Homage to 26/11 Mumbai attack martyrs

We are proud of you for your sacrifice...

if it was not for your efforts, some of us might not have been alive

Paying homage to the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack martyrs:

Shri Hemant Karkare

Shri Hemant Karkare, Joint Commissioner of Police, ATS, Mumbai (A brave officer and a gentleman)
Shri Ashok Kamte, Additional Commissioner of Police, East Region, Mumbai
Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan, Indian Army
Shri Vijay Salaskar, Police Inspector, Anti Extortion Cell, Mumbai
Shri Shashank Shinde, Police Inspector, CST Railway station
Shri Prakash P More, Police Sub-Inspector, LT Marg Police Station
Shri Bapusaheb Durugade, Police Sub-Inspector, LA 1, Naigaon
Shri Tukaram G Omble, Assistant Police Sub-Inspector, DB Marg Police Station

Shri Balasaheb Bhosale, Assistant Police Sub-Inspector
Shri M C Chowdhary, Police Head Constable RPF
Shri Gajendra Singh, NSG Commando
Shri Arun Chithe, Police Constable

Shri Ashok Kamte

Shri Jaywant Patil, Police Constable
Shri Yogesh Patil, Police Constable
Shri Ambadas Pawar, Police Constable
Shri Vijay Khandekar, Police Constable
Shri Rahul S Shinde, Police Constable, SRPF Group X Solapur
Shri Mukesh B Jadhav, Home Guard Constable

Why is Kasab still surviving 26/11???

I can never forget that fateful day two years ago on 26/11/2008. We returned from our honeymoon only to be shocked with the news on television. We couldn't believe our eyes and ears. Is it a nightmare? It can't be true. We were hooked onto the news channels and internet news sites for days together.

I can't explain the hatred I developed for Kasab and whoever the masterminds of the Mumbai attacks might be. For the first time in my life I wanted someone to suffer... someone to be brutally tortured. Little did I know that today, two years from then, I would still be wanting him to be punished. Kasab - why is he the one to survive the 26/11 attacks???  The person (no, he can't be a human) who walked peacefully after mercilessly killing many is still at peace!!! Why are we not setting an example by punishing him severely??? Why are we not sending a strong message to all the terrorists out in the world - DON'T MESS WITH OUR NATION OR ELSE...


We owe it to all the martyrs and all those great people who fought the 26/11 terrorists, don't we? But all we can do is wait for the system to take its course. Trials after trials after trials. The people who were killed for no fault of theirs had no trial for anything... they were killed in an instant, there families' lives changed in a day. And Kasab is still facing trials!!! Everyone saw what happened... yet???

I know there's no point saying all this... as whatever has to happen with those responsible will take its own 'procedural' course. But then all I can do with those in-humans is express my hatred, yet again!

If there were 2 Sundays a week!

Every Monday, every person is on the same page, “Sunday got over too fast!” A 2-day weekend (that some of us ‘enjoy’) is seldom sufficient. And we get into this regular Monday day dreaming mode… If only there were no Mondays, if only there were 2 Sundays…

They say everything happens for the best. I wondered what could be ‘best’ about having just one Sunday a week. So, I decided to evaluate the pros and cons of having 2 Sundays a week… aah a 4-day working week! And here are my findings on having an extra Sunday every week:

1. YIPPEE! More hours of sleep. OOPS! More weight gain.
2. YIPPEE! More time with better half. OOPS! More effort convincing the ‘better half’ to accompany us shopping, dining, movies, etc.
3. YIPPEE! More shopping at malls. OOPS! Being in crowd, traffic and noise one more day. More expenses.
4. YIPPEE! More dining out. OOPS! More waiting during crowded weekends, more expenses. More weight gain.
5. YIPPEE! More time at home. OOPS! More cooking, cleaning and getting frustrated when the house-help bunks on Sunday… I mean Sundays!
6. YIPPEE! More bank holidays. OOPS! Having just 4.5 days to do the entire bank related work.
7. YIPPEE! A longer weekend. OOPS! Wondering we work so much – more than half a week. Wishing if there were 3 Sundays a week!

Conclusion: It’s all for the best. One Sunday a week is good. There’s no harm day dreaming of an extra Sunday though ;)

SIM in full form thanks to KBC4

"What is the full form of SIM?"

Amitabh Bachchan asked this question to a contestant and I felt embarrassed. Smart? Subscriber? Service?... Seriously, what is the full form? I was so clueless when I walked into the room while my mom-in-law was watching KBC4. She instantly guessed aloud "Subscriber"!

Like most of our parents, she was never keen on having a mobile phone when we surprised her with it on her birthday. She uses the gadget only for answering and making calls when absolutely necessary. Of course she has never removed the SIM card from its slot. And there she spoke confidently "Full form of SIM is obviously Subscriber". Damn, I felt so embarrassed and while I juggled between Smart and Subscriber. I confessed I really have no idea... an idea that can change your life especially when you are seated in front SIRji's dad in Kaun Banega Crorepati! And even though I was not out there, I was so uncomfortable about not knowing the answer.

If Alibaba existed today, he must have been so disappointed. All he knew was that "Khul Ja Sim Sim" opens the doors to a treasure worth Crores. But not when the treasure lies with Amitabh Bachchan!

The moment Big B popped the question, people started Googling "Full form of SIM", "SIM card", "SIM means", "SIM fullform", "full form of SIM card" and what not. In fact, as I write this post on the next morning of the SIM waala episode, Google is still buzzing with these search terms! So, I was not the only one clueless about it ;)

Today, I did enhance my knowledge by Googling it. The full form of the abbreviation SIM is Subscriber Identity Module. A SIM card securely stores the service-subscriber key (IMSI) used to identify a subscriber on a mobile phone. By the way, the first SIM card was made in 1991, I had my first mobile phone and first SIM card in 2002 and now I know what it means ;)

A few years ago, Webchutney (if I am not wrong) made this viral / ad for Airtel + KBC. They used the Khul Ja Sim Sim idea... if only they had educated us on the full form of AAJ KA SIM then!!!

The four-word sentence

She called me up around 8 am. I saw her name beeping on my phone and I almost knew the bad news she'd to share. No... I wasn't prepared to hear it. Not today.

I answered the call with great hesitation. She was stammering. I knew it would be tough for her to inform us all. But some things have to be told, some things have to be heard. Those four words shook my day. "I can't come today", my househelp called in sick!

PS - I hope she recovers soon. Not for my selfish reasons. I really mean it.

Commonwealth Games 2010 Opening Ceremony 71 contingents update

Presentation of the teams from 71 countries participating in Commonwealth Games 2010 during the Opening Ceremony is impressive. Each team is led / welcomed by an Indian lady dressed in saree. So essentially we see 71 women dressed in 71 different styles of sarees. It's a beautiful experience to see the excited participants from so many countries - Cook Islands, Guernsey, Falkland, England, Australia, Bangladesh, Ghana, Guyana, Isle of Man, Jamaica, Jersey... and of course India!

Common Wealth Games (CWG) 2010 Opening Ceremony Live Updates

If you are not watching the Common Wealth Games 2010 Opening Ceremony on Doordarshan right now, you are surely missing a lot. I can't help but share the live updates with you. Check out the aerofloater with the larger than life puppets swaying elegantly. A little prodigy playing tabla as beautifully as Ustad Zakir Hussain. The musical covering the entire variety across India. Hariharan singing Swagatham with people forming a Namaste and the lovely dancing hands formed by people. Kids forming huge mehendi designs on a huge sheet. You have to see it to believe it. For me, it's one of the best opening ceremonies.

Helpless without househelp

What is happiness? Your househelp doesn’t turn up. You start feeling helpless and try to reschedule your day. You start washing the utensils and wonder how you’ll manage the rest of the work. The doorbell rings and the angel arrives!

Rahman's new Common Wealth Games song video

The new and official song video of Common Wealth Games (CWG) is now available. Now this is what we call a short and sweet anthem. And of course it's much peppier than the earlier version - Rahman and Bharatbala magic we must say!

Here's the Oh yaaron, yeh India bulaa liya video:


Click here for the earlier lyrics of the CWG theme song.

Take your health seriously. ACT NOW!

I learnt it the hard way but you need not. Ignoring symptoms like aches, fever, stomach problems etc. etc. can sometimes take a horrible toll on you. Especially if you have regular but 'bearable' episodes of such things. Remember, there's no harm in consulting a doctor (allopathy, homeopathy, ayurveda... whatever you believe in). But being 'busy' or 'lazy' and postponing the doctor's appointment for a long period can really make your condition difficult. The more delay in visiting a doc, the greater time it takes to heal.

Does it appear I'm exaggerating? Not at all. 

Not always, but at times the condition reaches an incurable phase. And trust me there are medical conditions you or people around you haven't heard of. Some, like Spondyloarthropathy, affect your daily life and job. When you start facing immense difficulty in the smallest of activities like waking up, lifting your handbag, working on the computer, standing for a while, walking for a while, managing the tiniest household chores... sooner or later you are considered to be a 'lazy' person. Working full time gets really impossible. Feeling of dependency and helplessness seeps in and you spend more time trying to work things out and convincing people that you are really suffering. Irritability is obvious. Why on earth do you even need to assure people that you really are in pain??? Why on earth must the effect of your condition on people's perception about you be more important than its effect on you? But it can happen, sooner or later. Unless of course you are super duper lucky (I hope you are).

Anyway, there's one way out though. Don't be too lazy or too busy to visit a doctor when you face some problem in your system (when you face issues in your computer system, how quickly you meet the hardware guy!). Boring as it may seem, but it would help you in the long run. And as all the wise people say, exercising does you a lot good.

Send this article to at least xyz people and you'll feel better.
Send this article to an important place in your brain and you'll STAY BETTER and HEALTHIER.