The Buck Stops Here

Breaking News!!! Part 1

2009-01-19T23:19:00.003+05:30

I was bored and worse I was watching the news channels. That's when inspiration struck me.. and the result is below. I can assure everyone and anyone concerned, that the characters here have little or no resemblance to any living or dead person or animal. Even if there is one, its purely co-incidental. Actually my dear, I would give a damn, if it did resemble anyone. So here is the estory :p

Breaking News- Part 1
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The bahu rani of the Machhan household Ishwarya Bai Machhan denied that she was pregnant. She explained that the ever bulging tummy was because of the water diet that she was following in recent months. Her statement read thus "There has been a lot of speculation in the media about me being pregnant. Let me confirm to you that I am not pregnant. Camera's have been consistently and repeatedly pointed at my ever growing tummy which has fueled the speculation further. I would like to clarify that I have gone on a water diet in preparation for my role as Tun Tun in an upcoming movie".

The diet is being administered under the careful and watchful eyes of my Gynecologist Dr.Lielita(pronounced Lylita). The happiest day of my life will be the day when I will be pregnant. Every woman looks forward to motherhood and I am no different. Let the speculation rest.Thank you"

Had me thinking. What does a gynecologist has to do with administering a water diet. Besides why administer the diet up there.... or was it down there.. Beats my knowledge. Strange are the ways of these super glam women.

4 weeks passed since Ishwarya Bai issued her statement. It was a Tuesday morning. The news anchor was trying his best to stay awake while he delivered some news. Same case across the channels. I stopped at Thimes Bow. The chief anchor, Ernab Mooswami was stammering as usual. Suddenly he seem to perk up.. He interrupted the panel discussion by saying "We seem to have an important breaking news. Please remember we are the first ones to break this news. We will provide you updates every hour by the hour on this important new development. Please stay with us, while we take a break."

I continued watching...

Ernab returned...

Ernab: "Yes, Sanjana, tell us about this important breaking news"

Sanjana(reporter): "Ernab, in an important development today, we just heard that Ishwarya Bai, the bahu of the Machhan household has been admitted to hospital. While no reasons are being given by the first family , it is widely speculated that she tried committing suicide. The reasons for committing suicide are also not known. However one more unconfirmed theory doing the rounds is that Ishwarya is pregnant and has been taken to the hospital for delivering the baby"

Ernab: "Thanks Sanjana, viewers, thats the days breaking news, Ishwarya Bai has been admitted to the hospital for reasons unknown. It must be remembered that Thimes Bow had first broken the news that Ishwarya was pregnant 3 months back. Infact our team is searching for pictures of Ishwarya with that bump and ofcourse the unmistakable glow on her face...We will show you those pictures in a few seconds from now.."

I switched channels to KNN-BNN

It was rather odd that Jaideep Pardesai should be on air, if he was then the news must have been really important. I listened to him

Jaideep: Ishwarya Bai Machhan has been admitted to the hospital today for unknown conditions. For those who joined us now, that is the latest breaking news.
The reason for the admission are not known but we will keep you you updated as the news unfolds. In the mean while we have a panel of experts to discuss the matter on hand. We have with us, a known friend of the Machhan family, welcome Shri Umar Singh. Then we have a well known Movie Director , Hamesh Butt and well known writer of Modern Indian Novels(read that as soft porn) Gobha De.

Umar Singhji, you have known the Machhan family for so long, what could be the reason for the Ishwarya's admission. It is said nothing happens in the Macchan family without your blessings and knowledge. So what is the scoop Umarji ?

Umar: I agree that nothing happens in Machhan family without my knowledge. I dont know anything about it as I left their home at around 4 am and now the time is 10.30. A lot can happen in the time that has gone by. So let us wait for some news from Imithab Machhan himself.

Jaideep: Thanks Umarji for your answer, diplomatic though. We will now go over to Imithab Macchan's house where our reporter, Mohit is waiting with some news.. Mohit, what do you have for us ?

Mohit: thanks Jaideep, Imithab Machhan is expected to address the media shortly about this issue. The tension is very much palpable in the household and there has been a lot of visitors, film fraternity coming in... though everyone is tightlipped about why Ishwarya Bai is in the hospital. Ok! Imithab is just walking out of Salsa, the Machhan's bunglow to address the media. I shall catch the live telecast for you..

There is a lot of commotion at the venue. In the mean time Jaideep mutters: The entire media is out there waiting with bated breath for a few words from Imithab. Watch it live on KNN-BNN only.

I switched to BDTV. It was Sikram Bandra who was on air.

Sikram: Our team is right outside the Salsa gate as we bring you live pictures of the Imithab's address to the media. Harka Butt is out there bringing you the news as it happens. Harka, what do you have for us.

Harka is panting big time, almost as if she was having a nervous breakdown. In an excited emotional voice she started "Sikram, it is a big crowd out here at the Salsa, the Machhan family;s bungalow. There is a sea of humanity out here with everyone curious to know what has happened to the darling of India, Ishwarya Bai".

At that time Imithab Macchan makes a dignified entrance, steps upto the media. A flurry of questions shot out towards Macchan like bullets fired from a machine gun.

In his baritone voice Machhan started speaking : "I will not be answering any questions but I have come here to tell the media about an important development in our family", lifts his left hand up to quieten the crowd. Silence reigns still. Imithab continues "My son Ibhishake Machhan recently told me that he and Ishwarya Bai have decided to have a child and that they have been making progress on the same. Yesterday evening, he told me that Ishwarya Bai was 9 months pregnant and was due anytime. He also said that he dint want to tell us earlier as he wanted to give us a big surprise. In the mean time Ishwarya started having labour pains and we have rushed her to the hospital. We expect the delivery anytime. Thank you". He starts walking back to the house ignoring the ever increasing number of questions thrown at him.

Mujhe Chand Chahiye : Moon for sale

2008-11-10T21:47:00.003+05:30

Chand Ka Tukda
Mujhe Chand Chahiye

Well for all those romantic moon lovers, here is some good news. You can buy land right up there in the moon. Right between those craters, rocks and mountains. If you are lucky, you might even get a piece of land right next to Neil Armstrong;s footprint or maybe right next to the flag.

The prices are dirt cheap too. An acre of land will cost Rs.1000 only. With that amount , on heavenly earth you cant even dig your own grave, so it is better that you invest the amount in buying an acre of land on the moon.

You can buy the land from www.lunarembassy.com, www.lunarregistry.com and www.moonshop.com. They will be more than glad to sell you that acre of land.

But me thinks that the real estate mafia should all be put up on a rocket to the moon. I am sure they will jack up prices to such an extent that no one would buy even an inch of land and soon they would bring those prices to acceptable levels i,e 1000 rupees per acre.

So go ahead, buy that acre of land and build your dream house there. The only condition, no mooning allowed :D

Social Networking gets exclusive

2008-11-10T00:24:00.003+05:30

Social Networking has been one of the greatest innovations on the internet. A new way of people with common interests, likes and dislikes getting together. SN sites have been open to everyone irrespective of your creed, wealth and havent really cared if you are a dog. But a new wave of SN sites are propping up. Like niches in every other industry, here too niches are propping up. Here is the niche is that you must be well heeled and wealthy. Welcome to the world of exclusive social networking sites. Meant only for the super rich( some sites have a requirement that you should have a net worth of roughly 3 million dollars), trendy , hip and the happening, these sites have carved themselves a place among the elitist.

Here are some of the sites. If you are one of those well heeled(I dint mean models), super rich dude and dudette, then it is time you checked these sites out.

aSmallWorld
aSmallWorld is an exclusive social networking site launched in 2004 by former Lehman Brothers banker Erik Wachtmeister. With 320,000 members globally, the site was termed `MySpace for millionaires' by Wall Street Journal.

Strictly by invitation only, the social networking site members don’t have to pay any entry fee. Newcomers are inducted on the basis of education, profession and most important, their network of personal contacts. If you don't know a member with invite powers, you're out of luck.

Once invited to join the network, a member can browse the market guide, surf the luxury-travel guide and global-event guide, or participate in forum discussions -- one of the site's most active and popular features.

Members can interact with like-minded individuals who share the same circle of friends, interests, and schedules. Members range from entrepreneurial and business opinion makers to leaders in media, entertainment, fashion, art and sports.

Most of the websites content is produced by the members only who offer travel suggestions, feedback, lively forum discussions, and other topics of common interest.

Diamondlounge.com


Diamond Lounge is one of the most exclusive sites with small membership. The site claims to be a luxury online space aimed at those who want a sophisticated and classy alternative to the standard online dating and social networking websites. As for membership, "Our members are eligible, professional individuals who appreciate the benefits of an exclusive and private environment where they can date and socialise with likeminded people." According to owner Arya Marafie, DiamondLounge.com focuses mainly on dating and fun, just like an exclusive online club. However, according to him, being wealthy won't automatically get one in the door. The person also needs to be interesting and bring something to the table. The average age of members is between 35 to 40, significantly older than MySpace or Facebook. The signup process is easy and people can create profiles free of charge. Potential club members can apply online and will be accepted or declined based on what they do and whom they know. Members have to pay a $50 monthly fee. The company claims that it spends a tremendous amount of time making sure that they select the right club members, because these are the people who will invite the next group. Luxuryratings.com One of the youngest social network for the mega rich, LuxuryRatings.com is a free members-only ratings site for consumers who seek and enjoy luxury brand `experiences'. Started by Luxury Institute, the site offers access to member ratings of several different types of service providers, from wealth advisers to art dealers to yacht brokers. The company claims that LuxuryRatings.com is not as chatty and crowed as the popular networking sites. It is mainly a network of member-generated ratings for brands and the people behind them. Members need to have a minimum net worth of $3 million. Squa.re Squa.re is a community-generated TV site dedicated to luxury, style and hi-fashion. The Squa.re website features a range of channels to watch from high living, to nightlife to style and luxury travel. The site features a wide range of channels to watch and enjoy, centered around four verticals: high living, nightlife, style and escape. To get into Squa.re one must receive an invitation from an existing member. Alternatively, if a user feels he has appropriate content to showcase on the website, he can also contact the Square team directly. Members of Squa.re can also upload their own videos and photos and create their own channel for others to view. Every video or photograph uploaded by a member is first approved by the Squa.re staff for quality and class. Quintessentially Quintessentially is a luxury-lifestyle concierge service started by Prince Charles's nephew. This private members club with a 24-hour global concierge service has offices in almost every major city worldwide. Membership to Quintessentially is strictly limited, and you can apply online through their website. If the application is successful, the user will receive full information along with his membership card. The membership card entails a variety of benefits right from travel, music, art, food, drink, hotels, clubs, spas and restaurants. Members can also enjoy exclusive services like getting front row seats at fashion shows, find presents in a hurry, attend VIP after-parties, get dinner reservations, go to film premieres, book theatre tickets, charter yachts and go to charity galas. Most of the Quintessentially services and offers can be accessed online. There are different levels of Quintessentially membership. The general membership provides the full range of Quintessentially services and benefits 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The Elite memberships are available by invitation only.

Longest Legal Battle: 175 years in the making

2008-11-09T09:00:00.002+05:30

The wheels of Indian justice grind slowly, but there are times when they don't move at all — as has happened with the record-breaking case of an erstwhile Bengali royal family's proverty. The matter, which is now in the Calcutta High Court, has been pending for 175 years, making it perhaps the country's longest-running case.

The property belonged to Raja Rajkrishna Deb, a 17th-century landlord of Bengal's Shovabazar royal family. Now, the Raja's descendents — some 200 of them — are demanding it.

The stakes are high — some seven mansions in north Kolkata, nearly 100,000 acres of land in what is now Bangladesh, large tracts of land in at least three districts of West Bengal, and half of erstwhile Sutanati, one of the three villages that make up modern Kolkata.

But all this is still in the hands of a court-appointed receiver. "We are kings in name only. There is no money even to take care of the temples and do puja," a descendent of the raja told TOI. Incidentally, the Shovabazar Durga Puja is an institution in Kolkata.

The problems began when Raja Rajkrishna Deb died in 1823, bequeathing his estate to his seven surviving sons. But the sons started selling off property to fund their luxurious lifestyles.

The matter first came to court in 1833, when an executor of Rajkrishna Deb's will lodged a case to try to stop the sale. After pondering the case for 22 years, the judges appointed a British lawyer to oversee the property and the case dragged on.

Now the heirs want it back but legal experts say it won't be easy for the high court to take a decision on a case file that's been gathering dust for nearly two centuries. National and state boundaries have since changed and a substantial portion of the land once owned by Raja Rajkrishna Deb is now in Bangladesh.

Presidential Election: All in Pictures, the funny side of it

2008-11-05T11:12:00.000+05:30

Obama baracks Mc Cain

2008-11-05T10:53:00.000+05:30

Barack Obama has swept the American Presidential Election, in the process becoming the first black President of America. The sweep was complete 338 to 156. There will be no need for the Supreme Court to intervene in deciding who the new President will be. Mc Cain has conceded defeat and has called up Obama to congratulate him on the splendid victory.

Nevertheless, people have voted for change and Obama has a task that looks insurmountable. Iraq crises, Economy, Afghanistan and ofcourse numerous other issues. 8 years of war mongering has let America with few friends and I hope Obama will soothe those frayed nerves.

Best wishes to the new President

2004 Indian Ocean tsunami biggest in 600 years: Study

2008-10-30T23:12:00.000+05:30

The tsunami that killed 230,000 people in 2004 was the biggest in the Indian Ocean in some 600 years, two new geological studies

suggest. That long gap might explain how enough geological stress built up to power the huge undersea earthquake that launched the killer waves four years ago, researchers said.

The work appears in Thursday's issue of the journal Nature. Two research teams report that by digging pits and taking core samples in Thailand and northern Sumatra, they found evidence that the last comparably large tsunami struck between the years 1300 and 1400.

The researchers found deposits of sand that were apparently left by the waves, and estimated their age with carbon dating of associated plant debris.

The December 2004 disaster killed people in 14 countries. Waves more than 100 feet high struck northern Sumatra and deposited sand more than a mile inland, researchers said. In Thailand, the waves also ran more than a mile inland, leaving deposits of sand some 2 inches to 8 inches (5 centimetres to 20 centimetres) thick.

UN votes to lift US embargo on Cuba

2008-10-30T23:10:00.000+05:30

UNITED NATIONS: The UN General Assembly on Wednesday voted overwhelmingly for the 17th year in a row in favour of lifting the 46-year-old US

trade embargo on communist-ruled Cuba, as Havana hoped for improved ties with a new US administration.

Some 185 of the assembly's 192 members approved a resolution, which reiterated a "call upon all states to refrain from promulgating and applying laws and measures (such as those in the US embargo) in conformity with their obligations under the Charter of the United Nations and international law."

The United States, Israel and Palau voted against the resolution, while Micronesia and the Marshall Islands abstained.

As in previous years, the assembly urged "states that have and continue to apply such laws and measures to take the necessary steps to repeal or invalidate them as soon as possible in accordance with their legal regime."

The margin of support for ending the embargo has grown steadily since 1992, when 59 countries voted in favour of the resolution. The figure was 179 in 2004, 182 in 2005 and 184 in 2007.

Ronald Godard, the US State Department's senior advisor for Latin American affairs, defended the embargo and blamed the communist regime in Havana for Cuba's woes.

"The real reason the Cuban economy is in terrible condition and that so many Cubans remain mired in poverty is that Cuba's regime continues to deny its people their basic human and economic rights," he told the General Assembly.

Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque welcomed the assembly vote but also looked ahead to future US-Cuba relations after next week's White House election between Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain.

The US economic, trade and financial sanctions were imposed 46 years ago following the failed Bay of Pigs invasion of the Caribbean island nation by US-backed Cuban exiles.

Noting that the US embargo is "older than Barack Obama and my entire generation," Perez Roque said the new US president "will have to decide whether to concede that the embargo is a failed policy which each time creates greater isolation and discredits his country or whether he continues, with obstinacy and cruelty, to try to wear out the Cuban people with hunger and diseases."

Memorable quotes of Dhirubhai Ambani

2008-10-30T22:48:00.000+05:30

From the very beginning, Dhirubhai was held in high esteem as a big dreamer, a visionary. His stupendous success in business and his story from rags to riches made him a cult figure. He gave few public speeches but the words he spoke are still remembered for their value.

Some of his memorable quotes:

• "With the force of 3million investors RIL will reap the title "World's Biggest Company"

•*"Tax is for the poor or the stupid people."

•*"I am deaf to the word "no"."

• "Growth has no limit at Reliance. I keep revising my vision. Only when you dream it you can do it."

• "Think big, think fast, think ahead. Ideas are no one's monopoly"

• "Our dreams have to be bigger. Our ambitions higher. Our commitment deeper. And our efforts greater. This is my dream for Reliance and for India."

• "You do not require an invitation to make profits."

• "If you work with determination and with perfection, success will follow."

• "Pursue your goals even in the face of difficulties, and convert adversities into opportunities."

• "Give the youth a proper environment. Motivate them. Extend them the support they need. Each one of them has infinite source of energy. They will deliver."

• "Between my past, the present and the future, there is one common factor: Relationship and Trust. This is the foundation of our growth"

• "We bet on people."

• "Meeting the deadlines is not good enough, beating the deadlines is my expectation."

• "Don't give up, courage is my conviction."

• "We cannot change our Rulers, but we can change the way they Rule Us."

• "Dhirubhai will go one day. But Reliance's employees and shareholders will keep it afloat. Reliance is now a concept in which the Ambanis have become irrelevant."

Rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life: JK Rowling

2008-10-30T22:46:00.000+05:30

.K. Rowling, author of the best-selling Harry Potter book series, delivers her Commencement Address, “The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination,” at the Annual Meeting of the Harvard Alumni Association.

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President Faust, members of the Harvard Corporation and the Board of Overseers, members of the faculty, proud parents, and, above all, graduates.

The first thing I would like to say is 'thank you.' Not only has Harvard given me an extraordinary honor, but the weeks of fear and nausea I've experienced at the thought of giving this commencement address have made me lose weight. A win-win situation! Now all I have to do is take deep breaths, squint at the red banners and fool myself into believing I am at the world's best-educated Harry Potter convention.

Delivering a commencement address is a great responsibility; or so I thought until I cast my mind back to my own graduation. The commencement speaker that day was the distinguished British philosopher Baroness Mary Warnock. Reflecting on her speech has helped me enormously in writing this one, because it turns out that I can't remember a single word she said. This liberating discovery enables me to proceed without any fear that I might inadvertently influence you to abandon promising careers in business, law or politics for the giddy delights of becoming a gay wizard.

You see? If all you remember in years to come is the 'gay wizard' joke, I've still come out ahead of Baroness Mary Warnock. Achievable goals: the first step towards personal improvement.

Actually, I have wracked my mind and heart for what I ought to say to you today. I have asked myself what I wish I had known at my own graduation, and what important lessons I have learned in the 21 years that has expired between that day and this.

I have come up with two answers. On this wonderful day when we are gathered together to celebrate your academic success, I have decided to talk to you about the benefits of failure. And as you stand on the threshold of what is sometimes called 'real life', I want to extol the crucial importance of imagination.

These might seem quixotic or paradoxical choices, but please bear with me.

Looking back at the 21-year-old that I was at graduation is a slightly uncomfortable experience for the 42-year-old that she has become. Half my lifetime ago, I was striking an uneasy balance between the ambition I had for myself, and what those closest to me expected of me.

I was convinced that the only thing I wanted to do, ever, was to write novels. However, my parents, both of whom came from impoverished backgrounds and neither of whom had been to college, took the view that my overactive imagination was an amusing personal quirk that could never pay a mortgage, or secure a pension.

They had hoped that I would take a vocational degree; I wanted to study English Literature. A compromise was reached that in retrospect satisfied nobody, and I went up to study Modern Languages. Hardly had my parents' car rounded the corner at the end of the road than I ditched German and scuttled off down the Classics corridor.

I cannot remember telling my parents that I was studying Classics; they might well have found out for the first time on graduation day. Of all subjects on this planet, I think they would have been hard put to name one less useful than Greek mythology when it came to securing the keys to an executive bathroom.

I would like to make it clear, in parenthesis, that I do not blame my parents for their point of view. There is an expiry date on blaming your parents for steering you in the wrong direction; the moment you are old enough to take the wheel, responsibility lies with you. What is more, I cannot criticise my parents for hoping that I would never experience poverty. They had been poor themselves, and I have since been poor, and I quite agree with them that it is not an ennobling experience. Poverty entails fear, and stress, and sometimes depression; it means a thousand petty humiliations and hardships. Climbing out of poverty by your own efforts, that is indeed something on which to pride yourself, but poverty itself is romanticised only by fools.

What I feared most for myself at your age was not poverty, but failure.

At your age, in spite of a distinct lack of motivation at university, where I had spent far too long in the coffee bar writing stories, and far too little time at lectures, I had a knack for passing examinations, and that, for years, had been the measure of success in my life and that of my peers.

I am not dull enough to suppose that because you are young, gifted and well-educated, you have never known hardship or heartbreak. Talent and intelligence never yet inoculated anyone against the caprice of the Fates, and I do not for a moment suppose that everyone here has enjoyed an existence of unruffled privilege and contentment.

However, the fact that you are graduating from Harvard suggests that you are not very well-acquainted with failure. You might be driven by a fear of failure quite as much as a desire for success. Indeed, your conception of failure might not be too far from the average person's idea of success, so high have you already flown academically.

Ultimately, we all have to decide for ourselves what constitutes failure, but the world is quite eager to give you a set of criteria if you let it. So I think it fair to say that by any conventional measure, a mere seven years after my graduation day, I had failed on an epic scale. An exceptionally short-lived marriage had imploded, and I was jobless, a lone parent, and as poor as it is possible to be in modern Britain, without being homeless. The fears my parents had had for me, and that I had had for myself, had both come to pass, and by every usual standard, I was the biggest failure I knew.

Now, I am not going to stand here and tell you that failure is fun. That period of my life was a dark one, and I had no idea that there was going to be what the press has since represented as a kind of fairy tale resolution. I had no idea how far the tunnel extended, and for a long time, any light at the end of it was a hope rather than a reality.

So why do I talk about the benefits of failure? Simply because failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy into finishing the only work that mattered to me. Had I really succeeded at anything else, I might never have found the determination to succeed in the one arena I believed I truly belonged. I was set free, because my greatest fear had already been realised, and I was still alive, and I still had a daughter whom I adored, and I had an old typewriter and a big idea. And so rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.

You might never fail on the scale I did, but some failure in life is inevitable. It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all – in which case, you fail by default.

Failure gave me an inner security that I had never attained by passing examinations. Failure taught me things about myself that I could have learned no other way. I discovered that I had a strong will, and more discipline than I had suspected; I also found out that I had friends whose value was truly above rubies.

The knowledge that you have emerged wiser and stronger from setbacks means that you are, ever after, secure in your ability to survive. You will never truly know yourself, or the strength of your relationships, until both have been tested by adversity. Such knowledge is a true gift, for all that it is painfully won, and it has been worth more to me than any qualification I ever earned.

Given a time machine or a Time Turner, I would tell my 21-year-old self that personal happiness lies in knowing that life is not a check-list of acquisition or achievement. Your qualifications, your CV, are not your life, though you will meet many people of my age and older who confuse the two. Life is difficult, and complicated, and beyond anyone's total control, and the humility to know that will enable you to survive its vicissitudes.

You might think that I chose my second theme, the importance of imagination, because of the part it played in rebuilding my life, but that is not wholly so. Though I will defend the value of bedtime stories to my last gasp, I have learned to value imagination in a much broader sense. Imagination is not only the uniquely human capacity to envision that which is not, and therefore the fount of all invention and innovation. In its arguably most transformative and revelatory capacity, it is the power that enables us to empathize with humans whose experiences we have never shared.

One of the greatest formative experiences of my life preceded Harry Potter, though it informed much of what I subsequently wrote in those books. This revelation came in the form of one of my earliest day jobs. Though I was sloping off to write stories during my lunch hours, I paid the rent in my early 20s by working in the research department at Amnesty International's headquarters in London.

There in my little office I read hastily scribbled letters smuggled out of totalitarian regimes by men and women who were risking imprisonment to inform the outside world of what was happening to them. I saw photographs of those who had disappeared without trace, sent to Amnesty by their desperate families and friends. I read the testimony of torture victims and saw pictures of their injuries. I opened handwritten, eye-witness accounts of summary trials and executions, of kidnappings and rapes.

Many of my co-workers were ex-political prisoners, people who had been displaced from their homes, or fled into exile, because they had the temerity to think independently of their government. Visitors to our office included those who had come to give information, or to try and find out what had happened to those they had been forced to leave behind.

I shall never forget the African torture victim, a young man no older than I was at the time, who had become mentally ill after all he had endured in his homeland. He trembled uncontrollably as he spoke into a video camera about the brutality inflicted upon him. He was a foot taller than I was, and seemed as fragile as a child. I was given the job of escorting him to the Underground Station afterwards, and this man whose life had been shattered by cruelty took my hand with exquisite courtesy, and wished me future happiness.

And as long as I live I shall remember walking along an empty corridor and suddenly hearing, from behind a closed door, a scream of pain and horror such as I have never heard since. The door opened, and the researcher poked out her head and told me to run and make a hot drink for the young man sitting with her. She had just given him the news that in retaliation for his own outspokenness against his country's regime, his mother had been seized and executed.

Every day of my working week in my early 20s I was reminded how incredibly fortunate I was, to live in a country with a democratically elected government, here legal representation and a public trial were the rights of everyone.

Every day, I saw more evidence about the evils humankind will inflict on their fellow humans, to gain or maintain power. I began to have nightmares, literal nightmares, about some of the things I saw, heard and read.

And yet I also learned more about human goodness at Amnesty International than I had ever known before.

Amnesty mobilizes thousands of people who have never been tortured or imprisoned for their beliefs to act on behalf of those who have. The power of human empathy, leading to collective action, saves lives, and frees prisoners. Ordinary people, whose personal well-being and security are assured, join together in huge numbers to save people they do not know, and will never meet. My small participation in that process was one of the most humbling and inspiring experiences of my life.

Unlike any other creature on this planet, humans can learn and understand, without having experienced. They can think themselves into other people's minds, imagine themselves into other people's places.

Of course, this is a power, like my brand of fictional magic, that is morally neutral. One might use such an ability to manipulate, or control, just as much as to understand or sympathise.

And many prefer not to exercise their imaginations at all. They choose to remain comfortably within the bounds of their own experience, never troubling to wonder how it would feel to have been born other than they are. They can refuse to hear screams or to peer inside cages; they can close their minds and hearts to any suffering that does not touch them personally; they can refuse to know.

I might be tempted to envy people who can live that way, except that I do not think they have any fewer nightmares than I do. Choosing to live in narrow spaces can lead to a form of mental agoraphobia, and that brings its own terrors. I think the willfully unimaginative see more monsters. They are often more afraid.

What is more, those who choose not to empathise may enable real monsters. For without ever committing an act of outright evil ourselves, we collude with it, through our own apathy.

One of the many things I learned at the end of that Classics corridor down which I ventured at the age of 18, in search of something I could not then define, was this, written by the Greek author Plutarch: What we achieve inwardly will change outer reality.

That is an astonishing statement and yet proven a thousand times every day of our lives. It expresses, in part, our inescapable connection with the outside world, the fact that we touch other people's lives simply by existing.

But how much more are you, Harvard graduates of 2008, likely to touch other people's lives? Your intelligence, your capacity for hard work, the education you have earned and received, give you unique status, and unique responsibilities. Even your nationality sets you apart. The great majority of you belong to the world's only remaining superpower. The way you vote, the way you live, the way you protest, the pressure you bring to bear on your government, has an impact way beyond your borders. That is your privilege, and your burden.

If you choose to use your status and influence to raise your voice on behalf of those who have no voice; if you choose to identify not only with the powerful, but with the powerless; if you retain the ability to imagine yourself into the lives of those who do not have your advantages, then it will not only be your proud families who celebrate your existence, but thousands and millions of people whose reality you have helped transform for the better. We do not need magic to change the world, we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already: we have the power to imagine better.

I am nearly finished. I have one last hope for you, which is something that I already which is something that I already had at 21. The friends with whom I sat on graduation day have been my friends for life. They are my children's godparents, the people to whom I've been able to turn in times of trouble, friends who have been kind enough not to sue me when I've used their names for Death Eaters. At our graduation we were bound by enormous affection, by our shared experience of a time that could never come again, and, of course, by the knowledge that we held certain photographic evidence that would be exceptionally valuable if any of us ran for Prime Minister.

So today, I can wish you nothing better than similar friendships. And tomorrow, I hope that even if you remember not a single word of mine, you remember those of Seneca, another of those old Romans I met when I fled down the Classics corridor, in retreat from career ladders, in search of ancient wisdom:

As is a tale, so is life: not how long it is, but how good it is, is what matters.

I wish you all very good lives.

Thank you very much.

---

About the speaker:

Joanne "Jo" Rowling OBE^[ (born 31 July 1965), who writes under the pen name J. K. Rowling, is a British writer and author of the Harry Potter fantasy series, the idea for which was conceived whilst on a train trip from Manchester to London in 1990. The Potter books have gained worldwide attention, won multiple awards, and sold nearly 400 million copies. Aside from writing the Potter novels, Rowling is equally famous for her "rags to riches" life story, in which she progressed from living on welfare to multi-millionaire status within five years. The 2008 Sunday Times Rich List estimated Rowling's fortune at £560 million ($1.1 billion), ranking her as the 12th richest woman in Britain. Forbes ranked Rowling as the 48th most powerful celebrity of 2007and Time magazine named her as a runner-up for its 2007 Person of the Year, noting the social, moral, and political inspiration she has given her fandom. She has become a notable philanthropist, supporting such charities as Comic Relief, One Parent Families and the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Great Britain.

How about a billion dollar note ?

2008-10-30T22:43:00.001+05:30

If you think that the current economic crisis is something that has never happened in history before, you may be wrong! After the collapse of the agriculture sector in Zimbabwe in 2000, the inflation in that country skyrocketed to 231 million percent a year! Just think about it - 231 000 000%! Unemployment went up to 80% and a third of country’s population left it.

Let`s now have a look at the photos that you may not be able to see anywhere else in the world.

Here is a boy getting change in 200 000 dollar notes!

One 200 000 dollar note equals less than $0.10 cents.

December 22nd, a new note of 500 000 dollars introduced to the market!

Next - 750 000 dollars.

January - new note of 10 million dollars.

This US $10 dollar note is 10 times worth more than the 10 million dollars Zimbabwe note.

A case worth 65 billion Zimbabwe dollars which equals to $2000 US dollars.

This guy is going to a supermarket. The exchange rate is 25 million Zimbabwe dollars for 1 US dollar.

This mountain of cash is worth $100.

50 Million note is then introduced!

Next is 250 million dollars note!

Sorry, how much is this t-shirt?

- It`s cheap, only about 3 billion dollars!

May - a note of 500 million dollars is introduced!

June - note worth 25 and 50 billion are printed.

And finally - 100 billion dollars note!

What can you buy for it? Well, these 3 eggs for example.

Thats how people went to restaurants!

And the bills:

In August, the government devalued Zimbabwe dollar by removing 10 zeros from notes.

However, inflation kept going up and in September for this amount of cash you could only buy 4 tomatoes.

And for this - some bread.

And then it started again: 20 000 dollars note in September.

50 000 a couple of weeks ago!

They`ve got a pretty good chance of hitting billion dollar notes again by the end of this year!

Steve Jobs' 12 Rules of Success

2008-10-30T22:39:00.000+05:30

Steve Jobs, founder of Apple Computers and Pixar Animation Studios and one of the most successful entrepreneurs of our generation, spells out 12 rules for success.

1. Do what you love to do. Find your true passion. Do what you love to do a make a difference! The only way to do great work is to love what you do.

2. Be different. Think different. Better be a pirate than to join the navy.

3. Do your best. Do your best at every job. No sleep! Success generates more success. So be hungry for it. Hire good people with a passion for success.

4. Make SWOT analysis. As soon as you join/start a company, make a list of strengths and weaknesses of yourself and your company on a piece of paper. Don't hesitate in throwing bad apples out of the company.

5. Be entrepreneurial. Look for the next big thing. Find a set of ideas that need to be quickly and decisively acted upon and jump through that window. Sometimes the first step is the hardest one. Just take it! Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.

6. Start small, think big. Don't worry about too many things at once. Take a handful of simple things to begin with, and then progress to more complex ones. Think about not just tomorrow, but the future. I want to put a ding in the universe.

7. Strive to become a market leader. Own and control the primary technology in everything you do. If there's a better technology available, use it no matter if anyone else is not using it. Be the first, and make it an industry standard.

8. Focus on the outcome. People judge you by your performance, so focus on the outcome. Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren't used to an environment where excellence is expected. Advertise. If they don't know it, they won't buy your product. Pay attention to design. We made the buttons on the screen look so good you'll want to lick them. Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.

9. Ask for feedback. Ask for feedback from people with diverse backgrounds. Each one will tell you one useful thing. If you're at the top of the chain, sometimes people won't give you honest feedback because they're afraid. In this case, disguise yourself, or get feedback from other sources. Focus on those who will use your product – listen to your customers first.

10. Innovate. Innovation distinguishes a leader from a follower. Delegate, let other top executives do 50% of your routine work to be able to spend 50% your time on the new stuff. Say no to 1,000 things to make sure you don't get on the wrong track or try to do too much. Concentrate on really important creations and radical innovation. Hire people who want to make the best things in the world. You need a very product-oriented culture, even in a technology company. Lots of companies have tons of great engineers and smart people. But ultimately, there needs to be some gravitational force that pulls it all together.

11. Learn from failures. Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly, and get on with improving your other innovations.

12. Learn continually. There's always "one more thing" to learn! Cross-pollinate ideas with others both within and outside your company. Learn from customers, competitors and partners. If you partner with someone whom you don't like, learn to like them – praise them and benefit from them. Learn to criticize your enemies openly, but honestly.

From Rs 50 to a Forbes billionaire!

2008-10-30T22:37:00.000+05:30

Puthan Naduvath Chenthamaraksha Menon, or P N C Menon, chairman of the Rs 1,500-crore Sobha Developers Ltd, is one of the few dollar-billionaires in India. For the last two years, he has been listed in the Forbes list of billionaires (he is listed at number 754 in the last Forbes list of world’s billionaires).

Menon set up his empire in the Sultanate of Oman with just Rs 50 in hand. Through sheer hard work and some wise decisions, he has become one of the most successful businessmen from India. Today, his company has a presence in India, Dubai, and Oman.

Sobha Developers went public in November 2006. Today, more than 4,000 people are directly employed by Menon, in addition to the thousands more involved in the construction of his buildings.

As he diversifies his activities as a businessman, he is also in the process of developing the village he belongs to by adopting the 3,000-odd families which are below the poverty line.

At Vadakkancherry in Kerala, he has built a hermitage for old people and young widows, a school for children and also a hospital for the villagers. He also runs the Sobha Tradesman Academy in Bangalore that trains people from economically-backward villages in trades related to the construction industry.

An insight into his amazing story…

Childhood in Kerala

I am from an agricultural family in Palghat in Kerala. As my father was into small business in Thrissur, I grew up there. I lost my father when I was 10 years old, and my grandparents were not educated enough to take care of his business. My mother also was ill. So, everything disappeared in a short period of time.

You can say I became an adult at the age of 10 or 12, and started taking decisions on my own from that age. It was a very unfortunate childhood; not a happy one at all.

I did not complete my graduation; I dropped out. If you ask me why, I don’t know. Probably I was in a hurry to be on my own. Like many children who come from a business background, working for somebody else was not there in my mind.

I started my own interior decoration business; small scale contract work of the interiors of houses and offices. It was nothing to write home about.

Chance meeting with an Arab

In 1976, I met this gentleman – Brig. Gen Suleiman Al Adawy -- in a hotel lobby in Kochi, quite accidentally. He had come to Kochi to buy a fishing boat. I had gone to the hotel for some other work. We happened to talk to each other, and after that, he said, “Ours is a new country. There are a lot of opportunities. Why don’t you come over to my place? We will do something together?”

Till then, I had not even heard of a place called Sultanate of Oman. (I went back home, took an atlas and located the place!)

In Oman, with Rs 50 in hand

I decided to accept his invitation. I took my passport and within two months, I was ready to fly to the Sultanate of Oman. I had only Rs 50 in my hand as, at that time, you were permitted to take only that much money with you.

But I was excited. There was no fear of uncertainty in my mind. I had always been sure of myself. I knew I would be able to do something there. I don’t know whether it is the right attitude, but I had that confidence in me. I may sound arrogant but I was confident because I had no role model.

Starting a business in Oman

We had many pre-conceived notions about the Arabs, like they are swimming in money, etc. But this man was only an officer in the army. He had no money to put in as capital to start a business. So, both of us went and borrowed 3,000 riyals from a bank as the initial capital and started our business.

We decided to do the interiors of buildings, a continuation of what I was doing in Kerala. It was an international market, but I was only a street-side contractor. Street-side contractor means you had only a briefcase with you; not even a great office. I was like a fisherman, going to the sea to fish, going to the market to sell the catch and make a living. The beginning was very, very small.

Working hard and with confidence

It was tough initially, but I worked hard, really hard.

Five things were against me:
I was not professionally qualified.
I did not have sufficient capital.
I was in a new geographical location. I didn’t have sufficient contacts.
And my communication skills were poor as I had studied in a Malayalam medium school.

So amidst all the negatives, I was chasing my dreams. My feet, though, were firmly on the ground.

And although I had all the negatives stacked against me, my confidence level was very high. The ability to understand too was very high. I never settled for anything less than perfect.

Now I feel I had divine blessings.

Leader in the industry in Oman

I entered Oman in 1976, and in 1984, I was in the top 4. By 1986-87, my company, The Services and Trade Group of Companies, became a leader in the industry. Even now, I am the market leader there.

Remember, I was competing with European companies. Initially they looked at me as if I were a joker. But as I began to succeed, they started looking at me seriously.

Why, or how, I became the market leader was because I never transferred the money I made back to India. I invested all that in the expansion of the business.

I slowly built my enterprise in Oman. It was not easy building an enterprise; it was very, very difficult. It was like building it brick by brick, step by step. I was learning on the job with each passing day. Each step, you perfect it and go on to the next level.

'Competing with myself'

I always compete with myself and in that competition I am a failure. There are two personalities here; the man with the requirement and the man who delivers. The man with the requirement demands a lot which the other man cannot deliver. That is why he is a failure.

I will be sixty this year-end (2008-end). Probably I may die without achieving what one part of me yearns for. There is always a gap in what you have achieved and what you plan to achieve.

From interiors to full structure

In 1986, I decided to be a full time builder. What I did was backward integration: from architecture to structural engineering to designs. We are probably the only backward integrated company of this size and type in the whole world.

From factory-building, we went to construct houses, and then to large commercial buildings. We also did private palaces in the Middle East.

I became a citizen of Oman a decade ago. From Oman, I moved to the United Arab Emirates.

Doing business in India

When I came to India to do business 14 years ago, it was to diversify the geographical spread. I chose Bangalore as our destination in India. I started Sobha Developers in my wife’s name. Because I had done even the palaces in the Middle East, I came with top-end knowledge. That was why we succeeded here too.

We have completed more than ten commercial projects on turnkey bases, covering 1.85 million sq ft. Forty residential projects have been completed and about 32 are in the process of completion.

Under contractual projects, we have built office buildings for Infosys, Timken, Taj, Mico, HP and Dell.

We went public in 2006. Now we are a Rs 1,500-crore company.

In the Forbes list of billionaires

I went to Oman to start a business with Rs 50 in my hand. Today, I am in the Forbes list of billionaires. In 2007, I was listed in the Forbes list. I am there in the 2008 list as well.

If you ask me how I felt, I would say, it was a very satisfying experience. Internationally, the tag has its advantages. If you do not have acceptance in the market place, you will not be able to continue as a businessman.

One has to admit that there are only 1,200 people in the world who are listed. So, it was a nice feeling.

The life of a billionaire

I live a good life and I don’t feel guilty about it. I have beautiful houses, beautiful cars and I have also ordered a private jet now.

However, after a point, money cannot be the motivating factor. Money is only a byproduct of success. Success for me is. . . well, if I am at step 10, then I see success at step 20. So, success is infinity for me; it never ends.

I come from a middle class family and I still have those middle class values.

Dreams of a billionaire

My first ambition is I want to prove that in India, we have a global Indian company in the real estate and construction industry. I want people from anywhere in the world to look at my buildings and say, what a building! What construction!

My target for this global Indian company is 2011. My dream volume: 10million sq ft of buildings, and 10 million sq ft of infrastructure. I am confident we will achieve that dream.

Diversification

I plan to get into the hospitality business. In the next seven years, I should have 4,000 rooms operational within and outside India.

I am also getting into the retail business. I want to set up home stores where you can buy everything for a home, other than grocery and clothes. You need a minimum 50,000 sq ft to set up each such store.

I am already in to information technology. I have a 1,000-people company called Sobha Renaissance Information Technology in Bangalore.

I am also targeting trading and investments.

But my primary verticals will be construction, infrastructure, retail and hospitality.

Social responsibility

By giving something back to the society, I don’t feel I am doing a favor. I am not doing any charity. It is my responsibility. You are part of a society where 400 million people are extremely poor. When you create wealth, a portion of that wealth has to necessarily go to these people who are right at the bottom.

I have been doing this for the last 25 years in my village in Palghat. The size of my wealth was nothing compared to what it is today, yet I was doing that. I have been feeding the poor and the elderly two times a day for the last 25 years, but I don’t like to talk about it.

Recently I decided that my geography of work will be the place where I was born, the Kizhakkancherry Panchayat in Palghat district. We did a study in the two panchayats to find out how many people there were really poor: we found that there were 3,000 families living below the poverty line.

So, my focus is on these 3,000 families -- the education of their children, their health conditions, their housing, water, sanitation, and, finally, their employment.

I have put a time target of 8-10 years for the socio-economic empowerment of these 3,000 families. About 12,000 people will benefit from this. I am like a father to these 3,000 families. They are like my extended family.

Educating and rehabilitating people

At the Sobha Academy that we started last July, we follow the ICSE syllabus and provide free education and maintenance -- that include three meals, uniform and books to all the students. I expect to educate 2,000 students. We take students only from the impoverished families in the locality.

The biggest challenge for me will be creating employment for these 3,000 families where they live. If I set up a business in these two panchayats, it will not be to make money. I will not even drink a cup of tea from that business. The entire money will go to their benefit.

I will not own even one inch of land in these two panchayats. If I create a business vertical there, it will only be to benefit them. It is easy for me to take them out elsewhere but I want to avoid migration. Migration should be avoided if we want to empower rural India.

No amount of money can give me the kind of satisfaction I get when I see these little children in uniform. It fills my heart.

(As told to Shobha Warrier of Rediff)

At 41, Dara Torres is in the swim for a fifth Olympics

2008-10-30T22:34:00.000+05:30

‘The water doesn’t know what age you are!’

By Mike Celizic

Dara Torres is 41, a mother, and is off to an unprecedented fifth Olympics as a swimmer. It is a feat that impresses everybody — fans, the media and her fellow competitors. But it doesn’t impress the swimming pool.

“The water doesn’t know what age you are when you jump in,” the oldest woman ever to make the U.S. Olympic Swim Team told Today’s Matt Lauer Monday. “So why not?”

In her mind, Torres is no different than countless other American women who juggle motherhood with a job.

“You really just have to find a good balance. I consider myself almost like a working mom, even though this is really a lot of fun, what I’m doing,” she told Lauer. “There’s so many moms out there who work 9 to 5 and then have to take care of their children. I feel like I’m one of them. I always put my daughter first, and I think that’s the most important thing.”

Over the previous three days, Torres had set American records in both the 100-meter and 50-meter freestyle races, winning both and qualifying for four events in the upcoming Beijing Games. In the 100 on Friday, she beat Natalie Coughlin, who had been the American record-holder. Coughlin is 16 years younger than Torres.

At the end of the race, Torres had to ask other swimmers what the scoreboard said — at her age, it’s hard to read the numbers without her glasses. “I think I’m still in a little bit of a shock,” she told Lauer of her surprising wins. “Once I get back to training camp, I think it will all sink in.”

Defying the years

With her short, blond hair and a 1,000-watt smile that she flashes easily and often, Torres looks like a woman in her 20s. She first represented the United States in the Olympics in 1984 in Los Angeles. She was 17 then, and the wunderkinder of American swimming today, Michael Phelps and Katie Hoff, hadn’t even been born yet.

Torres returned for Seoul in 1988 and Barcelona in 1992, then retired for seven years before coming back for the 2000 Games in Sydney. Then she retired again and had a baby, Tessa, two years ago before discovering that her competitive fires were still burning brightly. So she came back at the age of 41 to a sport in which 30 is positively ancient.

She has accumulated nine medals in her four trips to the Olympics, three shy of Jenny Thompson’s record of 12 for an American female swimmer. By winning the two sprint races, Torres also qualifies to become a member of two sprint relay teams. If she were to win medals in all four races, she could break Thompson’s record.

But, Torres told Lauer, she may not swim in all four events. Her best shot at a medal is in the shortest race, the 50-meter freestyle, an all-out dash from one end of the Olympic pool to the other. The 50 comes at the end of the weeklong swimming meet, with the preliminary races starting the day after the 100-meter freestyle finals.

The morning after

At the U.S. Olympic Trials in Omaha, Torres said that after she won the 100, her body felt as if it had been run over by a freight train.

“It was probably the hardest 100 I ever swam,” she said. “The next morning when I woke up and had to get ready for the 50 free, I felt like I could barely get my arms out of the water.”

Lauer asked her if she will try to win four more medals. “Not necessarily,” she replied, saying she would have to talk to her coach, Mark Schubert, and the rest of her training staff before deciding. If she drops the 100, the third-place finisher at the trials, 22-year-old Lacey Nymeyer, would take her place.

It is inevitable that anyone who does what Torres has done at an age when most swimmers have been retired for a decade or more will face questions about how she does it. Knowing that people will ask whether she’s taking performance-enhancing drugs, she has gone to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), which drug-tests Olympic athletes, and asked to be singled out for special testing.

Since March, she’s said, she’s undergone random tests — both blood and urine — at least a dozen times.

“I’ve taken a proactive approach,” she said. “I went to USADA and talked to the CEO there and said, ‘Hey, people are talking about me. They can’t believe I’m doing this. I’m an open book. DNA test me, blood test me, urine test me, do whatever you want. I want to show people I’m clean.’ ”

Knowing how often she’s tested and how clean she’s been, she smiles when people suggest she must be taking something. “I just take it as a compliment,” Torres said.

Lauer observed that when he hit 40, he found he couldn’t do things he used to do and got winded more easily. So how does she do it?

Torres laughed. “Maybe I’m a little more athletically gifted than you are.”

Akrit Jaswal - India's child surgeon

2008-10-30T22:30:00.000+05:30

A young girl in India badly burned as a toddler, her fingers had fused together and curled into a knotted ball. Her shepherd family could not afford surgery, but they had heard of a remarkable young boy being called the child surgeon. Akrit Jaswal was only seven years old when he operated, successfully, on the eight year old girl to release her fingers.

Akrit Jaswal (born April 23, 1993) had a reputation, in the region, for being a medical genius. He has been shown to have an I.Q. of 146, the highest I.Q. of any boy his age in India, a country of over one billion people.

He has focused this phenomenal intelligence on medicine and now, at the age of 12, claims to be on the verge of discovering a cure for cancer.

An early developer, Akrit was walking and talking by the time he was 10 months old. He was reading and writing by two, and reading Shakespeare, in English, by the time he was five, and is now talking about his theories for oral gene therapy in the fight against cancer.

He has been sponsored and mentored by BR Rahi the Chairman of Secondary Education in Dharamshala. He is studying for a science degree at Chandigarh College and, at 12 years of age, is the youngest student ever accepted by an Indian University.

Akrit's father left the family a year ago, depressed and exhausted by six years battling with Indian bureaucracy to get his son's intellect acknowledged and resources made available for his cancer research.

Is it possible that this young boy knows something the medical profession does not? Throughout history, scientific breakthroughs have come not only from the established, the learned, and the scholarly, but also from single flashes of insight and inspiration.

Akrit is not phased by his fame and is used to meeting government ministers and press representatives. For ordinary people meeting Akrit, it is very different. When he is in town, they gather for an audience. They come with prescriptions and medicines, seeking advice. They come with ailments and injuries for a diagnosis. They come to see a doctor, a healer. They come to see a guru, and because this is India, there is always spiritual dimension.

Akrit may be famous but, will he be the one to unlock the secrets to a cure for cancer. He was invited to Imperial College, London to find out. He will spend two weeks based at Imperial College having his intelligence tested and talking super-mechanisms, genes and therapies with scientists at the cutting-edge of cancer research.

Akrit must convince Prof Mustafa Djamgoz, a world-renowned research biologist, and his colleague Anup Patel, a consultant urological surgeon, that his ideas are realistic and worth pursuing.

The inquisitors become his friends, Patel and Prof Djamgoz are keen to foster Akrit's enthusiasm, keen to protect him from disappointment, and willing to guide him on his way.

Prof Djamgoz says of Akrit: "He is generating ideas based upon what he knows, in an idealistic sort of way, without being in full grip of reality, without knowing how difficult it is to turn the ideas into practical realities".

Just how intelligent is Akrit? Team Focus, the UK's leading I.Q. analysts agree to test him. For Akrit this was to prove a disappointment. His exceptional results in verbal and numeracy tests were countered by poor practical tests, particularly in the area of pattern matching. Because of this wide range of results Team Focus chose not to give him a final rating.

Rosemary Facer, a childhood psychologist, put forward the theory that Akrit had been an early developer accounting for the good results and because of this early genius he had missed out on later schooling accounting for the poor practical results. These results do not affect what Akrit may achieve, but he needs help, a wise friend to talk to.

The Professor's analysis is that Akrit needs to obsess less and enjoy more. He thinks Akrit shows great potential but it needs to be properly guided.

Akrit returned home to India, more mature, more realistic, but this precocious young man is still convinced that he will find a cure for cancer.

From A Waiter To An IAS Officer!

2008-10-30T22:20:00.000+05:30

K Jayaganesh's story is awe-inspiring. He failed the Civil Service Examination six times, but he did not lose heart. On his seventh attempt -- his last chance -- he passed with a rank of 156 and was selected for the Indian Administrative Service (IAS).

Jayaganesh's story is inspiring not merely because he did not lose heart but also because he comes from a very poor background from a village in Tamil Nadu. Though he studied to be an engineer, he worked at odd jobs - even as a waiter for a short while – before he realized his dream of becoming an IAS officer.

Read the story of his Jayaganesh in his own words:

Childhood in a remote village

I was born and brought up in a small village called Vinavamangalam in Vellore District. My father (Krishnan), who had studied up to 10th standard, worked as a supervisor in a leather factory. My mother was a housewife. I am the eldest in the family and have two sisters and a brother. I studied up to the 8th standard in the village school and completed my schooling in a nearby town.

I was quite good at studies and always stood 1st. Coming from a poor family, I had only one ambition in life -- to get a job as fast as I could and help my father in running the family. My father earned Rs 4,500 as salary and he had to take care of the education of four children and run the family which, as you would agree, is very difficult.

So, after my 10th standard, I joined a polytechnic college because I was told I would get a job the moment I passed out from there. When I passed out with 91%, there was a chance for me to get entry to a Government Engineering College on merit. So I decided to join the Thanthai Periyar Government Engineering College to study Mechanical Engineering. My father supported my desire to study further.

Even while doing engineering, my ambition still was to get a job. If you look at my background, you will understand why I didn't have any big ambitions. Most of my friends in the village had studied only up to the 10th standard, and many did not even complete school. They worked as auto drivers or coolies or masons. I was the only one among my friends who went to college.

I understood the importance of education because of my parents. My father was the only one in his family to have completed school, so he knew the value of education. My parents saw to it that we children studied well.

In search of a job

Four days after I completed my engineering in 2000, I went to Bangalore in search of a job and I one without much difficulty. My salary was Rs 2,500 at a company that reconditioned tools.

It was in Bangalore that I started thinking about my village and my friends. I wondered, sadly, why none of them studied and worked in good companies. Because they had no education, they remained poor. There was not enough money to buy even proper food. There was no opportunity there; the only place they could work was the tannery in the nearby town. If they didn't get work at the tannery, they worked as auto drivers or coolies. In short, there was no one in my village to guide the young generation.

I thought would I be able to help my villagers in any way.

Getting interested in the Civil Service Examination

Till then, I had not even heard of something called the Civil Services Examination. It was only after I went to Bangalore and saw the world that I was exposed to many things. I came to know that a collector in a small place could do a lot. At that moment, I decided that I wanted to be an IAS officer.

I resigned and went home to prepare for the examination. I never thought resigning was risky because I had the confidence and knew I would do well.

My father also supported me wholeheartedly. He had just got a bonus of Rs 6,500 and he gave me that money to buy study material. I sat in my village and studied from the notes I received by post from Chennai.

Failed attempts

In my first two attempts, I could not even clear the preliminary examination. I had no idea how to prepare for the exam, what subjects to opt for and how to study. There was nobody to guide me.

I had taken Mechanical Engineering as my main subject. That's when I met Uma Surya in Vellore. He was also preparing for the examination. He told me that if I took sociology as an option, it would be easy.

Even with sociology as the main subject, I failed in the third attempt. But I was not disappointed. I knew why I was failing. I didn't have proper guidance. I started reading newspapers only after I started preparing for the examination! So you can imagine from what kind of background I came from.

To Chennai for coaching

When I came to know about the government coaching centre (external link) in Chennai, I wrote the entrance examination and was selected. We were given accommodation and training.

Because I got tips from those who passed out, I passed the preliminary in my fourth attempt. We were given free accommodation and food only till we wrote the main examination. After that, we had to move out. I didn't want to go back to the village but staying in Chennai was expensive.

I tried to get a job as an engineer but my efforts turned futile. I then decided to look for a part time job so that I would have time to study.

Job as a waiter in Chennai

I got a job as a billing clerk for computer billing in the canteen at Sathyam Cinemas. I also worked as a server during the interval. It never bothered me that I, a Mechanical Engineer, preparing for the civil services, had to work as a server. I had only one aim -- to stay on in Chennai to pass the examination.

Interview in Delhi

After I got the job at the Sathyam Cinemas, I was called for the interview. As counseling was my hobby, a lot of questions were asked about counseling. I was not very fluent in English but I managed to convey whatever I wanted to. Perhaps I did not articulate well. I failed in the interview.

Preliminary again, the 5th time

Once again, I started from the beginning. Surprisingly, I failed in the preliminary itself. On analysis, I felt I did not concentrate on studies as I was working at Sathyam Cinemas.

I quit the job and joined a private firm to teach sociology to those preparing for the UPSC examinations. While I learnt the other subjects there, I taught sociology. Many friends of mine in Chennai helped me both financially and otherwise while I prepared for the examination.

Sixth attempt

I passed both the preliminary and the main in the sixth attempt but failed at the interview stage.

While preparing for the interview, I had written an examination to be an officer with the Intelligence Bureau and I was selected. I was in a dilemma whether to accept the job. I felt if I joined the IB, once again, my preparation to be an IAS officer would get affected. So, I decided not to join and started preparing for one last time.

Last attempt

I had to give the last preliminary just a few days after the previous interview. I was confused and scared. Finally, I decided to take the last chance and write the examination. Like I had hoped, I passed both the preliminary and the main.

The interview was in April, 2008 at Delhi. I was asked about Tamil Nadu, Kamaraj, Periyar, Tamil as a classical language, the link between politics and Tamil cinema etc. I was upset since I did not wish the interviewers at the start and they did not respond when I said thanks at the end. Both the incidents went on playing in my mind. I just prayed to God and walked back.

The day the results were out

I was extremely tense that day. I would know whether my dreams would be realised or not. I used to tell God, please let me pass if you feel I am worthy of it.

I went to a playground and sat there meditating for a while. Then, I started thinking what I should do if I passed and what I should do if I didn't.

I had only one dream for the last seven years and that was to be an IAS officer.

156th rank

Finally when the results came, I couldn't believe! I had secured the 156th rank out of more than 700 selected candidates. It's a top rank and I am sure would get me into the IAS. I felt like I had a won a war that had been going on for many years. I felt free and relieved. The first thing I did was call my friends in Chennai and then my parents to convey the good news.

Warm welcome in the village

The reception I got in my village was unbelievable. All my friends, and the entire village, were waiting for me when I alighted from the bus. They garlanded me, burst crackers, played music and took me around the village on their shoulders. The entire village came to my house to wish me. That was when I saw unity among my villagers. It was a defining moment for me.

What I want to do

I worked really hard without losing faith in myself to realise my dream. My real work starts now. I want to try hard to eradicate poverty and spread the message of education to all people. Education is the best tool to eradicate poverty. I want Tamil Nadu.

Muktha Muktha

2008-06-16T23:35:00.000+05:30

Muktha, the mega serial by TN Seetharam has come back in its new avatar. Now it is called Muktha.... Muktha... The first episode started off today at 9.30 pm. Well, here is the latest update on the same. Arundhati is now divorced from Manmohan. She is a mother to a kid who has problems with her Kidneys.

In todays episode, Arundathi is shown to be travelling in an auto with her kid. She is back in town to get her daughter treated by a nephrologist, who incidentally happens to stay in the street next to the lawyer CSP's house. CSP is now a successfull lawyer.

CSP and Arundhati have a conversation in which she reveals that it was her ego, which probably destroyed her marriage to Manmohan. CSP recalls that she had reported against her own husband who was a minister. That report had resulted in Shivkrishna Desai having to resign as the Chief Minister of the state. That report by her had caused the marriage to break. She also says that she curses herself for making that report. However she nor CSP dont reveal what the report is all about. The heart breaking scene is when Arundathi asks for money from CSP. She asks for 500 Rupees. CSP readily gives the same, but on learning that the kid has to undergo some tests, he hands her another 1500 rupees.

After finishing the tests proceed to her cousins house. Her cousin's mannerisms surpisingly resembles Gauri(Aru's brother). There Arundathi is kind of mocked at by her Uncle.

Rabbi Shergill - Bulla Ki Jaana Maen Kaun

2008-05-07T23:31:00.001+05:30

Bulla Ki Jaana mein kaun !!

Imagine! Kenya sings Jana Gana Mana for India

2008-04-15T21:50:00.001+05:30

This is something really nice :)... Kenyans singing Jana Gana Mana... The video is stark with visuals of Kenya all across... A must watch for anyone

Disco Dancer - Jimmy Aaja

2008-04-12T00:37:00.001+05:30

This song still floors me after nearly 2 decades... I was in my chaddies when this movie released. However I remember this song for a different reason altogether. The first time I heard this song I burst out laughing.. My neighbour's Dog was called Jimmy ... and every night the lady of the house used to call out "Jimmy.... aaja" :)). The Dog as well its owners have passed away in time, but those moments are still fresh in my mind... Of the dog lapping up dinner... Those moments still ring in my ear :p

Louis Armstrong - We Have All The Time In World

2008-04-10T22:32:00.001+05:30

From the movie "Her Majesty's Secret Service" . The movie where Bond becomes a widower!!

The Bay Watch Dog!!

2008-03-31T10:57:00.000+05:30

This is bound to give Pamela Anderson and her likes a few goose bumps. Imagine being replaced by Dogs ?? Well that is precisely what a Dog has been doing rather successfully at the famed Chennai Marina Beach. Responding to the name of Julie , she plays the role of the beach guard to the hilt.

Here is the clincher, she joined the force voluntarily when she started pulling out people who go further into the waters.

Here is what CNN IBN had to say about this Dog....

No one can miss the rather unlikely member of the Anna Square police station in Chennai, Julie — unlikely because Julie is a dog. She is the newest member of the Anna Square police station and joined just about a month ago.

However, Julie is not a police watchdog, but has voluntary taken up the duty of patrolling the shores of the Marina beach.

Inspector S Sekar says, "A small child was playing very close to the water just a couple of days ago. Julie barked at her and pulled her to the shore to safety. That's when people got to know her."

Policemen say over 1,600 people have drowned in the stretch of beach near Anna Square police station in the last year. Among them were 231 children.

Julie keeps an eye on the crowd and pulls back people who stray too close to the water.

She has become a favourite among the policemen and the regular beach-goers — and that might have something to do with the fact that nobody has drowned in the area ever since she's taken up her duty about a month ago.

The police are now thinking of using Julie's services for other purposes as well.

S Sekar says, "We are planning to train her and other dogs like her to catch people dealing with narcotic substances on the beach."

And Julie seems to be enjoying her new role as Chennai's special cop.

Climate Change to affect the Mumbai coast line

2008-03-31T10:51:00.000+05:30

According to studies made recently the enrtire Mumbai coastline features like Chowpatty, Chatrapathi Shivaji Airport, Gateway of India etc will be under water within the next 100 years or so. This is according to a study made by Sudhir Chella Rajan, from the Humanities Department of IIT Chennai.

Here is the article in more detail

The Gateway of India will be wiped off the Mumbai skyline. Bhelpuri at Chowpatty will become the stuff of grandmother's tales.

No flights will take off from Chhatrapati Shivaji airport. No couple will canoodle at the Marine Drive promenade and even heirs to the bungalow of Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan will not be able to resist being evicted from their home.

Ninety-two years from now, all these landmarks of Mumbai will be underwater. That's the apocalypse scenario drawn up in a report titled 'Climate Migrants in South Asia: Estimates and Solutions' that has been commissioned by Greenpeace, a non-government organization.

Prepared by climate expert and professor from the humanities department of IIT Chennai, Sudhir Chella Rajan, the report says that a potential increase in temperatures by 4 to 5 degrees due to greenhouse emissions at the current rate would mean a corresponding rise in sea levels of up to five metres by 2100.

This, in turn, would imply that approximately 50 million Indians would be rendered homeless and become 'climate migrants'.

"The low elevation coastal zone (LECZ), which comprises the coastal region that is less than 10 metres above average sea level, is obviously at direct risk. Even prime commercial properties like the Backbay complex and the Bandra-Kurla complex fall into this category. This means that it's not just the average Koli who will be affected but even Mannat (superstar SRK's Bandra Bandstand bungalow) would be on the wrong side of the coastline once the sea level rises," said Greenpeace activist Shweta Ganesh Kumar.

Greenpeace envisages that human migration 92 years hence would be equivalent to 10 times the movement seen during Partition. "This means that even the limited space in your Virar-Churchgate local will be affected," she added.

However, Rakesh Kumar from the National Environment Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) felt the figures in the Greenpeace study seemed exaggerated.

"This can create a scare in the minds of the people. According to estimates of the intergovernmental panel of climate change (IPCC), the rise in sea levels by 2011 is estimated at one metre. There will be submersion, but only in the low-lying areas. At most, the foundations of buildings near the shore may be weakened due to saline formation," said Kumar.

Greenpeace activists, however, are on a mission to raise awareness about the impending doom. Around 40 Greenpeace activists or 'Blue Busters' sporting symbolic blue raincoats hit the city streets on Sunday.

Blue cautionary signs, saying 'Climate Change Zone Ahead' with illustrations of drowning individuals bearing a distinct resemblance to traditional traffic signs, were put up along the Bandra Kurla Complex and other areas.

Greenpeace Climate and Energy campaigner Brikesh Singh said, "We want to alert Mumbaikars to the blue future they have in store if steps are not taken to fight global warming. If we don't act now, our city of dreams will be caught up in a never-ending nightmare, and we are the last generation that can prevent this from happening." The 'Blue Alert' signs were part of a Greenpeace campaign launched in Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Kochi, Panaji and Puri.

"The campaign aims at bringing home the reality of climate change to the common man and empowering people to force their MPs to speak out about the issue of climate change," said Singh.

Greenpeace activists will slap token 'eviction-warning' notices on the doors of structures that may be affected. These include the homes of actors Shah Rukh Khan, Rekha and Farhan Akhtar.

THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI

2008-03-31T00:21:00.001+05:30

The whistled version of Colonel Bogey's march. Taken from the movie The Bridge over the River Kwai, remains a classic and memorable piece of music... Alec Guiness his part to perfection and so does Japanese Commandant of the POW Camp ...

12 Days of Christmas

2008-03-27T12:12:00.001+05:30

a Damn cute song :p