themselves what the crack team had sworn to do. I will wait for more update on this from my cousin.

More On India's Capabilities

In a previous blog I had written about the possible problems that could happen in the Commonwealth Games (CWG) due to start in 10 days (http://vbala99.blogspot.com/2010/09/what-can-go-wrong-in-commonwealth-games.html).

Yesterday there was the incident of a footbridge that collapsed in the Jawahal Nehru Stadium. Today the false ceiling of the weight lifting venue seems to have collapsed. Now I am not sure whether these are incidents of sabotage or just examples of poor engineering capabilities.  There was a story in the paper today that an Australian agency bypassed the security and carried inside a bomb that could have been made to go off inside the stadium had there been a detonator. The Delhi police are claiming that this is "bogus". It may be true or it could be an incident to embarrass the security agencies. Either way it's quite a sad reflection of India's security and/or engineering prowess.

Earlier today I read that India is ranked the 3rd most powerful nation http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/From-Third-World-country-to-third-most-powerful-nation/articleshow/6603835.cms. The ability and power that India has a nation is only equaled by its ineptitude in other fields. There seem to be multiple parallel organizations in India some extraordinarily talented and some extremely debilitating.

Other developing countries in Asia and outside have made quite a progress. China hosted the Olympics. Korea co-hosted the World Cup Football. Both events happened without any hiccups. 

Can India scrape through with the CWG games? Or will it be an embarrassing disaster? 

This is a news report on 24th Sep 2010 on how India bribed its way to being awarded the games
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/events-tournaments/commonwealth-games/top-stories/India-bribed-72-nations-to-get-Delhi-CWG-Report/articleshow/6616467.cms) and another on how it might be better to award the games to the private sector to organize (http://blogs.reuters.com/india/2010/09/24/privatise-the-commonwealth-games/.)  There is another interesting blog about Emaar Properties (http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/richardspencer/100055018/dubais-unique-contribution-to-the-commonwealth-games/). This is another one about what India can learn from its mistakes (http://blogs.reuters.com/global/2010/09/23/at-indias-commonwealth-games-shame-might-be-a-blessing/).
How many more incidents and embarrassments will we see in the next one month? How and when do we make progress in our security and engineering? 

We need to have the conviction and ability to solve our own problems. We need to progress from providing just manpower in IT and BPO industries for serving Europeans and US customers to creating IP (Intellectual Property) providing solutions. I think it starts with education and research. 

I think the next wave in India will need be Education and research. If we started now, we could become a leader by 2030.

World's Most Beautiful Garages !!!

I used to be mad about cars some 20 years back. I used to take lots of  pictures of cars. Though I am no more as fascinated about cars as I was then, when I saw the pictures of cars and garages that my cousin sent me, I was exhilarated. I thought I would put those pictures up here. Unfortunately some garages don't have cars. Maybe there ought to be an ordinance against having empty garages.

Have fun.