Vidushak's last show of Spring 2006

Our Indian Improv group's last show of the semester is this coming saturday. A nice post about it is here.

Those who are around, please come... those who are not, I wish you were!
-A

Driving in India - a nice take

I got this video in email today [hat tip by Mannu Bhai]



Never quite saw Indian traffic at this angle.

So, what feelings does this evoke in you? Fun, Anger, Disgust, Horror, .. ?

For me, it is Awe, mixed with pride -- something an ant would feel when it saw the top-view of its colony-members going about there business, without traffic lights or anything.

What about you?
-A

Too many petitions spoil the cause

[short post, super busy -- but comments welcome]
I feel very bad about the new reservation issue, and want to do something about it. I also believe that petitions work.

However, which one do I sign - this, this, this, this, this, this or this?

Clearly, we need a central clearinghouse of petitions, with maybe a "petitions of the month" section on the mainpage.

Anyone up for maintaining desipetitions.com or indianpetitions.com [both are unregistered, or maybe we should go for .in domains?]?

What do you all say?
-A

Real Life RDB a little too much to swallow?

Update: In line with this post, I have decided to give up sodas completely! From now on, it is only fruit juice/ water/ tea/ coffee/ lassi/ thandai/other non-carbonated beverages for me. I shall miss Thums-Up.

Aamir Khan sought out to help out in the Narmada Bachao Aandolan, as you all know.

However, the read life RDB proved to be a bit much, according to this article.

From the article:

Easa bin Abdul Karim from Plachimada, Kerala, who was participating in the NBA protest, badgered Khan to stay away from the soft drinks giant Coca-Cola. He said Coke plants are making tribal lands infertile.

"They are drawing out ground water through tube-wells to make Coke, drastically lowering water levels. Six litres of water is required to produce one litre of Coke. The remaining five litres, which have been treated with chemicals, are put back into the ground. As a result the land becomes infertile and tribals lose their only source of living," he said.

Interesting. Lets see what (if anything) happens.

Other things to talk about... too much work also... lets see.
-A

Tribute to a real hero.

Update [Apr 17, '06]: Mridula is maintaining a nice blogroll about this incident here. Also has a snap of Javed, and info about a similar girl, Pooja, who is battling for life in Meerut hospital.

Have been busy lately with a deadline, and the lean phase will continue. Plz bear with me.

In the meantime, I would like to dedicate this post to a real life hero.

From the article:

When Javed, an 18-year-old class XII Delhi student, escaped the Meerut trade fair inferno unscathed he could have thanked his stars and returned home. But he did not. Aware of the grave risk he was taking, Javed moved back to the blazing pandal and pulled out nine kids to safety.

In doing so, Javed suffered 70 per cent burns. The superhero succumbed to his injuries on Thursday morning.

There are allegations that he was not treated properly at the hospital, and then there is the issue of the reason of the fire in the first place. Overall, a sad occurance. [also, I wonder what one's chances of survival are after 70% burns]

This post is for you Javed. May your soul rest in peace.

-A
P.S. Can anyone from Meerut/Delhi reading this confirm how his family is doing? I mean do they have other children? How are they financially? Are the 5 lakh rupees given to them by the UP govt going to be enough [if the money ever reaches them, that is]?

approx 50% reservation in all premier Indian colleges!

Yes, I am sure all of you are aware of this, I am too..

I am sure many of you, if not all, are feeling pained by this.. I am too..

This comment raises valid points, and pushes me to post about this issue.

I think what I am waiting for is some time [to make a proper post], and the link to an online petition against it [I am sure someone would have started it, please post the link as a comment if you know].

Trust me dear readers, I feel very yucked out about this issue, and feel that we should all protest, and that is why I hope that there is only ONE BIG online petition, about which everyone knows, and signs.

Thanks for your concern, and keep the flame alive!
-A

Guest Post: Want to help people remotely?

Hi all,
Time for a guest post. This one is by Seema Jyotishi, my mami [mom's brother's wife, for those who do not know]. Ties in well to my thought of action, not just talk.

No more from me. Over to her.

---

Hi Everyone,
A time comes in everybody's life when they feel satisfied with everything in their life.They feel that they have got everything and in turn they want to do something for others. Isn't this is called the real SEVA to humanity.The world is growing at a faster rate and with it the problems are also.On one side we are gaining knowledge to advance till moon but on the other side the problems for the unpriviledged are also increasing. I am sure we all must have asked this question to ourselves,"Can we do something to reduce the problems of these people????"

The problem for many of us is we think we can only help by sending money...Right...Wrong . We can actually help people just by spending some time and effort on the computer.People in world some time need your help in the form of your advises and suggestions.

Nabuur is such a concept working as global village where virtual neighbours (you all )can actually help people of the entire world. Please visit the site http://www.nabuur.com to get more information about the work of nabuur.

If the idea of helping people across the world catches up with you than after loging visit my site at Nabuur to see the work. I also joined Nabuur as a neighbour In November 2005 and worked for Pune and madurai. Right now I have completed my facilitator training and the Kwangere slum is my first assignment.

Thus through my lettter I am extending an invitation to everyone to become neighbour and help people .If the idea of joining the village doesn't excites you than also my request is to kindly send this mail to friends you know so any one who is intrested can join the growing neighbourhood.

Thanks for your patience
Regards
Seema Jyotishi

War and Pieces

To begin this post, a question, to which we will come back later.

Just because a new pair of jeans is at 50% of regular price, would you buy it [although you don't need it] ?

The LA Times is running a wonderful series of articles covering the injuries sustained by soldiers in the Iraq war. Here is the latest story [and here is the first post]

I strongly encourage all of you to read this. The details are gory, but they must be told. Even if you choose to not read the articles themselves, read on with this post..

Some interesting quotes from the article:

Medics collect and bag body parts of the dead and wounded. "I don't want their buddies to have to do it," said Sgt. Tomas Chavez, a flight medic stationed in Balad

...

About 60% of the patients are Iraqi soldiers, police and civilians, including the very people who set the bombs that kill and wound Americans.
...
The hospital sometimes treats insurgents in the same trauma room as Americans they have just attacked.
...
Troops are often disturbed and occasionally enraged by the treatment afforded their enemy, Powell said. But medical workers say they make no distinctions. They compare treating insurgents to treating wounded cop-killers or drunk drivers in U.S. hospitals.

"You're not the judge or jury in the emergency room — you're a doctor," Powell said. "It's irrelevant to me what a patient's status is. I'm going to do what I'd do for an American."

A very nice gesture - reminds me of M*A*S*H.

One of the facts that the article mentions is that the percentage of casualities is much less in this war, as compared to the Vietnam war, owing primarily to better facilities.

And that makes me ask the question:

Just because you can save a larger fraction of soldiers, would you go into a war that was never needed?

I hope the question above ties in with the one in the beginning of the post, and you appreciate the absurdity of this war.

My take - just a set of points/questions. Comments most welcome.

- Thank you LA Times, for daring to show the american people the dark side of war. Nice to see american media finally telling the citizens what their sons and daughters are going through.

- Look at the ages of these people. 17, 20, 22. These kids don't deserve this much suffering, let along dying. How is dying in a war which was not needed different from crashing in a MiG that noone cares to buy proper parts for? [yes, I am referring to the RDB theme]

- Kudos to the medics who have to see this day in and day out. True, war scars a person for life.

- What about the troops in Kashmir? I am sure the situations are similar for our troops stationed there also. Can someone plz report abt the medical conditions there?[ Ms. Barkha Dutt, are you reading this? Please write something like it.]

- Thinking of how it is very possible that our troops may not be getting the care they deserve, how about making it mandatory for all doctors getting certified in India to serve in the armed forces for a couple of years? Hell, if needed, make the same for engineers and others also. What about that?

Too many thoughts, too many questions. Hope to find some answers as the days go by.
As always, comments most welcome.
Animesh

My dating profile is now online!

Hi all,
After a long time of being pestered by my good friends, I finally gave in and made my very own dating/marriage profile.

Go to Google Romance and search for "animesh pathak" [minues the quotes] to see it. Comments most welcome. You guys are the best judge of my profile :-).

That's it for now, have a great day!
-A