Month: December 2008
Categories
India’s energy security
I could not stop laughing after reading this line
China stole a natural gas deal from right under India’s noses. It signed a 30-year natural gas supply agreement from a field in Myanmar in which India has a 25.5% stake.
Similarly Swaminathan wrote a wonderful editorial explaining why a gas line from Iran is also infeasible.
So if India continues to mess up with the neighbors, is not able to import gas… I wonder what the energy future is for us? BTW India has the worst quality coal in the world. Most of which has over 50% ash (sillica) content which makes it unsuitable for most purposes except power plants. And newer and stricter environmental guidelines would stop us even from that purpose.
First, I went to this fast food joint and ordered for some Dosas to be packed. The guy promptly charged me parcelling charges to cover for the packaging and the additional labor involved.
Then I went to a wonderful pastry outlet. Since there was an empty table, I requested the waiter to serve me there. However he warned me that the listed prices are for take-aways and eat-ins have a seperate (read higher) pricelist. His logic was that rentals are expensive and it makes more economic sense to encourage take aways than to serve them.
What both guys said made perfect logical sense, yet were totally contradictory. I have spend 2 terms at my MBA school trying to learn Management Accounting (Manac), but only after today’s restaurant trip did I appreciate it sufficiently enough.
It has been often said that a guy can forget a birthday only once in his entire lifetime. (because the girl will make an example out of you and make sure that this unpardonable crime is never repeated)
However, whoever said those words has actually never met me. I have been on Orkut for quite some time and have primarily used it for birthday reminders.
I am a member of another networking website Linkedin, but I have never taken the trouble to find out its benefits. All I knew was that when I had a steady job, I was bombarded with all the emails from headhunters trying to place me, when I really did not need their help. And last month, when I tried to use it to get myself a good summer placement job, all I ended up was dead-ends.
Recently, I was invited to join Facebook. Although I am not new to networking sites, but I found this very intrusive. One the homepage, people can actually see what you are upto. That means not only your profile (the view you want to show to others), but also what your friends say about you and what you have said to others. Basically the entire facebook looked to me as one organism which keeps tracks of all your activities.
In the real life, we all meet a certain percentage of jerks. Since we usually share common friends, schools/colleges/offices with these people, these networking sites sites would always put you in the list of people you might know off. Hence encouraging these people to again pry into your life.
In old days, screen name was a perfect cover. You could always pick up a screen name and conviniently seperate your real life from online life. However with picture and video sharing, it has become increasingly hard.
Question: In the era of networking sites, where people can come to know about you from not only what you say and write, but also what other write/share about you, how do you maintain your privacy?
Categories
A Bridge Too Far (1977)
This star studded lengthy movie is quite an accurate dramatization of the 1944 attempt by the British troops to capture a series of dutch bridges leading to Berlin by Bernard Montgomery. The tank and paradropping in this movie are actual shots and not computer generated animated.
Most battle enthusiastics believe that the only way to win a war is by outwitting and/or outnumbering the enemy. However in this movie (which is quite an accurate dramatization) there is a second way… be so foolish that the enemy gets confused. The movie is shot from allied point of view and shows the lack of regard for planning and coordination amongst the British troops. Although Montgomery termed the invasion to be 90% successful, the movie clearly answers why Churchill could not afford more of Montgomery successes.
A must watch movie for WW-II enthusiasts
Categories
Hindi Soaps and Serials
This week, I got an unprecedented chance to have a close look at the various serials and soaps that my mom is addicted to. What I could not stop wondering are:
1. how come most of the serials have a 25 year old calling another 25 year old as his/her Mom. I wonder how much our biotechnology and cloning has advanced.
2. Why has all the slaps and harsh words need to be repeated 3 times. That too complete with all the sound effects.
3. Why do ladies have to dress up with full makeup when the entire scene is shot at home.
4. Have you noticed that the 3 minute recap can capture each and every dialogue, and the entire story.
The moment we hit the next year, everyone scrambles to grab a copy of a diary. It becomes a perfect gift etc.
However, what I cannot understand is that do we all actually need a diary or just a leather bounded notebook?
how many of us actually use the feature:
each and every day of the year has a seperate page.
In fact I should ask how many of us actually are able to fill a diary completely before moving on to the next one.
Categories
krem mawmluh caves
One of the best places to go this year is the North Eastern Part of the country. I have travelled length and breadth of the nation and no where else I have felt closer to nature.
One of the few least discovered treasures of this not so distant land are the Krem Mawmluh caves. They are located about half a km west of Cherrapunji, adjacent to the small hamlet of Mawmluh. The cave interestingly has a five-river way with impressive proportions. With a length of 4503 m, this cave is at present, the 4th longest in the Indian sub continent.
Here are some pictures:
The interesting stalactite and stalagmite network
.
The pictures of the path one has to travel
.
.
.
– These pictures were forwarded by one of my relatives who was mesmerized by the entire expedition.
Categories
Little things in life
Arun, a very close friend of mine asked me a few days ago if I appreciate the little things in life. It sounded as a very strange question in life, but look at how these Australian tourists are relishing an autorickshaw trip, I could understand what he was trying to say.
The pleasure in life comes not from big feats, but from these small things that brings a smile at ones face.
Try to go back and remember all the events that have happened in your life. You would hardly be able to recollect what you did on a normal mundane day. However if on a particular day, you played a prank, acted silly or did something out of ordinary, then you would be able to recollect with very vivid details about the events that unfolded, the setup, etc.
So to sum up, in the words of a dear devil (who apparently was born on this very day, a few decades ago)… “Act silly fool, after all that is what makes your day special and worth cherishing”
” In short term, it would make me happy to go play outside. In the long term, it would make me happier to do well at school & become successful. But in the very long run, i know which will make better Memories.”
– Calvin in C&H