Sunday, July 31, 2005

Havoc in Mumbai

Bombay is facing one of its worst monsoons in the century with over 37 inches of rain in a single day. This is just too much. I remember in monsoon 2000 when it rained 20 inches in ahmedabad and everything was just flooded. The basement shopping complexes to parking lots were just full of water. Worse is the situation in Mumbai and with rains still going on, the whole communication has gone out of gear. One wonders how to deal with such catastrophic disasters. Can one be prepared especially in a city like Mumbai with such a huge population. I really feel sad for those whose houses were washed away and belongings destroyed but my heart goes out to people who succumbed to nature's fury. May everyone get the courage to deal with difficult times.
I was emailed some photos of this unbelievable force of nature, which I thought I can just put up here. With being in US and having no video of such things, these pictures showed my the gravity of the situation.







More Mumbai Pics

More pictures of Mumbai rains























Sunday, July 24, 2005

With great power...

"With Great Power comes Great Responsibility", this is a famous line from Spiderman, the movie. Or at least where I heard it first. The second time I heard it was from my friend who does not fully agree with my blog In Defense of Salman Khan. And I do agree with him that famous people, be it celebrities, sportsmen or politicians, all have a duty of setting good examples for the people who love or adore them. This is what they have to do because they have visibility and what they say reaches more people than a normal person trying to make this world better. For example, when Brad Pitt took up the ONE Campaign to get rid of African poverty, more people came to know the real issues of Africa than, if some non-profit organization member had done three times more work.
I believe in an ideal world this would be possible but in today's world where there are so many distractions and temptations, that a person who can sustain those is truly something more than human. And as they say "To err is human". After all these big personalities are human, they have the same desires as you and me, be it love or money. They are in a high profile profession probably because they are good at it. Yes, they have to pay the price of fame. But they do not have any super powers and they will make mistakes.

Friday, July 15, 2005

In Defense of Salman Khan

Now we have a new scoop on Salman Khan, his tape conversation with Aishwarya Rai alleging his bullying her to perform a show and boasting about his underworld links. From the transcript of the conversation it is clear that Salman Khan is drunk. From Ash's comments, it is pretty evident that she knows he is drunk and warns him about the phone being tapped. He still goes on bragging about his links and how he controls everyone. This to me clearly seems a case of drunkenness where the person is just talking nonsensical stuff. Besides if the transcript is really true, why does Aishwarya keep calling Salman, "Salman Khan". I mean anyone in a relationship, however that may be, doesn't use the full name, do they?
Anyway, I am not the cops or the investigators but somehow I feel that Salman has the knack of falling into trouble. Agreed, that he has done irresponsible things and got out of it, but why do his bad doings always get such big media attention? I am sure there are some other people who have skeletons in their closet, but they generally get away or hush up the matter. If Salman Khan does anything good, that never receives any publicity. That may be because he keeps all his charity work under wraps.
Also, the timing of this investigation seems weird, right a day before the release of his latest movie. Either it will work for the movie or against it. I do not say that people should not be punished for their wrong doings, but if that's the case, the good deeds should be highlighted.
And now we have some picture of him with Dawood Ibrahim's younger brother. Didn't Javed Miandad's son marry Dawood's eldest daughter recently. I think the Pakistan government should investigate Miandad too (b'cos its not our job). Sanjay Dutt was one who got into trouble probably by his foolishness. I can't believe he had any hand in the Bombay blasts, but then that is my opinion.
My analysis of Salman Khan is that he is good at heart but has an aggressive nature or probably a Dr Jekyll-Mr Hyde situation. What contradicts his brat image is his co-stars' opinions about him. From all the interviews I have read of heroines and directors that have worked with him, they all say one thing, that Salman Khan is the most misunderstood person in this industry.
So are we saying that all these people are liars and have links with the underworld.
I guess one really can't know. The one who knows him best is he himself and probably his family. Maybe he is a victim of political, social or communal controversies or maybe he is guilty of running over a man with his jeep or getting drunk and harassing his girl friend and her family. In the latter case, he should definitely be punished with whatever he deserves. But I would also want each man in India who abuses his wife/lover/mistress or their families for whatever reasons like dowry to be put behind bars too.

Wednesday, July 13, 2005

Technology and Finance

For any of you guys interested in these two fields or opinions and impressions on them, you can read the blog Technology and Finance by Sandeep. It has some good articles and information about financial issues and other general stuff. I particularly like the writing style and subtle humor.
I did find another financial site particularly for Indian IPOs through Tekfin. Visit IndianIPO for information on latest offerings in India, expert analysis, message boards, documents and much more. Your one stop shop for Indian IPOs.
One thing I am gonna try and do is make money through technology thus combining the two. That is why I have the adsense up there hoping that someone will find something useful and I will be benefited for my hours of labor on this blog.

Knowing Your Personality

Today I thought why not write something different and interactive, So that you guys post some comments back in order to receive answers to my game.
Here are a few questions, or five to be precise. For each question or rather word, write down the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of that word. Post your answers in the comment and I will tell you what these mean. Sounds good?
Oh btw, if anybody knows this game(because I am not the original inventor), please refrain from revealing these else I will be tempted to delete such comments.

Here they go...
1. Dog
2. Cat
3. Rat
4. Ocean
5. Coffee

PS If you need confidential answers, mention so.

Saturday, July 09, 2005

Harry Potter is Coming!!!

For all you Harry Potter fans, the sixth book Half Blood Prince is coming next week. I am so excited. I have already pre-ordered the book at Amazon. I will have it by the 19th of July. Hope to read it fast. This is the first Harry Potter book I have bought. I have read the first five but from a friend's collection. I got hooked onto Harry about a couple of years back when the fifth book, Order of Phoenix was released. I didn't know much about HP then. I used to wonder why is this kid's book so popular. I saw the two movies first and didn't really like them so much. But when I started reading these, one by one I really came to know how good the book is. The movies didn't do justice to the book simply because the book is so detailed and it is just difficult to fit that into a movie.
J.K.Rowling has such great imagination. I wish I had something similar. She has written the book in such a way that from young to old, everyone can read it and still love it. No wonder it is the highest selling book everywhere and the pre-order numbers are so huge.
You should visit J.K.Rowling's website. I love that too. It is so well made and once again so imaginative.
So I will be waiting for Harry Potter! Don't worry I won't reveal anything about it on the blog. I don't want to spoil anyone's surprise.
Ciao!! Happy reading!!

Friday, July 08, 2005

Cricket Crazy!!

Oh!! I love this game. There was a time when I watched every match that India played and no matter what anyone said, India vs Pakistan was the biggest. It was always fun to win. But since I have been in the US, I haven't been able to follow much cricket. So many new faces in each team and so many changes. But my friend Ashwin is so crazy about the game that he keeps track of each and every thing happening in the cricket world. He is almost an expert on the game. See his blog Ramblings of a crazed cricket fan which has his view on the game and analysis better than most website cricket writers.
During my hay days as a cricket crazy fan, I wanted to become a commentator but being a girl, I never thought that could be possible. But hearing about Mandira Bedi commenting on the last World Cup was like opening up old wounds :(
Anyway, I just hope we win the next world cup with Sachin Tendulkar as a part of the team. He is the greatest and countless people can say what they want about him but no one can become him. Secondly, I wish we could watch cricket here in US on the sports channel without having to pay hundreds of dollars.