COOL!

Recently on our trip to arizona, we happen to go to a place called Sedona. Its a beautiful scenic place in arizona. thanks to my friend who suggested us to add to our itenary.I have never been in a snow before. the first experience to walk in the snow and to get the feel of it was amazing. I am not sure how much fun it would be to live in a place where it snows, but its worth every minute for the experience and feel of it.

what you give is NOT what you get!

This has been in practice in India for years, may be centuries. But recently i was watching a program and they were saying that this is currently becoming popular in US. In India, every region has its own name, in US they call as peer loans. Since the banks interest rates are high and varies depending upon your credit score, lot of people are preferring this. its a win-win situation for the lender and the borrower. the borrower gets it at a comparitively lower interest and the lender gets more interest for the money, than if he deposits in a fixed account. there are a lots of websites to check and be part of this growing community. However for us, this is old school and we know how it ends!

A gallon a day eats cash away

I remember in Jan 2006, the gas prices were around $2.0 per gallon. today its $3.2 per gallon. On one hand they say US economy is crashing, on the other hand the oil companies have cashed in $20 to $40 billion profit last year. unbelievable. with this profit, 20 million cars, consuming an average of 10 gallons a week, could fill up the gas for one year. Its high time they come up with more alternate sources.

What's yours?

I need a cup of coffee everyday morning. it does really energize my day. I am so addicted to it, the moment i get into the office, i log on to the laptop and the next thing, i will be heading towards the coffee machine. Mine is a coffee morning, what's yours?

Can India really win an Oscar!

Another year goes by and in the oscar the film selected by indian panel didn't make it to the nomination in oscar! I am not so crazy about india winning an oscar. but the question is can india really win it. with only one category for foreign language, with the rest of the world competing, with so many songs for no reason in our movies, with politics playing a major role in selection, its going to be tough.

May be its high time Indian cinema starts its own awards that are in competition to oscar. the indian film industry is definitely bigger than the hollywood in terms of viewer capacity. but the biggest advantage with hollywood is that all movies are made in english and are mostly from one single place, hollywood. but with so many regional language, bigger politics, bollywood, kollywood, tollywood, etc., it would be a nightmare to create an award similar to oscar that get international attention. but still i think it is doable if we have a selection panel who are not biased and if politicians are kept completely isolated. but that would be a mission to pluto!

jana gana mana........

Most of them know this is our national anthem. but how many of us really know the meaning of this. i wouldn't be surprised if many think it is hindi without knowing it actually is bengali.

We have been singing this song since we were kid and its so sad that many of us don't know what it means. honestly i didn't know what it meant. i even didn't bother to find it out until recently. we pay respect to this by standing up and saluting most of the time, but without knowing what we are singing.

It was bengali because tagore wrote it in bengali.but why would they still keep it in bengali. if hindi is the national language, then our national anthem should be in hindi.

Either they should tell the kids in the school the meaning of our anthem so that they know what they are singing or else shouldn't ask them to sing. i wouldn't be suprised either if many of our politicians, defense personals, government officials don't know what it means. Public in general most of them wouldn't know, thats for sure.

It was written by Rabindranath Tagore in honor of King George V and the Queen of England when they visited India in 1911 and if you read the meaning they praise the king rather than Mother India.

Its so unfortunate that we have been singing and paying respect to a song for more than 60 years after independence, that we don't understand, not written in our national language, which praises british ruler and not India, Great!

One thing i'm happy is that most of us who can speak only english and regional language can be proud that they could sing in another language bengali.

Check this website for the english translation

http://india.gov.in/knowindia/national_anthem.php

Electronic vending machine

I have used vending machine for coffee, sodas, chips etc., but recently i was in houston airport on a trip to Phoenix and i was surprised to see a electronic vending machine. it had sony handycam, apple ipod, canon powersot, headphones, etc., all you need to do is, insert your credit card, pick the item number and boom, the product falls into the bin, pick it up and you have bought it..

How simple it is... may be this was in existance for quite sometime, but i was taking notice of this in the airport for the first time and was thrilled.

Companies are trying everything to reach out to the people. a good step forward in the consumer market.

May be one day they might have vending machines from different retailers at one place and you could name your own price in the machine and it would go to the respective dealers and you might get a deal at the lowest price and then pick up the product and go on your way, just like your internet, the only difference is that you could pick up the product immediately rather waiting for the delivery.
Technology man!