Window!

Marriage is a folly: Kamal Haasan- Hindustan Times

2008-04-30T04:59:11.640Z

I've never believed in marriage. It was only because I loved the women that I went through it to please them. Marriage, like religion for me, is an imposition.

Did you marry Sarika because of the children?
I don't want to blame anyone. All I can say is that marriage is a folly that is slowly becoming redundant. I have four vaccination marks. In our time, they were a necessary ordeal. It's different today. I'm hopeful that one day like the vaccinations, the institution of marriage too will go away.

Kamal Hassan is a very intelligent man.

World's Hottest Chile Pepper Discovered

2008-04-29T07:52:42.572Z

Researchers at New Mexico State University recently discovered the world's hottest chile pepper. Bhut Jolokia, a variety of chile pepper originating in Assam, India, has earned Guiness World Records' recognition as the world's hottest chile pepper by blasting past the previous champion Red Savina.

In replicated tests of Scoville heat units (SHUs), Bhut Jolokia reached one million SHUs, almost double the SHUs of Red Savina, which measured a mere 577,000.

Dr. Paul Bosland, Director of the Chile Pepper Institute at New Mexico State University's Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences collected seeds of Bhut Jolokia while visiting India in 2001.

Bosland grew Bhut Jolokia plants under insect-proof cages for three years to produce enough seed to complete the required field tests.

"The name Bhut Jolokia translates as 'ghost chile,'" Bosland said, "I think it's because the chile is so hot, you give up the ghost when you eat it!"

Bosland added that the intense heat concentration of Bhut Jolokia could have significant impact on the food industry as an economical seasoning in packaged foods.

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Fruits of Bhut Jolokia on plants grown in the field at the Leyendecker Plant Science Research Center.

An open letter to Aamir Khan

2008-04-05T02:45:05.372Z

Paulo Coelho’s Blog

2008-03-29T08:48:21.813Z

Pretending to be a fool matters not

Mullah Nasrudin (the central figure in almost all tales of the Sufi tradition) had already become a sort of attraction at the main market in the town. Whenever he went there to beg, people would show him a large coin and a small one: Nasrudin always chose the small one.

A generous man who was tired of seeing everyone laugh at Nasrudin, explained to him:

“When people offer you two coins, choose the larger one. Then you will have more money, and people will not think you a fool.”

“You are surely right”, replied Nasrudin. “But if I always chose the larger coin, people would stop offering me money, in order to prove that I am a greater fool than they are. And then I would no longer receive enough for my food. There is nothing wrong with appearing to be a fool, if what you are doing is in fact intelligent.”

We are all responsible

A group of men came along the street; heavily armed soldiers leading a condemned man to the gallows.

“That man is no good”, said a disciple to Nasrudin. “I once gave him a silver coin in order to help him start his life afresh, and he did nothing important.”

“He may be no good, but perhaps he is now on his way to the gallows because of you,” argued the master. “Perhaps he used the alms in order to buy a dagger, which he then used in committing his crime - because instead of helping him with love and care, you chose to give him alms in order to release yourself from your obligation.”

Each thing in its own place

All Nasrudin’s disciples were gathered at a feast. They ate and drank for several hours, and talked about the origins of the stars. The night drew on and everyone made ready to go home.

A fine plate of sweets was left on the table: Nasrudin made all his disciples eat it.

One, however, refused.

“The master is testing us,” he said. “He wants to see whether we can control our desires.”

“You are mistaken,” replied Nasrudin. “The best way of dominating a desire, is to satisfy it. I would rather you had the sweets in your bellies - their rightful place - than in your minds, which should be filled with nobler things.”

A Victim Treats His Mugger Right : NPR

2008-03-29T02:10:53.067Z

"He wants my money, so I just gave him my wallet and told him, 'Here you go,'" Diaz says.

As the teen began to walk away, Diaz told him, "Hey, wait a minute. You forgot something. If you're going to be robbing people for the rest of the night, you might as well take my coat to keep you warm."

The would-be robber looked at his would-be victim, "like what's going on here?" Diaz says. "He asked me, 'Why are you doing this?'"

Diaz replied: "If you're willing to risk your freedom for a few dollars, then I guess you must really need the money. I mean, all I wanted to do was get dinner and if you really want to join me ... hey, you're more than welcome.

THE CITY FIX: Exploring Sustainable Solutions To The Problems of Urban Mobili...

2008-03-21T04:31:26.193Z

The increase in land prices, lack of cycle tracks, footpaths, poor public transportation, and the risk of being struck by a motorized vehicle have forced him to drive to work. He now spends nearly 30% of his salary on his monthly commute.

devdutt.com » Archive » Talking Matters

2008-03-18T05:51:27.386Z

A French student witnessed this when he decided to do his internship in an Indian software company. He observed that his colleagues resisted writing down minutes of the meeting or preparing a project plan with clear milestones and roles and responsibilities. Yet everyone seem to know their duties and their deadlines. He noticed that the requirements of the clients went through many changes. A lot was discussed over the telephone but hardly anything was written. Everything was in the ‘head’ of the engineers and the ‘head’ of the clients. To his surprise, the software was developed on schedule. No attempt was made by the client to reconcile the requirement documents with what was finally delivered. What mattered to the client was that the new system worked! The French intern also noticed that the user manual had many discrepancies – the screen shots were older versions, there were many grammatical errors. This did not bother the client; he suspected the client had not seen the manual. All the users on the client side insisted on demonstrations. But the training was not very detailed. A colleague explained, “They will keep calling us when they face problems for the next couple of months.” The intern realized such casual calls were an unwritten part of the contract that ensured a good relationship with the client and brought repeat business.

'I fell in love with a female assassin' - Americas, World - Independent.co.uk

2008-03-09T06:51:35.187Z

One morning, Marylin told me that the previous night she had persuaded a friend to help her decapitate and dismember a woman she had been contracted to kill. This was no informer, but, rather, a friend of hers who paid her to kill her boyfriend's other girlfriend. She described so graphically what had happened, with so little feeling, that at last reality kicked in.

Should become a very good movie !

End this killer Raj-MEN & IDEAS-Gurcharan Das-Columnists-Opinion-The Times of...

2008-03-06T00:36:33.232Z

For the first time an Indian institution of higher education has been ranked among the top 20 in the world. The Indian School of Business (ISB) was ranked 20th in a list of the top 100 business schools by a prestigious foreign business daily two weeks ago. A Chinese business school was No 11; four European schools came in the top 10, and the rest were from the United States.

But wait a minute. Isn't the ISB illegal? ISB officials explain that they don't want accreditation from All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) because then "they will decide our courses, our student intake, and even the size of our buildings." I spoke to a top AICTE official, who scornfully dismissed ISB - "its fees are too high and it doesn't even have a permanent faculty." I gently suggested that its faculty is world-class if not permanent. And why worry about fees when every student has a loan. They must be doing something right if students command a mean salary of Rs 16 lakh a year at graduation.

ISB is India's only school in the top-100 list. There might have been more but for AICTE. One of these is Mumbai's premier SP Jain Institute, run by a no-nonsense Harvard graduate. It doesn't bribe; nor does it succumb to politicians for admissions.

Hence, it is punished. It applied to admit 120 students in 1992, but got approval for 45. In 2001, it applied for 180 but didn't get approval for six years. In 2004, AICTE rejected its unique dual degree programme with a reputed foreign university, whereby the latter would have flown its faculty to India. Its innovative programme for family-run businesses was also rejected. Last year, it seriously contemplated closing down. Instead, it has started campuses in Dubai and Singapore - far beyond AICTE's reach.

What do you do when the keepers of the law become its oppressors? AICTE was set up to encourage higher education but it achieved the opposite. Honest officials have tried cleaning it up periodically, but they have always been removed by politicians, who happen to own many of our worst private institutions. The answer, of course, is to give autonomy to all education institutions.

Regulators should only ensure that they provide mandatory disclosure on the Internet about their courses, faculty, fees, and facilities (with severe punishment for false claims). Professional rating services should evaluate colleges with the same credibility as Crisil rates industrial companies. Competition will take care of the rest. Students will be able to make informed choices. Good institutions will thrive and poor ones will close.

In the India of my dreams the government will stop running universities and colleges. All institutions will be autonomous. The government will plough all the money saved into scholarships. The government's role will be limited to governance - ensuring corruption-free ratings and corruption-free exams (with the credibility of IIT-JEE) at various stages in a student's career.

The tombstone of the UGC/AICTE Raj will thus read: "For 50 years we promoted rote learning, incompetent faculty, and mediocrity. We punished original thinking and failed to create an employable graduate. We pushed students into a parallel universe of coaching classes, which ironically took their obligation to students far more seriously. We deserved to die."

Building India is about building institutions. This Sunday let's celebrate the emergence of a world class institution in India. The altruistic founders of ISB had a vision. They funded it privately and nurtured it in its early years. They persisted in difficult times, especially when they were under attack from AICTE. Now, this is how to build fine institutions.

Instrucciones para cuidar un bebé » makememinimal

2008-03-03T03:24:16.326Z