iPhone, Apple’s latest gizmo thats set to lauch on this friday in US, and begin a new saga in the world of mobile telephony, is one delighting piece of technical innovation, if the reports are to be believed. iPhone, which has been named as ’Jesus’ phone by bloggers, is a sleek device comprising of an video iPod, a cellphone, web browser, camera (only stills), alarm clock and a palm organizer.
There has been a lot of hype around this gadget and critics say that despite it’s flaws it has more or less lived upto expectations. It’s expected to launched in India early 2008. Though as of now one can only speculate about the INR cost, in US the 4 GB version is gonna cost $500.
Have a look at this bheri cool NY Times video on iPhone, it makes you fall in love with it!
“In Agra, we will witness the world famous Taj Mahal built by the Moghul Emperor Shahjehan in 1630. Legend says the tomb was built for his Queen Mumtaz Mahal, who died giving birth to their fourteenth child. The death of Mumtaz left the emperor so heartbroken that his hair is said to have turned grey overnight. Construction of the Taj began in the same year and was not completed until 1653.”
Even as I was reading this, I knew it was not the complete truth. Can mourning really do that to your hair? I was not convinced… so I had to do some - ahem - research and finally I found the blatant truth. The truth, which was never told before.
So here you go with the real story of Taj Mahal:
Shahejahan was a li’l finicky, correction: in fact a finicky to the core, when it came to being prim n proper. It’s said that he took longer than Mumtaj to take bath, and get dressed everyday. Some people say, the reason behind this was that he had employed pretty women who helped him take bath, then do make-up and get dressed, and in the process he ended up undressed more than getting dressed. anyway, that’s besides the point i was trying to make. sorry for deviating from the subject.
He’s said to have executed many of his makeup women, for slightest of mistakes. Like once, one of his hairdresser gave him the Hitler haircut and moustache. He was happy with the cut until Mumtaj saw him in that avatar and she could not help but ROTFL for few hours. This angered Shahejahan so much that he ordered to hang his hairdresser, when she(the hairdresser) asked for mercy - he told her to grow a similar Hitler moustache within a week, else be killed. As you’d understand being a girl she was not able to grow a mush and she was killed a week later. Sigh! If only they had Kaya skin clinics back then!!!!! After that Shahejahan spent two months in exile, to grow his hair and mush and only then he faced Mumtaj and his junta. (This probably explains why the said hair style is not known as Shahejahan haircut, but is named after Hitler - who, as a matter of fact, was born much later).
anyway, so when Mumtaj died while giving birth to his 14th child, he was soooo sad … so sad that he even skipped his appointments with his hairstylist for hair coloring, and when he finally came out of his room after few days of mourning, his hair were all gray. Everyone who knew Shahejahan knew immediately that he was really really really heartbroken. So heartbroken that he forgot to color his hair. This, everyone noticed, was an act of a great lover. No man (a king) had loved a woman (among many of them) like this ever before. He truly loved Mumtaj.
Some say, that choice of white marble to construct Taj Mahal is also symbolic of gray hair that Shahejahan wore those days.
Thus goes the story of Taj Mahal - the symbol of true love.
Its World NoTobacco Day today. I had clicked this interesting hand written poster at a pathology lab in Kanpur few days back.
What better day than today to post it up on my blog.
Since the picture quality is not that great, I am going to translate the contents of this Hindi poster in English. It says:
Attractive Prize Scheme for those who chew tobacco or Pan Masala.
1. First Prize - Mouth Cancer
2. Second Prize - House of illness
3. Third Prize - Trip to Hospitals
4. Consolation Prize - Problems in opening mouth.
Place to find application forms: Local Pan shop
Cost of Application Form (Tobacco): Rs. 1 to Rs. 6
Venue for Prize Distribution: Cremation Ground (Bhairaon Ghat, Kanpur)
Chief Guest: Yamaraj- The god of death.
Audience: Us and you
Last Date: From Prize distribution till Terahvi (13th day from Death)
Note: People in waiting list should wait for few more days.
Heheh.. I hope Sarcasm has it’s effect on people. :)
On how CITIbank India, sent me a Welcome email and on requesting them to unsubscibe me from their e-mails, responded with more spam.
The Beginning:
I discover that I am a Citibank customer! and that I have also been registered for some CitiAlert service. All this without my knowledge or consent. (I had a citibank card long long long long ago, I guess it must’ve been 4 years at least, since i stopped using that card. I remember not renewing that card when it got expired.) This is the mail I received:Read the rest of this entry »
One of the best cricket adverts I’ve seen lately. Nike makes a big impression on Indian TVC space. Watch out Adidas & Reebok!For more on cricket adverts this worldcup season, checkout my detailed post on DesiDabba.
As a brother I am not of a very over protective kind, at least that is what I try to be in front of my sister. I’ve always wanted her to tackle things on her own and I am glad to say that she’s never disappointed me at that. One over protective dad is enough for her, I guess. ;-)
I have always hated going to pick her up from some place or having to drop her to some place, just because she is a girl. However, despite hating it I have always done it considering the dangerous society we live in. Don’t get me wrong, I can do any thing for my sis but doing something for her which she should ideally be able to do on her own, but for the fear of ‘unsafe’ streets of our cities is something that puts me off a great deal. I hate having to live in this society which makes it compulsory for my sis to be dependent on me for even the smallest of the things.
I consider her to be a strong person as well, as she’s never come back to me crying and complaining about some guy or some event. I hope this means that she is capable enough to handling things on her own. So it came to me as a surprise when one fine evening last year she told me about some guy who was following her from the bus stop till the next traffic signal near my house, for past few days. Read the rest of this entry »
Last march 8 (Women’sDay), we had a blog-a-thon that asked you to blog stories of street sexual harassment. It began with an announcement on this blog that was picked up by bloggers across India, and soon in different parts of the world. We shared stories we had never shared before, sometimes stories we thought we had long forgotten, stories that we had often wanted to bury. We read each other, we linked to each other and we linked back to the Blank Noise Project blog. We were touched by each other’s stories, moved by them, and, we like to imagine, drew strength and sustenance from the the long, cross-cultural chain of shared experiences. Read the rest of this entry »
“yaad hai, ek din mere meij pe baithe baithe
cigarette ki dibiya par tumne
cchote se ek paudhe ka ek
sketch banaya tha
aakar dekho, us par phool aaya hai.”
The life whispered in my ears, I don’t know exactly when, but it did. I am sure of that. It said ’see, the flower has bloomed’.
And since then I’ve been restless. Restless, in an enthused way. My eyes bright with anticipation. searching.
Trying to find that cigarette pack, that page of my notebook, that blank margin of a news paper, that shiny glossy cover of a magazine, even that wall of my childhood room …
..where I could have scribbled that tiny plant. I clearly remember sketching a plant somewhere. It looked pretty. Tiny and promising.
I always hoped it’d have flowers on it someday. And now that it has, I cant seem to find it. But I will. Very soon. I hope.
iPhone
apple
Taj Mahal
India
world no tobacco day
Kanpur
