Punch the keys

The Hindu : International : Israel depriving Palestinians of water, says Amnesty It says that Israel uses more than 80 per cent of water drawn from the aquifer and while the Jewish state has other water sources, the aquifer is the West Bank’s sole supply of water. As a result, the 450,000 Israelis who live in the West Bank and east Jerusalem use more water than the 2.3 million Palestinian residents, said Amnesty. Update: Used BlogThis on Wednesday, but forgot to hit the publish button.

Yesterday, my elder daughter was trying to teach my younger one the correct way to nod. The younger cannot talk yet, but relies on nodding her head to indicate yes or no. Now, the confusing part could be the direction of her nodding. And this is what the elder was trying to correct. I have worked with quite a few Dutch colleagues, who on visiting india are always confused on what the Indian means by the head nod. There is at least one guaranteed discussion on this. It seems from this post that even we Indian's are not in agreement with what exactly it means :) -  Nodding and Shaking and India I will not even begin to clarify what the correct "Indian" way is. Purely because I do not think that there is a single "Indian" way. People from different places, from India, make different styles. Some individuals even have a bharathnatyam style when they indicate yes/no and then we need to tell our confused Dutch colleague that this was NOT again to be confused with ...

Sometimes we get carried away by whatever we are doing or what circumstances we are in that we assume that all the people in the world are in that very state of mind. We forget that circumstances and the associated choices are different for each and every person. As I write this piece, I am pulled into thinking about the darker shade of life that exists in the world. But for my own moods sake, I will ignore that for contemplation at a later time. The reason for this line of thought, is my excitement in finding the various tools and possibilities in the internet era. I was so immersed in all the stuff around that I felt everyone was in the same page. It sure helped when I was able to add a comment on my friends facebook wall and pat, get a reply. Or when I would forget my password for an application, just click on the “forgot password” link and had the password sent into my mailbox in under a minute! Or have help or tutorials found for problems I was stuck with within 10 minutes. Oh t...

This weekend has been the last of a set of long weekends.  We had off days either on a monday or a friday since end of September. I was called in or had some pending work in all of the other weekends and so it these weekends were not very great for me. As a matter of fact, I was cribbing a lot since I was not getting to enjoy the days "off". So I decided that this was going to be the one I enjoyed. Thankfully, I was to spend only about 3 hours in office. All the rest of the time I had to myself and family. To finish off the weekend, my family decided that we would go off on an outing. The unanimous destination being the panambur beach at Mangalore. My elder daughter loves to play in water. Be it beach or the swimming pool, the touch part is to get her out :) The beach was relatively free when we entered in and got ourselves settled. People started to move in a bit later, but still the crowd was not as much as it was on our earlier visits. Here are some photos that we ...

It is getting hot by the day here. I am going out to get fish. Nope not to buy raw fish or to catch fish ;) but to buy fish fry from narayana's hotel. This is an old joint in mangalore which is very famous for its fried fish. Even posh hotels are said to have this item on their menu. I have heard that even the Taj at mangalore has it. And the menu item is not prepared the narayana way. Instead, these hotels buy it from Narayana's and sell at a higher rate. Why not go to Narayana's and have it? Well, i mentioned that the place was old, didn't i? I should also add that it is a place which may not suit the delicate tastes of a posh audience. It is situated near the harbour and has the fisheries smell till the good old olfactory adaptation does not kick in. Also, the place even though so famous, is no more than a shack, serving rice and fish. Talk about specialization! Well I am travelling in an auto so got some time to tap in these words. Live in action. ;) While try...

Today spent a lot of time, about 16 hrs and more, on going through the internet and exploring social networking. Phew! There are so many sites and applications that have come up that contribute to this phenomenon called social networking. Just to name a few, MySpace , Orkut , Hi5 , Facebook , Friendster , LinkedIn , Twitter ...... And the list goes on. Have a look at List of social networking websites to get an idea of the HUGE number of sites that are available and the different categories they cater to. It is so easy to get lost among the plethora of web sites and applications. Every now and then, I get a mail from an acquaintance, inviting me to this new cool site that he or she has created an account on and which will help us keep in touch with each other. Of this list here are My Favs: LinkedIn - Caters to professional connections. Facebook and Orkut - My friends are spread across these two networking sites. Twitter - lets me broadcast myself to all ;) I never used...

It almost feels like Déjà vu! I lose count on how many times I have come across the debate on forums, mail chains, bulletin boards and of course in groups of people, when ever there is an "Indian" being awarded or recognized. That guy may not have stepped on Indian soil at all, but that does not stop us from arguing if he/she is an Indian or not and to claim the prize as our own! The latest set of debate was triggered when the Nobel price for Chemistry was awarded to Venkatraman Ramakrishnan. I seriously do not understand the urge that people have to say be proud because they are Indian. I mean, I am proud enough about other things that India is about. I am ashamed at some things like corruption and all. But what do they mean to say there is something wrong if I don't feel proud that Swaraj Paul or Zubin Meheta or Laxhmi Mittal is of Indian Origin. Heck! I am not even thinking in that angle. We have a local language paper, Malayalam Manorama, which is known to search ...

Can you believe that? China has objections over India's Prime Minister visiting one of India's states. Well, China claims that Arunachal Pradesh is part of China and India has no right being there. Seems we needed to remind China that is not the case Arunachal an integral part of India: Nirupama Rao . They call it disputed area. Whats the dispute? Don't they have enough land? Do the people of Arunachal want to join China? China waited till the eve of the elections to cry out loud. So the people of the land themselves have given a kind of verdict. There was a huge turnout in the elections ‘Vote for India’ rebuff to China . Also read On day China cribs, 72% vote in Arunachal They are also issuing different kinds of visas for residents of Kashmir and Arunachal?  India objects to China’s separate visa for Kashmiris

The Obama and Nobel prize scene just does not leave me. I am compelled to read the numerous articles on this topic which I find quite interesting. It is interesting because, Most of the comments on twitter and other sites/blogs(including me) say that he did not deserve it yet. He would have been in office barely for 3 weeks when the nomination deadline would have closed. So how did he get into the list of nominees anyway? He could not have done any peace work by then! It gets more interesting because, the world leaders who are opposed to the US of A have applauded the award. Americans(basically who did not vote for him and his political opponents) are voicing their opinion against it as if it were his fault that he got awarded. This article gives a view of the committee members view on why they chose Obama for the peace price - Nobel jury speaks out in defense of Obama prize "Alfred Nobel wrote that the prize should go to the person who has contributed most to the deve...

Is it not really irritating when you see people driving down one way streets the wrong way? When people don't bother with the traffic signals. Oh it does irritate the heck out of me! Especially, when I am returning from a hectic day at work. And in Mangalore, I find people having a penchant for ignoring signals and following one ways, the wrong way. Today was especially irritating. I was waiting at a signal(the first in line) for the light to change to green and the car behind me is honking away to glory. As if I am doing my personal business in the middle of the road! The signal turns green and I go a little further to turn into my lane and I find a truck trying to come opposite to me in the one way street. That did it!     I just stopped my car right in front of the truck and did not budge. The driver and the cleaner stare at me.     I stare right back! He says something I cannot make out.     I say somethings that I am ...

Obama emails Delhi lawyer, a Harvard classmate, about Nobel - ET Cetera-News By Industry-News-The Economic Times : "'This morning, Michelle (wife) and I awoke to some surprising and humbling news. '...To be honest, I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many of the transformative figures who've been honoured by this prize -- men and women who've inspired me and inspired the entire world through their courageous pursuit of peace,' Obama wrote in the email to Singh." He must be a very down to earth person, but still the committee was not correct to award him. Yet.

Muslim population worldwide grows: nearly 1 in 4 people practise Islam, study says - Telegraph : "“This whole idea that Muslims are Arabs and Arabs are Muslims is really just obliterated by this report,” said Amaney Jamal, an assistant professor of politics at Princeton University."

BBC NEWS | South Asia | Pakistan match fixing is denied : A committee of Pakistan's parliament has summoned the country's cricket captain, coach and manager to discuss new match fixing allegations. "'The nation wants to know how the team lost to Australia,' Jamshed Khan Dasti, chairman of the parliamentary committee, told the BBC. Pakistani cricket has recently been free of match fixing claims He argued that Pakistan deliberately lost in the last group match to prevent India from reaching the semi-finals. Mr Dasti's committee has summoned coach Intikhab Alam, captain Younis Khan and Pakistan Cricket Board champion Ijaz Butt to a meeting on 13 October to clarify the allegations." You have got to be kidding me!!! Aren't there other things in Pakistan that need to be fixed!

A very nice article on how even pilgrimages are not given their due respect. May God give these "leaders" wisdom and understanding. The Hindu : Open Page : Haj hijacked