Received this cartoon as a forwarded mail a few days ago from a friend. This is such a common thing here in Bangalore… Autowallas, maids, everyone are just here to rip you off. Evern the room rents are spiked for a Software Engineer. It has become a bane to be a Software Engineer.
From the past few days I have been keenly following the prices of crude oil on the NYMEX (New York Merchantile Exchange). And as its widely known and covered in the media, crude oil prices are tumbling. Oil is trading at below $70 a barrel. That is about 52% fall from the all time high of $147 in July, 2008.
But I have an itch and there is no answer which could help me scratch that itch. The thing is, why the hell are fuel prices in India not falling in line with the fall in crude oil. A liter of petrol cost around Rs. 57 and premium petrol about Rs. 61.
Well got an answer to my question yesterday when out Petroleum Minister, Mr. Murali Deora made a statement saying that there would not be any price cut immidiately. The oil companies are still bleeding and its only when oil prices fall below $61 that they could think of a price cut.
So I guess I’ll have to wait untill crude oil prices hit below $61 to see what our govt. does.
Another thougt crosses my mind. The fall in crude prices indicates a lot of things, like people have started using less fuel, the public is no longer ready to spend, the financial situation is bad.. pretty bad.
If this trend continues, we could have some difficult days ahead.
Well the Chinese have done it again. First toys, then dog food and now milk. Yes, the milk you, me and everyone else drinks. Its affecting small innocent children. Atleast 3 children have been detected with kidney stones after drinking the spiked milk from some Chinese dairy product companies.
This milk is laced with melamine. Melamine is the chemical used to make plastic utensils. Apparently adding melamine to milk increases the protein content in the milk. I am shocked as to what kind of a jerk can choose to play with the lives of innocent children.
Thousands of children are taking ill in China after being fed the toxic milk.
India, EU, many countries in South East Asia, New Zealand have band Chinese Milk and Milk products. Its the policy of Chinese secrecy and greed of a few individuals that has led to this mess.
I wont be surprised if we get news of a couple of people committing suicide due to this scam.
In India if you ever say that CRICKET does not interest you, you are bound to have a negative reaction from the people – a look of shock, surprise, eyes popping out, the heart skipping a beat. But the truth is I have begun to dislike cricket. And its just not overnite that the dislike happened, it was gradual. The bad performances, bad coaches, bad administration, lack of respect for the people’s sentiments are just a few of the causes that have made me dislike this game. The thing is its no longer a game, its a multi million dollar BUSINESS. With millions of rupees at stake at any given point of time.
Actually I liked cricket a lot when Ganguly was the captain. I felt that team had attitude, a bit of bad boy attitude, which I feel everyone should have. The captain led from the front. Always a tit for tat. Be it making Waugh wait for Ganguly at the toss or tossing his shirt from the dressing room balcony. It sent out a message to the world that we will not accept things as they are. That we too can show aggression.
But look at the state of the team today. England sends back its player from the dressing room after the replays show that he was not out. But Indians on the other hand simply fume at themselves when given out wrongly. This has happened on more than one occasion. This is what I dont like in the present team. They lack the attitude.
Once in a blue moon they have a good day and the Indian public is back to support their HEROES. But these heroes are not consistent.
No matter what others say, I feel they are over paid and under perform on any given occasion.
Ahh… coming back to the reactions. Here if you do not like cricket, it is equal to not being patriotic. If you do not like cricket you do not love your mother land. At least that is what I have observed. When will people learn that CRICKET is just a game, its not POLITICS or BUSINESS. But some how the gamesmanship is lost in cricket.
The Chinese story continues… though this time it was not toys but pet food, especially dog food, imported from China in the US is killing dogs. As this article in USA Today reveals, Wal Mart has silently pulled some variety of dog treats off the shelfs…. Is there any end to the Chinese ignorance???
Recently Mattel recalled about 1 million preschool toys that were manufactured by a Chinese firm. The reason: the paint used on these toys contained excess lead which could be harmful for the toddlers playing with them.
This raises a big question mark on the quality of Chinese made goods. This is not just a one off case, in the past Chinese manufactured toothpaste was found to be harmful, in another case about 1.5 million wooden toys had to be recalled due to excess lead in their paints…
It appears that its not only the kids that are at risk but adults too are getting killed.. I mean the news of the owner of the Chinese firm hanging himself after the recall of toys by Mattel.
And this could just be the beginning with Mattel in the process of recalling more toys..
After 24 years, I had the previledge of travelling on board an aircraft. Untill that Sunday afternoon I had just heard about or seen on TV about the experience of flying. I always looked skywards at a plane and wondered when was I bound to fly, well July 29, 2007 was my lucky day.
Prior to this I did plan an airtravel but had to call it off due to reasons I would not mention here. But this time I was hell-bent on flying from Mumbai to Bangalore. So I went ahead and booked the air ticket. Cost me 2000 bucks but no issues. It was a GoAir flight G8/162 from Mumbai to Bangalore to Kochi. And luckily I got a window seat, 14F.
But it was not that simple for me personally for travelling by air for the first time. Not that I have any sort of phobia nor am I afraid of flying. It was just that it was the first time I was going to an Airport – untill then I had just heard about Airports from my family and friends.
I had no idea about the various steps involved before boarding a plane. There is the baggage scanning and checking first, then Check-in where you get the boarding pass and the luggage is sent, then finally the security check-in before actually boarding the plane.
It was my elder brother, who sat with me the previous nite and explained to me the various steps involved in flying. If it had not been for him, I would have been certainly lost.
It was breath-taking, just to go thru the gates of the airport, the luggage checking, do the check in, then the security check in, it was an experience. And to be frank I was nervous as hell. But I had by brother constantly calling me and getting an update from me.
In the nervousness, I went thru the security check in even before it was announced. But I was lost for words after that. Seeing the planes landing and taking off, planes at Gates, luggage cart moving around. Till that moment I had only seen the scene on Discovery or National Geographic. It was wonderful. I wanted to capture the moment on my N70 but was not sure whether photography is allowed in the aerodrome. Hence I just kept quite.
Then the time came when the plane was at the Gate and we were in line to board it. Those were exciting moments. My very first steps in an Airplane Airbus A320, searching for seat 14F, placing the bag in the over head compartment and finally taking a seat at the window seat. I will never forget those moments.
Then after some time the plane taxied and stopped just short of Runway 27 at the Chatrapati Shivaji Airport, I had the grin on my face similar to that of a todler. I was enjoying each and every moment of this journey coz I dont know when will I be flying again.
And then the moment came when it was time to lift off, It was like sitting in a joy ride. The force of the sudden accelerationo hitting you, one moment you are on the ground and the very next you are flying high above the highest sky scrapper in town…. Ah! It was magic.
More of my First flight experiences in the blogs to come…..
Was reading about the sales tantrums being used by the cola companies in the Indian market. After the Tsunami in the form of Cricket world cup debacle wiped off the credibility of the cola and also made deep deep holes in their pockets, the cola companies have stood up to the challenge.
Their answer a drink with an Indian flavor. Yup, they are selling stuff like nimbu pani, jal jeera, aam panna…. well log kya kya nahi karte..
I wonder whether its worth while to spend 15 bucks for a packaged drink when I can make it myself for like 1/3 the amount.
Ah.. but thats a my own point of view, you see people have a lot of money to spend.. so for every person who thinks like me you’ll find 10 people who’ll think the opposite.
And its these 10 people the companies like the cola companies target…
I had to come to the office over the weekend in the last week. On Sunday I came in at 11 am and my team mate (n friend) worked on a issue untill 5pm. After five I was done, I was tired. My mind had started to shut down… thats when I told him (my team mate), lets call it a day.
I just wanted to go to my room and doze off……
But just as I reached my room and switched on the TV, I stumbled upon ESPN Star. They were showing F1 LIVE from Silverstone. I was not expecting this at 5:30 pm. According to espnstar.com , the live F1 was not on untill 19:30. Anyways, I cursed the webmaster a little and took my seat in front of the TV.
As it turned out, the F1 race was very very exciting and watching a Ferrari giving a chase to McLaren was all the more exciting. I admire the Ferrari team for the team effort that they put into each and every aspect of the game. Right from the pitstop crew to the technical directors everyone has one and only one goal…. that is to win the race. And the kind of strategies they work out is a delight to watch.
As the F1 race was going on another sporting event started, the Men’s Wimbledon final’s. It was the clash of the Titans, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. A few sets into the match and one could easily realize that this wont be a piece of cake for Roger. But it turned out to be one of the best tennis matches that I have seen to date.
Seeing Kimi Raikonnen and Roger Federer win made a sunday that I expected to be dull and tiresome a really Super Sunday……
A bomb was diffused in a busy area in London. A Jeep rammed into the Glasgow airport and it was termed as a failed bombing.
There is something fishy about these two incidents.
Here is a part of an article from The Independent
“They were intended to be triggered by calls to mobile phones left in the cars. Although the bombers rang the phones several times, the bombs failed to go off. Did the calls fail to create the necessary detonation? The Glasgow attack appears to have been a failed suicide bombing. The Jeep Cherokee that smashed into the city’s airport was set alight but the gas canisters inside failed to ignite.”
Were these really a terrorist act or a preplanned failure to keep the people in fear? Are the “Superpowers” of this world playing with the mental state of the public in the name of a terrorist group?
We may never know…
Well its a boom time in India. The indian business houses are doing great business. Everyone is Bullish (as in being very positive) about the Indian Growth Story.
There are talks about double digit growth rate – presently hovering around 9%.
But this growth story is not complete without the active participation from all quarters of the Indian society. And it is one such small but important part of this society that plays an important role – its the modern day Indian Muslim (people like me).
With the increase in the spending power of the average Indian, he is looking at avenues to make good use of the excess funds available. And it is this very thing that has made financial institutions think and come up with innovative ways to access these funds.
Recently an Islamic bank from Germany – named Baader, I think – conducted a seminar in Jammu & Kashmir to highlight the importance of investing and investing the Islamic way. Was watching this seminar on CNBC TV18 few days back.
With even the RBI setting up committees to investigate the feasibility of Islamic Banking system in India, the day is not so far when India can have its own Islamic Banks and Muslims from every corner of India participating in its success story.
Well there was a time when we (we as in my family) used to get up early in the morning, without even caring to brush our teeth, run to our neighbours house to watch the TV. Be it the Sunday morning shows, movies, Hum Log (serial on Doordarshan)… there would be a crowd gathered around to watch them.
Those were the days when I was a kid, and we have TV now. Its become a piece of crap, a real “idiot” idiot box. I mean just look at the kind of programming these TV channels are providing. Its becoming boring. Recently there was a time when the “Saas Bahu” serials were in demand, then there was game shows and now its Reality TV everywhere. And by everywhere I mean not only the Entertainment Channnels but News Channels are not far behind.
The news channels are meant to provide news.. which hardly any channel does these days. Just plain simple news is sensationalised to such an extent that it looses its meaning. I must make myself clear that some of the news that these channels broadcast is good. But on the whole I have lost interest in viewing these channels for the sole reson that the quality of news is at its lowest at this moment.Its more of a live drama -tamasha – going on.
I was happy to read that the cheif editor of a news channel shares the same view as me and for that matter, the Indian Junta..
Do go thru his blog: http://www.ibnlive.com/blogs/rajdeepsardesai/1/30339/ghosts-in-the-machine.html#
I dont understand why is a certain Mr. Virendra (Viru) Sehwag was allowed to hang around in the squad and even allowed to play when it was apparent that Viru was despirately searching for form which eluded him.
The moment Irfan Pathan was sent back to India (and co-incidently I was at the airport when this guy landed at MIAL, Mumbai), I thought Viru’s ticket was also reserved for the next flight, but NO our Mr. Consistent had other ideas. “The WALL” backed Viru till the end. Which in my view was a little too far…
It would have been a good lesson to Viru had he been kicked out of the squad as was done with Irfan Pathan. He has taken his job for granted. Playing irresponsibly and saying that its his “natural game” is pure crap.. I hope the selectors keep his past performance in mind while selecting the team for the next tour(s).
Well as far as Irfan Pathan goes, it serves him best what ever happened. Look at this guy, not long ago, he was despirate enough to go to Wasim Akram and ask his help. Now when Wasim Akram is willing to help him out, boss does not have time for it. He is too busy with other team engagements to even sort out things with a person whom Irfan regards as an Idol..
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