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!

and click here for some more interactive graphics. 

Tags: iPhone | apple |

“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 |

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. :)

Tags: world no tobacco day | Kanpur |

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:

Tags: Cricket | Nike | India | Commercials

I start as a contributor to Desi Dabba. My first post is already up there!

Check it out… it’s your one stop guide into Indian TV Industry.

Having heard any such a thing from her for the first time, I sat straight and started listening with ‘concerned’ written all over my face. So she smiled and said “don’t worry Dada, I have already tackled and settled it.” It made me feel better and also curious, so I asked her to tell me the entire story.

Here is what happened in her own words:

‘There was this guy, perhaps younger than me, who used to be there at the bus stand everyday when I came back from my classes, and then used to follow me from bus stand to the next traffic signal. I always ignored him. Yesterday he gained courage to talk to me and asked me to become his ‘friend’. Even when I did not respond to him, he kept talking to me. I then told him very nicely that I do not make friends with strangers and that I am not interested, but he kept walking by my side and kept trying… then he wrote his phone number on a piece of paper and tried to pass it on to me, saying take my number and call me. By this time I had started to lose it, so I stopped walking, stared at him and shouted, “don’t you understand that I am not interested, you better walk away or I’ll beat the hell out of you and call police.”
To which he apologetically replied “but I am only asking for your friendship, what’s the harm… “
“NO” I interrupted him, this time in a voice even more stern.
“OK. fine.. but why are you shouting?” he said lamely and went away from there… ‘

I felt relieved, and I told my sister to call me up if she sees him again so that I can take care of him. But she smiled and assured me, “Don’t worry Dada, after yesterday’s dose he would not dare to come again”.  There was something special about her smile, she was ‘An Action Hero‘.

——–

I am glad that perhaps this chap was a not so threatening guy, who could perhaps also be given a benefit of doubt that he genuinely wanted to be ‘friends‘ with my sister, not realizing that his friendship offer was actually harassing the girl he wanted to be friends with. I hope that this incident made him realize that what he was trying to do was wrong, however noble(?) his intentions might have been.

If you are a guy and reading this, please keep in mind that your behavior towards women which you consider ‘normal’ or ‘fun’, like whistling, winking, singing, touching or trying to be friends is something which harasses them to a great deal. If you need a proof go ask your sister, mother, wife or girl friend, they go through this harassment every single day.

If you are a girl and you never gave it back to the harasser, know that most of the eve-teasers will just step back as soon as you retaliate. If they don’t get it themselves, it’s your job to make them realize that they are wrong. And then (unfortunately so) you’ll also find some criminal minded ones who don’t understand mere words, for such people keep your kicks, punches and pepper sprays ready.

*** This post is a part of Blank Noise Blog-a-thon – Action Hero’s On-line.

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.

It’s this strength that we’re asking you to share experiences of, on March 8th, 2007. The baton is handed over right here, right now! Announce this on your blog and on the morning of March 8th, 2007, share with us a story (or two, or five or…) of fighting back?!When did you flip a situation so you could resist, when did you give back as hard as you got? When and how did you choose to confront? When did you become an Action Hero?Action heroes have formed the theme of the last few Blank Noise interventions and it’s this spirit we ask you to share and celebrate on March 8 , 2007! So announce the blog-a-thon, and on March 8, share your action story!If you are a male blogger and wondering how you fit in, tell us about an Action Hero you know!To participate:
1. announce the event.
2. blog your story.
3. email us about it and we will link you right away!Please email us at blurtblanknoise@gmail.com/ subject titled Action Heroes Online.
 

Thankyou!
Blank Noise
http://blanknoiseproject.blogspot.com

.                        - Gulzar. Koi Baat Chale.

Imperfectly translated in English as:

“remember, the other day while sitting at my desk
on a cigarette pack,
a tiny plant
that you had sketched
come and see, a flower has bloomed on it.”

- ~ – ~ – ~ – ~ – ~ – ~ – ~ – ~ – ~ – ~ – ~ – ~ – ~ – ~

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.

I am positive. :)

Whether you like it or not, this is how my room looked today morning. Photo’s taken from my mobile Nokia 6255.

Dont even try to look for a point behind this post…. Yeah! go ahead, say it. I know i’ve gone nuts…