The year that was

A whole three hundred and sixty five days have almost gone by. There is just a few hours before we start another one. It at these moments, that people normally sit back and think of the many things that they have done and the many that havent. Better still, about things that they could have done better than how they did, or how they shouldnt have done something they did.

Why talk about people, when i can talk about me ? Lets start with resolutions, i have given up on new year resolutions, because, in my experience, these resolutions are meant to be broken. The sooner the better. Usually new year resolutions are taken by weak people, who have to wait for a specific day to start a good or perceived good activity, and i am not weak. For me, any day of the year is a good time to take a resolution. This allows me greater flexibility in breaking them, and not worrying about the time of the taking or breaking the resolution.

Clothes and shopping are another thing associated with ending of the year and beginning of the new one. In the west or christian families, it happens before the year is out, to coincide with their biggest festival of the year. Here in India, Jan 1st has been a day to shop and die. I too fell prey to this culture and greed, and did my shopping, albeit just once. I soon gave up, when i figured out, deals can be had through the year, and i am going to get ripped off anyway. So, why jostle with the crowd, chase the lone appliance on the counter, run after coupons and from store to store to be ripped off. Its worth relishing such a feeling at other times during the year too.

Years come and go, actually it is calendars that come and go. Old ones wear out and new ones will replace these. But in this age of electronic calendar, there is no replacement, it just rolls over. When i go into work this coming tuesday, i will have a fresh new calendar on my computer's organizer (outlook), without me having done anything. And then i start the work day, without any change of the week or year before. There is of course the painful part of writing the correct year on checks you write, if you write any these days.

I think every friday is a day of celebration, if you dont have to work that weekend. And every monday is the perpetual hang-over day, whether you drink or not. What New Year, lets live life a week at a time. It makes life even more exciting, 'cause a new one comes every 7 days.

My Ambition

Who ever said, you need an ambition ?
Well, my teacher did, in class 6. She wanted to know about it, then and there. During a mid-afternoon class period, which was supposed to be free. Free period is for playing book cricket, talking movies, tic-tac-toe, and anything else. Not for jogging your mind and wasting time writing literary articles.

But what should have been written in history books a few decades later, was put to way-side, because someone developed chicken feet. So read on and find out how history was not changed one day.

Ambition ? Not !!

What's your footprint ?

The ecofoot.org website has a cool calculator to determine what your footprint or consumption level is.

Here is my revised one. I did one earlier that resulted footprint calculation of 12+
CATEGORY GLOBAL HECTARES
FOOD 0.4
MOBILITY 1.6
SHELTER 0.8
GOODS/SERVICES 1.1

TOTAL FOOTPRINT 3.9

IN COMPARISON, THE AVERAGE ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT IN YOUR COUNTRY IS 0.8 GLOBAL HECTARES PER PERSON.
WORLDWIDE, THERE EXIST 1.8 BIOLOGICALLY PRODUCTIVE GLOBAL HECTARES PER PERSON.
IF EVERYONE LIVED LIKE YOU, WE WOULD NEED 2.2 PLANETS.

Whats your footprint ?

Islam and Peace - a discourse ?

Here are my thoughts on the day of Eid. My recent reading on the concept of Eid, and also the recent court battle in UK on wearing of the burkha, prompted me to write this blog.
Islam = Peace

Flickr Slideshow

Fotos from Flickr

Diwali - a retrospection

Diwali has had a different effect on me, over the past many years. Unlike many festivals, this one festival has brought out the most about of thought in its partaking. I have tried to throw out some reasons here. Or have i ?

Here is the post: Diwali - a retrospection

Blog spot

I hate to do this, i have to use the link. I was hoping to maintain and write a different blog here at blogspot.

But then the title is the same. It had to be, cause i had originally started writing here, but then quickly scooted to Yahoo, thanks to the better features offered there. But then it was easy to give up, because the yahoo 360 was under trial. It still is supposed to be under beta, but with over 300+ blogs of mine floating in cyberspace, i do hope they treat it with more caution.

So for the moment, instead of cut/paste the same blog here into blogspot, i figured i would link to 360. And then write something original here, whenever.
I mean, if ever.
Well, you know, what i mean.

hello is anyone there ? hello.
Hello !!!
HelloOOOOOOOOOOOO !!

damn, i chased the last one away.

Cooking Chinese food

Last couple of days, there has been an overload of chinese food. Its been a while actually that i had chinese food. And so when i got back late one night, and didnt feel like throwing the pre-cooked-packaged food into the microwave, i decided order delivery. After a few moments of indecisions between pizza and chinese, i decided on my favourite nearby chinese food restaurant.

Talking about indecisions, what is it about food and making decisions ? I could keep that up for about an hour, deciding between cuisines. I could spend quite a bit of time salivating about chinese, while i really feel like bread, or may be something deep fried. If i am able to quickly narrow down a cuisine, then it becomes an issue of what to order of the menu.

There is one good thing about chinese food, it can be dished out faster than you say kung pao chicken. The chinese invented the concept of fast food. It seems like a formula, all worked out, even down right to the number of peanuts in the kung pao.

But for me, things are not that simple. I rarely, order stuff from a menu, without adding or taking stuff out from the dish i ordered. Like ordering, kung pao without the celery, but add carrots and green pepers or onions or something. I even tried once to order kung pao, made with shredded chicken instead of diced chicken. After a few moments of confusion and bewilderment for the person taking the order, i had to say, 'you know what, i will have the curry chicken instead'. But for all this, all she did was add two strokes to the character she had already drawn on the order form.

This process actually creates a bigger spectacle at a Burger King or McDonalds. The person taking the order, usually a student at the local college, after listening to my 'chicken sandwich add tomatoes and onions', would confirm it back,

'so you dont want the mayo and the lettuce'
'no, i want the mayo and lettuce'
'how about the tomatoes and onions'
'yes that too'
now, the person is even more clueless, because they cant find all the buttons to press on the machine to punch in the order. But they know that i have to pay a price for this indiscretion.

'sir, that will cost you extra'
'ok'

At this point it could get very confusing, because now the issue is how much to charge for this. And so i could be charged a meagre 25 cents, to upto a dollar for a slice of tomato and few strands of onions.

Well, back to the chinese, i dont want to digress and dilute their moment of glory. So i started the mid-week with Mongolian chicken (not on the menu) and Schezwan chicken from the delivery. Followed by Kung Pao on thursday afternoon, and spicy orange chicken for dinner the same night. Friday offered a break. Only to land up in another not-so-nearby chinese place tonight for a dose of curry chicken.

Why so much chicken? Well thats the only meat i eat in the US. I could easily give it up, but then i am not a great fan of veggies either, specially the chinese kind. For some reason, brocolli, snow peas, bamboo shoots, celery and water chestnuts are not my kind of food. But why the hell, so much of chinese. I have no answer, except that i was a guest sometimes and a host sometimes.

But, no complains, except that i wish i had my own chinese restaurant. I could then have kung pao chicken, made with sliced chicken (big flat pieces), with spicy kung pao sauce, peanuts with a choice of onions and green peppers, or spinach and carrots. If only i could teach the chinese to cook chinese food.

When the Levees Broke

Happened to come across this when i was channel surfing this afternoon. As soon as i saw it, i was glued to it, and was recounting the days last year. NO,LA was special to me, having spend almost a year there in '92. And watching and enduring the images from Katrina last year as they were happening, was painful. This documentary, helped to relive some of those moments.

I used the words helped, because having been far away from NOLA, and except for a few reminders from PC and few news stories recently, i had managed to bury those images deep inside somewhere. This documentary, drew a tear or two, not because nothing has changed, but i couldnt simply fathom again, how a few blokes could allow this to happen at all.

Adding this ... i just managed to get this clip.. on the White House site. Nice place to keep it. Here is the now infamous quote "and, Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job" by our president Mr. Bush.

Eating in America

Its all about the size. After a long time i am eating a burger. Once a regular part of my food group and diet, the burgers from the omnipresent McDs, BK and Wendys were all given up almost 2-3 years ago, in an effort to focus on more important things in life. And it hasnt been easy, but neither has it been impossible to live.

So, as i sat to eat my dinner tonite with family at a Ruby Tuesday restaurant, and after thanking all the gods for the food on my plate, i start devouring it. It was all gone in about less than 5, maybe 10 minutes flat. Mind you unlike the advertisements and pictures from the fast-food chains, the picture above does justice to what is actually served on your plate. Throw in a quick visit to the salad bar before the food came to the table. And in all for less than 15$ or so, i ate more food in that one meal than i ate that whole day. I cant completely blame that on my food provider. I have developed this bad habit of gorging one meal and starving during all others. Its not new, its been on for several years.

But as i was eating, i for a brief moment compared the portions on my plate, with what i would have gotten if i had ordered the same in India. Mind you, India is not far behind, and is fast catching up in providing choices to the consumer, actually providing more choices than are necessary. But then again the key difference was, the portion. This was a huge serving, and is normally the case in most american restaurants. It actually seems to be feature here in north-america, as opposed to eating in Europe (been to UK and Germany) or India.

Generous portions. They dont serve you pittance. They believe in filling your stomach to the fullest at each meal. No one goes hungry in America, atleast not the ones who can afford it. The good thing about the restaurant and people here in America is that left overs are not completely wasted. The restaurant is quick to ask ' Do you want it boxed?', and the patron is not shy about doing it either. This is in direct contrast to eating habits (again this is changing) in India, were left overs from the plates in the restaurant are most times destined to the trash. And that is a sad fact. Specially with the numbers on the wrong side bigger in India than in most other places in the world.

I am thankful, that i part of the crowd that can afford this largesse. I am also thankful to have lived in this country, which helped me quickly overcome any resistance to boxing food from the table. Now, if i could only consume a little less myself, i could do my part in helping this planet.

The 'relative time vector' theory

Well
its official now. A full 2/3rd of the year 2006 has just been burnt
through and about 1/3 left to go. Times flies, heard that so many
times, and it doesnt make sense all the time. But if you pick a day,
any day, and reminisce for a moment, suddenly you wonder where all the
time went.



I have spent quite a few times, like most others too, usually waiting
for time to move. I mean literally, try to the move second needle from
one stop to the next. And looking away from the clock or watch doesnt
seem to help. Even if you look away for almost full two minutes, the
time has been only generous enough to accommodate  a full 5 second
move.



If you think about it, you would realize that time does move at
different speeds at different times. wtf !! Well it does, and there is
even enough proof for all this. This is defined and explained by the
concept of the 'relative time vector'.



'The speed of time is based on the vector in which it is measured,
while relating to others', well that the best way to define it. But,
unlike the 'theory of relativity', defined by Einstein, it is tough to
explain this in simple terms. The key word here is the vector, which
implies that the measurement of time is completely isolated to it, but
does relate to others.



This is clearly observable in the event of your 'waiting' game.
Typically in these instances time moves at a much slower speed than it
would do normally. In some instances the motion of time could slow down
to near stop. But time never stops (It does though in about once every trillions and trillions of years).
Each of these slow motions of time when added up can cause significant
delays in the progress of life of the individual. This could be
referred to as the 'laggard' phase.



At the same time, even possibly the same instance, which is where the
relativity part comes in, someone else, a different vector could be
experiencing a completely different speed in movement of time. Usually
in most humans, this can be observed during a race, at work or on the
road. The time in these instances are running at much speeds than what
is considered normal. Since these are measurements or movements are
unique to each vector, it is tough to distinguish these measurements
from an external unit or a different vector. This phase is the 'rapid'
phase.



However, if this were to be true, then this could cause a lot of
confusion, because my watch wouldnt sync with yours. I am slow person
and you are go-getter, and the twain shall never meet. But in real life
these different points do meet and the time magically all falls
together into one set pace. There is a sense of balance in the world,
and time economics too.



Each slow motion or time spent in the 'laggard' phase is countered by
an exact equivalent of fast or 'rapid' time movement. Meaning if you
were to measure the amount of seconds it took while in the 'laggard'
phase they would equal the time spend in the 'rapid' phase. Since the
mechanics of time are very dynamic, it is impossible to define a period
when these will always stay equal. But it is this concept of
'equivalent-phase' that maintains the equilibrium  in time between the
different vectors.

There is more to this, but i have to run now....... but here are some reference materials.



Time moves at different speeds

Space time - General Relativity, Quantum Gravity and Existence of Time

Time is Relative

A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking

Racial Profiling - a good thing !!

I just landed in the US. And the travel was no fun as usual. But that was expected. I had the oppurtunity of being frisked twice at the Frankfurt airport, thanks to a gate change. The blame is entirely mine, since i didnt bother to determine the correct gate on landing in Frankfurt, but simply assumed that the boarding pass had the right information. And Frankfurt is large and quite disorganized airport and so you have seperate sections in different terminals for flights leaving to the US. And the seperate sections are required because people going to the US require special screening and frisking.

That brings me to the topic in discussion. This morning driving into work, and listening to 'Democracy Now', i heard about the racial profiling techniques employed by DHS. After sometime, i felt this was a good thing. Of course for all the wrong reasons. It occurred to me that the US, the home to millions of people from around the world, who have come here looking for freedom, rights and democracy, now will suddenly feel how great life back home was. Funny !! I am not kidding here. Just think.

Apparently one of the questions the lady was asked was, "is Iraq better of now or under Saddam ?". Talk about trick questions. I think Clinton could have answered this clearly and nicely, starting with "it depends on what 'is' is".

The 'lady with the lamp' which has for more than a century symbolized America to the rest of the world, by attracting all and sundry from around the globe. The notion that US attracts people with 'open arms', is still true, but with a whole different meaning. Now people who are attracted here, have to open their arms wide, spread their legs too, while the metal detector slides over your body. If a full body massage was included, many people may not complain so much.

Then of course there is the DHS agent sitting in a special booth welcoming people who land here, with a tone meant to frighten you and make you feel very unwanted. This is not simply reserved for the first time visitors, but also for select frequent visitors, with the color of skin, country of origin, name etc, playing a big part. And then of course the most choicest welcoming committee, it appears is reserved for the citizens. Only their job again is to un-welcome you, into your own country.

This will stop. Eventually it has to. But it will be too late. The sad thing tho' it will continue in a different part of the world. In the next 20-30 years an officer in India or China will be screening all white people with special care and attention.

"I Was Made to Feel Like an Outsider in My Own Country" - Muslim-Americans Say Racial Profiling Led to Detention, Harassment at Airport

Malayala Masam Chingam Onnu

Its the beginning of a new year as per the malayalam calendar. But yet it passed of quietly as just another day. This day is not celeberated as the new year itself. But the month of 'Chingam', which begins today does have one of the biggest festivals of the Malayalees, Onam.

Malayalam Calendar - Aug 2006 (1181 Karghadakam -1182 Chingam)

We, that is Malayalees, celeberate Vishu as the as the begining of the new year, which coincides with the new year day for Tamils also. There must be some historical significance to this. And based on my research, i found that the Malayalam calendar as we use it today is of a recent introduction, and was established around the year 852. This forced a change in calendar in the region, causing the difference in birth of a new year and the celeberation for a new year.

Malayalam Calendar - Wikipedia

Love and Marriage - Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna

I think there have been quite a few blogs about this. And it is always on the top of everyone's mind. For a married person, it is about the decision made and for a person unmarried, it is the decision to marry.

For people from India, these choices are not so easy to make as they are for someone in the west or even from east. The society, the culture and more importantly several falsehoods effect the choice making ability of an individual here. Males generally have more options and are also easily forgiven. But that is not something unique to our society, it is a world reknown phenomenon. Freedom of choices as we see outside and inside societies is a matter of perception.

This movie is not the first to raise these questions or provide answers. But it is one of first that will probably been seen (now thats already a fact) by the largest audience ever. The movie, good or bad, or distasteful has had one of the largest box office openings ever. And you can credit that to the cursiosity factor, but  also because of the star cast. The director and producer only has the best in the film.

The movie now is a box office hit. And on its way to establish a few records, till the next one come along. I had the oppurtunity to see the movie this holiday weekend. With all the mad rush that was on and about to see the movie, i came back a lot disheartened.

I had a problem with the story telling, narration and also to some extent the theme itself. The theme of the movie was not to raise any questions, but simply to justify passion. Second the way story was being narrated, there was little room for passion itself, it simply became a matter of obession on the story teller's part. The characters would have loved to live a life together, but the story simply had to create diversion and exagerate problems. And then finally the most telling and slap in my face, was when the ex-husband and ex-wife get together to hook up their ex. !! wtf !!!

The question being asked is 'what happens if you meet your soulmate, after you are married ?' This can ring true in everybody's marriage. But who is a soulmate ? Should a person spend his lifetime searching for their soulmate, when they can have a decent life with the person right next to them. This soulmate thing is so overrated. And i somehow feel, there is no such person around. If you find one, please let me know. (And i will keep a record, and check back with you after a year, then after 2, then after 5, and then after 10. I am sure your story will change as time goes by).

The ex-wife in the movie tries to justify her action of hooking up her  ex-husband with his soulmate. She tells her, "i'm not going to let you off so easy, try living a life with him".  Now that is also probably the best gift you can give your ex. A good translation would have been, "go to hell, and all the best".

Life is about making choices. But that is quickly interpretted as meaning, we are expected to make a choice everytime. My answer is no. Sometimes not making a choice in itself is a choice. And manytimes, in life you are provided alternate routes (i view them as alternate), and all you really need to do, is continue on your set path.

References to others blogs are purely coincidental and similarities are simply fictional.

Cola wars

There has been a war waging on in India, for the last couple of weeks, which surprisingly finds both the big cola makers on the same side. They are fighting a small but persistent group, the CSE. The CSE released a new report, again after a gap of about 2-3 yrs, where they have highlighted the pesticide content in the cola drinks produced and distributed by these companies.

I think, the CSE, is doing a good job of expousing this and making it an issue that needs to be discussed. However, the cola majors are not taking it lying down either. While this fight is raging there is another battle or war that is using this to their advantage. This is the fight between david vs goliath, foriegn vs local, corporate vs farmer, private vs government etc., different shades based on locality, state or area in India.

I drink Pepsi, coke or what ever caramel coloured drink i can find. Not so often, but am not shy of it. I used to be an addict ones, gourging one with every meal, that was when i first came to the US. But soon re-discovered the taste of water. So, i too, had a personal agenda here, and so my views are slightly jaundiced.

Recently i have been reading a lot about the problem with advertising and the sales of these drinks. There is a connection. Obviously, it wouldnt be so popular, if they stopped advertising. Well, i am sure these drinks are not a bottle of posion, but nor are they filled with health nourishing nutrients. In today's world, i think they Govt must also look at this advertising to sales link, just as they look at the link between cancer and tobacco. I am pushing it too far, but my point is to stop things from getting out of control. But, who am i kidding ?

Just think, who is the biggest loser in all this ? we, the consumer. So, the best way, yet, is to simply stop buying.



Pesticides in Soft Drinks(Pepsico and Coca-Cola) In-Depth Section
CSE releases new study on pesticides in soft drinks
Kerala bans cola manufactore and sale

Lessons to learn !?

Why does this occur on and off ? Why do people take extreme steps of killing themselves, while they wreak havoc in other's lives ? Why always target America ?

It is fortunate to know that the many innocent lives have been saved. But what lessons do we learn from this ? What lessons do the government concerned teach or preach to its citizen ?

We now know, we cant carry any liquids in our hand baggage. Any liquids, even infant milk.

We have learnt nothing, or rather nothing that is of any value. The first time i personally experience frisking after 9/11, i felt weird. Later, i got to used to it, and figured no point in cribbing to the guy frisking me, he is just doing his job. Then another time, i saw a small child being frisked. Although i had heard about this in the news etc, seeing it, gave light to a completely different perspective.

People accept this. They believe it is part of the government plan to keep them safe. They are also told to believe that the government will not negotiate (unless somebody real high in the food chain is involved) with terrorists. People accept this too. We also believe that the government is too big for us to fight, and also not worth the fight. Meaning, no matter who we choose to work for us, they would do the same. And so we can accept stuff as they come.

I am sure, there are plenty of other questions that can be raised and answers sought that will help us and the world around. A lot of people are asking them too. I am happy to be part of a network of such friends. I wonder how to reach out to more people. I wonder how to influence more minds. I wonder if this small technical marvel can actually engineer a sea-change across the globe.

Instead of ranting on and on, i wish i had a few answers to offer.

U.S. flyers face more searches

Important first step

I think this is an important first step. I hadnt been paying attention, specially since i'm not currently in the US. Catching up with news thats about all america is difficult.

I believe this is important because of the same reasons that Amy has published in her blog, 'a letter from Mike Moore'. After seeing how precious little the democrats have actually done to stop the war, i feel the difference of having them in the Congress and Senate, as against not having them is minimal.

I know, that a full blown republican victory will make them think they are god, and further their pillaging and plundering, but, then i also think something so drastic is required for people in the US to wake up and see what they are creating by their inactivity.

I am completely at peace having learnt that Lieberman has lost, i didnt think he was great VP candidate either. Infact, Mr. Gore also should take responsibility of allowing this man more audience than he really is entitled for. Anyway, the people of one state has spoken, lets see if this starts a ripple effect across the others.

Amy's Blog - A note to a traitor........