Living in this modern era
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
I'm sure we all have our own perceptions on how the modern world is changing/adapting itself to the changes. Here's an example (got forwarded via email) -
OLD VERSION...
MODERN VERSION...
The World is stunned by the sharp contrast. How can this be that this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so?
Arundhati Roy stages a demonstration in front of the ant's house.
Medha Patkar goes on a fast along with other grasshoppers demanding that grasshoppers be relocated to warmer climates during winter.
Amnesty International and Koffi Annan criticize the Indian Government for not upholding the fundamental rights of the grasshopper.
The Internet is flooded with online petitions seeking support to the grasshopper (many promising Heaven and Everlasting Peace for prompt support as against the wrath of God for non-compliance).
Opposition MP's stage a walkout. Left parties call for "Bharat Bandh" in West Bengal and Kerala demanding a Judicial Enquiry. CPM in Kerala immediately passes a law preventing Ants from working hard in the heat so as to bring about equality of poverty among ants and grasshoppers.
Lalu Prasad allocates one free coach to Grasshoppers on all Indian Railway Trains, aptly named as the 'Grasshopper Rath'.
Finally, the Judicial Committee drafts the Prevention of Terrorism Against Grasshoppers Act [POTAGA]", with effect from the beginning of the winter.
Arjun Singh makes Special Reservation for Grass Hopper in educational Insititutions & in Govt Services.
The ant is fined for failing to comply with POTAGA and, having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, his home is confiscated by the Government and handed over to the grasshopper in a ceremony covered by NDTV.
Arundhati Roy calls it "a triumph of justice". Lalu calls it 'Socialistic Justice'. CPM calls it the 'revolutionary resurgence of the downtrodden' . Koffi Annan invites the grasshopper to address the UN General Assembly.
MANY YEARS LATER...
The ant has since migrated to the US and set up a multi billion dollar company in silicon valley.100s of grasshoppers still die of starvation despite reservation somewhere in India.
OLD VERSION...
The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks the ant's a fool and laughs & dances & plays the summer away. Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed. The grasshopper has no food or
shelter so he dies out in the cold.MODERN VERSION...
The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks the ant's a fool and laughs & dances & plays the summer away.
Come winter, the shivering grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others are cold and starving. NDTV, BBC, CNN show up to provide pictures of the shivering grasshopper next to a video of the ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food.
The World is stunned by the sharp contrast. How can this be that this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so?
Arundhati Roy stages a demonstration in front of the ant's house.
Medha Patkar goes on a fast along with other grasshoppers demanding that grasshoppers be relocated to warmer climates during winter.
Amnesty International and Koffi Annan criticize the Indian Government for not upholding the fundamental rights of the grasshopper.
The Internet is flooded with online petitions seeking support to the grasshopper (many promising Heaven and Everlasting Peace for prompt support as against the wrath of God for non-compliance).
Opposition MP's stage a walkout. Left parties call for "Bharat Bandh" in West Bengal and Kerala demanding a Judicial Enquiry. CPM in Kerala immediately passes a law preventing Ants from working hard in the heat so as to bring about equality of poverty among ants and grasshoppers.
Lalu Prasad allocates one free coach to Grasshoppers on all Indian Railway Trains, aptly named as the 'Grasshopper Rath'.
Finally, the Judicial Committee drafts the Prevention of Terrorism Against Grasshoppers Act [POTAGA]", with effect from the beginning of the winter.
Arjun Singh makes Special Reservation for Grass Hopper in educational Insititutions & in Govt Services.
The ant is fined for failing to comply with POTAGA and, having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, his home is confiscated by the Government and handed over to the grasshopper in a ceremony covered by NDTV.
Arundhati Roy calls it "a triumph of justice". Lalu calls it 'Socialistic Justice'. CPM calls it the 'revolutionary resurgence of the downtrodden' . Koffi Annan invites the grasshopper to address the UN General Assembly.
MANY YEARS LATER...
The ant has since migrated to the US and set up a multi billion dollar company in silicon valley.100s of grasshoppers still die of starvation despite reservation somewhere in India.
Labels: Ant, BBC, Bengal, CNN, Funny, Grasshopper, India, Kerala, NDTV, UN, United Nations, US, West
Posted by Rajesh @ 8:39 PM; PERMALINK,
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Get online - doesnt matter who you are.
Monday, January 29, 2007
- President of India seen with folk dancers on the 26th.Some were surprised when the "Missile man" became President of the largest democracy in the world. I had other reasons though; I was surprised by this. Do you have an answer to his question?
Labels: 2007, Abdul Kalam, Democracy, India, Missile, President, Question, Terrorism
Posted by Rajesh @ 11:55 PM; PERMALINK,
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The 10 Grand Slam Club
Labels: Australia, Australian Open, Bjorn Borg, Federer, Grand Slam, Melbourne, Pete Sampras, Roger Federer, Sampras, Swiss, Tennis, US
Posted by Rajesh @ 8:18 PM; PERMALINK,
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Over and Out
Thursday, January 25, 2007
One of the most devastating defeats in the tennis world yesterday. Matchup between Federer n Roddick and the scores suggest what happened in Melbourne yesterday. 6-4, 6-0, 6-2 -- Federer completely embarrassed Roddick, thereby entering the Finals of Australian Open in style.
I'm not sure who could stop FedEx but having seen Roddick play for the past 3-4 years I know that he's not the one. Head to head stats show a staggering 13-1 record in favor of the Swiss with the only loss coming way back in '04 at Montreal. All Roddick had to say was "It was frustrating. It was miserable. It sucked. It was terrible. Besides that, it was fine,".
He might have lost his Mojo again (not that I've seen him find it in the past) ... somebody please find his Mojo !! The Mojo girl has reached the finals this year though, Sharapova defeated Clijsters pretty easily.
Back to the drawing board - Andy !!
I'm not sure who could stop FedEx but having seen Roddick play for the past 3-4 years I know that he's not the one. Head to head stats show a staggering 13-1 record in favor of the Swiss with the only loss coming way back in '04 at Montreal. All Roddick had to say was "It was frustrating. It was miserable. It sucked. It was terrible. Besides that, it was fine,".
He might have lost his Mojo again (not that I've seen him find it in the past) ... somebody please find his Mojo !! The Mojo girl has reached the finals this year though, Sharapova defeated Clijsters pretty easily.
Back to the drawing board - Andy !!
Labels: 2007, Andy-Roddick, Australia, Australian Open, Federer, Maria-Sharapova, Mojo, Roger Federer, Tennis
Posted by Rajesh @ 8:00 PM; PERMALINK,
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Next Stop: Miami
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Oh yeah ...They played a punishing run game , brought their kick ass defense back into play, the Jones factor, effective plays by Grossman, Urlacher etc.. etc... made it "Next Stop - Miami". A wait of Twenty one years - Da Bears make their appearance in a Super bowl game since '85.
But I have to say this again and again and again - guys @ FOX , esp. Mr. Joe Buck- Can you please give the BEARS some credit NOW ? Have to hear the ESPN guys as well - all that BS stats and the downplaying crap !!!!
Anyways, would rather CELEBRATE than bragging about the commentary and making a big issue about it. Congrats Bears, Congrats Chicago.
Read someone mention about us being underdogs - "We went in as the underdogs. And you know what happens when someone calls us an Underdog in Chicago: we fight like hell." So true ...
Labels: Bears, Chicago, Defense, Espn, Football, Fox, Gorssman, Jones, NFL, Superbowl, Urlacher
Posted by Rajesh @ 8:23 PM; PERMALINK,
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Da Bears
Monday, January 15, 2007
The headline says it all. Congrats Bears !!!!!
Labels: Bears, Chicago, Football, NFL, US
Posted by Rajesh @ 1:19 AM; PERMALINK,
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NASA decides its enough !!
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
We all have heard/read Neil Armstrong make a historic statement "That's one small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind". After so many years, we hear something similar again.
Yes. NASA finally decides to go completely "metric". I say completely 'cause they have been trying a few things here and there but it was not until today that they came up stating that - the next time they return astronauts to the Moon, the mission will be measured in kilometers - not in MILES.
I wonder why the FPS system is still being followed out here when the rest of the world has adopted and adapted to the SI system - using Metre, Gram, Litre instead of Miles and Pounds and Gallons. The worst part is that the education system here makes us learn facts and figures in the SI system. But once you graduate and get out there in the real world - gotta revert back to FPS.
I (like many others out here) have found this amusing and it took me some time to get accustomed to the usage, especially implementing it in my day-to-day activities. Guess its time to move ahead and why not? At least we won't be losing spacecrafts. According to Wikipedia, "As of 2005 only three countries, the United States, Liberia, and Myanmar (Burma) had not completed the changeover". Wow !! There's some company ;-)
Looking into the near future - I believe NASA would be losing a bit of productivity due to the switch. Scientists would have to "re-learn" the sizes of all the equipments, Metal Sheets, Screws, Fasteners (and what not).
Let's go back to school !!
Yes. NASA finally decides to go completely "metric". I say completely 'cause they have been trying a few things here and there but it was not until today that they came up stating that - the next time they return astronauts to the Moon, the mission will be measured in kilometers - not in MILES.
I wonder why the FPS system is still being followed out here when the rest of the world has adopted and adapted to the SI system - using Metre, Gram, Litre instead of Miles and Pounds and Gallons. The worst part is that the education system here makes us learn facts and figures in the SI system. But once you graduate and get out there in the real world - gotta revert back to FPS.
I (like many others out here) have found this amusing and it took me some time to get accustomed to the usage, especially implementing it in my day-to-day activities. Guess its time to move ahead and why not? At least we won't be losing spacecrafts. According to Wikipedia, "As of 2005 only three countries, the United States, Liberia, and Myanmar (Burma) had not completed the changeover". Wow !! There's some company ;-)
Looking into the near future - I believe NASA would be losing a bit of productivity due to the switch. Scientists would have to "re-learn" the sizes of all the equipments, Metal Sheets, Screws, Fasteners (and what not).
Let's go back to school !!
Labels: FPS, Kilo, Mars, Metre, Mile, MKS, Moon, NASA, School, SI, Space, Spacecraft, US, Wikipedia
Posted by Rajesh @ 7:49 PM; PERMALINK,
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Ten Things ...
Monday, January 08, 2007
Read this on BBC the other day. Thought of sharing it with you guys, if you haven't read already -
10 Things we didn't know last week -
- UK Traffic Lights emit about 50,000 tonnes of CO2 per year through energy use.
- Jobs in finance make up 4% of the UK's workforce - and account for 13% of the income tax paid.
- Coach (bus) travel is the safest form of road transport in the country (UK).
- More than 20 million people visit Little Chef roadside outlets each year.
- Saddam Hussein's codename while in US custody in 04/05 was "Victor".
- A Beefeater is more formally known as a Yeoman Warder of Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress the Tower of London, and Members of the Sovereign's Body Guard of the Yeoman Guard Extraordinary.
- Holders of the MBE can be stripped of the honor at the discretion of the Queen, "if evidence of wrongdoing comes to light".
- A shortage of volunteer leaders has led to a waiting list of 50,000 girls wanting to join the Girl Guides.
- Noel Edmonds' middle name is Ernest, although it’s not noted in his first Who's Who entry, in the newly published 2007 edition. He is listed as Noel E Edmonds.
- The US Senate has never had a "socialist" senator - until now. Bernard Sanders, an independent, calls himself a "democratic socialist".
Labels: 10, 2006, BBC, Hussein, London, Pollution, Saddam, Senate, Traffic, UK, US, Victor
Posted by Rajesh @ 10:08 PM; PERMALINK,
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My Own India
Thursday, January 04, 2007
The depth in his voice makes you just sit there and listen to whatever he has to say. This time it is for an awakening - its time to fly !!
Labels: 2006, 60, Amitabh, B, Bachchan, Bollywood, Independence, India, TOI
Posted by Rajesh @ 8:54 PM; PERMALINK,
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