Why men love gadgets more than they love gals...

Guys, I don't take any responsibility if following characteristics don't match the characteristics of your gal. Although i would like to take pride if their characteristics do match.

• Gadgets follow the instructions word by word.
• Gadgets turn on with in a second.
• Gadgets dont ask questions.
• Gadgets dont stop working if you dont get them new accesories every month.
• With time, gadgets become smaller and smarter.
• With in 10 mins you can know exactly how would a Gadget behave in which situation, just by reading the instruction mannual.

Chain-Mails

One of the things on top of my hit list is chain mails. I really get annoyed when i receive any mail that claims that it can get you good fortune/money in ur account or some thing like that. If i get that as spam its other thing, but if i get those from those enlightened people who i think are from a better educated lot, i feel like slapping them.

Most mails generally have the picture of some God and it says,"This mail should be forwarded to atleast 5 people within next 30 mins else the God will be furious at you and may bring you misfortune, however if you forward it to 10 people, you may get love/ 15 people, you may get promotion blah blah blah".... and since this much is not enough to inspire people, these mails contain the testimonials from some fake names. One would say, "I forwarded it to 5 people and received the good grades", other would say "i ignored it and lost huge amount in business". Whenever i receive such mail, i immediately send this mail back 10 times to the sender. How do people believe such things. As if god has nothing to do, but to look into the mail box of each person and reward them based upon how many times he has forwarded the particular mail. Seems God has become tech savy.

Second catagory is the mail that says,"Bill gates is sharing his fortune with you. Forward this mail and You will get $250 or so for each forward, and $240 for each subsequent forward and blah blah".. Again this type of mails also enclose testimony of people who accept that they got money depposited in their bank account. Some say that they got $2000 deposited in their HDFC account in Pune(India). I wonder how they deposited Dollars in Indian account. Another important point to note here is, these mails dont ask for bank account details Surprisingly without asking about the account details somebody put money in their accounts. And some wise people keep forwarding mails in expectation of big bucks.

Another kind of chain message was doing round in yahoo messengers. It said,"Yahoo people are sealing the unused accounts, so keep forwarding this message to ensure them that you are still operating the account". I have a question here. Cant the Yahoo guys simply track who is logging into the account to get assured of account's activity. How come only forwarding the particular message will notify them abt the account's active status? Some people say that Yahoo will give Nokia cellphone to everybody who forwards the message. Come on man!!! what's the logic behind it? At least think before you believe anything. If they start giving out nokia phones like this, they will go bankrupt in one day.

Now since you have gone through this article, Send this article to

• 10 people, and probably 5 of them will come and beat you up.
• 5 people, and nothing will happen to your life.
• Dont send it to anybody and you will have a nice day.
  

Cheers!!!

Blood Diamond

I watched Blood Diamond few days back. Needless to say, like any sensetive human being, i was shocked to know about the dark reality behind those shiny diamonds.

Ever since i read about the diamond mines of Africa(way back in 6th standard), i used to think that these people have got a lovely gift from mother nature. Just like gulf countries got the gift of oil pits. And those oil pits are fetching huge money to them, making them prosperous. In contrast to this scenario, Blood Diamond shows how brutally the natives of africa are treated to make them work for diamond minning. Their families are killed in front of them, those who deny working in mines are handicapped. Life has no meaning there, future doesnt exist for them. Every diamond that comes from those mines has caused blood shed of some family, has shattered the future of some kids.

Can this be stopped? Many people decided not to buy diamond ever after watching the movie. Will this cause bloddy minners to stop playing with the lives of people? When will it stop? I was surrounded with this question for few days. I got the answer from the punch line of a commercial ad that says, "Heera hai sada ke liye" (Diamond is forever).

Playing with emotions

Here comes the month of february and cupid starts aiming at wallets of lovers(I thought cupid used to struck hearts). 8-9 years back when i first heard about valentine's day, i could never imagine this phenomenon will take the shape it has taken today. It was destined to become popular since it had something do with love. As i see it, valentine's day is the day to express your love to the people you love. Be it anybody. But it is being publicized as the couple's day. Not even that, they have started declaring 2nd week of feb as Valentine's week. Last year at a reputed gift store, i saw days between 8-14 Feb categorised as chocolate-day,teddy-day,greetingcard-day,soft-toy day,rose-day,{another-gift-item}day. I know the reason behind 14th Feb. There was a saint valentine and blah blah... but who the hell created valentine's week? This is where i feel sad about all the phenomenon. All these big players in gift/card market are the creators of such unwanted days. I wonder why there is no Ice cream day in the valentine week. As far as my senses are concerned, ice-creams are no less romantic than chocolates/teddy or roses. Why there is no Pizza day? I find pizza very exotic at times. The answer is, simply because these gift stores dont sell ice-creams/pizzas. Once they tie up with Baskin & Robbins or Pizza Hut etc there might pop up a pizza day or a vanilla day in valentine week.
I dont give into these emotional traps... Never.... But what can do alone? She also has to understand right? Ohh 14th is fast approaching. I've got to get some valentine gift. Umm...and what it should be? A paper card? Nops thats not enough. What would i tell my friends? I gave her only a paper-card... Sounds so cheap. I wish there was a barter system. Emotions would not have a price tag then. May be a rose also? Seems i am not able to decide upon a deserving gift. Idea!!! lets go to some gift shop and pick something mushy from there. Afterall these gift shops are not that bad either. Today they saved me lot of time and emotional energy. Whats wrong if they charge for it? They are not doing a charity afterall.

Reality Shows-Drama Reinvented

One of the most visible shows on the TV nowdays are reality shows. And there seems nothing real on these shows except the emotions of poor viewers. There are some common characteristics of every reality show-

1. They claim to be the biggest talent hunt show in the country.
2. A bunch of judges are installed. Who are instructed to thrash the participant now and then, so that emotional Junta feels the need to keep these sad faces in the game.
3. SMS voting is a part of every show, that provides the basic food for survival for the shows.
4. Generally these shows dont bother to reveal how many sms's do they get. They only declare the results.
5. There remains a black sheep who despite not being liked by public keeps climbing the stairs to the top. No matter how many people vote against him, he keeps getting saved (So that Bholi Bhali Junta give another try voting him out and the producers of the show mint some more money.)
6. There are some deliberately stuffed ADs of the sponsers like mobile phone companies. The anchor tells the viewers that they can send SMS from Blah Blah handset also...(Amazing no? i thouhgt that we can send SMS from Landline only)
7. Most thrilling part of the show happens to be the elimination day. All they have to do is announce the name of the one who gets eliminated, but they do in with a lot more creative manner. And announcement of 1 name takes about 1 hour.All the the drama is carried till viewers get emotionally exhausted. Friendship among the participant on this days gives Jai-Veeru run for their money. Specially after the name is announced, the one who is eliminated tries to show that he was expecting the same, while others start the drama. They weep like Nirupa Roy used to do in old hindi movies whenever she lost her son.

Some times judges also take part in this by indulging in vocal exchanges.The most flawed part of this concept is multiple voting. A viewer can send as much votes he can to his favourite contestent. Here come regionalism into play. But its very unlikely that this is going to change because its all about earning money.
Long live melodrama. The audience who seemed to get sick of the Saas-Bahu Drama, has now found a new way of watching people shed croco teers - The Reality Shows.

Being a Bachelor

Beep Beep....Clearly this is not one of the most soothing sounds that you would like to listen to wake up with. But this is the tragedy associated with most of the bachelors like me. Unlike those good old days when mummy used to be our alarm clock, here i am breaking the day off with the irritating sound of my mobile's alarm. Yesterday night i spent whole 15 mins browsing through my Nokia 6600 and picked the smoothest tone to set as my morning alarm. but it seems nothing sounds pleasing when you have to wake up 8 AM in the morning. Not to forget there is nobody standing with bedtea in her hands.....You have to make it at your own. I hate early morning. Specially during these chilly winters, when coming out of blanket seems a tough decision. Alarm is still ringing, i put the snooze button and decided to take 5 mins of nap. For me this nap remains more satisfying than the whole night sleep.

8:05 AM
Beep Beep.... Uhh. not again, i was just getting in for a good,refreshing nap. Without thinking too much my hand automatically crawls below the pillow, navigates to sound of alarm, snoozes it again and i am off for another 5 min. Now i start planning for the day. I have a meeting at 9:30, for this i have to leave home by 9:10 at any cost. Umm Okey today i'll drive a bit quicker...rather i'll drive smartly. So i saved 5 more mins for my satisfying nap.

8:10 AM
Beep Beep.... Snooze..

8:15
Beep Beep.... Now its time i should think smartly. I have a B.Tech. degree from a reputed college, that prooves i am smart enough. 3 years of work exp also gives me confidence of dealing with choked deadlines. Hmmm.... so if i start at 8:30, i have to put immersion rod, then get freshed(8:40), prepare breakfast(8:50), shave(9:00), Bath(???)(9:10) Dressup(9:20) Have Breakfast (9:35).. this way i will reach office by 9:50... late by 20 mins Thats huge margin. No I have to get up now..come onn...

Ok just 10 more mins in bed and then i will race away. Yes i can do it, why not? i remember once i was in nth sememster, there was a similar crisis and that day i managed getting ready in 15 mins. i can surely do it today also.

8:30
Beep Beep.... I recalculate..may be i can skip taking bath...Afterall i took bath yesterday only. And there is no law that can force me to take bath daily. Okey.. so here i am realizing that bathing is not a critical issue, sacrificed it for another 10 mins of comfort.

Clock ticks past 8:40 and now i am in real mess. i have just 30 mins and the day hasnt started yet. Put the water for getting warm, Read headlines of newspaper. Switched on the TV ,its the last day of ashes, and England lost it 5-0. Started usual chit chat with flat mates. As i am preparing myself for the hunt i glanced at the wall clock.. Damn its 9:00 Now i have 10 mins. I can manage with skipping shaving, after all its friday. Still 10 mins is too less. Ok lets skip the breakfast. I'll have it in the office, after the meeting. So all i need is to sponge myself and get ready.

9:20
I am off to office. When you are late, the world seems to be in a hurry and the traffic lights seems to be slowest. Bad start of the day. I know the boss will already be there at the meeting and i will be 10 mins late. Its January, appraisal time. You should not put a foot wrong during these 15-20 days. I should have thought abt it earlier. Damn...
I read somewhere Boss is the one who is always early when you are late. Hope this gets proved wrong today. I am riding on full throttle.

9:45
I enter the office, quickly reached to the meeting room. Nobody is there except 2-3 team members. Meeting is delayed because so and so reason. It will commence at 10:15. Back to my workstation, cheking mails, orkutting outlooking....There comes the boss and i am as proud as i could because i beat the deadline of being in the office before the boss. Good Morning Sir!! I wish with a big flashy smile(Happydent !! its really working).
Boss: So guys can we go for the meeting? Actually i was stuck in traffic jam at ^*&($^($@^(^%)....(Who cares why he was late, does he care if i get stuck in the same traffic jam?)

Aaram Karo

Break-up ke side effects

Parking problem

There are some things i really want to discus with people.Have you ever observed in the Two-wheeler parkings,they charge Rs 10-15 to look after the vehicle and still they dont take responsibility of helmet, even if i lock the helmet with helmet lock.
I have a point to raise at this. Why wont they take responsibility of helmet? My helmet is locked with the bike so technically it is the part of my bike and if somebody tries to steal the helmet, he has to touch the bike also. And since i have given parking fee, they should protect my vehicle if some stranger touches it. So this way they are responsible to any damage caused to my helmet.

Shameful Act

Yesterday i saw Mr. Farookh Abdulla protesting against the death sentence for Mohd. Afzal (the man who helped the terrorists to plan the attack on Indian Parliament). Abdulla says that if Afzal is given the death penalty then sentiments of people in J&K could not be controlled.
How a responsible(?) leader can probably think of nurturing such sentiments. He is justifying the people who are against this SC order? And that too on the name of religion? Disgusting.

What a message it will give to the terrorists, "Come to India,kill people, do whatever you want to do.. at the end of the day somebody will stand in favour of you and you wont get death sentence". And then again attempts like hijacking IC-816 will happen to free those terrorists.

And then Mr. Abdulla gives an argument that, there were some more poeple involved in this attack. And if some time down the line pakistan hands them over to India(Pak will handover only if India promises that they wont be given death sentence) in that scenario it will be unjust for this man(Afzal). What a weak argument? When our soldiers fight in the battle,they kill the enemies that come in their way, but should they spare these enemy solders just because other enemy solders are not being killed?

The one who is helping terrorist is also a terrorist, and a terrorist's punishment cannot be evaluated on sentimental grounds. Above all, can a terrorist be given the consideration that are given to a civilian?

DLF Cup or D/L Cup

India's last 2 outings were stabbed by bad weather. Both the time weather seems to be favouring the indian opponent. While in first match Indian batsmen put up a good show, and bowlers didnt get the chance to finish the game, in the second, bowlers showed their skills and batsmen were disappointed by rain.

Whom to blame???

India is a country with wonderful people. Everybody has some or other complaint from the govt/society. And everybody is a part of these systems but how easily they ignore their own responsibility towards the system and point fingers on others.
The day started as usual. Ravi Saxena, a Govt employee was as usual getting late for the office. He checked his schedule....9:30 office, 12:30-1:00 He has to go to Bunty's school to pay the fee for next 3 months, 5 PM meeting with property dealer........
Ravi catches the bus and shoots towards his office situated in Govindpuri. He is already 10 mins late and there is a long queue in front of his counter. Some already started cursing the way govt employees work. So its just another day started with hassles.
As the clock ticks past 12:15 he start worrying coz he has to go to kidwai Nagar and diposite the fee of his 8 year old kid. Today is the last day otherwise he'll have to face Rs. 500/- as penalty. He puts "Out for Lunch" board on his window and shoots towards the exit. The people in the queue start shouting as they see him putting that board. Lunch time is 1:00 PM and its still 12:15 PM........................
Ravi straightway catches an autorickshaw, as he has to reach before 1:00 (Lunch time in the school). Another office and another queue. Seems there's nothing happening in this country, as india stands way behind in the list of developing nations, Ravi is also way behind in the queue. Waiting for his turn. And before he could reach the window, the clock ticks to 1:00 and the counter is closed till 1:30.
He cant do anything but to wait till 1:30. The clerk at fee window (Subhash) also has same story. He will skip his lunch to pay his electricity bill else his family would have to reamin in dark.
Subhash is rushing towards the Saket Nagar office of Electricity Supply Board. He spots the shortest queue and stands waiting. The moment you pick a queue, the other queue seems to be moving faster. Anyways, Subhash is the one who is not moved by such mirages. But this time his queue really stopped moving. The person in the window is processing very slowly. The actual worker ("Vinod Kumar",as the name plate reads )of this window is on half day today, so a person who has no experience of handling the working,is made to sit and dealing at the window. Just another face of India. Here are wrong people at wrong place at wrong times. Even computerization cannot help in such situation. It reminds me of a principle of physical chemistry,"A process is as slow as its slowest event"
God!!! what will happen to this country....lots of efforts go without result,how can we progress? Meanwhile Vinod Kumar is standing in another queue, waiting for the person in reservation counter to come after lunch. Lunch time is over an hour before, but the person on duty hasnt returned to his seat. And again the crowd seems annoyed at the way proceedings take place in govt offices. The name plate on the counter reads "Ravi Saxena".....................