Thoughts of a Rambler

a soft drink from cow-urine - little hard to swallow!

noreply@blogger.com (Rajaram S) — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 08:45:00 +0000

First women were beaten up and chased out of the bars in the name of Hindu culture. Next, couples (even a brother-sister pair) were beaten up for being together on Valentine's day, as we , the hindus, are supposed to celebrate only ram leela and not Valentine's day. Now, Cow Protection Department of the RSS wants us to stop drinking "phoren" soft-drinks and drink something made from cow-urine!

The day is not far away when you walk into a Hindu-bar and the menu will look like this:

Drinks:

Go-mata Sherbet
Goratna soup
Gaai-Bains-Peshab-MurgaPoonch (MurgaPoonch - Cocktail)
Dhoodh-Peshab MurgaPoonch
Shudh Peshab
98% unleaded Peshab
95% unleaded Peshab

Main Course:

Frozen Peshab sticks
Gobar Pie
Gobar Pizza (with Peshab topping)
Goratna kurma
Paneer Gobar Masala

God help these guys. Actually, God help us from these guys!

when i say cancel, i mean it!

noreply@blogger.com (Rajaram S) — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 18:12:00 +0000

I had installed McAfee security center and wanted to rid my computer of all the junk it had accumulated over the years. First, the installation slowed down my PC to a near halt as my laptop is a pretty old one with just 512 MB RAM. Then, it took ages to start up security center.
I chose the option for "Quick Clean". Then, i got the below window saying "Cleaning in progress..."

I waited. I waited a bit more. I waited a lot more. I got frustrated and did the obvious, pressed the cancel button. I decided that it just wasn't worth the time to rid my computer of all the evil! Then, the below window showed up, "Cancellation is in progress. Please wait..."

I waited. I waited a bit more. I waited a lot more! I really got frustrated. Now, i wanted a "Cancel the cancel" button! What did the programmers think while making this installer? Isn't "cancel" supposed to mean "I have had enough of this. Just get the hell out of the installer"?

Impact of recession

noreply@blogger.com (Rajaram S) — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 08:24:00 +0000

There is a rat in my pants!

noreply@blogger.com (Rajaram S) — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 10:15:00 +0000

Well, the story unfolds in Coimbatore airport, which is probably the same size as mine and my neighbor's apartment put together (No, i don't live in a bungalow, but a regular sized apartment!). I was returning to Chennai by a Jet airways flight from Coimbatore. We were waiting in the lobby after having passed through the security which incidentally was almost the same as the check done by the uniformed guard outside Saravana Bhavan.
There was only one TV kept at the corner of the lobby right next to a mobile coffee shop. So, while Vidhya, Akshara and Vidhya's mom were seated in the front, i went to the corner to find a seat to watch TV. I had just settled down when i felt a sudden itching sensation on the top of my foot (I was wearing a slipper). It was like something had scratched my foot. I jumped up in surprise. The lady at the coffee shop said "Its ok sir. It was just a rat which ran over your foot. It has run away. Don't worry". Since i too saw something running away from me, i kind of calmed down.But, i felt an itch near the knee and on my thigh. So, i was there in the airport, jumping up and down and feeling the sides of my fearing that a rat had gone inside. But, i didn't manage to find anything.
So, i went over to the place where Vidhya was sitting and started narrating this experience. Vidhya got worried and asked me to consult the airport doctor as a precautionary measure. But, i reassured her that it would be ok and started joking about the situation. A few minutes had passed and i felt an itch on my waist at the back and it seemed to "travel" to the left! I quietly excused myself to go to the rest room, just to ensure that all was ok.
Since it was an airport, i guess that the restroom was also designed like the ones inside an airplane, an extremely small box with not even enough room to stretch my hands in either direction. Once inside this box, i undid my pant's buckle and to my utter shock, out jumped an itsy bitsy teenie weenie rattie (Just to make it rhyme!).
Well, it looked like one rat was chasing another and the one chasing took a wrong turn and went up my pants. This rat had just spent almost 5 minutes inside my pants and it was obvious that both of us (the rat and i) were relieved to be relieved of this imprisonment! The rat was delirious with joy and started running all over the place. Well, all over the place wasn't much, as there wasn't much space to run around. i guess that this rat, before entering my pants, was practising for the upcoming rat-race in coimbatore because it started running in circles along the wall of this small room. This rat didn't look like a sprinter, but a marathon runner. So, it would be some time before this rat stopped his practice.
But, there was a problem. i was in the way with my pants down to the ankles. Taking the size of the room into consideration and doing a quick calculation using the formula time = distance/speed, i realised that there wasn't enough time for me to bend down and pull up my pants until the rat reached me on the next round. So, there was i was , with my pants down and jumping up such that my jump exactly coincided with that point of time when the rat was near me. But, i wasn't good at skipping and hadn't played the game where two people on either side of you rotate the skipping rope and the person in the middle jumps up to avoid the skipping rope. So, i knew that it wasn't going to be long before i misjudged my jump and landed right on top of the rat! The animal lover that i am, i wasn't interested in harming this little guy. So, i had to do something and it better be fast.
One option was to just open the door and run out. But, this wasn't the kind of restroom where you have a big room with wash basins and the WCs were inside this room. This was just a room WC. You open the door and walk out to the full view of the airport. I couldn't do this because my pants weren't where they were supposed to be. So, i took the drastic measure of jumping a little higher once and jumping on to the closet (hoping that it was not a low-quality one!). It survived and we (the rat and i) did too! Some more calculations later, i jumped on the floor and managed to run out of the room leaving the rat inside to finish off his marathon practice.
Once out of the room, i went to the airport security and asked to meet the airport doctor. He told me that a new doctor had been appointed the previous day and he was on leave that day! He wanted to know what had happened and i explained the situation briefly to him. He said" Sir, it must be the common rat, nothing to worry. Nothing will happen"!!! Common rat it may be, but there was nothing common about a rat in my pants!
it was time for my flight to leave, so i had to leave the airport after writing a complaint in the suggestion box. But, i guess it will be passed on as toilet paper in the restroom!

Moral of the story: Never ever be stuck in the middle of a rat-race!

Motto of USA - Live life big size

noreply@blogger.com (Rajaram S) — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 09:04:00 +0000

It is a known fact that Americans like it big, so big that visitors from outside the US start to feel a sense of "small"ness. I came back from Seattle last weekend (my third trip to the US) and looking back at my experiences there, my world is tiny compared to theirs.

I am used to buying tshirts of size L or XL. But, it was a surprise to me that i had to choose medium or even small in some shops when i was in the US. I was flattered. I remember, back in school, that friends used to joke that one doesn't need to wear underwear if you were wearing a over sized tshirt, as the bottom of the tshirt fell way below your waistline. if a normal person were to try on the XL sizes available in the US, you don't even near to wear socks/shoes!
i have seen the size XL and rarely XXL, but only in the US have i seen the size XXXL. There are also separate sections called "Big and Tall" which ironically have a small size too. Of course, the small in these sections can easily fit in my entire family!
Small in the US is not small for the rest of the world. When we were at a movie, i ordered a small coke. The "small" coke arrived in a cup almost as long as my ... fore-arm!
In one of the cafes in Chicago airport, i saw a mom (super-sized one) feeding her small baby (a small one not capable of talking yet, sitting inside a stroller) french fries. No wonder, the average american turns out to be a super-sized adult.
Everyone knows COSTCO, the wholesaler where everything is cheap compared to other stores. But, there is a catch. You can only buy huge american-sized stuff. That would mean you have buy at least 5 kgs of potato chips or few kilos of chocolates.

God help america!
No wonder stores like COSTCO are so popular, where the smallest chips packet would be the 1 kg one.

Living life vegas style

noreply@blogger.com (Rajaram S) — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 22:34:00 +0000

Pickup from the Hilton las vegas in a stretch limo and then a helicopter flight to the bottom of the grand canyon - Cool ! Look out for more photos and updates on my seattle trip blog.

Seeing the sea in Seattle

noreply@blogger.com (Rajaram S) — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 22:59:00 +0000

I am currently in Seattle for the past one week and will be here for the next 3-4 weeks. Came here last saturday and immediately went on a sightseeing trip on Sunday. The city is beautiful, the view from my office, awesome!

See more of what I am doing, on my new Seattle blog - Sights in Seattle.

How to take photographs of lightning

noreply@blogger.com (Rajaram S) — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 14:39:00 +0000

Warning: Before you go out and start taking photographs of lightning, remember that a lightning hit on a human can be fatal. So, pl note these points before attempting so.

Don't take refuge under a tree while there is lightning around.
Don't be the tallest object in the area around you. There is a good probability of you getting hit as a lightning strike chooses the shortest distance it has to travel before hitting something.
The best place to photograph lightning is not from the roof-top but from a balcony or a room which has an opening looking out. Stay inside such that there is always a roof over you and then point your camera towards the part of the sky where there is lightning.

So, this is what you have to do (one of the ways, not the only way) to get a good picture of a lightning strike.

You need a tripod. You have to be really lucky if you are to get a good lightning photo without a tripod or the lightning strike has to be real long and bad!
it is very difficult to see a strike and then press the shutter to photograph it. It happens too fast for us to react. So, go to Shutter Priority mode.
Choose an appropriate shutter speed. If there is lot of lightning, then it is enough for the shutter to be open for a few second. In the cases above, the lightning was sporadic and hence i kept the shutter open for 30 seconds.
Manually focus to infinity and leave the focusing mode at Manual.
The press of the button to take the photograph may introduce a shake in the photograph. So, choose the self-timer option and leave it at 2-5 seconds. This will give the camera enough time to stabilize after the shutter release is pressed.
That's it. Press the button, sit back, enjoy the lightning and your camera will capture it for you!

Lot of puzzles to puzzle you

noreply@blogger.com (Rajaram S) — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 13:24:00 +0000

We recently had an innovation week celebration in our company and as a part of it, there was a daily puzzle contest. I had prepared around 4-5 puzzles every day and sent them across by mail. Given below are all the puzzles. Mail the answers to me through my contact email (top leftof the page). Answers will be given when replies stop coming in.

PUZZLE 1: Head of the Pack
Let me tell you a thing or two about solving puzzles. It is much easier than you think it is. Maybe, all the big puzzle competitions happen only in the capitals of the various countries, but this doesn’t mean you can’t capitalize on the other opportunities. Actually, the capitalism existing in our country is preventing us from spending more time on solving puzzles. Sometimes, this lack of time to solve puzzles results in lesser innovation in organizations. So, it is time to throw out the bureaucracy and come together to solve all the puzzles. One always wonders whether such techniques do yield results, but believe me, they do. Last, but never the least, we hope that you were able to find the name of the city.

PUZZLE 2: Piled up in Egypt
The boxes are arranged such that the number inside a box is equal to the sum of the numbers of the two boxes supporting it (i.e. the two boxes below it). No number is repeated and all numbers are greater than zero. What is the number in the topmost box?

PUZZLE 3: A puzzle on my table!
After seeing this puzzle kept on the table, even Dr.Watson would have been tempted to say, “It’s elementary, my dear!”
99, 15, 53, 8, 11, 32

PUZZLE 4: STR-ANG-E OR-GANI-SMS
Given below is an empty crossword. You have to fit the following words into the grid. Then the letters in the colored cells will give you the answer.
Words: 282, 2253***, 28669, 78779, 5262

PUZZLE 5: Counting the Extras
Corfu
Either
Viefi
Nerves
Open
Sexi
Wort

Look at the words above. All of them have something extra. Once you identify the “extra” bit, do the most logical thing and you will get the seven letter answer.

PUZZLE 6: TOUR OF LIMASSOL
Amdocs Social Club has organized a tour of Limassol. You are here, sharp at 8 AM on a nice Saturday morning. As you try to board the bus, the driver asks you for a password. You say to the driver that you were not given any password when you registered in the survey. The driver says that the survey system had crashed on Friday night and the only way they could allow people to get on the bus was through this password system. You try to argue, but to no avail. As you turn back, the driver says “Sorry, my friend. Maybe, you can have a look at some of the photographs taken by your friends during the previous tour”. You grab the paper thinking that the driver was just making fun of you. But, soon you realize otherwise. The paper seems to be a collage of 9 photographs with people gesturing through some strange signs. You immediately start decoding the message and realize that it indeed has the password. Can you find the password from the collage below? You can download a higher resolution picture here. Thanks to Harish and Anith for modeling for this puzzle. Btw, both are right-handed and hence, their right hands take priority over their left.

PUZZLE 7: MILITARY TALK
Do you know the NATO phonetic alphabet? If not, search it up on the net. In the passage below, the NATO phonetic code words of all letters of the alphabet (A to Z) but one have been encoded. Find the one alphabet which has been omitted. To get you started, I shall give an example: Alpha (for letter A) has been encoded as one of the “Two Greeks”.

(Repeat Twice): Tyson and his father (in a radiation outfit) went to a country, a Canadian province and a capital city. There they met Frankenstein, two Greeks, an African, an American and his angels. They danced twice (to critical acclaim), had a drink in the local Mariott, played a sport, watched a play by William and before December they founded a software company, for which they won an award.

PUZZLE 8: PRIME-TIME PUZZLE
All the numbers in the table below can be expressed as a product of some primes. Do the prime factorization for each of them and then look for some pattern to find the 8-letter word!

9699690	510510	4849845
248710	39	2926
248710	285285	14630
49742	39	2090
746130	6630	53295

PUZZLE 9: Just another day in Cyprus
I have Cypriot neighbors. They are a small family with the husband, wife and their three kids – Andreas, Nicos and Nicolas. Mr. Christos, 42 years old, works in the LAPD (Limmasol Area Police Department) and Mrs. Christos is a housewife. Mr. Christos is former national backgammon champion. Mrs. Christos is highly educated and it seems that she chose to give up her good job to take care of her family. Mr. Christos works 6 days a week and starts at 7 AM in the morning. So, it was yet another boring Saturday when I was lazing around on my balcony. I noticed a guy walk over to the front door of our neighbor’s and this is the conversation I heard (translated to English for your convenience).
Guy (G): Good morning, I am from the PENTAGON (People EstimatioN Team And Government Organization Nicosia) and I wish to know the details of your family.
Mrs. Christos (MC): Yes, what details do you want?
G: Do you have kids?
MC: Yes
G: How many?
MC: Three
G: What are their ages?
I saw a smile on MC’s face. Then she said, “So, are you in a mood to do some math?”
G (with a smile on his face): Of course Ma’am, tell me.
MC: If you multiply the ages of my three kids, you will get three dozens.
MC: If you add the ages of my three kids, the number is the same as my door number.
G (Thinks for a while): Nope, I need more clues!
MC: You know, my eldest is a spoilt kid who spends the entire day playing backgammon in that coffee shop.
G: Thanks you Ma’am, I know their ages now.
Now, all you have to do is to find the ages of the three kids.

PUZZLE 10: BILINGUALLY SPEAKING!
Nowadays, more security personnel are required at football matches compared to international borders, as the probability of trouble seems to be higher in the former. So, it was no surprise that BBC were taking extreme precautions before reporting on an upcoming Russia-England football match. Any partisan report by the BBC could spell trouble for its loyal supporters and would enable its competitors like CNN get the international edge. So, they went looking for a person knowledgeable in football, but also impartial to both Russia and England. They found one Mr. Edvard Garringue Gotwald, a former footballer of the Czech Republic, who knew a lot about the Russian and the English sides and was also well conversant in both Russian and English.
So, the match happened on 18th July 2001. It was a closely fought encounter and the cops managed to keep off the hooligans and ensured that the match went on well. The editor of BBC received the match report from Mr. Edvard. He was shocked! It looked like Mr. Edvard, in the excitement of the match, mixed both Russian and English while writing the report. So, what does the report say? Btw, the final score in the match was Russia-1, England-0.

PUZZLE 11: STUCK IN JAIL
Samuel is stuck inside a jail in Libya. He is full of remorse and has sent you the secret note below. What does it say?

PUZZLE 12: WATCH THE CHANGE!
See the gif file below. You should see different images in the gif are played one after another. Imagine a 5*5 grid of LEDs. Only few LEDs are switched on at a time. The switched-on LEDs appear as white circles in the image. There is a 7-letter word encoded in these blinking LEDs. Better switch your brain to mode X OR you will never find the answer!

PUZZLE 13: A Visit to Kykkos Monastery
A team in DVCC wanted to go for a project event. They decided to go for a walk on a forest trail leading to a monastery. Only few members of the team knew about the trail and it was up to them to guide the rest of the group.
They started off going northwards. Then they turned east. Then a superstitious person suggested that they rather go south. After walking for some time, they realize that they had reached a dead-end. So, they cursed the superstitious guy and then retrace their way north. Once they reached the point from where they turned south, they continued in the original direction. A little later, they reached a dead-end. Then the superstitious person laughs and suggests again walking southwards. After some time, they take a well deserved break.
After a 15 minute break, they continue walking south. Once they reach the fountain marked on the map, they turned eastward as suggested. After what seemed like a long time, they came across a signpost on the road pointing towards the north. So, they turn north and walk for another half an hour and then rest for lunch.
After lunch, people were not in a mood to continue. But, they had to reach their destination before nightfall. So, the group leader urged the group to start walking westwards. After some time, the path turned to the south. Just after a short distance, there was a sign pointing towards east. So, they turned east. Now that the sun was behind them, they didn’t feel the heat of the sun. So, they didn’t realize that they had walked quite a distance when the map suggested that they turn south again. So, they dutifully followed. Then, almost immediately, the path turned west again. Then, after walking west for around 30 mins, they stopped for a tea-break.
After the rejuvenating tea, they started walking eastwards. After what seemed like a long walk, they came to a dead-end. Then one person casually said; ”Ah, maybe we should have taken the path to the south which came some time earlier!”. They all cursed him and retraced their path due-west. When they came to the turning mentioned by this person, they turned south and marched on. After 1 hour, they saw their destination before them, the grand monastery of Kykkos. At the gate of the monastery, the guard asked them for the password. The group leader who had been taking notes all the time during the trek realized the password and told it to the guard. It was the correct password and they all happily retired to the guest rooms at the monastery. So, do you know the password?

PUZZLE 14: The search for Cypriot villages
Find the following village names in the grid below. The remaining letters would tell you how to get the answer. The words can be oriented horizontally, vertically or diagonally. The letters in the grid below can be reused for more than one word, but not in more than 2 words.

PUZZLE 15: GRAFFITTI OR GRAPH?
The Cyprus government has long suspected the British of monitoring all email communications passing through Cyprus. But, they have never been able to prove it. They ask for your help in uncovering the secrets of the big white dome on top of the Troodos Mountains. But, this task is easier said than done. It is a well known fact that the dome is patrolled by less than a dozen soldiers, but the hi-tech security around the dome is almost impenetrable. In the guise of a regular tourist looking for a good spot to ski, you reach the side-doors of the dome. You see lot of graffiti on the wall and think aloud; “These football fans haven’t left alone even this place!” You see a monitor on the door asking for a password. Then you realize that the graffiti might actually be the key to this. You start plotting points assuming that each pair of letters connects the vertices labeled by the alphabets. Slowly, letters start to appear and finally, you get the password. What is the password?

PUZZLE 16: A TIGHT FIT
The eight tiles below must be fitted into the pattern so as to form 4 words reading across and 5 words reading down. The tiles cannot be rotated or modified in any form. Find the 9 words.

PUZZLE 17: FORM YOUR OWN QUESTION
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ?
Fit in the letters below to form the question above and then find the answer. No need to change the orders of the letters in each group of three. Just find the right position to place the group as such.

APO	BEA	BUM?	NWA	SAL
SAL	SOA	TLE	TWE	WHA

PUZZLE 18: READING BETWEEN THE WORDS
Each sentence below contains a country’s name within it. Find each of the countries.
a. My landlords went to a spa in Latvia for this year’s holidays.
b. To find the Great Wall, search in an Asian country.

c. It is normal in this country to walk to work.
d. This country has a fine palace where horses live.
e. You have to visit this city to enjoy such adventures.
f. While attending the innovation session i germinate ideas for the next big thing.
g. The crowd consists of thousands of people so those leaving cannot be monitored individually.
h. The rough analysis proved that this machine does not work.

PUZZLE 19: GOING TO THE MOVIES
For all you movie buffs out there, these puzzles should be a piece of cake! Each of these rebuses solve to a movie name. (14 movies)

Enjoy!!!!!!!!

Why do we dream what we dream?

noreply@blogger.com (Rajaram S) — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 15:08:00 +0000

I am a normal person who dreams regularly (thankfully, no nightmares!). Sometimes, i do remember the dreams the next day and most of the times, they are even more outlandish than a typical Bollywood movie. But, one thing which has always been the case is that some aspect of the dream would always be something which i had done or been involved with in the near past.
For example, if i were preparing for a dumb-c event, then i would not only stop at dreaming about codes, but also wake up (actually asleep) , then awaken Vidhya and ask her to decode something which i mime! Similarly, for puzzle events, i have actually got some good ideas for puzzles from the dreams.
But, a few days earlier, i had a dream which went something like this. I was traveling in a bus and got a ticket from the conductor. There was a guy next to me who suddenly dropped some coins into my hand and then asked me to hold on to them for few minutes. I, of course, wasn't interested and tried to put back the coins in his hand. But, he was avoiding this and saying "one minute, please" and so on. Then, i noticed some movement behind me and felt a hand on my pant's back pocket. I realized that someone was trying to take the wallet out of my pocket. I quickly turned around and punched the guy in his face. At this time, i came out of the dream.
No, i didn't wake up, but i went into "Analysis of the dream" mode while i was asleep. i started wondering as to why i had this dream. I had never been part of such an experience. No one had ever picked my pocket nor had i seen someone do it. i was surprised, as this ploy seemed perfect for a pickpocket gang with one member working to distract the person while another takes the wallet. Is it a sign of things to come? I dunno!

high speed internet - wow!

noreply@blogger.com (Rajaram S) — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 09:23:00 +0000

My first post through the DSL connection at home. Don't be surprised, i have survived so many years on the internet on dial-up. Okay, i use the office connection too, but all the internet activity from home has been on dial-up.
Finally, after the arrival of Akshara, i had move to high speed internet, as the demand for photos could just not be met through dial-up. I have always been slow for catching up on technology. When the world moved to the iphones, i moved from the Nokia 3310 to the wap-enabled Nokia 3330, not that i needed/used WAP. Sometime early this year, i was forced to change phones, as the usually very resilient Nokia 3330 didn't survive a 4 floor fall. So, i got myself a Nokia 6610 released just 5 years ago, a very new model for my standards.
Compared to my way with phones, i have been pretty okay with respect to cameras. The Nikon coolpix 2500, a trendy and stylish 2 MP camera was released late february 2002 and i purchased it around mid-march and instantly became the trendsetter. Similarly, when i upgraded to Nikon D70, which was incidentally the camera of the year 2004, i was one of the very few (in my office circle) who had a digital SLR.
Okay, now that i have the DSL, let me put it to good use. Searching for BBC documentaries ...

Introducing Akshara Rajaram

noreply@blogger.com (Rajaram S) — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 14:26:00 +0000

If i had been missing from the blogging scene for a while, it was for a reason. The reason is the birth of my daughter Akshara on 23rd August. After her birth, she has been keeping us busy day and night. But, in the middle of all this, i did find time to start a website in her time.
By modern standards, i would have failed in my duty as a father if i hadn't done so. So, here goes, Akshara's very own personal blog called Child's Play. Do drop in there from time to time for updates and photos of Akshara!

Tips and tricks for making Tambola/Bingo/Housie interesting

noreply@blogger.com (Rajaram S) — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 16:07:00 +0000

One of the most popular pages on my site is the one about Dumb Charades. I remember from back in school/college that dumbcharades was one of the most popular games played within a group, of course next to Antakshari. Another game very popular in India (and, as i found out, very popular in Cyprus too) is the game of Tambola. It is also known as Bingo or Housie.
When i was working/staying in bangalore, our apartment used to organise Bingo once a month with the tickets priced at 2 rupees each. We used to be 5 guys (fresh from college s/w engineers) staying together. While other bought 1 or 2 tickets each, we used to go and buy 10 to 15 tickets each , virtually dictating the way the event was conducted. Others didn't complain, for we contributed to the big prize money in the pool. But, more often than not, we cornered most of the prizes due to the heavy probability in our favour.
I have been conducting Bingo sessions in our outdoor events at work for few years now. I do it a bit differently and as far as i know, it has been well received. Traditionally Bingos (or is it Bingoes) have cash prizes for the first five, the three rows and a full house, the cash prizes coming from the sale of the tickets. In the tambola events i organise, i do give out cash prizes, but also lot of other small gifts which can be souvenirs, fridge magnets, tshirts and pracically anything else which is not so expensive. If i do manage to get sponsors, then the big gifts come out. So, if you are organising a bingo, try to get a budget for it and then buy many small gifts and give them out apart from the cash prizes. if you don't get a budget, make a guess as to the amount of money you will collect and then pre-buy gifts for that amount.
Now that you have so many gifts, how are you going to give them away if there are only 4 prizes (3 rows + 1 full house)? This is where you have to do things differently. i have given below the list (in random order) of all bingo "events" for which i have given away prizes. You can pick and choose from the list below based on the number of gifts you have, your interest level in organising the event, the time available for the event (more the prizes, more the time ) and the interest level of the players.

Anyone with the number 1 on their ticket. If all players have bought the full column, change it to - Anyone with number 1 on their topmost ticket - i usually start off with this one giving all the ppl 1 cent/1 rupee as a prize!
Apart from the three rows, you can also give a prize for the first 4 columns i.e. the first and the last number on the first and the last row.
If you are playing Bingo with a group of really enthusiastic people, you can also add prizes for the 5 columns on a ticket. Each column is not defined as the column appearing on the ticket, but as the respective numbers. Eg: 1st column would be the 1st number on each row irrespective of where the numbers actually are.
It will be a morale-booster to also have a unlucky-one prize for the one who is the last to get a number on his ticket.
If your group contains people of both sexes and of different ages, you can give prizes based on boys/girls or kids/parents/grand parents etc i.e a prize to the kid with the most/least number of numbers marked on a ticket.
You can also play around with mathematics (if you have people buying an entire column) such a 1 number in 1 ticket, 2 numbers in another ticket and 3 numbers in another or any such combination.
You can give prizes for combination of numbers in the rows i.e. 1 number on a row, 2 on another and 3 on the other.
While selling tickets, give discounts to people buying the entire column ( 6 tickets). This will encourage people to buy the set which gives you more options to give prizes.
Giving away absolutely junk prizes in the middle will keep the audience entertained. Eg: After giving away lot of prizes, the person to receive a prize will be looking forward to a goo prize. Then you can suddenly call for a combination which you expect many to have and call all of them to get a prize. You could then give each of them a chocolate or something equally silly!
If you run out of allocated prizes for the first session on Bingo towards the end, but people are still interested, you can always give out free tickets for the next session as a prize.

Hope these tips help you in organising a good game of Bingo!
Btw, if you don't have the cards to play, you can check this post for a link with which you can print Bingo cards for free.

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Photo of surya jyothika and their daughter Diya

noreply@blogger.com (Rajaram S) — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 13:28:00 +0000

Celebrities never cease to amaze us ordinary folks. It's not only them but their entire family tree which fascinates us. The world went crazy over the wedding pictures of Surya and Jyotika. It was but obvious that the craze continued with their offspring too. So, now we have the photos of surya's and jyothika's daughter taking the online world by storm. Maybe, these were released in competition to the photos of ajith and shalini's daugher , Anoushka ??

Diya celebrated her first birthday with mom and dad and it looked to be a Surya/Jyotika/Sivakumar family affair.

Living on the edge

noreply@blogger.com (Rajaram S) — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 08:14:00 +0000

Well, i don't want to spend an entire life living on the edge, but from time to time, such an experience is entertaining. If you are thrilled of heights or cliff edges, you have to go on this trek. in Cyprus. This one starts from Pissouri village and goes to an isolated beach. You can see more information and "on-the-edge" photos at the Cyprus Blog.

Naming a wireless network

noreply@blogger.com (Rajaram S) — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 09:16:00 +0000

Had been to the doctor today. There were many people already queued up. So, i decided to catch up on some pending work and took my laptop inside the doc's office. I was going to work on some local documents and wasn't interested in the popup which said that there were some wirless networks in range. Out of curiosity, i decided to check out the available networks and guess what the name of the network was....

Photo of ajith, shalini and their baby Anoushka

noreply@blogger.com (Rajaram S) — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 14:30:00 +0000

Look at the people around them. Look at where they are "all" staring. Why are we so obsessed with celebrities ?

Choosing a baby name - Easier said than done

noreply@blogger.com (Rajaram S) — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 13:58:00 +0000

Maho Arnaha Saraswati Pra Chetayati Ketuna Dhiyo Vishwa Vi Rajati.
Asmantsu Tatra Chodyendra Raye Rabhsthavaha TuVidyumna Yashsthavaha

What do the above lines mean to you?
If you are a follower of/believer in the vedas, you would recognise the above as lines from rig veda and would start on trying the understand the meaning conveyed by the lines. If you are a quizzer, you would look at these lines as a probable source of esoteric questions which you as the quiz master would only ever know. But, if you are an expecting parent, then these lines would be a treasure trove of possible unpronounceable names which you would carefully note down in your "Big book of names for my baby"!
This is where Confuso-Kiddo-Name-o-graphy, the art of getting confused by writing down too many baby names, comes into the picture. Recently, my friends had a kid and when we visited them in the hospital, i saw a fat book lying beside the bed. On picking it up and looking inside (i didn't see the cover), i saw lot of strange words and their meanings. I was wondering as to why she was reading Rosenblum's word-list for GRE. Then, on seeing the cover , i realised that it was not the rosenblum book, but a book on Hindu baby names written by "I-shall-unlock-all-the-cages-in-zoos" Menaka Gandhi.
The book was in fact, more confusing that a GRE word list. I guess what Menaka would have done is to copy over the english transliterations of all the holy writings of Hinduism into Excel, then sorted them and then added a random meaning to each one of them. Well, a normal person wouldn't anyway know what a name such as "Caksusa" really meant. He would just go by what is written in the book. It must be the easiest book she must have ever written!
Sometimes, being born an Indian has many disadvantages - for the parents. They have the unfortunate task of naming the child according to zillions of naming conventions. Imagine if the child is Cypriot, they have just few names like Andreas, Christos, Nicos and the feminine forms of them. So, it is pretty easy to choose amongst them. Parents who are a bit religious and want to do things the traditional way would rely upon numerology, the baby's horoscope, vaastu (the location where the baby was delivered and the direction the mom was facing when delivering the baby) , vedic mathematics and few other dozen rules. After doing all the above calculations, if they end up with a restriction that the name should start with the letter "Q" or "X", they immediately turn modern and name the child Pinky, Rocky, Sweety etc.
Americans have it easier still. They can name their children bush, gate, forest or based on practically any word taken from a regular dictionary. Take the case of Tiger Woods. Earl and Kutilda, tiger woods' parents were going for a walk in the remote forests of Vietnam. Kutilda was heavily pregnant at that time. When they went around a corner, Earl suddenly saw what he thought was a tiger and yelled out "There is a tiger in the woods". Kutilda went into a shock and delivered a healthy baby. Considering it a good sign, they named the child "Tiger Woods".
Back to our case - We Indians have to consider a lot of things other than the above mentioned factors in naming a child.

In today's global village, we have to even consider how americans would react to the name. What if the name was "Manish Bhatt". Americans would be talking about Manish's butt whenever they refer to him. We can't even name our kids with our favourites like Raghunathan Ramakrishnan or Somasundaram Pattabbiraman, as americans find it difficult to pronounce anything more than 2 syllables.
We also have to think about the possible nicknames that could arise from the name when your kid goes to college. If there are many possible nicknames, rest assured that the one with the most vulgar meaning will be the one with which your child is christened in college.
You also have to attend french classes, german classes and classes of few other popular languages to check if the name you have thought of doesn't have any unintended meanings in these languages.

After all this confusion, many parents give up and name their kid some shit, i mean Samchit!

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Tips on Filling Fuel in Your Vehicles

noreply@blogger.com (Rajaram S) — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 09:31:00 +0000

I don't usually post email forwards, but this one seemed useful and interesting to know too.

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ONLY BUY OR FILL UP YOUR VEHICLES IN THE EARLY MORNING WHEN THE GROUND TEMPERATURE IS STILL COLD. Remember that all service stations have their storage tanks buried below ground. The colder the ground, the denser the fuel, when it gets warmer petrol expands, so buying in the afternoon or in the evening…. Your litre is not exactly a litre. In the petroleum business, the specific gravity and the temperature of the petrol, diesel and jet fuel, ethanol and other petroleum products play an important role. A 1 degree rise in temperature is a big deal for this business. But the service stations do not have temperature compensation at the pumps.
WHEN YOU’RE FILLING UP, DO NOT SQUEEZE THE TRIGGER OF THE NOZZLE TO A FAST MODE. If you look, you will see that the trigger has three (3) stages: low, middle, and high. In slow mode, you should be pumping on low speed, thereby minimizing the vapours that are created, while you are pumping. All hoses at the pump have a vapour return. If you are pumping on the fast rate, some of the liquid that goes to your tank becomes vapour. Those vapours are being sucked up and back into the underground storage tank so you’re getting less worth for your money.
ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT TIPS IS TO FILL UP WHEN YOUR TANK IS HALF FULL. The reason for this is, the more fuel you have in your tank, the less air occupying its empty space. Petrol evaporates faster than you can imagine. Petroleum storage tanks have an internal floating roof. This roof serves as zero clearance between the petrol and the atmosphere, so it minimizes the evaporation.
IF THERE IS A FUEL TRUCK PUMPING INTO THE STORAGE TANKS, WHEN YOU STOP TO BUY, DO NOT FILL UP - most likely the petrol/diesel is being stirred up as the fuel is being delivered, and you might pick up some of the dirt that normally settles on the bottom.

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The ordeal of eating at Hotel Saravana Bhavan

noreply@blogger.com (Rajaram S) — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 08:21:00 +0000

Hotel Saravana Bhavan started in Chennai in the year 1981 (almost as old as me!) with the K.K.Nagar branch. We moved to K.K.Nagar in the year 1990 and from the first time i tasted the famous Saravana Bhavan sambhar, there was no looking back. I was addicted to it.
Back then, when there was no concept of pocket money/allowance, it was hard work trying to "collect" enough money for a visit to the hotel. There was a tacit understanding with my mom that any "unattended" coin with a value of <= 1 rupee could be claimed by me as mine. There were other sources of income too. I would always immediately respond to anyone's call for help in recovering coins which would have fallen behind tables/shelves. I would attempt (or rather attempt to attempt) to recover those coins, but ensure that i make back-breaking groans and moans when i do so. This would immediately prompt my mom to say "It's ok. Leave it if you cannot reach it" and the coin would be forgotten. But the location would be promptly stored in my mind and when the time/need arrived, i would go over and, with the slightest of ease, recover the valuable 50 paise. So, once i had collected 7 rupees (the price of a sada dosa back then), I would run over to Saravana Bhavan and enjoy a sada dosa with the three types of Chutney, the sambhar and the Molaga Podi. Pure Bliss!
But, when my brother started growing older, there was competition for the stray coins. My mom, realising the rising inflation along with the competition from my brother, increased the threshold of coins defined as "stray" to 2 rupees! So, from then on, the only hotel i swore by, the only hotel which i considered worth visiting has always been Saravana Bhavan.
So, it is no surprise that i look forward to this whenever i visit Chennai. I was in Chennai last week and had been to Saravana Bhavan. Then began the ordeal!
It was around 7 in the evening and the place was full of people. So, it was tough to find a place. I had to wait a few minutes to find one empty seat on a table of four. But, considering the humidity in Chennai in summer, this place was a wrong choice as it was far away from the reach of the ceiling fans. So, i didn't place my order and was on the lookout for a better table. To my luck, a place on the other side of the room (just below a fan) was vacated. So, i jumped up and walked across the room. But, it looked like i was not the only one with this idea. Another guy, who was unfortunately nearer, occupied this seat before i could go over. Disappointed, i turned back to go to my place. But, even this was gone now as it was forcible occupied by the family on the next table who decided to give a separate chair to a child not even tall enough to reach the table. No wonder there is so much competition in India for everything! So, i was back on the waiting list. Luckily, all this action was seen by a waiter who was kind enough to come over and volunteer to find a good place for me. True to his words, he found a good seat - right under the fan. After thanking him a lot, i sat down to enjoy a good meal.
Now, i had to order stuff. In the past, when i had been on month long home leaves, i usually start ordering based on the serial number on the menu and go one by one. But this time, I was in India for just a week and it was already the 4th day into this week. So, this concept would not work. I had to go for plan B which was to either choose according to my likes or according to availability. If i were to go based on my liking, it had to be one of the dosas accompanied by the sambar. What i meant by "availability" is the probability of getting that particular item back in Cyprus. Yes, we do get Dosas in the Keralam restaurant in Cyprus, but i have to drive a 100 kms and pay a humongous 14 dollars for a single masala dosa, but theoretically, dosas are available and so they are out of consideration. Then, it had to be the famous Parotta kurma. So, i ordered it. You can never have only one dish in saravana bhavan. So, for the next item, i chose the 14 idli sambhar dish. Nowadays, you might have to request for a magnifying dish as an accessory to see the "mini" idlis. The main course was done. A dinner at Saravana Bhavan is always finished with the famous "Masala Milk", yellow in colour with the "paal edu" (that which many hate to have in their glass of milk, but which i love!) floating on top.
So, after having ordered for the Masala Milk, i went over to the wash basin. When i returned, the inevitable happened. My seat was gone, taken over by the next saravana bhavan enthusiast. Now, do i just leave and hope that my bill will be paid by this guy? But, i havent had my glass of masala milk!! There is no way I am going to leave without it. So, not knowing what to do, i slowly wander near by hitherto seat. The friendly waiter comes into the picture again, smiles and offers another seat and even brings over my water glass to my new seat.
One hour and three seat changes later, i finish my dinner. Yes, it was an ordeal, but it was worth every bit.

Introducing Drahul Dravid

noreply@blogger.com (Rajaram S) — Tue, 13 May 2008 11:15:00 +0000

Yes, it is official now. Rahul Sharad Dravid, the ace Indian cricketer has officially changed his name to Drahul Dravid. Drahul called a media conference yesterday and announced this to the world. A few days back, Rahul Dravid and his family had gone to their native temple in Indore, Madhya Pradesh for this name-changing ceremony.

Rahul was very emotional about this ceremony and he wanted to attend the function in his Indian cricket wear. As seen in the picture above, the moment the priest confirmed that the name had been changed, Drahul burst into tears. Few of his Indian cricket team colleagues (who wanted to remain unnamed) also attended the ceremony. When asked on why he started crying after this ceremony, Drahul said that the thing that worried him the most was the expense that his fans have to go through to purchase posters of him with the new name. Drahul also said that once the IPL was finished, Drahul would personally add the D to all his posters owned by his fans, as he felt that he would anyway have nothing else to do after the IPL finishes.

Drahul also said that numerological or astrological reasons were not behind this name change. He said that he had to change the name to indicate clearly his style of cricket. He didn't want his name to be just because selectors thought that he could play an aggressive style of cricket. Drahul also said that he had always learnt batting as an art form where the face of the bat should point towards the pitch such that the ball, on hitting the bat, falls within the pitch (and within half a metre of the batsman) and rolls to a stop within a metre. (Given below is a photo where Rahul Dravid was expressing his frustration because of Sachin Tendulkar's inability to understand this concept)

He said that this talent was limited to very few cricketers around the world and this is the talent required to produce a draw in test cricket. So, by changing his name from Rahul to Drahul, he was clearly communicating that he should be included in the squad only if the required result was a draw. He also added that his dad had recognised this talent in him the moment he was born and hence put Dravid as his last name. But the world had failed to see the draw in dravid and that is why he had to change his first name to drahul to double-emphasize. Drahul felt that this name change would bring about a change in his image.

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India's very own dumb blondes

noreply@blogger.com (Rajaram S) — Mon, 12 May 2008 08:12:00 +0000

Okay, they are not blonde, but they do represent what "dumb blondes" are supposed to be famous for - their dumbness. Yesterday's episode of "Kya Aap Panchvi pass sey tez hai" was a special episode with stars from TV soaps making their appearance on the show and wining money for charity.
Sarah Khan(Sadhna) and Parul Chauhan (Ragini) of “Sapna Babul Ka….Bidaai” were on first and right from the start, they seemed to be perfect candidates to fail a 5th class exam. Usually on the show, insets are shown about the educational achievements of the participants to embarrass them further if they don't answer a question. But, this was not the case for these two. Maybe, the producers knew that even after "preparing" them for the show, they would make a fool of themselves, that he decided not to embarrass them further. Or, they became models at such an early age that they didn't have time to complete class 5. How else would you explain the following responses:
Question 1 - Find the number of common nouns beginning with the letter "B" in the following sentence: In Bombay, I met Billoo with a basket in a blue bus.
So, the stars (the two girls) start thinking aloud. Parul says, "Basket and bus must be the two common nouns". But, the smarter Sara says, "What about Bombay, it is a common place, so it must be a common noun"!!!!
The producers then realised that their questions would prove too tough for this pair, but it was too late. Maybe they should have put Timbuktoo instead of Bombay, then Sara would have said, "Timbuktoo is not such a common place, so it cannot be a common noun"

Question 2 - Neil Armstrong was the first person on the moon. Which country does he belong to?
Parul is quite confident and she says "America". Shah Rukh, who is aware of their dumbness, wants to take them for a ride and says, "That is the name of the continent. I am looking for the name of the country". Immediately, the smart Sara says, "New York?". Shah Rukh then realises that any further discussion would embarrass the entire TV fraternity, so he accepts America and closes the question.

Question 3 - Which is the only mammal which can fly like a bird?
Parul, who has until now been overshadowed in being dumb by Sara, decides to take matter into her own hands and confidently says, "Kangaroo". Shah Rukh, desperately containing his laughter, goes to the center of the stage and imitates the movement of a Kangaroo and asks, "Are you sure that a Kangaroo flies like a bird?".

The producers by then had decided that they had had enough of this smart duo and decided to end their round and call on the next group. Now, i realise why TV soaps are so slow and prolong each and every scene. It is not the intention of the director, but it is the adaptability of the TV stars that is the problem. They seem to be so dumb that it takes them forever to understand and show an expression and the director has no other choice, but to capture the entire thing on camera!

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Indian Premier League (IPL) is a success

noreply@blogger.com (Rajaram S) — Mon, 05 May 2008 14:12:00 +0000

Why do i conclude so? Because i "feel" so. When Chennai Super Kings lost their matches, i felt bad and was wondering as to what they could have done better. When the Chennai team gets a wicket, i applaud and feel happy, though that wicket might be a player whom i would love to watch any other day.
This was what the organisers of IPL wanted, this was what Lalit Modi would have hoped for and it has happened. IPL has become an addiction. I spend seven hours both days of the weekend watching both the matches. Somehow, my earlier argument that 20-20 matches are just 3 hrs long doesn't seem to hold good with Vidhya any longer and i get admonished every time i put on the channel to watch IPL.
No, I was never a cricket-crazed person. I love to play cricket and given an opportunity, i don't mind playing it all day. But, watching cricket for extended periods not for me. I consistently used to fall asleep on the sofa between the 15th and the 40th overs of an innings.
I was never a fan of test cricket with the exception of Ashes. Getting up at odd hours of the night to watch the first ball being bowled in the boxing day test match, that is something only a true cricket fan would understand! Maybe it is the green grounds, maybe it is the telecast quality, maybe it is the commentary team, i don't know the reason, but i can watch the entire three sessions of an ashes test match without taking a break. The other test matches, i care a damn. An india-sri lanka match happening in Jaipur, chennai wherever, I just hear about it from friends. At the other end, there are people (there are!) who watch the ball-by-ball commentary on cricinfo of even Ranji trophy matches! I wouldn't even recognise the names of most of the guys on the team.
But, IPL is different. The cricket is entertaining (not just the cheerleaders), it is fast and furious. The new talent knocking on the national team would surely give the jitters to the experienced indian players. I am addicted to IPL. What about you ?
and ...Chennai Super Kings rock!

Doing Dubai!

noreply@blogger.com (Rajaram S) — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 12:17:00 +0000

I am currently in Dubai on a short vacation! Thank goodness that Cyprus celebrates Easter yearly, so that i get an opportunity for a mini-vacation.

The vacation in Dubai got off to a good start. This is what i have been "experiencing" in Dubai: Saravana Bhavan's Idly, Vada, Sambhar; sangeetha's mini-tiffin; Woodlands' rava Dosai and Pongal and of course the must-have masala-milk.

No, i am not on an epicurean vacation, but a trip to dubai cannot escape the delicacies that these south-indian restaurants have to offer. I go to Chennai yearly, but i don't feel the same there. maybe it is because of the fact that there are only two restaurants (that i know of ) near my house: Saravana bhavan and Data Udipi and they are more than half a km away from my house and it would involve a short drive rather than a walk to get these. But, in Dubai, in the the place when my in-laws live, all of them (yes, all of them) are just at their doorstep. All i have to do is to use the lift to go down from the 1st floor (why waste energy) ans then walk right into any of the restaurants.

But, it is not so easy. One's brain easily gets clouded and confused when given so many options. Imagine trying to answer a multiple-choice question with more than 10 answers! So, i have decided to make it easy for my brain. I started 2 days back with the first one on the road and then moved on the next one yesterday and so on. But, there is another problem like today for example. I went into woodlands today and wasn't very satisfied with the sambhar given along with Pongal and regretted a lot that i had passed over saravana bhavan for this one. But, rules have to be followed and there is no way i am going back to saravana bahavan until i finish with the last restaurant down the road and start over with the loop again.

The new mumbai Indians cheerleader costume

noreply@blogger.com (Rajaram S) — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 05:07:00 +0000

An exclusive sneak peek at the new costume that the cheerleaders would wear at the Mumbai indians - deccan chargers match today in Mumbai. These costumes were designed by the famous gay (oops, guy) Karan Johar.

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