English medium education

My 11 year old cousin studies in 5th standard of a reputed
English medium school of Jodhpur - St. Paul's. Right now
he is mugging up the definition of Lunar Eclipse for his
half yearly exams, blissfully oblivious to the fact that
I have made him the protagonist of this blog post. He
has learned the definition by heart, without an iota
of knowledge about what it actually is. Hell, he doesn't
even know that it is same as Chandra Grahan.

We Indians must be unique in our naivety towards
education. A kid is mugging up definitions in a
language that he doesn't understand. He would have
been much better placed, if it was Hindi at least.

Trivia about Jaws

Source

Spielberg himself was not present for the shooting of the final scene where the shark explodes. Spielberg believed that the crew were planning to throw him in the water when this scene was complete. It has since become a tradition for Spielberg to be absent when the final scene of a film he directs is being filmed.

Impact of Jaws on the Film Distribution in Hollywood

Source

Jaws was the first film to open nationwide, on hundreds of screens simultaneously, coupled with a national marketing campaign—-a then-unheard of practice. Scheinberg's rationale was that nationwide marketing costs would be amortized at a more favorable rate per print than if a slow, scaled release were carried out. Scheinberg's gamble paid off, with Jaws becoming a box office smash hit and the father of the summer blockbuster.Following the success of Jaws, major studio films have almost universally been distributed and marketed on a national scale.

Sharks

Just watched Jaws, a cult film released in 1975, by Stevn spielberg. This movie
is about a Shark that terrorizes a fictional island by eating up people at its
shores and how it's killed by some brave men. A wonderful piece of cinema.

But reading about it I came across some interesting stuff. Number one, that
Sharks are not as aggressive towards humans as depicted in the movie or
the novel on which it's based. In fact the author of the novel was himself
quoted as saying, in year 2000 :

"considering the knowledge accumulated about sharks in the last 25 years, I couldn't possibly write Jaws today ... not in good conscience anyway. Back then, it was generally accepted that great whites were anthrophagous (they ate people) by choice. Now we know that almost every attack on a human is an accident: The shark mistakes the human for its normal prey."

Also, from wikipedia :

In 2006 the International Shark Attack File (ISAF) undertook an investigation into 96 alleged shark attacks, confirming 62 of them as unprovoked attacks and 16 as provoked attacks. The average number of fatalities worldwide per year between 2001 and 2006 from unprovoked shark attacks is 4.3.

Contrary to popular belief, only a few sharks are dangerous to humans. Out of more than 360 species, only four have been involved in a significant number of fatal, unprovoked attacks on humans: the great white, oceanic whitetip, tiger, and bull sharks. These sharks, are large, powerful predators, and may sometimes attack and kill people. Interestingly, they have all been filmed without using a protective cage.

Sita sings the blues

A fantastic animation movie, created simply on a computer using 2-D graphics by
Nina Paley. You can read more about it here. Or download the legal 700 MB version.

A useful tool for cricket related queries.

Cricinfo's query engine

Here you can give a wide variety of queries.
For example :
Only one player has scored more than 1000 runs in
Tests without making a single 50-plus score. Name him.

Answer : Waqar Younis.

Here is a sample oracle query for the same.

Swine flu vaccination in India

All over world the people are receiving Swine Flu Vaccinations.
But in spite of a very high number of cases here in Jodhpur,Rajasthan(India)
I am yet to see any such thing. I am not sure about the rest of India though.

USA declares Tibet as a part of China

The latest Nobel peace laureate Mr. Barack Hussein Obama, who
also happens to be the current US president, has declared Tibet
as a part of China.

This must come as a shock to everyone, especially the Tibetans
who have just completed 50 years under Chinese oppression.
It was 1959 when then fled en masse from Tibat to take shelter
in India. Those who could not flee, either lost their lives or
succumbed to Chinese pressure to renounce their religious
beliefs.

Not only Mr. Obama is a Nobel peace laureate, but also
a man whom the world hailed as its savior in the run up
to the US presidential elections. But as it is turning out,
he is no better than his predecessor George W. Bush.

A careful look at Tibet's history reveals that Tibet
had indeed been a part of china in ancient history for
a certain duration. But its converse is true as well.
Sections of China were also a part of once formidable
Tibetan Empire.

Clearly, China is taking revenge of atrocities committed
to its people by Japan and Britain. And, in the process
creating new victims, who will undoubtedly take their
revenge one day.

As far as Obama is concerned, Ram gopal verma had disected
his so called aura and charisma rather easily :

"In the run up to the election the media presented Obama
in low angles with a highly dramatic background score and
pitched him as a hero against the villain George Bush."

"But once Obama took over as President the low angle
shots became eye level shots and the background score
was taken off".

"..in the times we are right now living in, the Media
makes even reality look like a showbiz effect."

Mcloedgunj again

Had visited this beautiful place in Oct-2006 and again
in Oct-2009 now. A short summary :

1. Stayed at Hotel Tibet(Rs. 770/- per day including Service tax)

In general Mcloedgunj and nearby areas have a vast array of
options for accommodation. You can get much cheaper/pricier rates
for hotels. Apart from this you can get rooms on yearly/monthly
basis as well, as a lot of people seem to stay here for long durations.

2. Hill Book Shop :

Very close to Hotel Tibet on the Bhagshu Road.
Here you can buy/sell second hand books. At times
you get the books very cheap.

3. For rock climbing/river crossing etc.

Regional Mountaineering Center on Tushita Road(+91-9418025191)

4. If you are trekking to the Triund, and want to stay at
the guest house there, you need to take permission from
the forest department(which is either in Dharmshala or Mcloedgunj, just enquire).

5. For people with religious interests,
Jwala Devi Temple : roughly 65 km from Mcloedgunj
Brajeshwari Devi Temple in Kangra : 27km from Mcloedgunj
(both lie on the same route).

6. Cheap(inexpensive) woolen clothes :
Delhi Departmental Store in Dharmshala main market.

7. There is a Himachal Tourism Club House(perhaps on Jogiwara road, or
you can enquire in main marked Mcloedgunj), where you can play Table
Tennis/Snooker etc.

8. A very small trek :
go to BhagshuNag waterfall.