THE CASE OF THE MEGA PARTITION

Allampatis are long standing clients of SRM having great regard for his advise.Their family wanted partition.The partition can be done orally (as we have done).Since no new owners are created (there is only restriction of ownereship) no registration fee is to be paid. But if you want it in written form ,you have to pay tax at the rate of 11%(as done by Pamidigantams).The estae of Allampatis is very big, its value running into crores of rupees(in those days) and registration fees will be very high.
On the advise of SRM a case was filed in court by one of the family members and opposed by some.After some time , a "compromise "was worked out and "rajeenama" listing all the properties and prospective enjoyers was filed in the court. The court accepted it and sent it to the govt to register.The registrstion cost for matters settled in the court is only 1% and it will have same legal validity.Thus Allampatis were able to save lakhs of rupees,thanks to SRM.
P.S. There is an interesting twist to this story.
Mr N.T.RAMA RAO,before he joined films and later politics ,was a sub-registrar.So he knows the rules like the back of his hand.As soon as he became the C.M. , he amended the rules so that the settlements in courts also atract same rates as in usual registration.

Earth Hour

Earth Hour was on this Saturday past between 830 PM and 930 PM. It is a symbolic event of sort, but this time we thought we will also observe it. In that hour, one is supposed to switch off all electricity. We thought it can be a experiment in low energy sustainable living, even if for only a short while.

Poonam, Anupama & Nirupama (cousins from amma's side) and I made a cosy party of 4 for the evening. Candle-lights provided great ambiance. We started with the food, which was organic for the most part. We started with pakodas made from organic veggies, flour. Organic Kokum juice cooled us off. The main course was curd rice (yes, organic rice and carrots!) and dessert was delicious organic muffins.

For entertainment, we played GREEBBLE= Green Scrabble, a game we invented.It is Scrabble, but players get double points for making words relevant to climate change or green living. Teams cashed in words such as 'CNG' and 'FAMINE'. The game was absorbing enough for us to make it an Earth Hour and a Half!

Despite best efforts, we were using stored electricity (ice cubes for the juice, cell phones, camera), and the muffins and flour were contained in plastic. The oil, curd were non-organic, which we could have avoided.

Moral: Like in Greebble, we need creativity and persistence to drive on green themes- and the result is certainly rewarding!

Organic Veggies:

Brought home in a cloth bag (no plastic):
The Organic Cook:
Candle lights, dinner and sport:
GREEBBLE:

5th Pillar !!

We know that India tops the chart for Most corrupted nation in the world.
Corruption is one thing other nation laughs at us more often. Recently I read the ratings of Indian states and sadly the most progressive Southern States Karnataka and Tamilnadu tops the list for Most Corrupted states within India.

I'm sure every Adult in India would have been a Victim of corruption at some point of their lifetime. Be it at Driver License office, Passport office, Police Dept,Registrar office...,list goes on to almost all the Govt offices.


Do we really try to combat this? Yes, we would have given a try, but due to other external situations like time constraint and others, we never wait and fight till end.

What do we actually do to combat this ?
5th Pillar !!!

I read this article in Hindu about an NGO called 5th Pillar.


Their website :

Something is better than nothing. Someone is atleast attempting to combat.
If it interests you, Pls register. I'm sure Corruption erradication steps should start from micro level to macro country level.

There is a movie dialog in Kamal's Indian movie, "Other countries too have corruption and bribery. But they ask bribe only when they have to do anything out of their Duty. But in this nation even for doing their own defined duty, we ask bribe. This is not acceptable"

CHILD IS THE( GRAND)FATHER OF THE MAN

Bhrgavi vadina was travelling in a train with Krupakar, a smallboy.
A passenger sitting in opposite seat was observing them very keenly.
After some he asked "Amma ! If you dont mind ,can I ask you a question ?
SBD : "Ok. What is it?"
He :Are you related to SRM ?
SBD: Yes.How do you know?
He : I thought so after seeing the boy.He looks so like him.

There are so many incidents like this.
Many students saluting SLN and many patients telling their problems to me.
People in Narayana college still think Kuppamma is my daughter.
Many lecturers asking me "do you have a brother in LIC"and vice versa.
Staff in VITS asking Sumana whether Vidya is her sister.
TO TOP ALL
Aditya going to toilet with a book.
well ! The genes are strong

Family poker nights

Lately, SSV got addicted to poker and we have been playing a lot. Last night we had a few friends over and SSV and IS won all the money over from the guests.

Grrrr.... I had a full house and was very confident of winning the pot, but apparently SSV had a four-of-a-kind!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He does get all the luck.

Blind but powerful

After we returned from Nandi Hills yesterday, Poonam and I went to the polling booth to vote for the municipal elections. As we were approaching the school that was the polling center, we saw a blind lady come out, supported by 2 other ladies. It was a moving sight: a person who certainly could have made very legitimate excuses for not being able to vote chose instead to exercise her right . Poonam was quite choked up about it.

All Singampalli kids, hope that can be an inspiration to you: if you have not done already, you should get your name enrolled in the voter lists and exercise your franchise when the next election rolls by. It is not just a right, it is a duty. Do not be cynical about the effectiveness of a single vote or the low quality of candidates- every little bit helps!

Birds of Nandi Hills

Poonam and I went to Nandi Hills, a small hill station close to Bangalore, along with a few others- it is a 2 hour drive. We reached there at 7 AM and returned back by 3 PM. The top of the hill is quite heavily wooded, and the combination of that with open garden areas, cliffs and ravines, offers a unique ecosystem to attract some unique birds. This is also the last week or so of some of the Winter migrants.

POONAM'S ANTICS: Apart from the brilliant birds, Poonam provided entertainment to us with her antics. First, every time she would see a rock lizard, she would do some sort of a weird break dance cum jig. Then when she spotted the absolutely brilliant male Paradise Flycatcher, she set off such a loud shriek of delight that set the bird jetting off from that place. We had to wait a while before we could see it and her guilt was assuaged. To be fair, the bird is certainly breathtaking!

Bird list:

1. Blue-capped Rock Thrush (Male and Female)
2. Common Buzzard
3. Common Tailor Bird
4. Purple Rumped Sun Bird
5. Indian Blue Robin
6. Golden Oriole
7. White Cheeked Barbet
8. Tickell's Blue Fly Catcher
9. Orange Headed Thrush
10. Yellow Throated Bulbul
11. Red Whiskered Bulbul
12. Paradise Fly Catcher (male and female)
13. Olive Backed Pipit
14. Greenish Leaf Warbler
15. Indian Scimitar Babbler
16. Puff Throat Babbler
17. Tawny Belllied Babbler
18. Blue Rock Thrush
19. Eurasian Blackbird
20. Pied Bushchat
21. Nilgiri Wood Pigeon
22. Tawny Eagle
23. Swift (?)
24. Oriental White Eye
25. Magpie Robin
26. Gray Wagtail
27. Ashy Drongo
28. Blythe's Reed Warbler
29. House Sparrow
30. Common Kestrel (?)

Some images from the web:

Paradise Fly Catcher (male)


Paradise Fly Catcher (female)


Blue Capped Rock Thrush
Orange Headed Thrush

Indian Scimitar Babbler

THE CASE OF THE TIMID LAWYER

VVSR was a close friend of SRM.They used to call each other "ore" .He is a lawyer by profession but with no cases.(chettu kinda layaru)
SRM was constructing the house at Tirupati.Though most of the work was done by my mother,with the help of uncle Ramiah,SRM used to go once in a while.
on one occasion his presence was required at Tirupati,but the judge is not willing to postpone the arguments scheduled for that day.So he prepared a detailed note of the arguments and requested VVSR to argue in his place.
It so happened that the work was finished early at tirupati and he returned to kavali in the morning.He took his lunch and has gone to court.VVSR was just starting his arguments and as soon as he saw SRM coming he said to the court "SRM has come.He will continue the arguments" and sat down.
Whole court plunged into laughter with usually stern faced judge joining.

THE CASE OF THE BUSY LAWYER

Uncle Ramiah and Krishnaiah inherited some land in karakambadi village from their aunt chengamma.The tenants refused to vacate land and got a stay from court to continue them as tenants.Under the law tenants are to continue,though owners are changed.Uncle Ramiah has gone to a busy lawyer Raghu in Tirupati to get stay vacated and remove tenants.
The case dragged on and on and Raghu when ever he saw Ramiah used to say "dont worry ramanna, i will do the need ful".Uncle got disgusted and came to kavali to talk with SRM.(they used to be called krishnarjunulu by SVSR.).SRM.promised to talk to Raghu and see that the case is pursued vigorously.
After uncle has gone back to Tirupati ,SRM spent some time in his law library, made some notes and wrote a post card to uncle .He asked uncle to show it to Raghu and instruct him to proceed as in the card.Raghu did so in next hearing . The arguments were brief ,lasted only for 5 minutes.Immediately Stay was vacated by the judge and tenants were asked to vacate land permanently.

What does the post card contain that made Raghu and judge to act so fast?

transfer of ownership by a registered document is done in 3 ways.
1st way is by sale deed with some 10%of value of the property as tax.
2nd way is through settlement between close relatives with 4% tax.
3rd way is through gift deed with donor paying the gift tax.

The act protecting tenants speaks only of sale deed where as the transfer here is through settlement.
It was an inadvertent mistake committed by law makers and noticed only by SRM

What is the word?

What is the word that would best fit the following description:

"A word that brazenly attempts to convert a negative fact into something positive...and succeeds"

"Euphemism", "equivocation" etc fall short of what I looking for.

Whatever the word may be, it should apply perfectly to the latest idiocy of modern Indian cities, specially Bangalore: "Signal-free corridors". The suffix "-free" is cleverly used to imply that the prefix is something undesirable; like cavity-free teeth or rodent-free houses.

For instance, the BJP manifesto for the long awaited Bangalore Municipality elections (no municipal elections for the last 7 years, city's being run into the ground by bureaucrats and commercial interests) promises that:

-93 roads will be widened (=> more trees will be cut)
-20 parking complexes will be constructed
-city will be made crime-free (note the use of the suffix "-free"), and finally:
-all major junctions to be made signal-free (note the misuse of the suffix "-free")

Free from whom, I wonder? From all the rodent-like small people called pedestrians who are cheap enough not to own Corollas and Scorpios.

It is just amazing how, by just picking the apt word, they have managed to convert an absolutely crucial piece of equitable road planning into something extraneous and evil: something that people will actually vote for.

So I wonder: what is the right word?

THE CASE OF THE FORGOTTEN DIARY

The case of the forgotten diary
Chennaipalem was a small seacoast village near Kavali.In the election for Panchayat Sarpanch ,the village land lord AudiBNarayanaReddy was defeated by Subbiah a Yadav (B.C.).The election was held with raising of hands and result was recorded by the election officer and orders were posted on the notice board of village panchayat.

It was prestigious issue for the village Reddys and they manipulated the election officer to change his earlier declaration and declare AudiNarayanaReddy as Serpanch. This action was challenged in court by poor Subbaiah. Though Reddys were clients of late SRM, and tried to tempt him with big fees, he preferred to represent Subbiah in court.
The order pasted by the E.O. was removed from and kept in safe custody of SRM.The opposition party can go even to the extent of murder, but SRM was not afraid. He had many sleepless nights but the papers were safe (in our inappetta).Their importance can not be overemphasized.

The case came up for hearing. The E.O.deposed that AudiNarayanaReddy won election, but he was forced to declare Subbiah as elected under threat. The orders posted on village notice board are not correct. Under cross examination he was asked to produce his election diary and he was clever enough to send a diary to election commission recording the “distrubences”.The case seemed to be doomed and Subbiah defeated.Reddys were triumphant and celebrating their victory and Subbiah was dejected.

For the next hearing a new witness was called for examination by SRM, the “little “constable who was on bandobust duty that day. He had to give evidence according to his diary, which was also sent to E.C. and can not be tampered with now. He testified that there were no disturbances, election was held peacefully, Subbiah was elected legally and the same was posted on village panchayat office.Reddys were concentrating on big E.O.and ignored the constable, but SRM did not and kept him as last minute surprise.
The contradicting evidences given by two government servants were examined and judgment was in favor of Subbiah vindicating truthful path chosen by SRM.

It was a sensational case in those days, was told to me by SRM when he was in good moods.


Wait for some more cases!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday Nanna

From IS, Krupa and Adi

HEALTH CARE

Poor Obama! He is moving earth and heaven to safeguard the health of Americans.
In India, Sonia (the de-facto PM), with all her EFFORTS, is safeguarding the health of indian citizens--- that too without any burden on the exchequer. How?

I had a couple whom I diagnosed with Diabetes and hypercholester0lemia.I could not bring down the figures inspite of my best efforts at treating them .
AMAZING-- the figures are normal since 3 months .

REASONS --rise in the prices of
1.Petrol --- so taking a walk instead of a car
2.oil ,sugar, ghee --- no fries, no sweets, no bakery items.
3.chicken & Mutton----no non veg
4.vegetables ,dals and rice-----frugal eating
5.Electricity--not much of TV etc, going to bed early

OBSERVATION--in response to platform 9 3/4

When we enter the inpatient wards as III years, with a new steth peeping out of the pocket of the proudly worn white coat, we are advised to keep our eyes and ears open and observe, observe, observe and observe.
We are told to understand and assimilate what we observed, so that the next time we see a thing like what we have observed earlier, it will immediately be recognised and understood.
Everything in life is like that.
"Observe and understand" is important because as we were told often--
"The eye does not see what the mind does not know" even if it is staring at you.
How true in the case quoted by you.

Again, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle(incidentally a doctor by profession, who was drilled about the powers of observation by his guru Dr. James Bell) has said, thru his character Sherlock Holmes,
"My dear Watson! you see but donot observe."

ps: The power of observation is again being stressed nowadays in Medical colleges by students learning from SOME of their teachers and the managements.
The axiom is "Observe, Observe. The patent's purse is more important than his pulse. Record properly."

pps: how was that for a punch line?

Entering Platform 9 3/4

Birding is like entering Platform 9 3/4 or Diagon Alley. From the humdrum, a lively magical world suddenly springs forth that only some seem to see.

For nearly 5 years I have been going everyday to the sprawling and beautiful Infosys campus, sparing only an occasional glance to the verdant world around. All that changed in the last couple of months. The campus is now like Miss Sprout's greenhouse, full of strange beings. To an interested observer, there are so many things to study and learn. Sermons in stones, literally!

For instance, Spring brought a dramatic change- a whole set of new visitors are on campus:

- Just 3 weeks ago, the quiet of the campus was shattered by the characteristic Kutur-kutur-kutur of the elusive white cheeked barbets. Since then, I can hear them everywhere. No more the monotony of mynas, parakeets and large pied wagtails. The perennial berry trees were suddenly tenanted by these birds.

-But they were just the harbingers - a train of guests were to follow.

-Today, as I chatted with a colleague, a common tailor bird suddenly caught my eye, hopping away next to a shrub, cocky tail aloft

-The large berry tree as I enter campus was always a favorite roosting place for the mynas in the evenings, as I ran to catch the bus. But now, it is a tower of babel even during the day. Over a 100 birds busily pluck away at the berries, chattering all the time. Against the light, I thought I spotted a whole new set of birds. Rosy starlings? Barbets?

-Other questions arise: why is the ground always so clean under this tree? Like the human residents, are the birds well bred professionals who do not despoil the ground beneath their feet?

-I am drinking my coffee in the morning with a bevy of colleagues when I see the phantom bird again. Just to mock my ignorance, it hops jauntily on the grass in front of me, wagging its tail in derision. Brown on top, white on the bottom, prominent tail, sparrow sized- no amount of searching the field guide helps in IDing the bird. It hops all around our table, with the other folks utterly oblivious of it.

-Countless warblers, flower peckers and sun birds keep rushing from one flowering tree to another in search for nectar and insects

-About 6 months ago, Infosys had converted an inefficient drain into a small tank of fresh water, about 50*30 ft. There is no other water body in campus except the pool. Today, for the first time on campus, I see a pond heron, placidly lounging at the edge of the pond. Funny how it found a new home with unerring instinct. I am now anticipating more water birds to turn up soon.

All in all, an entire ecosystem hums into high activity come Spring. Will the activity be the same in late Summer? I look forward to finding out. A whole term of Hogwarts magical education stretches ahead of me.

But the most amazing aspect of the whole show is the utterly oblivious audience. Other than me, no one seems to see anything happening! But as Stan Shunpike would say: Muggles! They don't see nothing, do they?

In a lighter vein!

Aditya and Spelling Bee

It is an annual ritual at Aditya's school. THE SPELLING BEE. Anxious parents get their kids to practice for hours. There are class rounds followed by finals in the assembly hall.

Aditya's class had class rounds this Monday. Another parent called me anxiously, "Do you know who got selected? My daughter does not know". I asked Aditya and he responded, as usual, " I don't know". So I told her "All I know for sure my son is not one of them, since I know he does not have the focus and I have not pushed him either, so I am not particularly anxious to know who is going".

So imagine my surprise when Aditya came home the next day and sid very nonchalantly, he was already selected the day before, but "forgot" to tell me or "did not realize". He does not seem particularly pumped up, it was more like, "yeah, whatever, big deal!!!!" So, anyways, he is one of the 3 from his class competing in the final round tomorrow. We will be there to cheer him if he wins or console him if he loses. I am betting it will be the later, since he does not listen to directions and goes his own way and does not practice etc etc etc.........................

As his teacher told me, much like amma used to say about SSV, "he has potential to get 100%, but is always distracted or daydreaming and does not put in enough effort".

But hey, he is only a kindergartner. How much does he need to learn!?

Can Sita curse? Priests ARE greedy

Anita Ratnam who had to face priests writes about the curse in the New Indian Express

While performing the annual rituals for my parents at Gaya, I heard this amazing story from the Ramayana.

After Lord Ram, Mata Sita and Lakshman had left Ayodhya for the forests, they received news of King Dasaratha’s demise. The two brothers immediately went to the banks of the Phalguni River in Gaya and performed their prayers for the passing of the soul.

Meanwhile, King Dasaratha’s hungry spirit demanded food from Mata Sita. Reluctantly she rolled some wet mud and fed her father -in-law because she was not allowed to give rice until the prayers were concluded.

Lord Ram and Lakshman had closed their eyes in prayer but the Pandas, or priests, saw Mata Sita’s giving rice to King Dasarath.

Completing the pujas, Rama served rice for his father’s spirit only to find that it did not appear to take the offering as it was satisfied with Mata Sita’s offering. Sita told Lord Ram of what she had done. Unconvinced, Lord Ram demanded a witness.

Mata Sita requested the pandas to verify her act of feeding. Unwilling to get involved in a domestic squabble the priests remained silent.

Enraged, Mata Sita uttered this curse. “For your betrayal you shall never be satisfied. However much you get, you will always want more.”

It was an Akshaya tree that finally bore witness for Mata Sita while the pandas morphed into the avatars of avarice.

Where are all the girls gone?

Mridula, Lavanya, Manasa, Sumana & Swati, whats happening? Exams/GRE/XIIth?
Vidya whats new? Btw did you hear that Dell acquired Perot?

HOUSE SPARROWS

One pleasant surprise we had after coming to this house in gachibowli is to see many sparrows flying around.There is lot of vacant space around this place,many buffaloes and peda dibbalu ,so sparrows have lots of insects to feed on.We tried to give them rice ,but they preferred the insects on the plants durga is cultivating in her kitchen garden.
There was lot of nostalgia about the sparrows at kavali house,vadla kankulu we used to get from fields and hang in the veranda.Sparrows ,crows,monkeys,ants,cockroaches,rats,dogs and cats used to live with us there . The disheartening thing in those days was the way sparrows used to die when we switch on ceiling fans.They used to have nests behind photos,holes in the walls and veranda.
Suddenly all the sparrows disappeared. Many reasons are given for that. During the last 2 or3 years we could find one or two sparrows feeding on the insects in the holes in the well.

I found some interesting articles in The Hindu.

http://www.hindu.com/yw/2010/03/09/stories/2010030950360300.htm
http://www.hindu.com/mag/2010/03/14/stories/2010031450210500.htm


Seems 20h march is World house sparrow day.

Can any one update about a story I vaguely remember written by Kondamudi Ramachandra Murthy or peddibotla subbaramiah(Lecturer,Loyola college,Vijayawada) about sparrows.

gre practice, anyone?

I am trying to get through Amartya Sen's latest book 'The Idea of Justice', but I don't think I can complete it. For all those who are preparing for GRE, this is the perfect book to practice on. Here is a passage:

"The problem with the transcendental approach does not arise only from the possible plurality of competing principles that have claims to be relevant to the assessment of justice. Important as the problem of the non-existence of an identifiable perfectly just sociable arrangement is, a critically important argument in favour of the comparative approach to the practical reason of justice is not just the infeasibility of the transcendental theory, but its redundancy. If a theory of justice is to guide reasoned choice of policies, strategies and institutions, then the identification of fully just sociable arrangements is neither necessary nor sufficient. "

And this was just from the introduction- just the tip of an academic iceberg, one might say. Am I glad I didn't have to take his courses!

The Catcher in the Rye

I wanted to read this book because the person who shot John Lennon didn't have any thing except this book "The Catcher in the Rye" in his pocket. So I thought there must be something unique about it (thought the book provoked him), to be frank there is nothing special about it. Does any one feel differently about this book? Am I missing something?

phew

Looks like the Nuclear Liability Bill is going to die a quick death. The opposition parties were against it enough for the bill to be not tabled at all today. Wonder what the Govt will think of now.

Gauri Pinni!

I saw one of your six look-alikes today, she just looked the way you used to look in college days :) She reminded me of that snap where you were giving a speech in college.

Lal Bagh: Birds in Spring Time

Poonam and I went to Lal Bagh this AM and saw the usual quota of birds. Other than the birds, it is Spring time, and all the trees in Lal Bagh are in full splendour with new leaves, flowers and fragrances. Particularly, Lal Bagh has a rich collection of Ficus (Raavi) and Silk Cotton trees, which look real nice in Spring.

For me, the new birds were the tailor bird, great tit and the brain fever bird. It was also rewarding to see the Barbet emerging from its painstakingly carved out nest. The barbets make holes in hollow dry trees and nest inside those holes. They are apparently related to Woodpeckers. We were fortunate to see a couple of them emerge from their holes in the trees.

The owlet was a proper treat for the eyes as well, staring at all of us through sleepy eyes.

The list (with Telugu names, as I found on the web: wondering if anyone can validate them to be correct):

Asian Koel (male and female) - కోకిల
Golden Oriole (male and female) - వంగ పండు
Flower Pecker - పూపుడుపు జిత్త
Purple-rumped Sun Bird - తేనే పిట్ట
White-cheeked Barbet - గండు కర్ణం
Spotted Owlet - పగదిగంటే
Spotted Dove - చుక్కల గువ్వా
Common Cuckoo-Hawk or the brain fever bird - కుట్టి పిట్ట, पपीहा
Jungle and Common Myna - గోరింక
Great Tit (male and female) - ?

Tailor Bird - లిక్క జిత్త
Black Drongo - నల్ల ఐత్రింత
Green Leaf Warbler - కంప జిత్త
Another type of warbler (?) - కంప జిత్త
Copper smith Barbet - కంసాలి పిట్ట
Small Cormorant - నీటి కాకి
Purple Moorhen - నీల బొల్లి కోడి
Common Coot - నల్ల బొల్లి కోడి
Brahminy Kite - బాపన గద్ద
Black Kite - మల్ల గద్ద
Pond Heron - గుడ్డి కొంగ

We also saw what someone told us to be a checkered keelback snake, sunning itself near the water body of Lal Bagh.

Some bird snaps from the web:

Great Tit

Brainfever bird
Copper-smith barbet emerging from its hole-nest
Tailor Bird

Mega guest list for Pooja

The final guest list ended north of 100, with about 70+ adults and 30+ kids................ Everyone is questioning my sanity on hosting such an event at home instead of at a function hall or restaurant.

Working on logistics now. Will post pics and videos of the event on Monday.

Got garage all cleaned up, tables setup, tent erected in the backyad, pooja items all collected, prasadam bags assembled..................

AND, SSV worked!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He helped with the shopping, setup and he even made mango lassi for all of us :-)

Ee roju college jariginda?

SLN was writing about something in lighter vein in his post earthquake and Madhav followed it.
The question SLN asked provoked me to write on students agitations here.
Ee roju college jariginda?
This is the question asked by parents everyday here in Hyderabad.
Every day there is some occasion for bandh, dharna or rastaroko.
You lost count the number of times exams are postponed.
The students are moving like zombies with out interest in any thing.
Nobody seems to care for the silent majority.
The VOCAL minorityof students with bald heads and pot bellies mostly of arts stream doing their 10th or12th year of study with govt scholarshps.(I am refering to leaders of Osmania JAC)is ruining the lives of innocent students and their parents.

Unconventional music..

General opinion abour AR Rahman's music is that it grows on you after listening many times. Initially I did not like it much. I could not catch up the tunes, but after a while I liked it a lot.

This is about his recent music album (Tamil movie called 'Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya?', in Telugu: Ye Maaya Chesave).
The music is unconventional(some of the songs)in the way that it doesn't follow the regular indian music style of pallavi, anu pallavi, charanam...
But really loved the fusion work. Beautiful blend of western instruments(mainly Guitar) with some of the indian instruments(e.g Naadhaswaram and shenoy).
I guess coz he is a trained musician in all three(western/carnatic/hindustani) classical music, he is able to do it to the perfection.

It's a love story where boy is a Hindu Tamilian(or Telugu), and girl is a Malayalee Christian. A splendid work in expressing both Christian and Hindu marriage chords at right places.

One the song called 'Aaromale' is Psychedelic rock with a touch of Country blues but with a Hindustani base, with malayalam lyrics(sounds much like sanskrit though..) (sources from wiki)

The album is a huge hit in south metros, hence wanted to share it with the family...

Enjoyy maadi !!

Nuclear liability bill

Don't know if anyone heard of this, but the Govt has quietly started the process for getting the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage bill passed in parliament. This is an atrocious piece of legislation that will allow US operators nuclear plants (eg: General Electric) virtually immune from financial and legal consequences if there is a nuclear incident in a plant built and run by them in India. Consider the facts:

1. Russia has refused to pass a similar bill that tries to cap liability to operators
2. Germany has unlimited liability clauses and demands $ 3.5 Billion as security from each plant operator
3. The US (which is the one pushing the Indian govt hard on this stupid bill) has a minimum of $10.5 Billion for each nuclear incident, plus a possible 5% surcharge
4. Japan=$1.33 Bn
5. Finland=Unlimited liability plus they insist that the operator take $950 Mn insurance coverage

Now, the punchline: This bill puts the liability for an operator at just Rs 500 Crore or $109 Mn! The rest of the cost of such an incident is to be borne by the Indian tax payer. If such an incident were to happen, it would have such a long term impact that it would cost billions of dollars to clean up. For example, the 3-mile island partial meltdown took at least 14 years and $1 Bn to clean up.

Even worse is that the bill provides for legal immunity to the operators. This means that none of the victims can sue the operator in Indian courts. Again, this is unprecedented- all countries, including the US, do not give legal immunity, allowing for civilians to sue the operators over and beyond any contractual compensation.

As the article below mentions: in effect, the bill says that Indian life is cheaper than the lives of 1st world countries.

Article: http://www.livemint.com/2010/03/10204416/Kill-the-nuclear-liability-Bil.html

Greenpeace has launched a petition against this bill, and I suggest that all of you sign this online petition, which is to be given to the PM. Not sure if it helps, but it is better than nothing.

http://www.greenpeace.org/india/stop-the-vote/?no_cache

Bala Jana Agraha

I need not explain the meaning.
With at least a couple of "SLAUGHTERS of the tender lambs" by corporate colleges and overambitious parents everyday, it is time children revolt and establish their rights.

Comments

Multiple posts and multiple comments.
I am not able to relate comment to the post sometimes.
So, how about mentioning the name of the post in the first line of the comment?
Like say -- Krupakar says "re-quake" or SLN says "re- one year".

Quake!

whenever people asked me whether the college, bank or whatever functioned on that day
( Ee roju college jariginda?)
I used to say "how can it? It is firmly anchored by solid foundations."(grr!)
But may not be able to say so any longer, if things continue like this----
Read This

One year

Talking of milestones, Poonam and I completed one year of volunteering with Bala Janaagraha. Janaagraha is a NGO in Bangalore whose aim is to increase civic participation in local governance (Janagraaha=People Force). Their motto is Gandhi's 'Be the Change You want to see'. They are most known by their campaign 'Jaagore' which was co-branded with Tata Tea before the elections last year.

In these things, it is best to catch them young, and so Bala Janaagraha is the track focused on children. Each BJ volunteer is assigned to one of 32 schools in Bangalore, where he or she would teach 8th standard kids about local government and the role they have to play in it. The intent is to:

1. Equip them with knowledge (whom do you approach when the lights fail? When the garbage is not collected? for giving inputs on road planning?)
2. Equip them with values (what are your responsibilities in governance? How do you contribute to better solid waste management? Why do you need to conserve energy?)
3. Equip them with skills and abilities (children are encouraged to speak up, debate, participate, and act)

So it is like teaching them Civics: we just try to make it practical and interesting.

The year ends with the children doing a project that helps them realize their power to change things. For instance, the project could be 'How to make your neighborhood more pedestrian friendly'). They are supposed to observe, analyze, take action , prepare a project report and present it in competition with other schools.

A Challenge: Poonam and I were given a tough school: Crescent School is a conservative Muslim school, with kids mostly from low income families. The kids' English is poor despite being an English medium school, so we had to teach in Hindi. It was quite challenging, but also an education, as we haven't interacted with such children at length before. The school management was helpful and appreciative of our efforts, as were the Janagraha people. Here are some pics of the final BJ Fest where children from various schools presented their projects. I was the master of ceremonies for the event.

Overall, we both felt that we had achieved a small measure of good through this volunteering, and had fun while doing it. It is also humbling to see that the driving force behind Bala Janagraha are a set of elderly, educated and dynamic South Indian ladies.

Happy Anniversary

Dear Seenu and Krupa, congratulations on this significant MILEstone!

How Aditya saved me time & money

In preparation for the pooja next week, I started digging up my old silver and started polishing it.

I was trying to teach Aditya about tarnish and I showed and explained it to him. He goes, "yes, I know. There is an experiment called Save My Silver, in the science experiments book." I was curious and I checked it out. The method worked brilliantly and I ended up hardly spending any time in the cleaning. In fact, there is a product I was planning to buy to do this, which apparently, could be accomplished with few household items.

Any one know what this method it? I did not, till I read it.

10th Wedding Anniversary & Rudrabhishekam

On the topic of getting old, we will hit our ten-year anniversary of tying the knot on March 9th. Instead of celebrating it in a "romantic" way, like go on a cruise, I have signed us up to perform a mahanyasa purvaka ekadasa rudrabhishekam at our home. Stay tuned for more details................

Excellent images of glaciers from space

Just came across this article the other day.
http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/09/gallery_glaciers/

signs of age

1. Have more salt than pepper in the beard
2. Disapprove of more things than I approve of. Poonam says I have become like Utpal Dutt of Golmaal (cheap shot)
3. My reaction is shock & disgust but Uncle’s son finds it funny
4. h8 it wen ppl rite lyk dis
5. A zeal for eating that rivals Bakaasura’s
6. Dinner without dessert? Impossible!
7. Losing the will to hold in my stomach
8. Lost the will long ago to actually do something about it
9. Can’t believe I used to find Jeffrey Archer & Sidney Sheldon gripping
10. Nostalgic about silly things
11. Those kids are out of control! (unlike us goody kids)
12. Too many conversations start with ‘In our days’
13. If you are not Batman, why show off your underwear?
14. Great pleasure from cheap victories over wife and vice versa (refer point 2)
15. Brood over aging enough to make lists of its signs

FAST FOOD FAST BHAKTHI--fast go?

1. 8.30am,office at 9.00am.No time to cook or wait in a restaurant. Drive into Mcdonalds ,catch a bigmac, gobble it on the way to work .wipe hands.
2. Realtor govt officer,professional,businessman last but not the least POLITICIAN--
guilty conscience, greed and avarice for quick gains are pushing people into the clutches of fake swamis and gurus.
Dont blame the swamis and gurus entirely,the problem is with the QUICK BUCK aspirers.
Be a dishonest fellow throughout life ,and at retirement "deep fry pans with hot oil" etc haunt you. Then go to some BABA and wash utensils there.
Simple living and high thinking have been forgotten.
"high" living and "simple" thinking have become the order of the day.

Road to Sangam

Saw this nice movie, 'Road to Sangam'.

Synopsis: A devout Muslim mechanic named Hashmat Ullah (Paresh Rawal) is entrusted the job of repairing an old V8 ford engine, which he later discovers to be of historic significance in that it once carried the ashes of Mahatma Gandhi to the Triveni Sangam, to be immersed there. He has to complete this tough task of repairing the engine for the occasion where the one remaining urn of Gandhi's ashes is to be immersed in the river, to replicate events that happened 60 years ago.

He is then caught in a complex situation after a powerful bomb explosion rocks his town leading to the arrest of innocent Muslim youths of his locality. A strike to work is called by the prominent leaders of his community to protest against the unjust treatment meted out to those arrested youths by the police. Now Hashmat has to defy this edict if he has to carry out the task that he wants to do, in his desire to keep his deadline and to honor Gandhi.

It shows nicely how Hashmat Ullah uses Gandhian principles to get his community around to his view point, defying intimidation, violence and ostracization. As he travels further down this path, he becomes stronger, more cheerful and finally wins over the community with love, a dash of good humored wit and some lucid reasoning. The final scene sees the Ford truck traveling through the lanes of the same area, with the Muslims clearing the road for it and ultimately merging (Sangam!) into the large crowd as it heads to the river.

While the movie has an almost documentary feel to it, there are some nice touches and dialogues: 1) He confronts the problem head-on, never once admitting that he is wrong. 2) He refuses to respond to violence, but he certainly is on the offensive himself. Overall, a much better expression of Gandhian principles than Munnabhai's, although you certainly can't fault the Munnabhai movies for entertainment. Some good dialogues:

"This man was killed by his own people because he was trying to defend us. Can't we do this little service for him?"

"If this procession was for some muslim leader, or even Jinnah, would you have stopped my work?"

To a Afridi/Musharaf/Saddam fan who defends himself saying he has done nothing wrong, he says: "You certainly haven't done anything wrong- it is your opinion, after all. But when it came to my doing what my heart dictates, you do not allow me to do it"

"If we do not honor the people who won freedom for this land, what are we doing in this land? Are we citizens or guests?"

Overall, an honest and inspiring movie, a fitting tribute to Gandhiji.