Saturday, January 28, 2006

What else do we need?


Take this................... ID! ( :-) )

(Photo: A baby gorilla born Jan. 11, 2006 looks out from mother Triska's arms at the Bronx Zoo, Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2006 in New York. (AP Photo/Mary Schwalm) )

Friday, January 13, 2006

Follow up on Clemeceau...

Following up on my previous post , we have some positive developments on the 'Clemeceau' issue.
The out of service French aircraft carrier with its toxic cargo was stopped by the Egyptian authorities at the Suez Canal pending a request for some papers. These papers would establish whether the carrier is in violation of Basel Convention which was designed to regulate the movements of hazardous wastes btw nations via ships. The ship is scheduled to reach the Indian shores by this March.

Hope it gets turned back by the Egyptian authorities. In that way, atleast some change in the stance of the Indian authorities on this issue could be expected.

Friday, January 06, 2006

Jon Stewart to host the 78th Academy Awards.

Oh boy! That’s sure going to be fun.

Another feather in the cap for my, and also for the millions of TDS fan’s, favorite comic. After a wonderful performance from Chris Rock last year, we are sure to be treated to a humor of different type by Jon.

I’m really looking forward to this year’s event like never before!

A new year gift from France !!??

Well that might be to the steel mafia operating in a shipyard, like the one in the Bhavnagar district of Gujarat, on India's western coast. But for the coastal ecology and to the numerous laborers working over there......it is a prescription for disaster and death. And the reason for all this ruckus….well a French aircraft carrier Clemenceau with unknown amount of Asbestos on it is heading to the above mentioned wreck yard.

And who are protesting against this........well, practically none in India......at least not the state and central administrations. Except for the Greenpeace and a hearing from the SC's Committee on Hazardous Waste no one in India is bothering about the impending menace. It is interesting to note that 'hot' news like this is being ignored by most of the mainstream media with only a handful of news channels and newspapers giving it a front-page coverage….well at least up till now.

So let us hope that good sense prevails among our ruling elite and that they would take sensible steps in preventing this ecological catastrophe happening in India.

I’m always amazed at our chalta hai attitude in most of the issues that have an impact on us and the environment. But this attitude of taking everything for granted is going to cost us in not so distant future. Some of the results are already being felt in India and also across the sphere….in the form of effects like global warming and its consequences, El Niño, La Niña etc. Time has come for us to make resolute decisions in this regard or else it is going to be too late for us to repent.

P.S. : Click the title of this post for an article on this issue in the Indian Express.

Thursday, January 05, 2006

Why do we still long for our childhood after it is long gone?

A few days back, when Shruthi, wrote in her blog abt how her city Bangalore has changed rapidly for the worse, I left a comment. In my comment, I said that even I felt the same abt my native place(s) and also abt Hyderabad (where I’m presently taking a month long brk), when I went back to visit these places after a brief hiatus. I also added that it is we who change rather than the places that we lived in over the years.

And this kinda is hanging at the back of my mind since then (…..that’s what happens when u take a month long vacation…and have nothing to do...... :-) ). Is it we who really change or the places? My mind went back to the wonderful days that my brother and myself had as kids….

As a kid, I had a wonderful childhood. Visiting the ancestral homes of both my parents was a fun thing to do for us and I have lot of wonderful memories of both these places to cherish for the rest of my life. It was especially great fun during the summer holidays or during any kinda festivities or functions that were held at these two places. Since my family is a very long extended one on the both sides of my parents…there was always one event or the other every few months. So we always looked forward to our next visit to our towns.

But everything changed once my grandparents passed away some years back. Everyone became busy with their own lives as years passed on. There were less and less of the get together events over the years since then, with most of my cousins settling down in places far away. We do regularly keep in touch and do meet often every year, but somehow I feel that it isn’t the old way anymore about our meetings. Even the visits to my native towns, after a brief gap, had a completely different feel in them. They were never the same that they once used to be……..some of my feelings were similar to that of Shruthi’s abt Bangalore, but in most cases I had no clue abt the reasons behind my change in the outlook of these places. May be they were also compounded by the fact that my grandparents weren’t there any more.

In case of Hyderabad, I have similar grievances about the city as Shruthi has about Bangalore. And like in the case of Bangalore, the change has been too sudden. It’s been only 17 months since I was away from Hyderabad, but to me it felt like I was away for a long time for these changes to happen. But with Hyderabad somehow I still feel that it still has the same flavor and fervor as the one in which I grew up….obviously one has to ignore the aesthetic changes and the ever increasing pollution. May be the different feel about Hyderabad in me might be due to the fact that I was away in a foreign land that was at a different level as compared with Hyderabad, as a city that is.

All these times, there hasn’t been a period of time where I longed for the time to revert back to my childhood. And that is what puzzles me.

Why is that I still long for my childhood after it is long gone?

Is it because of the sure security of the long-gone past?

Or

Is it because of the uncertainty that the future holds for me?

Sunday, January 01, 2006

Well.....a new year.....another post...ha??!!......

Wishing every one a happy and prosperous New YeAr……Keep BlogGing….

And as for my new year resolutions are concerned…..hmmmm…let me think......do i really have any.....aha....yup....heeeeeeere they come.........I’ve two...

i) to graduate smoothly with a healthy GPA…..it now stands at 3.5….one more A….tht’s goin to be enough for me this new year.

ii) to find a reasonably gud job and settle down by the end of this year….hope so….
( thinkin abt these two.....do they qualify as new year resolutions at all.....??)
:-)