Happy news - I am blessed with a baby boy

• June
• 28

04/06/08 Magic numbers ? Might be !! This is how Indians represent the date 04th June 2008. So whats so special about it ? Joined the Parents club on that day. I feel so happy and proud. New phase in life, more duties, more responsibilities.

The baby boy came bit early. Exactly one month early! No surprise, hes is just impatient as his Dad. Everything was normal except the pale yellow color which is not uncommon for premature babies. The Doc put him under the light for a week ! They call it Phototherapy. Anyway, back home after that and hes healthy and active now.

[Photo 1]Didn’t name him officially yet, but niece gave him a funny name on the first day itself - Aamakkunju - meaning : baby tortoise! When the nurse brought him to the room, he was well covered with soft white cloth, only head was visible, might be the reason behind the name.

[Photo 2] He prefer sleeping all day and wake up all night. Quite normal I know. Waking up after 2 hrs, drinking milk, back to sleep, life is sure fun for him. I noticed babies smile and cry when they sleep ! (Yes, learning new things) There is a beautiful myth behind this (courtesy : my aunt ! Blame her if this sounds funny). When the babies sleep, God appear in their dreams and tell them ‘Hey look, your mom has gone somewhere’ Poor babies, they believe it and start crying. God feel sorry and will tell them ‘Oh no, I was just joking, look, shes near you’ and next moment they start smiling. Everything in sleep !

[Photo 3] My wife was telling me (before delivery) if its a baby girl, she will buy skirts for the baby. I used to tell her if it is a baby boy, I will have to wear the skirt to make her happy. Seems she forgot it, lucky me. Now I can buy him big cargo shorts with twenty five pockets. That will be pretty cool. Can’t wait, grow up fast baby !

Meantime, I shared my happiness with my friends in ThinkDigit forum. The posts are here.

Thank you for taking us back to the stone age

• May
• 21

Many of my clients and friends abroad do not know much about Hartals and they do not belive that we (Indians and especially the people in Kerala) have so many Hartals every month. This post is mainly for them, to let them understand how important Hartal is - for us and why it is an inevitable part of our life.

What is Hartal ?

Hartal (also hartaal) is a term in many Indian languages for strike action, used often during the Indian Independence Movement. It is mass protest often involving a total shutdown of workplaces, offices, shops, courts of law as a form of civil disobedience. In addition to being a general strike, it involves the voluntary closing of schools and places of business. It is a mode of appealing to the sympathies of a government to change an unpopular or unacceptable decision. [Wikipedia Link]

What is Bandh ?

Bandh, originally a Hindi word meaning ‘closed’, is a form of protest used by political activists in some countries in South Asia like India and Nepal. During a Bandh, a large chunk of a community declares a general strike, usually lasting one day.[Wikipedia Link]

Wikipedia is 100% correct ?

No, there is a mistake in the Wikipedia page which says - it involves the voluntary closing of schools and places of business - In real, there is nothing like a voluntary closing but people are terrorized and any business activity including traffic will be forcibly prevented by the strikers.

Which state is in the top position (prestigious) with maximum number of Hartals / Bandhs ?

The state with the maximum Bandhs in India is West Bengal where the average number of bandhs per year is 40-50 (ranging from a couple of hours to a maximum of 2 days per bandh). To make it clear, Hartal and Bandh are same these days.

Whatabout Kerala, the 100% literate state ?

Kerala (state that is located at the south end of India) is competing with West Bengal (with 28 Hartals in 2007) and we are pretty sure one day we will be in the first position with maximum number of hartals and bandhs. We are expecting at least 200 Hartals / Bandhs per year in the near future, if all political parties agrees (all are already united in this matter) we will see meeting the target in the very near future itself. Hartals for 365 days is the long term goal, considering the increasing number of hartals every year, we can say - nothing is impossible. Keep your fingers crossed.

Who can declare a Hartal ?

Any political party (need not be National, need not be even state level), religious party, or non political party can declare a Hartal. Basically a group of people (preferably more than 5 in numbers but even that is not necessary) is quite adequate and they can always declare a Hartal.

Do we need a valid reason to declare a Hartal ?

Absolutely not. Even though it is pretty easy to get very good reasons. The reasons does not matter at all. Declaring the Hartal and making it a huge success is the important part. Reason can be anything.

What happens after the Hartal ? Does it make any difference ?

Again - Absolutely no difference.

Eample 1. when petroleum price is increased, political parties declare Hartal for protesting. The petroleum price NEVER come down because of the Hartal - it remains the same after days, months and years (it may go up anytime though - may be you can call it after-effect of Hartal !)

Example 2. When political parties get into fight, (note : in almost all case, the leaders remains un-touched, only the so-called supporters or the common man get injured or even lose his life in these fights) after 5 or 10 people die, the parties will declare a Hartal to condemn the attack and fight (couldn’t find out the logic yet). Next month or next year, same thing happens and it goes on.

What is the advantage of Hartal ? Who are all benefited ?

People who get benefited by Hartal - Beverages Corporation, CD shops, Hotels, Meat shops etc. These shops will be flooded by people on the eve of a Hartal.

Who are all affected by the Hartal ?

In malayalam language there is a saying - Pothu janam kazhutha (common men are donkeys). That is very correct and only these people get affected (who cares !! Hartals - Long Live). Businesses will be closed down causing loss of millions of Rupees (Rupee is the Indian Currency. 1 USD = 42 Rupees approx - as on May 21 2008). People will not get vehicles to go to hospital even if it is emergency. People die, people starve, people can’t travel, marriages get postponed, all other functions get postponed, exams get postponed, offices will not work (who cares !! Hartals - Long Live). Every Hartal takes us back to the stone age.

Is there any alternative to Hartal ? Anything that can be beneficial for the common man ? Any messages to the people who declare it ?

Yes, but nobody is going to try those (who cares !! Hartals - Long Live). Anyway some suggestions are

1. Political leaders who declare the Hartal, their (blind) supporters, and all other people interested to join, take a day off (no casual leaves, take a leave with loss of pay from offices). Go to any village (ever seen one ? know how it looks like ?), try to repair some road there, try to help the villagers for making some open wells, buy the poor kids some food, donate them some dress. If you can’t do anything like that, just sit at home but do not disturb others.

2. Same people mentioned above - Cultivate rice and wheat on Hartal days (as there will be a lot of Hartals, you will get plenty of time to look into this!) Cultivate vegetables. We can even market them under the name - Hartal India Product (wow I am a genius - what an Idea Sir !)

3. Those who support the Hartal, feel free to close down your business for a day. But for God’s sake, do not force any one to close their business or shops. You do NOT have the right to do so. If you do not like to work a day and prefer to relax and enjoy, take a day off. Do not force all others to do the same. Do not interrupt the traffic. You can never give the life back to the patients - who die on the way to the hospital because of not having proper medium of transportation on the Hartal day.

4. Please understand that Hartal is a totally useless and barbarian method to protest against something. It is very simple logic. (no idea why the political leaders never understand this !!). This is the most cruel method and causes only trouble for the common man. There are people in India who get less than 20 Rupees (that is 0.5 USD) for working the whole day. You are responsible for people losing even that. Please try to open up your eyes and stop this crap for ever.

5. We will NEVER become a developed country if there are Hartals. Every Hartal will show us bad in front of the world. Every tourist who spend a day during the Hartal in India will curse us. They will tell their friends how terrible it is. The foolish act of some political leaders will make India’s image really bad. Do not allow it. Do not make the life miserable for Indians and those who come to India. Every Hartal will take the nation back to 5 or 10 years.

Now I feel better !

Foot note : I apologize for using the term ‘Stone Age’. Comparing these incidents with the ‘Stone age’ is like insulting the people who lived in that Era. They were so good, they never made our life miserable by declaring Hartals every now and then.

And you thought there is nothing great about ants ?

• May
• 11

Less than thousand (I guess) members. Exactly twelve hrs, that also night shift. They didn’t waste even a second I am sure. And the result ? A cute fort ! Really nice. You can see how beautiful it is. The design - perfect. Circular shape, one side higher than other (see the side view). Entrance at centre. Four ants will start from the centre every five seconds, they will go near the uppermost point of the fort, then will come back. Making sure no attack will be there in the near future ? Other members might be very busy inside the fort. Call me crazy (even the IRC does it these days !) but it was really nice and interesting watching this.

Side view of the same fort - You can see the difference in height. Now, don’t you think they are really amazing ? And when you sit near and watch, the ants get the signal very fast. Within seconds all the security-staff goes inside, may be passing the warning to message to the top officials ? They came back after about five minutes and continued the duty ! See the material they used, how they collected it, the pattern and distribution of the material. WOW, I am impressed !

While I was watching this, I saw another type of ants making something different near. Not a fort this time, but a nice trench ! That was near our open well. The trench is of about two metres length. Seems they have more entrances and exits throughout it. More than one way might be the idea ! These ants must be really intelligent. As the open well is near, there is chance of a flood any time and if that happens, these multiple entrance / exit combinations will help them to manage things. Good teamwork and great crisis management team.

Lesson learned - Going out and watching these small but amazing things (instead of sitting in front of the computer all the time) is really a nice experience. Yes, I am childish sometimes !

Note : Click on the thumbnail images for enlarged view

Never go too fast, you will regret later

• May
• 5

I was on the usual weekend trip with the family. It was near Vyttila (Cochin), the traffic was really heavy. I heard big siren of an ambulance and knew that there are two and in some emergency. I turned my vehicle to the left as much as possible to help them. The ambulance drivers were trying their best to move forward as the road was jam packed with vehicles. Almost all vehicles were helping and giving way for the ambulances. Suddenly I heard another big horn but this time on left side ! And guess what ? A private bus was on its usual off-road drive (they are notorious for the style of overtaking, not obeying traffic rules, careless driving etc). There were not much space in the left but the bus driver manged to make a fast move and they did overtake the ambulance. Yes, on left side.

I was shell shocked but I couldn’t do anything. Couldn’t even shout. In the picture above, you can see how the private bus driver made way on the left while the ambulances were packed in between other vehicles on the right. It was done by blowing horn very loud (other staff in bus supported him by beating on the bus body and making big sound). After the right turn, there is a narrow bridge and I saw the bus going very fast way front of the ambulances.

I was totally helpless, couldn’t even note down the number of the bus and felt sad. Heavy traffic is quite usual in Cochin on weekends but drivers forgetting the priorities and ethics is really shocking.

I am pretty sure those who are going too fast in their life will regret later. If not today, tomorrow.

Sleeping on the railway station over bridge

• April
• 11

All the time we were complaining about Government, about lack of facilities, condition of roads, how life is tough with out a broadband connection and so on. After seeing this person sleeping peacefully on the Ernakulam South Railway Station over bridge, I thought how lucky we are, at least having a house to sleep.

Taken using my mobile phone camera on 10th April 2008.

Help the family of Ajith (died in an accident on 4th March 2008)

• April
• 4

I was about to press the ‘Spam’ button in my email client when I received an email which had a link to http://www.helpthefamily.org but on a second thought I decided to go through the site. Just out of curiosity, I made a call to the number given in the website and I found it is all true. The family is in pathetic condition. They are in real need of help - financially and by any kind of support.

The family is basically from Kerala, settled in Tamil Nadu long back. Ajith was all their hope and they were all very happy when Ajith got the job in the company. When I called them over phone, I was little nervous as I was not sure what to talk. Ajith’s mom was very sad and she couldn’t talk much. Finally talked to Vinod (Ajith’s cousin) for some time. I am quoting the email below. I forwarded it to most of my friends in the address book.

Email follows …

You might be receiving hundreds of emails claiming to pay some $$$ whenever you forward it to others. Please do not treat this as one among them. By forwarding this email, no one is going to pay any $$$. As you know I always discourage such emails, so I personally verified the information in this email before sending this to you. Please do not ignore.I request all to get united in this matter and help the family. It is our duty and commitment towards the society. Please do not ignore. Please send an email to all your friends, please post this website and details in forums, please talk to your friends and family about this.Everything matters.

Please visit the website - http://www.helpthefamily.org

March 1, 2008. Ajith, a young man who was working in a BPO firm in Chennai, Tmail Nadu was on the way back to home after his work. It was his salary day and he was happy but the same day turned to be the worst day in his life. He was hit by a speeding vehicle and thrown to the dark side of the road, he became unconscious and nobody noticed him. Some of his co-workers who came after the work heard some sound near the roadside and shocked to see him in a pool of blood. They took him and rushed to the nearest hospital and then to another super specialty hospital. Three days he fought for his life but on March 4th he surrendered to death.

According to Ajith’s family - The hospital bill was really high, which came to Indian Rupees 3 Lakhs (USD $7,500) . The BPO company in which Ajith was working, paid Indian Rupees 1 Lakh (USD $2,500) to release his body from hospital. The hospital authorities asked the relatives to sign a lot of papers which were in English. They signed in all papers without knowing what they are (as they were in shocked state plus they were not good in English). Later they came to know one of the form was for eye donation as they saw eyes were removed from Ajith’s body. They are still not sure what the other forms were.

The whole incident was a big shock for the entire family and they didn’t recover form it yet. They were running a small tea shop which is closed after his death. He was the only earning member in his family. All their dreams are shattered with the fatal accident which took their loving family member away from them - for ever.

We believe it is our duty to extend our support to the family. Ajith was just like every one of us. Young, talented, happy and having a lot of dreams about his future. We request every visitor of this website to give support and donate to the family. Even a small amount will make a difference in their life. That is the least thing we can do.

Please visit the website and help the family if you can. That will be a great help and as in the email, that is the least thing we can do for them.

Drinking a country ! And it is good for health.

• March
• 29

Yes, it is possible to drink a country, that also in a beer glass, and yes, you can have three countries - Sharjah, Oman and Saudi. Now, I am not sure why only middle east counties are there !

Year 1995, Back in Engineering college class room, on lunch break. Dev, my friend started his class as usual. He narrates even silly incidents with his own style, adding more spice to it and making it all suspense.

“Listen Din, class will be over at 4.10 and I will take my bag from hostel room, will rush to bus stop and then to Town to have a Sharjah first. After that, direct to home.”

I didn’t understand the middle part, Having Sharjah ? How is that possible ? I had no clue what it is and here comes Dev’s (usual) narration.

“Ok, ok, I will explain. In Town there is a shop called - Popsy. Go there, order a Sharjah and you can see how they make it. First they will get a frozen Milma (pasteurized milk) packet, will put in in the mixer, then will add the ’secret powder’, sugar and then one or two banana and will make it like a paste. They will put it in a big beer glass and you can have it, believe me, its an excellent thing.”

I decided to give it a try. On friday I went to the shop with Dev. There were eight or nine small shops just like Popsy, all in a row, but majority of the people were going to Popsy only. Dev ordered two Sharjah. I saw them making the much awaited, Dev’s favorite Sharjah. Beating the milk cover with softwood to make it like a paste, then put it in mixer, adding ’secret powder’ form a big cover, adding sugar and banana and finally poured into beer glasses. And for the first time in my life I tasted milk shake. Dev was right, it was really nice. It was very tasty, cold and it was like half eating and half drinking. After having it I couldn’t speak properly, my tongue was out of control, my head was like frozen, but it was real fun.

After 13 years, knowing most flavors and names of milk shakes, I still remember the great taste of the first Sharjah I had with Dev on that day.

Note : For those who never heard of it, give it a try and you will sure love it. You can do it in your home and there is no harmful things in Sharjah. It is just milk, sugar and banana. If you want to experiment more, try with mango and make it mango shake, try with chocolate powder to make it chocolate shake, add dry fruits, add color, it is all up to your taste and imagination and during the summer season it is really nice to have a Sharjah.

Just five photos from my album, no big deal.

• March
• 25

Thought I will share some photos, of course nothing great in these. All taken by me, that is the only problem ! Please click on the thumbnail images and you can see enlarged view.

This is what happens when you keep the windows open and allow fresh air to come in. Some Pigeons will also come along with the air and will sit on your monitor. If you have no plan to flew her off after taking the photo, you will have to clean monitor with liquid soap too ! Taken 2 years back, using my mobile phone. Location : My computer room.

You might have seen people painting their body for fun and for publicity. Now see this photo. Taken at a place near Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, India. The kid painted his body (or someone else ?) and begs. It is not fun. The paint he used is the one we use for painting metal sheets and pipes. Very harmful and he is standing under the hot sun. Only thing I could offer him were - can of soft drink and some money. Yes, shame on me and it is one of the most embarrassing and sad moment in my life.

When the cat does not sit ready and pose for the camera, what will you do ? (Goobi, you are not supposed to answer as you are a cat expert ! ) Get a small plate, put some milk, give her some biscuits. Thats all ! See how friendly she sits now. Ready for any pose ! Planning to write a guide on cats.. Location : Munnar, Kerala, India

Monkey taking photo of another monkey ? Yes, that is correct. This is the photo that I took while coming from Wayanad. and you thought only human beings care for their kids ? See how animals care. Motherly love. There is no place safer than mother’s lap. Really liked it. Location : Wayanad ghat section, Kerala.

Truck on train ? Yes, this is not something new for the people near Konkan Railway route. Was on a trip from Mangalore to Goa and then to Mumbai. Vehicles helping vehicles ! And drivers too. Thats is really good. I see most people write only the negative side of Indian Railways and now this is something what I would like to call - Positive. Location : Konkan Railway Route, India.

Taare Zameen Par - an excellent movie

• March
• 23

Watched the movie Taare Zameen Par yesterday. Actually my wife asked me many times to watch it with her but I postponed. Finally I decided to watch and the least to say - it worth the time. An Excellent movie from Aamir Khan who does not act in every movie he come across. I think thats the secret of his success. He make only one or two movies in 2 years and that becomes a hit. I loved the movie. It made me cry many times, yes I admit it. It took me back to my school days. It reminded me how lucky I was. To spend time with my loving parents, my favorite friends from all strata of the society, great teachers of my school, no school bus, no barding school, walking 2 miles every morning to the school, no pressure, life was - Bindaz !

Major part of the credit goes to the little hero - Darsheel Safary - he is really amazing. I think, just like in the movie, Aamir comes only second compared to him ! He does not speak a lot in the movie but every word he say, every movement he makes, the emotional scenes, everything will remain in our heart for long.

Every scene of the movie will touch you. Never miss the movie. Please watch it at least once and I am sure you will like it. If possible, watch it with your kid. It is a great lesson for parents who make the kids ready for the race from Age 1. It will sure make them think there are some other things in a kid’s life than getting admission in the best school in the city or getting high marks in every grade or getting some costly gifts or toys for them. As the movie says - every kid has a dream. Evey kid has talent too. Sadly most of the parents and teachers never tries to find what it is.

The movie reminded me two of my friends. One just like Ishaan in the movie, but very good in sports and games, but not that good in studies. When he get gold medals in sports, his parents never cared. They will say - there is nothing great in getting a medal in sports, look at your elder brother who got the first rank in the school. And just like in the movie, they put him in a hostel. I really hope his parents see this movie and at least they realize their mistake.

Thank you Aamir, this is really a nice movie. Motivating, fascinating, inspiring and beautiful. If anyone in this world read my blog, I strongly recommend them to watch this movie.

Currency conversion syndrome

• March
• 21

This happens to people going abroad, mostly for the first time. Right after one week they start sending email to all their friends.

Everything is fine here. Life is great. We visited XYZ place with friends, find the photos in my web album. The only thing I am worried is the cost of living. It cost Indian Rupees(INR) 1200 for a hair cut. Thats really terrible isn’t it ?

Guys who cut their hair in India for Indian Rupees 30 or 50 or maximum of 100 read this and says - WOW. Now, please stop this. We had enough ! We all know this is something happens to people go abroad for the first time. Happens mostly to people go to US or Europe. This syndrome does not seems to be affecting people going Middle east though (they are happy telling the excellent condition of roads in Dubai or about DSF). Think about this. You get a salary of Indian Rupees 10000 here. You spend 100 out of it for a hair cut. That comes to one percent of your salary right ? Now, in the US you get minimum of USD 4000. You spend USD 30 for a hair cut. Compare it, comes less than one percentage right ? Now for God’s sake stop the comparison ! When you are abroad (that is when you are on a job and not on a vacation trip), do not start calculating and converting the currency every time you go out for shopping or every time you go for a hair cut. Even if you do, please do not send email to all your friends telling this ! Do not make calls to home telling - Mom, my hair is so long, but I do not want to spend a lot of money for a hair cut (now why not learning hair cut ? Not a bad idea for sure. There must be a Do it Yourself guide somewhere)