Vedanta

One day the news is that Anil Agarwal is all set to overtake

Mukesh Ambani as the richest Indian. Next day, Vedanta's 

bauxite project proposal is rejected.

Did RIL pressure government to do it?

Anyway, the outcome is a welcome news, as the

proposed project in Orissa's Niyamgiri would have

led to an ecological disaster.

Meaning of "Zindagi se Darte ho"

Was looking to find the meaning of some typical words

in this song from Peepli Live, 

found a good place here at BollyMeaning.

This site hosts meanings of many other bollywood songs

as well.

IMDB like site for plays in India

IMDB is a great place to keep track of the movies you have watched, want to
watch, discuss or rate them. I don't know of a similar site for theatrical plays,
at leas in India. We DEFINITELY need it.

Wiki for toilets in India

Everyone who has ever been in India, or lived almost his whole life here (like me)
knows how difficult is it to find a public toilet. The problem becomes uncontrollable
(pun intended) when you need them urgently.

This problem is much more severe for girls/women, and has been very well
addressed in this article.

As an alternate solution, which I have personally been using for a long time,
it's much easier to go in a shopping mall/restaurant or other such places
where the toilets are easily available. But one may not always know those
places beforehand.

So, I propose to make a Wiki for easily accessible toilets in India. Its Wiki
structure will ensure that the information is wide and up-to-date.

It could have entries based on areas within a city.
For e.g.

M.G. Road, Bangalore :
1. Bangalore Central Mall, 2nd floor, just turn left from the escalator.

Hosur Road, Koramangala, Bangalore
1. Forum Mall, all floors

Since the wiki will be web based, a lot of people will not be able to use it,
when they need it. So best solution will be, if one could just send an sms
for e.g. TOILET  M G Road to 1234 and get a list of all the nearby toilets.

Let's hope that it works out one day.

Munshi Premchand

Got a chance to read some of Munshi Premchands' s stories today.
They never age. As fresh as ever.

Also found an online source.

Khatijabai of Karmali Terrace - By Jayati Bhatia

I watched another solo play today,

Khatijabai of Karmali Terrace - By Jayati Bhatia.

Another nice performance.

Language : English

Venue : Rang Shankara

It's the story of a Gujarati Muslim woman living

in Mumbai(then Bombay), who has seen many colors

of life : from being an orphan to getting married to

a man twice her age to losing her son to suicide to

losing her husband to another woman, she has seen it all.

Milieu of the play is set in almost a decade after Indian

independence.

Overall, worth a watch.

Also, Jayati Bhatia has played roles in many
television serials, including Sabki Laadli Bebo.

Narayana Murthy competing with Nandan Nilekeni ?

Breaking News : 

Narayana Murthy in PM's expert group on J&K

I am surprised as to what are the political credentials of Narayana Murthy,

which landed him this HIGHLY political job.

My guess is that he's simply fighting to achieve the same recognition

that his partner Nandan Nilekeni has. To the uninitiated,  Nilekeni is currently

 Chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), apart from 

heading government of India's technology committee called as TAGUP.

Way to go Murthy !

Swami and Friends

Very little has changed since that book was written.

Kids, as well as adults, still try to impress their friends

the way Swami used to do with Rajam.

Miss Meena

watched this play at Rang Shankara on saturday (31st July)

Rating : 2/5.

30-35% in Tamil,

rest in English.

The Doorway - by Jyoti Dogra

Jyoti Dogra

I have seen many plays in my life, but this one hit me

like a thunderbolt. It wasn't even a play in the conventional

sense. In all the performances of this play - seats are limited

and are usually restricted to 50-60 per show.

Describing it is futile - as the only way to find out about it

is to watch it. So don't miss a chance to watch it - if you

get one.

Here are some links on this out-of-the-blue performance : 

An image to an impulse

Her contorted body will remind you of your past

The doorway by Jyoti Dogra is poetry in motion

Interview with Jyoti Dogra

PS : I was surprised to find out that Jyoti Dogra

is the same actor who played Dukey Bana's wife

in Gulaal

Recession had ended

According to Wikipedia, the last recession ended in July, 2009.

Source.

1984 - a tragic year in India's history

Anti Sikh riots from November 1 to November 3.
Bhopal gas disaster on the night of December 3

The Aryans : A study of Indo European origins - Excerpts

from : V. GORDON CHILDE 


The data available seem susceptible of three interpretations: either the whole civilization of Punjab is Aryan, or the Aryan element enters at some date within the long ages represented by the accumulated debris--perhaps with the introduction of cremation--or finally the Aryans were destroyers of the newly discovered culture. 

The Indus Valley in the Vedic Period - Excerpts

from
   - Ramprasad Chanda

It is evident from the hymns of Rgveda that the Aryas were divided into two main classes, the priests and the warriors. Cattle breeding appears to be the main source of their livelihood, cows being the chief wealth. Agriculture was practised to limited extent. A hymn (9,112)  refers to the different professions followed and the crafts practised by the Aryas . Trade finds no place in the list.

So the conclusion that the much maligned Panis were the representatives of an earlier commercial civilization seems irrestible. Among the antiquities unearthed at Mohenjodaro are coins with pictographic legends that indicate very early developement of commercial life in the Indus Valley. The Panis probably represented this pre-historic civilization of the Indus Valley in its las phase when it came into contact with the invading Arya civilization.
......
The Arya conquerors who were inferior in material culture either destroyed the cities or allowed them to fall into ruin. Their great god Indra is called Puroha or Purandara, 'sacker of cities'. Like the pre-historic civilization of the Aegean, the pre-historic civilization of the Indus Valley also failed to survive the shock of the Aryan invasion.

Some Useful links

Consumer Forum India

Useful links for RTI

Nuremberg Travelogue

Written on : 12-05-2006

1. Desi Food:
Cooking material:
1. Asian Food Shop in Gostenhof.(Here you get Calling Cards as well)
2. Zara Markt in Nordostbahnhof
Cooked material:
3. Indian Express Food on Hauptbahnhof U-Bahn Station.
Something like Roti:
4. LAWA Pannkuchen(it's something like a Roti), You may find it in some
Stores. I found it n Netto(Sudwest Park).

2. Calling Cards:
1. Can be bought on most of the International Airports. In India,
Hyderabad and Bangalore International airports have Airtel Calling
Cards, which are slightly expensive than the cards you can buy in
Asien Food Shop(Gostenhof) or ___ , but serve as a backup in case
you land in here on a Sunday or can't buy the cards for quite some
time.
(Note added on 12-08-06) -> Airtel calling cards have another
advantage. They can be used from more than 100 countries(I forgot
the exact number). So if you are planning to tour other european
countries, prefer Airtel, as the locally available cards will work only in one or
two cities(not even countries, as far as I know).
Also, Airtel cards are available on some of the foriegn exchange shops.
(This may sound like an ad for Airtel, but having a right calling card
solves a lot of your problems, once you are out there.)

3. U-Bahn Map

4. Notes on Nuremberg:
A city with lots of greenery and parks.
People are well dressed and their hair
well taken care of. Low-rise jeans are
particularly popular among girls.
Coming from Bangalore, one thing that
comes as a surprise is, well, no ringing
mobiles. Either the mobile penetration
is low here or people are particular about
keeping their mobiles silent.
I have been here for a week now and the
weather has been pleasant. Length of
the day is quite long. Sun rises at around
5:30AM and sets at around 20:40.

Ding dang Pakistan reaches Semis

For the third time in as many T20 world cups, Pak

have reached Semis. I am not sure if they can

believe their luck :-)

No matter what they do, the universe indeed conspires

to see them through. This time they made their

way based on Net Run Rate.

Modi vs. Tharoor

Only one thing surprises me in the entire Lalit Modi vs. Shashi Tharoor saga.

How much of political clout does Lalit Modi have
to brazenly and openly talk against a central minister?

That too, when his proximity to the opposition party - BJP,
which is in dumps right now, is more than well known.

Either Modi is a stupid or just too smart.

And, I guess it's the latter.

To Chitrangada Singh

Happy B'day to you !

I didn't know you were born

in the same year as me ! And

you are only half a month older

than me !

Anyways, here is wising you

Many happy returns of the day !

From my heart :-)

PHP vs. MySql Documentation

Both are open source and critical for survival for many a web
developers. But when it comes to documentation, PHP is like
a million times ahead of MySql. Most of the documentation for
PHP is contributed by its users so I have no idea why does
MySql lag so behind.