Da Taj Code

I recently read somewhere the following as a brief intro to Taj Mahal, the endangered world wonder of India:

“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.

Tags: Taj Mahal | India |

CITI never sleeps, it SPAMS!

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:

Road trip to Ladakh : Some pictures

yeah! Garfieldness has taken over me big time, and I am too lazy to post on my blog, even reading other blogs.

Till the time I break free out of this state, enjoy some more pictures from my visit to Ladakh almost 2 months back….

All these pictures are from the road journey from Manali to Leh, undoubtedly the most magnificent and adventurous road trip of my life so far… :)

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Morning rays at Sarchu

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Over night camping at Sarchu

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Snow!!

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Tanglangla Pass : at 17582 ft the second highest motorable road pass of the world.

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Tanglangla : Another view

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Entering Leh… Buddhist structures called Chartons are visible :)

originally uploaded by AmitKen.

more to follow …..  :o)

Update: even as I have published this post on the blog, i already feel like i shud have added few more words along with these pictures to make it more meaningful and tarvelogue type… So dont be surprised if you see me back in action a lil too soon ;-)

Tags: India | Ladakh | Leh | photography

Blogger’s Block

There is much of hulla gulla going on over the blocking of blogspot and many other blogsites. And as it often happens in such cases, rhetoric has once again taken precedence over sense. We have seen some very strong reactions from bloggers across India.

I am sure no blogger is happy about their blogs being blocked or about being unable to read others’ blogs. And it surely is frustrating. However we must put things in perspective before crying out loud….

Was the ban imposed to stop certain people/organizations with doubtful integrity from exchanging information via blogs ?

Now, if the answer to this question is Yes, then I’d say the we the bloggers should take a chill pill for a while. Though no one likes to be blocked, but this is least of the inconveniences we should not mind suffering, given the delicate nature of times we are going through as a nation.

The recent 7/11 ( or as per Indian/British convention, should we say 11/7 ? ) bombings have caused an red-alert situation at a national level. Everyday there are hoax calls threatening another bomb attack at one place or another. So it is understandable that in the larger interest of National Security, we the people of India might have to go through some inconvenience. Aren’t we already frisked at multiplexes, airports etc? The India Gate bomb hoax caused disrupted traffic and inconvenience to the people visiting India Gate, but that was necessary. Security forces can not take chances, just because people are inconvenienced.

So in that sense, if the idea behind blocking blogs was to stop terrorists/anti-national outfits from exchanging information via blogs, I do not mind at all if for a few days I am unable to blog. I think government can, in such a scenario, take a decision of temporarily blocking websites. Bloggers & blog readers in India after all form an extremely small percentage of over all population, and blogs are not a critical and mass means of providing information. Though the manner in which Government went about this decision is still questionable.

However if the answer to the question above is NO, then there are several more questions to be asked. As it has been reported widely in media, there were some 20 odd websites which government wanted to be blocked. Which in my opinion was a ridiculous step to be taken in today’s time and age. In such a case government has actually overstepped and violated our freedom to voice opinions, and our freedom to know what others opine. There are questions which need to be answered by Government and ISP’s and air needs to be cleared.

Both the government and/or ISP’s have shown their technical incompetence by thinking of blocking only a handful of blogging servers (like blogspot, typad) and leaving others (like wordpress, live journal, and many others). There are various ways of how these blocked sites could still be accessed. The lack of clarity, the clandestine approach and no clear cut statement from government till now only puts them on a slippery ground.

A group of Delhi Bloggers, of which I am also a member, has taken lead to put an end to various speculations being made in blogosphere about the whole issue in absence of any clear message from government so far, and Abby - another member of this group - has invoked an RTI petition. The motive is not to challenge and corner government but to understand government’s point of view (which unfortunately has not been communicated to the nation). Based on what comes out of this, if required, bloggers may as well think of challenging government decision. The media has also been highlighting this issue prominently and CNN IBN was supposed to cover reaction of Delhi Bloggers earlier today.

Hopefully the unanswered questions will be answered, till then let the sense prevail over rhetoric.

We don’t deserve this

After the shocking news of 7/11 blasts in Mumbai, I tried to contact all my relatives n friends thru phone, SMS, e-mails. This is what a Banglore based friend who’se family is in Mumbai wrote back….

“Dad was travelling in the same train (mahim) the blasts took place…fortunately he was in the first class toward the rear of the train… apart from slight pain in the ear due to the impact of the blasts…he is ok and reached home safely 4 hrs later… at the same time my sister was travelling to borivili and the blasts took place when their train left kandivili and was nearing borivili… they had to jump of the train and walk to the borivili station…where they saw dead bodies being carried away… all phone lines were jammed…i got to know they were safe…thanks to yahoo…but got to speak to them only after mid night…

hope all other families are safe and not affected like mine… we always talk about the victims being one among us…but this was so close… thank god i was not affected….but i do feel for all those who lost their near and dear ones…

they were just getting back home from a hard days of work….and didnt deserve it… i am so angry with this incident….i feel its high time some action is taken… we need to march to karachi once again!!! and this time not hand it over back…“

In this moment of anger and shock, I think what he said is right - that we dont deserve this. Would we continue being a soft state and wil our political leaders keep chanting the age old matra of ‘this won’t derail the peace process’? Peace Process!!! my foot. How many innocent lives later will our government dare to take a decisive action?

‘Not Winning’ is called ‘Losing’ and not a ‘Draw’

Staying awake till 3.30 am for two consecutive days only to see a winnable test match ending up in a draw, is not a good feeling. And you feel even worse when you see that the captain of your team is not sad for not being able to win the match, instead he is busy patting his and his team's back for staging a comeback in the game. Ass.

Lack of strategic leadership and pathetic pace(?) attack of Indian bowlers, is solely responsible for not being able to pull up a victory which was very much there to be grabbed. I am in a highly depressing and cribbing mode, and can blurt out a lot more about last night's loss (yes, i call it a loss - not a draw). But I'd rather encourage you to read Gaurav's blog, as he is feeling the same pain and anguish as I am, and every word on his post echoes my own feelings.

Though I always believe that the playing 11 are to be utilized in best possible way to win the match, and any excuses for some players not being in the team are stupid - but this time I felt that Irfan Pathan and/or Bhajji's experienced presence, however outta form or low on confidence they might be, would have certainly made a difference, specially with a drained out VRV Singh taking ages just to reach his bowling mark and a visibly trembling Shreesanth.  

In continuation with the subject of my last post, the ICC is totally silent on Lara's inappropriate behavior on the ground yesterday. It's only a guess how ICC would have reacted if it was an Indian player who was at fault.

Update : 8th June'06

As I had suspected towards the end of my post, ICC has actually gone ahead and fined Sehwag 20% of match fee for excessive appealing, however Lara remains untouched for his dramatic and unsportsman like behaviour. Siddhartha at Cricinfo has very rightly pointed out the double standards of ICC. This, I suppose is the right time for BCCI to flex it's muscle and stand by the team, but would they?

Tags: | cricket | test cricket | indian cricket | International cricket council | BCCI

Bizarre!!!

It's around 2.30 AM in India. I am up watching the 4th days play of 1st Cricket test between India and West Indies, and quiet pleased with the way India are conducting itself - for the first time during the entire tour so far.

151st over of India's second innings in being bowled. Mohammed is the bowler, and Kaif is facing him. First ball, Kaif tucks the ball to take a comfortable single. This brings Dhoni on strike now. Dhoni has already completed his half century in just 47 balls with 4 fours and 3 sixes. He is in devastating mood, and he sends next three balls of Mohammed out of the ropes for massive sixes. Bryan Lara has a look on his face, which is worried but is also acknowledging the sheer power and brilliance of Dhoni's game. Mohammed delivers his next ball, and Dhoni sends even this one packing out of the grounds… but wait the ball just makes it to the ropes and there is Ganga waiting for the ball. He catches the ball cleanly but no one's sure if he touched the rope while doing so. Umpires go to third umpire, and third umpire says he cant help as the replays are inconclusive. The decision needs to be made by the ground umpires. The ground umpires talk to the fielder, the fielding captain and consults third umpire. They just fall short of discussing with the viewers in the ground, and probably conducting a snap SMS poll on the TV.  After ages of discussions ground umpires finally decide to give benefit of doubt to the batsman.

But wait - drama is not over yet. Even as the field umpires indicate Dhoni to continue, Lara who is quiet agitated by this time, walks up to the umpires to protest and asks them to take word of the fielder. More surprise! Umpires who have already taken a decision, easily get influenced and decide to discuss again, with third umpire and with the batsman. (oh! why don't they discuss with viewers, silly!) They are not taking a frikkin decision but trying to reach a compromise… In a while Lara reaches out to the Indian batsmen and perhaps asks them to take fielders' word. It's a stupid drama being played out there, instead of decisions being made, people are trying to persuade one of the parties to give in.
Dravid, who has been watching all the drama from pavillion, and is visibly upset with this, decides to decalre the innings. In a while it also becomes known that Dhoni finally agreed to the pleas of umpires and Lara, and gave his consent for being declared out.

Ha!

Even after the days' play is over, and it's 3.30 am in India, I am not asleep. Today’s  unprecedented event has enlightened me, and shown me the path on which Cricket should go. Two initial thoughts that come to my mind are:

1) Going forward, we should have voting on the field - decisions should be taken in a purely democratic manner.

2) Captains should be given 5 minutes of extra time, every time there is an appeal, to try and influence/persuade the umpires and/or the players of opposing team so as to reach a mutually acceptable decision.

Think about these, Cricket is after all a gentlemen's game.

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Update:

Siddharth at CricInfo gives out the exact details.
Pratyush has video clippings of the incident.
Sakshi mentions how Lara crumbled under Dhoni's pressure.
worma @ Cricket 24×7 is pondering between the official and unofficial aspects of the drama.
Tags: | cricket | test cricket | indian cricket |

Just Chill

One of the most amazing and creative wars on earth today is the Cola War which is fought in the battlefield of advertising. Every summer Pepsi and Coca Cola come up with new advertising campaigns for their respective array of carbonated drinks available in market and compete fiercely for that grand prize called Market Share. In the process the war sometimes also gets ugly with some below the belt advertising - creating spoofs on rival advertising campaign.

Now, I am no advertising guru, but observing commercials and weighing them on my personal criteria has always been kind of a hobby for me. I have my own personal choice, as a consumer and as a keen observer of advertisements. So here is my countdown on the advertisements of various carbonated drinks being aired this summer. The spoof advertisements have not been considered.

# 10. Pepsi TV
With the amazing star lineup that Pepsi has always enjoyed, the first part of this campaign was an immediate eye catcher. The inimitable SRK along with hotties Kareena and Priyanka created that much needed curiosity about Pepsi TV. But after all the hoopla over pepsi TV, came the second part of the campaign - and it was such a huge disappointment. Pepsi was expected to be more creative and much more witty. But alas, Kareena and Priyanka while describing the concept of Pepsi TV, sound dumb bimbos - and nothing more. Also the kind of loose language used - like Kareena commanding SRK 'Muh khol' and the cable guy asserting 'khula hi to hai' - does not help Pepsi's cause anywhere.
This campaign was built around a loose concept and expectedly sounded too dumb. For the sheer waste of the amazing star power on Pepsi's side, this campaign earns the lowest spot in my rankings. Pepsi people, Yeh Dil Maange More…

# 9. 7 Up – Sabse cool (??)
Ah! Why would any brand want to get disassociated with sizzling hot, sexy and oh! so glamorous Yana Gupta in the first place? and then even if they do, why in the world would they want to replace Yana with Mallika of all the people? Isn't entire country already sick enough of her boobs, and she is asking for more curves? Ah! I know, Yana Gupta is not that visible and popular these days, even though she has some class associated with her. But Mallika, though she is crass (and crasser when she opens her mouth), she also is more 'visible' and is always in news for one reason for another.
Having said that Mallika looks particularly ugly in the advertisement - and even Fido seems to be wanting to get rid of her by converting her into a bottle. Though I wonder how many people would still want to put that bottle on their lips to drink 7up? Yaaakkk!!!

# 8. Mirinda.. oh! oooh!!
Ah! Aaah!! The ad spotting Zayed Khan, tries hard to sound n look cool and all that. But just like his movies, this commercial too does not cut much ice.

# 7. Fanta – Masti ka Chataka
A trying to act naughty Rani Mukherjee also tries to rhyme pathetically. I am still unable to understand what were the creative minds behind this commercial thinking? (..pun much intended)

# 6. Sprite –Clear Hai!
Now sprite is traditionally known for being the spoof experiment lab of Coke. But this time they bring in Indian Tennis sensation Sania Mirza. A very unglamorous and boring campaign to inform people the same old gyan. My verdict – Failure Hai!

# 5. Mountain Due
Continuing on their unusual adventure theme, this year mountain due dudes are feeling lazy. But even their laziness is no less adventurous. Without any star power at their side - they simply stick to their theme and communicate their message.

# 4. ThumsUp
Akshay Kumar literally tastes the thunder this time around. With Brilliant camera work, cool special effects and the ultimate dude of Bollywood - Akshay Kumar, ThumsUp lives up to its macho image. Thumbs-up to ThumsUp.

# 3. Coke - Thande Ka Tadka
Though there is nothing too special with this ad, and rather squeeky voice of Aishwarya does irritate you - the ad still manages to catch attention. Aishwarya looks different and the rhymings isn't all that bad. In the absence of any better ad campaigns this year - Thande Ka Tadka manages to sizzle, but just a bit.

# 2. Coke - Japani Amir
Coke ads featuring Amir have always been a class apart. And even this time Amir succeeds in making the viewers smile with his small performance as a Japanese looking Indian guy. In one word - Effective.

# 1. Limca - Boondon mein
The Limca ad this year is the clear front runner among all the commercials aired this year by soft drink industry. A wonderful jingle, nice choreography and an overall very refreshing look does the trick. Even after the ad is finished, the viewer is likely to find himself humming the ‘boondon mein’ jingle. Even without any celebrity Limca proves to be the coolest one.

Special Mention – Appy fizz
Since my countdown was restricted to the cola war, I could not include Appy Fizz in it. Appy fizz, in my opinion, have come up with most interesting ad campaign this summer. Their ad campaign ‘A cool drink to hang out with’ strikes the chord with the young urban of today very easily. The innovative concept of being friends with the drink, and that too with such coolness immediately catches your attention. My personal favorite.

In the end of this countdown I leave you with some Coca Cola India commercials which were aired in previous years. Enjoy these.

Update: (25th May'06)

Talking of creative advertising, I came across this. And I am still laughing :D
have a look, it's worth it.

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Technorati Tags : cola war | pepsi | coke | advertising | india

e-protest

Nikhil, has come up with this unique way of protesting against government's Divide and Rule (read Reservations) policy. He suggests a strategy to divide the polity instead. And he has already done what he suggested.

Go through his full post, and decide for yourself.

Technorati Tags : India | reservations | QUOTA | Politics

Terrorists in Uniform

Yes, I am talking about the Police force in India. Though every state has it's own Police Department, and they function independently - there is something which is very common among the police forces of various states of India. It's corruption, it's being a puppet of politicians, it's being Terrorists in Uniform.

I know I can be accused of Generalizing here. But what else can you say when you see that a group of students protesting against Reservation policy of government, are beaten up brutally by the police force? Are we living in a free democratic country? I hear that the students were dealt that way because they were obstructing traffic. Okay, I agree that obstructing traffic is totally wrong, but is this the way you treat a peaceful protest march? And what about those VIP's who obstruct the traffic every time they travel on the road? and what about those various political rallies which see the entire city coming to a stand still, and what about those rowdy rally supporters and party activists who think they own the entire city's infrastructure and go on destroying public property and mistreating (even beating up) common public on roads/trains/buses, just because they think that this is the way to exercise there right to protest? What does the Police do then?