What's keeping me busy....(Mar -May ' 09)

I've been keeping myself busy myself spending some time on social networking site (with some difference), watching the IPL matches (and yes Deccan Chargers win made me proud for I am very much a Hyderabadi) and last thing I am currently hooked to is a new found love for web-based browser game called Travian.
Geni.com

The Geni craze for me started in the month of March with an invite sent by my Wife's aunt and a bit of tinkering around in the application made be a big fan of this site. Geni is a social networking site intended to connect family members and fill the family tree. Launched in January 2007 by Web 2.0 company Geni, Inc with over thirty million profiles created in a span of one year.
I was hooked into this site for good 2-3 months fetching collecting data about the family members and putting up their photos personal information etc. I added more than 550+ profiles in this while inviting close to 50 profiles. It's been a good time collecting to know the faces of our wide family. An overall good time experience.

Travian

Travian in a web-browser based war-based strategy game. Created using PHP and Ajax this is the hottest game on the lines of Age of Empires (sans graphics and sound). This is completely an online game where players compete for domination in the virtual world. The game lasts for 300 days till from the date the game is initiated with multiple servers serving multiple players.

I ended up on this game from a banner which claimed this to be the best online-strategy based games. It wasn't before this curiosity changed to full fledged addiction. Its been over a month I have been playing this and am such an addict that I keep checking the status of my virtual city through my mobile Internet connection every 2 hours. I sleep late watching the troops and city grow and wake up early to check for any attacks from other co-players. Lots of literature study and lots of wiki and forum guides fill up my empty time between those long waits while my resource fields or infrastructure is being built or while waiting for my troops to return from a mission.

Secondly as per Alexia.com which is the premier internet traffic tracking site; Travian server is the 19th most popular side for 2 months running (April, May 2009) you can check them out yourself for India category. Was pretty surprised at this rating as none of the other popular countries (Arabia, Turkey, Italy,America, Germany - Top 5) have no Travian in the their top 20. Its one feat for Travian.

My girl curses the game heavily as its eating a bit too much beyond her fancy into her life as the game seemingly is getting more priority over her; which rightly pisses her off.

For me Travian has ensured that I was away from the stock market while I was actively trading and making money in the months of March and April; and the opportunity driven due to the election results was the biggest led down as I was busily researching my Travian guides, and storyboards and forums. Lets see how long this craze continues.

Travian ruins my personal life as I have hardly watched any movies, have not ventured out of my house for long hours nor currently planning given the future plans of my future empire.

Nature Cure / Naturopathy

What is Naturopathy ?
Naturopathy is a preventative approach to health care - it aims to balance the body so that illness is less likely to occur in the future.
Naturopathy is built upon the dictum of Hippocrates, the father of medicine, who declared "Nature cures; not the physicians". Naturopathy is a combination of different methods of natural healing in addition to it being a way of life. It is known by different names - Nature Cure, the natural methods, the New science of healing and Healing from within.
Approach towards Diseases...
Naturopathy believes that all forms of disease are due to the same cause, which is the accumulation of waste materials and toxins in our bodies that are steadily piling up. The primary cause being an unhealthy lifestyle. As in other treatments its suggests avoidance of a diet high in fat, salt and refined Carbohydrates, smoking , excess consumption of alcohol and high stress levels. Its core focus is to Identify and remove the causes of illness, rather than eliminate or suppress symptoms
Naturopathy advocates a new life style with corrective habits such as exercise, a good diet and a moderate approach towards all things Naturopathic life style should be viewed as a method of disease prevention. In Naturopathy, the fundamental healing force is considered to be nature itself, that is the power of the individual to defeat disease.
Essence of Naturopathy
Naturopathy is a system of medicine aimed to diagnose and treat any human ailment, pain and injury through the use of natural elements, mainly 5 in number - Space, Air, Fire, Water and Earth - Also known as Panch Bhootalu.
Naturopathy believes that all the 5 elements combine to form the living form in the world. Similar to any life form man is derived as a combination of these 5 elements in appropriate ratios; an imbalance in these ratio's leads to an eventuality of systematic breakdown of the human body and gradually paving way to diseases. The process of maintaining this healthy internal balance is called homeostasis
Pancha Bhoothalu(The Five Elements) and life
For life to evolve and sustain a symbiotic relation between these elements is quite essential.
Space - The largest of all the 5 elements without which none of the other elements exists. Its only if there is space there is a scope for growth; and scope for replacing old with new/
Air - The air occupies the majority of the living world and is engulfed by space. Air sustains life and the quality of the air reflects the quality of health of the beings in the environment. Air carries the PranaVayu to sustain various organs in the body similar to various life forms on the earth.
Water - Water makes up 70% of the earth and 70% of the human body too. Water is an essential element to awaken life. Water is the only element which triggers growth of new life forms be it plants from the seed or cells in the body. Its also an universal solvent/cleanser which has an ability to wash off any toxins and wastes.
Earth - The carbon form is required to give shape and build anything from a lifeless stone to life form. Life all around the world is carbon-based; Imbalance is of sufficient Earth in the human body also leads to various imbalances in the healthy functioning of the life forms.
Fire - The celestial element is required to convert and utilise the various other elements in a meaning full manner and to sustain life. It is this elements which develops the synchronisation between the elements.
Nature cure starts with trying to understand the deficiencies in these elements and then filling up as required to restore balance. Once the balance is restored and enough of time is give to the body it starts the self healing process.
Basics start with cleansing process involving starving just surving on few essential juices for close to 20 days (detox). The intent is to creat Space in the system which has been filled completely with unwanted toxin giving space to the system to start the self heal. Parallel to this alternative treatments like sunbath, mudbath, steam bath etc are undertaken to induce removal of toxins through the skin. The intestinal system is flushed clean during this 20 day process and then subsequently overhauled with ingestion of raw/steamed vegetables without oil, sugar or salt. If one sustains this process and continues with this lifestyle of nil to near nil consumption of salt, oil based and sugar based products the benfits of the thearpy can be sustained.
Naturopathy is a two stage process

1. The Treatment - (Therapies - Mud, Sun/Chroma, Pranayam(Ozone), Hydrotherapy, Steam, Fasting etc as bare minimals in the course)
2. The Lifestyle - (The lifestyle habits one is supposed to follow for the rest of the life to sustain and enjoy the benefits of Naturopathy)

Benefits

The benefits of a full and dedicated follower of this lifestyle are immense and requires a disciplined approach towards life.

• Diseases are eradicated by attacking the cause of the issue hence preventing the recurrence of the disease. Probably there would never be a need for a doctor.
• Zero dependency on drugs and costly hospital treatments and surgical procedure.
• Severely Reduced risk of major diseases like Cancer, Diabetes, Cardio Vascular, Digestive issues...
• Overall well being of the body

Drawbacks -

• The treatment takes atleast one month to begin from cleansing and detoxification; This makes the treatment unpopular in the current generation where time is money.
• Extreme lifestyle changes, withdrawal in terms of habits keeps people away.
• Sustenance of adapted new life style is difficult to sustain in the current social scenario.
• High amount of will power and determination is required

Big Mac has never been this awful

Today I messed up to drop in at Big Mac. A couple of colleagues from office ventured out of the office beating the sun to have some delicious meal at Tammanna (not the heroine!) restaurant; Thanks to Friday frenzy we found ourself queing up at the guest bench. Guess the hunger had no control which had us drove away a kilometer towards the McDonald in Hinjewadi.
It was as any other eat-out filled upto the brim. 10 minutes into the waiting I got to place my order; Yes full 8-10 minutes of waiting. And what more the guy at the counter doesn't accept credit cards (ahem!!!) I want to offload some amount in the Visa Food card. I found it quite amazing for the fact that a US Multi-National refuses to use credit cards; what a shame for a country which lives on plastic and credit doesn't do the same in its Indian arm. I wondered I should have preferred a Domino's or Smoking Joe's they atleast accept cards.
The food menu is very much Indianised; and only thing American seems to be the Happy Meal though the menus are again customised to meet Indian tastes.
A medium cool drink costs 27/- !!!! Way too high to a retail shelf price. I bought Paneer Wrap with Sandwich Salad. The first one is more of paneer tikka wrapped in a dosa with some sauses and vegetables; while the Sandwich salad was more vegetables sandwiched in a burger bun. Nothing special on these two; but I found the taste quite unlike to my liking and had a gut feel that I was ingesting something which was totally unhealthy and junk. This bothered me even furthering my displeasure towards the taste as I continued to nibble. Once out of the McD I've decided a never to have a things at McD few pointers...
Credit cards not accepted...
Waiting during peak hours...
Unhealthy Junk food culture...
Its nothing American it's more Indian...
Why the hell should I feed an American MNC when I have good Indian options...
Anyways few things I didn't consider were about the Quality of Service, Standardisation, Ambience, Brand, Youth/Yippee factors.
Disclaimers - I have been to McD not more than 4 times earlier. Once in Delhi, thrice in Hyderabad.

Misuse of Pharmaceutical Drugs ???

Typically when Ria took her 7-year-old daughter to a doctor to check on her fever and sore throat, and was prescribed seven drugs, including antibiotics and medicine to prevent febrile seizures.
As experts would say it as another classic, but only too common, case of over-medication, or prescribing drugs patients do not need. Here, the antibiotic was unnecessary, as was the drug to prevent fever-related seizures as the child had no history of such attacks.
Experts warn that driven by profits from selling medicine, many doctors overprescribe medicines, a practice which will be disastrous in the longer term.
Polypharmacy (overmedication) means use of lot of medicines which are unnecessary, like prescribinh many types of antibiotics for a cold.The consumption of multiple drugs triggers drug reaction and unpredictable side effects. Worse, it gives rise to bacterial resistance.
The most recent example of growing resistance involves the drug oseltamivir(Tamiflu), which researchers in the United States found was now ineffective against 98 percent of the H1N1 seasonal human influenza virus strains. (Swine flu and bird flu)
Apart from eventually reducing the effectiveness of drugs, exposing bacteria and viruses to drugs unnecessarily also has other serious consequences.
A general observation is that most parents rush to treat symptoms, not the disease. Doctors may feel pressure to give treatments, even when it is not necessary or in the best interests of the child's health.
It's upto to us to know understand and adopt to the human body needs and support it to build resistances to various microbiotic organisms. Its important to enable such a strenghtning process within out system by means of adopting a few lifestyle changes and taking a positive approach towards moving away from Allopathic treatments which are primarily based on chemical compounds which act on inhibitting the symptoms/giving relief or directly act on behalf of the human immune system to tackle infections.
A traditional form of treatment is a stream called Naturopathy which revolutionary to the contemporary medicine (Allopathy and Homeopathy) and also slightly unadvanced compared to ancient medicines (Ayurvedic, Unani, Accupuncture). The main focus of this form of treatment is more preventive and comprehensive than reactive treatments.

Walnuts and Fish Protect Against Heart Disease

In healthy individuals, walnuts lower cholesterol more than fish, while fatty fish lower triglycerides. Both can reduce the overall risk of coronary heart disease.
Following the qualified health claim issued by the Food and Drug Administration, researchers found that incorporating approximately 40gms of walnuts (a handful of whole nuts or about three tablespoons of chopped nuts) into the daily diet lowered serum total cholesterol by 5.4 percent and LDL (bad) cholesterol by 9.3 percent compared to a control diet based on USDA recommendations. For this study subjects were randomly assigned to each of the three diets for eight weeks over a 24-week schedule. This gave the researchers a chance to compare the effect of each diet on each participant.
Source - Loma Linda University research just published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

List of Telugu Channels

As I was trying to cut across some time, I picked up the task of analysing the current Telugu TV media space. Interestingly I found a micro India kind of presence in terms of channels that are floating around the airways. The Sun TV run Gemini TV with its 6 sister Channels are the leader of the pack; Gemini has dethroned the innovator in TV media Eenadu Television run by Suman son of Media baron Ramoji Rao. The reputation of ETV has lost due to possibly tasteless emphasis and portrayal of Suman's own taste didn't convert into viewers taste. While ETV couldn't capitalise on its journalistic base and span; lots of channels proped up as its competitors in the Current affairs and News section. While TV9 continues to top this segment, ETV2 follows it as its competitor. ETV also failed to launch new segments and penetrate deeper into the growing viewer base and lost its viewership to competitors like Gemini and new entrants like Zee and Maa TV. Lack of innovation, creative thinking has lead to an erosion and gradually lead to fragmentation of the Telugu Media.
New segments are being formed and creating a niche for themselves while current segments as the General Entertainment sections is getting highly commoditised.
While the 2009 Parliamentary and Assembly elections added an entire new equation of Politics driven media with launch of Sakshi, and likes of Studio N and Mahaa TV; its to be seen if an Tamilnadu like segmentation on politics backed and driven media channels emerge and make a foot holding.
Comedy Channel - 1
Children Channels - 1 (Excludes Jetix, Disney TV)
Movie Channels - 1
Music Channels - 2
Devotional Channels - 2 (excludes Missionary Channels)
General Entertainment - 11
News - 10
Social Channels - 2

Overhauling Life - Sprouts for Better Health

You know what fascinates me? Life! Life as an individual’s journey on this planet, that begins with birth and ends with death. Hinduism talks about cycle of life and death and says that there is one more life, its life after death!
But think about it, all these beans and lentils usually go though two transformations. First one is when they are young and fresh. All those bouncy and fresh ones jumping and running around with high energy. That’s their first life as child, adolescent and grown-up. And then there is a dried bean, all hard and tough skinned, as if it is dead and can’t feel anything that happens to it. When you soak this same bean in water, it re-hydrates and as a result it’s all round and plumps up. Take these same beans and sprout them and what you see is another life formation! Plant these sprouts in soil and with in few days you will see small plants sprouting and growing and producing new batch of crops. Isn’t it a fascinating process? Give it a thought sometimes and you will know why I said life fascinates me. Now, do you see the connection between my theory and the theory of Life-Death-Life after Death? Sometimes, I could be too philosophical with some random thoughts surfacing on idle days. I don’t want to go too philosophical today.
Why to Sprout
Sprouting boasts off the nutrition values contained within the seeds. On sprouting the seeds undergo a series of changes transforming hard to digest matter (aka enzyme inhibitors) into protein rich easily digestible food. The nutrient content difference between Sprouted and non-sprouted seeds is known to be atleast 3-4 fold.
The protein available in the sprouts is off the purest and most easily digestable form as its converted to pre-digested Amino acids, while fats and Carbs are broken done to simple sugars.
Water-soluble vitamins such as B complex and vitamin C are created. Through the miracle of germination, thiamin increases five-fold and niacin content doubles. Vitamin C, E and carotene increase. In fact, the vitamin C content becomes as rich as tomatoes. Sprouting is accompanied by an intense enzymatic hydrolysis of protein.
How to Consume
Best when consumed Raw, unboiled and without seasoning is the best combination.
For beginners semi-boiled (destroys minerals and micro nutrients) can be prepared. Can seasoned with lemon juice to taste.
How to Sprout Lentils, Seeds & Legumes .
Sprouts provide super nutrition for all, harvest quickly, and can be grown anywhere. Sprouting jars and lids are available at many places and can be made without help of these too.

Sprouting Instructions

• Place whole, untreated, lentils or beans in a clean, wide-mouthed jar and Soak them in purified water overnight.
• Cover the top of the jar with a screen, cheese cloth, or sprouting jar lid.
• Next morning drain the water from the jar. (Note this water is toxic for humans but nutritious for plants; hence can be doubled as fertiliser for plants).
• Distribute the seeds or beans around the walls of the jar evenly. Lay the jar on its site or tilted at an angle to allow the water to drain. Place the sprouting jar in a warm, dark place.
• Once a day Rinse sprouts, draining excess water.
• After the sprouts have grown to their maturation length, put the jar in the sunlight for the sprouts to develop chlorophyll.
• When the sprouts turn green, rinse, Drain and refrigerate.

Good for Sprouting

• Alfalfa Seeds (Lucerne /hindi-razka) - 4 to 5 Days - Rich source of minerals, protein, vitamins A, B-complex, C, D, E and K
• Black-eyed Peas (Lobi/Alsandalu) - 3 to 4 Days - Rich source proteins, minerals, and vitamins A and C
• Chick Peas (Kabuli Channa) - 4 to 5 Days - Rich source of proteins and also contain many minerals.
• Lentils (Red or Yellow) - 3 to 4 Days - Rich source of proteins and also contain many minerals
• Moong Beans - 3 to 4 Days - Rich source of protein, vitamins A and C, along with calcium, phosphorus and iron.
• Soybeans - 3 to 5 days. - Rich source of protein, vitamins A, B - Complex, Vitamin C and Vitamin E.
• Peas (White, Green, Black) - 3-4 days - Rich source of Proteins, minerals
• Sunflower Seeds (hulled) - 5-6 days - Rich source of Proteins, minerals, unsaturated fatty acids, and vitamins D and E.
• Wheat - 2 to 3 Days - Rich source of Proteins, Vitamins B, C and E. Alternatively grown for 4 to 7 days to produce wheat grass can be juiced or eaten for its high chlorophyll content. Wheat Grass juice is rich in antioxidants.
• Others - Barley, Corn, Lentils

Precautions on Sprouts

• Remember to dispose of water that has been used for sprouting.
• Indigestion problems/ gastric activity might be high and common due to high fibre content. Consume lots of water and ideally avoid masala's for the remainder of the day.
• Sprouts are more easily assimilated and less gas-forming than dried beans. Digestibility is vastly improved compared to regular beans.
• Ideal time for Sprouts - Morning, Afternoons - Never consume in night as dinner.
• Ideally don't mix Sprouts with cooked food/fruits. Have a gap of minimum of 1 hr if required.
• Soybeans sprouts should be only consumed after semi-boiling. Soya is believed to cause irritants and allergens if consumed directly due to toxicity.

Akshayá Tritiyá...The Gold Festival ??

Akshayá Tritiyá falls on the third day (Tritiya) of the new moon of Vaishakh moon month. This is one of the four most auspicious days of the vedic calendar (the other three being Ugadi, Vijayadashami and Balipaadyami).The word Akshaye, a Sanskrit word, literally means one that never diminishes, and the day is believed to bring good luck and success.
Cultural Significance
According to the Puranas, this day marks the beginning of the Treta Yug which is the 2nd out of four yugas(ages of man), This yuga follows the Satya Yuga of perfect morality and preceding the Dvapara Yuga.
It is on this day Lord Shiva is said to have brought River Ganges to the earth from the heaven, and this celestial river continues to flow on till date.
This day also marks the birth of Parashurama, the sixth incarnation of Vishnu.
A legend from Mahabharata talks about when Pandavas were in exile, Lord Krishna gave Draupadi a bowl called the Akshaya Pathram. The word Akshaya means that which never diminishes and this bowl is said to have given infinite food to the Pandavas.
Also associated with the Mahabarata, is that it was on this day that the Pandavas unearthed weapons that decided their victory over the Kauravas.
It is on this day that Veda Vyasa, along with Lord Ganesha, started writing the Mahabharata
It is also believed that Goddess Vijaya Chamundeshwari killed Asura on this day.
Biological Significance
The Sun and Moon are astrologically believed to be at their most exalted equal brightness on this day. The brightness is at its best at the west coast of India. Goa and Konkan regions, even today, are referred to as Parusurama Kshetra.

It is believed that by doing a good deed on Akshaya Tritiya one can earn Punya (merit) for life. This day is considered auspicious for starting new ventures and making new purchases.
Things to do

• One should give donations alms to poor, dakshina to guru.


• Anushtaans done for Sri Mahalaxmi, for year round prosperity.


• Visit Mahalaxmi mandir, and 4 coins should be thrown in all 4 directions, this will open doors to wealth.


• Kubera Lakshmi Pooja is done on this day alone which extends to daily recital of Moola Mantra 1 mala a day.


• Chanting Anang mantra "Om Hloum Hloom Anangaay Phat" makes one physically fit and reduces impotency problems.


• Married women wear a red thread with vermillion around their necks and invoke good wishes in a Shiv mandir for longevity of their husbands.


• Unmarried ones put it on the feet of Lord Shiva to get the husband they wish for.


• Visit Shiv mandir with neem leaves and after offering to Shiva put under the pillow of a sick person, the person will recover from his illness and evil eyes.


• It is the day of eternal prosperity for any auspicious beginning and buying valuables, gold items or remedial measures.

Intellectually onto the Political Expressway...

Freedom Fighters, Patriots, Socialists, Nationalists, joined the political stream and formed the part of formative political horizon; Followed by seasoned Criminals, Opportunists like Liquor Barons, Business Tycoons, and other similar socio-political classes. In small parts the main stream politics still managed to pull into their fold Engineers, Doctors, Economists, Scholars. Though there has been a presence of intellectuals in politics their voice seems to be always softened by the other lot. The Presence of few intellectuals up the chain failed to attract the educated to the seemingly non-glamours, corruption tarnished Political Scenario of the country.
Their seems to be a silent and seemingly interesting transformation in the country. The current generation, though its a minutely small fraction seem to be shoving off the Taboo related to politics and entering mainstream politics; Some Have even taken a step ahead to start off their own Political parties.

Reflecting a emerging trend, one student from IIM-Calcutta is all geared-up to in NDA Prime Ministerial-candidate L K Advani's campaign office this 2009 elections. Another from IIM-Ahmedabad has ambitions of interning with Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi. Ranjan Choudhary of IIM-Calcutta left a plush office and well-paying corporate job in Australia to plunge into the heat and dust of the Indian political arena. While Choudhary joined the Congress party in May 2004 worked with Rahul Gandhi, as a Political Strategist/Analyst. Choudhary joined BJP as he felt the party was not as focussed on youth as presummed to be. The trend could be traced back to Chepuri Krishna who started the trend of IIM students interning with political parties. A student of IIM-A, Chepuri inspired by CPM leader Sitaram Yechury's guest lecture as part of a course on the ‘Indian Social and Political Environment’. went on to intern with the CPM's central office in 2008 and produced a paper on the ‘unorganised workforce in the country’.

While studying, analysing and strategising Political scenarios is one level, entering and fighting it out in the open Political ground is altogether a different level. Emergence of intellectually strengthen and supported parties is a new outcome.

Bharatiya Punarnirman Dal
Formed in December 2006 by alumni of two of India's renowned educational institutions, the Indian Institutes of Management and the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIMs and IITs) with the objective of making “Bharathvarsha a prosperous and powerful nation and re-establish it as the world-leader, a position, which the nation rightfully deserves”.The party is contesting about 40 Lok Sabha Seats under the banner of the Bharatiya Punarnirman Dal (BPD).

Lok Paritran
Paritrana meaning "To bring relief from the cause of distress" in Sanskrit, is a political party. The party was formed in February 2006 by a group of six graduates from IIT Bombay and IIT Kanpur. Lok Paritran was the brainchild of Shri. Chandrashekhar,an Alumnus from IIT Kanpur.

Lok Satta
Perhaps the strongest, oldest Politcal party is the Lok Satta Party from Andhra Pradesh. It's the brain child of Dr.Jaya Prakash Narayan (blog), a former Physician and Civil Servant (IAS Officer) who has quietly built a new political party Lok Satta with a clear motto - new politics for a new generation. Dr. JP Narayan joined the Indian Administrative Service in 1980 in the aftermath of Emergency and the failure of the Janata Experiment. During his nearly 17 years of distinguished public service in various capacities, he acquired a formidable reputation in the State of Andhra Pradesh. Lok Satta the political party is a direct offshoot of Lok Satta Movement which has grass roots from Andhra Pradesh with over 2,50,000 members in it. The Lok Satta Movement was an NGO aimed at creating a suitable environment to realise maximum positive potential through comprehensive reforms in the Indian governance and establish citizen-centered, democratic governance. For the 249 Legislative Assembly seats that the party is contesting, it has nominated 88 BCs, 42 SCs, 15 STs, 10 minorities, 28 women and 1 physically challenged candidate; while its contesting in all 42 seats for the Lok Sabha.

Unlike the former situation the silent revolution has already started, though in its nascence it is slowly but surely becoming stronger by a day. Inspite of parties trying their heart out for change and the candidates not going for costly advertisements which are cleverly camouflaged as news or that sections of the print media chose to virtually black out the party from their columns these political organisation continue to inspire and make indentation into the politics.

Voters should realise that they are the architects of their own destiny and that every vote counts and should not succumb to the poisonous propaganda that a vote to these parties would go waste.
With Vote India, Jago Re and several ways in which the younger generation is taking active interest, I do hope Indian Politics will change, and change for the better and more would be driven by the intellectual crowd.

Politically Misinclined !!!

In a couple of days some part of the country and the Andhra Pradesh State would go to elections. The first phase of elections kicks off on April 16th 2009.

AP would have coupled it assembly and Parliamentary elections this year owing to early dissolution of the state assembly 5 years back during the reign of N.Chandra Babu Naidu.

Things have dramatically changed since then. Towards end of Chandra Babu's term in 2004, there was droughts in the state causing a serious setback to developmental and in effect the popularity of Chandra Babu Naidu and lots of hostility by the severely suppressed and now eradicated Naxal/Maoist groups. Brewing popularity of Telengana sentiment ensured that Telugu Desam Party had its final blow giving a landslide victory to Congress, TRS combine under Dr.Y.S.Raja Shekhar Reddy.

In the last 5 years Telengana sentiment has taken a backseat, and TRS failed miserably while internally TDP lost more than half of its cadre owing to quitting of Devender Goud and emerging of Praja Rajyam under Chiranjeevi. What's left of TDP today looks more of empty vessel making lots of noise in terms of doling out innumerable social benefits which sound unrealistic, unasked and biased.

Schemes like Cash-exchange scheme, TV scheme which have mass appeal but eventually are luring people to vote for them in return for nothing. Schemes like a house for 1 Lakh, provision of land to the poor, reclaiming of area handed over to private owners for mining back to people are all on the cards of TDP. The party is hardly promising anything on growth, but is promising on returning the fruits of growth they sowed during their 9-year long tenure. TDP a very forward approached and growth focused party deteriorating to these cheap gimmicks is totally disheartening and shows extreme levels of desperation.

While the Congress has been in power from 2004-2009 there has been immense growth in the revenues for the state. Drought has ended, famers are happy, government was riding the global economic and financial boom without any caution. They sold/auctioned lands/properties/mines/minerals/sand and almost everything they can derive value from. Diversion of land rights for forests, bauxite & iron ores, coal, cement, sand where all calmly been sold to private players. While the CM YS RajaShekar Reddy claimed less than 30 Lakhs as assets owned by himself and in his family through an affidavit in 2004 has now crossed over 10,000 Crores as of 2009 comprising of holdings in Raghuram Cements, Jagruti Publications and over a half a dozen Power Plants across the country. Just a trivia for AP it took 50 Years to produce 12500 M watts of power from 213 MW in 1960s. YSR owned Athena Energy plans to generate 14000 M watts in 7 years more than any private player (Tata Power, Reliance Energy, GVK). In Raghuram cements YS Jagan's shares where worth 45 crores when bought after renaming it as Bharti Cements its worth 6500 crores.

List

Jagathi Publication (Sakshi Paper, Sakshi News Channel, Indira TV) - 3500 Crores

Sandur Power - 1000 Crores

Raghu Ram Cement - 6500 Crores

Athena Energy - 50,000 + Crores

Forest Plantation Ltd

Saraswathi Power & Industries

Pullivendula Polymers

Silicon Builders, Classic Reality, Caramel Asia Holding, Bhagavath Sannidhi Estates, Silicon Infrastructures

Janani Infra Structure.

The above list is not exhaustive and used to siphon in the corrupt black money into legal tender and pay heavy dividends to the share holders/promoters. Also companies like Asian Infra aid in achieving the money laundering channels and Tax havens for the family. Athena Infra holds most of the converted corrupt money routed through the hawala route through Asian Infra to East Coast Energy or Matrix G2/Sainz Hydro projects.

People are unaware at the level of corrupt ways of the people in power. The ever smiling CM I feel reflects a very averse and carenot attitude when he gives a wicked smile when asked to clarify on the same in the media be it Devils Advocate on CNBC or on NDTV or TV9. He brushes off all allegations made against him by the opposition with same wicked and arrogant smile. He is so extremely confident and God-like stature makes him feel invincible.

The party once famous for internal groupisms is quite numb the reason being all the hostility within the party has been closed and shut tight by the corruption and money they earned. The corruption has amassed at every level during this five years.

Coming to much hyped administration Schemes like Arogyasri, Jala Yagnam, 2 rupee rice are not corruption free. Arogyasri which insures all the people provide funds for critical illness and operations for the white card holders. Unfortunately this has come at the price of non-development of basic health care services. The government hospitals continue to get a step motherly treatment with falling quality, resources and facilities to treat everyone while the government funded private hospitals and feed them with exorbitant and possibly unwanted tests and diagnostic fees which went to the tax payers account.

The instances of diversion of the two rupee rice beyond the state borders with the enforcement people turning a blind eye to the same was common. The quality of the Rice was seemingly bad and quantity of 4kgs per month perhaps serves very little purpose in a big family of unfed.

Under the Jalayagnam scheme the canals restructuring only filled the pockets of politicians the contractors and engineers who worked on them whilst delivering substandard quality projects. While major of the projects still remain uncompleted the project connecting all the major rivers in the country was scrapped by the Union Government.

While all this went on there was high inflation sparked by petroleum but spread to essential food commodities which still remain high. The real estate prices has sky rocketed so much that its beyond the pockets of the common man to buy a decent house. Thanks to the cartel between the politicians, law-makers and the real estate developers. The government still seems to give attractive interest rate deduction schemes to lure home buyers and infuse life to the real estate developers instead of enabling the real Estate developers to drop the prices. I wonder if this government is for the people or for the Real Estate Agencies.

While all these devlopment seems to be taking place a much hyped and now controversial Praja Rajyam Party or Kingdom of People's emerged . This is headed by 54 year-old Padmabhushan Dr.Konidela Shiva Shankara Vara Prasad a.k.a Chiranjeevi (screen name) and operated by his rich uncle Allu Arvind (last produced film - Ghazini,Hindi). Though it has a slow and shaky start post its Mega Launch at Tirupati it has been widely strengthened by influx of seasoned Politicians from all the parties. The initial hype and propaganda doesn't seem to be holding the party for now. The politics, power Struggle within the party is comparable if not more than the already established parties. Tensions, political turmoil within the party has ensure that this was no different from the already existing parties. PRP runs on the star power of Chiranjeevi who seems to have drawn inspiration of likes of NTR on politics and wishes to replicate the same what Telugu Desam did in 1983. Unlike 1983 where NTR was viewed as unanimous choice beyond religion, class, creed and caste as a leader who would take them to growth, Chiranjeevi somehow doesn't live to the stature and charisma of NTR. Chiranjeevi would largely gains from a community of Kapu which he hails from and the Krishna/Godavari delta where the community is strong. There could be swing of fate away from congress as it stands to loose votes which were earlier came from Kapu community in this region. Loss of congress would be PRP's gain. The youth sentiment would also sligthly be pro-PRP as they still continue to idolise Chiranjeevi, Kalyan and Alu Arvind. The joining of Devender Goud with his Nava Telegana Party in PRP added more fire power for PRP with joining of Telengana BC votes. PRP with Devender Goud is much a stronger party than earlier and I too respect Devender Goud a lot !!

I personally feel that PRP is run mostly by Alu Arvind whose interests is in money making than in Social Service. He ideally would want to use the cloud of the government to engage in money laundering and hawala for his crores of Tollywood and real estate money hoarded else where. Chiranjeevi still would be no action cover boy of all this episode. I would rather be very happy with Chiranjeevi be elected and sit in opposition for 5 full years and learn the tricks of trade, prove his worth and dedication before staking a willful claim for the top position of the state. Rightfully I feel one should be compelled to come into social service or politics because someone has asked to one should come if one feels its his duty to serve the society and nation without expecting anything in return. The life of social service doesn't have takes and retakes and doesn't require Tagline like "Social Justice" "Social Telengana" words to appease and attract. It should be a party of action than party of taglines and words.

During this Time burecract turned Politican Jai Prakash Narayan coverted his Lok Satta to politcal party. A bit sad on the move but probably required at this moment seeing the unrealism, opportunism exhibited by the mainstream parties.

Its in a way good to see that parties like Chiranjeevi's PRP adapting shamelessly the main/core content and essence of Lok Satta idealogy with giving due acknowledgement. The fundamentalism and ideology of Lok Satta are quite unique, trend setting and highly growth oriented and majorly egalitarian. Out of 249 assembly seats its contesting it allotted mere 65 seats to Forward castes i.e. 26% while 184 seats where distributed among BCs and challenged classes (88 BCs, 42 SCs, 15 Sts, 10 minority, 28 women & 1 Physically Challenged). This probably overshadows the tall claims of PRP which says its given 104 tickets to backward classes and challenged classes. PRP is trying to cleverly mimic Lok Satta's ideology in every given form but with a different motive which is definetly not to give social justice or Social governance.

Personally there isn't much to comment on CPI/CPM or to that matter ever lying ever nagging ever opportunist TRS. BJP doesn't even seem to exist in the state and we are happy with that. For BJP we get to hear only Bandaru Dattatreya or an occasional Ch. Vidya Sagar Rao; else there is no impactable presence in Andhra Pradesh.

Anyways after such a long post my point is please people don't go for seasoned politicians and yes we are all sick of sorry stories and corruption and we are sick of new opportunists trying to come and join the mainstream politics.

Lets Vote !!! Lets come vote in big numbers !!! Vote for change and Vote for Growth !! Don't get bribed and lured by cheap politicians eventually one ends up bribing for the rest of the term. Aid democracy and heal the state of affairs of the country. Lets start by voting !! Be intelligent, choose intelligently for the future for yourself and for your family.

Vodafone GPRS Settings for PDA Mobiles

I recently got a PDA formself; Strangely enough while GPRS was working from my normal mobile I had issues with configuring the same on GPRS. I got an Vodafone activation done one time through the SMS and then called up Vodafone care 111. But to my surprise they said that PDA are not supported with Vodafone Live and I need to go for a 499/- Internet package. Baffled I gave up the idea, though I used to connect through my internet enabled laptop to connect to the internet.
While researching I found this on some forums which might help people like me to enable and configure your GPRS feature on your Vodafone connection. don't get fooled by the ready to help Customer support which never will provide support on this.
Use this simple settings and voilla there you are....
Account Name: Vodafone_gprs
Homepage: http://live.vodafone.in/
User Name: (no need)
Pass: (no need)
Access Point Settings:
Proxy: Enabled
Proxy Address: 10.10.1.100 Proxy Port: 9401
Its that simple...
So all of you HTC, ASUS, Palm and HP PDA mobile users hope this helps.

Note: The Proxy settings would prevent Internet connection through the PC (ActiveSync). So while connecting through ActiveSync uncheck the proxy and check it back if connecting back to WAP/GPRS.

Oh my Boss!!

In a week from now, that's coming week I will completing 36 months of professional life; a life of works man, a life of Management professional, a life of a fresh Management trainee. I would be completing 3 years of one of the most dynamic and challenging building years with a continually shifting horizon and continually changing dynamics and work environment. I've joined IIM in 2004 where IIM K was budding to be in top with other IIMs; with lots of dreams and passion. True to our motto the batch truly dreamt, innovated and achieved; much was to be seen in the placement committee's achievement and the new heights we as a student organisation went. But stepping into a professional environment has a totally different set of challenges and required a totally different and may be irrational approach to succeed.
Post my two years stint with Genpact and an Year at CTS I was able to observe, analyse and greatly categorise my Bosses and shared bosses I worked for and under. I have learned a lot and how organisation and work environment effect the organisation's professional traits.
Here goes the traits of bosses under different categories.

1.Raging Bull
As the name suggests this type of the boss is full of rage and is extremely tempered and furious with his subordinates on most if not most of the occasions.
Typical Traits

• Takes out anger on others in Public
• Humiliates and dissipates individuals for ill or non-performance in full Public View.
• Controls and rules the team with instilled sense of fear

Ideally
This kind of boss should give freedom and encourage people to be more open and take feedback. Private counselling instead of public humiliation for his subordinates.
2. Insecure Boss
This kind of boss typically is low on self esteem and probably self confidence in the decision he needs to take and keeps avoiding and skipping such decision making situations. His insecurity of the situation at hands unnerves his co-employees a lot.
Typical Traits

• Approval Seeking boss ;Who looks at everyones approval before making a choice
• Dependent on others for decision making
• Suspicious of everyone and everything that goes on due to his insecurity
• Self, keeps thinking of oneself and self needs

Ideally

Should look at prioritising and system driven approach instead of relying on everyone for inputs.

3.Targets Tyrant
This kind of a boss is typically bent upon on achieving targets set by the management, customer or self set targets. They are very public and verbal on the targets set and try to ensure in every possible way to meet the same
Typical Traits

• Sets unrealistic goals for the team
• Aims at unduly perfectionism from all
• Work Alcholic
• Control freak, believes in having everyone under his vigil.

Ideally
This kind of a boss should ensure a good work-life balance for everyone while ensuring that everyone is given enough time to unwind at end of the project.



4. Whimp
This kind of people look like idle people to work for in the beginning. As a fresher you might idealise such personality but later on one realises it doesn't work that way always.



Typical Traits

• Typically follow the rule by the book
• Play it safe; risk averse attitude ; Lacks Challenge
• Continually shifting personality to suit moods and needs
• Not a go getter and has a potential to miss targets

Ideally

Be a little more innovative and open to change. Creativity is the key for success in such cases.

5. Mr.Chaotic
This boss creates confusion, misunderstandings and ultimately runs a havoc if not set right.
Typical Traits

• Lacks direction and focus on his tasks.
• Can't Prioritise work and task allocates neither can delegate effectively
• Unaware on what to do and how to do
• Confused
• Stressful

Ideally
Should be organised and keep a track of whats happening round him and evaluate current and plan for the future activities
So...do you feel like your bosses fall under any of the categories mentioned above. Oh yes the boss personality types is not exhaustive and yes they are well admired and ideal bosses do exist and I never got that feel ever so you could say I am a bit of critic of my bosses and possibly resistant to be bossed around, yeah with some consequences.

To sum up Raging Bull, Target Tyrant category of bosses are typically found in very demanding work environments where one has daily deliverables and KPA/KRAs (Sales teams, Call Centres, BPOs and few IT projects).

Insecure Bosses are typical in a laid back culture organisations.

Whimps are usually found in the Audit and possibly compliance based organisations where the focus is to go by book and creativity is locked.
Mr.Chaotics are typical in situations where people have been hastily promoted.
Anyways an organisation should be cognizant of such traits and ensure that work environment and work culture is cultivated in an healthy, supportive and a collaborative fashion.
At a strategic level and a leadership level

• Clear thought process and Vision should be available and be well communicated and emphasised
• The organsation should take stock of the situation and be aware of constantly changing work dynamics
• System Setup - A well setup and organised system and process should be set in place to tackle early warning and grievances.
• Everyone starting from the top should aspire to build and spread a role model behaviour to start off an organisational revolution.

I am quite sure that all the budding managers are open to such realities of professional life and come out successful tackling and succeeding and pick up the best of the things while stepping towards their own Managerial stints.

Sri Rama Navami - What is it to be like Lord Sri Ram

Today is Sri Rama Navami; Sri Rama Navami marks the birthday of Lord Sri Ram in Ayodhya and also Sri Rama's marriage with Sita Devi. This day falls on Chaitra Sukla Navami (the ninth day of the bright half of Chaitra Masam) and the star "Punarvasu" as per traditional Hindu Moon Calender. On this very day 'Sree Sitarama Kalyana Mahotsav' (wedding) is performed in the abode Bhadradri Sri Sitarama Temple, Bhadrachalam, Andhra Pradesh. On Sri Rama Navami, Panakam (Jagery water with Ginger and Cardamon powder), Buttermilk, and Panchaamruthamu (Banana, cow milk, Ghee, Curd, Honey, Tulasi Leaves) are offered as Prasad to Lord Rama. During the evening the Posession of Rama & Sita comes onto the streets in a Palki.
Dedicated tune for the occassion - Pibare Rama Rasam - Pibare Ramarasam by Dr.M.Balamuralikrishna which is one of the most famous renderings of Pibare Ramarasam of composer Sadasiva Brahmendra, sung in Raga Ahir Bhairavi by the Legendary Andhra classical vocalist, Dr.M.Balamuralikrishna.

Lord Sri Rama has become so much identified with all the good and great and virile qualities of heroic manhood. The saying in Telugu goes like "Ramudoo manchi baludoo" meaning comparing onseself to be like Shri Rama who is with good qualities;Where in lay the secret of this unique greatness in Rama's personality? He is called Maryaada-Purushottama Let's Look into these 16 Personality traits of Shri Rama which are ideal to possess by one and all. I am quite sure you would not find the same else where....

Suguna Abhi Ram'udoo - ( Means Good qualities/Characters loved by all in Shri Ram)
1. SuGunaVanth'udoo - Good Characteristics / Good-natured / Very virtuous
2. Veerya(vīrya)Vanth'udoo - Strength, Valerous, Vigour, Energy
3. Dhármagyan'udoo - Righteousness’ or ‘duty’. It is said that the great one who never deviated from the norms set by Dharma. It was his supreme commitment to "Putra-Dharma" (duty of a son) that made Rama smilingly depart to the forest for fourteen years at the bidding of his father. Rajadharma for the sake of people of Kingdom Sri Ram even sent his beloved Sita away to forests. Sri Rama's intense adoration for the motherland has been immortalized by a legendary couplet which is playing on the lips of millions even to this day:
Janani janmabhoomischa swargaadapi garreyasi (the mother and the motherland are to me greater than the heavens themselves).
4. Krutágn'udoo - Gratitude and thankful to everyone.
5. Satyá Vákya Pálák'udoo - One who always speaks the Truth / Habitual speaker of truth
6. Drudávánth'udoo - Strong determination
7. Cháritrá Prásimsak'udoo / Cháritráréna Yukta - One who is hailed for good conduct throughout history.
8. Sarvá Bhoothá Sám'udoo - Egalitarian ( the belief that all/some people ought to be treated equally)
9. Vidhváns'udoo - Scholar
10. Samarth'udoo - Competent, Proficient
11. Priyadharshanám'udoo - Popular and liked by everyone
12. Aáthmagyani - Self Realisation / Enlightened
13. Jithakrodh'udoo - Conqured one's Temper / anger
14. Kaanthivanth'udoo - Radiancy / Luminance
15. Anasuyak'udoo - Void of Jealousy
16. Apradhrushyá Shourya Vant'udoo - Undefeatable Valour / Courage
I hope everyone tries to move towards achieving the traits / personality and align ourselves with Lord Shri Rama's Characterisms.

Holi ...Through the Colours of Intoxication

So this year as always India goes to celebrate one more holi. As always people apply and splutter various colours on almost everyone they know and yes they don't really know. Like in many places people get drunk in Bhang if not other alcholic beverages. Yes people get cleverly masked in unrecognizable formats where one drinks and lashes out in objectionable manner.The tradition of consuming bhang on holi is particularly rampant in North India where holi itself is celebrated with a gusto unseen anywhere else.
Over the centuries and over the decades the festive spirit of holi slowly deteriorated; it has been hugely corrupted and misused by people. I greatly feel this has been due to an excessively bad influence of bolloywood movies of the 1960s and the 1970s. The Bachan era (Don) bought in a lot of celebrity status to this festival and corrupted it with open indulgence in consumption of narcotics, alcohol and objectionable sexual opportunism and exhibitionism.
Bhang is a very intoxicating drink and is the official drink of Holi. Bhang escalates the spirit of holi - and believed to be a festival which does not recognise any restrictions. Typically buds and leaves of Indian Hemp plant called Cannabis Sativa(Charas/Grass/Hashish) are squashed and ground into a green paste. This is then added to milk, ghee (reduced butter), and spices to create a drink. The drink is accompanied with pakoras, barfi, jalebis, lassi, and kulfi all combined to be called as a Holi Lunch. Cultivation of Cannabis is illegal in many parts of the world including India where its abundantly grown, and there is only a mild social stigma attached to it compared to smoking marijuana outright. The psycho-active component of cannabis preparations is delta 9-TetraHydroCannabinol and not DeHydroCrotinin. Delta 9-THC as it is referred to is prepared from the Indian hemp plant cannabis sativa, a hardy, aromatic annual herb. cannabis is probably the most commonly used illicit drug in the world. The cannabis herb contains other psychoactive components too, but Delta 9-THC is most abundant. The most potent forms of cannabis come from the flowering tops of the plants or from the dried, black-brown, resinous exudate from the leaves referred to as hashish or charas. The stem and leaves of the plant when cut, dried and chopped are then smoked in cigarettes commonly called as "Joints" "Grass" or mixed with milk, sweetmeats and cakes to make "Bhang".
As far as health effects go, Cannabis smoke is a potential cause of Cancer because of presence of similar if not more carcinogenic substances as cigarette smoke. It can also lead to bronchitis. Far more significant are the psychological effects of cannabis. Chronic Cannabis use may precipitate Psychosis in vulnerable individuals and long-term cannabis use may exert subtle effects on memory, attention and the integration of complex information leading to insanity.
It is important that our youth are sensitised to the message that be it "Bhang" or "Charas" or "Grass", they all contain Delta 9-THC in different potencies. And as with all poisons, there is no such thing as too little of it. People might ignore it for a day; people might ignore these facts for pleasure; people might overlook these facts for forgetting pain and displeasure; but in all it hits back some time in life.
I also want to remind that in this festive mood, it is easy for everyone to forget that there is something known as the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act in India. Few Indians realise how powerful this act is, with potential for abuse. For example, someone arrested under this act is presumed guilty until proven innocent, which is against normal jurisprudence. Bail can be granted only after a court hearing. Given the Indian judicial system, this can take a few months to many years. Its in all good that one stays away and discourage usage of Bhang or Joints or to that extent alcohol to the fullest extent.
But though Bhang is derived from Cannabis, and is listed under Narcotic substance source; Bhang does not come under Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. Potency scale of products(2% to 20%) from Cannabis Bhang (Hashish). Extracts from unpollinated female parts of the Cannabis are the most potent of all the forms. Bhang should be elevated into this list as the effects irrespective of potency does have an abuse on the human body. And with laws not monitoring this unorganised production might lead to a fatal case due high potency of Charas black resign presence.
Sources - Web and Paper on Potency of Cannibies

The True Spirit of Holi

We in our modern era and our modern cosmopolitan culture are very fast in keeping in pace with the modern culture and the in-things by conveniently ignoring the core spirit of our Indian festivals. Indian festivals have a strong traditional, cultural heritage and are among the most symbolic in expressions and intent. Over the years and decades the core essence is slowly but forgotten. It is for us to rediscover the true symbolism and true meaning in the festival. A closer look and little thought with some bit of media surfing should reveal the significance of Holi in more ways than that meets the eye.
Mythological Significance

1. Prahalad & Hiranyakshyap - Due to profound devotion of his Son Prahalada, Hiranyakshyap who has been graced by Bramha and hated MahaVishnu; orders extermination of Prahalada in fire. Hiranyakshayap's sister Holika is inturn set ablaze as the devotion in Prahalada protects him from being engulfed in Agni(fire) but Holika pays the price of her price in "Holika Dahaa"
2. From the Shri Krishna era; Lord Krishna is shown applying colours to Radha and other Gopikas. It also states that Holi is the celebration of death of Ogress Pootana who tried to killing infant Krishna by feeding poisonous milk.
3. Another legend of Holi which is extremely popular down South is that of Lord Shiva and Kaamadeva. As per the legend Kaamadeva sacrifices himself by getting incinerated by Rudradeva's Agninetram to break Siva's Samadhi to protect the world from Tarakasur who in turn was killed by Karthikeya swamy son of Parvathy & Siva.

Cultural Significance

Holi is typically a two day festival which leads to a New year Ugaadi. It symbolises destruction of old habits and adaption of new cleaner and austere habits as one steps into a new year. It lets us symbolically leave behind the past of bad and unpleasant feelings and fill ourselves with brightness and colours of new coming year. It prepares us to enter the new Year in a cleansed, Pure and a rejuvenated state.

On the Poornima night the night before Holi; all the people of the society gather for Holika Dahan. People put into the fire Flattened Dried Cow dung cakes, alond with old clothes and old thrash. Sajjana Sangatyam - Social Well being is the motive behind this Dahan.The symbolism behind this one is destroying old things at home is of destroying all the bad and evil we have picked up in our daily lives till that date. Symbolically with burning of old useless and unwanted things we are destroying the poor shades of our past life to start new one. While burning the discarded things of all others from the society; signifies destruction of all Social Taboos and Social evil in the society, where the society proclaims destruction of all things which are bad. Having completed this ritual of Holika dahan individuals and society alike have set ablaze all the social perils and evils [Kama (Lust), Krodha (Rage), Lobha (Greed), Moha (Attachment) and Ahankar (ego) ]; In the same way Lord Shiva destroyed Kamaa we should also be aiming to eliminate all the lust and desire from ourself and aid in universal brotherhood and social well-being. This when achieved will lead way to peace and prosperity to the entire world which is much required in today's world. One also takes Oath on Agni that one is willing to forget and forgive all the previous animosity against others and oneself and promise to be a better person.

On the Second day everyone gets together to smear colours on each other. Everyone comes out to meet and greet everyone friends and enemies alike and exchange colours. This signifies that one after being purified in the Holika Dahan by stripping ourself of all the evil and bad one is pure and Divine. And a person by socialising and applying colours exchange all the Goodness and purity of the other. The more a person socialises the more the good characters and good spirits one is able to attract and adopt. Colours act as an exchange of key characteristics of goodness and well being each colour signifying one key characteristic. Adapting colours in equivalent to inviting and exchanging more goodness to self and others. In other sense it reinstates and realigns all the brotherhood and friendship to set sail for new heights. As Agarbathi wards off bad odour without loosing its characteristic odour in the same fashion it is believed one is inviting others goodness by keeping off evil from this day. One should aim to find the colours of Divine or the colours of Param Athma the Supreme Spirit during this stage. Usage of natural colours like Pasupu(Haldi), Kumkum, Bilvaku, Vibhuti (Ashes), Chanda (sandal) have there own key attributes and attractive potency to retain and store human characterstic traits.

These purpose adds a very different dimension to the festival in all. And I really hope the true spirit is identified and lives on to live on.

Biological Significance

This festival occurs at the onset of spring. As Holi comes at a time of the year when people have a tendency to feel sleepy and lazy. This is natural for the body to experiences some tardiness due to the change from the cold to the heat in the atmosphere. This period, during which the weather changes, is prone to cause viral fever and cold. Thus, the playful throwing of the coloured powders has a medicinal significance as the coloured powders are made of Neem, Kumkum, Haldi, Bilva, and other medicinal herbs prescribed by Ayurveda doctors. Biologists believe the liquid dye or Abeer penetrates the body and enters into the pores. It has the effect of strengthening the ions in the body and adds health and beauty to it. It's also thought that deficiency of a particular colour in our body causes ailment, which can be cured only after supplementing the body with that particular colour.

Another scientific reason for celebrating the Holi, pertains to the tradition of Holika Dahan. The mutation period of winter and spring, induces the growth of bacteria in the atmosphere as well as in the body. When Holika is burnt, temperature rises to about 145 degrees Fahrenheit. Following the tradition when people perform Parikrima (going round) around the fire, the heat from the fire kills the bacteria in the body thus, cleansing it.

However, current Holi colors are chemical concoctions that are in fact toxic and are to be avoided at all costs. There is a movement in Indian metros to make Holi safe again.

So wish you all a Safe, and a Sound Holi.

Sound of Music from ANIMALS!!!

We as Indians are very much familiar with the seven basic notes of classical music which incidentally are the 101 of all basic music learning. One could infact sing each and every song in these syllables.
Going back to these Indian notes, or Swaras or Swaramulu as they are called, the seven notes are actually derivatives of
Shadja
Rishabh
Gandhar
Madhyam
Pancham D
haivat
Nishad.
Interestingly, these swaras are believed to have originated from the sounds different animals, and some have additional meanings of their own.
The association with animals is as follows:
Sa (meaning Sagar) - Peacock
Re (Bull) - Bull
Ga (Gagan) - Goat
Ma (Middle) - Dove
Pa (Fifth) - Cuckoo
Dha (Dharti) - Horse
Ni (Outcast) - Elephant
Was amazed and intriguided my small accidental discovery of this. Hope people who are into singing and music know this.

Weekend Trip to Home

The last time after I was in Hyderabad was for my Sankranti vacations. It was till date the longest vacation I have ever taken in my professional life; a good 9 days there with 4 days off. Considering that I have taken just 2 days off for my marriage and 1 day for my honeymoon; this was a long trip.
Post such a long trip; my next trip to Hyderabad was on 1st of March that's a good 42 days after my last visit. I find this it amazing for the fact that its the longest gap between two consecutive visits of mine. Yes during my stay at Kozhikode the gap was much longer, but those days were much different. I found a few things changed during this gap. Earlier my gaps were as short as 5 days; with almost 3 trips a month, that meant I hardly used to spend a weekend in Pune. Offlate after marriage I got to spend time money, and effort going in and around Pune. One as gets to accustomed to the localities I feel one gets connected, that connection temporarily overshadows the core identity. This is what seemed to have happened when I tried to reconnect back to my family and the city.
I was hardly getting the slang and salutations which I was so much used to earlier. Every now and then there was a slip of tongue; though I was very much aware; with my flow the occurrences where irreversible and in correctable. Got to thank my lucky stars that no one took note of those changes. I vividly remember when I first returned home after my 4 months stay in Kozhikode, Kerala that my mom had serious complains on my language. And she said that my Telugu started to sound very non-Teluguish and I was starting to speak Telugu as a language I recently learned. Yes may-be I never realised it nor I intentionally did it; but while one tries to put an attempt to adopt a certain slang of another language for greater acceptance once native slang also gets impacted to little extent. So in addition to expanding adaptive technique of mutual acceptability one more propounding thing was the influence of my gal. Now after six months of marriage, things change; and believe me they change a lot. I don't think any one would be in a position to guess how I call my gal (no am not giving any prizes/ nor am letting it out); that very way of addressing her got pushed when I got to meet my children (cousin's). No matter how hard I tried it kept slipping out of my mind. It was only after 36 hours that things were stable; but that was only after a long and dedicated monitoring of my tongue.
Anyways it was a great weekend to unwind and have fun. Cousin's Kids Annaprasana ceremony was time to catchup with all of my cousins too. And yeah I forgot felt good to see my parents and high my regular fights with my mom too.

Movies I was watching...Oscar Fever

It's been sometime that I had blogged on movies I was watching/ rather there weren't enough bloggable movie content to motivate me. Yes after the Oscars show I have a couple to final break loose my silence.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Starring Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett this movie is adapted from the 1921's story by F. Scott Fitzgerald is about a man Benjamin who is born in his eighties and ages backwards.

Story is a slow-moving long one which unfolds in a death bed in New Orelans hospital in the back drop of Hurricane Katrina, with the Daisy asking her daughter to read the story in a diary which happens to be an unusual one about daughters biological father.

It talks about Benjamin who was deserted and subsequently brought up by black foster parents working as care takers at old age home. The boy was taken to be a monster and deserted by his father owing to his demise of his wife during pregnancy and primarily due to Gerontological conditions. Subsequently the boy survives his condition to grow younger and reversing his condition to die as a baby. The role has been intelligently and amazingly crafted plots and situation to add reality to a rather unrealistic subject. The backdrop of wars, depressions, Cyclone Katrina, Balle has been used as intelligent props throughout the story. An inherent love story brews with Benjamin and his childhood friend fall madly and deeply in love when there ages coincide around 40 years. Emotions of seeing one age while other grew younger was touchy, and finally when Benjamin dies as a baby in old Granny-like ladies hands who in reality should have been wife and husband longed for the pain one had to endure through at those crucial age. But ahem this is outcastly unreal who cares about this, its not even close to real life was what I felt and stop being emotional at the end.

It received 13 nominations and is the only Best Picture finalist this year to have earned more than $100 million in US. It won three Oscars for Art Direction, Makeup, and Visual Effects, and incidentally has tied the record for the most nominated film not to win the Academy Award for Best Picture.

As the Oscars speaks BENJAMIN’s script or even the fine acting aren’t its most impressive accomplishment; the technology–both CGI and makeup–used to make Benjamin and Daisy age are remarkable, and makes the film entirely believable, not undermining performances from both Pitt and Blanchett.

Slumdog Millionaire

Directed by Danny Boyle and Loveleen Tandan is a British movie in the backdrop of Mumbai's slums. Its an adaptation of Boeke Prize winning novel of 2005 Q&A by Vikas Swarup. Though its not an exact adaptation it reflects a story of slum boy's tale of Rag's to Riches with a love-at-first sight love story. This movie stories the hardcore realities of Mumbai's slums and social conditions woven around Mumbai riots of 1992 and struggle of life during past this to become not only an Ultimate Survivor but also winner of one's Childhood love.

The entire movie was made in a budget of just over 75 crores which is a very small amount considering its international status, but made good returns during its later run. The movie flunked in India and faced lots of criticism from likes of Arinidham Choudary and Amitabh Bachan. Even my Gal had very serious reservations against the movie, even I agree to it to some extent. The poorly did show India in a bad light, and on the purpose front I felt was wrong. During these economical turmoil it showed that the Western countries are much better off than the state of affairs in the World's largest democracy. The movie offered a lot of solace to countries like USA and UK which huge debt-driven infact the largest indebted economy and people in the world are not Africans or Asians or Indians but the Americans.

I was a bit hurt when the places like the pride of India the Taj Mahal was showcased and which showed how tourist were misguided throuout and looted. It does throw a very bad impression of the professional Guides working there in Taj Mahal and tourist who trot to India in search of the Global Symbol of Love and a gateway to India. They would definitely think twice while offering a dime to those children on the roads. It has both the good and bad sides though.

Touchy were parts on exploitation of children by gangsters, mobs, Sex-industry, the drugs, the underworld; It shows that no place is void of evils of this era, be it culturally strong nation like India or China or highly civilised or a developed nation like an USA. Evils of the mankind hunt and haunt young and old, male and female alike. I feel sad when I see people falling in for such evils be it out of necessity or be it out of opportunism. I always hope that there would be days in future where people could make choices and always make a correct and a better choice.

I somehow believed there were lots of other movies and documentaries which showcased the slums and penance of our country but this failed to showcase how life thrives, survives in this hardest of hardest environments. It also fails to address the spirit of Indian culture or Spirit of Mumbaikar who against all odds learns to survive and live a decent life. Its not always illegal and anti-social modes that people end-up in but hard workers over shadow those opportunists. A message should have been sounded aloud making a attempt to bring people and lifes to the mainstream course of moral and spiritually ideal well being and happiness. Would have definitely liked to have this in this movies core message.

From the Oscars front it had a conversion rate of over 90% with winning 8 awards from 9 categories it got nominated for. It missed out on sound mixing which was bagged by the much deserving movie The Dark Knight. Ideally I wouldn't have wanted this movie to be the best movie for the year 2008, yes Danny deserved credit for digging out Gold and making millions and billions out of the Indian theme. If it wasn't for Danny and British production community we wouldn't have got this amount of recognition and laurels for our immensely but sadly under recognised movie making fraternity of technicians and behind the scenes artisans. One might have failed to recognise that the Taj Mahal shown here in the movie was a set which was erected by our own Indians with lots of detail to enable a close-up shots. The set was erected near Pune. Also Kudos to Oscar winners Resul Pookooty and AR Rehman. I believe though Rehman wasn't at his best compared to Swades, Roja or a Vandemataram in this movie he deserved an oscar for what he was and the talent he posses. I hope he wins a life time achievement award at Oscars and Grammy's for his contributions to the music community.

So the Button man from New Orleans had the one tough one to beat in this years Oscars; hadn't the kid from Mumbai shown up and seized moviegoers' hearts it was surely up there and yes this managed a Golden Globe though. This proves that movies which are unreal have little chance against movies which are surreally close, touchy and inspiring. Like politics, aren't always predictable. Benjamin B. is Hillary to Slumdog's Obama.

Arundhati

So much for the Oscar fever the other movie I wanted to talk about is Kodi RamaKrishna's movie Arundhati. This movie staring Anushka Shetty and Sonu Sood with Sayaji Shinde and Manorama in the supporting cast had been raking up a lot of interest back home in the Tollywood. Incidentally I too fell victim to it that I watched it on the first day of the release during my Sankranti Vacation. I was waiting eagerly to watch this movie as it got postponed twice in the week. I watched the Second show with my Gal, and yes it gave enough goosebumps while driving back past the Muslim crematory near RaniGunj to Marriott route of Secunderabad. My Gal couldn't sleep alone and kepy squealing every now and then for next 15 days after watching the much anticipated movie. Well this was the first movie we as a couple watched for the the first time and guess it was a right choice. All through the screen my lady was on my shoulder grasping every inch of my long hand.

The effects were amazing by out standards, but looked very much like CGI and wires frames animation. While the plots were seemingly adopted from Final Destination, The excorcist, Gothika to name a few, there was a bit of resemblance to a few other cult movies of Kodi Ramakrishna's movies. I felt Anoushka could have been a bit better on the dances as I felt she struggled in that. Anyways it was her first character based and role-heavy performance kudos to her too. Shinde and Sonu Sood outlived their roles and gave a spectacular performance. The movie pace I felt was too fast and plots should have been better plotted. The movie wrapped up even before one could realise what hit them. A nice attempt by the crew; though a sad one in terms of getting the women audience to start believing in all the black magic and superstition in this seemingly progressive times.

I still smile when I see my gal shivering when I say to her "Bomallee ninuu Vadalaa!!!"

Keys, mouse, chips, webs, viruses......CiIlitetrate

Cilliterate....or Computer Illiterate
Yes you are if you failed to connect the above words.
Computer literacy can also refer to the comfort level someone has with using computer programs and other applications and technologies that are associated with computers.
My exposure to computers started quite early in my age. I had my own PC when I was in my 6th Standard thanks to my dad who envisioned that Technology is the future. I was only 11 years when I first got to work on a computer of my own. It was year 1992 and by those days standards I had a fairly fast and efficient system. The configuration of today's mobiles are better than my first PC. It was a
Intel 80286 (In an era of 64 bits 286 has had 7 predecesors to Todays P4/Athlons)
Running at 20 Mhz Speed (yes Mega Hertz was big in those days 1024 times lesser than that of todays)
1 MB Ram (we talk of 1 GB as miminmum today thats 1024 times lesser than todays capacity)
40 MB HDD
Display - MDA (Moncrome Display Array) - 14 inch B&W L&T Monitor
Sound card - Our only sounds we heard were beeps
123 Key - TVS Keyboard
Mouse - Never needed one
OS - MS DOS 5.00
Spread Sheet- Lotus Spread sheets
Word Processor - Word Star 4
Database - Fox Pro & DBase 4+
Languages - C, BASIC
Anti Virus - MSAV
DiskDrive - 5 1/4 Floppy Drives

This was the system I had and continue to have (of course its packed) as an antique since 1992 with a bundle of 5 1/4 and 3 1/2 inch floppies. The software which is stored in it is specific to that system and none of todays software runs on the system. I wanted to add some bit of interactivity to the system and install Windows 3.11 which used to run as a front end for DOS, but decided against it as it was too resource hungry for my system.The system then costed my dad a little over 30K rupees without monitor and printer (dot matrix).
All my initial days I learned and played on this system. I was envied by adults and kids alike. I was able to speak a language which many where not even aware off. My first computer was operational to the fullest till 1999. After 7 years it was replaced, I moved to adapt a non intel processor.
I got an AMD K6 in later 1999 (Pic - my cousin - with L&T Dotmatrix printer and K6 on Viewsonic). The system had 128MB RAM, with Windows 98 and 20 GB HDD and 400 Mhz (20 times faster than my older 286)with a 15" Viewsonic Monitor. I used this system during my engineering till 2004. This is system which provided me my first multimedia expereince and internet expereince. Those were the early days of internet and it was costly to have an internet connection. I remeber using various dial-up connection and due to my high internet usage at times our telephone bills used to run up quite high. My primary dial-up those days were Dish-net connection and occassional a Tata Nova. I used to borrow accounts to meet my craze those days. During my early days of internet I was hugely into intenet contests. Quite popular and an addict I was for Contests2win, Hungama.com and occasional MTV contests. I at one stage used to get gifts and memorobila on an weekly basis from these sites (mostly Hungama). Loved collecting points for playing contests and redeeming the same for some cheeky gifts. Approximate count of gifts I collected run in excess of 200 items.
Next I got an AMD Athlon 1800. It was a 1.6 Ghz processor with 384 MB RAM. I got it assembled at Parklane, Secunderabad before carrying it all the way to IIM-K. Incidently I ran Windows 95 on this system.This system I used for 2 years while I was in Kozhikode between 2004 and 2006, and later dumped it at K before returning back to Hyderabad in March 2006. Post which I continue to use my bro's AMD Athlon and my bro's Dell Inspiron laptop which he got it from US.
While in Genpact I was using the companies provided Dell Latitude D510 model. I felt this was the most robust and sturdiest of all Desktops and Laptops I ever got to use.
Moving from Hardware to Software I started with BASIC based programming and games like Prince of Persia, Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego, Genghis Khan
From Banner Mania, Wolf Pack,Para Trooper, Packman, Test Drive to name a few. As years went by and technology improved I got newer games. I still remeber I used to steal a few bucks from my dad's change and save enough to buy one single game from a small computer shop (PARAS Computers) on the road connecting Mozamjahi Market and Koti. Each floppy game costed 20/- then. Much for privacy of today :).
Initial utilitis like Banner Mania and Paint pro were fun to work and impress the guests who came in. I also remeber we used some Basic based application to generate Astrology charts. It was so much fun those old days, for uniqueness is definetly something to cherish.
Today as I blog this I am amazed at the journey I made from 1992 to 2009. 17 Years is time taken, I have moved from a 80286 to a P4 mobile processor, from floppies to SD Micros, from PC Games to Playstation, from B&W monitors to 32" LCD's from beep speakers to 5.1 DTS Home theatre from a small selffocus cam to a Compact DigiCam . From Bannermania to Photoshop; from DOS to Windows Mobile; from PacMan to NFS; from text to HDDVD authoring, I feel I have come offage in technology. It's not that I thrive on getting the latest Gizmos, but addition happens automatically; If that technological tranformation is not happening am afraid to say that one is Technophobic and Cilliterate.
Yes there might be circles who differ on amount of adaption technology in daily life, lets not debate it today. Technology is part of parcel of modern day's life.