Sridhar Pichumani

Picture Speak: Mom and Daughter

noreply@blogger.com (A'tryx) — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 17:58:00 +0000

Bee attack on cricketers..!!

noreply@blogger.com (A'tryx) — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 17:47:00 +0000

Glamour Element

noreply@blogger.com (A'tryx) — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 17:37:00 +0000

I love these snaps...i hope you enjoy too..

The glamour element posts will coninue as my taste evolves.

Hijacking of Flight IC 814

noreply@blogger.com (A'tryx) — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 04:41:00 +0000

Some excerpts from Rachna Katyal - Wife of Ripan Katyal who was killed by the hijackers.

The brutally stabbed body of Ripan Katyal was carried in a wooden casket. According to the FIR report in Delhi, his body bore "one stab wound on the abdomen, four stab wounds on the chest, two stab wounds on the neck where the jugular vein was slit, six stab wounds on the face and one abrasion on the nose." Rachna, his young widow was still aboard the aircraft. It was only much later that Ripan's parents gave their daughter-in-law the tragic news.

I was told Ripan is no more only much later, after even the kriya ceremony had been performed. It was only when I repeatedly kept asking for Ripan and they could avoid it no longer that I was finally told the truth. I think I was becoming hysterical so my father-in-law finally pointed to a large photograph of Ripan and brokenly told me, "That is your Ripan. That is all that we have of him."

my father-in-law is disappointed with the attitude of our government officials. Nobody from the government, on behalf of the president, the prime minister or the external affairs ministry or the home ministry bothered to contact us or to represent the Indian government when Ripan's last rites were being done. This is something that we all, especially my father-in-law, feel let down about.

When Mr Chautala could attend the last rites on behalf of the Haryana government in Gurgaon (they have now even named a road in memory of Ripan as Shaheed Ripan Katyal Marg), why couldn't someone senior represent the government of India?

Initially, we did not really think about these things. But when we were called to meet the US President by Bill Clinton's staff and told that the US President wanted to meet us during his visit to India, we could not but feel the difference between their style of functioning and ours. No one from the Indian PMO's office had even bothered to send us a letter of condolence or called us but here was the US President asking us to personally meet him.

We were with him for about 25 minutes from 6.35 pm to 7.00 pm. Mr Clinton personally offered his condolences and consoled us and asked us whether we required any sort of help. Since we had no need for any material things, my father-in-law thanked him and declined but he was very touched that, in spite of his extremely tight schedule, Bill Clinton had taken out time to meet us.

Later he sent us a photograph and a letter from the White House assuring us that the government of the United States will work with India to find and prosecute those responsible for my husband's murder. Even now, nobody from the Indian government has updated us on the investigations or bothered to tell us whether our government is taking any action at the national or international level on this matter.

------------

Update:

The UPA government plans to amend the Anti-Hijacking Act of 1982 to make it much more iron-fisted, providing for a no-negotiation policy and death penalty to the hijackers.

The new measures would treat hijacking as "an act of aggression" and entail "directions to all domestic airports to promptly immobilise a hijacked plane if it lands", sources said.

The proposed amendments to the 1982 Act are likely to be taken up by the Cabinet on Thursday.

Tata Sky - Analysis of packages and price

noreply@blogger.com (A'tryx) — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 04:03:00 +0000

It is interesting the way Tata Sky packages have been designed.

What does a South Indian family want? (Ex:Tamil Nadu)

SUN Network Channels, Kalaignar TV, Jaya TV, Vijay TV, Raj TV
News Channels - CNN IBN, Times Now, NDTV, Headlines Today
Some Kids Channels and if possible some music channels.

But to get this combination, the customer has no other option but to choose South Value Pack which costs Rs.300

Let us start with the South Starter pack. Tata Sky assumes the household in South India dont really care about "English" channels - be it News or Movies. So there are no English News Channels and English Movie CXhannels in this package. In fact they restrict the customers to just the regional language channels.If "South Indian Language" was the criteria, i do not understand why FTV was included in this group. Want more confusion: It also includes ETV Urdu, ETV Marathi, ETV Oriya, ETV Bangla, ETV Guj. (South Indian?)I will give you one more chance to break your head. This pack includes Star Majha(!). This Pack doesnt include even the basic Kids Channels like Pogo and Cartoon Network. Clearly this is targeted at those who dont care more than the serials in local languages.

The Family Pack is the best(?) package Tata Sky can offer at a nominal price(?) of Rs.250. Best - because they are little lenient here by including Music Channels (like V and MTV), Knowledge based channels (like Discovery and Nat Geo) and Kids Channels (like Pogo, Disney and CN). Family pack, i think it is primarily targeted at North Indians as it doesnt have ANY Sun Network Channels. It is like dropping Zee Network from Family Package. (Which they have not done and that is why i say it is targeted primarily at North Indians). Again the Tata Sky officials assume that it is not necessary to include English News channels and English Movie Channels in this package. What has "English" got to do with the family?

As you can see, the price is already 250 and you have already sacrifised so many channels. None of the above mentioned packs contain: English News Channels and Movie Channels. And if you have opted for South Starter Pack you have lost countless channels.

To get most of the Hindi channels and English News Channels and Movie Channels you have to spend a minimum of 300 rupees. If you are a South Indian and want all of the above in addition to Sun Network Channels (without which there is no fun) you have to spend 350 rupees.

If you want, Neo Sports, NDTV Imagine, Zoom, 9X etc..you pay extra.

I am also confused as to why they have included Cbeebies in South Jumbo Pack and not in the South Value Pack. (Personally I love this channel)

And, you have to be ready to face the issues related to Digibox followed by bad customer service. And this is not over yet. The clarity of tata sky, i was told, also depends on weather conditions. On a cloudy day, it seems the performance is not worth the money spent.

(Let us ignore the one time cost involved in procuring Digibox and installation charges for the time being.)

Now, coming to think of it, why not settle for the local cable operator who is charging a decent rate to provide all the channels? (I pay just 180 rupees)

I personally believe TataSky is overpriced.

Cricket Cartoon

noreply@blogger.com (A'tryx) — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 10:16:00 +0000

Courtesy: http://www.appuarmy.com/

Caste Equation in India

noreply@blogger.com (A'tryx) — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 05:42:00 +0000

This is an excerpt from an article by Pratap Bhanu Mehta in Indian Express...(The main article was on Aaja nachle controversy)

This is my opinion as well.

...think of how we have reconfigured caste in modern India. Instead of asking: How do we overcome caste and how do we make it progressively less relevant for the rights and status individuals enjoy, we have, in the guise of transforming it, made it even more necessary and inescapable. Previously caste was inescapable through a despicable ideology of social hierarchy; now caste is inescapable, because of the language of social justice.

The intellectual quagmire of our discourse is that upper caste will remain upper caste no matter what they think, how they behave and what their condition, and by corollary so will the lower caste.Does not this inescapability of identity carry its own risks? Is this not offensive in its own way? While we focus on insults, is there not a deeper indignity being inflicted on those to whom emancipation is being promised? You will be your caste, no matter what....

AMUL CARTOONS

noreply@blogger.com (A'tryx) — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 13:18:00 +0000

Some of my favourite creative AMUL CARTOONS.

Unique Street Name

noreply@blogger.com (A'tryx) — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 12:24:00 +0000

On Sunday, i was walking along Regent Street on my way towards Hamleys when this name caught my attention.

It was the name of the street. I cursed myself for not carrying my camera along to capture it.

Thanks to Google, Blog and Neha Viswanathan i found the photo of this street name.

I am presenting it here for you to see.

Back in Bangalore i live in: 9th Cross, JP Nagar 7th Phase. How unimaginative the street names are in India?!!! Cant we think beyond MG Road and Nehru Street?

You can send your street name if it it is unique.

WikiTraceTM

noreply@blogger.com (A'tryx) — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 12:16:00 +0000

I am beceoming a voracious Wiki reader. So i am going to trace the Wiki pages that i surf everyday.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Squad_number
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Brother_(TV_series)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomb_of_Antipope_John_XXIII
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suleiman_the_Magnificent
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_Cross
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wine_tasting_descriptors
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxford_English_Dictionary

WikiTrace ^TM is a word i have invented just for this stupid purpose. :)

World's strongest army(?)

noreply@blogger.com (A'tryx) — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 15:34:00 +0000

This is the pathetic state of Bangladeshi Army.

This is a photo speak. :-)

Nelson Mandela on US

noreply@blogger.com (A'tryx) — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 07:37:00 +0000

You know my opinion about US invasion of Iraq. Though i strongly believed Oil was the unequivocal reason behind this war, i still had this small chunk of thought behind my head that was still confident of seeing some "sane and classified" reason for the invasion which may evolve later during the declassification of archives. But i think this small thought evaporated just now after i read Mandela's opinion on Iraq war. Obvioulsly such a towering personality with access to the most powerful men in the world, cannot go wrong.

This is what he has to say:

"It is a tragedy what is happening, what Bush is doing in Iraq, What I am condemning is that one power, with a president who has no foresight, who cannot think properly, is now wanting to plunge the world into a holocaust"
"Both Bush as well as Tony Blair are undermining an idea (the United Nations) which was sponsored by their predecessors. Is this because the secretary general of the United Nations (Ghanaian Kofi Annan) is now a black man? They never did that when secretary generals were white."
"Are they saying this is a lesson that you should follow, or are they saying we are special, what we do should not be done by anyone."
"Because they decided to kill innocent people in Japan, who are still suffering from that, who are they now to pretend that they are the policeman of the world?. lf there is a country which has committed unspeakable atrocities, it is the United States of America...They don't care for human beings."

"I hope that that opposition will one day make him understand that he has made the greatest mistake of his life."

We need a lot of powerful and plain-speaking people like him to thwart America's dream of World Domination.

ICC's Mission

noreply@blogger.com (A'tryx) — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 17:57:00 +0000

Promoting and protecting the game, and its unique spirit

Delivering outstanding, memorable events

Providing excellent service to Members and stakeholders

Optimising its commercial rights & properties for the benefit of its Members

This is what ICC's mission statement says. But is this where they are heading to?

Promoting the game? England has become a soccer country. West Indians are losing interest in cricket. If at all someone is promoting some sport it is FIFA and definitely not ICC.

The recent statement that "ICC will not recognise ICL if BCCI doesnt", summarizes the grave issue faced by ICC. Who is the boss here? ICC or BCCI? Why have an international body if it cannot control its child associations? Is ICC dependent on BCCI's financial muscle?

Obviously ICL was started as a competition for BCCI. It is in fact promoting cricket by injecting some healthy competition. It is genuinely working towards establishing a structure similar to English County in India. If this is not "promoting" cricket, then i leave it to ICC to define what it is. Will it not help the cricketers? So, if ICC is truly interested in the welfare of its members it should welcome ICL.

BCCI is corrupt and this is a child's knowledge in India. So when ICL is ready to wrestle with BCCI by jumping into the ring, BCCI certainly doesnt like it. So to save its arse, it sends out dictates that blatantly intimidates the players from joining ICL. It is not surprising to see BCCI trying to nip the ICL bud.

But it is surprising to see ICC approving BCCI's action, so much for its mission.

In my opinion, BCCI is a rogue body that needs to be controlled as soon as possible before it spoils the game.

Statistics in Cricket

noreply@blogger.com (A'tryx) — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 13:34:00 +0000

Are you one of those who rates players based on statistics?

If yes, please consider this:

According to statistics, Agarkar is better than Kapil Dev in the bowling department. :)

See the stats below:

Name	Matches	Overs	Maiden	Runs	Wickets	Average	Best	4 Wicket Haul
Agarkar	188	1555.4	100	7840	281	27.90	6/42	11
Kapil Dev	225	1867.0	235	6945	253	27.45	5/43	4

Now, do you still believe in statistics?

Are you confused about choosing a Nokia Phone?

noreply@blogger.com (A'tryx) — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 13:26:00 +0000

Well. You are not alone. I am sure even the Nokia chairman will be confused if he is asked to choose from one of their models.

Just look at the models they have produced till now.

They are planning for few more :)

Sky is the limit

noreply@blogger.com (A'tryx) — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 16:34:00 +0000

This is a chance for you and me to exlpore space and galaxies.

Google Earth will now have this new feature to shift between Earth and Sky.

Google Sky will enlighten us with information about galaxies, stars and constellations obtained from Hubble telescope.

Your computer can now be used as a telescope. :)

Press Freedom Index - Worldwide Ranking

noreply@blogger.com (A'tryx) — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 09:39:00 +0000

Folks...just take a look to see where India stands.

Lesser the index point, more is the press freedom. So, this picture and the table will give us an idea about the "unbiased NEWS" that we receive everyday in India.

I will list down few countries as examples:

Country	Index	Rank
Finland, Holland	0.5	1
Germany	5.5	23
UK	6.5	27
Australia	9	35
USA	13	53
Bhutan	25	98
India	26.5	105
Bangladesh	48	137
Sri Lanka	50.75	141
Pakistan	70.33	157
Nepal	73.5	159
China	94	163
Myanmar	94.75	164

With all the neighbours, barring Bhutan, faring very badly in the Press Freedom Index, no wonder we feel we have great freedom of press.

With such an index it is impossible to report anything free and fair. Is India really a democratic country?

Rain in London

noreply@blogger.com (A'tryx) — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 11:18:00 +0000

I had a "thunder" of a time yesterday. The sky above London opened up and rain was literally pouring everywhere.

There was no trace of Sun (generally seen till 9 PM) even at 7 PM. To capture Big Ben with this lighting one would require f/2....so now you can imagine how lit London was.

It occurred to me as a splendid occasion to get drenched. i got wet for couple of minutes and changed my idea. I quickly got into my "Rain Coat - shirt and trouser" and hurried towards Blackfriars Bridge.

I enjoyed every bit of rain falling on me. The last time i really enjoyed like this dates back to my 12th standard days. I felt "intelligent and powerful" at the thought of "defeating" the rain which clearly was not able to get me wet.

It was such a great sight to see "so many" rain drops falling directly onto the Thames in a grey background of sky.

I walked and walked till i reached the Millennium Bridge. Here i spent a lot of time admiring the numerous bridges built across Thames. I skated on the millennium bridge just for the pleasure of hearing the noise my shoe made while doing so. I dragged my palm on the smooth railings thereby causing the water droplets on the railings to join and overflow through my thumb. The water was cold and my palm soon became numb.

After an hour of playing in the rain, i returned back to my hotel with a complete satisfaction. How many times has this rain caught me unaware without my rain coat? How many times i had time to go out and enjoy in rain?

I had such a good time, i think, this will remain etched in my memory for a long time to come.

Evolution of Beauty

noreply@blogger.com (A'tryx) — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 16:37:00 +0000

This is not something we do not know. But to actually see it happening is wonderful.

Did you enjoy that? :)

I celebrate my Birthday with....

noreply@blogger.com (A'tryx) — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 14:06:00 +0000

What is the harm in finding out which celebrity shares your birthday when the information is readily available in my "Ever-Favourite" Wikipedia?

I started with my DOB and ended up finding out the details for everyone in my family.

This is the result:

Me: (21st March)

Timothy Dalton
Ayrton Senna
Rani Mukherjee (She is one year younger to me)

My Wife: (12th June)

George Bush Sr
Javed Miandad

My Daughter:(15th September)

Marco Polo
Visvesvaraya
Agatha Christie
Annadurai
Sophie Dahl

BTW, My Niece shares her birthday with Walt Disney..and one of my brothers shares his birthday with Mallika Sherawat. :-)

Veteran's Cricket

noreply@blogger.com (A'tryx) — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 13:03:00 +0000

I was pondering on the comment made by Sharad Pawar that ICL can only attract retired cricketers. Thinking seriously about it, what is wrong in having a competitive team full of "so-called-veterans"? If not as a mainstream team, it could be a parallel team that would entertain the cricket fans.

Of course, none of the cricket fans would resent seeing their favourite players play after their retirement. Imagine Sachin and Lara playing without any pressure to deliver. Of course i am not talking about bringing in Ian Chappel or Geoff Boycott. May be the age limit for the veterans can be 45.

There should be a minimum age limit to enter the Veteran's cricket.

What do you guys think?

Tom Cruise Day

noreply@blogger.com (A'tryx) — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 10:53:00 +0000

October 10, 2006 was declared "Tom Cruise Day" in Japan, making him the first Hollywood star to have a special day named in his honor. The Japan Memorial Day Association said that he was awarded with a special day because he has made more trips to Japan than any other Hollywood star.

This is what you call crazy.

Haneef and India

noreply@blogger.com (A'tryx) — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 09:05:00 +0000

Only just a couple of days back, Australian PM Howard turned down, recently acquitted Haneef's request to grant him an honorary citizenship citing there is no such thing as Honorary Citizenship.

I was shocked when i heard about it. Is he Mad to desperately become a citizen of a country that doesnt want him?

The whole of India sympathized with Haneef for his predicament only just a month back. They did everything to get him out.

The CM of Karnataka offered him a job straightaway without knowing his credentials and when there are so many in line for the job.

But, what does Haneef want in return? "Honorary Citizenship" in Australia.

How could someone let down the whole country in so less time? Is he not Ashamed to do such thing? Which is important - Making money in life or living with dignity?
Is India such a bad place to live? How can he paint the faces black of all the people who showed overwhelming hospitality towards him?

He has clearly backstabbed the whole nation - esp the media.

Weekend thoughts

noreply@blogger.com (A'tryx) — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 15:41:00 +0000

Bin Raiders ... This is the one that caught my attention first.

Bin Raiders (Click)

This is just one category. There is another category of harmless Bin raiders who raid the waste bin for food that many throw out. Looks like this category is increasing in UK. There was a news about this category on Sunday in BBC. Every country faces such issues that makes me conclude the world is flat.

---------------

Harry Potter. This is a multi billion dollar brand nowadays. Why cant we have one such charater? Are we any less imaginative?

---------------

Sanjay Dutt. There is a website called Boletoh.com where people are signing petitions to free Sanjay Dutt. Their argument is he has had enough already for a small mistake committed in his youth and infact as an act of self defence. This is really funny. Will anyone store 3 AK 56 rifles and 250 rounds of ammunition and a pistol for self defence? And it is a fact that he is a son of a sitting MP. Will he have security issues? Next, let us assume he has had enough. Should he be freed now? Definitely not. The punishment for him will serve as a deterrant for others to act in such a reckless manner. Come on, he was not a kid when he hid the rifles. And he should be punished for more than 6 years for the fact that he is a MP's son. Is this not tantamount to misusing his position? And, if he has had enough (only 13 years of legal tangle that was handled with no pain by his lawyer), what about the families that lost their kin in the blast? Are they not facing the consequences for the rest of their life for the alleged "Small Mistake" on Sanjay Dutt's part? The law clearly states that it is a crime to keep in possession any weapon of mass destruction, even ignorantly. And our hero kept such weapons in such a sensitive area and even tried to melt it when he heard about police raids. He sure, deserves a life sentence.

-----------

New Arms Race

noreply@blogger.com (A'tryx) — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 15:43:00 +0000

USA has proposed construction of new anti-missile bases in the Czech Republic and Poland near Russia’s border. Bush justified it by calling this anti-missile programme as a means to protect Europe from the rogue states like Iran and North Korea. Russia warned USA about a potential arms race. To underline its seriousness, Russia suspended CFE treaty by not participating. USA never wanted to understand the message. So,...

In the second week of July, Russia fired a new, submarine-launched missile, a variant of the Topol-M missile. The missile launched in the White Sea hit a target located in Russia’s far east – travelling a distance of around 8,000 km. Even the USSR could not boast of such a deadly weapon. The new missile, according to military experts, is so fast that the much-vaunted U.S. missile defence system cannot track it. The test was a riposte from Moscow against the U.S. plans to build a missile base on its borders. Some observers have already predicted that a new arms race has begun in earnest.

Now, who is responsible for this? USA or Russia?

We have so many incidents like this littered in the history where USA has broken treaties for self interest. It wants every other nation to tow its line. Unfortunately it is not going to happen.