Money control

When we lived in Spokane, we used to follow up an excel sheet of daily expenditures. Every bill in the wallet would be entered in the excel sheet that I prepared. My excel skills put to personal use! J

It would give us a good idea of where we are spending and how much. Like alternate months would be costly because of our trips in the US. But we’d have an idea for the difference in bank balance or to have a comparison between different trip costs. And being jobless, I would do my daily duty very diligentlyJ.

Now that I have started working in India, I have decided to follow the same for me and my husband separately. We know cost of living in India is quite expensive these days, especially in Bangalore! I see my husband withdrawing 500’s every now and then! And I have also started doing the same. It would be a good check to know where is the money going!

Below is what my sheet looks like; very simple in terms of list and excel tricks! Now I have to wait for the end of June to see my “mahine ka bamboo!” (monthly casualty)



The Summary





Monthly expenses



Rahmania!!!

I don’t know where to start from! It was a magical night! Music is the best thing in the world! And I’ve always thought how lucky are those, who can CREATE music! When we reached the place, the parking space was over-flowing with bikes and cars! And the crowd gave the old feeling from the air show – like the whole Indian population was right there at the moment…mostly all youngsters! Youngistan!!!

Remo rocking Humma Humma

As per Indian standards the 7pm show started around 7.35pm. The show started with each musician playing a piece of famous music piece & their introduction and the list of movies they worked on, were displayed in the background. Oh, this show was first of its kind with 3D projection and it was really good effect; I am not a fan of 3D after watching Avatar for 3 hours with a major headache & aching eye-brow bone! This was like one-on-one with AR J

Asian Violinist

The 3D projector had not yet started and people around us were getting angry already with “Paisa wapas karo” (give us our money back). All I hoped for patiently was for that damn projector to start! And in minutes before Rahman appeared on the stage the projector started and it was like everyone had seen their god! A collective loud cheer! Rahman made an entry with his first classic piece of film Roja!

Arziyaan and Khwaja Mere Khwaja

 

Subsequent songs played were Chikubuku Chikubuku raile, Rang de Basanti, Daud and Muqabala by Remo, Tanha Tanha, Rangeela, Masakali, Chanda suraj lakho tare of Nusrat Fateh Ali khan, Dil se, Taal western, Yuva – Khuda Hafis. Rahman then sat on his piano to play a piece Meherban from Ada. His sufi music display was just splendid with sitting down on the cushions and wearing the traditional muslim cap with green mosque images and urdu writing in the digital screen in the back ground; they sang Arziyaan and Khwaja mere Khwaja. No words to describe how amazing they were.

The latest classics like Songs from Guru, Ravaan, Jai Ho- Slumdog were just mesmerising! His troupe had non-indian musicians too. An asian violinist played amazing single pieces in between the show. An American looking singer sang the melodious ‘jaane kahan woh duniya haina’ from Jane tu ya Jane na, amazing fusion of Indian & western!

Sivamani is the best..very innovative in his music that he creates with just about anything. He created music with a big metal/wooden plank and 2 big bamboo sticks..just AMAZING!

Robot Song

The patriotic number from Swades, Yeh Jo des hai mera sung by Rahman spread silence around the crowd. Amazing piece that makes you emotional each time. Same goes for Lukka Chuppi from Rang De Basanti, which Rahman sang with a virtual Lata Mangeshkar makes my eyes wet every time; classic song of a mother and child and reminds you of your mother instantly! The seriousness on Rahman face is the proof of how deeply he is involved in his music.

The show ended with Remo singing his hit Humma Humma and then Rahman singing Rubaroo with a note to stop corruption.

The whole crowd sang loudly in unison for Vande Mataram and Rubaroo. It was the best show of my life; I loved singing along every song except for some of the unknown south Indian songs. How often do I get to sing out my heart loudly in the open! Great night that ended with fireworks!

Not to mention that the original singers like Hariharan, Sukhwinder Singh, Chitra, Lata Mageshkar, Asha Bhosale, Shreeya Ghoshal, SP Bala, etc were missed.

PS: Sorry for the bad quality of pictures, they are snaphots of the 3D screen.

Eventful Anniversary

Saturday was my 4^th wedding anniversary and we had couple of things planned; going to a temple, lunch and a movie, all tentative and plan on the go. We decided to go to the famous ISKCON temple. As we started to leave my grandfather suggested a Ganesha temple, close to our house. Now I don’t like to be superstitious, but we always are taught or heard mythological stories that say Ganesha is the most important God and you always pray to Lord Ganesha first even before any other god! It’s our anniversary, why take the risk so I suggested we go to the Ganesha temple first and then the ISCKON temple. I have been to the ISKCON temple a bunch of times before. It’s always a great experience inside the temple, with respect to the elevated location, greenery, breezy location and pretty descent architecture. Frankly, I used to be in awe every time I visited before. Today I went after 4-5 years, and the whole temple Gopuram didn’t seem so enormous as it used to before. Reason being there is a huge skyscraper in the adjacent plot which you see while you go towards the temple; that totally took away the charm of the tall gopuram of the temple! L

I decided to perform the 108 times chanting of holy mantra -

Hare Ram Hare Ram, Ram Ram Hare Hare

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare

Steps to move after each chant

The temple has 108 granite steps to move after each chant, and the mantra is also played on mild volume on the speaker as people also say it loudly. The temple is just amazing inside, with episodes of Krishna painted on the ceilings; HUGE painting & high ceilings.. great effect! Like any other temple in India, you are prohibited to take photos. The whole golden frames inside which the beautiful life-like statues of Krishna, Balram, Radha all look magnificent with glittery jewelry. The ISKCON temple I visited in Bothell Washington had similar statues except for the golden frames and paintings on the wall and of course the crowd isn’t that huge!

The only thing that bothers me about ISKCON temple here is the commercialization they have done of the holy place; when you finish your Darshan, you are bombarded by stores of all kinds, like gift shops in the US. Before, there used to be stalls only to sell books of Krishna, photos and paintings etc. Now you see bakery stalls, ‘eggless’ pastries, muffins etc. In my opinion, people come to visit theirs gods. The food and snacks they put out there to sell is all available outside the temple, even at normal rates! This commercialization takes away the whole holy, peaceful effect of the temple. It proves to be a money making business after all, in the name of god! Moreover, they have tactfully placed all the snack stalls way before the Prasad distribution, so devotees spend & eat on their way to realize that there is in fact free Prasad being distributed in the end! It’s like having a Starbucks or Denny’s inside a church! Doesn’t that sound inappropriate?

As we hit the road again to go to Mantri mall, it was a regular sunny day; jam packed traffic, annoyed drivers. We were stuck in traffic when a Maruti 800 car was coming from behind and an auto rickshaw driver pulled around him and very loudly he said to him, “Sir, you are driving very well, excellent driving skills you have there. Please continue driving like that”! In a flash of a second I burst out into laughter in the heavy traffic; sarcasm at its best! The car driver at first didn’t understand the sarcasm and he waved to the auto driver. HA HA….my husband warned me not to laugh that loud….well! It’s my life! And hey I love sarcasm! It always works!! It’s just another mode of Gandhigiri! You praise the wrong! Apparently, these days college students in Bangalore are volunteering to give roses at traffic signals to law breakers! We watched Hangover 2 at the mall, wasn’t as great as part 1…now that we know how the story goes, getting high & lost & then back-tracking your steps! The fat guy Alan is funnily annoying!

We stopped at Au Bon Pain, for a quick bite and had an amazingly degrading experience of the managers there that shall be another story!

Before leaving the mall, we stopped over to see some dance activity on the floor. A group of youngsters called Black Eyes, was performing B-boying. Indian boys are really into this western style of dancing & they are really good. They had a huge crowd cheering them. One of the guys performed the breathing-tick-tocking music they create over the mic. I don’t know what it is called. But he was really really good!

Then we went for the surprise visit to Tanishq to buy something! I settled for a ring J.  As the executive helped us find everything and filled out relative membership forms etc he realized today is in fact our anniversary! Duh! After the billing he asked us to wait for another 10 mins; it was closing time for the store. I kept getting weird thoughts as to why they made us wait..while all are leaving, the shutters are closed, no way to escape!!! Yikes! They tried to keep us busy with design brochures, small talk, “Sir where do you work..which company”. My husband, smartly escaping the question of ‘which’ company.

In about 10 mins, they arranged a black forest cake with our names & anniversary wishes. We were really surprised. This is the highest level of customer delight I have seen in India, REALLY!!! As we all understand, customer is the most neglected creature in a store, sarcasm! It was a good gesture and quite quick! J

Oh and I found a green feather, how often does that happen? J Only if I was British and was invited to a royal wedding, the feather would make a spunky hat! ;)

Jai Ho

Well, I am super excited for this coming weekend. It is my wedding anniversary and more importantly we are going to the AR Rahman Concert here in Bangalore - 29th May 2011. It is my first time to his concert albeit I have watched his concert videos. I am already getting goose bumps thinking of what a thrilling event it will be. Growing up, my brother used to be ardent fan of AR Rahman; so much that he would order and buy Rahman’s Tamil original cassettes; original as in, his music is used in Hindi movies too..generally remake movies. But not all movies get to be remade in Hindi. Of the top my head, I can think of ‘Kandukondein Kandukondein’ movie of which I know only the original Tamil songs, they never got used in Hindi songs.

Frankly Rahman’s music is not bound by language, so any Indian can enjoy his Hindi, Tamil music. So I really hope he plays his old hit songs like chikubuku chikubuku, Urvashi, Konjum mainnakkle etc in the original Tamil version. I am really really so excited. Imagine listening to Jiya se Jiya & Ek mohabbat live! Oh! And I forgot I will get to see Sivamani too! WOOHOO! It’s my only second concert in life. The first I remember I went to was Strings! They rocked too! Big time!

The only spoiler I am afraid of is the Bangalore rains, which have become a routine every evening nowL. Oh God! How I wish it doesn’t rain at all!!! I wish the rains sit back and enjoy some soulful Rahman music! And I wish he’d play ALL his songs!!!! OMG moment! Time for Indian-western fusion! Cheers to Rahmania!!!! YAAAAAY!

Tickets here.

It’s going to be stellar night and an anniversary to remember!

Enjoy his hypnotizing music!

Craze of ringtones

India is a huge consumer of mobiles. The craze of mobiles is very obvious when you walk on the streets. Personally, I find it weird and beyond understanding that how come everyone is always on the mobile phone talking for hours at a stretch. So much that even while walking on streets, Bangalore girls don’t keep a watch on the traffic coming onto them. It is your responsibility not to knock down a person talking on mobile who is ignoring the busy traffic.

And now when I work in an office that I full of multi-lingual people; when the mobiles ring breaking the silence of the AC floors, its loud and annoying. Because somewhere, some song of an unknown language rings loudly! Some of the songs even sound very sadistic to me, like someone died; they might be some emotional, romantic, sad song – but to be me it sounds like the sad instrumental you would hear in bollywood movies when the hero’s mother dies!

Moreover it is a combination of language, genre, volume! People stay updated with new mobile models along with mobile ringtones too. Even before bollywood movies release, the latest songs are ringtones! So the variety of ringtones I hear are from sadistic un-comprehendible south Indian ringtones to old instrumental like neele neele ambar par (totally ruining the charm of the original song) to occasional pleasant green day – Broken boulevard of dreams to newest Dum maro dum ringtones. Some are even more extreme with arti’s or Indian prayer songs playing as ringtones, come on people! For a person like me who is too bothered to even carry a mobile, ringtones is not even a topic to think of. I actually wonder if people change their ringtones so many times, how do they remember & get used to the latest one. I would not recognize that it is my phone ringing!

Frankly, I still can’t cross the decency to keep my phone on ring mode. I still prefer it to be kept on silent mode, while at work. Of course there will be the debate that you can’t find it if you forgot it somewhere in silent mode, well then why not be a bit more disciplined & responsible to not lose it in the first place!

Women against women

I was just reading the news article on BBC news about female foetuses abortion. The news is really disappointing. As I read, the stories discuss how mother -in-laws in India force their daughter-in-laws to abort female foetus. Do you see the disgusting fact that a woman is asking another woman to kill an unborn woman! Wicked!

In past 2 decades, we have seen that Indian girls, women, excel academically and hence professionally. And still people are living the dream of having a son, grandson! Since past 3 weeks various public exam results have been coming out and every time there is an article saying girls are studying better than boys, bringing higher ranks! It’s not even news anymore to me! Every year girls are ahead of boys! And then when I read news like this, it is really depressing!

And I agree too that though dowry is a crime, it is practiced very commonly. I have been subjected to it myself. I am not sure which parts of India are very open to dowry, but I can announce Andhra Pradesh does. To mention my experience, I used to get marriage proposals from Andhra side and families would openly ask my father as to how much will he “give”. That is the exact word. My family was always firm on their decision of not falling for dowry asking families. Families in Andhra Pradesh openly ask and give dowry. For instance, one of the family who came to meet us, the would-be mother-in-law claimed she spent 40 tola gold (½ kg) for her daughter’s marriage and she would expect the same from the daughter-in-law coming to her family! We didn’t think even for a moment and we had our answer (Thank god - NO) to them!

Another incident was a marriage broker who met us and told us the RATE of US and UK based eligible bachelors. For an Indian boy in UK its 20 lakhs and for that in US boy would be 10 lakhs. Who do we want to opt for? Finding humor in the disgusting moment, I thought to myself how come UK boys are more expensive that US boys; cost wise US ticket and travel would be more expensive than UK, right? :P I really don’t know how they decide these rates, but pity these boys!

Don’t these cruel mother-in-laws realize that they are alive to see this world because their grandmother didn’t kill them before they were born? What is the obsession with a boy child! And I hope these crazy mother-in-laws will be willingly happy to see their grandsons forced to be gay like Farooq Abdullah said rightly!

There are few sane people like my mother in-law and my husband who can’t wait to have a daughter in their family!J

Indian Youth and Corruption

Based on the comments I received for the post of Nitin Gupta on Rahul Gandhi, I have a few points to mention. Most people are surprised, disappointed, angry and frustrated on reading the post including me; we all are sick of the corruption that this country is drowning in. People are full of lies, greed, ego; I may say we display all the 7 sins. I will explain how more.

Couple of weeks ago, while watching the news on TV I was shocked to the news report saying 53% of Indian youth are open to BRIBE for reaching their goals.

http://www.youthactiv8.org/2011/05/02/half-of-indian-youth-open-to-bribe-survey/

REALLY?? What is wrong with the Indian youth? I thought we, the new generation, don’t agree with the old generation of our existing politicians; their ways of running the govt. their logic, their schemes everything! That’s why the whole Youth in to Politics thing had caught up so much speed right? No wonder we have such enormous scams in our country, because one small bribe after another, mounts to millions of DOLLARS worth bribe! What happened to the values we were taught in our childhood? Values of truth, honesty, humble, no-greed, compassion??? Or the new generation is not taught this at all.

Frankly speaking from routine experience, nobody wants to serve you for the price you pay. Example, if I pay for food worth 40/-, the quality, quantity and service I get is not even worth 10/-. And the servers think its right and fine. The most annoying routine experience I have is of auto rickshaws. NOBODY uses the METER! What is that all about? Every auto wala “demands” the amount for the destination and you HAVE TO pay it. What is the meter for then? I find nobody honest in their duties; everyone has excuses, pass-on, blaming strategies to avoid work. What happened to the concept of RESPONSIBILTY?

What is the point of the Lokpal Bill passing if the youth wants to bribe and get their jobs done? It’s a waste of time of Mr. Hazare! Does the youth have answers to why they want to pay bribe? Because we pay, they take & the cycle goes on! 2G scams, commonwealth..all these are just peanuts because there are more to come for sure, this vicious cycles has gained so much momentum, and now the youth also wants to join it.

In recent times, I have concluded that India is NOT a poor country. Not at all! There is infinite money in this country; look at bollywood, politicians, IPL games, the institutions of baba’s like Puttaparthi, ramdev, etc and many more! Even the poor have enough money to live. This is say based on the slums I had close to my Pune house; where the slum residents had two-wheelers, dish TV, fridge, everything, that I still consider luxuries I will take when I need them than just piling them up in my house to display to the world!

We probably have made up all the money that even the Brits and Moghuls took from us, from all the bribes we take at every opportunity! Isn’t anybody embarrassed from scams like Commonwealth? They put the whole country to shame internationally! I sometimes wonder how other countries like US, China look at India or think of Indians. Of course, their countries also have a scandal, a scam once in a while, but we beat everyone, right? I believe we are a great country, with great culture, people, traditions and knowledge to offer to the whole world. I have seen how people in the US are drawn to Indian people and the culture; if only we had a clean honest govt. and people too! There is so much to improve in our country; just the change of mentality itself would bring a lot of change.

I try to fight my way through each day with manipulated people and services than just complain. But the fact is everyone has really become comfortable with the bribe situation which gets every task done. It’s really sad! L

Btw, I proudly don’t belong to the youth the news talks about, because I am NOT paying any bribe in my life! That is one thing I am sure of!!!

George Carlin

The man is legen…. wait for it …dary! Legendary! Can’t agree more on any of his opinions…so very simple, straight forward and common sense! Here is an awesome video of his smart vocabulary.

If you want to hear some of his amazing opinions look for Religion and God, Fear of germs, Wars, Abortion & Pro life, Children! The man thinks so accurately! It’s like listening out your mind loudly!

Luck by birth

When I read the news around the world, there is so much hatred. Everywhere there are conflicts going on, people killing their own people, murders, blasts, riots, political unrest. In all these, there are so many innocent lives that are hurt and more often lost. Innocent lives such as children of all ages who don’t even know why they are hurt or why were they orphaned, women and men who are not directly involved in any of these conflicts. But they are a part of it because they belong to those unfortunate nations, lands who have fought for ages based on boundaries, religion, language, color etc.

I stop to think how fortunate a person has to be, to be born in a peaceful country and surrounding; of course peaceful is too much to ask now-a-days. But really, a child has no choice where it should be born right? Where, what family, what religion, what color? These will come naturally and yet with no reason these children will be subject to fights and terror around them. This is so depressing! Like if I had to imagine to be born in countries like Israel, Afghanistan, any African country where people face death each day, I would wish I was not born in such place ever again right?

So it makes me think to feel so lucky to be born in India, or maybe the Americans or Brits who have a much safer life compared to the Middle East countries. There are conflicts even in India, but not to the extent that I see in the news every day. There is some indescribable logic to be born in the right place, right time and right family! Not so much of a right..but approximately better possibility!  There is really NO FREE place in this world with no conditions of any kind whatsoever. But that would be an awesome world, where no one rules on anyone, everyone is free to do as they wish (assuming they don’t cause harm to anyone of course)…the real meaning of living a peaceful life is so hypothetical!

A thought comes by my mind wishing we had some device, some gas or some method to suddenly erase all the past memory of the people in this world. Like they have those flash devices in the movie- Men in Black, to erase the recent memory! That would be something to erase all the bad memories of fights and conflicts that pass on generation to generation and we wake up knowing no such bad past and become friends with everyone. India and Pakistan would never remember of any conflict and we would be peaceful neighbors as we should have been or maybe ONE country as in the past! The right to live and to live a peaceful life is too much to ask for now!

THE CURIOUS CASE OF RAHUL GANDHI - Nitin Gupta(Rivaldo)

Got this article via email forwards. The article is signed by journalist Nitin Gupta(Rivaldo) of whom I learnt only today. It is a good read!
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DISCLAIMER: I DON'T ENDORSE ANY POLITICAL PARTY.

NOR DO I ENDORSE ANY OF WHAT MAYAWATI IS DOING.

I WAS JUST TAKEN ABACK BY RAHUL GANDHI'S HYPOCRITICAL COMMENT AT THE RECENT FARMER AGITATION IN UTTAR PRADESH.

Rahul Gandhi: "I feel ashamed to call myself an INDIAN after seeing what has happened here in UP".
PLEASE DON'T BE ASHAMED OF U.P. YET

Please don't be ashamed of Uttar Pradesh yet. Congress ruled the State for the Majority of the duration Pre Independence to Post Independence.. from 1939 to 1989 ( barring the Periods of Emergency.. Thanks to your Grand Mom Indira G. and a couple of transitional Governments)

8 out of the total 14 Prime Ministers of India have been from UP, 6 out of those 8 have been from Congress...

I think your party had more than half a century and half a Dozen PM's to build a State...

The Reason Mulayam Singh, subsequently came to Power is because your party wasn't exactly Gandhian in their dealings in the State.. So May be If you look at in totality the present chaos in UP is the outcome of the glorious leadership displayed by Congress in UP for about 50 years!

So Please don't feel ashamed as yet Dear Rahul.. For Mayawati is only using the Land Acquisition Bill which your party had itself used to LOOT the Farmers many times in the Past!

WHY DIDN'T YOUR PARTY CHANGE THE BILL WHEN IT WAS IN POWER FOR SO LONG?

Not that I Endorse what Mayawati is doing.. What Mayawati is doing is Unacceptable..

But the past actions of your party and your recent comments, puts a question mark on your INTENT and CONSISTENCY.

YOU REALLY WANT TO FEEL ASHAMED

But don't be disappointed, I would give you ample reasons to feel ashamed...

You really want to feel Ashamed..?

First Ask Pranav Mukherjee, Why isn't he giving the details of the account holders in the Swiss Banks.

Ask your Mother, Who is impeding the Investigation against Hasan Ali?

Ask her, Who got 60% Kickbacks in the 2G Scam ?

Kalamdi is accused of a Few hundred Crores, Who Pocketed the Rest in the Common Wealth Games?

Ask Praful Patel what he did to the Indian Airlines? Why did Air India let go of the Profitable Routes?

Ask Manmohan Singh. Why/What kept him quiet for so long?

Are Kalmadi and A Raja are Scapegoats to save Big Names like Harshad Mehta was in the 1992 Stock Market Scandal ?

Who let the BHOPAL GAS TRAGEDY Accused go Scot Free? ( 20,000 People died in that Tragedy)

Who ordered the State Sponsored Massacre of SIKHS in 84?

Please read more about, How Indira Gandhi pushed the Nation Under Emergency in 76-77, after the HC declared her election to Lok Sabha Void!

(I bet she had utmost respect for DEMOCRACY and JUDICIARY and FREE PRESS)

I guess you know the answers already. So my question is, why the Double Standards in Judging Mayawati and members of your Family and Party?

I condemn Mayawati. But is she the only one you feel Ashamed for?

What about the ones close to you? For their contribution to the Nation's Misery is beyond comparison.

You talk about the Land being taken away from the Farmers. How many Suicides have happened under your Parties Rule in Vidarbha ? Does that not ashame you ?



THE 72,000 CRORE LOAN WAIVER

Your Party gave those Farmers a 72,000 Crore Loan Waiver. Which didn't even reach the Farmers by the way.

So, Why don't you focus on implementing the policies which your govt. has undertaken, instead of earning brownie points by trying to manufacture consent by bombarding us with pictures of having food with Poor Villagers....

You want to feel ashamed. You can feel ashamed for your Party taking CREDIT for DEBITING the Public Money (72,000 crores) from the Government Coffers and literally Wasting it...

You want to feel ashamed.. Feel ashamed for that...


WHY ONLY HIGHLIGHT THIS ARREST?

Dear Rahul, to refresh your memory, you were arrested/detained by the FBI the BOSTON Airport in September 2001.

You were carrrying with you $ 1,60,000 in Cash ( Similar to the Arrest of Rahet Fateh Ali Khan recently, because you han't decared that Amount) . US allowed $ 10,000 cash at Immigration.

9 HOURS he was kept at the Airport.

He was later freed on the intervention of the then Prime Minister Mr.Vajpayee.. FBI filed an equivalent of an FIR in US and released him.

When FBI was asked to divulge the information for the reasons Rahul was arrested by Right/Freedom to Information Activists... FBI asked for a NO OBJECTION CERTIFICATE from Rahul Gandhi.

So Subramaniyam Swami wrote a Letter to Rahul Gandhi, " If you have NOTHING to HIDE, Give us the Permission"

HE NEVER REPLIED!

Why did that arrest not make Headlines Rahul? You could have gone to the Media and told, "I am ashamed to call myself an INDIAN?".

Or is it that, you only do like to highlight Symbolic Arrests (like in UP) and not Actual Arrests ( In BOSTON)

Because it so happens RAHET FATEH ALI KHAN'S recent arrest was Splashed in the Media and Your arrest in 2001 hardly got a MENTION..

Kindly Clarify.....

In any case, you want to feel ashamed, Read Along...

YOUR MOTHER'S SO CALLED SACRIFICE OF GIVING UP PRIME MINISTER SHIP in 2004.

According to a Provision in the Citizenship Act.

A Foreign National who becomes a Citizen of India, is bounded by the same restrictions, which an Indian would face, If he/she were to become a Citizen of Italy.

(Condition based on principle of reciprocity)

[READ ANNEXURE- 1&2]

Now Since you can't become a PM in Italy, Unless you are born there.

Likewise an Italian Citizen can't become Indian PM, unless He/She is not born here!

Dr. SUBRAMANIYAM SWAMI (The Man who Exposed the 2G Scam) sent a letter to the PRESIDENT OF INDIA bringing the same to his Notice. [READ LETTER TO THE PRESIDENT IN ANNEXURE -3]

PRESIDENT OF INDIA sent a letter to Sonia Gandhi to this effect, the day she was about to get sworn in 2004.

Manmohan Singh was brought in the Picture at the last moment to Save Face!!

Rest of the SACRIFICE DRAMA which she choreographed was an EYE WASH!!!

So She didn't make any Sacrifice, It so happens that SONIA GANDHI couldn't have become the PM of INDIA that time.

You could be Ashamed about that Dear Rahul!!



THINK ABOUT YOURSELF.

You go to Harvard on Donation Quota. ( Hindujas Gave HARVARD 11 million dollars the same year, when Rajiv Gandhi was in Power)

Then you are expelled in 3 Months/ You Dropped out in 3 Months.... ( Sadly Manmohan Singh wasn't the Dean of Harvard that time, else you might have had a chance... Too Bad, there is only one Manmohan Singh!)

Some Accounts say, You had to Drop out because of Rajiv Ji's Assasination.

May be, But Then Why did you go about lying about being Masters in Economics from Harvard .. before finally taking it off your Resume upon questioning by Dr. SUBRAMANIYAM SWAMI (The Gentlemen who exposed the 2G Scam)

At St. Stephens.. You Fail the Hindi Exam.

Hindi Exam!!!

And you are representing the Biggest Hindi Speaking State of the Country?



SONIA GANDHI's EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS

Sonia G gave a sworn affidavit as a Candidate that She Studied English at University of Cambridge

[SEE ANNEXURE-6, 7_37a]

According to Cambridge University, there is no such Student EVER! [ SEE ANNEXURE -7_39]

Upon a Case by Dr. Subramaniyam Swami filed against her,

She subsequently dropped the CAMBRIDGE CREDENTIAL from her Affidavit.

Sonia Gandhi didn't even pass High School.

In this sense, She shares a common Educational Background with Karunanidhi

You Fake your Educational Degree, Your Mother Fakes her Educational Degree.

And then you go out saying, " We want Educated Youth into Politics!"

Letters sent by Dr. Swami to EC and then Speaker of Lok Sabha are in ANNEXURE 7_36 &7_35 RESPECTIVELY

Contrast that with Gandhi Ji , who went to South Africa, Became a Barrister, on Merit, Left all that to work for South Africa, then for the Country....

WHY LIE ABOUT EDUCATIONAL CREDENTIALS?

Not that Education is a Prerequisite for being a great Leader, but then you shouldn't have lied about your qualifications!

You could feel a little ashamed about Lying about your Educational Qualifications. You had your reasons I know, because in India, WE RESPECT EDUCATION!

But who cares about Education, when you are a Youth Icon!!



YOUTH ICON

You traveled in the Local Train for the first time at the Age of 38.

You went to some Villages as a part of Election Campaign.

And you won a Youth Icon!! ... That's why You are my Youth Icon.

For 25 Million People travel by train every day. You are the First Person to win a Youth Icon for boarding a Train.

Thousands of Postmen go to remotest of Villages. None of them have yet gotten a Youth Icon.

You were neither Young Nor Iconic.

Still you became a Youth Icon beating Iconic and Younger Contenders like RAHUL DRAVID.

Shakespeare said, what’s in a Name?

Little did he knew, it’s all in the Name, Especially the Surname!

Speaking of Surname..



DO YOU REALLY RESPECT GANDHI, OR IS IT JUST TO CASH IN ON THE GOODWILL OF MAHATMA?

Because the Name on your Passport is RAUL VINCI.

Not RAHUL GANDHI..

May be if you wrote your Surname as Gandhi, you would have experienced, what Gandhi feels like, LITERALLY ( Pun Intended)

But you don't seem to use Gandhi except when you are fighting Elections. (There it makes complete sense).

Imagine fighting by the Name Raul Vinci...Even Leonardo Da Vinci couldn't win an Election in India with that Name!!

It feels sadly Ironic, Gandhi Ji, who inspired Icons like Nelson Mandela ,Martin Luther King Jr. and John Lennon, across the world, Couldn't inspire members of his party/ Nehru's Family, who only seem to use his Surname for the purposes of FIGHTING ELECTIONS and conveniently use a different name on their PASSPORT.

You could feel ashamed for your Double Standards.



YOUTH INTO POLITICS.

Now you want Youth to Join Politics.

I say First you Join Politics.

Because you haven't joined politics. You have joined a Family Business.

First you join Politics. Win an Election fighting as RAUL VINCI and Not Rahul Gandhi, then come and ask the youth and the Educated Brass for more involvement in Politics.

Also till then, Please don't give me examples of Sachin Pilot and Milind Deora and Naveen Jindal as youth who have joined Politics..

They are not Politicians. They just happen to be Politicians.

Much Like Abhishek Bachchan and other Star Sons are not Actors. They just happen to be Actors (For Obvious Reasons)

So, We would appreciate if you stop requesting the Youth to Join Politics till you establish your credentials...



WHY WE CAN'T JOIN POLITICS!

Rahul Baba, Please understand, Your Father had a lot of money in your Family account (in Swiss Bank) when he died.

Ordinary Youth has to WORK FOR A LIVING.

YOUR FAMILY just needs to NETWORK FOR A LIVING

If our Father had left thousands of Crores with us, We might consider doing the same..

But we have to Work. Not just for ourselves. But also for you. So that we can pay 30% of our Income to the Govt. which can then be channelized to the Swiss Banks and your Personal Accounts under some Pseudo Names.

So Rahul, Please don't mind If the Youth doesn't Join Politics. We are doing our best to fund your Election Campaigns and your Chopper Trips to the Villages.

Somebody has to Earn the Money that Politicians Feed On.


INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS

You want to feel ashamed..

Feel Ashamed for what the First Family of Politics has been reduced to...

A Money Laundering Enterprise.

If MONEY is all the Motivation there is, You can Feel Ashamed for Sonia G's 'POVERTY of AMBITION'

You really want to feel Ashamed.

Feel Ashamed for what you ' SO CALLED GANDHI'S' have done to Mahatma's Legacy..

Meanwhile, I would request Sonia Gandhi to change her name to $ONIA GANDHI, and you could replace the 'R' in RAHUL/RAUL by the New Rupee Symbol!!!



RAUL VINCI: I am ashamed to call myself an Indian.

Even we are ashamed to call you so!


P.S: Popular Media is either bought or blackmailed, controlled to Manufacture Consent!

My Guess is Social Media is still a Democratic Platform.

Let's ask these questions, for we deserve some Answers.

For we are all Gandhi's. For he is the Father of the Nation.

To know more, try looking for Dr. SUBRAMANIYAM SWAMI. He is the reason today 2G SCAM is being Investigated!!!


YOURS SINCERELY

NITIN GUPTA (RIVALDO)

And Music is a sin they say?

Too bad timing that I stumbled upon this news when I was at work! I couldn’t read the whole news article, but I struggled hard to suppress my laughter! Oh! I miss some old friends I would enjoy laughing with, on such funny news articles… ROFL friends!!!

The title is enough to make you ROFL! ;)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/13/osama-bin-laden-porn_n_861664.html

Eating Outside

Last night we went to Mc Donald’s to try their new item on Menu the spicy paneer & spicy chicken (my husband’s order) Burgers. Few points I noted about eating outside in India and in the US. Eating out in India is a very cool thing, more like a display of money, while in the US is quite rare. As most of the snack places are considered for ‘to-go’. Pizzas, burritos, sandwiches etc are always a to-go. I remember how we used to be the only couple ordering pizzas at Pizza Hut in Spokane. The whole place would be left to us J. Moreover, one of my husband’s friend once said, why would you eat pizza at the store? You take it home. To us it was like, NO! what is the point of eating outside food, if you are going to bring it home & eat ..ha ha! We like to go by the literal meaning, we literally want to eat outside when we eat outside!

More learning of eating at Indian Mc D! So the place was super crowded! Considering the business they make and the international brand that they are, you would assume they accept cards; well they don’t! So you step out if you don’t have enough cash and come back to join the ever-existing crowd in the store. Needless to say, the seats are all taken. So as we enter the place, we split to one placing the order and the other hunting for a place to sit. I luckily found a place instantly. The serving of order is instant, as they have the pre-packed common orders. As we sat and enjoyed our food, I realized this place is no ‘relax and enjoy your meal’ kind of place. I mean you can’t continue to sit and enjoy a pleasant chat, because you have to release the table. Hello! There are people waiting to sit and eat! J So in other words it’s not like a hang out place. Sorry teenagers!

Another thing I noticed was like in the US, its self service about putting your empty plates and clearing the table, throwing away your garbage. Here at Mc D, they insist that you leave it & they will pick the plates for you. We found it a bit weird and we took care of our garbage and left quickly. So the quick meal at Mc D really was quick from going out to get cash-ordering-eating-leaving, the whole act took less than 20 mins!!! Fast Food in Fast crowded India.

Oh also, it’s weird and yet nice to see older generations like grandparents enjoying these new-to-them fast foods with their grand kids at Mc D! Reducing the generation gap! Btw, the Spicy Paneer is pretty good! J

For Euphoria Lovers

Beautiful song as always from Euphoria; no idea what album it belongs to. Enjoy!

Animal tricks …animal cruelty

Last year I had seen a news article about elephants walking on ropes in Thailand. The mere image of the elephant on ropes was painful for me. It was difficult for me to imagine, how such a large animal with that weight and size can stand on a rope? It is difficult for humans too. How often have we seen FAT people walk on the tight rope?

That news had totally made me sad and to know that people come to watch it; why? Why do we want to see animals to do tricks that cause them physical stress and pain; tricks that they are forcibly trained to do with fear and pain? Do I want to watch an elephant do such tricks – NO! NEVER! Any living being could do deadly tricks, if forced to do so. What is so fascinating about watching another living being’s torture?

Today I read the news and saw the video about the training of the elephants in the new Hollywood movie Water for Elephants; it features top Hollywood actors Reese Witherspoon and Robert Pattinson. As they mentioned in the news, the video is graphic to see little baby elephants beaten on the head and poked in the mouth while training; big grown up elephants standing on their forefeet and doing a upside down trick while they are tasered; sitting on a big chair like humans  etc. All these trainings are done with beating them, poking them and worst – giving electric shocks of high voltage of 1 million volts! Can you imagine?

Do we really want to see these tricks? For an entertainment of 5-10 minutes, these animals are tortured since they are babies. I don’t even consider it as ‘entertainment’. The training authorities say that this is the only way to train these giants, then I think people should stop asking for such entertainment. Boycott this kind of shows. If the elephant owners are out of business due ban on logging, then leave the elephants in the wild and get a decent job to earn your bread. Or the govt. should look into employment matters, than torturing these speechless animals.

By the way, do these heartless trainers know that elephants have a good memoryJ? One of the elephants beating the hell out of the trainers – now that would be a fun show isn’t it? Its pure animal cruelty and such shows should be banned all over the world.

 Note: The video clip in the news shows the graphic torture than the youtube video above.

Salary – Another public discussion!

How often have you been asked, “How much is your salary” or “How much are they paying you”? Salary, as I learnt in my first job is not a topic to be discussed in public! It is personal information that is not to be asked or to be shared. But here in India it is a very common and apparently obvious question. Generally, from the older generation! I don’t think many people in my generation or field actually ask each other’s salary. There have been numerous occasions when random people ask us our salaries. Literally, RANDOM!

1)      We were at the BSNL office last year to get a landline phone connection and the descent looking official first asked my husband where he works, based on which his immediate question was “How much do they pay you”! My husband was so confused, as to what and why to answer to this random phone guy!

2)      I was travelling by an auto rickshaw and the driver asked, “Where does your husband work”. Frankly, I have issues with putting up a lie. I just can’t lie and not instantly, maybe I could plan & then lie but I will still have doubts about it and might not end up executing it. So as frank as I am, I replied with the true information. He too instantly said, “How much do they pay him”. Dudeeee! Even I don’t know my husband’s salary. I boldly asked him, ‘isn’t it incorrect to enquire about salary’. He shamelessly went on saying, “He must be making 20K. For sure, if he worked for at 2 years then definitely he makes at least 20k”. I just let him blabber, if that is what makes him happy!

In general, older relatives like grandparents and aunts and uncles tend to ask these questions. And then it becomes a catch 22 situation. Because you think, well they are just my relatives so no harm telling them; or it’s my salary and nobody needs to know it, no matter what relation I have with them!

The problem is not about telling the salary, the actual deal is the way people change once they know your salary. That is my point of observation. And change could mean from respect, to taking advantage of your well to do situation. I wouldn’t say it is entirely Indian mentality; it is mostly human tendency to respect the rich. And of course, I totally don’t accept this tendency. But it happens everywhere. I rather respect the intelligent than the rich!

Because of the high-paying IT salaries, people think that we IT people get loads of money and sharing some or giving away to relatives doesn’t affect us much. It is a good thing to help our relatives when in need, but to take advantage is incorrect! Like for reference, after I confirmed that I got a job, one of my grandpa asked me my salary. I quoted a smaller number than what he had heard. So he argued with me that ‘no, I heard you get xyz (higher amount) salary’. I was like, “It’s my salary you are asking about. So at least believe me what I say”. In my head I thought, if he already knew of my salary, why did he ask me again? And as we chatted, he suddenly throws a statement saying, “My granddaughter should study civil services. You educate her” (as in fund her). I was surprised by the statement. Out of the blue, assigning me such a huge task! Isn’t it her parents’ responsibility to take care of her needs, why me? -  An elder cousin sister! There is no harm in helping educate her; the problem is that people drastically change their attitude once they know the salary. Like we make too much and what is the big deal if someone asks for some money, for free!

Like I said before, to this date I don’t know my husband’s salary and it doesn’t bother me. He takes care of all my needs as a husband. If he wants to mention it, then it is fine; but for me to go and ask him, I don’t feel the need. Of course he wouldn’t hesitate to tell me. I just don’t see the need.

And moreover, I don’t really understand how it benefits others to know my salary! How does it help me to know my friend’s salary, we each have our own life and things. I understand there could be a need to know what kind of money you can make to progress, but you don’t have to ask the other person’s salary for that. Just ask for a suggestion, I have 5 years of experience in XYZ job, what should I expect for a job switch! Simple!J

Summer memories

It’s bright summer here in India. Mysore-Bangalore are filled with fully blossomed Gulmohar trees. The red trees look very pretty as if wearing a RED HAT. I had to stop by one of the blossomed trees to show my husband some games we played with the Gulmohar flower buds, in my childhood of course. Actually, I was surprised that he didn’t know of the rooster-fight game! I spent my childhood summer holidays visiting my grandparents in Mysore and I learnt these games from the neighboring kids back then. And of course I vividly remember them. Two things I taught my husband this weekend; the rooster fight and the fake witch nails J

Rooster fight game

To play the Rooster fight you need a bud. Then peel the outer green part that is the sepal. You see the young red baby petals all closed up. Then peel the petals too to find a bunch of stamens (the filament & the anther). That is your bunch of roostersJ. Then you take one stamen at a time & entangle in your opponents stamen & pull. The one to lose the anther first looses! HA HA..I know it sound like a lame game, but this is what kids play at their age. And believe it, my husband & I played two full games in the super sunny afternoon! It’s catchy! Try and play!

Witch Nails

And once our game was done, I showed him how you wear the fake witch nails. Remember those green sepals we peeled at first. You peel a bit of the red covering on the inner side and stick it on your nails. Voilà! You have long sharp GREEN nails!!! Rawwrrrr…

We don’t realize in the fast life, how many childhood memories are so fresh in the farthest corner of our brains. Isn’t it so cool? Or am I captivated with the movie Limitless, I saw this weekend? <wink>

Also to mention, all those words like sepal, stamen, anther etc I just took them over the internet. It’s not like I remember the whole of my botany lessons. All I remember was stigma! There, a sincere confession!

Gulmohar tree picture from: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3130/2567733984_6c8f61e244.jpg

Bulbul in my gallery

I went to my Mysore home after a week and found a new guest in our gallery. Well, not yet moved in though! We have strings in the gallery to hang the clothes to dry. A pretty red-whiskered Bulbul has started to build its nest at the criss-cross junction of the strings. During the day the house is empty and it has finished almost 50% of the constructionJ. I got closer to look at it and it really amazes me how intelligent these little creatures are. It is using small twigs along with cotton like material to hold the twigs together. And the twigs are so nicely placed to form a round shape. Looking at the close-up picture of the nest, it’s obvious it is real hard work from the little bird.

On Sunday morning, the bird probably wasn’t aware that we humans live there, was busy with placing twigs into the nest. I sat by the door to get a picture of it when it realized of the giant that I am (to it, I am animal loving person, so don’t get me wrong!). It was startled at first and flew out instantly. But on its second trip it stayed on the string for a second…went ahead to sit in its next and check may be how many more twigs I need to finish this for the Misses and flew out again. That’s when I decided to leave it alone with its job. And I got my pictures of it too.  

Gotta fix that holw mister!

There is still a big hole in the center to be covered up before the Misses sees itJ. I am sure by the end of this week its home will be ready to move in J

Humans or birds, we are all striving to get our own homes ready to live in. I bet it’s much easier for this little birdie to make its home than us to pay tons of money for land and homes to build on them. I am soon going to leave that house, so I really hope that the new owners will let the bulbul have a peaceful time in the gallery. For now, I feel so lucky to have a birdie in my gallery, but I won’t be there to see it’s babies!

Peacocks at my feet

Different Tariff for Indians & foreigners

This weekend when I visited Mysore, we went to Karanji Lake Nature Park. It is quite within the city and I had driven so many times past it while going to my aunt’s house, I never knew there was park with beautiful birds right there. As we stood at the ticket counter I had to take a picture of the board with ticket prices. I am not sure if this is followed all over India, but in Mysore this is the third time I see a ticket counter that has different prices for Indians and foreigners. The other two places I had seen before were at Mysore Palace and The Hoysala Temple in Somnathpura. If I understand that the Palace & the temple are old heritage & hence they charge double for foreign visitors, I am wondering why to this park. It was a regular park with open spaces to walk with the birds and that was just one such walking space. Rest was a lake and a butterfly park, which wasn’t really like an old heritage or anything.  So I find it hard to see why they would charge more for our foreign visitors!

Grand walkway

The park starts with a walkway surrounded by palm trees – Roystonea Regia on either side, which looks very grand. After a few yards, there is a big cage to walk in along with Peacocks and other bird varieties like pheasant, turkey, pigeons, ducks etc along with a turtleJ.




The magnificient  peacock spread

 

The moment was extraordinary when we saw one of the peacocks spreading out its feather fan!  It’s just the most beautiful sight, the colors are so magnificent and the whole alternate arrangement of the feathers – Beautiful nature! The whole bird itself is so beautiful, You wonder how can a creature be so so beautiful and that too a male creature.. ha ha..

An elegant looking bird

I captured numerous pictures of the peacock spread out, other peacocks walking past me. The length of the feathers behind the bird is just unbelievable. I captured the face of a peacock trying to get a shot of the crest; when I actually saw my shot I was spell-bound to see the beautiful eyes of the peacock, the black eyeball surrounded by white feathers but a blue line going around the eyes and outwards in the end, it totally reminded me of my eye-liner I draw above my eyelids - exactly the same shape! I never before knew of this similarity! So this is how we learn how to look beautiful! Isn’t it?

Beautiful eyes and the pretty crest!

We saw other birds too but nothing like the Peacocks and with their feathers spread out. There was one friendly moment I had with a turkey, seemed a little old; may be. We generally assumed that these birds would be afraid of humans around them and so we were very cautious while we walked with soft steps. As I walked close to this turkey, it didn’t seem to get scared. So I kneeled down to it and made some tick-tocking sound to converse with it and it responded back by getting close to me & looking at me. For some reason it seemed sad and may be to say something; I thought it is so helpless that it can’t convey what it wants to say. It seemed it wanted to get close. But I did not take the chance of petting it, not sure if I would scare it; although I wanted to pat it and brush it. L

Peacock pair



The friendly turkey



Pigeons

Ducks that remind me those in Spokane & Seattle

   

A not-so-beautiful Peahen, doesn't mind posing :) 



Bridge to butterfly park

Flowers in the butterfly park

We then strolled around the lake; saw other birds like pelicans, storks etc.

The lake also has boating facilities that we were not interested to enjoy. The greenery around the lake it just beautiful, to take a stroll and the butter fly park is beautifully created on a little land that is attached to the main park land with a small bridge. The bridge makes it look like the back waters of some river!

It is a great location for photographers.