Manikandan Means It

July 17, 2014 at 02:39PM

2014-07-18T00:09:00.001+05:30

While waiting in a signal I on the way home.

[How to] Block unwanted callers in Samsung Galaxy S4

2013-09-30T04:45:00.000+05:30

Apple released iOS7 last week, and one of the new features added is the ability to block unwanted callers. Is there any way to do the same with Samsung's flagship Android phone? As it turns out, this feature was available long before it was introduced in the iPhone. If you did not know this feature existed, and would like to make use of it in your Galaxy S4, just follow the instructions below.

Go to Call logs and long press the number you want to block. A popup menu will appear with multiple options. Choose 'Add to reject list'

Alternatively, you can also block a person in your contact list. Open the contact list, and long press the contact you want to block, and select 'Add to reject list'

That's it! You can add any number/contact up to a total of 100 numbers to the reject list this way.

You can also add/modify/delete the rejected numbers through the Call Rejection settings. To go to the Call Rejection Settings, press the menu key in the phone dialer screen, and select 'Call Settings'.

In the Call Rejection settings, choose Auto Reject List, and you can see a list of all numbers you have blocked. You can add, modify or edit any of the blocked numbers from this screen.

Instead of blocking a single number, you can also block a bunch of similar numbers by specifying the match criteria like 'Starts with', 'Ends with', and 'Includes'.

Once you save the changes, you will not receive any calls from these numbers until you remove them from the reject list.

That's it! You can now block callers the same way, or even better than, the iOS 7 users can!

Enjoy your Android!

[How to] Enable One-Handed Floating Keyboard for Swiping in Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 Android Tablet

2013-08-20T01:37:00.000+05:30

I recently bought a Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0. Coming from a Note 2, this tablet is an absolute pleasure to use. However, I had grown rather fond of the swipe feature available in the Note 2 keyboard. By default, the swipe feature is disabled in Note 8, and is replaced by cursor mode. Check here to enable swipe mode instead of the cursor mode. However, after enabling the Swipe mode, I found it a bit too difficult to swipe in the big Note 8.0 keyboard. Gladly, I found this neat little feature Samsung has provided to make one handed swiping extremely easy. Just follow the below steps to get the one handed floating keyboard on your Note 8.0

Long press the second button from left in the bottom row of the Samsung keyboard (Note: This button might look different from the screenshot below. It shows the most recent option selected. Don't get confused).

2. A popup menu appears with multiple options

3. Look for a keyboard icon with a resize icon overlaid on it, and select this button

4. The keyboard immediately shrinks to about the size of a Note 2 keyboard.

5. Hold the dotted grid in the top middle of the keyboard, and move it to the right hand bottom corner of the screen.

That's it! Enjoy your favorite one handed swiping feature on your Note 8.0! To get back the original big keyboard, just follow the same procedure, and select the normal keyboard button from the popup menu instead of the floating keyboard button. Enjoy!

My first Android Tablet - Samsung Galaxy Note 8

2013-08-14T10:38:00.001+05:30

I was a proud owner of a truly wonderful Samsung Galaxy Note 2. Up until the moment I dunked it in my Community swimming pool, that is. After trying all sorts of home remedies ranging from rice to alcohol, I finally gave up all my hopes of reviving my phone.

After getting used to this monster of a phone, I couldn't bring myself to use any smaller phone. Even the legendary Galaxy S4 failed to pique my curiosity. After weeks of indecision, I finally came up with an interesting compromise.I decided to skip a smartphone altogether.

Now, I have switched to a gophone, and have bought a Galaxy Note 8.0 for myself. Moving from the Note 2, the Note 8 is absolutely perfect! The three additional inches of screen estate makes a world of a difference when writing/ surfing / drawing, etc.

It has been only a couple of doyen but I'm already loving my first tablet. Hopefully I get to use more and more of this amazing tablet, and share my experience with you all.

How to Network unlock AT&T GoPhone Samsung A157

2013-02-20T02:52:00.001+05:30

I recently came to USA and had brought two Indian phones with me, but could not get any reception here in US for Airtel. I had heard that Airtel had ties with TMobile in US and that I was supposed to get network here. So, I dug around and found that the network was in a different band and could not be joined by both my Nokia and Samsung c3303.

Luckily, I had an AT&T goPhone lying around after I bought Samsung Galaxy S3, but it was locked to AT&T alone. I tried to insert my airtel sim, but it asked for Network lock pin.

After searching for a solution for a long time, I finally found the solution from here.

SGH-A157 Network unlock procedure:

==============================

Step 1: Remove sim card from phone and turn the phone on.

Step 2: Dial *2767*3855# This will initiate a Full reset for Samsung A157

(Note: According to one of the commenters below (Captain Greybeard), skipping this Step 2 will retain your IMEI number, and prevent the IMEI from becoming all Zeros. SO, DON'T DO THIS STEP. Only if Step 3 does not work, try Step2 and Step 3 together)

Step 3: Once the phone restarts, dial #*7337# This will remove sim lock and freeze

Step 4: Now insert Airtel Sim card. and restart the phone. You will get TMobile signal and will start receiving messages.

Update:
The above procedure would make the imei number all 0s in the phone. May be because of this, I was not able to use this phone in India with the same airtel sim card.
However, my AT&T sim card works fine in the US, and I have even called customer care to associate this phone to my sim card permanently. One thing to note is that AT&T will not accept 0000 as imei number. So, I provided the IMEI number printed below the battery in the back of the phone, and everything works fine now.

That's it! Enjoy!

How to Increase broadband internet speed in Ubuntu 12.04

2012-09-10T22:50:00.001+05:30

Bought a new HP dv6 I7 laptop from OfficeMax recently. It is a flashy laptop, with fingerprint reader, beats audio, and all. Having been a linux addict, I had vowed not to start installing linux straight away, but Microsoft didn't let me be. Within a week of regular windows updates, the headphone jack suddenly stopped working after a regular update.

While I was busy getting annoyed and researching about the solutions, the Linux devil inside me was dancing and doing back flips. Within a few hours, I was frantically writing the Ubuntu iso to a flash drive, and 20 minutes later, was logging in to Ubuntu.

Ubuntu was a treat to the eyes and looked gorgeous in the dv6. It was all that they said in the various Ubuntu reviews all over the internet. However, it was not without its share of problems.

@ beats audio could not be enabled, although the default audio was good enough. (Adding model=ref in alsa conf made it worse, so had t revert back.)

@ fingerprint reader was not recognized, not even by fprint.

@ internet was dead slow; I was getting 3MBPS in a 20MBPS line. This was a deal breaker.

Although I could do nothing about the first two issues, I searched around to improve the internet speed, and came across this wonderful post.

http://www.hitxp.com/articles/software/ubuntu-fix-slow-wireless-internet-connection-speed-upgrading-11-04-natty-narwhal/

It said that the problem was that Ubuntu was managing power to the wireless interface. The reduction in speed was because of the low power supply to the adapter.

I followed the instructions and turned off power management in iwconfig, and voila! The speed was suddenly up from a weak 3 MBPS to a vicious 19MBPS!!

The world became a wonderful place again. Peace.

Spicy Ragi Porridge - Healthy Breakfast

2012-07-01T22:43:00.000+05:30

Ragi Porridge
Serves 4 | Prep 7 mins

Ingredients

1 cup of ragi flour
5 cups of water
Half a teaspoon of mustard seeds
Three-fourth teaspoon of cumin seeds (jeera)
1 green chilli, slit and halved
Half a teaspoon of red chilli powder
A quarter teaspoon of turmeric powder
2 tablespoons of carrots, grated
2 tablespoons of cilantro (coriander leaves), finely chopped
1 teaspoon of lemon or lime juice (optional)
Salt to taste
2 teaspoons of vegetable oil

Method

1. Place the grated carrots in a microwave-safe bowl, sprinkle some water and cover and steam in the microwave for 30-40 seconds. Remove and let cool.
2. Heat the oil in a saucepan. Add the mustard and cumin seeds and fry until they start to pop.
3. Add the green chillies and saute for a few seconds. Add the turmeric and chilli powders along with salt and 1 tablespoon cilantro leaves. Add 5 cups of water and let it come to a boil.
4. In the meantime, add a little water to the ragi flour and make a thick paste
(of pouring consistency), adding a little water at a time, and smoothing out any lumps.
5. When the water comes to a boil, reduce the heat to low, and pour in the ragi paste slowly, stirring constantly to prevent lumps from forming, and cook for 2-3 minutes until the raw flavor is gone.
6. Add some more water to the ragi porridge if needed to get the consistency you want.
7. Serve the ragi porridge immediately in a bowl. Garnish with steamed carrot and cilantro, and a dash of lemon or lime juice.

P.S: Got this from now-cook.com, but it has been closed. So reposting here.

Norway Attacks - A Sad Irony...

2012-04-18T09:11:00.000+05:30

Found this in the comments of a list verse detailing the 10 Worst School Massacres, and felt really sad, recounting the the rampage of one Racist B********d who thought he was sane. Particularly with the 'Terminator' Breivik's trials having just begun.

Hope one day the World will be a much better place.

May all those Souls that were ripped off their hopes and expectations in Norway's first and hopefully the only Terrorist attack Rest in Peace.

InkScape tutorial : Draw an 8-ball in 8 minutes...

2012-04-13T22:24:00.000+05:30

InkScape is a powerful opensource vector editor that gives 'Nitrous' powered wings for your creativity to take shape. Below is a beginner tutorial for drawing an 8-ball easily in InkScape in as less as 8 minutes.

Various basic tools in InkScape need to be used for this tutorial. Refer to the below image when I refer to the names.

1. Select he Circle/Ellipse tool and draw a black circle. If the colour of the circle is not black, you can change it to black by setting it in the Fill and Stroke dialog box (Ctrl+Shift+F)

2. With the Circle tool selected, draw another circle inside the black circle, and colour it white.

3. Select the Text Box tool and click inside the white circle. Choose your favorite font and write '8' inside the circle.

4. Choose the Circle/Ellipse tool again, and draw a white ellipse near the top of the black circle.

5. Select the white ellipse, and go to the Fill and Stroke dialog box (Ctrl+Shift+F). In Fill tab, choose Linear Gradient from white to transparency, and the direction of the gradient from Top of the ellipse to bottom of the ellipse.

6. You can select the white circle and '8', and flatten it a little, to give the 8 ball some perspective. Make sure to move '8' a little to the bottom of the white circle to make it look more real.

7. Lets add some shadow to the 8 ball. Draw a small circle in black colour near the bottom of the 8 ball.

8. Press Page Down to send the shadow below the 8-ball

9. Go to the Fill and Stroke dialog box (Ctrl+Shift+F), and set add some Blur to the shadow, say 20.0

10. Position the shadow further up the 8-ball, to correspond with the light reflection almost at the top of the ball.

11. Go to the Fill and Stroke dialog box (Ctrl+Shift+F), and change the Alpha value to around 225, to give the shadow a realistic look.

12. Finally, click on some empty area to deselect any shape, go to Document Properties (Ctrl+Shift+D) and select Resize page to content... and click on the Resize page to drawing or selection button.

Thats it! Congratulations! You now have designed your own 8-ball. I told you it was easy, didn't I?

Comments/Feedback are welcome...

My homegrown Linux Penguin

2012-03-30T17:44:00.000+05:30

Download SVG

Linux is my favorite operating system, and I'm attached to it to the point of addiction. The knowledge one gains from it, and the control one feels using it, are nothing short of ecstacy.

Apart from a slew of technical attractions, there is a non technical attraction to Linux. The famous Linux Penguin - 'Tux'! The beauty of Tux is that the logo that represents Linux is like Linux itself; it can be edited in any way anyone wishes.

This public nature of the logo has only beautified Linux. There are hundreds of variations of the Tux penguin, from the Tux-Rambo to Mario-Tux to even the gut spilling Zombie Tux!!! A list of cool Tux versions have all assembled here.

Like the multiple images of Tux, the story behind Tux are also diverse. According to Wired, there is a bizarre variety of stories, ranging from

"Linus (Torvalds) was assaulted by a huge, rabid man-eating penguin that was 
running amok and was moving at more than a 100 miles per hour when it 
attacked him"

to more serious stories like

"Torvalds was never attacked, nibbled, or otherwise molested by a 
penguin, but became fixated on Tux because a fat penguin wasn't a 
typical corporate logo"

Such a plethora of back stories and logos of varied hilarity and dexterity, have only made the Logo as well as the OS it represents more lovable.

Above is my Easter egg Tux I created using Inkscape, following this excellent tutorial.

Living in a Digital Dark Age...

2012-03-24T12:06:00.000+05:30

It was like living the climax of 'Captain America'. I woke up one day to find out that a the river of life had already flown forward, rolling a few important pebbles on its course, all this while I was stranded out unawares on the Isle of Ignorance without a newspaper.

The newspaper delivery team here 'malfunctioned', meaning took an indefinite leave. Thus, since over a week, I have been living in a Digital Dark Age, with no comprehension of current affairs that were important enough to grab chunks of first page real estate.

After weeks of not having seen any attractive headlines, I was not too excited when I asked my father over phone what happened over the past week. Imagine my shock when he threw out shell after shell of breaking news, accompanied with a dirty contemptuous look aimed at my ignorance.

The much touted 'Sankaran Koil elections' were over, with a landslide victory for 'Amma'...

The fiercely debated KKNPP had let out its first breath long held back...

Wartime atrocities by Srilankan army had been 'discovered' with the help of mind-boggling video footages...

India had voted against Srilanka in the UN resolution...

I felt dizzy, and felt like I had travelled through time to some distant future.

The paper guys are still missing, dragging out my excile into Darkness. However, this time, I'm ready. Armed with the omniscient Google at my disposal, here I start my battle against the Newspaper-men, in a quest for Eternal Knowledge. Lets see who gets Round 2...

Making a steaming cup of Digital Coffee...

2012-03-17T21:21:00.002+05:30

Download SVG

Making a cup of steaming hot coffee is a pleasurable experience. Bringing together the various ingredients and weaving the magic to bring out that silky brown color, that soul-filling aroma, is an exhilarating experience, second only to the heavenly experience of relishing it until the last drop.

How does this experience compare with creating the same cup of coffee digitally?
Getting down and dirty with Inkscape to find out, I emerged out, completely ecstatic!

After spending close to an hour with this excellent Tutorial, I am pleased to unveil my newest creation *drumrolls* - The Delicious Pearly Coffee Cup!

Like Vladimir Putin, You too could take a dive, discover your tea cup, and share it with all of us to marvel at... :)

Sachin Tendulkar scores a controversial 100th Century!

2012-03-17T01:08:00.002+05:30

The 38 year old Master Blaster finally broke his long-standing jinx. He scored a controversial 100 against Bangladesh in India's first Asia Cup match this time, controversial mainly India lost the match
despite an imposing target of 290 (Bangladesh managed to surpass the total with 4 balls to spare).

The century was not taken with a pinch of salt, since many felt a direct connection between Sachin's record and India losing the match. Some of the statistics junkies are already putting up the number of matches India lost because of a Sachin century(!).

One can say a hundred things about the man's 100th Century; he put his record before the country, he scored very less in the powerplay overs, thereby reducing India's total, so on and so forth. Apart from the obvious reason that Indian bowling has been terrible by and large, there might even be a certain truth to what people say about this century.

But one must admit; scoring 10,000 international runs only in centuries is no mean feat, and come on, that guy has had a terrible year after scoring his 99th Century, what with Dravid retiring and all.

So here's a toast to the Little Master who broke the curse of the 'Leather Pearl' (cricket ball, what else?)!!!! May you finally, before you bid farewell, become your old self and shut your critics up...

How to draw your own Cartoon with Inkscape

2012-03-15T10:08:00.000+05:30

Download the SVG

Inkscape is the Omnipotent (with an uppercase 'O') fantasy world where you are limited only by your imagination. All you need is a gentle guidance into the World of Inkscape, and before you know, you are a digital Da Vinci! Okay, I exaggerated it a bit, but you get the idea. Creating has never felt this powerful for me before!

There are some great tutorials for Inkscape that hold your hand and ease you gently into the magical world of Inkscape. This excellent step by step tutorial from the Order of the Stick does just that. Within minutes, I had my 'Jack the Bully' ready and grinning.

Dive into the tutorial, and see what you come up with...

My tryst with Inkscape

2012-03-11T01:51:00.000+05:30

I recently needed to create posters and labels for a small startup we conceived. I first tried the Raven vector editor in Aviary. While it fit my needs very well, it was really buggy, and didn't let me save my work, effectively nullifying whatever I did.

Then I installed InkSkape in my system. I must say, it is really very powerful and useful for hobbyists or opportunists like me. After successfully designing my label in Inkscape, I was so intrigued by it that I have started learning it. Hope I become something useful with it.

Anyways, above's my first creation, the holy symbol of Lord Ganesha that symbolizes the beginning of everything... the 'Pillayar Suzhi' :)

More to come. Wish me luck! :)

I'm back, for the umpteenth time...

2009-06-22T00:00:00.004+05:30

Hi friends...

I'm hoping to be finally back to where I was, now that the magic potion I had taken has started wearing off. I've decided to rise and shine, just as the leaf above, to break the daily routine, and try and write at least a few sentences whenever possible. Hopefully, I succeed in doing that...

BTW, I took the above picture, using my Sony Ericsson S302 mobile phone (2.0 mega pixels) I've always been interested in photography, and more of my photographic efforts are coming soon here... See you around...

Cigarette Ban In Cinemas? Get real!!

2008-09-19T13:24:00.003+05:30

Our Central Government has decided to ban depiction of cigarettes in films. Great news, isn't it? The Government has taken a step forward in making a cigarette free society! I fully appreciate this one-small-step-for-a-man-a-giant-leap-for-mankind thing! If the Govt. cares, I have even better suggestions:
1.Ban murders from films; nobody will murder others anymore.
2.Please show child birth; children are no longer born, without the depiction.
3.Ban marriages in cinema; we can control population to a great extent, and finally,
4.Ban showing human beings in films; we shall all cease to exist!

An Award for ME?! OMG!

2008-09-19T13:07:00.001+05:30

Unbelievable! I received an award! Thanks to Karthik, I now have to live up to it. You'll pay for this Kartster!! I know, there are some rules to be followed, but me being relatively new and ~~a little~~ absolutely lazy, I'll follow the rules once I'm more eligible. For now, I can tell you about Karthik, who is very creative and excellent in English, but probably you know him more than I do. So, what am I gonna do? Nothing except blog more! Thanks dude!

Saroja!!! Saamaan Nikaloooooooo!!!!!

2008-09-14T17:46:00.006+05:30

Yesterday I had the chance to go to Saroja, the second VenkatPrabu flick. I have one word for the movie- "Hilariously Wonderful" *That makes it two words, you idiot!* *It does? Well, I'm not good in maths, and do shut up, you dirty mind voice of mine!*

Ahem... Where was I? Ah the movie! After my pitiable experience with Satyam , I was very cautious with Saroja. I read every piece of review I could get, and only after convincing myself that I'll not be tortured again, did I go to this movie.

I got the tickets(Rs. 50 for II Class!! )easily. A little too easily, so that I began to doubt the reviews. Praying to all the Gods, I went in, and the movie started. The first three songs of the movies were spaced a mere 15 mins apart! The songs were good though, thanks to Yuvan. The movie was hilarious, right from the entrance of Premji, till the screens go blank, after the end card. What I about the movie was the way in which comedy was inserted into even the most serious possible scene. Particularly, Premji has ruled!! There is this one scene: S.P.Charan(another excellent performer) is having a solemn word with the picture of his wife, afraid that he may never see her again and apologising for whatever he may have done. Premji puts a comforting hand on his shoulder and and after a moment asks: "Yar sir indha figure?"! The theatre erupts!

This new style of comedy, very similar to English movies, tried for the first time in Tamil cinema, makes us do what we're supposed to do-
VengatPrabu has some talent! Another interesting thing to mention is that all major artists from Chennai-28 made an appearance in Saroja.

Two of the most important ingredients of Saroja are the BGM and Camera. Yuvan has done a fantastic job with the bgm. I doubt the movie will be such a success without the bgm. The cameraman Shakthi Saravanan has also done an excellent job in making the film look rich. If you plan on seeing the movie on a dvd, make sure you do so on a HD(High Definition) DVD. I couldn't help but get amazed at what this man did with the camera.

If you are awaiting a call letter, preparing to leave TN for the job, or just lazing in the house not knowing what to do, I strongly suggest you to see this movie, but be warned, your ribs are gonna suffer a lot of tickling!

I simply Saroja! Thinking of going again. See you there

My First Tag! Yay!!

2008-09-09T11:02:00.005+05:30

Thank you, Kartster

1. What have you realized recently?
Everything takes some time. Never sow a seed and search the tree the very next day.
2. Have you given your first kiss away?
No. (Just in case my mom reads this:P)

3. If you were to be stranded on a deserted island, who are the 11 blog buddies you would take?
Now that's an interesting situation. I'll have a hard time choosing among them! *You barely know three bloggers, you idiot!* Shut up, you dirty little mind voice! Oops! I spoke aloud!

4. Where is the place you want to go the most?
To ancient TamilNadu in a time machine.

5. If you have one dream to come true, what would it be?
I go to sleep everyday praying that I get dreams. Come on! Who can be idle for hours without entertainment? Some days I get some beautiful dreams that I wish they were true. Some days, I get some awesome nightmares with adrenaline pumping action that I wish I could get them again. But dreams coming true? Get real!!

6. Do you believe in seeing the rainbow after the rain?
Of course I do!

7. What are you afraid of losing the most now?
My laziness. You don't know how comfortable I am, being lazy...

8. If you win $1 million, what would you do?
I'm a practical person. So give me $1 million and see what I do...(Please?!)

9. If you meet someone that you love, would you confess to him/her?
You bet I will... (I'll bet I won't and win all your money! Mwahahaha!)

10. List out 3 good points about the person who tagged you.

Karthik- Excellent in English
Classic as a Critic
Radical in his views

11. What are the requirements that you wish from your other half?
You want me to stay a bachelor for my whole life? You @#@##%@#$!!

12. What type of people do you hate the most?
People who don't like me.
13. What is the one thing you can't live without?
No, thanks. Not ready to experiment.

14. If you have faults, would you rather the people around you point out to you or would you rather they keep quiet?
Would prefer people point it out, although I dunno what my reactions will be.

15. Kartz's tag shows that this question is missing. What do I do?
Write a post about it.

16. Are you a shopaholic or not?
I'm a World Cup (Ulaga maga Kanja Pisinari)

17. Find a word to describe the person who tagged you.
Grandiloquent ( extravagantly colorful manner or quality in language) P.S: I really had to find this word!

18. If you have a chance, which part of your character you would like to change?
Carelessness, reluctantly..

19. What’s the last shocking thing you've seen or heard?
Nothing is Shocking, these days.

20. Would you rather have love but no money or money but no love?
I'd have love (let the lover have money!)

I now tag;
Are you kidding?! I don't know anyone else, at least not yet !!

Run for your lives!!!

2008-09-08T12:02:00.000+05:30

I like police movies. Kakka Kakka is one of my all time favs. Saami is also a good flick. Just when I thought there won't be anymore cop flicks, Satyam came. With all the hype given, 6 pack abs and all, I expected it to be a block buster, or atleast a good flick. I was a little disappointed when it was said Satyam was flop. I had seen some great films like 'Anbe Sivam' (Kamal, my all time fav.) become commercial flops due to the bad publicity given by ppl. So I made up my mind and saw the movie.*gasp*

The first thought that came to me: Ppl were not wrong this time. Whoa! From the first scene where he flies from one side of a bridge (not the end, the side) from nowhere, grabs a criminal and flies through the other end, till the last scene where the introduction song is repeated, the movie sucked. I had initially seen clippings of the movie in various reviews and the scenes had been good. Now I realized with horror: those were the only good scenes! Nayanthara, though flickers for a few moments, is nothing but a commercial element that only helps in slackening the pace. Even the children are of no use. It only shows how pitiably tamil cinema is dependent on commercial features. The concept of comedy remix is good though.

The fights was where I found that there are places on earth where gravity can be defied. The fights were so long that I was chatting with my bro til it ended. Seriously. No need to mension the car chases.Vishal has built his body. That's justified. He has shaved his head and mustache because his mother died since this is tamil cinema. That just sucks. The last scene totally lacks logic and i wondered who the idiot was: hero, the villains, the police standing there, or the audience watching it.

When at last the movie ends, you are smiling, not for the movie, but for something else you had been chatting about, or even if for the movie, for your foolishness on spending money. I need not say what the few good scenes are, for all the channels have already telecasted them. So I suggest, see only the scenes in tv, and be content with the feeling that Satyam is a good movie.

INDIA- Slowly becoming NDIA?

2008-08-27T15:44:00.001+05:30

I used to draw very good in my childhood. Many a times I enjoyed drawing the map of India, which I knew by heart. I've always thought that even the map of India looked humane, like a man wearing a hat with his right hand on his hip and an extended left arm that offered something(benevolence?) to other nations. Imagine my shock when I came across picture no.3! I felt as if the head I loved had been hacked away! History of India shows that from a much larger area, India is now reduced to this.

My question is, if other countries (our friendly neighbourhood?!) can break rules and shift LOCs, why does India have to maintain its Ahimsa image and lose itself part by part? What if, even if we don't conquer other countries, regain places which were rightfully ours? Please enlighten me.

The Doorbell (Drabble)

2008-08-25T11:20:00.001+05:30

(A drabble is a story with exactly 100 words)

The bell rang. Lazily, I got up from my bed. Covering myself with my nightgown, I went to the door and looked through the peephole. It was Jake, my boyfriend. Strange, I never knew he got up so early. Instinctively, my eyes reached for the mirror. Making sure(?) I was presentable, I opened the door.

"Hey! What a surprise! Come in!"

He didn't. Instead, He stared hard at me. Before I could ask him what was wrong, he brought a knife out of his pocket and slashed my throat!

I woke up from the nightmare, sweating profusely.

The bell rang.

My Ramblings on being a Super Hero!

2008-08-22T16:06:00.001+05:30

If I were a superhero... now thats an interesting idea. I've always
wished I'd be a super hero. The one with superpowers like incredible
speed, ability to open any lock, incredible strength(i know, why would
I need an ability to open locks when I have an incredible strength to
break them? silly, yet,thats what I want), flying if you permit,or at
least wall crawling. No webbing though. In my part of the world there
aren't many sky scrapers. Enough of my powers.

I've always wondered how superheroes fight crime. I mean, only if you
know when and where a crime happens, can you fight it. So what am I
supposed to do? Prowl the streets all day and night looking for crime?
And I haven't been in a crime scene. Not even once. If telepathy or
some kind of 'spider sense' helps in finding crime scenes, what will be
the area of coverage? Not to large I suppose, or my head will explode
with an overflow of distress calls. What am I talking? I don't even
know how a crime scene will look like and yet suppose that my quiet
neighborhood is full of crime scenes?! Gotta get real.

So anyways, even if I do find a crime scene by someway or other, how am
I supposed to know what's going on there? I mean, just because a man
gets beaten doesn't mean he's the good guy. For all I know he might
even have killed the attacker's child. What am I supposed to do? Stop
the fight and let the criminal go unpunished? This bothers me always
when I see a superhero movie. Why does a superhero always fight
robberies? Does he do only that or has he had any bitter or rather
embarrassing experiences? I may never know. Unless, I myself become a
super hero. Or rather, if you know me as well as I do, I may,very
likely, turn to a super villain. I don't know what my passions are as a
super villain. I'm yet to decide what crime I might involve myself in.
More training required.

Now about the partner part. Mmmmm, nice to imagine. One gorgeous
looking brainy babe(not as clever as I'm, I mean), coming up! Now if
she's really gorgeous and as brainy I expect her to be, then chances
are, she might not want to become my partner. In that case, I'm sure I
may see what one of my criminal passions is..

Well! Back to reality. Me! Super Hero? Knock it off!

I am wrong, fortunately!!!

2008-08-20T18:11:00.001+05:30

I am happy to announce that I am proved wrong regarding the performance of India in olympics. Indian wrestler Sushil Kumar wins the second medal for India. He beat Kazakhstan's Leonid Spiridonov in the men's freestyle wrestling 66kg class in Beijing to clinch the bronze medal.
Though I did not see this match, I did see the boxing match between Jitender Kumar vs Georgy Balakshin. Jitendar lost 11-15 in this well fought match. I was sitting at the edge of the chair watching a boxing game for the first time.
I understand one thing from this. Though one may say that India under performs in Olympics, most of the players give their ultimate for the match they play and one cannot help supporting them during the match and feeling for them if they lose the match. This is very much like cricket, only less, i mean very less, publicised. May be that's the reason they don't perform well. May be we are the reason they're not performing well.