Transition

My Experiment - Growing Bhut Jolokia or Naga Jolokia

2020-08-21T02:06:00.001+05:30

Bhut Jolokia aka Naga Jolokia aka Ghost Pepper is one of the hottest pepper (or chili) around. I have wanted to grow these firebombs for 2 years. But I could not the right seeds. I checked online as well as offline for reliable seeds with decent germination rates but it ended in disappointment. Finally, a friend from Delhi who happens to have a good friend in Nagaland came to my rescue. This gentleman from Nagaland arranged to send a good number of dried Naga Jolokia pods to me. He had his concerns whether these peppers would grow at my location due to huge differences in soil and water properties.

When I received the package, it was wrapped in multiple layers of plastic and paper packaging. When I opened the first layer, I was greeted with a pungent smell typical to Naga Jolokia. Upon opening the package, I found that pods were protected with 5 layers of plastic and paper. That tells a lot about the smell of these peppers. You better be careful while handling these peppers.

Finally, it was time to separate seeds from pods. I put on latex gloves, tied a handkerchief around my face like a mask, put on my glasses and made sure that all doors and windows were closed. I didn't want seeds flying across my room. My wife was sitting 8 feet away from me and she didn't wear a mask. As soon as I sliced open the first pod, she started coughing due to the pungent smell of Naga Jolokia. That's some really powerful stuff.

Finally, I removed seeds from 8 pods and packed the rest of them, covered in multiple layers of plastic bags. I marked them with a danger symbol. These pods were kept in a separate cupboard and not my regular seed storage.

Now it was time to plant those seeds and see how well they germinate. Jolokia has an okayish rate of germination ranging from 40-80%. Since this is the first time that I am cultivating Jolokia, I'll need to wait before I share my observations. Jolokia has a very slow rate of germination too. It takes 3-4 months for seeds to germinate. This is pretty long by any standard.

To keep things simple, for the first batch of Jolokia, I did not use a seed starting mix. Instead, I used my own mix of potting soil. It is a 50-50 mix of farm soil and compost. I wanted to add some coco peat but I didn't have any. For the next batch, I might use 4 parts compost, 2 parts coco peat and 1 part Vermiculite/Perlite. I will try different compositions for different batches to see what Jolokia loves the most.

I took a big rectangle planter for the first batch. I also took 8 disposable plastic glasses and punched 3 holes in each glass. Two bigger holes on the side and one drainage hole at the bottom. After filling the planter with potting mix, I filled these glasses with potting soil and inserted them into potting mix inside the planter. I kept these glasses in such a way that they would stay 2cm above the top surface of the potting mix in the planter.

I inserted 3 seeds (1/4" deep) in each glass and covered them with potting mix. After watering these glasses as well as potting mix in the planter, I moved planter to my balcony. Jolokia seeds require constant temperature around 30 C to germinate. Seeds will get enough air, sunlight and temperature in the balcony. Although temperatures in open reach up to 48+ C, the temperature in the balcony stays around 32-35 C. I planted my first batch of Jolokia seeds on 18 August 2020 and would plant the next batch after two weeks. I will keep tracking the progress of this amazing pepper and also share pictures with you folks.

In case any of you are interested in growing Jolokia and require seeds for it, then feel free to write to me and I will try to send you some seeds. Since my supply of pods is limited, I cannot guarantee seeds to everyone.

How to get 1 Gbps (1000 Mbps) bandwidth on Jio Fiber Connection?

2020-08-18T13:44:00.004+05:30

A lot of us are still Working From Home due to Covid-19 scenario. And out of those, a bulk of them didn't have a broadband connection at home. During pre-COVID days they had good enough Internet connection and office and outside the office, they survived with mobile data (1-2GB/day). This got the job done for almost everyone before Covid-19 madness started. But as we started WFH many felt the need to get high speed and a reliable Internet connection (mobile Internet is not always reliable in terms of connectivity and bandwidth) for those conference calls, binge-watching web series and some such.

Keeping the new 'normal' in mind, I also decided to upgrade to a 1 Gbps (~1000 Mbps) connection. Since my current ISP could only offer maximum 40Mbps bandwidth due to some arcane 'technical issue', I decided to switch to Jio.

Jio Fiber Connection was installed fine. And since I was busy with work when they were installing, I couldn't check the bandwidth once the installation was done. All I noticed was there were two new networks on WiFi list. While one was 2.4GHz with a default name (SSID - Jio Fiber), another one had a 5GHz suffix (SSID - Jio Fiber-5GHz).

My Jio Fiber router with 2.4GHz and 5GHz wireless network

It was only later in the day that I checked bandwidth on 2.4GHz signal. I did not get the full 1000 Mbps bandwidth with my Jio Fiber connection. It was fluctuating between 40-50 Mbps. I mean WTF I pay for a 1 Gbps connection and I get half the bandwidth. So I did a little bit of search online and it even got more confusing. Some articles told me that I needed a different router if I wanted to use full 1 Gbps and that 50Mbps is the normal speed that everyone got. I also checked with a friend who had Jio Fiber connection for the last two years and he told me that he was enjoying 1 Gbps bandwidth although his router was a different model and he had paid installation fee and router cost totaling Rs. 4,500. I had just paid Rs. 2,500. I also checked with another friend who had got a Jio Fiber connection couple of weeks back and he was also stuck at maximum 50Mbps with the same router that I had. Combined with the information I got from the article and from my friend I deduced that I may need that different router to utilize full bandwidth.

My friend's Jio Fiber router

So I called up the executive who had processed my connection and told him that I could only get a maximum of 50Mbps over my wireless network and this is not what I had signed up for. He asked me to connect to a 5GHz wireless network and check if I could get up to 1 Gbps. I did that and lo and behold, it reached 1 Gbps (and a couple of times exceeded it).

That my dear readers is an easy trick to get 1 Gbps bandwidth on Jio Fiber connection. Connect to 5GHz network and you'll enjoy the high-speed Internet with the full bandwidth of 1 Gbps without paying anything extra for a different router. Yes in case you have an existing wireless range extender that is not compatible with 5GHz then you need to make that investment to enjoy your full bandwidth.

Day-5 - Lockdown in India - Karni Mahal Drone Video

2020-03-29T00:30:00.000+05:30

Today is Day-5 of national lockdown in India. As mentioned earlier, I will share a drone video of a place I had been to recently.

Today I bring you visuals of Karni Mahal, a small property located on an island in Jaisamand Lake. Jaisamand Lake is located 50km from Udaipur, Rajasthan. We had been there for our annual trip in early March 2020. It has a very good location and you need to take a boat to reach the property. Their welcome party was really helpful and courteous.

While the resort looks stunning in these visuals, it is not well-maintained. We were informed that this property opened to visitors in September 2019. But looking at the condition of fittings and equipment it looks ancient. Maybe the owner of the property wanted to save some money and in turn, ended up ruining a property with lots of potential. And this is just the start of it. Most rooms had lizards enjoying their stay and food was way below the mark. Although they have mentioned Wi-Fi as one of the amenities, it was nowhere to be found. I could live with that but at least they should remove it from their list of amenities.

Veg and non-veg food was equally bad and their restaurant staff definitely needs lots of training.

For Gujarati folks, food was so bad that some of our team members ate thepla they had brought during lunch.

I know its hard to stay at home for such a long time but these measures are for our safety. Isolation is the biggest weapon we have against Corona followed by awareness and hygiene.

I request everyone across the globe to do their bit to fight this pandemic. Our forefathers had to fight wars in distant corners of the world for freedom and liberty. Our task is much easier and let's stay at home to preserve our way of life.

Janta Curfew and Impact

2020-03-28T23:00:00.001+05:30

Corona has turned out to be a bigger, stronger and faster enemy of mankind than anybody had anticipated. As of now, the entire world is battling this villain. All doctors, nurses, technicians, police, armed forces and other personnel involved in this fight against Corona (Covid-19), we are really grateful to you for going beyond your call of duty. Our Prime Minister Narendra Modi had made an appeal to observe a 'Janta Curfew' on 22 March 2020. Before I move ahead let me quickly explain what Janta Curfew means. Janta means public (or citizenry) and Janta Curfew in effect means a curfew voluntarily observed by all citizens. Apart from appealing for a Janta Curfew, he also requested all citizens to clap and ring metal plates to show our appreciation for providers fighting bravely.

Our PM Narendra Modi appealed and we supported him wholeheartedly. This is Sarkhej Gandhinagar Highway, one of the busiest roads in Ahmedabad, India. It looks completely deserted. I have never seen it like this ever.

Looking at the brighter side, Janta Curfew had a great impact and Ahmedabad looks so bright and clean. Janta Curfew has really reduced pollution and dust in the air. I will share a video about clapping and ringing metal plates soon.

Good job everyone. Isolation is the most potent weapon in our fight against Corona.

Keeping in mind that all of us confined to our houses, I will try and upload different drone videos of various places that I have shot at.

I know its hard to stay at home for such a long time but these measures are for our safety. Isolation is the biggest weapon we have against Corona followed by awareness and hygiene. I request everyone across the globe to do their bit to fight this pandemic. Our forefathers had to fight multiple wars (including two World Wars) in distant corners of the world for freedom and liberty. Our task is much easier and let's stay at home to preserve our way of life.

System Thread Exception Not Handled - Oculus Update

2019-06-20T13:00:00.000+05:30

This is an old post that was somehow stuck in the draft folder, so please adjust the timeline accordingly.

Last Friday I bought a GTX 1080Ti. Weekend looked really promising with Battlefield 1 and DCS World with Oculus Rift and X-56 Rhino joystick to go with it.

On Friday evening I set up everything and flew a Su-27 in DCS World for some time. As it stands, DCS World is a great flight simulator. But it's even better with VR and joystick. After flying Su-27 for some time, I shut down my computer and went out.

When I came back and turned on my machine, it didn't boot. It took me to BSOD that said: "System thread exception not handled". There was no filename or any other information. It just kept doing that on a loop. I tried other options like Safe Mode, Command Prompt, etc. No go. I tried disconnecting all devices except keyboard and mouse but that didn't help either.

One thing was clear, this was a driver issue. Keeping that in mind, I started searching for solutions on Google. There was a small chance that this might be a graphics driver issue since I had updated display drivers to Nvidia's latest release. Uninstalling display drivers was not an option for me as I was not able to go to Safe Mode.

Upon further research, I found that many people had faced this error and formatted their HDD/SSD. But that didn't solve their problem. So formatting M.2 was ruled out. Moreover, I try to avoid formatting HDD/SSD as much as possible because backing up data and restoring it is time-consuming.

Since I could not find any solution to it, I started analyzing the sequence of events. My computer was working fine a few hours back. It worked fine when I connected Oculus Rift to it and updated Oculus software.

I knew one thing. The problem had occurred after I had connected Oculus Rift. I disabled USB 3.0 and 3.1 ports from BIOS just to isolate the issue. No go.

While searching for a solution I used the search string "system thread exception not handled oculus rift" and came across this solution on VRheads. This solution was really helpful. Actual culprit was ASMedia USB 3 driver which didn't want to work well with updated Oculus software.

I hope this is helpful to you. If you find it helpful, give a shoutout to Russell - author of the article on VRheads - and comment on his post and my post.

Beautiful Su-27 in DCS.

Ports of Gujarat - Map

2019-06-12T12:36:00.000+05:30

Gujarat is the Westernmost state of India. It has the largest coastline - 1600+km - among all states in India. I was searching for a detailed map of Gujarat for some research. But I could not find an updated map with all ports, jetties and shipyards. So I sat down with my team, compiled a list of ports, jetties and shipyards in Gujarat based on open source information and marked them on this map. I am sharing this map so that anybody can use it.

Cyclone Vayu is set to hit the Western part of Gujarat around Porbandar. So keep them in your prayers and in case Vayu decides to play rough, be ready to help our countrymen. Fishermen in Saurashtra and Kutch region have been advised not to venture out. Government is doing its bit by evacuating people to safe areas, deploying NDRF and stocking relief supplies. Armed forces have deployed their units and are on standby for rescue and relief operations.

Hi-res map of Gujarat with current and upcoming ports, jetties and shipyards

DIY Drip Irrigation System Made Using IV Bottle and Tube

2016-05-13T14:38:00.001+05:30

DIY drip irrigation system made using IV bottle and tube. It will be fed by water coming out of air conditioner. To test the effects of water on Basil plants, I irrigated one plant using water from air conditioner and for other plant I used tap water.

I encourage you to do something similar. Let us try to save and reuse as much water as we can. While you may have easy access to water, there are millions who do not get drinking water.

I plan to build more such kits and install it at home and office to irrigate kitchen garden and other plants. I would love to hear suggestions/comments on more efficient and effective systems.

Basil plant irrigated using tap water

Basil plant irrigated using water from air conditioner

DIY drip irrigation system

RKBA - 1 - Abolition of Prohibited Bore and Non-Prohibited Bore

2015-02-21T11:49:00.002+05:30

This is my open to request to Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and Home Minister Rajnath Singh to repair the damage done in past due to ancient and oppressive colonial hangover. Right to Keep and Bear Arms should be a basic right. I would like to quote apostle of peace and non-violence Mahatma Gandhi on this.

Among the many misdeeds of the British rule in India, history will look upon the Act depriving a whole nation of arms as the blackest. If we want the Arms Act to be repealed, if we want to learn the use of arms, here is a golden opportunity. If the middle classes render voluntary help to Government in the hour of its trial, distrust will disappear, and the ban on possessing arms will be withdrawn.

His quote clearly mentions that British rulers didn't want native populace to be armed as they didn't trust natives. But now we are no longer ruled by British. We are world's largest democracy where trust between citizen and government has to flow both ways. While keeping this in mind along with your electoral promise of better security for all Indians, I am writing this letter to you.

Dear Prime Minister and Home Minister,

I appreciate your vision for a stronger India and wish you all the best for steps you need to take in that direction. As you rightly said, bitter pill is required to restore financial health and physical security of India. That is very well said. Keeping your vision in mind, I would like to suggest a couple of things. They might sound bitter to some, but then most medicines do.

Post-1857 British administration realized that it would be tough to control armed populace and might lead to 1857-like rebellions in future. With this in mind, Indian Arms Act, 1878 was introduced. It was meant to disarm Indian populace while trusting firearms in hands of British and those who were considered loyal to the crown.

Similarly concept of Prohibited Bore (PB) and Non-Prohibited Bore (NPB) was introduced. For those who are not aware, PB is any bullet type that is used by armed forces or law enforcement agencies. Any other bullets besides these are considered NPB. This was put in place by British to ensure that natives won't be able to use captured military ammunition for their firearms. It might have served their purpose, but today it is super-absurd. E.g. you can't buy a pistol firing 9x19mm as armed forces and police use that round making it PB. But if you can locate one and pay for it, you can go and buy a Desert Eagle in .50 Action Express (AE) as technically it is NPB. It is a no-brainer that .50 AE is way more powerful than a 9x19mm bullet.

Comparison between 9x19mm and .50 AE

The concept of PB and NPB is not only absurd but leads to major hassles – thanks to total ignorance about firearms – in lobby entrusted with licensing. This is further compounded because NPB firearm license has to be applied with state authorities, application for PB license are processed by Ministry of Home Affairs. It is a fact that most of those responsible for issuing licenses are not familiar with firearms and look for any reason – valid or invalid – to reject or sit on an application for firearms license. E.g. most of them will reject an application for a weapon firing 9mm 'Short' (9x17mm) after just reading 9mm and without understanding the fact that armed forces and police use 9x19mm and not 9x17mm. Effectively 9x17mm is NPB, but may get branded as PB due to lack of knowledge.

India gained independence on 15th August 1947. Independence and democracy meant that government would listen to people and take decisions to make India safe and prosperous. But we all know that all subsequent governments have failed to do so. Rather than working for citizens, the government didn’t even trust its citizens. To continue their domination, the government continued with the Police Act and Arms Act written by British. Those acts were supposed to undermine natives so that British could control India for as long as possible. Indian government just rehashed those acts to meet their own ends. Right to Keep and Bear Arms gives citizen legal right to own and carry firearms, but it is not included as a right in the constitution. Although amending the constitution is a lengthy journey, you may start with small steps.

I request you to do away with the concept of PB and NPB. My reasons for this are listed below:

To streamline and rationalize the licensing process.
To ensure common supply of ammunition leading to increased numbers and increased interest by ammunition manufacturers. This would lead to competitive price of ammunition along with an improvement in quality.
A commonality in the design of small arms will ensure economies of scale and better quality and pricing for end users.
We would be self-sufficient in firearms as it would be worthwhile for manufacturers to design new firearms with civil and military/LE version.

Beware: Shenzhen Apple Vista Technology Ltd for Piezo Cylinders

2014-10-19T12:05:00.001+05:30

Keeping in line with my recent posts about internet scam, I would like to talk about one more scam. It is not an internet scam but much worse. It is a scam where an importer was duped with low quality goods causing financial loss to importer. Let's call importer as Company A for convenience.

Since I am involved in import and export of various items, Company A decided to approach me and share their story. Kindly note that this article is based on information provided to me by Company A and some investigations me and my friends made in this case. So here it goes.

Company A is involved in import and trading of a product called Piezoelectric Crystal/Cylinder. They decided to import these products from a company called Shenzhen Apple Vista Technology Ltd and also referred as Apple Vista. This company is based out of Shenzhen, China. Here's a link to Apple Vista's own website, basically their page on Alibaba.

Company A requested and got samples from Apple Vista to check for quality and size. Samples sent by were of consistent size in range of 4.92-4.96mm in diameter. Company A was interested 5x10mm Piezoelectric cylinders. Usually there is a variation of 0.1mm in diameter (4.9-5.1mm) and it is acceptable to importers as well as end customers. In addition to that there is another test for quality that deals with number of sparks generated consistently. Samples performed well in spark tests too. Moreover Apple Vista had confirmed that their products will be in range of 4.9-5.1mm during multiple Skype and phone conversations. Basically Apple Vista was confident about quality of their products. So all in all samples were of acceptable size and quality.

Invoice issued by Apple Vista for said transaction. Some details have been blanked out for obvious reasons.

Finally order was placed and 100% payment was transferred since it was an urgent order for Company A. They received goods after some time and opened couple of packages to check for size. They were shocked to know that most piezo cylinders they received were in range of 4.84-4.88. It was not even within acceptable limits. When further tests were conducted, it was found that almost 8% of these products didn't generate any sparks at all. Company A immediately contacted concerned person at Apple Vista. Their first reaction was typical and was on lines of "our quality is consistent and goods we sent to you are same as sample". This meaningless banter went on even when Company A shot a video and sent it to Apple Vista. It was clear from the video that piezoelectric cylinders were of sizes smaller than committed. But Apple Vista was not ready to take any responsibility and kept giving lame excuses and fake promises. Ultimately when Company A threatened them with legal action, concerned person - pseudo name Ida - said that it was her mistake and she was responsible for miscommunication. Ida informed Company A that she has been fired from Apple Vista due to this mistake and there is nothing much she can do for Company A. Basically Company A was screwed because their customers were not ready to accept these products and their supplier was giving them truckload of manure all causing a major financial loss. Company A is still trying to figure out their legal options.

Apple Vista company logo and details

Reason for sharing this incident with you all is to warn you about scamsters like Apple Vista and other such suppliers of various items. Before you sign a contract or place an order with any foreign firm, talk to your lawyer and chartered accountant on ways to make your contract watertight and include clauses that would protect you in such a case. Try to do more research about a company before you enter into any financial transaction with them. In case you want to know more about this company or how to protect yourself while importing or exporting goods, drop me a line and I'll be happy to help.

Online funds transfer scam

2014-04-06T11:47:00.000+05:30

from: Chief General Manager nabardpmohanaiah@gmail.com
reply-to: delhi@nabards.org
to:
date: Mon, Mar 24, 2014 at 4:08 PM
subject: TRANSFER NO:UN/NIJ/53

Highly Confidential...

TRANSFER NO:UN/NIJ/53

Dear Sir/Madam,

Re:Release/Transfer Notice of your Approved Funds(INR.93,78,300.00) May
you remain favored and I pray that this email will find you in Good
Spirits and of course always in the best of health.

This letter will definitely be amazing to you because of its realistic
value. Sorry for the inconveniences that was rendered to you in your line
of contract/Inheritance Payment transaction with some government Officials
some while ago.Without taking much of your time, my name is Sattar
Mohammed, Presently we are being paid by the WORLD BANK in conjunction
with the ( UN ) in other to avert beneficiary funds delays and compensate
victims of scam in recent times and also payment of contract inheritance
sum. So far,we have succeeded in Settling.

Your Funds were returned back to Treasury,some while ago because you did
not finalize your claim for it. A week ago,The Executive Committee
collectively agreed to release the sum of INR. 93,78,300.00 to you but to
our surprise you are to contact NABARD to transfer on your behalf this
morning.

Dear Beneficiary you are advise to kindly re-confirm to us the followings
below so that the Bank will not be held responsible for paying into the
wrong account Name.

1) Your full name.
2) Contact Address
3) Phone,
4) Fax.
5) Occupation.
6) A valid proof of Identification.

In receipt of the above information, your payment will be approved and
paid to you by electronic wire transfer (T/T) to your nominated bank
account,you are advice to get back to me immediately you receive this mail
for immediate payment and insructions to credit your account, which is
schedule to hold within 24 hours upon confirmation of the above mention
requirement,via email ( delhi@nabards.org )

Officially Sealed

Mr. Shri P Mohanaiah

This is one of the stupid funds transfer scams I received by email. There are multiple red flags in this letter. I have tried to list them below:

Note how scamster mentioned his name as Sattar Mohammed in beginning of the letter and signed it as P Mohanaiah.
NABARD stands for National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development and their website is www.nabard.org and NOT www.nabards.org as evident from sender's email. Moreover NABARD does not get involved in matters like inheritance and stuff.
UN has better things to do than give funds to some bank for faster disbursement of funds.
How would they transfer funds to your account without doing necessary paperwork?

Try to analyze any such emails logically and you'll save lot of your time and money. Always remember, if something is too good to be true, chances are, it isn't. :)

I'll keep sharing more such online scams with everyone when time permits so that you can take protect yourself from such fraudulent emails and online scams.

Good old college days

2013-10-08T20:05:00.000+05:30

Couple of days back I found out that an old friend of mine had invited me to join a group on Whatsapp. It happened to be group of my friends from initial years of college. Memories came rushing back. Those good old college days were unbelievable compared to a mad race that life has become now.

There are old room-mates, batchmates and all kind of mates on this group. It was time to remember trademark peculiarities of all these nut cases. I ended up spending some time asking about news from their end and what are they doing with their lives. Common factor was that everybody was working their @$$ off, are well off and sadly married. Well, that's what THEY said about their marriage, not my words.

Such fun days we had in hostel. Pulling legs and making fun of teachers and girls together. Those cat calls and trips to SD to eat dhosa and have 'kaafi'. That walk up a huge slope to get out of the hostel. Sometimes I wonder how come our institute never produced any mountaineers of repute owing to daily climbing practice. Hell we almost gave India a national level shooter, but that is a completely different story. A story that still goes around our hostel just like most hostel have their "a dude committed suicide and haunts his room as a ghost". Of course room numbers vary depending on whom you want to scare. On second thoughts, lower attendance of most hostelites might be due to this giant slope we had. It was such an uphill task that most hostelites preferred to sleep in their rooms rather than sleeping in classrooms. Must talk to management since I just found out ways to improve attendance now.

Irrespective of who said it, "I am going to library" invariably ended up going to computer lab. For chatting of course. It was 1999 and internet was a big thing. mIrc, ICQ and yahoo messenger were hot. And finding girls - real girls not the fake ones floating around on Facebook these days - was pretty easy. I have couple of friends who found their spouse online.

Tatty, Ronako,Argo, Dhadhuk, Dhaave, Mitha, Mossama, Lagga, Bakadiya, Chiku, Iffu, Nikida, Mr. Bean, Kumar, Gandhi, Harsora, Kd, Kana, Kunla, Shekhu, Shalo, Rax, Magan, Bhavko and rest of you. Thank you buggers for being with me and making me what I am today. Without you idiots, I would have a boringly stable job, a boring life and a bigger car and house than I have. But I don't want that because I have you buffoons. You guys taught me that college is not just about education. It is about making friends, having fun, sustaining with just Rs. 5 in your pockets, stealing stuff for heck of it and trying to make a career as a criminal. Each of you is worth your weight in gold. So halkats, be careful, I might as well sell you off to pay for your sins and get a bigger car and house. Those of you I forgot to mention, don't be so happy. As long as I remember your name, well sell you off too.

Pssst: Marriage sucks. Couldn't write it before, wife was reading. ;)

Internet copyright dispute and domain registration scam

2013-04-16T13:57:00.000+05:30

Internet scams and frauds claiming that you have one lottery for an astronomical amount or that a stranger is willing to share few million $ with you are not new. Such fraudulent emails have become a part of our online lives. I receive such emails every alternate day and I faithfully guide them to trash can. But the scam I am going to discuss is novel in its approach. Rather than promising any freebies, it targets your hard work and knowledge by taking your website domain as hostage. This is completely new internet copyright dispute and domain registration scam.

As many of you might be aware, I run a small consulting website www.aac-india.com . I get decent number of visitors with tons of queries. I try to answer them to the best of my knowledge. Everything was going well and out of the blue I received email mentioned below:

Subject: RE: Urgent Inquire aac-india (about trademark)

Dear CEO,

We are an organization specialized in dealing with Internet Copyright dispute and registration in Asia.

On April,16, 2013, a named "Haoxiao Investment Co" company submitted an application to our company for registering these top level domains:

aac-india.asia

aac-india.cn

aac-india.com.cn

aac-india.com.hk

aac-india.hk

Whether you consigned this company to register these top level domains, or are they your subbranch?

Because these domain name may relate to the use of trademark. I hope you can give me a reply as soon as possible.

Best Regards,

John King

Manager of Auditing Department

Now, if I was a very smart person, I would have called the bluff from the language and grammar of this email. But I panicked initially and replied to him as given below:

Dear John,

Thank you for informing me about this development. I hereby declare that I am no way related to "Haoxiao Investment Co" nor have I authorized them to register any domains.

Regards,

Vishal Kansagra

I guess Mr. John King is not one of those scamsters to give up easily. He shot me another email mentioned below:

Dear Vishal,

Thanks for your reply. If you have not consigned with them, according to our working experience, there are 2 possibilities for your reference:

1. That company may be a domain investment company; they want to register these names before you and sell its back to you to gain profits.

2. It may be a commercial method, that company is consigned by your competitor to register these domains and confuse your clients.

Domain takes open registration according to the international registration principle,So that company has right to register it. As a domain registrar, we herewith are required to inform your company to protect your interest by our government.

As the owner of "aac-india.com", you have the priority to register these domains. Of course, each company has its own idea. If you don't think their application will affect your company, you can give up, and we will finish their registration. But, if you think their registration will confuse your clients and harm your profits, we can help you protect and register these domains within dispute period. This is the only way to prevent domain from being grabbed. Hope you can give me your decision ASAP, so that we can handle the next step.

Best Regards,

John King /*Note his designation disappears*/

He gave away his game when he expressed that he was way too concerned for my domain and my money. He was interested in my money for sure, but he wanted it in his pocket rather than mine. By now I had got over panic attack and it was time to start having fun. There we go:

Dear John,

Whoever they are, let them have fun. I am not interested in buying these additional domains. Thank you once again.

Regards,

Vishal Kansagra

Mr. John King, full marks to you for your persistence. Here he gets back:

Dear Vishal,

If that is the case, we'll help them complete registration in the near future.As for any results caused, we won't bear any legal responsibilities.

Best Regards,

John King

Now, words like legal and responsibilities are enough to scare a normal Indian on their own, but when clubbed together, they seem like ‘Qayāmat’ (the day of judgment). So I hit him back with his weapon:

Dear John,

I am ok with legal responsibilities as Indian jurisdiction or that of International Court of Justice (The Hague, Netherlands) would apply. It should give me a great opportunity to practice my legal skills. I just completed my Masters in International Law from University of Washington and got my attorney’s license. Kindly get me contact details of legal representative(s) of concerned entity.

Regards,

Vishal Kansagra

With that bombshell, I don't think Mr. John King is going to reply any time soon. And in case it does, it would be a great opportunity to travel to Europe :D

Mutilation of Indian Soldiers

2013-01-09T13:52:00.001+05:30

I express deepest sympathies and support to families of Lance Naik Hemraj and Lance Naik Sudhakar Singh of Indian Army. These brave men laid down their lives protecting sanctity of India. They were ambushed and killed by troops of Pakistan Army who had intruded on Indian territory after crossing Line Of Control (LoC). In the ensuing gunfight, they made supreme sacrifice in service of our nation. Pakistani intruders didn't stop after killing them. They mutilated their dead bodies and retreated with head of one of the soldiers. This not only blatantly violates Geneva convention, but also gives an insight into sick minds of those responsible.

Although cease fire violations are not unheard of during peace time, this act of mutilation is very ghastly. It brings back dark memories of similar actions of Pakistan Army in early days of Kargil conflict. A patrol from 4 Jat lead by Captain Saurabh Kalia was captured and murdered in cold blood. Their mutilated bodies were handed over later on. Such an act is a war crime and perpetrators should be tried for the same. But sadly Indian government has not done anything about it. When questioned about progress of this matter, Salman Khurshid just dodged it citing lack of credible options. Options are called options because you have a choice. Pick one instead of dilly-dallying for more. If you just keep wiping soldiers blood with your ink pots then it will become impossible for a government to hold this country together. If you can't even respect a soldier in death then it won't be long before a soldier stops respecting the government. This mutilation of Indian soldiers should not go unpunished. Measures need to be taken and procedures need to be set up in order to see that those behind such acts are brought to justice. Within or outside legal norms that is.

Late Captain Saurabh Kalia (4 Jat)

Hotel California - Gujju style

2012-11-07T00:33:00.000+05:30

On Eastern express highway

Navratan tel in my hair

Warm smell of theplas

rising up in the air

Up ahead in the distance

I saw a shimmering light

My had(head) grew havy(heavy), aney, my sight grew dim

It was Hetal ben I was right!

There she stood on the highway

I heard the ringtone bale(bell)

And I was thinking to myself

This could be Phalguni Pathak, not Adele

Then she lit up a metch(match) stick and she showed me the way

There were voices down the corridor

I thote I heard them say...

Welcome to the nite of disco dandiya

Such a lovely place

Such a lovely face

Planty of food at disco dandiya

Nine nights of year, you can find it here

Her mind is gathiya-twisted, she got the healthy thighs

She got a lot of pratty pratty boys, that she calls bhais!

How they do garba in cot yard, switt summer swat

Some go arararara, and some forgat!

So I called Baku fui's husband

please bring my chaas

he said we havent had that glass since we have nirjal upwaas

End steel those voices are colin froam far hawey!

Wake you up in the middle of ratrau

Just to hear them say...

Welcome to night of disco dandiya

Such a lovely base

Underneath your drase

They shakin it up at disco dandiya

what a nice surprise, bring Rames, Sures bhais!

Mirrors on the ghagra choli

Pink odhni that is supakk nice

Aney she jau we are al just dancer here, wearing zari work on our Levi's

And then at Ghatkopar samaaj hole,

They gaythered for the feast

They eat it all with gusto

and go back to buffet hole for one more repeat!

Last thing I remember, I was

Running for the loo

I had to wait back

for people to finish before

Relax said Bakul maasa

We are programmed to receive

You can EAT as much as you want

But you cannot just SHEET!!

Navratri wala ben ;)

Issue of missing thumbnails in media library for Wordpress platform

2012-09-21T17:13:00.000+05:30

Recently I shifted my business website AAC India from blogspot platform to a dedicated hosting service. Instead of designing and building individual pages, I decided to opt for Wordpress 3.4.2 platform as it offers a great CMS. Any changes made to permalinks or media library are reflected across the entire site making it easy to manage and maintain. This is a boon when you have lots of common images on your website. This way you don’t need to add a description or alt tags to your images every time you insert it in a post or a page.

Wordpress software can either be downloaded from www.wordpress.org and uploaded to your hosting service or directly installed through cpanel of your hosting service provider.

Once I had installed my wordpress CMS, I uploaded some pictures to the gallery. Once upload was finished, I was able to see all the uploaded files. But I could not to see any thumbnails. It was just showing that ‘torn’ icons denoting missing pictures. I tried deleting them and uploading again, but there was no change. I went to my cpanel -> file manager and found uploads folder there. Uploads folder is located under wp-contents folder. Wp-content -> uploads. I tried changing permissions from 644 to 755. After changing permissions, I deleted all the files from media library and re-uploaded all the files. All I got was ‘torn’ icons. Again.

Changing permissions for uploads folder

Finally I deleted uploads folder from cpanel -> file manager. After deleting uploads folder, I created a new folder named uploads and set permissions to 755. I tried uploading couple of files and they showed up along with their thumbnails. Bingo! I was back in the game and moved ahead with building my wordpress based website.

Please note that wordpress media library will create separate folders according to dates (month-wise) in order to store uploaded files.

Folders created according to dates (month-wise)

This is how I resolved the issue of missing thumbnails in media library for wordpress platform.

KASHMIR - HUMOROUSLY EXPLAINED

2012-07-13T16:27:00.001+05:30

Received this joke by email. Although it is just a joke, it reflects on the stark reality of Kashmir where warm blood of Indian armed forces is washed away by cold ink of media and partisan elements. Those supporting freedom or Pakistan need to understand that if not for Indian Army they would be slaves of Pakistan. Look at how Pakistanis are treating their own countrymen in Balochistan and NWFP. If you find this joke in bad taste or want to criticize me, please keep your thoughts to yourself.

A Kashmiri, a reporter and a tough old soldier were captured by terrorists in Kashmir . The leader of the terrorists told them he'd grant each of them one last request before they were beheaded and dragged naked through the streets.

The Kashmiri said,'Well, I'm a foodie, so I'd like one last plate of tandoori chicken.' The leader nodded to an underling who left and returned with the Chicken. The Kashmiri ate it all and said, 'Now I can die content.'

The reporter said, 'I'm a reporter to the end. I want to take out my tape recorder and describe the scene here and what's about to happen. Maybe, someday, someone will hear it and know that I was on the job till the end.The leader directed an aide to hand over the tape recorder and the reporter dictated his comments. He then said, 'Now I can die happy.'

The leader turned to the soldier and asked, 'And now, Havaldarji, what is your final wish?

'Kick me in the ass,' said the soldier.

'What?' asked the leader, 'Will you mock us in your last hour?'

'No, I'm NOT kidding. I want you to kick me in the ass,' insisted the soldier.

So the leader shoved him into the yard and kicked him in the ass. The soldier went sprawling, but rolled to his knees, pulled a 9 mm pistol from inside his fatigues and shot the leader dead. In the resulting

confusion, he emptied his firearm on six terrorists, then with his knife he slashed the throat of one, and with an AK-47, which he took from one of the already dead terrorists, sprayed the rest of the terrorists killing another 5.

In a flash, all of them were either dead or fleeing for their lives.

As the soldier was untying the Kashmiri and the reporter, they asked him, 'Why didn't you just shoot them all in the first place? Why did you ask him to kick you in the ass?

'Because' replied the soldier, 'if I had shot first, you two assholes would have reported that I was the aggressor and the root cause of all the blood shedding in Kashmir ?'

.... Such is the irony of Indian Democracy where terrorists like Ajmal Kasab and their supporters roam free, while soldiers have to fight with their hands tied behind their backs!!

Fraud using name of the Reserve Bank Of India

2012-05-15T13:47:00.000+05:30

Today I received an email with subject line "Office of the Reserve Bank Of India". At first glance I was clear that it was an email fraud asking me to reveal my account details and deposit some money to an account mentioned in the email. Surprisingly email had originated from a Brazilian website - www.irmaossoares.com.br and Reply To address was - rbi_customer01service@hotmail.com . There was an attachment, a MS Word file titled Office of the Reserve Bank Of India. I downloaded that attachment and its contents are listed below. I felt like sharing this with all of you as such emails are used by certain elements to siphon money off accounts. So if you ever receive such emails, take a printout for future reference and mark them as spam.

Office of the Reserve Bank Of India

6,Sansand Marg, (R.B.I) Building.PB NO 123.

New Delhi:

Financial Regulation and Financial

Inclusion – Working Together or at Cross-purposes:

Our ref: Cbn/Ohg/Oxd1/2011-12

Telex: 09331Credit/RBI.

Payment file: RBI/Ben/09.

PAYMENT NOTIFICATION OF YOUR FUNDS.

Attn: Beneficiary,

The transfer department of the Reserve bank of India has decided to bring to your attention, that you were listed as a beneficiary in the recent schedule for payment of outstanding debts incurred by the RBI government 2011 to 2012 According to your file, Your payment is categorized as: contract type: Lottery/inheritance/unpaid contract funds/ undelivered Lottery fund. Payment file: RBI/id1033/09. Payment amount: 500,000 USD Five Hundred Thousand Us Dollar Sterling. But recently, on the 05th of JULY, 2011. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor, Dr D. Subbarao, met with the Senate Tax Committee On Finance RBI Mumbai branch. Regarding unclaimed funds which have been due for a long run, at end of the meeting (RBI) Governor, Dr D. Subbarao mandate all unclaimed funds to be release back to the beneficiary stating that it’s an unfair practice to withhold funds for government basket for one reason or the other for tax accumulations.

Therefore, we are writing this email to inform you that 500,000 USD { Five Hundred Thousand Us Dollar Sterling } will be release to you, as it was committed for (RBI) Governor that Beneficiary will have to pay crediting fees only. So you are therefore required to pay 17,500.INR ONLY. To credit your account immediately making a decline for 2 working day after date of receiving this mail. Also reconfirm/provide your bank account details-for crediting.

Please you are advised to fill the form below and send it immediately to our transfer department of Foreign Exchange Department for verification through email below for prompt collection of your fund.

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

(Department of Payment and Settlement Systems)

CONTACT EMAIL: rbi_customer01service@hotmail.com

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

FILL THE BELOW FORM COMPLETELY AND SEND TO PAYMENT OFFICER.

1.) FULL NAME:---------------------------

2.) AGE:------------------------------------

3.) SEX:-------------------------------------

4.) ADDRESS:--------------------------------

5.) ZIP/POSTAL CODE:------------------------

6.) STATE/CITY:------------------------

7.) COUNTRY:---------------------------------

8.) MOBILE NUMBER:------------------------

9.) OCCUPATION/POSITION:---------------------

10.) BANK NAME:-----------------------

11.) ACCOUNT NAME:-----------------------

12.) ACCOUNT NUMBER:-------------------------

13.) BANK ADDRESS:--------------------------

Sincerely Yours

Funds Remittance Department

Reserve Bank Of India

Precision strike

2012-05-02T12:16:00.001+05:30

I was just going through some of the stuff I wrote but never published for some arcane reason. Out of number of such write-ups, I found this piece. It is pure fiction but I know that most Indians would love to see this fiction turn to reality.

INS Rajput crest (Courtesy: Indian Navy)

The person residing inside the palatial villa wakes up at 14:10, and is reading the newspaper when all of a sudden the roof caves in due to explosion of 200 kg HE warhead. Blast kills every living being in a radius of 100 meter causing minimum collateral damage. Few seconds after the explosion, Captain Khan transmits an encrypted message that reads "Dalal Street". This message rides ether and is received by intended devices and decrypted. Wave of joy at the command center was as expected from hard-core professionals.

D-51 INS Rajput (Courtesy: Bharat Rakshak)

After a few minutes, a Naval Sea King helicopter flew in to take Captain Khan to the nearest base. While flying out, Captain Khan couldn't help but appreciate the beauty he held command of. Marking on her port side read "D51 Rajput". The notorious criminal at the receiving end of INS Rajput's fury was the one responsible for hundreds of deaths. Son of a police officer and the one who topped the wanted list of India - Dawood Ibrahim - had finally met his maker. As an end result of this precision strike, death was swiftly delivered by a cylindrical structure known to many as BrahMos.

Brahmos firing by INS Rajput (Courtesy: Indian Navy)

Pakistan's response to launch of ISRO's RISAT-1 by India

2012-04-26T13:19:00.000+05:30

Typical Pakistani response by their political and military leadership to India's launch of RISAT-1 spy satellite. Why do they forget that while India is making steady progress in every field, their obsession with one-upmanship will eventually tear their country apart. Here's a strip involving Arnab Goswami (news anchor for Times Now), Manmohan Singh (PM of India), Asif Ali Zardari (President of Pakistan), General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani (COAS Pakistan Army) and Lieutenant General Ahmad Shuja Pasha (Ex-chief ISI)

Image courtesy: Anonymous

Have a good laugh.

Strengthening the IAF part 1: Counter-ISR platforms for IAF

2012-04-16T02:10:00.000+05:30

In modern day battlefield, information and knowledge are two of the most lethal weapons in any arsenal. A country or entity that possesses real-time information about its enemy can use this information to their own advantage. Emphasis on information has led to creation of a new type of assets classified as ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance) assets. ISR assets can include flying platforms like Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS), Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C), Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (JSTARS), etc.

Pakistan Air Force (PAF) has been operating Saab 2000 Erieye AEW&C platforms for more than two years. A total of four such aircrafts have been ordered by PAF and might order few more in near future. Although much less capable when compared to IL-76 mounted PHALCON operated by Indian Air Force (IAF), they pose a credible threat to IAF aircrafts in case of a war with Pakistan.

Saab 2000 Erieye in PAF colours

Coming to the Eastern front, PLAAF is fielding a large number of AEW&C platforms in terms of KJ-200 (mounted on An-12 derived Y-8) and KJ-2000 (AWACS) mounted on IL-76. Unlike IAF’s PHALCON (Phased Array L-Band Conformal) AWACS platform coming from Israel, KJ-200 and KJ-2000 are designed and developed domestically. Due to this reason, a large number of AEW&C platforms could be churned out in case hostilities break out between Asian neighbours.

PLAAF KJ-2000 uses IL-76 as a platform

PLAAF KJ-200 uses An-12 derivative as a platform

To counter these combined numbers of AEW&C aircrafts from PAF and PLAAF, IAF has only three PHALCON aircrafts in service with a potential order of two more. These numbers are wholly inadequate for a country with India’s size and threat perception. These numbers would be augmented a little by smaller AEW&C platform with AESA radar developed by LRDE mated to Embraer EMB-145 aircraft. Although this combination is not enough for round the clock coverage of sensitive areas, numbers might increase as time passes. While IAF will induct more such platforms, Pakistan and China won’t sit idle. In addition to building AEW&C aircrafts for PLAAF, China might gift or sell such aircrafts to PAF at discounted prices.

MiG-29 escorts first PHALCON AWACS of Indian Air Force

In order to ensure that we are step ahead of our enemies, we should induct systems to neutralize AEW&C aircrafts in addition to building our own AEW&C aircrafts. An ideal (and I daresay only readily available) solution would be to induct MiG-31BM (NATO reporting name – Foxhound) equipped with R-37 series of missiles. Russian air force has already placed an order to overhaul and upgrade 60 MiG-31BM. IAF should acquire around 30 such aircrafts and split them into 3 special purpose squadrons dedicated to anti-AEW&C (or anti-AWACS) role.

MiG-31 displaying fearsome arsenal and powerful Zaslon-A radar

Some might ask why we need MiG-31BM when we already have a fantastic platform in form of Su-30MKI. After all Su-30MKI can also deploy R-37 missiles after some modifications. Answer to this question lies in the design of MiG-31 family of aircrafts. MiG-31 was developed as more refined aircraft to replace the brutish MiG-25 Foxbat. MiG-31 retains superb performance specs of its predecessor and features a better radar, longer range and improved low altitude handling and performance. MiG-31BM goes even a step further featuring Zaslon-AM (aka S800AM) radar with a detection range of 240km for fighter sized targets, improved glass cockpit and wider array of long range missiles. Since radar has a range of 240 km for fighter sized targets, it would only increase for an aircraft that is size of a medium airliner. This can allow shots at a longer distance and better kill probability. Compared to Su-30MKI’s top speed of ~ 2100 km/h, MiG-31BM has a top speed of ~3000 km/h. Moreover MiG-31BM has a service ceiling of 67,500 ft which is much more than 56,800 ft of Su-30MKI. A missile launched from an aircraft with higher speed and higher altitude will have more kinetic energy and hence range to take out the target aircraft. E.g. R-37 missile has a direct shot range of 150 km but range can increase up to 400 km in glide profile. According to some sources, R-37M variant with jettisonable rocket booster can have direct shot range in excess of 300km.

Post-launch, higher speed would be required to scoot the area in order to avoid being shot at by aircrafts escorting AEW&C aircraft. As is the standard procedure, escort aircrafts are usually armed with BVRAAM (Beyond Visual Range Air to Air Missiles). So it is in best interest to get out of their range and into friendly airspace.

MiG-31 demonstrator with R-37 missiles

In addition to current arsenal of R-37 family of missiles, potential weapons include but are not limited to KS-172 (aka K-100) “AWACS killer”, K-77-1/K-77M family of missiles. There is also an option to equip MiG-31BM with air-to-ground (A2G) arsenal like Kh-31P and Kh-58U anti-radar missiles, Kh-31A anti-ship missile and Kh-59M and Kh-29T TV-guided missiles. Even if IAF might induct MiG-31BM, they might not be used for A2G missions as we have number of other aircrafts to fly of such missions.

Powers that be should seriously start thinking about strengthening the IAF and taking preemptive action to counter ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance) assets of our neighbours.

Friends of Forces

2012-04-10T13:04:00.002+05:30

Hello everyone, I have been away from internet and writing for much longer than I thought. But I am posting here to share an idea. As we all know, Indian armed forces face challenges from various fronts. These challenges are not only limited to enemies armed with weapons, but span out to enemies armed sure-kill weapons like human rights and such. Where were all these advocates of human rights when family members of soldiers were massacred in Kaluchak? Where are they when soldiers are ambushed and massacred by so-called 'misguided youngsters' like they were in Dantewada. Do only terrorists, insurgents and their sympathizers have human rights? Or do soldiers and policemen have them as well? Why does a soldier who captures/eliminates a known terrorist get 'attached' without benefits of posting or promotion? There are 400 such officers (from Indian Army alone) who are attached because of pending cases in civil courts. On further investigation it is evident that most of those cases are baseless and are craftily designed by those who want to undermine armed forces. Why does a soldier who takes initiative for protecting the country get treated this way? List of questions going on in my head is very long.

My answer to it is an NGO that would fight for the human rights of armed forces. We need to take a stand for those who protect us from terrorism and insurgency. If you have any specific ideas for this endeavor then please share it with me and I'll try to incorporate them in scope of our NGO. And one more thing also suggest a good name for this NGO as I plan to get it registered soon. Right now the name I have in mind is Friends of Forces.

Frustrated Fuse Blog

2011-12-05T20:17:00.001+05:30

Hello everyone. Since the time I share first chapter of my spythriller fiction, many of you have asked me to publish it as a separate blog rather than continue it on Transition. So finally my novel has been ported out to a dedicated blog. I have continued with naming system and named it Frustrated Fuse Blog for need of a better name. Chapter-3 will be published on this new blog soon. So, please update your bookmarks and keep your valuable suggestions coming in.

2011-11-14T23:05:00.001+05:30

Hello everyone. It has been quiet some time since my last post. For those who don't know, I was in China, famous not only for Great Wall of China, but also due to their Great Firewall that blocks blogging sites, social networking sites like Facebook/Twitter and many other sites.

Coming back to the topic, I have some interesting tips and tricks for you guys on how to survive or rather have a good time in China. Will post them as I finish writing those posts.

Till then, see you guys. I am just trying to stay awake at Indira Gandhi International airport. :)

Blackberry keeps rebooting (or restarting)

2011-08-20T17:09:00.001+05:30

One fine day my Blackberry 9000 was frozen. I let it be for 15 minutes, but it was still stuck at same screen and with a clock icon in the middle. Finally I did ‘hard reboot/reset’ by removing the battery and put it back in. It showed me Blackberry booting screen. Progress bar in boot screen moved a few notches and then rebooted on its own. It went on for quite some time. I tried connecting the charger and charging it while it went on. But that didn’t work either.

Finally I got online and googled about this problem. Found out that such problem might be caused due to battery not sitting tightly. Checked for same. It was fitted properly. Finally decided to connect my rebooting phone to my computer and opened Blackberry desktop software. Immediately it gave me a screen saying that my phone was either not connected or switched off. It gave me three options Retry, Update and Cancel. I hit Retry, but it didn’t work. Finally I hit Update and it started updating. Usually when you try to update your Blackberry OS, updater gives you an option to back your data up. But since mine was rebooting continuously, that option was disabled on updater screen. Finally update was done and my Blackberry booted fine. It was completely wiped off. Thanks to a backup I had done few days back, I was able to restore it. Although I had to reinstall all extra applications and configure my email id once again on my phone.

It was that day that I finally activated Blackberry Protect. Nifty feature indeed. It backs up your data and keeps it secure on a server. You can set the frequency of backups too. And in future if you have to wipe out your Blackberry for any reason, you can always get it back from that server. In order to use Blackberry Protect, you’ll need Blackberry Internet Services (BIS) to be enabled.

To be or not to be

2011-08-17T23:08:00.000+05:30

Anna Hazare's decision to take non-violent path for Lokpal bill has found thousands of supporters across India. It can arguably also called a mass-movement. But then there are others who feel that Lokpal will only add another layer of bureaucracy to the existing behemoth. Another layer might also become an avenue for corruption. It is not that these people support corruption, but they might have valid reasons for questioning Lokpal bill.

Lot of people have in last 48 hours have reminded us that India is a democracy and we have right to support what we believe in. Fair enough. So let those who are skeptical about supporting Anna be that way. After all not supporting him does not mean that they support corruption. This is not war on terror and nobody is George Bush over here to say "if you are not with us, you are against us". So be reasonable, sensible and logical and hear what others have to say before branding them. Let us not be divided, but unite forces to terminate the demon of corruption.

Jai Hind.