How America is weaning itself from oil

Here is aninteresting video that charts the hole that US of A has dug itself into and how sane people are putting in a plan (not all of which is on the right path) to get it out of that hole.

Only those who know will know!!

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If you are intrigued then look here: Wired News

This post is coming after a long time. Both of us got busy with work and shifting to a newer place (rental of course, what were you thinking?). This is a georgeous 3 bed room apartment at L&T South City on Bannerghatta Road.

Puja at this moment is at Allahabad on her vacation and I am here at Bangalore. Both of us are miserable and I hope this is the last time we are on a vacarion separately. Here is something that I am listening to and seems to be saying a lot of things that I am thinking.



This is an amazing song called "Abhi Nahin Aana" by Shona Mohapatra. A lovely soulful ballad - just the way songs should be! Puppu Hope you enjoy this. Call me when you Send in your comments about the song though!

For everyone hell bent on downloading this, here is the link:

A sham-show called Iraq!!

My apologies to anyone reading this. I know that this is not a political blog but I feel that Iraq is an ethical issue more than a political one.

Saddam's hanging today (about 6 AM Iraqi local time) is a grave miscarriage of justice seldom before seen in the history of humankind. I may not be an expert on Iraq, Saddam and all the evil deeds that he has done, but what I know the following for sure:

1. Saddam has done some pretty evil things
2. Some or most of these evil things were being done with either implicit or explicit permission of the current "Sheriff of the Globe" and his assistant (both being representatives of their former governments)
3. Iraq has had some serious issues between the 2 major factions and both hold grudges against one another
4. The current Iraqi government is composed of the faction which hates Saddam and his posse of people (whatever those reasons maybe)
5. Saddam has been accused of "crimes against humanity"
6. Humanity is defined as " world: all of the living human inhabitants of the earth" (as per http://www.wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn)
7. Saddam was captured by the Coalition forces and has strangely been handed over to the Iraqi government for a trial against the charges that he has been accused (see point 5)
8. The last time this type of charges were levied (II nd World War), the trails gained the attention of the world and were tried by a group of internationally renowned jurists (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuremberg_Trials). The German war criminals were not handed over to the Russians? were they??

Let me get straight to the point, Saddam's hanging has clearly revealed that the so called peacemakers are as myopic, selfish and under-evolved as any other goddamn dictator anywhere else in the world.

There is no higher pursuit of democracy, peace or justice. It all boils down to the neanderthal urge of man (in this case, read it as 'men') to take revenge and not admit to a mistake to feed an extraordinarily large ego.

Here is why Saddam was hanged (at least that is what I can make out of this entire sham-show of a trial!):

• Hanging Saddam was the easy way out from the "Iraq has Weapons of Mass Destruction" debacle. No Saddam = all WMD destroyed (no one will ever remember that there were no WMDs to begin with!! - shame on Public Memory)
• It lets the ruling faction of the Iraqi government to have their "pound of flesh" (Shylock's immortalized expression from Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice") and establish the "quid" of the quid pro quo with the Coalition and help satiate their SUV fueled appetite for oil and energy
• Eliminate all evidence of how many of these "crimes against humanity" were undertaken and completed with either implicit or explicit consent/material and human support of the Coalition members (you know who I am talking about)

I am no fan of Saddam nor do I think that he should not be punished. But just like any reasonable man next door, I too believe that justice cannot be delivered by a kangaroo court of shouting lawyers, a sand dune of judges (changed thrice during the trial), defence attorneys afraid of death threats, political harangues from both sides, and television cameras and microphones emphasising the status of the proceedings as mass entertainment (the last 19 words borrowed from Brian Barder's blog, for their eloquence)

This day will live in infamy for all humankind and should be remembered as a day when the world forgot all about justice in its blind pursuit for punishment. God help us all!!

Here are some opposing views ("What's life without hearing and understanding the other side")

• Brad Warthen's Blog (Pro Hanging)
• Saddam sentenced to death by hanging (Pro Hanging)
• Bush and Blair have forfeited the moral authority to hang Saddam (Your Guess!!)

Sachin & Puja at Pondicherry

Baba's place the day after Diwali 

THE Couple on Karva Chauth - Oct 10th, 2006 

This is Sachin celebrating his 28th birthday in style - Dont miss the vest!! (Please ignore the earlier comment - this is vest-ed interest in drawing attention to my current economic state) 

Filmstars are very famous - Specially Mithun Da. This signboard is at the Bannerghatta National Park (for the uninitiated, this one is near Bangalore) and points to Ooty (again for the uninitiated this is where Mithun da currently resides. points  

Me an Puja at a friends place about a couple of months back. I am doing as I am told... 

The Hindu pix again 

Another one of the Phone-pix-from-newspaper. 

This is how work makes me react to slightly uncommon situations - Not really beautiful but... :-) 

I am sure you are wondering where I took these photos - reality is that these have been clicked from a newspaper (The Hindu - Sunday edition) using a phone camera. 2 megapixels can really bring an image alive. I am using a SE K750i. 

Here I am, trying to get a nice photograph of mine clicked and this kid wants me to get off his tree stub or pay for publicty rights - nah! Just kidding!! 

The Five People You Meet in Heaven

Amazing! This book was just amazing. I started it and finished it in less than an hour. I was so caught up in it I just couldn't put it down. Talk about making you use your imagination. I could feel the heat of the boardwalk the smell of the ocean, the feel of the wind in my hair. I was there. I was right there the whole way. I have never been touched by a book like this. Find a nice quiet place, have a glass of ice tea, set aside some crackers or cheese for later because you won't want to move from you spot until you are done. Read it!!! You will be so glad you did and I bet it will make you think twice about what may lay ahead for you on your journey to "Heaven". I for one am looking forward to it.


Tuesdays with Morrie: An Old Man, a Young Man, and Life's Greatest Lesson

This true story about the love between a spiritual mentor and his pupil has soared to the bestseller list for many reasons. For starters: it reminds us of the affection and gratitude that many of us still feel for the significant mentors of our past. It also plays out a fantasy many of us have entertained: what would it be like to look those people up again, tell them how much they meant to us, maybe even resume the mentorship? Plus, we meet Morrie Schwartz--a one of a kind professor, whom the author describes as looking like a cross between a biblical prophet and Christmas elf. And finally we are privy to intimate moments of Morrie's final days as he lies dying from a terminal illness. Even on his deathbed, this twinkling-eyed mensch manages to teach us all about living robustly and fully. Kudos to author and acclaimed sports columnist Mitch Albom for telling this universally touching story with such grace and humility.


Jesus CEO : Using Ancient Wisdom for Visionary Leadership:

I picked this book up in an airport bookshop, with no preconceived notions of what it might be. In my search to become a better leader, I found the book compelling and was unable to put the book down. I do not claim to be a biblical scholar and this book didn't require it. Simply, this book is a good primer for a leader looking to understand what leadership is.
 

Is he giving us a message?  

Lion's share of a photograph 

This is from our recent trip to Bannerghatta National Park about 30 km from Bangalore 

This is snow on the camera lens, looks like starlight. Whatever, it is still so beautiful.