Ramblings

Last year, this time Mumbai faced nature's fury like never before. But, that just brought out the very best in the citizens. A big thanks to all the people who helped their fellow citizens in their time of distress in their individual capacities. And, heartfelt gratitude to the people who saved and helped my brother during the deluge. Cheers, HP

Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are. -Benjamin Franklin

One admission. I have this weird fear of entering a ladies washroom accidentally. And then getting a sound thrashing from all the ladies, fultoo Hindi film ishtyle. And with the advancement in ladies footwear, i dont want to imagine the blows. So, before entering any washroom I check the door at least a couple of times to verify. But, it was all right with the older ones displaying 'GENTS' and 'LADIES' in full glory. It used to make my work and life easier. But, that fear has increased leaps and bounds due to my inability to understand the symbols placed on the swanky washrooms that adorn the various new-age buildings. No, seriously I am never able to make head or tail of the men/women symbols or the biological symbols placed at the more scientific ones. Why cant we have those innocent 'LADIES' and 'GENTS' or 'Sirf Purushon Ke Liye' back? What is the need for all the geometrical symbols and all? Ok, I suggest a compromise. You keep those weird

The recent Israeli attacks on Lebanon has the world turning their eyes again to Middle East. I always used to wonder how Israel managed to survive and grow amidst the mindless violence that has engulfed the area. And unlike many others, my sympathies lies with both the Israelis and Palestinians. The fact that the Muslim world still does not recognise Israel as a nation-state is bothering. And the plight of the Palestinians is very much real and moving.Is the current aggression justified? Well, as most others think, the collateral damage that has taken place over there has tilted the balance against Israel. Then, the pictures of Israeli children sending death oops peace messages to the Lebanese people has incensed the general public further. So, who is to blame here? The Israelis for trying to protect their citizens at any cost or the Lebanese people whose crime is that they have not put enough pressure on their government to rein in the terriorists. Maybe, the truth somewhere lies in

With the recent blockade of some sites by GOI, the Delhi manadarins might want to pause and reflect on the below quote by the esteemed Benjamin Franklin. "Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both." -Ben Franklin Cheers, HP

In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life. It goes on. -- Robert Frost

Well, the trailers of Vishal Bharadwaaj's new movie 'Omkara' are out and it surely rocks big-time! Vishal has been one of the few directors in the industry who are willing to go the extra-mile to give the viewers their money's worth. So, just wish that the movie is as good as the trailer seems to be suggesting. Cheers, HP

The man who prefers his country before any other duty shows the same spirit as the man who surrenders every right to the state. They both deny that right is superior to authority. -Lord Acton, historian (1834-1902) Religion--freedom--vengeance--what you will, A word's enough to raise mankind to kill. -Lord Byron, poet (1788-1824)

aah...What a goal!!! What a goal!! ok..U wanna wash away all your sins!! Just watch this video hundred, no make it a thousand times and your sins will be washed away :-) Really, I am not kidding!!!!! For all u IE fans, the link is here. And for Mozilla rockers, just watch the video below. Just hope now that my team wins the World Cup and I get to wear the tee proudly :-) God Bless Argentina!!! Cheers, HP

Sidin and his team have launched a new website. Check it outa here. And going by Sidin's past writings , we expect nothing but the best from him. Here's wishing them all the best in the new venture. Cheers, HP

Nowadays Asif is blogging with a vengeance. And it is nice to see that. His latest post is about the silence of Bal Thackeray on the issue of reservations. Have a look here. Also, he has unveiled his new business plan over here. Matz is back and back with her favourite Himess bhaiyya. Do read it here. Also, always wanted to let you ppl know about The Comic Project . (For those 2 ppl in the indie blogworld who dont know abt it). Please have a look at the blog here. And finally, Iyero completes his Centuiyery. So, please applaud it here . Enjoi!!! Cheers, HP

First showers on the earth !! Cheers, HP

Lately, I have been receiving a lot of mails from ppl who support the anti-reservation movement. Well, nothing wrong in that. But, some try to appeal to my conscience and ask me to take a stand now. And tell me how doesn't my conscience pricks me and all that. For them,I would like to say my conscience is dead. Yes, dead and burried. It has died a slow death but it is dead. It died first the day the masjid was fallen.. A little part died when riots broke all over Mumbai and ppl started killing each other.. Some part of it died when a series of blasts rocked Bombay and simply changed the way Bombay lived.. Some part of it died when Graham Staines and his sons were burnt alive... It died when ppl were killed coz they had skinned a dead cow.. It died when ppl died of starvation when there was food rotting in the godowns.. It died when I saw some ppl scrapping thru our leftovers just coz they were expected to earn their food that way by virtue of being born in some god-dammned caste...

Since, the world cup is just days away, it makes sense to pay favourite-favourite :-) Yep, its that time of the year when you can make predictions and all. Also, you can lay bets on ur fav team. So, here I go. For me, the below three teams have a wonderful chance of laying their hands on the trophy. 1) Brazil (Expected) 2) England (Best Team Till Date) 3) Argentina More elaboration as to why I consider them the favourites to win will follow. Till then, keep kicking :-) Cheers, HP [ Cross-Posted at FutbaalRockers ]

Read the below article on Arundhati Roy's speech in New York. Pretty Interesting. No comments as of now but will do a full post some time later. http://www.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=68135 Cheers, HP

Read the below post by Iyer Education related to the Da Vinci Code. Simply good. Have a dekho ppl. http://iyerospace.blogspot.com/2006/05/rr-varma-code.html Cheers, HP

Always had been an ardent reader of Calvin and Hobbes strips. And, I love Mid-Day simply for that. They introduced me to the wonderful world of Calvin. Can't really pinpoint as to why I liked Calvin so much. Maybe, I connected to him at some level :-) Some Priceless Calvin moments or one-liners,IMHO "Life is unfair, but how come it's never unfair in my favor?" "Dad, how come you live in this house with mom, instead of in an apartment with several scantily clad female roommates." (Just love the way Calvin interacts with his Dad and the constant polls with which he constantly bombards his Dad, simply priceless) "Why should I work for any results? Its almost as if I dont deserve it !" Exactly my thoughts :-) Calvin sez - "I'm a man of few words" Then Hobbes says "If you read more, you can increase your vocabulary!" "Sometimes I think the surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is th

So, the expected happened. Barca became the UEFA Champions. As the season progressed this time, it was becoming more and more apparent that Barca were the team to beat this year. And coming into the finals, Barcelona were poised to lift the Champions Trophy. But, one team Arsenal was determined to make history and promised an entertaining match to the fans. I spent the better part of the night waiting for the match to start. Dad started getting a bit restless seeing me awake beyond midnight. And the old taunt of never staying late to study surfaced. But, yesterday everything was taken into the stride. Even gave a brief introduction of the Champions League to him. Finally, he slept murmurring something about 22 players fighting for a ball and all. But, I digress.. Anyways, coming to the match, Arsenal were aggressive right from the beginning which was not quite surprising actually. In the pre-match analysis, the pundits were discussing about the fact that Barca might just be wary of th

Saw a video at the below linked blog. Real cool video which depicts a debate in a school in Pakistan. The debate is on the nuclear tests conducted by Pakistan. More such debates at the ground level and more interactions would help the coming generations to live in peace. Enough of my blabber. Below is the link. http://crawls.blogspot.com/2006/05/future-certainly-looks-promising.html/ Cheers, HP