Noida : Sector-21 to Income Tax office in Sector-20 to Post office in Sector-19

Today morning I made a trip from Sector-21 to
Income tax office in Sector-20 to Post office
in Sector-19. Here's the map.(Lines
indicate the roads I took)


View Larger Map

Cuil

This new search engine has been
launched today. I ran a few ego searches on it, one for
"my name" another for "fundoo quotes". Results
ain't good. Will wait and watch.

pedestrians

No matter what the traffic situation in Bangalore is, pedestrians
have it better than their NCR counterparts. In NCR, the roads are really
wide, but the footpaths seem to be conspicuous by their absense.

disadvantage of flights

your friends can't piggyback with you
in case of a waitlisted ticket :-(

Good movies watched recently

The Dark Knight
Adaptation(2002)
Himalaya

I miss IIT

IITian pulls off a Sholay stunt

IIT student climbs 110 feet high water tank

Ex-IITian gives up suicide bid

Browsing

It is surprising, all of a sudden, my browsing takes a lot less
time than it used to only few weeks ago. I am done with RSS
feeds in few seconds and there seems to be nothing else
to read about...

RSS

There is no need to subscribe to all the blogs
you like. Some can be browsed and forgotten
too...

Noida Municipal Corporation - helpline

I called them today( July-07,2008) at this number : 0120 - 2425025
to complaint about the clogged drainage system
right in front of my office at A-56,Sector-64.
My complaint number :
30-2008070710043

More info here.

Update I (July-10,2008,10:26AM) :
Got a call from 9810721650,
saying that he is the new supervisor
here, and would get it cleaned up.

Update II (July-15,2008,11:39AM):
I didn't come to office yesterday. Today
morning I saw the drains had a lot
of garbage by their sides, which was
actually a result of cleaning which
had happened yesterday morning.
And, in this rainy season, it is only
a matter of time before this garbage
goes back to the drains.

Kala Pahad(Kala Pahar)

Just finished this book(Hindi/Mewati).

My comments :
It's a good book. Its climax reminds me of the movie
Marhi Da Deeva, when Raj Babbar starts hallucinating
before his death. In fact, even though the movie and
this book track two completely different themes, a lot
of characters and incidents can be correlated. Character
played by Kanwaljeet Singh comes pretty close to
Babu Khan in the book. Cutting of the tree in the movie,
where the Marhi is placed has its counterpart in this
book when Babu Khan cuts a tree at DadaKhanu.
And if there is a movie to be made on this book ever,
its central character Salemi, in my mind, will be
best played by Pankaj Kapur.



Here is a translation of the blurb :
Based in the region of Mewat. Mewat region consists of
segments from Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Haryana.
Mewatis had fought the Mugal emperor Baabar and
they have preserved India's "Mixed Heritage" till
today. "Kala Pahad" (which translates to "Black Mountain")
is not only the title of this novel, but it also symbolises
Mewat's geographical and cultural identity. The
author is not only attracted towards the historic
and heroic figure of Mewat, Hasan Khan Mewati,
but envelopes the shadows of the Ayodhya
tragedy as well. He gives the creative expression
to the damage done to the tolerant culture of
Mewat by this tragedy. Importance of the novel
lies in the fact that it allows people on the fringes
of the society to play the central role. Though
a "Dalit", author is free from any "Dalit Syndrom/Complex"
in the treatment of his characters.
----translation of the blurb ends here----

For more about people from Mewat(Meos),
read this.
This book has been quoted in another book on Meos :
Against History, Against State: Counterperspectives from the Margins By Shail Mayaram

Just for the sake of it...

1. I had added a movie named "Shasha Drushti", which was surprisingly
missing from IMDB. It has been approved and is live now.
I had also added the names of Anjan Srivastav and Javed Khan
to Chak De's cast on the same site.

2. LENOVO 3000 N100 laptops seem to have some
real problem with batteries. Me and my room mate,
both have had the batteries replaced twice in almost
17 months. First time it was under warranty. Next
time each of us had to threaten them by invoking
the name of Consumer court. I am in Noida,India
BTW.

3. Firewire/ILink cables available in Delhi
don't seem to be very reliable. On an average
I would say 50% of them are faulty. In Noida,
I couldn't even find a shop with ILink cables.
Once I got it from Nehru Place and another time
from Chandani Chowk. Both didn't work.
It will take a hell lot of time to go there again
just to have them replaced. Better to buy
the SONY cable. 10 times more expensive,
(Rs. 1500 vs. Rs. 150) but at least it will work.