India is the third most powerful country in the world

Yet, on one hand we are dealing with Kashmir and making a mess of it, hardly dealing with the Maoists and getting in to a bloody mess. Millions in our country are still below poverty line. Corruption is rampant. We can't even organise a Commonwealth games properly, although the expenditures would suggest this is the best games ever! I could go on and on, but what's the point - we all know what the issues are, don't we?

In three days from now, the entire country would be in total chaos once again, because some politicians felt, and still feel, that fighting over a small piece of land and structure is much more important than all the other issues that we have in our country today.

Incredible India, indeed!

India is the third most powerful country in the world: As per "Global Governance 2025" jointly issued by the National Intelligence Council (NIC) of the US and the European Union's Institute for Security Studies (EUISS)

Need a reason to join a gym?

Aro: I need to go back and join a gym.
Me: You? Gym!?!
Aro: Yeahhh... I need to...
Me: Why???
Aro: I have to buy new trousers otherwise. The neighborhood gym is offering two months package at Rs. 500/- If I buy trousers, they will cost me more... so that's why I am joining a gym!
Me: Makes sense.

Part of the conversation between Aro and me, when he was in town recently. One evening full of non-sense conversations like the one above makes me believe my last post.

P.S: If I know Aro, he has either not joined the Gym or has already quit. Make hay, trouser makers!

The pursuit to break the shackles of busyness

There are many friends, who I would like to keep in touch, and I believe, they want to keep in touch too. However, inspite of all the social networking sites and cell phones, we fail to do so. This Saturday, I left a status message saying I am connecting with friends and asked my friends to leave me messages. I received several replies, including some from friends with whom I was connecting after several years. The same afternoon, I was accompanying a friend to a bank, and while stepping out of the car, a voice called my school nickname from across the road. It was a friend from school, and we met after a couple of years. Makes me believe that if your intentions are right, life throws pleasant surprises at you.

My sister, and I have been working in the same part of the city for over a year now. Her office building is a mere 400 odd metres away from my office building. In fact, my office has a branch at her office building too. In this one year plus, I have met her a couple of times while passing by. Strange, but true, that we have never had lunch (or even coffee) together. Sad, but that's how busy we are! We only meet at home when she visits us (since her marriage). However, yesterday, on the occassion of Rakhi, we decided to meet up and have lunch together. She tied the Rakhi and we ate heartily, despite both of us being on a diet.

As part of the re-connecting phase, I am hoping there would be some old fellow bloggers who would leave a comment, or send me an email after reading this post.

Loan for Finance Minister

Last week, India's Finance Minister was in the Parliament attending a meeting with leader's of our country, when his cell phone rang. He took the call, and supposedly said, "No, no, not now, I am in a meeting". It was a telemarketing call, offering Mr. Mukherjee a loan. Since then, people are having a good laugh about it. But, it has also made the Telecom Ministry to sit up and take steps to stop unsolicited telemarketing calls. Now, that's the good thing about top ministers facing the common man's problem. They face one problem, and the concerned ministry takes steps. Maybe it's time to revoke some of the priviledges they receive - like the police clearing the road for their motorcade to pass. Let them face traffic congestion for a few days, maybe they would think of something that would benefit the common man.

Coming back to the telemarketing calls, there is a easy way to reduce those calls. There is a National Do Not Call (NDNC) registry where you can register. To register to the National Do Not Call Registry, please dial 1909, or SMS "START DND" to 1909.More details are here: http://ndncregistry.gov.in/

Of Chinese Monkeys and Russian Witches

I was born and brought up in a state run by a left front government. One of the few advantages of that was that in the days of the cold war, a lot of Indi-Chini and Indo-Soviet cultural activities used to happen here. I used to read Chinese and Russian fairy tales (translated in Bangla / English), and watch Chinese movies. One of the movies that I immensely enjoyed was "Bubbling Spring". I still have comic books about a Chinese Monkey King, Sun Wukong and his compatriots' adventorous journey to India. Russian fairy tales of Bogatyrs (Knights), and Baba Yaga (a witch) were regular holiday staple. There was also this series on a young boy named Anatoly (I may be wrong about the name).

These stories not only fueled my fantasies, they also gave me great insight about the countries where they were set. I think it's a very good idea for children to be exposed to multiple cultures at a young age.

I wonder if these books (or similar) books are available for children these days. I also wonder if other children of my generation from other parts of the country read the books / saw similar movies that I mentioned here.

The Real "Gyan"

Real reason for Asamoah Gyan's penalty miss against Uruguay in the last minute of extra time:

You see an Indian tricolor just behind the Uruguay goal! Asamoah Gyan must have been confused (or inspired) by that!


This photo is a screenshot taken from a Fifa.com video (1min 52 sec in the video).

Two things that FIFA should immediately do

1. Make sure the match balls to be used at the World Cup are the same as that used in the previous year's Confederations Cup and all international tournaments in between. The outer print / design can be different, but why should a completely new ball manufactured with new material / technology be used for the first time in a World Cup?

2. Introduce video referal system. When we have someone watching the match on high definition television with super slow-mo reviews from different angles, and we have the referee / assistant referees on the field, running and judging with thousands of vuvuzelas buzzing around them, you know who will get the decisions right!
2a. In all cases where the players are sure the referee has got a decision wrong, they should get a chance to challenge that. It is there in Tennis, Cricket, etc and there is no reason why it can't be there in Football. There is no reason for a player wrongly given a red card to sit out one / two matches, just because the referee got the decision wrong. In a tournament like World Cup, that incidence can be a differentiator.