Nipun's Blog

Khooni Hastakshar - Gopalprasad Vyas

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 27 Aug 2013 00:36:00 +0000

खूनी हस्‍ताक्षर

- गोपालप्रसाद व्यास (Gopalprasad Vyas)

वह खून कहो किस मतलब का
जिसमें उबाल का नाम नहीं।
वह खून कहो किस मतलब का
आ सके देश के काम नहीं ।

वह खून कहो किस मतलब का
जिसमें जीवन, न रवानी है ।
जो परवश होकर बहता है,
वह खून नहीं, पानी है ।

उस दिन लोगों ने सही-सही
खून की कीमत पहचानी थी ।
जिस दिन सुभाष ने बर्मा में
मॉंगी उनसे कुरबानी थी ।

बोले, "स्वतंत्रता की खातिर
बलिदान तुम्हें करना होगा ।
तुम बहुत जी चुके जग में,
लेकिन आगे मरना होगा ।

Aag Jalni Chahiye Dushyant Kumar

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 27 Aug 2013 00:33:00 +0000

आग जलनी चाहिए
- दुष्यन्त कुमार (Dushyant Kumar)

हो गई है पीर पर्वत-सी पिघलनी चाहिए
इस हिमालय से कोई गंगा निकलनी चाहिए

आज यह दीवार, परदों की तरह हिलने लगी,
शर्त लेकिन थी कि ये बुनियाद हिलनी चाहिए

हर सड़क पर, हर गली में, हर नगर, हर गाँव में
हाथ लहराते हुए हर लाश चलनी चाहिए

सिर्फ हंगामा खड़ा करना मेरा मकसद नहीं,
सारी कोशिश है कि ये सूरत बदलनी चाहिए

मेरे सीने में नहीं तो तेरे सीने में सही
हो कहीं भी आग, लेकिन आग जलनी चाहिए।

14 Celebrities that You Can Follow on Twitter

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 21:02:00 +0000

This post is pretty much nothing. Its really a waste of time. But since you are here, I am sure you have absolutely nothing to do. Or may be you love to read Tabloids or may be you are a celebrity gossip reporter writing for a Tabloid. Let me guess, and it is quite possible that you love Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki or Saas Bahu or typical Family Drama serials and movies.

Well now that you are here, you might as well just complete the post. So here are the 14 celebrities on Twitter that you can follow:

There you go. Now train your mind and convince your brain that you have accomplished something and that your day has been productive after finding about this.

And now, go ahead and send this link to your friends and make a fool out of them too.

One more thing – If you have a twitter account, put that in the comments below and here my twitter account. Not on twitter yet? Stop living under the rock and signup on twitter.

Get notified when new posts arrive on this blog. Get updates by RSS or by email

A Basic Guide to Buy a Camera?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 21:24:00 +0000

I get this asked a lot. How do I buy a camera? What to look for in a camera? How many megapixels is good enough? and some comments… wow!! That camera has 10 megapixel… and the other one is 9 megapixel and 4x zoom. I thought I would put down some words on how to buy a camera. In this short post, I will try to touch on some key points and address some of the myths.

Purpose of Buying

Before we jump into the technical stuff, we need to find out what is the purpose of buying a camera? So, what will you do with your camera? Take pictures of friends and family? Learn about photography? Look for making some money with photography? After asking yourself - “Why do I need the camera?” find the type of camera you should buy from this table:

Purpose	Camera Type	Examples
For friends and family photos	Point and Shoot	Canon SD series, Nikon Coolpix series
Learning Photography	Digital SLR, but Point and Shoot will work	Nikon D40s, D60s, D80s Canon EOS 350D
Make Some Money or Professional Photography	High-end Digital SLRs	Nikon D90s, Nikon D3x, Nikon 300 Canon 5S etc.

The Print

Once you have narrowed down to the type of camera, then we need to find out how many megapixels do you need? For that, you need to decide how big print are you going to take? A usual 4x6 or 5x7? Do you want to frame it and hang it on wall? Look at the following table and decide what megapixel will be enough for you. These estimates are conservative, meaning, if you are not printing professional quality, even less megapixels are required for print the size in the left column.

Max Professional Quality Print	Minimum Megapixel required
4x6 inches	2 megapixels
5x7 inches	3 megapixels
11x14 inches	4 megapixels
16x20 inches	5-6 megapixels
20x30 inches	8 megapixels
Poster Size	10 megapixels

One last thought before we close this section – Don’t buy a camera just because it is high megapixel camera.

Portability

The most important aspect of buying a camera is how easy is it to carry. I have a Nikon D40 and it is quite an exercise to carry it in a big bag and take it around. Well it is a smallest DSLR Nikon has. At times, I do have a thought whether I should carry this baby with me. Believe it or not, this is the single reason why people don’t carry and use their camera. Do consider this and be very truthful and reasonable with you. If you are okay carrying a bag all around and taking a 2-4 pound beast with you only then think about buying a DSLR. If you are looking for something easy to carry around and something that fits in your pocket, just go for a simple point and shoot camera.

In the next version, I will post about some more aspects of buying a camera. Also, will post some places to find great deals.

What kind of camera are you looking for?

How to Force Information You are Looking for Come to You – RSS Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 22 May 2009 19:04:00 +0000

This article is written towards Toastmasters International certification requirements.

How do you look for information? Do you use Google to find information? How do you read news on the internet? Do you go to CNN.com or BBC.com or a similar news website? What other websites do you go to? What are your interests? Do you like photography? Where do you get latest news and learn techniques?

What if I told you rather than going to websites everyday to get new information, read news or learn about your hobby, you can force the information you need, to come to you? In next 2 minutes or so, you can learn the basics about how to organize your information, start saving time and stop running around information you need.

What is RSS?

RSS is Really Simple Syndication. In plain English, you identify what information you need and from which website or blog. Then you “subscribe” to the blog or website and start getting the information. This sounds very simple and in fact the idea is very simple but it does wonders. RSS link is also called “Feed”, so if you read “get the feed” what it meant is “here’s the place to get the code.”

Why use RSS?

Rather than chasing the information all over the internet to find an object, RSS technology can get this information to you. So now you don’t have to browse through plethora of waste sites and websites with pop-up trying to sell stuff. Skip the pain of looking around and relax. Let the information come to you.

How to identify RSS?

Before bouncing with all the excitement and starting to hit the keyboard or smack your mouse, wait! First let me show you how to identify the RSS. Below are some commonly used icons/pictures to show a RSS feed is present on the blog/website. Below are the two most commons pictures to identify if RSS is available.

There are lot of other ways to show that the website provides RSS feed. Many websites have a huge collection of different symbols, icons, pictures to show that they provide RSS. However, the one common thing in all these symbols is the dot and two arcs above that.

What’s coming?

In the next part of this article, I will explain the basics of getting started with RSS and will show how to set up your first RSS feed.

Your Thoughts and Questions?

Please provide your thoughts and comments and tell me what you would like to hear in the presentation. Do you have any specific question? Ask it below and I’ll address that in the meeting on Tuesday 5/26.

Valentine's Day is a Fraud!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 00:46:00 +0000

Valentine’s Day is a Fraud. Yeah! That’s what Roland Martin from CNN believes:

With retailers hurting and the U.S. president trying to encourage Americans to spend money to restore consumer confidence, what I'm about to say may seem like treason. But here goes: Please boycott Valentine's Day and all that is associated with this horrendous "holiday."

He believes that Valentine’s Day is a marketing scam – a scam perpetrated by “rabid retailers” to give people a reason to spend money. Seems like a good business strategy to me. First start a business, then create a demand for your business and then sell your product. Great strategy that would work. To read the article in detail read Ronald Martin’s Commentary

On the same note, a gentlemen named David Palmer from Central Michigan University writes:

Valentine's Day, unlike Christmas, is an invented holiday. Some wiseacre one day was thinking about how to get rich quick so that he could buy beer. He said to himself, "Self, women are always wanting men to buy them things. Men will get into trouble if they don't. So, the best way to make money is to prey on this." Thus, Valentine's Day was born.

Well folks, whatever may be the case, I think these companies used a really smart strategy and convinced the world to celebrate the Valentine’s Day.

My Independent Research

After some research, here is what I found about Valentine’s Day from Wikipedia and its references:

Numerous early Christian martyrs were named Valentine. Until 1969, the Catholic Church formally recognized eleven Valentine's Days. The Valentines honored on February 14 are Valentine of Rome (Valentinus presb. m. Romae) and Valentine of Terni (Valentinus ep. Interamnensis m. Romae). Valentine of Rome was a priest in Rome who suffered martyrdom about AD 269 and was buried on the Via Flaminia. His relics are at the Church of Saint Praxed in Rome and at Whitefriar Street Carmelite Church in Dublin, Ireland.

So this just tells we don’t know how Valentine’s Day is related to expression of love. Wikipedia mentions that no romantic elements were found in the literature. Here is excerpt from Wikipedia:

No romantic elements are present in the original early medieval biographies of either of these martyrs. By the time a Saint Valentine became linked to romance in the fourteenth century, distinctions between Valentine of Rome and Valentine of Terni were utterly lost

However, Wikipedia does mention that since 19th century handwritten notes about love were exchanged and was a fashion in Great Britain.

Since the 19th century, handwritten notes have largely given way to mass-produced greeting cards. The sending of Valentines was a fashion in nineteenth-century Great Britain, and, in 1847, Esther Howland developed a successful business in her Worcester, Massachusetts home with hand-made Valentine cards based on British models. The popularity of Valentine cards in 19th-century America was a harbinger of the future commercialization of holidays in the United States.

The Conclusion

Folks, there was some importance of Valentine’s Day in the history. However, this day was not related to romanticism initially and later in 19th century the fashion started. So, Valentine’s Day was not entirely fraud. Companies have definitely commercialized it for their benefits. You cannot blame the companies for intelligently designing the plan for expanding their businesses. If you don’t want, don’t celebrate the V-day. You have the power to make that choice. Use it.

For those who want to celebrate the day - “Happy Valentine’s Day”

What is your take on Valentine’s Day? Do you believe in celebrating it? Or do you think its waste of time?? Tell us in the comments.

Photo by Muffet

Email From a Frustrated Victim

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 00:19:00 +0000

Do you get useless emails that ask you to forward stuff to 200 different people so that God will give you grace, a promotion or you will win a lottery? Are you frustrated of those emails and feel like you are a victim of mental harassment? Do you cry or pull your hair every time you see an email asking you to forward the email to 20 other people?

Here’s what you should do: Use the email from below and send them the material or link of this page.

Here is the email from a Victim frustrated of chain emails:

I wanted to thank all my friends and family who have forwarded chain letters to me... Because of your kindness:

I also donated all my savings to the Amy Bruce account. A sick girl that was about to die in the hospital about 7,000 times. (Poor girl! she's been 7 since 1993...)

I went bankrupt from bounced checks that I made expecting the $15,000 that Microsoft and AOL were supposed to send me when I participated in their special e-mail program would arrive soon.

My free Nokia phone never arrived and neither did the free passes for a paid vacation to Disneyland.

I also stopped answering the phone for fear that they may ask me to dial a stupid number and then I get phone bill from hell with calls to Uganda, Singapore and Tokyo.

Made some Hundred wishes before forwarding those Ganesh Vandana, Tirupathi Balaji pics etc.. now most of those 'Wishes' are already married (to someone else)

I stopped drinking Coca Cola after I found out that it's good for removing toilet stains.

I stopped going to the movies for fear of sitting on a needle infected with AIDS.

I smell like a wet dog since I stopped using deodorants because they cause cancer.

I don't leave my car in the parking lot or any other place and sometimes I even have to walk about 7 blocks for fear that someone will drug me with a perfume sample and try to rob me.

I also stopped drinking anything out of a can for fear that I will get sick from the rat feces and urine.

When I go to parties, I don't look at any girl, no matter how hot she is, for fear that she will take me to a hotel, drug me then take my kidneys and leave me taking a nap in a bathtub full of ice.

Still open to help some from Bulgaria who wants to use my account to transfer his uncle property of some hundred millions $.

IMPORTANT NOTE:
If you do not send this e-mail to at least 1246 people in the next 10
seconds, a bird will SH** on your head today at any time

Thanks and Regards,
A Frustrated Victim

So the next time you get another email asking to forward the email to 20 friends of yours. Just send them a link of this post or send them the letter yourself.

Experienced a similar forwarding email? Speak up in the comment and I will add it to the list. Any other funny stories? Write them down in the comments below.

Picture Courtesy: hyperscholar

Top 5 Email Hoaxes of All Time

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 14:48:00 +0000

Get free laptop from Sony for forwarding this email to 20 people. Earn $250 by forwarding this email to 20 people because Microsoft will send you a check to your banking account. Hey get the blessing, get a promotion and win 20 billion in lottery by forwarding this email. Are you kidding me? Do you believe all this crap? Absolute nonsense. In fact, I see this as an extreme insult of human intelligence, both who started it and those who are propagating it… Do you really think people are so foolish? (Update: Apparently yes! Because every now and then I get forwarded email with exactly one of these 5 email hoaxes)

This post has top 5 email hoaxes of all times. Read them and let me know what I missed.

The Top 5 Hoaxes -

Get the Blessing by Forwarding an Email – I am sure you have received at least three email in your life time about “send the email or bad things will happen to you.” Sorry folks! That just doesn’t digest. If God was distributing the blessing to those forwarding emails, I guess rich people would be sitting on email 24x7. Sorry doesn’t work.
Sick Kid Needs Your Help – This is one of those emails that claims there is a sick child and every time you forward the email some charity is going to donate 5 cents or 10 cents to the kid. Hello?? There needs to be a email tracking mechanism that can track ALL emails forwarded by everyone on the list. Unfortunately, that doesn’t exist.
Bill Gates Giving Away Money – Amazingly foolish. Wonder how people can even believe something like this? Why would Bill Gates send random people money to those people who are forwarding emails? Sorry if you know even how to spell marketing, you would know that this is a pathetically poor business plan. Learn more about this email hoax.
Free Laptop from Fujitsu – Similar to the above hoax, this one says you need to forward email and win a laptop from Fujitsu or some company. What the heck?
Nigerian Uncle sending You money – Ever got an email from your Nigerian Uncle (or British, American, Bulgarian… any uncle for that matter) who left you a property of $ 200 million and you didn’t know about? They would ask you your bank account number for transferring $ 100 million and you can keep a commission of $20 million. Well, I know they teach us not to talk to strangers but they don’t teach us not to give your bank account to strangers. This hoax probably is based on the fact that since they don’t teach people to not to give bank account to strangers, people will.

The next time you get an email from, send them the letter from a frustrated victim of chain letters, and educate them by sending them information – either send them information available online or simply attach the link to this post.

Bye bye Miss American Pie

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 22:36:00 +0000

This song has one of the most amazing, mysterious and debatable lyrics. Follow the lyrics with the song and you will know... These lyrics do raise a lot of questions... Follow them and you will know.

A long, long time ago...
I can still remember
How that music used to make me smile.
And I knew if I had my chance
That I could make those people dance
And, maybe, they’d be happy for a while.

But february made me shiver
With every paper I’d deliver.
Bad news on the doorstep;
I couldn’t take one more step.

I can’t remember if I cried
When I read about his widowed bride,
But something touched me deep inside
The day the music died.

So bye-bye, miss american pie.
Drove my chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
And them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey and rye
Singin’, "this’ll be the day that I die.
"this’ll be the day that I die."

Did you write the book of love,
And do you have faith in God above,
If the Bible tells you so?
Do you believe in rock ’n roll,
Can music save your mortal soul,
And can you teach me how to dance real slow?

Well, I know that you’re in love with him
`cause I saw you dancin’ in the gym.
You both kicked off your shoes.
Man, I dig those rhythm and blues.

I was a lonely teenage broncin’ buck
With a pink carnation and a pickup truck,
But I knew I was out of luck
The day the music died.

I started singin’,
"bye-bye, miss american pie."
Drove my chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
Them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey and rye
And singin’, "this’ll be the day that I die.
"this’ll be the day that I die."

Now for ten years we’ve been on our own
And moss grows fat on a rollin’ stone,
But that’s not how it used to be.
When the jester sang for the king and queen,
In a coat he borrowed from james dean
And a voice that came from you and me,

Oh, and while the king was looking down,
The jester stole his thorny crown.
The courtroom was adjourned;
No verdict was returned.
And while lennon read a book of marx,
The quartet practiced in the park,
And we sang dirges in the dark
The day the music died.

We were singing,
"bye-bye, miss american pie."
Drove my chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
Them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey and rye
And singin’, "this’ll be the day that I die.
"this’ll be the day that I die."

Helter skelter in a summer swelter.
The birds flew off with a fallout shelter,
Eight miles high and falling fast.
It landed foul on the grass.
The players tried for a forward pass,
With the jester on the sidelines in a cast.

Now the half-time air was sweet perfume
While the sergeants played a marching tune.
We all got up to dance,
Oh, but we never got the chance!
`cause the players tried to take the field;
The marching band refused to yield.
Do you recall what was revealed
The day the music died?

We started singing,
"bye-bye, miss american pie."
Drove my chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
Them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey and rye
And singin’, "this’ll be the day that I die.
"this’ll be the day that I die."

Oh, and there we were all in one place,
A generation lost in space
With no time left to start again.
So come on: jack be nimble, jack be quick!
Jack flash sat on a candlestick
Cause fire is the devil’s only friend.

Oh, and as I watched him on the stage
My hands were clenched in fists of rage.
No angel born in hell
Could break that satan’s spell.
And as the flames climbed high into the night
To light the sacrificial rite,
I saw satan laughing with delight
The day the music died

He was singing,
"bye-bye, miss american pie."
Drove my chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
Them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey and rye
And singin’, "this’ll be the day that I die.
"this’ll be the day that I die."

I met a girl who sang the blues
And I asked her for some happy news,
But she just smiled and turned away.
I went down to the sacred store
Where I’d heard the music years before,
But the man there said the music wouldn’t play.

And in the streets: the children screamed,
The lovers cried, and the poets dreamed.
But not a word was spoken;
The church bells all were broken.
And the three men I admire most:
The father, son, and the holy ghost,
They caught the last train for the coast
The day the music died.

And they were singing,
"bye-bye, miss american pie."
Drove my chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
And them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey and rye
Singin’, "this’ll be the day that I die.
"this’ll be the day that I die."

They were singing,
"bye-bye, miss american pie."
Drove my chevy to the levee,
But the levee was dry.
Them good old boys were drinkin’ whiskey and rye
Singin’, "this’ll be the day that I die."

This was the most popular song by Don McLean and one of the most discussed song. The lyrics in itself are amazing... And the debate is still on. Who did he write this song for? Who is Miss American Pie?

A Little Difference for you...

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 19 Nov 2006 08:47:00 +0000

This post comes after a long time... Heard this story somewhere...

A man was walking down the beach at sunset. As, he walked along, he saw another man in the distance. He noticed this man kept leaning down, picking up something and throwing it out into the water, again and again. As, he approached even closer, he noticed that the man was picking up starfish that had been washed up on the beach. He was throwing them back into the water, one by one.

Puzzled, he approached the man and said, "Good Evening. I was wondering what you are doing."

"I'm throwing these starfish back into the ocean. You see, it's low tide and all these starfish have been washed up onto the shore. If, I don't throw them back into the ocean, they'll die up here from lack of oxygen."

"But, there must be thousands of starfish on this beach. You can't possible get to all of them. And, don't you realize this is probably happening on hundreds of beaches all up and down this coast. Can't you see that you can't possibly make a difference?"

The man bent down and picked up yet another starfish, and threw it back into the ocean. With a smile he replied, "Made a difference to that one !!!"

Just remember, no matter how small the deed
it really does make a difference.
Make a difference today.
Do something nice for someone else.

Run

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 28 Oct 2006 20:00:00 +0000

Photo courtesy: Wikipedia

And he too hears about the treasure that lies below where rainbow ends. The treasure. "This treasure might bring me all I need", he thinks. And he dreams about the rich life after he possesses the treasure. The lavish life. He prepares for this journey. He knows the path is long and dangerous and lonely. But treasure is all he sees infront of him.

Early morning the sun shines from those mountains and the morning breeze freshens the atmosphere. His loved ones try to stop him. "There is no treasure bigger than your family", they say. But he is too determined and knows what would the treasure bring to everyone. He starts running towards the mountains, towards where the rainbow ends. His family and his girlfriend left behind, he is alone running towards the treasure.

His childhood friend sees him running towards the mountain. His friend tries to stop him to ask why he was running in such a hurry. He ignores his friend thinking, 'why is he bothering me, go away now.' His friend starts to run with him and tries to ask about his health and how everything was back home. He ignores this friend and keeps running. After running with him for quite sometime, his friend gives up. And stops.

He runs few more miles and comes to a village. People here are kind enough and want to offer him food, drink, water or whatever he wants to be comfortable at his village. Some try to ask him if he would like to take some rest after this long journey. "Fools", he thinks. "Why in the world would you want to give away something you earned." And he keeps on running.

He is just few miles away from where the rainbow ends. He stops. He knows what he would do with the treasure. He would build a huge house for himself and his girlfriend and another one close for his parents. And both these houses will have a huge garden where his family would sit below the tree and eat meals. He thinks about the fountain that would be in his garden and the color of the rocks he will be using for his kitchen. And the size of his bedroom and the tub in the bathroom. He dreams and he walks.

He finally reaches the place where rainbow ends and where the treasure should be found. He is elated for he has finally reached this place. He is excited. He jumps and shouts and want to share this with his parents, his girlfriend and his best friend and whole world. But he is all alone. No one to talk to. He feels lonely.

And he looks back. Thinks about his family and girlfriend and all the sacrifices they have made and love they have for him. Thinks about his childhood friend who was there with him all the time. In his sorrows and time when he needed him the most. And no one is with him today. No one to share the treasure he will find. Treasure! He suddenly remembers. He looks here and there. Treasure should be here. He is desperate to see it. He wants it now. He does everything he can and there is no treasure anywhere. And he is sad for there is no treasure.

No one knows what happened to this man. He became so blind for money that he couldn't see the treasure he already found - the realization that no treasure is good enough if there is no one to share it with. And the treasure he already had - his parents, his girlfriend and a friend who was with him whenever he needed him. Hopefully he realized how important it was to have a balance and to care about family and friends.

Watch for first comic strip from Soores on Sunday October 29th 2006.

Yeh hai Soores

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 22 Oct 2006 21:35:00 +0000

To yeh hai Soores!! Click on the image above!

Soores kaun hai??

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 21 Oct 2006 02:06:00 +0000

Soores! Aaisa lagta hai ki Soores apna bahut puraana dost hai... jab se hosh sambhaala hai tab se ye Soores kahin na kahin takaraata raha hai...

Soores was with me in my school but I came to know him better after we got admitted in Engineering School. Schooling and Engineering with Soores was great fun! He had his own views, his own ways to look at life.

As I sent across the message about finding Soores back I was surprised by the response. People might not take time to say hello, but for Soores, everyone was curious. People wanted to know where is Soores and what is he doing these days. It was a realization that Soores is a person of huge charisma.

People were guessing. Who is Soores? Soores kaun hai? Me? Nope! I am not Soores. And neither is Soores fake. Soores is as real as anyone else.

Who is Soores? Now how do I explain! It is like asking Who is Amitabh? Or who is Bush or who is Mickey Mouse for that matter! Soores is Soores as Amitabh is Amitabh! and Bush is Bush and Mickey is Mickey!

Nothing more to say! All I can do is post his picture. And this is all I can say, " Soores is in this photograph, he is close to me (not in photograph, but in real life). " Until I find his better picture... kindly adjust.

Update: Soores is now available at soores.blogspot.com

Outsourcing...

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 16 Oct 2006 02:08:00 +0000

No comments.

A Day of Patriotism

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 12 Oct 2006 05:28:00 +0000

The winds kissed the tricolor and it stood there with pride. And tricolors were all around. Roads, buildings, gardens, public places and crossroads all embracing the tricolor - the Indian flag. Loudspeakers playing "Yeh desh hai veer jawaano ka." All the martyrs of Independence remembered. Kids carrying mini-tricolors to school. Politicians and Speeches. Sweets distributed. Independence day celebration over.

Sun rose from the east as usual. Some tricolors were still standing there. Roads and buildings and gardens and crossroad and all those public places, those who embraced the Indian flag just a day before seemed to have forgotten about it. Loudspeakers shouting "I am patriotic and thats why I play this song" were silent. And so were the people who played those songs. Numb. Those mini-tricolors, trashed. And some lying on ground. Parents and teachers forgot to teach this. Politicians who gave long speeches on improving the country, get back to their real work - exploiting Indians.

Another sunrise. Youth excited about India. Sudden burst of enthusiam. Zeal of doing something for country. Shouts of "we will do something for the country". Lets fight this and lets fight that evil. Changing the politics. Revolting against injustice. No its not Independence day this time. Its just that another movie is released.

And this goes on. One day someone gets up from the bed. India becomes so dear and transformation is thought of. Patriotism penetrates in for another day. There is sudden increase in the number of groups who think alike about India. And again, its not independence day. Its just another movie release.

And as you might have guessed, this balloon of patriotism bursts as fast as it is inflated. And another day ends. A Day of Patriotism.

Peace!!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 02 Oct 2006 21:30:00 +0000

"Muhahahahahaaa Muhahahhaahaaa, Muhaahaaahaahaaahaaa Muhaahaahaaahaaaaa", he laughed crushing the army under his feet. Knocking the army by his weapon, he seemed insurmountable. The king came to know about this and rushed to the site. He saw 420,000 meters tall demon, Kumbhakarna. He waved at Kumbhakarna to catch his attention. Kumbhakarna saw the king of Ayodhya - Rama. He slashed his weapon towards Rama. Rama jumped aside. Rama shouted, " Kumbhakarna, what you are doing is not right! You should stop doing this." Kumbhakarna ignored Rama. He swung his weapon again at Rama. Rama shouted, "Kumbhakarna, you are suffering from a disease." Saying this Rama took out something and handed over to Kumbhakarna. Kumbhakarna looked at this card. Opened it. It read, "Get well soon." Kumbhakarna realized what he was wrong and started crying. Finally he went back to sleep in this cave and never came out.

Hearing this his brother, Ravana, got really upset. He was frustrated over Kumbhakarna's defeat. Next morning, Ravana went to Lord Rama's camp and challenged him. Rama said, "Ravana, whatever you have been doing was wrong. Leave this path and you will realize what you have been doing." Younger brother, Laxman, supported his brother and asked Ravana to leave this path of demonism. Ravana gave Laxman one tight slap for this advice. Laxman fell on the ground unconscious. Hanuman went to Himalaya to find Sanjivani Booti. Hanuman returned with the medicine and fed it to Laxman. Laxman came back to consciousness. Ravana stood there amused. Laxman looked at Ravana and gave him the same advice again and turned his other cheek towards Ravana. Ravana was furious he prepared his weapon to kill Laxman. Rama shouted, "O demon Ravana! Wait! You are suffrering from a disease. You are full of evil thoughts and deeds. You should meditate." Saying this Rama took another $2.^97/100 Hallmark card and gave it to Ravana. Ravana looked at the card, the front page read ‘Get Well Soon’. He opened the card and the message inside said, ‘Just wanted you to know you're being thought about and wished the very best of health. – Your friends, Rama and army.’ Tears started rolling from Ravana's eyes and he accepted his defeat. A great war stopped with the help of ahinsavaad and a Get Well Soon card.

Many millenniums passed. Dvapara Yuga started. The standard of living had dropped from Treta Yuga.

Yudhishthira was loosing in the game of gambling. He lost Draupadi in the next round. Duryodhana ordered someone to bring Draupadi. Duryodhana started to disrobe Draupadi. Tall dark and handsome Bheem, second eldest in Pandavas, was upset. He stood up in the middle of the hall and shouted at Duryodhana, “Duryodhana, you have no idea what a big mistake you are doing. You are really sick. You should go and get some treatment for your disease. Get well soon Duryodhana.” Duryodhana completely ignored him and Ahinsawaadi Bheem was calm. Draupadi felt helpless and called Lord Krishna for help. Lord Krishna appeared in the darbaar and lengthened Draupadi’s saree. Duryodhana was determined to disrobe Draupadi at any cost. Seeing this Lord Krishna decided to teach Duryodhana a good peaceful lesson. Lord Krishna took a special weapon to punish Duryodhana. Lord closed his eyes, chanted some mantras. Opened his eyes and stared in Duryodhana’s eyes and said, “You have been acting really funny. You should do something for yourself. You should see a doctor. Get well soon, buddy.” Saying this a beam of bright white light suddenly came out of the special weapon, and from this beam came different cards, in different color and of different sizes. Duryodhana picked one small card and it read, ‘Hope you feel better soon. Get well soon.’ Another slightly bigger card was bright colored card lying near his right foot. He picked this one. ‘A happy note of sunshine especially for you, may you feel as good as new soon,’ said this one. While he was reading these cards, one big card flew towards him from the beam of light. Duryodhana grabbed this card and read it. A smile came on his face and then tears started rolling down his cheeks. He read the card aloud,

“Heard you're feeling sick

with some disease and a cold

Rest a lot and meditate

think about what values you should hold.

Time has passed

and we know you never knew,

Please Get Well soon,

We'll all love you."

He cried aloud, apologized to Pandavas. Yudhishthira gave him one Jadoo ki Jhappi. And another great war ended before it even began, again with ahinsawaad, Get Well Soon card and a Jadoo ki Jhappi.

To be continued...

Dohe!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 26 Sep 2006 19:39:00 +0000

Guru govind dou khade, kaake laagoon paaye,
balihaari guru aapne, govind diyo bataaye.

maakhi gud mein gadi rahe, pankh rahe lapataaye,
haath male aur sir dhune, laalach buri balaae.

kabira sangat saadhu ki, jyo gandhi ki baas,
jo gandhi kuch de nahi, to bhi baas subaas.

bura jo dekhan main chala, bura na milayaa koy,
jo dil khoja aapanaa, mujhsaa bura na koy.

rahiman vipadaa hu bhali, jo thore din hoy,
hit anahit ya jag mein, jaani parat sab koy.

yo rahiman sukh hot hai, upkaari ke ang,
baatanvaare ke lage, jyon mehendi ke rang.

A Walk to Remember

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 21 Apr 2006 06:24:00 +0000

10:30 pm... 37F... Cold night... bare feet... standing on ground... 100 students... "Puma Puma" everyone's shouting this. Puma Puma... They say it is a magic word. It lets you exchange energy. Fire... everyone surrounding it... Red hot Coal spread out for about six to seven feet...

Believe in yourself... for if you cannot believe it you can never do it. Its all in your mind. Bheetar ki shakti as they say... Puma chanting , Puma Puma Puma Puma... rhythmic claps... Puma Puma... energy exchange... Puma Puma... you can feel the energy penetrating in... bare feet on ground... first person moves towards the fire... Puma Puma gets louder... she (yes she) looks at the other end... and in between lie those red hot coal... how hot? no one knows... she is the first one to feel it... She gets ready to walk over it... people clapping... chanting louder... Puma Puma...

She starts first step... she doesn't shout... does she not feel the heat? whats going on? she walks as if its nothing unusual... red hot coal? no effect? everyone amazed...

One after other people line up... all want to experience the thrill... will it hurt? blisters? burns? how come she walked just like that...

Next person ready to step in... Puma Puma energy is flowing all around... Its all in the first step... All courage you need... just the first step... He is ready for the thrill... Puma Puma gets louder... stares at the red hot coal... seems he is hesitant... what is thinking? is he scared?.. he needs more energy... chants go louder.... Puma Puma... I pour all energy in cheering him...
First step... most toughest... and he steps in and walks to other side... questions rising... is it that easy? so simple? just walk away... thats it?

Now, its my turn... Puma Puma... thats all is I hear... I am standing on this end... looking around people looking at me... cheering me... Puma Puma... I think,' never thot until yesterday that I would do this... ' and here I am standing infront of a seven feet patch of red hot coal... will it burn my feet? what if it does? I ain't no macho man. ... Puma Puma louder in my ears... I look at the other end... people cheering... calling me... flames in the path... a deep breath... and the first step... the most difficult step... and I am walking over red hot coal... am I dreaming... no I am not... yes I walked on fire... wow!! unbelievable... now thats what it is... a walk to remember.

A Walk to remember
(Poor photo quality, better quality to be uploaded soon)

More coming soon... Part II

FROZEN FARGO

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 29 Nov 2005 04:59:00 +0000

One fine day you get up in the morning... make great plans for the day ahead... "To Do list" is ringing the bell in your mind every now 'n' then. You are energetic since you just got up from the bed... excited to live a great day ahead... want to make most out of it... targetting to strike off all the "To Dos" in the list. You get ready for catching a bus. You open the door with lot of efforts to put your first step out.

Its not what you want to see early morning. All white! Green grass infront of your house is now covered by white sand. The car parking infront of your house seems to be packed. All cars still in the parking lot, which is weird. The White Sand - The snow is all over the place. The trees seems to be refrigerated. You run your eyes all around the place... all around the parking lot..all around the walkway... its seems to have lost its color to the color White. You look around and White seems to be the color of the day. You are frustrated with White and some what afraid too.

You gather all courage you could and step outside to face the storm. And your first step sinks you 6 inches deep in the snow. But its just a first step and you plant next step... this step with extra caution and you sink again... quite a few inches. You are not the one who would give up easily... and you continue... you continue step after step... everything seems to be controlable. You seem to be at the top of the world. You enjoy this adventure in snow.

The storm starts getting worse... it starts to get windy... snow fall takes the form of hail. Its changes from snowfall to hailing. And its a wonder how even a small hail made of water hurts you drastically when falling with force and in large quantity. You still manage to walk without slipping or falling. Few more steps and finally you see a patch without snow... where its different than White. Its brown and shiny. Its ICE. More dangerous than snow. One wrong step is enough to lose your balance. And when you fall no one knows what part of your body will touch the ground first and what part will break.

Ice on the ground... its an indication of sleet... rain falls on ground and freezes. A layer of ice is laid all over the ground after the frozen rainfall. Trees are frozen. Water freezes on trees... Its so cold, water freezes before reaching the ground. And in this all you think of making most out of the day.

More coming soon.

Winter

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 18 Nov 2005 22:25:00 +0000

White... Pure white... Spotless... Cold... Frigid... Slippery... Its all happening at 6 degree Farenheit. 6 degree Farenheit... Deserted places, barren lawns forlorn of life... Thats winter.. thats how winter is in Fargo...

Its all black and white... as if the world has drained all the color... Its all dull...
Its snowy outside... and its mid - November. Natives say its gonna be a long winter. And tough one too...

-40 degree Farenheit. For one whole month. Sounds scary. The thought of it would make your hearbeat stop. And if you come from a place where +42 Fareheit is the lowest it goes, you would probably freeze even before you start imagining about.

But when you have the goal infront of you, nothing seems to stop you... And then there is a burning desire, a strong determination, deep inside you to accomplish the mission. And these obstacles suddenly become another tiny step which is crossed...

Contact Me

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 01 Nov 2005 04:05:00 +0000

About

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 30 Oct 2005 18:30:00 +0000

This blog is a result of random thoughts and scattered notes.

Shubh Deepawali!!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 30 Oct 2005 11:30:00 +0000

Thought that Diwali would be the best time to start something new... Since this is the first Blog it will be short. Its 3:00 am here in Fargo, North Dakota. We just finished watched TAXI few minutes ago... Its cold outside... cold like 3 C... And soon it will snow here... And soon everything will change its color. Just two colors. Black and white. Change is imperative. Change for the beginning. And change for THE END.

See you soon.