Bill Gates- 'Logs out'... Inflation Logs in at 11.25%

What is Friday?

Its the last day of the work week. And, its the first day of the weekend that is impending. If it falls on the date 13th, its called unlucky. Otherwise, its the 27th day of the sixth month of 2008, when one of the ledgends of 20th century spends his last day in the worlds largest computer company Microsoft... and the Indian Stock Market crashes a whooping 600 points to increase inflation by 11.25%.

Not your average Friday. Seems more like a roundup of Monday morning news.

A 19 year old teenager in the year 1975, gets inspired by a model of comp... and decides to quit Harvard, one year before graduation. Instead starts writing codes with his partner and mentor, whose name I forgot.
Together they lay foundation for a company that changed the way a common man works on the computer. Today, the first thing that we see in the morning is our computer screens. On it we see a logo which has a window made on it. And everything is microsoft.

So, at the age of 52, Mr. Gates is taking retirement. Ofcourse being the whole soul of microsoft, he cant take total retirement but I sure envy him to be relaxing at the age of 52 when my dad has to slog it out. Just kidding.
Lets just hope that, Microsoft keeps up the good work. And remains and idol for all those who dare to dream beyond the ordinary.

Ok, the most depressing part of the whole thing is that though I dont think that its inter related, the markets took a hit and dropped lots of points to increase the burden at the common man. The news of inflation is going along with the weather. Its hot n humid, even if you dont want... you have to sweat.
Lets hope that, Monday morning brings with it better bits of news.

All this depressing weather n news casts have actually gotten me ill. Literally. Lets hope I along with the stock markets become stable.

In the Name of God...!!!

It is such a sad situation, that in the name of God, people are being killed. In the name of God, people are being told the things that are as untrue as maybe a fake fruit.

What is truely pitiful is, that all this is being done to people like you and me and still we end up following zealots who care nothing more than their popularity.

I have just one question- What religion says that it is ok to kill another human being in the name of religion?

I wonder when will this madness come to an end and when peace would become the order of the day.

A very cliched line- but true- Lets make peace not war. Live and Let Live...Please...!!!

Sarkar Raj - A review

This review is coming after two weeks of the movie being released.

Yes, I saw the movie day before yesterday and finally heaved a sigh of relief that RGV has finally got a movie that actually has fire.

The movie, is a sequel to the very intense Sarkar that came two years back. And if you thought that Sarkar was intense then Sarkar Raj is much more than that. Though the movie gives the usual warning about the fact that everything in it is fictional etc etc.

But the fact is, that with Raj Thackrey making allegations on the Bachchan family about being inconsiderate about Maharashtra, the movie shows our very own Shekhar ( Abhishek) going to villages in Maharashtra and only talking about good of Maha before their own profit. The usual row between the otrhodox in politics and the visionary seems to do a direct take on the Nandigram episode that happened in West Bengal.

The movie belongs entirely to Abhishek Bachchan, who has given a performance that makes you think, why would he ever do all the movies he did earlier in his career. Aishwarya and daddy Bachchan too have given their full support to Abhishek enhancing his performance. The Bachchan Family has truely come into its true colours in the movie. The direction is great and so is the story line that delivers a rough and a direct punch at our politicians.... Well.. the punch line is obvious- The power is not given..it has to be taken...

And even though this is a political movie, it has targetted all the recent issues rather than the past issues. It has shown that how little do the politicians care for the junta... and how much do they care about themselves. And if anybody does care for the junta, it is very difficult for him to break the opposition into accepting development over the power. The message is clean and clear in the movie- The need of the hour is that we need politicians that think more of us and not of themselves.

Way to go RGV... We hope now you are fired up...!!! I'll give you 4/5 stars... so guys if you are still waiting... then don't...go and see it.

Fuel Price Hike- II, The Drama

The drama is unfolding bit by bit... and soon it seems all of us, rich, poor and middle class mostly are gonna play HUGE part in it.
Today when I got up in the morning...I was in fits of anger. The newspaper guy has been harassing us by giving us an extra newspaper along with our usual, and with the prices rising at the speed of a racing bike, I am sure that the depressing material can be used to the minimal. I am calling the printing press dismal and depressing because really there is nothing to cheer you up when you see the headlines. Anyways, we were absolutely not gonna pay for that extra bit of news... so when asked for an explanation, it turned out... that the newspaper is being circulated free of cost... now that is funny, the only thing that comes for free after the hike is more bad news.
That bad news, it seems is gonna unfold in a series of happenings that are going to happen in the course of next few months. The RBI, has already increased the CRR( Credit Rate Ratio) to 8. That means, loans are gonna become dearer and emi's are going to increase.
The Indian middle class and the rich, who over the last few years travelled back n forth thanks to the low budget airlines...are going to have to beg Lalu Prasad Yadav for getting a few fast trains that run on anything BUT fuel.

It is expected that the Crude oil Prices are going to hit the roof and the common junta are going to be the one suffering the most. I am already experiencing a crunch... there is no cheese in the market and the low cal butter is also becoming a rarity. The mushrooms that costed 10 rupees a packet... are now 25. In the coming few months.... the prices are going to hit the roof. What are we going to do then?

The government is going to have no choice but to hike the prices further. The recent hike, as per the newspapers, just bails out the oil companies by 21,000 crores...and that is no way near in making up for the losses.

But,somewhere either I saw it on TV or read it in the newspaper... I don't remember exactly... but yeah...I do remember, that, the reports talked about the US of A gaining the control over world market...by hoarding crude oil. The dollar has been slipping down in value...and even though India is developing at a great pace... the only thing that can slow her pace down is OIL... because we don't have enough of our own. The only way we can control the world is by our Agri produce... we by virtue of what we are thanks to our history... cant even do that...because we are too giving. The UN has already put the entire food crises blame on us without realising that we are the second largest population of the world and we too have mouths to feed.

I might be stupid but not naive... I can understand why US would want to regain control...the country loves the missionary position when it comes to f*&^$#g the other nations. ( Pardon the language) but then, who doesn't love power.

The depressing souls in the media,love to question our politician...and I am not saying that they are not answerable...they are bloody well answerable to the public who put em there. But,then the very media should take upon itself to educate the masses... afterall they are the ones burning the max fuel running from one place to another for getting us crappy news like whatever... they should be digging onto the fact whether the God Country (USA) is hoarding crude oil and making crises?? If yes... the politicians there should be made answerable to all of the world...!!! And if you think that the grass is greener on the other side... then check out, what one of my US citizen friend has to say about it on her blog and if you think that this is depressing and you wanna shake up...you might wanna read a lil more...

And just incase you are shaken up by reading the posts... you might as well...think of a solution and help the world... (Think about being a world saving hero/heroine...) and if you are a true believer... then just pray to Him, that doomsday doesnt come soon....

I am sure you wanna live more... I know, I want to...!!!

Book Review: The Choice by Nicholas Sparks

The very first love sequence that I encountered was in the Carolyn Keene books, Nancy and her boyfriend... made a really cute couple for me. And their tiny weeny kisses made my heart race. That was way back some 10 years ago...!!!

And then all of a sudden I graduated to Sidney Sheldon... and I got a cultural shock with the rauncy stuff...!!( I remember reading them after all lights had gone off...!!!). And, I'll be frank enough to say that I have never read a Mills n Boons in my life. And the heart touching love stories that I had read were by Eric Segal. Love story by him, makes me cry like buckets,even after reading it so many times.

And then came Nicholas Sparks.

I have read 5 books by him... the first one I read was- A walk to remember, the came, True Believer, next was Nights in Rhodante... then Dear John... and Today I finished reading The Choice...

by far, I havent really seen someone right with so much ease about love... not only the love love... but about love in every dimension.

The tag line of the book is- How far would you go keep the hope of love alive? the book deals with the sensitive issue of a living will...where one of the spouse had asked the other to employ mercy killing incase the inevitable happens... the time period being 12 weeks.

I cried at the end of the book...!!!

But then, I cry mostly at the end of any lovey dovey story....!!!

The great part about the book was the narrative that was witty... and sensitive at the same time. The chemistry created by the author was great. The background was also cute.

The noticible aspect about the the writing of Nicholas Sparks is that, his books are based out of the the small town of North Carolina... where it seems that the beaches, seem to give a perfect view of the romance.( Actually 3/5 are based in NC, rest are also out of the small towns...)

In his interviews and ackconoledgments, he always says that his books are somewhere related to somesort of real life experiences... and that the love between him and his wife...make him write down the romance...!!

Though...you may come across a few cliches.... in his book... but I would still emphasise on his narrative... and character base.

I would give his book a very good on my rating...!!!

As far as reccomedation to read the book goes.... I always believe that one should never reccomend a book to the other...what if at the end...he is ready to spank you off??

But I would surely say, that if you are a sucker for some great love n romace...the book is for you...definately to read once... !!!

Happy Loving...!!!

Its a MADHOUSE: The Lok Sabha; That is...!!!

Have you ever wondered, that when you were kids, all you ever wanted to do was to play and your parents were always after your life to study...so that you become good educated individuals?? And, whenever you were cranky or angry, you were often asked... are you sleepy... or hungry or have you had a fight.... and the remedy to that samae was given.

But then what do we do about the 500+ kids sitting in the parliament house...making policies? how do we make these guys more rational... and tolerable to each other.... most of the time when the parliament is in the session they are fighting like two rival gangs ...in the gali moholla... actually they are worse. And then... whenever the government tries to do something for the greater good... they come up with the most innovative ideas to protest...!! I wonder, had these innovative ideas been used about 100 years back, India would have gained freedom long before 1947.

At the risk of getting myself attacked by the crazy mobs who follow the politicians, like puppies do to their masters... I am saying that Mayawati, the CM of UP, one of the largest states in our country is MAD... ofcourse she is the member of the Lok Sabha... Madhouse Sabha.... She is ready to declare a Bandh in UP, do agitation against the Fuel Price Hike... but will not cut the local taxes...!!! But, why should she? Government was crazy enough to hike the prices... is also crazy...!!! But ofcourse yes...!!! Well... the madness of the Government continues... now the travelling bit is gonna become stringy, and meetings in 5 Star hotels would curb... My gosh...is the government really doing that...?? YUP, it is... Ms Mayawati... you too should take a heed...and learn a few things...
You know... this is the election year... and Congress would not like to sit in the opposition for 5 long years... why would they be mad to anger the poor masses?

The petrol and deisel that we get at the petrol pumps includes all the taxes, that are levied by the state government, that is the reason, that petroleum products are priced differently in different states. Now, the hike ofcourse is a jolt...but if the States cut back on the Sales Tax, the commuter would be a happy person. As a matter of fact, Sheila Dixit, Delhi CM, has already cut the taxes...and now LPG is gonna cozt 40 Rupees lesser...!! (yipeeeeeeee..!!! I hate Microvave cooked food...its...weird..!!!) But, who is gonna make Mayawati understand...that kabhi kabhi, Janta ka bhi khayaal karna chaiye...sirf apni jeb bharne se vote nahin milte...!!!

And, then there is the left party... I havent really seen anything right about the leftists...!!! Have they really forgotten... that India was bankrupt and under debt of World Bank and IMF and various other loans, till economy was open... they perpetually oppose, every policy that has- ' Money Making' prospects written on it...!!( But, well... they themselves are soooo rich... why cant they give away wealth...to the poor and live like Gandhi ji... OUCH... that must have hurt...!!!)

And yeah... how can I forget the Incident that has the entire press..up in rage... the Loksatta Editor's house, coz he opposed the expenditure of 100 crore for setting up a Shivaji Statue in Mumbai. All he said was, this money should be used in what it is to be used... state building and development. But na ji, even if Shivaji was an Empror who belived that people should come first... if they are happy we are in power... why should the new world belive so? It seems, that soon our Fundamental Right of expression is gonna go down in Dumps... thanks to the over sensitive...political zealots...!!!

On the World Environment Day, yesterday, instead of worrying that whether we would even survive the coming few years...our dear members of the Madhouse were calling strikes..when their states should be earning revenue.

And then.. these inhabitants of the MadHouse want raise in their paychecks... for what? For breaking away parliament house property...!!!
They should be paid according to the work that they do.... hmmm... wouldn't that mean...that they would go broke????

Well.. you see.. It is a MADHOUSE... The Lok Sabha yaar...(meaning the politicians in power...!!!)

Fuel Price Hike: Are we bearing the brunt of our own Ignorance???

Today, the government of India had to finally take the Oil Pill...!!! As the leading newspapers quoted.

The petrolm price was raised by 5 Rs/litre, Deisel 3 Rs/ litre, and the biggest shock to every household was that LPG, the lifeline of every household was raised by 50 Rupees...!!! And last time the hike happened Mrs. Sonia Gandhi, intervened and thus the hike was rolled back. But this time, Our PM, went on air and addressed the nation therefore making it very clear that the hike was an inevitable option.



But why was this hike done? I am sure that the rising inflation has been a matter of discussion amongst everybody... the middle class is being squeezed to the last drop.... of what they earn. The inflation is directly linked to the rising fuel prices. With imports and exports involving travel... there is bound to be increase in the prices of necessary commodities...!!!



The oil companies due the rise in the crude oil have been facing losses that run into crores... in the news last night... appx loss was labeled at 200 thousand crores...and the financial experts were saying that this price hike is only going to help recover 8% of the total losses that the oil companies have beared.

Now the question that really arises in my mind is that are we bearing the brunt of our own ignorance? We are the people who prefer their own vehicles over the public transport... ofcourse the reasons are genuine... the public transport is not upto our expectations... but then how do we get the public transport upto our expectations? Not by just sitting in our AC rooms and cribbing about it. The public transport is for the public at large...and its us who make a joke out of it. We abuse the transport vehicle by writing graffitis and vandalising it... but then that is not even the problem... its again.. touted as not safe for women...and absolutely not safe during the night time. In mumbai, the last local train runs till about 1.40 am ( remember Ek Chaalis ki last local) and even late into the night you ind taxis and autos who would charge via the meter + the night charges. But here taking the 11 pm bus means ..... and the metro too is closed after the last train at 10 pm. Why? because the government thinks that the people here are not mature enough... and isn't that true?
Instead of appreciating the efforts of the government... we end up finding little glitches. Its us the people who instead of ignoring the real issues, should be taking part in eliminationg those verry issues, so that ultimately we dont end up bearing the brunt of any price hike...beacuse there wont be any price hike.

Maybe the cynics are right... that the world is coming to an end...!! What have we got from all the scientific advancement? maybe more jobs... but what would we do with the jobs...when and junk computers when the ciivilization instead of moving forward would go back in pre historic times and fire would be rediscovered...or maybe that wont be a possibility either- Coz, all the forests and tress too would become extinct...!!!
So are we gonna think and crib about it...and later forget it...or are we gonna actually do something about it? Apart from ofcourse, trying to find living conditions similar to earth all over the universe...!!!

Lets try and Save our land...our planet... if not for ourselves then for the future generations... they too deserve it...!!! Please...!!!