Interesting report on India by UN

According to a new UN study, more people in India (which is the world's second most crowded country) have access to a mobile telephone than to a toilet. The actual statistic is this – “India has some 545 million cell phones, enough to serve about 45% of the population, but only about 366 million people or 31% of the population had access to improved sanitation in 2008”I am sure that since the time of the survey, the number of cell phones would have at least doubled. When I read this I wanted to add a photo to the information. So here is my work on that :P(Thanks to 'indiapapa.blogspot.com' and stock photo website for the photos, also to 'Aviary' online tool - this is a wonderful alternative for photoshop!!) The UN doesn't seem to...

Do It - Once Again

I have enjoyed lot of Vivek comedies, which of late are a lot more meaningful and informative. Recently I watched the “Koffee with Anu” show (Thanks to internet and those who host these videos on their website) in which the guests were Vivek and Mayilsami “Chandrayan” Annadurai. The show was very interesting. But what stood out at the end of the show was the message that Vivek gave. One simple mantra to encompass the meaning of several statements of advice. We have heard of all these : “Success comes to the one who never stops trying”, “It is not important how many times you fall, but what is important is how many times you get up after a fall”, “Try, try and try again”, stories of Gajini Mohammed and mulla stories of how the person who tried the 100th time succeeded over the person who gave up after the 99th attempt. But all these stories in 4 short words “Do it – Once Again”. I was awed by the simplicity of the statement and wanted to share it in my blog. On a lighter vein, even if I am the only regular reader...

The magic number 33!!

The bill for 33 percentage reservation for women has been passed in Rajya Sabha after a 14 year long struggle. After a long wait, women might finally get a taste of democracy if the bill gets passed in Lok Sabha too!! Why is this historic and the most talked about bill in the past few years?? Here are some pointers for that: 1. So far, India has seen 14 Lok sabhas since the first house was formed in 1952 – the percentage of women in parliament has not surpassed 10% in all these years. 2. 13th & 14th (the past 2) lok sabhas had maximum women representation 45 out of 543 i.e. 9.02% (still not touching a two digit figure) 3. As per the bill: Reservation in Lok Sabha - 181 out of 543; Reservation in state assemblies - 1370/4109. Though it is heartening to see a small beam that promises a light at the end of the tunnel, I felt so hurt reading through the negative comments at various websites. With the advent of news on internet with an option to comment, a common man’s (reservation to set this word rite too :P )...

What Comedy?!

Today I received a mail from my cousin sister - the subject of the mail was "Potential Gold mines" and the mail contained few Keralites marriage photos. The bride in the photos were wearing so much jewels that I seriously doubted how their necks held such weight. I am not worthy to comment as I adorned a good amount during my marriage too but these are unbelievable. But upon seeing the last phot, I felt pity for the bride. I have put that picture here (its all over the internet already!). After all, it was the most important day of her life and she ends up looking like a big joke. Nowadays, even the garland worn during marriage doesnt come so low down. I dont know if she's wearing it to showcase the amout of jewels her parents are...

90/10 Principle Huh!!

One great person - Mr. Stephen Covey has invented a principle called 90/10 and the principle says '10% of life is made up of what happens to you and 90% of life is decided by how you REACT'. And he gives a cute little example - daughter knocks coffee over father's shirt on morning, he yells at daughter and yells at wife for placing the coffee mug there. Changes shirt, daughter is crying & misses school bus, wife cant drop her as she has to rush to office, he drops daughter off at school, daughter goes without waving bye, he gets to office late (after receiving a speeding ticket for driving too fast) and then realizes he forgot his briefcase. Now Mr.Covey says that all this happened not because the coffee spilled but because dad reacted in the harsh way. Had the father said 'Its okie honey' instead of yelling at daughter & wife and goes over to change his shirt, daughter'd not have cried, not have missed school bus and day would have been just fine. Agreed here sir! But does this always work is my question?...

Angaadi Theru

At last a meaningful movie in this year! Amidst all the love stories and fight flicks, here comes a movie that hits a common man in the face with the harsh realities that showcases not so rosier side of life. The third venture of the director Vasanthabalan is absolutely fantastic. I was just hoping that he does not end the movie in the somber note as in ‘Veyil’. I sort of like the ending of the movie. I don’t know how this movie is doing at the box-office. Usually meaningful movies don’t make it good at the box-office - I wish this movie runs to packed houses. The director makes sure that this does not end up as just another love story. There are so-many tragedies in life and Avvai says “kodumaiyil kodumail illamaiyil varumai”. That’s what comes to my mind when I saw the movie -the plight of youngsters toiling their lives at such super shopping ‘stores’. When we used to go shopping with my dad and we stay on till late into the night, my dad has often said this – “poor guys! They must’ve been standing the whole...