A load of crap from an idle brain

First a trip to smelly and dirty Chennai, then a trip to equally smelly and extremely dirty pilgrim town called Velankanni (with the famous shrine of Mary) and finally to an extremely clean, cold and windy Hyderabad.

Chennai was sweltering hot, i sweated buckets.  Coupled with that the scarcity of water and a city that is used by its citizens as a garbage dump.  You wonder where the municipal workers of the city are?  If at all they are doing the work.  Whether you are the middle of the city or at the outskirts, one thing that defines Chennai is the consistent crappy smell in the air.  The air stinks in Chennai and uniformly so.  Dont know why and how.  This is in addition to the dirt and filth all around.  Wonder which moron decided to name it a metro.

Velankanni was equally dirty.  For a piligrim town with such a potential for tourism, there are hardly any good lodge/hotels.  The only good ones are the dorms run by the church, but they too offer you rooms for the next day only.  And if you are the ones (like me) who just drop into the town with no reservations, hoping to stay at some hotel, be disappointed with the kinds of rooms you get there.  As for the restaurants, stay away if you dont want to come down with some extreme case of food poisoning or diarrhea.

If you have any plans of going to Velankanni, stay at Nagapattinam, a town near Velankanni.  Take a bus in the morning to Velankanni, see around and come back to Nagapattinam.  This was advised by my friends after i did my trip much to my exasperation.

Took a train from Chennai to Hyderabad.  Was travelling by the Indian Railways after more than 11 years and loved the experience.  Reached Hyderabad early morning around 6am on the 14th (our 1st wedding anniversary).   Was amazed at how clean the city of Hyderabad was at 6 in the morning.   Either the roads were swept clean or at some places the cleaners were hard at work.  Kudos to the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) and the people who work for them for keeping the city reasonably clean.

It was drizzling all through and there was a nice cool breeze.  Loved it. Since we were tired, we preferred to rest.  There was not much celebration for the anniversary as all plans were for wifey’s birthday which was 2 days later on the 16th.  Had a get together at home for friends and family for wifey’s birthday.

Later on in the week, went to the new mall in town, GVK-1.  Good place to hang out, but there was something lacking in the place.  I prefer Hyderabad Central or City Center.  Also the mall is pretty new and the shops are only coming up.  Maybe it will be good once it fills up.

Saw the movie New York.  Not bad i thought.  Better than the crap that Yash Raj is famous for churning out. Saw the movie at the new INOX multiplex at GVK-1.  The seating is good and so is the sound system.

Travelled back to Singapore via Chennai again.  From the superb airport of Hyderabad to a garbage can called Chennai Airport is a perfect example of what the private sector can do to our economy while at the same time, the Chennai airport run by the inefficient babus of Airports Authority of India have really screwed it up.

There were no seats at the international departure.  They simply disappeared.  For someone who’se flight is yet to start check-in, they simply have to stand there waiting for the counters to open.  Can you believe that?  What about the elderly and the people who need to rest?  Have the airport authorities ever thought about their comfort?

And the cafe’s selling stuff in Chennai airport are nothing but daylight robbery.  Tea is sold for Rs 30.  A samosa / aloo bonda costs Rs 60.  Whereas you get a good Cafe Coffee Day coffee at the Hyderabad airport for just Rs 15.

I can go on and on about the pathetic situation at Chennai airport, but its a waste of time.  Its a perfect example of why the airport needs to be handed over to a private player so that they can do a better job of the same.  Anyone with doubts can look at Hyderabad, Bangalore, Delhi and Bombay airports and compare them to the ones run by AAI.  There is simply no comparison.

Back at office and a mountain of work stares me in the face.  Time to get going.

Chennai picture courtesy: I’m seeing green ;  Hyderabad tank bund and NTR gardens picture courtesy: Hyderabad

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They say, “a bully is always a coward“.  Under mobocracy, they thrive and rule. And when the opposition stands up to them, they panic.  Its been same of dictators worldwide and its same of political wannabies.

First we saw the bully Raj Thackeray exhorting his goons of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) to beat up migrant workers from UP and Bihar who came to Bombay to find work.  And when the government removed the Z category security, he panicked and started accusing the government of making plans to eliminate him.

Same is the case with Varun Gandhi.  Only an idiot would agree with the mother-son claims that the CD showing Varun Gandhi using threatening and vulgar words against the Muslim community and the Prime Minister were morphed or somehow tampered with.

Even a layman could make out that Varun went on with his hate filled speech which was gleefully applauded by the chaddi gang till someone filmed the speech and bought the crime to light.   The same Varun Gandhi who once threatened to cut down people of a certain community is now quivering in fear and is hiding under his mamma’s pallu as there are rumors that the sharp shooters of underworld don, Chhota Shakeel are on the lookout to eliminate him.

In the wake of the arrest of six sharpshooters of the Chota Shakeel gang, who were allegedly planning to kill the lawyer of Varun Gandhi, Bharatiya Janata Party Member of Parliament Maneka Gandhi on Sunday shot off a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, saying she was concerned about her son’s safety.

“It is with the deepest concern for my son’s life and safety that I write to you today,” she said in her letter in the wake of the arrest of the gang members.

In a separate statement, Varun, 29, said while he was not personally intimidated by such cowardly threats, strong precautions must be taken to defeat the desperate designs of extremist elements.

“The Home Ministry should respond with the urgency and responsibility that behoves those entrusted with the safety of a whole nation,” he said, claiming that it was a plot against his life by dangerous underworld criminals.

The Delhi police on Saturday claimed that the gang had come to the capital to allegedly kill Varun’s lawyer.

Read the rest of the funny news here.

Honestly, such hatemongers are at best dead and buried.

Raj & dog’s pic source: Amreekandesi; Varun & Menaka pic source: TribuneIndia

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The incomplete Bandra-Worli sealink in Bombay was formally inaugurated by Sonia Gandhi yesterday.  The second carriageway of the sealink will only be completed by the year end.  For a project that has already been in the making for more than 10 years, why the hurry to inagurate it so fast, when its yet to be completed?  Is it something to do with scoring some brownie points just before the Maharashtra assembly elections?

Also, why name the bridge after Rajiv Gandhi? What did he do to deserve the name on the bridge?  Was he the mason or the engineer or the company that executed the project? Havent we had enough of the Gandhi names adorning everything in the country?  Is there no one in the billion odd citizens of India who can be honoured with their name on the bridge.  Anyway, why cant we stick with the original name of the bridge, Bandra Worli Sealink (BWSL)?

Couldnt the sycophants of Congress not find a single person from the hundreds dead in the terrorist attack last year whose name could be adorned to the bridge? Does the UPA have any plans to change India’s name to Gandhistan or Rajivistan?

I would support any move by the government that would name all our public toilets after Rajiv or Indira Gandhi.  That would be one project i would be happy to see named after the Gandhi family.  How about Rajiv Gandhi Shauchalaya or Smt Indira Gandhi Toilet ?

Why doesnt the sycophant Congress workers plan something on this matter? Am sure their dear madam, Sonia Gandhi wont object to something so noble.

Above pictures source:NDTV

Skyscrapercity link to the BWSL project here

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Tata Motors said it will launch its ultra-cheap Nano car in Mumbai on Monday — a vehicle meant to herald a revolution by making it possible for the world’s poor to purchase their first car. But few predict the snub-nosed Nano will be able to turn around the company, which has been beset by flagging sales and high debt, anytime soon.

The Nano, which is priced starting at about 100,000 rupees ($2,050), is a stripped-down car for stripped-down times: It is 10.2 feet (3.1 meters) long, has one windshield wiper, a 623cc rear engine, and a diminutive trunk, according to the company’s Web site. It does not have air bags or antilock brakes — neither of which is required in India — and if you want air conditioning, a radio, or power steering, you’ll have to pay extra.

Tata Motors has been hard-hit by the global downturn. Commercial vehicle sales, its core business, have been decimated as India’s growth slows, and consumers have had trouble getting affordable car loans. The company declared a loss of 2.63 billion rupees ($54 million) for the October to December quarter, and it has been struggling to refinance the remaining $2 billion of a $3 billion loan it took to buy the Jaguar and Land Rover brands from Ford Motor Co. in June. Even the launch of the Nano has been scaled back.

The car is arriving six months late because of violent protests by farmers and opposition political party leaders over land, which forced Tata to move its Nano factory from West Bengal to the business-friendly state of Gujarat. Company officials have said it will take at least a year to complete the new factory, and until then, Tata will only be able to produce a limited number of Nanos from its other car plants in India.

Tata Motors hasn’t yet given details on production volumes, but most analysts doubt the company will be able to make more than about 50,000 cars in the next year — a far cry from the 250,000 the company had planned to roll out initially. Vaishali Jajoo, auto analyst at Mumbai’s Angel Broking, said even if Tata Motors manages to sell 250,000 Nanos a year, it will only add 3 percent to the company’s total revenues.

“That doesn’t make a significant difference to the top line. And for the bottom line, it will take five to six years to break even,” Jajoo said.

Still, in this new age of global thrift, the Nano sounds appealing to more than just the struggling farmers and petty businessmen across India that Tata initially had in mind for the car. “What do you think the chances are that the Nano will come to America? Personally, I’d love one,” Steven Smith, whose first car was a Volkswagen Dune Buggy, wrote recently on the Nano Facebook page.

Tata Motors unveiled the Tata Nano Europa, a slightly more robust version of the Indian model, at the Geneva Motor Show this month, with a planned launch of 2011. But the company has no plans to bring the Nano to America anytime soon.

Above news source: Associated Press

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A lot of good things and humongous amount of ugly things happened in 2008.  The global financial meltdown, terror attacks in Bombay and the rest of the country, millions of job losses, more than 20 banks going bust in the US.  Big investment companies like Lehman, Merrill Lynch, Bear Stearns etc down the drain.  All the bad things were very promptly covered by the world media.  So, let me look at some of the best things that happened to me this year.

Best thing to happen to me in 2008

I got married.  Is there anything better than this?

Travel in 2008

I made 4 trips to India this year and contributed my part to global warming.  So, other than the regular trips home, 2008 has been a pretty dry year when it came to travel.  2009 seems more promising as i already have lots of travel plans lined up now that i have my wife as my travel partner.

Movies in 2008

Have lost count of the number of movies i watched this year.  It should be more than 150.  That means around one in 2 days.  Fortunately, i dont restrict myself to any particular genre or language,  so i have had the honour of watching some truly remarkable movies across languages

Let me emphasize that all the movies mentioned below are not necessarily released this year.  These are just some of the movies that i saw this year which impressed me.

Aamir
A Wednesday
Mithya
Oye Lucky Lucky Oye
Jodhaa Akbar
Tahaan
Subramaniapuram (Tamil)
Dasavatharam (Tamil)
Gamyam (Telugu)
Slumdog Millionaire
Dark Knight
Children of Men
Death at a Funeral
Before Sunset
Taken
21
3:10 to Yuma
Transsiberian
Rebel without a cause
The Towering Inferno
In Bruges
Traffic
Gran Torino
28 weeks later
Rang-E-Khoda (Colour of Paradise) – Iranian
Bacheha-Ye aseman (Children of Heaven) – Iranian

Books in 2008

Kaoboys of R&AW – B Raman
Eleven Minutes – Paulo Coelho
Reluctant Fundamentalist – Mohsin Hamid
Freakonomics – Steven Levitt
Barefoot Investor – Scott Pape
Undercover Economist – Tim Harford
It happened in India – Kishore Biyani
We are like that only – Rama Bijapurkar
The World is Flat – Thomas Friedman
Intelligent Investor – Benjamin Graham

Investments in 2008

At the begining of the year even though there were predictions that the world economy was in for a rough ride, no one would have believed if the markets would be at a situation where it is now.  From 20,000 to 9000, the Sensex has been on a mother of all crashes.  My portfolio is totally in the red.  But then as some great soul said…

Buy when everyone sells and sell when everyone buys

Iam buying and have built up quite a bit of my portfolio by now.  I averaged out quite a lot of my losses and surely dont need the market to climb back to 20k to see a positive portfolio.  I still cant believe why people keep advising me that i should start buying only when the market is stable.

How does one judge when a market turns stable?  The worst thing you can do is to time the market.  Its practically impossible for anyone to guess the top and the bottom of the market. The only thing a long term investor can do is to religiously invest a bit of his savings in the market and cash out when he hits paydirt.

Career in 2008

Nothing interesting happened in my career during 2008. In fact, hanging on to the job one has is the mantra in this gloomy economy. In fact this is a good time to start studying and get certified in some courses that can make a difference when the economy rebounds.

My resolution for 2009

…. is to have no resolutions

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Some more Pakistani lies through the eyes of cartoonists

All pictures collated by Twenty-22

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More articles on how the US has ignored / nurtured ISI, the rogue Pakistani intelligence agency.  So much that it has today gone out of control and has become the organiser and funds one of the world’s largest terrorist network.

Some good articles that nail the Pakistani lie

Pakistan’s Jihad – The Weekly Standard

Risk Factors – New Yorker

How to break a terrorist – Time

Interview with Rakesh Maria (Mumbai Joint Commissioner of Police) – Read all the 3 parts of the interview where he puts forth most of the evidence that indicates Pakistani Army/ISI involvement in the Mumbai attacks.  And also proof that all the terrorists involved in the Mumbai attack were Pakistani nationals.

Pakistani town’s relation to the Mumbai attacks – Washingtonpost

Mumbai: A battle in the war for Pakistan – Council on Foreign Relations

Mumbai terrorists and their global agenda – Yale Global

Thats quite a lot to read over what i thought would have been a lazy weekend   Thanks to Prempanicker for collating all the links.  Follow Prem on his twitter link.

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Vir Sanghvi makes a chilling comparison between the Joker (villain in the movie Batman) and the terrorists who attacked Mumbai last month.

Interesting read.  Read the full article here

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