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Showing posts from 2012

Security for everyone - how?

We have a problem here - serious one. Which is security of women. It was not so serious, but few painted and dented sundar women are unnecessarily creating lot of noise. Our authentic khap people suggested that girls must be married early. Some politicians even seconded that. But that does not seem to work as rapist does not discriminate between married women and unmarried girls. In fact they do not discriminate at all. Some leaders put their thinking caps on and got a brilliant idea. They suggested that girls and women should be inside their homes before it gets dark. But they must have removed the caps early. Because they did not realize that in today's times it is impossible for any working woman to reach home before dark. But the police force is limited. And the population is very very large. And some police should be reserved for VVIP security. So let us think of some reverse psychology. Just like women should be inside the house, to be safe, politicians can too be insi

Universe and me

Thanksgiving

I think Christians have a day called thanks giving day. Let me try my thank giving. You are always by my side. When I am bored, you have made me laugh. When I am upset about something, you have helped me  clear my head. Whenever I face any problems, you have tried your best to solve my problems, so much so that I am convinced that I can rely on you for solving any kind of problems - almost. But at times you can  waste my time without end. Even when I know I have tons of works pending, you do not let me go. But you have given me a new life. In which I have a purpose (may be a different purpose every day :) )in life. I can not imagine my life without you. Thank you net. I can not thank you enough!!!

Gumma

When our children were toddlers, we used to tell them," Do not go in the dark. There is gumma (ghost in baby language)". Now to our grown up daughters should we say "Do not go outside after dark. There are men out there"? I do not want to offend thousands of good men who rescue the women whenever possible. But this is the harsh truth!!!

Wireless mouse arrives, and how!!!

My son was telling that he is going to order a wireless mouse from flipcart. I was suggesting he takes his dad's permission before ordering. He as usual told he does not need anyone's permission. We were still talking and already the mouse arrived. But the funny thing is the mode of transport. I know that in these days nobody uses postal services but uses courier services. But using sewer lines? Isn't it fetching things too far. In fact the mouse itself was knocking the kitchen sink pipe or rather scratching it. It could not just arrive inside as we had kept a stone on the sink trap. Sad, my son was not willing to use this particular wireless mouse. Because he did not pay thousands of rupees for it or is it because it was not properly from flipcart? He did not say!

A happy day

It has been a happy day so far. Because, I published my third android app into android market (now called google play). In fact it is a game. But no fancy animation. No shooting. We believe in Gandhigiri. No car race either. It is just a brain game. It displays some 5  numbers and asks you to recollect them in the same order. You think it is a child's play? Think again. And if you happen to own an android phone and have an inclination do download the game and play it. Here is the link: Test your memory   I am not naive, I know the chances are like 0.01%. But it is worth a try. But was I not supposed to add some new revolutionary features to my hindi kannada keyboard app. Well, I am still working on it, okay. See I have family to fight with to take care of. Meals to cook one rice and one sambar and a raita if they are lucky . And I also have chores to keep grumbling about. And most important of all, I have 32 inch LCD TV which keeps showing some boring programs which I have

The emperor

The beauty of satire is it can show the any ugly situation in a comic vein so that it looks ridiculous and you though still angry, will laugh out loud. The book "The Emperor" which describes the last days of Ethiopian emperor Haile Salassie is one such example. The author of the book Ryszard Kapuckinski has used a new technique here. The story is told as a series of narrations by different courtiers of the emperor. Well it can be the story of any emperor, or any autocrat or any other ruler. Look at some of the examples. The emperor personally appointed people to various posts, selecting them from long line of waiting people. And these appointments were done on the basis of their loyalty to the emperor, not based on their talents. Once these appointments are made, a great transformation will take place in the person so appointed. His head can move only vertically, down when facing the emperor, straight up with everyone else. When he is talking to people, his gaze will b

Murida bombe - Beechi

I love shopping. May be that is one isolated thing, I share with other people of my gender. I love books. And I just enjoy shopping books. Leave me in a book shop. You will find a kid in sweet shop.  But reading them, is a different matter. I have been collecting a big set of unread books. Keep thinking, first I have to finish reading the rented books from library. Or I am too young to read this book, may be when I am 60/70/80. Who can read Jiddus and Thich Nhat Hahns from end to end?  When Grey's anatomy or Packed to the rafters is beckoning you, teamed up with stumble upons and facebooks? I have been reading a polish author's book about an Ethiopian emperor since last 2 days. I don't remember the book title and the author's name is difficult to remember and very very difficult to pronounce. Day before, I read  2 pages of introduction and yesterday I read 5 pages of the book.  But back to book shopping, I used to shop English books. But today I bought few kannad
वख्त  इंसान पे एसा कभी आता है राह में छोडके साया भी चला जाता है Was watching the pieces of "Safe". The hero is some how antagonized Russian mafia. They will not kill him. But they will make him wish he was dead. One day he is trying to sleep in a shelter house meant for homeless. He gives his shoes to his neighbor seeing his feet are badly bruised. Next morning that neighbor has his neck slashed. Such vakhts are terrible to pass through.

Runaway bride

It is a remote village. But not without the fruits of modern day technology. The village is electrified. Most of the houses have TV sets, motor bikes and running water.  A boy lives here with his parents in his own house, cattle and almost an acre of arecanut field. The income is sufficient for the family and they are happy. Except for the fact, that they are unable to find a bride for the boy, who is already in his early thirties. Parents of educated girls will not even look at this boy. And even girls who have just studied high school, want a groom who is an Engineer, or at least who has a job in a city. The parents and relatives are really searching very hard. They have even trying to take the help of matrimonial agents. Finally one agent says there is this adopted girl of a brahmin priest and the parents of the girl have some outstanding loan. So they need Rs 60000. The boy is very happy and so are the parents. They pay the money (reverse dowry - if you want to call it so). The ma

Pray for a miracle

I was slouching in front of TV. I could see the photo of a God. A god, because we Hindus are polytheists. I could just praying sub consciously for a miracle. Because you see, I was bored. And he gave me one unwatched episode of Grey's anatomy! May be the children are right, in start asking from a horse if they want a kitten.  

Tools

I happened to see a scene from the film "Angels and Demons". A priest was telling a scientist "I know son. Religion is flawed. Religion is flawed because we are flawed". But I beg to differ with his view point here. There are so many other reasons - almost infinite reasons, why religion is flawed. But you don't want my reasons. Because you know that more than an atheist, I am an anti religious person. Almost. My opinion is, religion, politics, science, technology, books all these are tools we have invented ourselves for our convenience. They are supposed to help us, help us along with other things in making us more intelligent, more understanding, more compassionate and better human beings. If they are not doing it, throw them away. Do I hear many sacred (?) books, TVs, LCD, LED, TVs, ipads, ipods , smart(?) phones, laptops crashing to million pieces? Wishful thinking!!

Anything is possible

In yesterday's Kaun Banega Karodpati episode (was it  a rerun, I am not sure), the participant was a vegetable vendor. And he is also a science graduate. He wanted to study Engineering but his father could not afford the expenses. This shows a) how bad is the job market b) anything is possible for anybody c) if you have dream and pursue it, you can achieve anything I love Indians and I love India. (one of the rare proud moments)

Some more rangoli designs

The first one was 4-7-4 and I expanded and added 6 flowers. Second is 8-15-8 and third rangoli is 11 rows of 11.

Cute women vs not so cute women

Women are beautiful people to be around. They look cute when they smile at you. Especially neighbor's wives and girls walking on the street. They look cute when you make a innuendo and they are embarrassed, but are too scared to show their anger because you are their boss. They look cute when you yell at them at their mistakes - well you show them it is their mistake, because it can never be your mistake, as you are the boss, and they are suppressing the tears which are welling up in their eyes. They look cute when they are begging you for one day leave as their child is sick and you are trying to ignore their request, but still they hover around and try to  put on a smile which in fact looks like they are crying. They look cute when you and your colleagues try to make a indecent joke at their expense and they pretend not to hear it but with very red face. But why don't they look cute when they serve you food at home, putting so much effort and thought and time into that f

Clothes maketh the man - Part II

I was in showoff. The show off outlet, because there was a board outside said up to 70% discount. I was skeptic, as the prices in that shop are normally too much northward. Anyways I went inside and to my surprise, there were many kurtas in the range of Rs. 270 to 350. I wanted to buy all of them. I didn't, because there were many young girls and middle aged women like me, with similar intentions and I do not believe in any kind of injustice. So I just bought 2 kurtas and paid and reluctantly left the shop. Then I read about the plight of garment workers, who made these dresses, who are Bangalore women  like us, who slave almost 10 hours a day and get paid a meager 6000 rupees per month. They work without any benefits and without any complaints as complaint means job termination. And even women with almost 20 years of experience get similar wage. Their day will start at 4 in the morning. They cook for the family, prepare the children for school and then leave to their factories

Reading When we were orphans

I am currently reading Kazuo Ishiguro's When we are orphans. Why do I read Japanese author? First of all I do not know about contemporary English authors. Second, how long can one read the same Maughms and Greens and Huxleys. And another fact is reading Chinese and Japanese authors is more pleasant because we can relate to their mindsets and surroundings , unlike British an American authors. If so, why don't I read directly Indian authors? Well some questions should not be asked. This book is about an English detective Christopher whose early childhood was spent in China. They were living luxurious life completely alienated from locals. An inspector who comes on regular checkup comments that chinese servants are not to be trusted because they are opium addicts. That infuriates Christopher's mother so much. She  was fighting against British opium traders and father was himself an opium businessman. That got me curious about the opium trade in China during that period. A

To hate or not?

When your child was little and did not know what is right or wrong,  you taught him/her many things. You introduced him to his/her sibling and told that this child is part of our family. and he/she will share what ever toys/sweets and other things which are brought to this home. So you have every right to kick him, hit him and scold him or even send him out of the house. You did not do that? Nor did I. Nor did any other mother. Instead we told "Look child, this is your brother/sister. You should love him/her. You should protect her. You should share everything with her. " When his uncle came visiting we did not tell him " See this uncle of yours, looks cunning. He is not to be trusted. Never ever play with his children. Hate him and his children. He may overtake our house and our belongings." It sounds so ridiculous. Isn't it? Instead we told "See he is your uncle. He and his children are part of our family. We should welcome them and entertain them in o

The Dark Holds no Terrors by Shashi Deshapande

Saru comes and lands in her mothers' house. Mother is no more. Father welcomes her with an indifferent attitude. She makes it her home, doing the chores and always lost in her thoughts. She prolongs her stay indefinitely. Not bothered about the husband, two children and the practice she has left behind in Bombay. She is a practicing doctor and a famous one. She is forever thinking about Manu, her husband whom she married against the wishes of her parents, her children Renu and Abhi, and her mother and her younger brother Dhruva. Dhruva who folloed her to the muddy lake and who drowned there and for which her mother blamed her. She always remembers her mother's words "Why didn't you die? Why are alive ?" She keeps thinking that her mother always hated her and even now when she is dead, her hatred is burning Saru. She always wanted to show her mother some day. Show what, she was not sure. She remembers that, how after Dhruva's death, all festivals and celeb

Main duty

Our cops were really very busy as it is. What with protecting VVVVIPs, catching the offenders of traffic rules (poor ladies like me :( ), and controlling the bandhs and dharnas called by ruling parties and opposition parties. Now they have one added duty which gets highest priority, arresting the people who hurt the sentiments of people (most often VVVVIP people) by comments made in social networking sites. No wonder they do not get any  time to catch thieves, murderers and terrorists. And to maintain law and order.

Hanging - another angle

I was pained to see the celebration of hanging of Ajmal Kasab. No, I am in no way a sympathetic of Taliban or any other terrorist organization. I am not even  a muslim. I read an article in Times of India today about how these terrorists are born. They are illiterate or semi-literate with large families, with sisters to be married off and with no other earning member. They are lured by the Taliban which gives them money and a also a promise that in the eventuality of their death at the hands of Indian soldiers, their families will be looked after. They have been fed false information that in India, the muslims are treated horribly and there are no mosques to pray etc. And other types of recruits are illegal immigrants from Afghanistan who come to Pakistan in search of jobs. They are threatened with extradition unless they comply with these terrorist outfits. Hanging of one Kasab will not solve any of these problems. We have to find alternate solutions to these.

Rangoli again

This rangoli is 4 rows of 4 dots, followed by 4 rows of 12 dots and then again 4 rows of 4 dots.

ಏಕಾಂಗಿ

Every trivial work has some fruits hidden. Was cleaning the lofts and find an old note book with some translated poems. One blog post gained. !!!   ಸ್ವರ್ಗದಿಂದಿಳಿಯುವ  ಬೆಳ್ಳಿ  ಎಳೆ  ನಾನು ಉದ್ಯಾನಗಳ ಬೆಳೆಗಿಸಲು ಹೂದೋಟ ಸಜ್ಜಿಸಲು ಇಂದ್ರನ ಕಿರೀಟದಿಂದ ಬಿಡಿಸಿದ ಮುತ್ತು ನಾನು ನಾನತ್ತರೆ ಬೆಟ್ಟಗಳ ಅಟ್ಟಹಾಸ ಬಾಗಿದರೆ ಹೂಗಳ ಹರುಷ ದೂತ ನಾ ಭುವಿ ಗಗನಗಳ ಪ್ರೇಮಕ್ಕೆ ಇಂಗಿಸುವೆ  ನೆಲದ ತ್ರಷೆಯ ಬರುವೆ ಆರ್ಭಟದಿಂದ ಹೋಗುವೆ ಚಿತ್ತಾರದೊಡನೆ ಕಡಲಾಳದಿಂದ ಸಾಗಿ ಗುಡ್ಡ ಬೆಟ್ಟಗಳ ಹಾದು ಕಣಿವೆಗಳನಿಳಿದು ಮರಗಳ ತಬ್ಬುವೆ ಹೂಗಳ ಚುಂಬಿಸುವೆ   ಆದರೂ  ನಾನು ಏಕಾಂಗಿ ಸಂಚಾರಿ

Democracy - Indian estyle

I was really surprised at the the full coverage of funerals of Bala Saheb Thackery in Times Now. This channel is supposed to be one channel which is impartial and is not afraid of political bigwigs. Anyways.  Read this news from Times of India to decide what kind of democracy we live in. Read the complete article in TimesOfIndia 
Marriage is an institution. Like any other institution, it has its own set of rules and regulations and drawbacks. But for the bride most often, this institution is more like a prison. She leaves everything behind, her loved family, friends, her hometown with a stranger. And she will be under the illusions that this stranger will fill her with so much love, that she can forget everything and start a completely new life. That will not happen sadly. As the relation becomes old and the initials passion wears away, only thing she is left with is a huge void. She tries to fill this void with children, their upbringing, home, its maintenance. She tries to build her own nest. Again the children will grow up and leave the nest. And the woman is left with an empty heart and home. She does not belong anywhere. Husband says the house is his, all the belongings are his as he has paid for them. Parents tell her that their home is not hers any more, her home is her husband's. I am reading t

Clothes maketh the woman?

"Clothes maketh the man" goes a saying. What about the woman? This  saying should use woman  instead. Tell me who dresses more vibrantly, more frequently or more at length?  Men will wear just a blue or black trousers and a white shirt in 2 seconds duration. But the woman will start wearing a, then b, then c , then suddenly decide it is not looking good, remove all of them and select another set and start the procedure all over again. Some of women's clothing are so difficult to put on that you can call them an art or a for that matter a science. Have you ever tried tying a saree? And look at the colors of dresses. Can you precisely define the color of the dress a woman is wearing. A man may say that this color is  red, blue or green (RBG in techie terms).  Some men can not even tell blue and green apart. But ask women! They will tell you a poetry. The dress so and so wearing is sky blue with some shades of turquoise and hints of Persian blue  in it. And it does not

I feel awesome!!

I am not a huge fan of Barney of How I met your mother. If anything, I feel sorry for him. He is trying to fill the large void in his heart by innumerous escapades. But I appreciate his awesome attitude. No, no and NO. Do not get me wrong. If I say, I like his attitude, I will be betraying my other feminist friends. And he does not respect any one, because he does not respect himself and for some reason is terribly unhappy. That is true for most womanizers and manizers(??). I like his mantra - When I am sad, I stop being sad and be awesome. I saw in an episode, that he is waking up next to a dumpster, and straightens himself up and says "I am awesome" and walks away. Be that. Feel that. If you can not feel you are awesome, nobody else in the world will feel that. You do not have to be Einstein or Steve Jobs or Mother Theresa to feel awesome. You are you and there is nobody like you. And you are special to yourself. And by the way, I do not know why I watch HIMYM whe

If speech is silver, silence is gold

Modi commented on Shashi Tharoor's wife Sunanda that she is 50 crore girl friend. Central coal minister compared an old wife to old victory angering women's organization. Some other minister I think from UP, told girls and women have no need of mobiles, and in his family his wife and children do not use mobile. I was trying to refresh my memory of all such quotable quotes reflecting the attitude of our leaders towards women. When googling I came across a blog from Pakistan women whom men should not marry. According to that post, a woman who twitters, who uses facebook, who works in office, who talks to men in a natural way, who does not wear hijab etc. are the one men should avoid when selecting a bride. Thank God. Our leaders and men are chauvinistic, but they are not in stone age. OK, again I was dragged off the topic by google. So you look at the way our leaders talk and then create a controversy. Gadkari compared Swami Vivekananda with Mafia leader Dawood Ibrahim. Then

How to watch TV entire day and not hate yourself

If you are a non willing SAHM and do not really like the work other SAHMs do, then you know how it is. You send the children and spouse after feeding them some breakfast. You send the maid after she cleans the house and kitchen and utensils. Now you have the whole day and whole house to yourself. You sit in front of the TV thinking you will relax for a while. You switch to channel 10. And of course there is cookery show going on. They won't stop airing it just because you detest it. And your favorite soap will not start for another forty five minutes. The soap which is good and whose episodes you have already watched in youtube. So you change to channel 31, then 32 and then 33. This movie is chor police kind of stuff. You are not in a mood for this. And this other one is Harry Potter. Voldemort himself would have run away if he had to watch these million times. And this last one is a romantic comedy but haven't you seen it already? 50 times? You switch to a comedy channel.

ನಾವು ಕನ್ನಡಿಗರು. ಕನ್ನಡ ಮಾತ್ರ (ಓದಲ್ಲ)

ನಮ್ಮ ನಡುವಳಿಕೆ ಬಹಳ ಸಿಂಪಲ್. ಅಗಸ್ಟ್ 15ಕ್ಕೆ ನಾವು ದೇಶ ಭಕ್ತರು. ನವೆಂಬರ್ 1ಕ್ಕೆ ಕನ್ನಡ ಅಭಿಮಾನಿಗಳು. ಉಳಿದೆಲ್ಲ ದಿನ ನಾವು wannabe ಅಮೆರಿಕನ್ನರು. ನಿನ್ನೆ ಅಮ್ಮನ ಜೊತೆ ವಾದ ಮಾಡುವಾಗ ಹೇಳಿದೆ ಇಂಗ್ಲಿಷ್ ಭಾಷೆ ಮತ್ತು ಸಾಹಿತ್ಯ ಶ್ರೀಮಂತವಾಗಿದೆ. ಅಮ್ಮನದು ಯಾವಾಗಲು ಕಂಪ್ಲೇಂಟ್ ನಾನು ಕನ್ನಡ ಓದುವದಿಲ್ಲ. ಬರೆಯುವದಿಲ್ಲ. ಹೌದು. ಇಂಗ್ಲಿಷ್ ಭಾಷೆ ಶ್ರೀಮಂತ ಭಾಷೆ. ನಮ್ಮದು ಅಷ್ಟೊಂದು ಶ್ರೀಮಂತವಲ್ಲ. ಹೇಗಾದೀತು. ನಾವು ನೀವು ಎಲ್ಲ ವರ್ಷಕ್ಕೆ ಒಂದು ದಿನ ಮಾತ್ರ ಕನ್ನಡವನ್ನು ನೆನಪಿಸಿಕೊಳ್ಳುವವರು. ನಮಗೆ ಕನ್ನಡದ ಪುರಾತನ ಸಾಹಿತ್ಯದ ಬಗ್ಗೆಯಾಗಲೀ, ಸಮಕಾಲೀನ ಸಾಹಿತ್ಯವಾಗಲೀ ಎಷ್ಟು ಗೊತ್ತು? ಒಂದು ಕಾರಂತರು, ಒಂದು ಬೇಂದ್ರೆ ಬಿಟ್ಟರೆ ಬೇರೆ ಯಾರೂ ಗೊತ್ತಿಲ್ಲ. ಇನ್ನು ರನ್ನ, ಪಂಪ, ಕುಮರವ್ಯಾಸರೋ, ಕನ್ನಡ ಶಾಲೆಯಲ್ಲೇ ವಿದಾಯ ಹೇಳಿಸಿಕೊಂಡರು. ಓದುವವರು, ಬರೆಯುವವರು ಇದ್ದರೆ ತಾನೇ ಸಾಹಿತ್ಯ ಬೆಳೆಯುವದು, ಬದುಕುವದು? ನಮ್ಮ ತಲೆಮಾರೇ  ಹೀಗೆ ಹೇಳಿದರೆ ನಮ್ಮ ಮಕ್ಕಳೋ ಕನ್ನಡವನ್ನು ಹೆಕ್ಕಿ ಹೆಕ್ಕಿ ಕಷ್ಟ ಪಟ್ಟು ಓದುತ್ತಾರೆ. BMTC ಬೋರ್ಡ್ ಗಳನ್ನು ಓದಲೂ ಕಷ್ಟ. ಕನ್ನಡ ಒಂದು ವಿಷಯವಾಗಿ ಕಲಿತದ್ದಕ್ಕೆ ಇಷ್ಟಾದರೂ ಬರುತ್ತದೆ. ಹಾಗಾದರೆ ಇದಕ್ಕೆ ಪರಿಹಾರವೇನು. ಮತ್ತೇನೂ ಇಲ್ಲ. ಮುಂದಿನ ವರ್ಷ ನವೆಂಬರ್ 1ಕ್ಕೆ ಮತ್ತೆ ಕನ್ನಡ ನಮ್ಮ ಮಾತೃ ಭಾಷೆಯೆಂದು ನೆನೆಸಿಕೊಂಡು ಸ್ವಲ್ಪ ಮೊಸಳೆ ಕಣ್ಣೀರು  ಸುರಿಸೋಣ. ಅಲ್ಲಿಯ ತನಕ ವಿ

Soapy morals

I am unable to blog anything non-trivial as my time nowadays revolves around Greys anatomy and Two and a half men and may be some stumbling using stumbleupon. But what I find interesting is the statement of summary at the end of many tv soaps. e.g. some of the statements would be like "Guilt, you can either overcome that. Or go on doing the same mistake which caused the guilt in the first place.." Even t"Desperate housewives" would have these statements. Come on, what kind of moral statement can you find in that serial?  So try to lead your life according to the advice given at the end of Grey's anatomy? Wonderful! Talk about intellectual poverty!!!

The Parasites - Daphne Du Maurier

This book by Daphne is a very sad book. Are all the books I read appear sad to me or do I read only sad books? The plot starts with Charles calling his wife and her half sister and brother as Parasites. Maria, Celia and Niall are children of Delaney couple. Delaney couple are talented and famous stage artists. But wife dies when the children are still very young. They are brought up by house keeper Truda. Maria the eldest is very selfish but hard working actor. She wants all luxuries of the world. And she gets good roles because she is having an affair with the married lead actor. She goes in and out of affairs without any regrets. And there is no mother's supervising eyes at home to control her. And Truda feels that it is in her blood. Niall is obsessed with Maria - not exactly his half sister. He is extremely talented composer but has no ambition at all. In his school, the music teacher thinks he is incapable of playing any music at all. But at 18, he meets Freada, friend

Change of title

Yes, I am always confused, befuddled and so on about why am I here? Who am I? What am I supposed to do? (Now don't ask me to have a look at the kitchen) कस्त्वं कोहम कुत आयत का मे जननी को मे तात इति परिभावय  सर्वमसारम विश्वं त्यक्त्वा स्वप्न विचारम भज गोविन्दम भज गोविन्दम भज गोविन्दम मूढ़मते ( Who am I, who are you, From where have I come? Who is my mother and who is father? Think all these things and and realize that world is but an  illusion) -Adi  Shankaracharya

True or false?

Yes, we are troubled by life's perplexing questions, conundrums and enigmas. So let us take some time off and look at some easier question. I got this quote from some  website through stumbleupon. But I do not remember site url. Sorry and thanks.

Life

Too much to absorb? Adopt only the things you can relate to. If you want to .

Points to ponder

I am living on a staple diet of TV, sleep and more TV. I watch the some serials twice during the day. When there is nothing I like on TV, I just keep searching till I get something to watch.  My maid tried to help by applying for fifteen days sick leave. But my inner voice asked - are you willing to change your lifestyle for a maid, or some silly chores? Obviously my answer was NO. With this as background, my brain, is not in its best shape. So instead of writing a post about one topic - I can only write some points - unrelated points  blog worthy. I like the way this is going. If swamiJI A exposes swamiJI B, exposes swamiJI C, exposes ...... , we can all hope that at some point in the near future, all the swamiJIs will be exposed. And we can all heave a sigh of relief. Because then people will understand that these Godmen are more men than God, and not even good men. And people will understand that the term Godman itself is an oxymoron. Instead people have to do with God. How

My computer is devious

Yes, My computer is devious  back stabbing piece of silicon. I was about to start with the title -  my life sucks. But no, I should not say that. Though I am not the luckiest person alive, even though my life is not wonderful, I know there are people over there with real problems. So  I do not want to say my life sucks, I can just say, I haven't given my life its dues. Anyways same thing can not be told about my computer. Just an hour ago, I got a mail saying from some XYZ company saying "thank you for the interest shown in our organization. But we are sorry, your profile does not suit our requirements". First of all, I really do not remember sending my profile to them. And do they have enough time to send regret letters all the aspirants of coveted jobs in their office? Anyways they might be really nice people thinking it is polite to say they are sorry at least. Then I got another mail saying that offer closed for some freelancing writing job. Again I did not see

Bored? Learn something new!!

The only thing I do these days is watch Grey's anatomy. No reading of books. No other work. So yesterday's I thought let me at least watch some educational videos from any open university courses. After much searching I got a video about search engines from Berkley University. The video was almost 2 hours long. But the info I got was for some 15 minutes. I just added one new word to my dictionary crawler. And the best part is I did not even google it afterwards.  I am really losing interest in technology. Yes, but what made me to at least go till educational video is this site from stumble upon? This page -   You are Bored? That is so awesome.  Why can't more people provide such sites to wake us - too lazy even to yawn people , up from time to time? OK, I find another similar page with good links Top 40 Useful Sites To Learn New Skills This one includes Instructable , MakeUseOf , WiredHowToWiki , Lifehacker etc.  Save both these pages. You won't regre

End of Internet

I think I should realize that I am spending too much time on internet. The other day my laptop showed me this message. Original image from  http://bw.org/end/ And then next day I saw "Sorry. We have run out stumbles for you."  in stumbleupon.
I stumbled upon this site where you can convert the beautiful quotes into nice posters. And of course I will not feel good until I post something lame funny. Hence I created this demotivational quote using the same site Again, these posters are created using http://recitehis.com

The Victim - by Saul Bellow

Surprise, I finally finished reading one complete book. After a very long time. Sad. What is happening to me! Leventhal gets a phone call from Elena, his brother's wife.  Elena says that Mickey, her son is seriously ill. Max, the brother works in another city. Leventhal takes permission from his office and goes to their house. But he does not know that   his problems are just beginning. Mickey's fever is serious. But Elena does not want to hospitalize the child. But that is not the main problem. Leventhal meets a person from his past called Albee. Albee was a friend of friends.  A heavy drinker, who keeps making fun of Jewish people. During those days, Leventhal was looking for a job, any job. He gets a recommendation from Albee, he goes to Albee's office with his recommendation and when the interviewer talks rudely, he fights with interviewer and storms off. Now Albee reminds all these stories and blames Leventhal for his job loss. Albee was fired from his job. Sub

Work, power and energy

News Ten cycles will be placed on the Mysore palace premises and visitors can pedal for as long as they wish. Power is generated using a dynamo and the generated power will be stored in batteries and used to light up the palace on Oct 16. Anti News Inspired by this news, the members of parliament have decided to install 20 such bicycles in the house initially. They have mentioned that each one of mps will peddle and generate electricity for the country and its people. They have also told that along with creating electricity in these times of power shortage, these bicycles will also help them to spend their  aggression   energy.   They say that bicycling will help them to remain calmer during sessions and not start verbal abuses and fist fights with each other. 

ಪೂಜ್ಯ

Background: In kannada language pujya also means zero. At least it used to be when I was a school going kid. ಟಿವಿ  ಯಾವುದೊ ಒಂದು ಕನ್ನಡ ಸಿನೆಮಾವನ್ನು ಒರಲುತ್ತಿತ್ತು. ನಾನು star world ಬಿಟ್ಟು ಯಾವಾಗಿಂದ ಕನ್ನಡ ಟೀವಿ ನೋಡತೊಡಗಿದೆ ಎಂದು ಕೇಳಬೇಡಿ. ನಾನು ಕನ್ನಡ ಸಿನೇಮ ನೋಡುವದಿಲ್ಲ. ಕನ್ನಡ ಪುಸ್ತಕ ಅಷ್ಟೊಂದು ಓದುವದಿಲ್ಲ. ಅದರರ್ಥ ನನಗೆ ನಮ್ಮ ಭಾಷೆಯ ಮೇಲೆ ಅಭಿಮಾನ ಇಲ್ಲವೆನ್ದೆಲ್ಲ.   ಕನ್ನಡ ಕೀ ಬೋರ್ಡ್ ಪ್ರೋಗ್ರಾಮ್ ಬರೆದವಳಲ್ಲವೇ? ಆದರೆ ನಮ್ಮವರು ಕನ್ನಡದ ಪರಮ ಭಕ್ತರು. ಅಣ್ಣಾ ವರ ಸಿನೆಮಾಗಳನ್ನು ಎಷ್ಟು ಸಾರಿ ನೋಡಿದರೂ ಅವರಿಗೆ ಸಮಾಧಾನವಿಲ್ಲ. ಎಷ್ಟೆಂದರೆ ನನಗೆ ಆ ಡಯಲಾಗ್ಗಳು ಕಂಠಪಾಠ ವಾಗಿವೆ. ಹಾಗಾಗಿ ಟಿವಿ ಕನ್ನಡ ಸಿನಿಮಾವನ್ನು ಒರೆಯುತ್ತಿತ್ತು.  ಕೋಪದಿಂದ ರಾಜಕುಮಾರ್ ಯಾರನ್ನೋ ಕೇಳುತ್ತಿದ್ದ. "ಪೂಜ್ಯರೇ......". ನನ್ನ  ಮರ್ಕಟ ಬುದ್ಧಿ ಯಾವಾಗಲು ಪೂಜ್ಯ ಎಂದರೆ ಗಣಿತದ ಪೂಜ್ಯವನ್ನೇ ನೆನೆಸಿಕೊಳ್ಳುತ್ತದೆ. ರಾಜಕುಮಾರ ಈ ಮಾತನ್ನು ಹೇಳುವಾಗ ಮತ್ತೊಬ್ಬನ ಹೊಟ್ಟೆಯ ಕಡೆ ನೋಡುತ್ತಿದ್ದನೆ ಅಥವಾ ತಲೆಯ ಕಡೆ ನೋಡುತ್ತಿದ್ದನೆ ? ಹಾಗೆ ನೋಡಿದರೆ ಪೂಜ್ಯರೆಲ್ಲ ಗಣಿತದ  ಪೂಜ್ಯರೇ ? ಗುರು ಹಿರಿಯರು? ತಪ್ಪು ತಪ್ಪು. ಗುರು ಹಿರಿಯರ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಹಾಗೆ ಹೇಳುವದು sacrilegious. ಅದೇ ನಮ್ಮ ಮಕ್ಕಳ ದ್ರಷ್ಟಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ನಾವೆಲ್ಲಾ ಗಣಿತದ  ಪೂಜ್ಯರೇ ! ಪೂಜ್ಯವೇನು ? ಋಣ  ಸಂಖ್ಯೆಗಳು!!

Just for today

Just for today - I spent hours playing with GIMP :)

Strike against hike in diesel prices

For once government is showing some action in the right direction and the opposition does not like it. It says these moves - moves for FDI in retail and hike in diesel price and decrease in subsidy of cooking gas - are anti people. Does the opposition not realize these harsh measures are essential to improve the economy which is going southward in a rapid pace? Do they have any other suggestions to improve the economy? How long do politicians keep fooling the people?

4 more rangoli designs

Top right rangoli is 4-7-4. Bottom left is 8-15-8 and bottom right is 1-8-1

ಒಗಟು

ಇದು ಕನ್ನಡದ ಒಂದು ಒಗಟು. ಅಮ್ಮ ಹೇಳಿಕೊಟ್ಟಿದ್ದು. ನೋಡಿ ಬಿಡಿಸಲು ಆಗುವುದೋ ಎಂದು. ಉತ್ತರೆಯ ತಾಯ ತಮ್ಮನ ಕತ್ತಲೆಯಲಿ ಒತ್ತಿ ಕೊಂದವನ ಅಗ್ರಜನ ಪಿತನ ವಾಹನದನ್ತಿರ್ಪವನೆ !!! Hint : you must know your Mahabharatha well. One more. ಹರನ ಹಾರನ ಆಹಾರನ ಸುತನ ದೇವನ ಮಡದಿಯಂ ಕದ್ದೊಯ್ದವನ ಅನುಜನ ಮಡದಿಯೆನಗೊಲಿದಿರ್ಪಳ್ P.S. : If you find the solution, you can mention it in the comment :) Since no one came up with solutions, let me mention them. Uttara's mother's younger brother is Keechaka. The one who killed him in darkness is Bheema. His agraja - elder brother - is Dharmaraya. whose pita - father is Yama. Yama's vahana is buffalo. So the ogatu, is to call some one a buffalo. Second one is Hara's garland - haara is snake, Snake's food is Vaayu - air. Vaayu's son is Hanuman. His god is Rama. The person who kidnapped Rama's madadi - wife - is Ravana. Ravana's anuja is Kumbhakarna. His wife is Nidra - sleep. So all this just to say I am sleepy.

Everything looking good

I loved this piece from suddenlysenior so much that, I need to share it with you. LOOKING GOOD My face in the mirror isn't wrinkled or drawn. My house isn't dirty. The cobwebs are gone. My garden looks lovely and so does my lawn. I think I might never put my glasses back on. Here is the original   http:// www.suddenlysenior.com/seniorjokebook2.html/

Today's rangoli

It is 1 - 8-1 . Simple but elegant (meant to be. though not in my hands :(  )

Legal terms

My English vocabulary is limited. And my knowledge of legal terms is even worse. So whenever I heard the term sedition I was completely baffled. What is this sedition? So I did what every other netizen would do. I looked up the term in wikipedia. I read half the article. But still the meaning was not clear. Still I am unable to understand the term. Please help me here. If you try to incite the people against people of another community in a secular democracy, is it not sedition? Obviously not. Because I have not heard that word used in that context. If you try to divide the people based on their state of origin, is it not sedition. That is also not sedition. Even if it can create long term problems and  more hatred and violence. If you print text books where the national flag is printed with wrong order of kesari bili hasiru, that is not sedition. But if you draw cartoons, criticizing those in power, that is sedition. Well poor Aseem, he has forgotten his mother's advice - d

Jal Satyagraha

image courtesy : NDTV 51 people are staying submerged in water for the 14th day in Madhya pradesh protesting against government decision to opening all the gates of Omkareshwar dam, which will cause their villages to be submerged. They are demanding proper rehabilitation. The protest is organized by Narmada Bachao Andolan.

Everything is fair .....

Thackarey says Biharis in Mumbai must be considered as infiltrators. Modi says there is no malnutrition in the country. It is just gals who like to diet to stay slim Mamata says Dengue is caused by dieting Why do our politicians talk thus? To instigate people? To escape from responsibility? Or just simple indifference? No the real reason is - Everything is fair in love and war. Our great God Krishna has shown this to us with various examples in Mahabharatha. But where is the war you ask wondering, did you miss out today's newspaper? Or the paper highlighting all kinds of gossips and advertisements, did not print this news in order not to frighten aam admi? No, no don't worry. We are talking about different kind of war here. The war our leaders need to fight every second. The war against opposition parties who are heavily armed with so many suitcases, war against media which unnecessarily causes badnami by bringing out scam after scam, war against some so called intel

Road quiz

Are you tired of reading useless gibberish? Let me give you some interesting post today. A quiz. And a mathematical quiz!! I have always been a big fan of mathematical quizzes. Because they make me feel smart! Here is the quiz A travels everyday from her (or his) home to office in two wheeler. The distance is around 18 km. The speed in which she goes depends on the circumstances. In a clear stretch, she goes at 50 kmph, if there lot of traffic, she goes at 30 kmph and near traffic signals she goes or she is forced to go at around 2kmph. Some times to avoid pot holes, she has to go at 10 kmph. And at each traffic signal she has to wait for almost 10 minutes. Now if there are 15 traffic signals she has to cross, and there are 300 pot holes large and small, and three roads which have heavy traffic, what is the time required for her to travel the distance? Now for those hungry for more complexities, here are additional problems. If A is a he instead of she, whenever his vehicle

Some mantras to be followed in life no matter what

I was about to add to be successful in life. Then that phrase coming from me will be wrong. Believe in yourself. You are capable of many things and you know it better than anybody else. Do not let others tell  you you are inferior in any way. Even if that other person is God. Again, you know what you are and if they do not see it, it is their problem. You may be feel others are smarter than you are, richer than you are or happier than you are. Most of the cases all these are dikhava. Do not do anything, just because somebody tells you it is good for you, but you are not able to find a rational reason behind it. Hear everyone out, but do what you feel is right. Even though it sounds too much of a cliche, there is a silver lining in every cloud. Even if you feel you are in the worst condition, who knows? God may be having some other plans for you. Like the saying - what the caterpillar says end of the world, butterfly says a new beginning.

Why does an atheist pray?

I am an unconfirmed atheist. I am not sure like so many other things, whether do I believe in God. Most of us belong to this category, don't we? But I religiously (?) keep shouting Sanskrit shlokas most of the days in the morning. (I can let my readers know about my atheism, but not my neighbors) Well, I try to follow one principle my dad has taught me - ಹೋದ್ರೆ  ಕಲ್ಲು ಹೋಯ್ತು . ಬಂದ್ರೆ  ಮಾವಿನಕಾಯಿ ಬಂತು. You throw a stone to a mango. If by luck, the mango does fall down, you do get a mango. If it does not, you have lost just a stone. 

Embellished

Men and women are so different. Women are so much more complicated than men. Even the clothes they were are so complicated. When you look at a man you can say he is wearing a blue shirt or a white shirt. Which of course they have been wearing since the days of my grand father. But in those days the correct phrase would have been the shirt which was blue or white once upon a time. Some times they do wear other color shirts also, may be an off white shirt or a yellow or a brown shirt or some other color. But you need not scratch your brain to describe his shirt. But look at a woman, any woman. Try to tell the color or her saree or kurta. Is it green or is it red or is it yellow? How many colors does it have? What different shades? What are the designs on this dress? Your vocabulary fails to describe these. At least, mine does. Of course, there is a question. Who designs such rang birangi clothes for women? Men? To deviate their mind from more intellectual tasks? Do I see a sexist

Garbage disposal

I was happy to read an article about a Bangalore based company finding a method of converting solid waste into electricity. If all the solid waste including the plastic is converted into electricity and plastic waste is converted into tar which can be used for roads, it is really a very wonderful thing. But how much of garbage is really collected from our houses? I am talking about the situation in Bangalore, but I am sure it is not much different in other cities. In most of the areas, the garbage trucks come at random hours and we can not keep waiting  the whole day for them. And we can not keep the garbage bin or cover outside our gates for them to collect because of stray dogs would litter the whole place. And for working ladies who leave the house early in the morning it is impossible. And in some other new areas like ours, the garbage trucks do not arrive every day. They come once in 4-5 days, when they wish. We cannot keep stinking garbage for such a long time. So what do we a

They do not understand us :(

These media people are so stupid and they have zero sense of humour. Our friend told that inflation is good for farmers. Don't they understand how that is good for farmers and everyone else in this country. See because of inflation poor people which include our dear farmers will not be able to afford two square meals a day. And as a result, the weak and aged and fragile among them will fall sick and if they are already sick they will become even more sick. And eventually die. So in a family of say 15 members if 3 are old men or women, who die as a result of inflation, the family now will have only 12 mouths to feed. Isn't the end result good for the family? And also we have been telling since the days of _____ji that the root cause of all evil in this country is ever increasing population. If population comes to control as a result of inflation, our country will HAVE to prosper. Just like China prospered by bringing one child policy. Do WE have to explain these things to

Halebid photos

This photo taken in 2008 is from outer wall of a Halebid temple - Chennakeshava temple if I remember. Second photo is entrance of the temple Do not have the heart to gimpify these.

Some photo on the road?

Well it is just a photo taken on the road. Except for the fact that.. OK I will not mention it. You observe

Change of career??

Since yesterday evening I am struggling with this compilation and running. Which is not happening. But now I think I have found an alternate career - Look at this photo. How Great it is? I know it is not great. But it is first step in another direction. What do you say, what with my IDEs and programs always troubling me with weird problems, and with my age, should I say tata bye bye to coding and say a big HIIIII to graphic designing. 

ಬೆಕ್ಕಿಗೆ ಮಕ್ಕಗೆ ಕಲಿಸ್ದಂಗೆ

We have a saying in our havyaka dialect - ಬೆಕ್ಕಿಗೆ ಮಕ್ಕಗೆ ಕಲಿಸ್ದಂಗೆ - the rough meaning is children and cats will  be how we train them. I think this holds good for not only children and feline friends but to most of us. For what are we all, but children in our heart. If someone says ಹೊಡಿ ಬಡಿ ಕಡಿ we repeat after them taking our sharpest machu and knifes. If someone else says love one and love all , we go for candle march with our hankies and jadu ki jhappi ready. So if we get a good leader like Gandhiji, we become ahimsavadis and defeat strongest of enemies with our good will. And if we get a leader like Hitler or some of our contemporary Indian leaders (no names!!), we mercilessly butcher people and commit genocide without a tiny bit of remorse. So dear fellow citizens, select leaders wisely, because they can make our country one of the best in the world or they can turn us into monsters killing each other. Well, these are the feelings I had after watching bits and pieces of to

Gaslighting

I stumbled upon an article called Gas Lighting effect - a method of psychological manipulation. The term is derived from 1940 film where a newly married husband dims the gas light and when wife says it denies it saying it is her imagination. He intends to make her doubt herself and ultimately turn her insane to steal her inheritance. The gaslighters are people very close to us and whose support and approval we seek. Hence we start doubting ourselves are we really imagining all these things and are we going crazy. Please recognize the signs early and try to avoid being the victim. PS : Am I turning from bored housewife blogger to feminist to man hater?

Meditation

For a change, I did not drag my spouse to a shopping mall this weekend. Instead  I took him to a meditation center - the pyramid valley.  This meditation center houses a Maitreya Buddha Pyramid which 102 ft tall and 160 by 160 ft at the base. It is having a golden angle of inclination 51.51. Inside the pyramid, it is complete silence and meditation inside is supposed to be much more powerful than the ordinary meditation. I went and sat meditated. And you do not see lot of difference, do you? Anyway it is good experience and worth a visit. So I want to tell my spouse or give him an option. Does he want to take me to a mall to see worthless things which are exorbitantly expensive and buy unwanted stuff. Or he prefers to take me to such sights. And of course I did some shopping there too. Books by Robin Sharma - of The monk who sold the ferrari fame, and another of thith that than or a name something similar - Mr Author - I mean no disrespect I am terribly bad in remembering fore

Ramblings

The state of our mathrubhumi (mother land ) is almost like the story of my life. There are so many problems. None of them are getting solved. None of them show any sign of improvement. Take the case of Assam clash, or the drought situation or the inflation or the shamelessness with which those in power commit heinous crimes and escape the punishment. And now India against corruption. Why does nothing get solved? For us who are not decision makers, the causes seem like lack of will power and corruption and those in power being  busy with other important works. Is that the same case with my life too? Am I too happy playing the victim that I do not want the problems to be solved? OK. Leave egotistic talk. What is wrong with Team Anna wanting to join politics? Whether they succeed or fail is a different matter and will be decided later. Since they could not eradicate corruption from outside, they can try to do so from inside the parliament. But I know it is wishful thinking. Lik

What can I do alone? Quite a lot

I have been watching Satyameva Jayate all these days. But today's episode was different. All these days Amir opened our eyes to what are wrong with our society. But today he showed us what is right with our society. Or more than that he showed us, what we as individuals can do about the wrongs. Instead of throwing up our hands saying what can one person do. Be it the couple in Surat who opened a school for earth quake victims in Gujarat and then opened their arms and their school to the orphans of  communal violence next year. Or it is the man who performs final rites to unclaimed dead bodies no matter who they are, after losing his only son and his dead body was dumped in a well. Or it is son of a lady who was so poor that she had to give her son to orphanage, who built a hospital for poor to fulfil her wish. And the best one was the man who single handedly broke the mountains and built a road to his village. A young man summarized the strength behind all these people. हम स

Culture and its protection

Rave parties are bad. So are drugs. If they are doing drugs. And it is completely wrong for kids to be doing rave parties instead of studying. But there are far worse things in society. Like girls being molested by mobs. Being pushed out of trains for protesting these molesters. Little girls being harassed by their own teachers in schools. Why don't the upholders of our culture come to the rescue of these girls? Our culture obviously does not encourage our girl children to be harassed the moment of they step out of their houses. So why don't anybody punish the molesters and eve teasers?

Manhole covers

Manhole covers in Bangalore are well known for their prominence. Some of them are almost hillocks and some others are well, wells. I wonder how come I haven't fallen into them yet. Not manholes. But the wells where manhole covers are there. And this revulsion of about manhole covers is not limited to we humans. It is shared by canines too. Today I really saw a dog, crapping exactly on the manhole cover. Dogs do know how to express their opinion. !!!

Assam burning. Does our government care?

2 lakh people are homeless. Their houses are burnt. And they don't know when can they go back to their houses. And all our ministerji has to say is "this is not the first time. The violence in this region has happened earlier." And our opposition party does not have a better solution "it shows the failure of the central government". Why are our politicians so useless? Why don't even they try to find a solution to any problem? They don't see people being killed, and houses being burnt? They are so indifferent to our problems. It is pathetic. 

Make bitter butter better

Betty bought some butter. But the butter she bought was bitter. So she bought some more better butter to make the bitter butter better. Well you remember this tongue twister too well. Because you could not say it or you could. But the context here is. Being bitter and how to move on. How many times haven't you thought that you would say this, or that or some other snide remark and observe their face with satisfaction. Because they had hurt your feelings.  You thought, improvised on it, then changed the wordings, changed it to somethings else and played it many times over in your mind. They could have been your co-workers, neighbors, some relatives or even your spouse. (But never children. You never plan such things for your children, no matter how much they hurt you) Now what is the end result? Wasted man hours and wasted wit (which is a limited resource). Leave them alone. Leave them to their witty (according to them), vile (according to you) comments. Let them waste their gr

Nara janma fine, naari janma beda

Najiba is being shot by gunmen in aremotr afghan village . A crowd surrounded is cheering instead of trying to stop the murder. They are even filming the event. This is honor killing in Afghanistan. I was reading this article in TOI regarding the fate of Afghan women. There have been 56 honor killings in last four months in the country. And we all know that Taliban has almost stopped education of girls. How long will these women suffer and why? And why is the world a mute spectator? It is not that the country was like this for centuries. In 1970s, 70% of teachers in Afghanistan were women, 40% of doctors were women and so were 20% of civil services.  If so, when did things go wrong so badly? When the cold war started and Russia backed party started ruling Afghan lands, it declared equal rights for women. On its part America, funded and encouraged Taliban which wanted to take women to 15th century. What happened after that is history. But in this war between US and Russia, the