Broken English : Karsh Kale

Karsh Kale (pronounced Kursh Kah-lay), born of Indian parents, and brought up in the US, has long played Indian classical music on the tabla. Currently, he leads one of New York's coolest ensembles, and his monthly spins at Paisley and Joe's Pub are some of the hottest tickets on the New York scene.

Schooled in drums and a fiend for electronics, Kale has infused the worlds of East and West so well that separation seems impossible. With his trademark electronic tabla sound, Kale weaves strands of Indian ragas through one of the most distinctive albums of electonica, his first solo album Realize. Approaching the songs in the way an Indian musician would, Kale looks at them as a repertoire that can be reinterpreted. Many of his songs utilize traditional Indian folk material that has been rearranged into a contemporary genre.

Kale has played alongside and worked with some of the world's top artists including Sting, Zakir Hussain, Baaba Maal, Herbie Hancock, Bill Laswell, and Ustad Sultan Khan (who is featured on Realize playing the sarangi and makes a rare vocal appearance on 'Satellite' and 'Light Up the Love'). Source Calabashmusic.com

Broken English
For his third full-length album, South Asian composer, drummer, dj and producer Karsh Kale balances his Indian heritage with rock, hip-hop and atmospheric pop. Broken English highlights Kale's work with a diverse cast of musicians including MC Napoleon and vocalists Trixie Reiss (The Crystal Method), film composer Salim Merchant (one half of the "it" Bollywood composer team, Salim-Sulaiman) and Dierdre (Ekova).

Karsh Kale and his band Realize Live will celebrate the CD release of Broken English in New York City at the new hot-spot the Canal Room on Tuesday, April 11, 2006.

Billboard Magazine says of the new record, "Broken English paints Kale's musical world in the most vivid colors. Rock, electronica, Southern Indian carnatic music, Bollywood strings and hip-hop are all factors here as is everything from tabla to guitar to electric santoor. ... it is some of the most creative music out there." Source calabashmusic.com

Krissh vs Superman

In the first thought, krissh vs superman seems such an absurd comparison. On one hand we have Superman, who has been in fantacy of children and adults throughout the world, while on other side we have our own Krissh. Last weekend Krissh was released in theaters worldwide and coming Friday superman will hit the silver screen.

So box office will see clash of the titans. Though I would personally love to see Superman winning the battle, but I expect that Krissh will the ultimate winner in Indian scene. Here are some of my thoughts about the same.

Indian hero
Krissh is hero from our own soil. We have seen him growing up and beating all the odds in last movie. We would like to see him again. Third world has many heroes but we dint have many super heroes. So we cheered ever shiity Shaktimaan and Aryamaan. Krissh is much better in look and appearance than others. Kids love to see Jaadu

More penetration
Krissh is released in all the cities and towns throughout the country. It will finally reach each and every small theater throughout the country. Superman will not be able to beat its penetration. I expect superman to do good business only in big and tier 2 cities. Most of the viewers in small cities will watch it on CDs only.

Publicity
We have seen poor Rohit in Koi Mil Gaya. Now he is the superhero for kids throughout the country. With krissh, the publicity is done at a larger scale. There are official merchandise available so is exclusive gifts and other promotions. And moreover these stuffs are cheaper than usual superman stuffs. It will be real tough for superman to beat it.

Emotions
We always loved movies with one hero, one heroin and songs. Superman can not offer this to us. Krrish is Hrithik and Priyanka. Both are today’s hottest cine face. Then there is somewhat popular music. Everything in favor of krissh.

What to say?
I am surely watching Superman
and not watching Krrish for sure.

WISE and otherWISE

Most of us know Sudha Murthy as Narayan Murthy’s wife. Actually for that matter we know Narayan Murthy just because he is founder of Infosys. We never knew that there are many more dimensions added to these two people.

Sudha Murthy has been a teacher throughout her life. From the vast experience she got by teaching year after year, she started writing in newspapers. She took the work of Infosys Foundation. Since then, she has ben traveling in and out of Karnataka. They have worked everywhere without much publicity. All these gave her a big insight into life. From those experiences she started writing novels in Kannada and then in English.

WISE and otherWISE is one such brilliant attempt by her. It’s not some book which tries to give gyan. She has narrated 50 experiences from her life. In not even one she is trying to preach anything. But that does not mean that it is a storybook. You can relate to all of them. You can laugh, cry, get angry, feel sad, feel proud with her as she narrates different aspects of life through her life. You can learn from each one of them.

Sudha uses really simple language, no jugglery of words. And I am sure once you start the book; you will leave it only after finishing full. go and read it.

As I always say, you won’t regret. :-)

The Inscrutable Americans

I have one friend who is going to USA for higher studies. His dad suggested him to read The Inscrutable Americans by Anurag Mathur. Though my friend has not read it yet, but I finished the book few days back.

Let me give you some idea about the book.

The book narrates a story about Gopal, from small village from MP, who is going for higher studies to USA. This guy is from a well to do family, but has never been to a big city. He has his own ideas about America and American way of living, which of course he made after watching lots of English movies (mostly those cheap semi-porno movies) and reading English magazines.

What Gopal thinks about the life their, he write as a letter to his young brother in India. The narration starts with our hero writing a letter to his brother. Gopal tries to narrate each and every incident to his brother. Whatever he sees there, is totally new to him. There is a cultural shock for anyone who goes from India, especially someone like Gopal. The whole narration revolves around his experience in college and outside college.

What is so special about the book which makes it so popular?

Simplicity
The book is written in a very simple language. Unlike many of the Indian authors, who give more importance to playing with words rather than playing with emotions, Aunrag Mathur has tried to keep it as simple as possible. Nothing looks dramatic and everyone can relate to the narration.

A humorous account of the life
Humor and satire can explain almost each of the human emotion. Gopal’s letters to his brother will bring smile to your face. How one small town guy will react to such a cultural shock is shown very beautifully and is very humorous. Randy, with his one liner is an amazing character.

360 degree life
It touches many aspects of life as such. It’s not a story of just love or sex. It tells us how it feels to stay in one country among people who are really indifferent to you, thousands of km away from your home. It touches the American problems also. Problems of black, problems of insecurities of American, problems of Americans hating outsiders. The narration makes you live like Gopal.

Overall a good book. I found just one minor hitch in the book. It could have dealt more with Gopal’s surroundings. Many characters came and went; they should have been given more time to stay in the narrations. Anurag could have given of less of Gopal’s sex ventures and more of his experience about life. After all sex is not just the only thing which Indians do there when they go for higher studies J

If you are going to USA for studies, read this book once. You will not regret it.

a day well spent

We work minimum 5 days a week, throughout the year. Sometime we get so bored with work and usual life that wee look forward for even a small change in schedule. I was feeling the same way so I decided to spend a day in different way. Some of my friends joined me in the noble initiative of gaining my energy back.

Here is my recipe to spend a memorable day, with your friends and family.

Get up early
You get up early daily; you get up real late on weekends. So you are used to both of the available options. I suggest that you get up early in morning so that you get more time in the day to do lots of activities. We got up early in morning (8:00 am)

Make something special in your breakfast
Daily we are in such a hurry in morning that we never enjoy our breakfast. For some of us the usual bread-butter becomes breakfast. So make something which you like for the breakfast, prepare your own breakfast. We ate curd sandwich. I chose this dish for two reasons: first, I like it a lot so do my friends. And second, it’s very easy to prepare. Have a really good breakfast, and your day will be made. (9:00 am)

Watch a movie in morning show
We watch movies every weekend, but we watch it only in late night shows. Shopping malls and cinema halls are filled to such an extent that sometimes you feel that you are in some kind of fish market. So to make it easy, watch any movie in morning show. You will see that most of the theaters are empty, only young people who bunked colleges are around you. You will get cheap tickets easily. We watched Date Movie in PVR in 50 rs.(10:00 am) Really nice time pass.

Do some window shopping
As you are out of the cinema hall very early (11:30 am or so), you have got lots of time left in morning. Do some window shopping. It’s a nice fun, especially when there is not much of crowd in your favorite shop. We saw each and every corner of Landmark in Forum. I have been to this shop many time but never saw it full. Yesterday we searched the length and breadth of it, even the toys section. (12:30 pm)

Have a quick burger
You will not be very hungry after the heavy breakfast in morning, thus having a good lunch out is not a great idea. Instead have a quick bite at your favorite fast-food outlet. We went ot KFC and had a burger and cold drink. Fast, cheap and efficient.(1:30 pm)

Meet friends
Meeting friends is one thing you can do any day. To make the day memorable meet someone whom you can not meet normally, or meet someone such that it becomes special. We met Anshu, he is leaving Bangalore the next day. So in one way, it was good for us.
In the mean time, we did some shopping for the home and also did preparation for the grand dinner for the night. (3:00 pm)

Go bowling
Go to bowling or go-carting. These places are usually very crowded on weekends, thus it will be a good idea to go for them. Two hours nicely spent. We went to amoeba and played one game of bowling. (5:15 pm)

One more quick bite
By now you will be hungry as you have not had any lunch, so go and grab some nice chat. Tangy and spicy, which will tickle all your taste buds. Again fast, efficient and cheap. Kaati Zone on church street. (6:00 pm)

Prepare your own dinner
To make it more memorable, make your dinner yourself. And make something which you like a lot. You may not get the best of taste but you will surely get the best of experience. We prepared Paav Bhaaji for dinner. A very strange choice, but again the same two reasons. It tasted ok but I felt so good to eat it that we finished it in real hurry. (9:30 pm)

End the day with nice show on TV
End the day with watching something nice on TV. We watched football matches. You can also do some easy reading. Some relaxation after the busy day.

I enjoyed it a lot, and I hope even my friends also felt the same way the best part of it is that we all took a leave from work to do it. A leave well spent indeed, a Monday well spent.

[ This is my personal experience and I am posting them here so that I can revisit it in future]

So what if our PM is coming to town?

Our beloved Prime Minister is in town for inauguration of Namma Metro (much-awaited, long-delayed Metro Train in Bangalore). Even if you don’t read the newspaper, you could have known about his arrival. Here is how it happens.

One: In evening when you are traveling back from work, you realize that traffic is not moving at all. Knowing the Bangalore traffic pattern, you can easily distinguish between traffic at snail pace (which is the usual traffic here) and traffic not moving at all (which happens when one or the other VVIP comes to town). Especially if you travel through roads in central part of city (MG, or Rajbhavan road), you will know it better.

Two: You see that all the roadsides are flooded with political party flags. Today it is congress, some other day it will be other political party. There are poster welcoming the PM, and there are more posters praising Sonia Gandhi. What did she do for the metro is really a million dollar question. Still, when you see, poster put up by every chota-mota wannabe neta, you know some big political joker is in town.

Why can’t these VVIP people understand that their security arrangements create lot of discomfort for normal public? They come to town and they visit the central part of the town. There are some visits which cant be avoided. So why not make some route which makes it easy for the common man.
Sometimes ago there were talks about creating helipads in important parts of the city so that all the VVIP could be airlifted to these places. But those plans could not see light of the day. It can slove the traffic block problem easily. Seeing that city like Bangalore sees a VVIP guests every alternate day, it can be a economical viable solution also.

Second issue is the waste of money and resource by party workers in putting up these posters. When will the expenditure of the political parties regulated? Government wants taxpayers to mention all their expenditure in the tax return forms but political parties have no responsibilities at all.
When we have a policy which bans and regulates commercial hordings along the roads, how come these small posters come and go without any botheration. The businessman pay hefty money to put those holdings while netas and parties just put it on their wish. No control over the usage of public property whatsoever.

Does anyone care about it?

show me money (and work) and blah blah

Today in my office we had some presentation about Employee Assistance Program. From name it looks like some kind of incentive program. I had same kind of hopes when I went to attend that. But it turned out to be totally different (crap). Its about counseling service that today’s corporate world is projecting as employee beneficiary program.

Overall not so interesting session for me (I am no more used to listen to all those shitty lectures form some not-so-interesting old guy). But itl raised some interesting questions. During the start we were asked to think about three situations. Let me discuss them one by one.

SITUATION: You are working for an big company. You work honestly and sincerely. You come one time and go on time, and submit all your assignments on time. Overall you are one good guy (finding such guy is too difficult, if you find him tell me, I will open my company in his partnership)

Case 1: One day your senior manager comes and tells you that from now on you will receive half the salary you were getting. He does not give any reason for such a harsh decision. What are the chances that you will stay in the company?
My answer : 0%. Its all about the ethics (if I talk in corporate terms)Everyone ought to be reasonable. There can not be any reason today for anyone to stay there. money is the biggest incentive for most of the people today, and without it there is no fun in working. If we get our salary from the company, company also gets big dollars because of our work. Its strictly business, nothing emotional. It’s an open market. DotCom burst is a history now. It’s a boom time. If you don’t gain from it today then anyone else will. If you do it prperly, you deserve every penny of your share.

Case 2: One day your boss comes and tells you that from now on you don’t need to work. You can come and go. You will get your paycheck on time. Will you stay in that company?
My answer : 0% It looks a really good proposition thinking life will be without any tension of work. But at the end of the day you will be the biggest loser. You need to think about your resume. You cannot grow by not doing any work. Akarmnyata cannot take you anywhere. It’s the biggest curse you can get.

Case 3: One day a guy from some other company gives and offers you same money and work in his company. What are the changes of you staying with the old company?
My answer : 50% Work and money are two most important aspect of a job. But there are many other associated factors. Culture and growth are the most important of them all. In one way, stability is a cancer for your carrier. Especially in early stage in life.
Today job is about four factors: Work, money, growth and culture. So whoever can churn out the best mix should be your first choice.

And for god sake, don’t give me fundas about ethics and loyalty.
More about these some other time.

It’s not about the bike

How it feels like to be diagnosed cancer in your early twenties, when you are in your best form in cycling, beating it in one year and win the Tour de France the coming year?

This is the main outline of the autobiography of legendry cyclist Lance Armstrong – It’s not about the bike: my journey back to life.

What do you do when one fine day, your doctor says that you are suffering from cancer? The first thought that will come to your mind is that I am going to die.
Lance faced same kind of situation, but what he did was not any ordinary man would generally do. He decided to fight with it. He went for all out treatment, which could have meant that he would no longer be able to ride bike or be a father. What happens after this is a history.

Saga of courage
After four deadly rounds of chemo therapy plus many surgeries, if someone thinks about riding in the Tour de France, he needs to have lot of courage and unlimited inner will. Getting up from deathbed and then riding cycle in Pyrenees is not a game a normal human can play. Every ounc of your body should be filled with determination and courage to even think about taking such a challenge.

Hardships make you a true fighter
It’s about the life of Lance, who overcome all the hardships and proved to the world that he truly is a champion. He could have surrendered to cancer and died without anyone even knowing about it. But he decided to fight for his life. And after getting it back form the jaws of cancer; he decided to make good use of the life. He could have enjoyed a peaceful life post-cancer but he decided to do what he was meant to – show the world that nothing is impossible. You have got life, make good use of it.

Respect your life
Lance says –“death is not a cocktail part conversation”. Respect your life as its very precious. He believes that for him winning against cancer was more important that winning Tour de France. He learnt the true value of life when he saw the death knocking on his door. He could not have won the Tour if he had not got the inner strength after fighting with cancer.

It's really an inspiring saga. A really easy read for anyone. Please go and read whenever you get time, you will not regret.

joga bonito

By now you must be totally gripped by football fever. Football is everywhere, onTV, in newspaper, on radio. Like the famous Hutch dog, wherever you go it comes following you. You go to a movie in a good multiplex, and there you see a bunch of guys doing lots of jugglery with football. The ad is based on a theme called joga bonito.
Wikipedia gives following description for Joga Bonito:

Joga Bonito (which means "play beautifully" in Portuguese) is a fictional association created for a Nike ad campaign of the same name. Joga TV commercial advertisements are shown on the nikefootball.com website and appear on television. Eric Cantona appears as the lead spokesman for the Joga Bonito organization. Joga TV is portrayed as an underground broadcast channel that taps into other television stations' live feeds, filmed "live from the heart of Germany"[1]. The Joga Bonito movement is dedicated to eliminating unfair and unsportsmanlike play from football. Joga Bonito promotes fair and creative play as well as honesty and team spirit. It shows the true and beautiful side of football by having a motto of "play from the heart".

For the football addicts, they have also come up with a internet community called joga.com. It is same as orkut.com or myspace from msn. It is a joint venture of Nike Football and Google. you can meet all the people in world who have same football taste as yours. Talk to them, make them friends.

Various joga bonito videos can be found on the its official page on nike football.

I am waiting...

Its 9: 00 a.m. and I stand here in the bus stop waiting for the office bus to arrive. I stand here in the same manner as I did a few years back waiting for my college bus. Little did I know then that things would change so much in 2 years; the sky under which I am standing seems to be looking at me and smiling... It is perhaps the only thing that has acted as a witness... Watching the transformation of a loud and bubbly person into a quiet professional.I wouldn't blame the professionalism for the change though. It is destiny, or may be you could call it life. Yes Life, esoteric in the true sense, for one does not understand why you meet hundreds of people everyday, work with so many, and still remain lonely.

I am now in one of the corner seats in the bus, looking out of the window watching people trying to catch up with "life" . It's an hour's journey and the only company that I generally have is the chatter of the RJ. I seldom notice the person sitting next to me, for its going to be yet another stranger or may be you could say another acquaintance. It is annoying at times when the radio is switched off, not because I am cut off from the melody but because I would now be thrust with thoughts of the solitary journey ahead.

I can't help thinking about the short bus journeys to college ... well it's a paradox to call a distance of 13 KMs "short", but that is how it always seemed. A typical college day always begins in the bus with all the familiar faces; you look forward for all your friends to get in from the various stops, the reasonless giggles, the loud laughter that were stifled to avert the eyes of the lecturers and professors who would watch on us as if we were their prospective prey for the day ... well as I said it was a different life then. The pleasant memories of college are in itself good enough to save me from the misery of the bus journey. I notice that it is time for me to get down and flash my smile of acknowledgement to all the known strangers that I see as I approach my cubicle. A few of my colleagues greet me with their morning wishes and as always, we exchange our pleasantries. Discussions jump to the weekend plans and I wonder what I'd do over the weekend.

It would be just another day staring at the mobile, wishing it would ring and bring back some wonderful moments that are now missing in life or maybe the safer option would be to come to office, for it's my new founded asylum these days. A few years back, weekends or weekdays didn't matter to me, I was always busy. I always stood doubting the authenticity of the wall clock that seemed to be in running too fast to perceive its movement. Alas, now it seems as though my clock is suffering from some kind of paralytic attack.

There is a time in life, where one needs to go ahead, leaving behind your friends and carrying along only memories. You do make new friends, but then you never get the old close ones ... you do meet people who'd be so good to you that you could tell them anything and everything, but you do not find a person to whom you needn't say things .... Friends who just know you. Occasional calls from such friends, have been the only thing that I seem to look forward to ....However, I cant help but notice the uneasy pause that lingers around the conversation...A pause not because of the relationship,but because it is too short duration to say everything, and of course you cannot completely rule out the paucity of words!

As I sip coffee from the ubiquitous coffee mug, watching the drops of rain, trickling down the tinted glass panes, veiling the scenic beauty outside, I tell myself, may be there will be a day when things will change, when life will offer a rewind, a recap of all the events and I just have to wait.

Capricious are the ways of life, for I know there would be many who'd be able to empathize with me, ironically, even the dear ones that I miss this moment, waiting perhaps...!!

And I keep on waiting......

[A forward I got today. I dont know who wrote these really touching words, but hats off to him/her]

politics is a game

When we were kids, in our civic science (yes they called it science, I don’t understand how it could ever be called a science?) course we were taught that democracy is where you have government of people, for the people and by the people. We would cram the definition up and puke it in our answer sheets in exam. Everyone would get good marks and thus we all would become happy.

What they never taught us is the definition of politics. Actually they don’t teach it anywhere. Politics is a game and you are never taught a game. You have to learn it.

Over the course of life, we see lots of politics in every walk of life and then we understand the true meaning of the term politics. Politics is a game, a game of power, a game of opportunities.

Recently former Prime Minister Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee said that the Bharatiya Janata Party should learn from the communists the art of getting re-elected. So now we know what politics is for BJP. Nobody would have expected a senior and respected leader like Vajpayee to make such a observation.

Is politics only about being in power?
BJP was in power for one complete term. Today politics is indeed about being in power. In his recent interview with Karan Thapar, Mr Rahul bajaj tried hard to defend hisstance of not being in politics. He tried hard not to accpet the fact that he was in politics by entering RS. He said he was there just to serve the country and he was not part of any political party. Mr. Bajaj could have been true in the pre-independence era, but today politics is the oil which runs the machine called Democrac

Did India really shine?
BJP lost all its base after the ruling term. Did it ever try to learn what went wrong? A country can not be fooled by false hype of development created by India Shining campaign. We did develop in the leadership of NDA government, but that happened in all the previous terms also. Development will always happen, at a different pace though. India shining showed as if our country made leaps and bounds of development but that was a total illusion. It cost BJP dearly. Even at the state level, same thing happened in most of the BJP ruling states. Taste of power made them realize their basic duties.

Where are the real issues?
Coalition politics is the bitter truth for India. It did not help us anyway. Its just a compromise for the mistakes of the leaders. They never really served the country and for their selfish ends, broke the political parties. No principles exist today. There is no left or right, its just power. You show me money, I am with you. Everyone wants to play their own trumpets and fulfil their own (right or wrong) demands. Nobody wants to work for real issues of poverty and development.

Young brigade?
When every other party was giving way for young enthusiastic leaders, BJP pushed its young leaders like Mr. Pramod Mahajan and Shushma Swaraj, Incidnetly these leaders are elder to my father. For others also, most of the young leaders came on the scene coz of their family. Mr. Rahul mahajan was about to enter into Rajya Sabha, juts coz he was son of late Mr. Pramod Mahajan. We are still living in the age of family politics. Sonia Gandhi is the GOD for the government now. Nobody knows when we will try to incorporate new things in politics. Change is the ultimate solution but we dont want to use it.

Learn from the mistakes
Left is changing at a greater speed than any other group (at least in the Bengal). Coz they have realized that if they don’t change, they will die. Development will be the only source of their existence. So it’s good for BJP that they learn from Left in this matter. For over two years in opposition BJP has never been constructive. Their leaders kept fighting amongst themselves. They could never raise a real issue. And thus they made congress government more powerful.

It’s really time they learn from their mistakes. And give a proper meaning to politics.

fix you

When you try your best but you don't succeed
When you get what you want but not what you need
When you feel so tired but you can't sleep
Stuck in reverse

When the tears come streaming down your face
When you lose something you can't replace
When you love someone but it goes to waste
Could it be worse?

Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you

High up above or down below
When you're too in love to let it go
If you never try you'll never know
Just what you're worth

Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you

Tears stream down your face
When you lose something you cannot replace
Tears stream down your face
And I...

Tears stream down your face
I promise you I have learned from my mistakes
Tears stream down your face
And I...

Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you

[Lyrics of the song "Fix you" by Coldplay]
[photo taken from flickr.com]

9 parts of desire.

Life is all about exploring new avenues, quenching your thirst to know more, and to fulfill your dreams. Some of the desires and wishes turn into realities; sometime they are just forgotten like broken hearts.

Let me list out some of my desires in life.

Sunrise and sunset on Narmada Ghat
Narmada river is the life line of central India, the place where I belong. It has something really mystique attached with it. I want to sit on the ghats of Narmada (in Maheshwar, coz its where I live). I want to feel the calmness of the deep water of narmada. I want to see the shades of red while sun is rising. I want to see how holy water changes the colour of reflections of Ahilya palace as the day progresses.

White water rafting
Adventure defines the fine line between foolishness and bravery. I want to walk on the line. And there can not be any better way then whiter water rafting. I want to make my blood rush into my veins while I am over those dangerously flowing water of Cauvery (in Dandeli) or Ganga (Hrishikesh)

Silence of Yercaud
Silence can speak a lot. Most importantly it gives you time to think about yourself. Yercaud is one place where you can listen to your heartbeats. A calm and serine place in the green hills near Salem. I have my best memories attached with this place. I want to explore the nature again there.

Sensual Goa
No doubt Goa is the most romantic place in India. Its beaches, its churches, it clubs – they all are speaking volumes of love. They make us feel in heaven. I want to go to Goa (again) to live those moments. I will surely go there with my love. There is nothing romantic that sitting on sand in a beach at midnight and see the water splashing beneath your feet.

Green routes
South India has some of the best trekking trails in India. Those green routes make you capture your wildest notions about natural beauty. I want to follow all those paths and explore all the hills

Hogging chat in Indore
I being an Indorian know what the true experience of eating chat is. There can not be a place better than Indore to eat. Eat at any cart, eat till your stomach is overfilled, and still try to stuff it more. Eat anytime fo the day, cuisine from any part of India. I miss it a lot.

Body Tattoo
This is little tricky. I want to get a body tattoo done. My family will always oppose it so it’s going to be a tough dream to persuade. But why not dream it at least, after all this is what dreams meant for.

Music of my soul
Music is the best way to get peace and recollect your energy. I want to learn to play at least one musical instruments. Right now I am not sure which one so delaying it.

Live life
Last but the most important. I want to live my life my own way.

Too much...

ma reva...

ma rewa taro paani nirmal....
ma rewa tharo paani nirmal
khal khal behto jaaye

amarkanth se nikli O rewa
jann jann kari rayo thaari sewa
sewa se sab pawe mewa,
aso ved puran batayo re...

When Indian Ocean sings "ma rewa", it truly makes you feel the spirit of Central India, river Narmada. Rewa is name for the famous river in local dialect. I belong to a land where every drop of water comes from Narmada, someway or other. She has been our lifeline.

Narmada has some of the most beautiful temples on its shore. Omkareshwar, Maheshwar and many more like these are the Mekka Madina of central India.

She is one of the biggest tourism attraction in MP (may be second to Khjurao). Bhedaghat and amarkantak are regular destinitions for tourists visiting MP.

NarmadaNagar, Bargi and many such big dams are the source of electricity for the central India. We live coz Narmada powers them.

You will feel like heaven sitting on Narmada Ghats, enjoying different shades of red and orange at dawn and dusk. Some of the best moments, you can capture through your lens.

To end with, just three words to show our respect to her -

"Maa Narmade Namah"

life in a mousetrap

They say, in big cities, people don’t even know who their next door neighbor is? I don’t know about others, but yes I don’t know about my neighbors. We never needed to talk to them, and even they dint initiate any conversation. Life has been kind enough that we have been living in this house for over a year now. So jo jaisa hai use vaisa hi rahne do.

I work in Software Company. There also, you face this kind of situation. Your life is spread only in your 4x4 cubicle and within your team. most of us dont know about others who are sitting around us. By knowing I don’t mean knowing name and project he is working on. For me knowing means knowing someone as a person.

Why this happens?
Why we have made our world so small?

We are too busy in our own life. Most of the time yahaan jeene ki ladai me hi life nikal jaati hai. We get what we want, or sometimes we want what we got. To keep ourselves happy, we narrow down our life. Why to poke into someone else's life when it will only give us jealously and inferiority.

We are so wrong in thinking this way. We like to live in a mousetrap where we live and we die, nobody is going to care.

Grow up man, learn the advantages of knowing people, see life from someone else's eyes, learn from his experiences, laugh and cry with him. IN the end, you will not be giving something; you will be just taking from him.

I still don’t know if We will contact our neighbors, but I will try to know my colleagues for sure.

shared drive

Have you ever realized, that most of the time it’s a girl that we go to in case we want to share our feelings? Why do boys find themselves more comfortable discussing problems with a girl rather than another guy?

Sharing
Boys always are bad at sharing. And sharing means everything from clothes to their feelings. Two guys, who stay together, will talk the whole day about anything and everything in world, other than their feelings. When it comes to sharing their feelings and mood, they become speechless. A girl knows everything about her friend’s boyfriend while a guy might not even know that his friend has a girlfriend.

Boys don’t cry
There is a general conception that boys don’t cry. How ridiculous! Crying is just another way to give vent to your feelings. Everyone has emotions, but still guys try hard to show that they are not emotional. They don’t share their life, in fear of tagged sentimental or emotional.

Fear of becoming laughter material
One simple way to defy emotions or rather not appear emotional is to laugh. Whenever someone is faced with a situation where his EQ is to be tested, guys generally laugh and try to change the topic, while girls discuss it with greatest of patients. So guys try to open themselves in front of girls.

Will we ever change?

Trouble by Coldplay

O no, I see,
I spun a web, it's tangled up with me,
And I lost my head,
The thought of all the stupid things I said,
O no what's this?
A spider web, and I'm caught in the middle,
I turned to run,
The thought of all the stupid things I've done,

I never meant to cause you trouble,
And I never meant to do you wrong,
And I, well if I ever caused you trouble,
O no, I never meant to do you harm.

O no I see,
A spider web and it's me in the middle,
So I twist and turn,
Here I am in love in a bubble,

Singing, I never meant to cause you trouble,
I never meant to do you wrong,
And I, well if I ever caused you trouble,
Although I never meant to do you harm.

They spun a web for me,
They spun a web for me,
They spun a web for me.

[Lyrics of song Trouble by Coldplay. I am listening to Coldplay since last few days. Now I know, why Joyesh likes Coldplay]

the challange

You get up every morning expecting that day will be good, hoping that it will bring new avenues with it, eying for the new challenges. Life, when it becomes stagnate, is really unexciting. Empty mind gives place to all sorts of thoughts. Negativity fills our mind.

The greatest challenge is to keep ourselves motivated enough not to become slave of boredom. Life has different phases and we have to live every one of them. To make the best use of everyone is the challenge in front of us.

Everyone has got a day which consists of just 24 hours. When you do what you like, then these 24 hours seem too short a duration. But on the other side when boredom spreads, every second becomes really long to pass.

Right now I am facing same kind of phase. I need a change, a welcome change.

(picture associated is a copyrighted work of nyah74, taken from flickr.com)

bornfree art school

Goddess Saraswati bestowed upon we humans with gift of arts. Art is one strong way to express ourselves. We live and we die, but what stay behind is our deeds, good or bad. Art makes you immortal.

Music, dance, painting, photography, drama - everything is an art. Its just our interest to get indulged in any or more of them. Visual art always has the advantage that “one picture is worth thousand words”. Everyone has t he right to express himself or herself. everyone should get the chance to enjoy the wonderful experience called Art.

Following the same philosophy, well known sculpture artist and photographer John Devraj, set up Bornfree Art School International. Its not a regular art school where you can enroll yourself or your children by paying a hefty fee. Its for the kids from the disadvantaged background. Kids who have not seen the childhood, who have been working in their tender age instead of playing and reading. Some of them worked as signboard painter while some worked in circus and many more like these.

At the school, John, his associates and many volunteers, are trying to impart these kids art. Art in the form of sculpture, art in the form of photography. Music and dance are also there. You have got any art and you have got the time, come and teach the kids. Also teach them basic of survival and of course importance of reading and writing.
Just one aim, when these kids go out, they don’t return to their old self but do something good to earn their living.

More about Bornfree can be found out on internet or contact John at 9886306366. you can mail them at bornfreeart@gmail.com

The school has put up an exhibition of the photographs which the kids took in their history expedition throughout Karnataka, in St Joseph’s Indian High School. It ends on 14^th June, 7pm. Please visit the same to see the work and contribute to the cause.

Game for a movie?

If you are fed up of watching same old one-shaadi-two-deaths-and-12-songs Hindi movies, or for that matter one-macho-hero-beating-one-thousand-aliens-to-save-the-world Hollywood movies, here is a chance to see the best from the world cinema. International Film Week is your gateway to watch movies that are not run of the mile, movies that have won critical acclaim all over the world in various film festivals.

The fest, organised by Forum Films in association with Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce Suchitra Film Society and Alliance Francaise, is on show simultaneously at Bangalore, Mysore, Mangalore, (June 9 to 15), Belgaum and Hubli (June 16 to 22). In Bangalore it is at Pallavi Theatre.

This film festival showcases seven films from France, Denmark, Belgium, Canada and Bosnia. So for all you movie buffs who like to watch movies from different countries, depicting their culture, their ideas through the medium of cinema, here is what is lined up in the International Film Week:

L'Enfant -9^th June
Lemming – 10^th June
Gori Vatra (Fuse) – 11^th June
La Marche de L'Empereur (The Emperor's Journey)- 12^th June
Kongekabale (King's Game)- 13^th June
Les Invasions Barbares (Barbarian Invasions)- 14^th June
De Battre Mon Coeur S'est Arrete (The Beat My Heart Skipped)- 15^th June

More about the movies can be found here and here.

Every film is on for four shows at 1 p.m., 3.30 p.m., 6.30 p.m. and 8 p.m., and tickets for each film are priced at the normal show rates (25, 35 and 50 INR). Season tickets are also available.

For details on the festival, contact Alliance Francaise on 41231340/ 43/ 44 or Suchitra Film Society on 26711785.

Bonne Anniversaire

Its been exactly one year since I finished my engineering. One year passed, just like that.
Lots of memories, lots of moments, lots of laughs, lots of tears. Lots of life over all. In one year I saw myself changing from one college-going lad to one so-called Software Professional. Let me note down some of the most important events which affected my life in past year.

Completion of graduation
I am a graduate now. I can earn my own living and live my own life. Now my worries shifted from get-a-degree-and-job to stabilize-career and sometimes thinking about higher studies.

Leaving the hostel
We spent four most important years in our life in hostel. We lived as one big family, a family of 200 odd-batch mates + more people from other batches. We cried and laughed together. We ate and drank together. And suddenly everyone just parted away. Luckily for me, I got a job in Bangalore and thus we could form a big group and we stayed together. A mini-hostel in making.

Setting up our home
First thing we did after leaving hostel was to take a new house, and then to arrange it, to make it a home. We contributed from our money and arranged everything here. We have everything today, and it can make any bachelor envious. We shopped for the grocery for the first time in our life, so did for the vegetables. For that matter, we cooked and washed our utensils also. From daily chores to works such as booking a Gas cylinder, we did everything. Really an experience in itself.

Life and enjoyment
I did whatever I wanted. From a expensive lunch in Leela to spending night out on beach with girlfriend. Explored life working with children, taught them Computer, learnt bits of French, went on treks, met people from all walks of life. I spent my time and money my way. Total freedom. I lived my life in my terms.

Work
We all are working in Bangalore. So from 6day class week, our life changed to 5day work week. Weekend became longer and we needed more rest. Weekdays now just mean work. We realized the true meaning of weekend only last year. The whole week we slog our asses just to enjoy life on weekends. Work can be fun but for me real fun is what I do on weekend.

Love and family
I found the time to live for myself. I found the happiness in my life. I found my first love. And I saw my first breakup. I hurt some hearts and sometimes hurt myself also. I fought with my family, and I loved them. I gave them tears in eyes, both of happiness and sorrow. I saw the pride in their eyes when my parents came here and stayed in my house. I felt proud when I went to my home on Diwali and gifted my mom what she wanted. I talked with my sister, everything and anything. I shared my life with my friends. We all laughed and cried together. A family that eats together laughs together and cries together.

Overall one hell of experience. Nobody teaches life better than life itself.
I have to heal so many hearts, fulfill so many hopes, wipe off so many tears. Its just a start. I will do whatever I am destined to, whatever I like.

I have promises to keep.
Miles to go before I sleep

Boss kaun hai, maalum hai kya?

• Does mind rule the heart or heart is the ultimate boss?

• In situation where your mind and heart try to guide you to two different paths, which one you will take?

• Why most of the time logic and emotions have conflicting directions?

• Does being logical is the ultimate solution or emotions do stand some place in our life?

• Why most of us turn into either emotionless machines or emotional fools?

• Can we defy logics?

• Can we go against emotions?

Too many questions, difficult answers…
This is life...

A day to remember

Bryan Adams sang the song “Let’s make it night to remember” Yesterday was my birthday so I thought why not let’s make a day to remember. And without much of conscious efforts, it really turned out be one unforgettable experience.

24 hours, from 00:00:00 hrs to 23:59:59 hrs, filled of different feelings. My heart experienced gamut of emotions – from a satisfaction of existence to fear of failure in life. I touched the peaks and lows of emotional strength. I laughed with everyone, for everyone, but could not cry for myself. There were moments where I felt like losing everything still somehow I gained something from it in the end. From the excitement of everyone singing “happy birthday to Pritesh” to sitting alone, totally silent, thinking about anything and everything. I broke my heart yesterday but also got the best of words to gain my strength back. Sometimes life was a real PJ while at other times I cracked PJ.

Overall, I don’t repent for whatever happened, I learnt a lot from it and it will help me to make my life better. I am happy that my birthday became such a memorable day.

I thanlk you all, for the lovely wishes and making my day such a memorable one. I shall cherish it my whole life.

Ghoom – a real time pass

Hasya ras is one of the most important ras in life. Life will be very dull without it. It can be enjoyed in various forms- jokes, movies, music, reading comics and novels and many more other ways.

Movies have been a great source of getting spice of laughter in our life. They are the easiest way to tickle anyone’s funny bones.

I watched Ghoom last night. This movie is a spoof on Abhishek John starrer Dhoom. For someone who watches, MTV Fully Faltu with great interest, it will be a really good experience. It’s typical MTV humor. I wont say anything more, just go and watch it. Dont miss it.

There is one advantage of cable TV era. We get to see different type of humor. Shows like of MTV Fully Faltu, TGICS and Comedy Inc have shown us the real meaning of comedy in life. They show how we can juice out humor from same-old daily life.

LiveStrong - for a cause

Off late, you must have seen youth wearing colorful rubber wristbands. The trend caught pace when many Indian cricketers started wearing it. We saw them all (Yuvraj, Srisanth and others) wearing bands in different colors. Today you can find it everywhere. Globally these rubber bands came into fashion after cyclist Lance Armstrong introduced LiveStrong band for aid and support for his Lance Armstorng Foundation.

Wikipedia gives following description about “LiveStrong Band”

“The Livestrong wristband is a yellow wristband developed by cyclist and cancer survivor Lance Armstrong in the summer of 2004. The band is part of the Wear Yellow Live Strong educational program, intended to support cancer victims and survivors and raise awareness about cancer. The band sells in packs of 10, 100, and 1200 as part of an effort to raise $5 million for the Lance Armstrong Foundation in cooperation with Nike who manufacture and donate the wristbands. Individual bands sell for US$1 each. Yellow was chosen for its importance in professional cycling, as it is the color of the yellow jersey worn by the leader of the Tour de France and other prestigous races.”

Today there are bands available in almost all the colours. Some of them had some cause or meaning associated with it, while rest came just after it became a trend to wear them.
Let me list some of the causes and meanings associated with these bands:

More yellow: Support Our Troops (also in camouflage green)
Blue: Anti-bullying, anti-Bush vote, tsunami relief, prostate cancer
Pink: Breast cancer
Red: Heart-disease, vote Bush, anti-tobacco, HIV
Purple: Cystic fibrosis, lupus (also orange), domestic violence
White: Jesus Loves Me, right to life
Orange: Asperger's, self-harm
Grey: Diabetes, brain cancer
Black & white: Racism in football
Green: Ecology, leukaemia, organ donor
Gold: Childhood cancer
Black: Mourning, melanoma

Here are some of the good readings related to LiveStrong bands and other Cause bands.

• Do you know your awareness bracelets?

• Top 10 Bands for a Cause- Charity Wristbands

• LiveStong official website

• LiveStrong bands on eBay? Its not about charity

What we get in market in India, are all cheap fakes of the original LiveStrong design. Only Nike has the rights to sell it through retail shops. And LiveStrong officially has created only yellow color band, rest all are just replicas.

Heaven spelt as SAMARKAND

BJN group boasts of many of the better dining places in Bangalore. It operates restaurants of the like of Indi Joe, Sahib Sindh Sultan and Angeethi. Samarkand is another gem of a place from the same group. Located at Gem Plaza, 66, Infantry Road, it is an up market restaurant serving North West Frontier Cuisine. The cuisine and the ambience are designed to transport you to the exotic lands of Mangolia, Afghanistan and Samarkand.

It’s not a place to go for eating dinner. It’s a place for a dream date or for those memorable treats that you will cheer your whole life.

Samarkand has variety of offerings for both Veg and Non-veg tastes. To start with, you are served with bread-sticks and cheese. The menu for food is in the form of a news paper, while that for drinks is on a glass-bottle. Indded an innovative idea, you will realize it after seeing the art work on the menu.

For starters, you can chose from shorba (soup) which comes in more than two variety. Veggies can chose tamatar (tomato) while non-veggies can opt for chooze ka shorba (chicken soup). For veg starters, Cheese Kurkuri is a must. You will not get such a good thing anywhere. You can also order any other Veg Kababs if you want to try something else. Quantities are good so be sure of your appetite before you order anything. Mixed Platters can also be a good option but they come with lots of different thing and you get it in all the other places. For chicken lovers, Chandni Kabab is a must try. Also for some more choice, try Galawati Kabab. In these kind of places, starters are really good, try to enjoy most of them.

For main course, veggies can opt for Jehangir Malai Kofta and any Paneer gravy. Daal Afghani is the only daal option you have on the menu but trust me after tasting it you will not ask for any other daal. For veggies, Mirch Makai Pyaaz is a specialty here. Don’t forget it to taste it. Non-veggies can choose from Lagan ka Murgh, Gosht ki Dum Biryani, Chicken Makhni and many other chicken variety. For fish lovers, Chippe Ka Machi is a must have dish. All the dishes come in good quantity and thus you need to be very choosy to decide on one specific.

For bread and roties, you get lots of variety. Other than usual Kulchas and Naans, you should try Khameeri Roti and Roomali Roti. Seeing the chef making Roomali in front of you is a amazing experience (kitchen has glass partition from the dining area).

If you want some drinks to go with nice food, you have verity of Cocktails and Mocktails.

A nice dinner can not end without Desserts. And thus you should keep some place free in your stomach for the yummi Kulfi and Khurmi. Khurmi is a like kheer while Kulfi comes with Rabadi and Sevaiya. Really a heavenly experience. If you are a Paan lover, you can opt for Paan also.

A really (stomach) fulfilling experience. Places like this give you a feeling which you can not forget for a long time. Indeed a heaven for Fod-lovers. For food-franatics, it’s a must go place. And bit-heavy-on-wallet factor (Rs. 500 upwards per head) should not deter them. You will cherish an amazing food with quality service and never forgetting ambience.

Heaven is indeed spelt as SAMARKAND also.

darana jaroori hai...

For you lovers of horror and thrillers....
here is whats coming your way in next few months...
enjoy... bloody enjoy...

How does engineering help engineer you?

Out future depends upon the foundation we lay today. Our professional future totally depends upon the graduation we get. Our graduation defines the course of life for us. I am a BE graduate today. And I felt that engineering is a really good graduation option. And when I say this, I am not only thinking about the job opportunities in this field, but many other aspects.
Let me recollect all my experiences of last half decade or so.

Let me first define engineering here. When I say engineering I mean only BE or BTech or higher degrees. A four year full time course in engineering field or technology. There are many reasons for not including BSc, deplomas and other courses like MCA here. I shall consider them as and when needed.

Engineering life starts with preparation for entrance exams. When a young lad enters class XI or XII he starts preparing for various exams for entrance in different colleges. The exams consist of papers on Physics, Chemistry and Math. These three subjects have the whole science within them. You get to learn the most in this phase of life. And no other thing can improve aptitude better than Math. Logic and understanding comes your way when you study physics and chemistry. Moreover this is most probably first time in life when student really do some hard work.

Engineering starts with one year of preparatory courses. A mix of everything. No other field gives such an opportunity to learn so many things at one time. Again Physics Chemistry & Math play a crucial part.

When you do a MCA or any other diploma course or for that matter a three year BSc course, these things are totally missing.
Diploma courses in India could not take a proper form. They were neither job-oriented nor knowledge based. So doing them is just a waste of time. And by doing them you miss the foundation years of XI and XII too. So overall a loser option.
MCA again tries to teach logic the hard way. And in three years without help of math, it’s a really hard job. MCA people lack a lot on aptitude side thus.
Same applies for BSc and other 3 year courses. They are totally bookish, and lack on practical aspects of learning. Aptitude can not be developed in these courses, so does the logic.

Aptitude and logic hold a really important effect on your future and professional life. Engineering teaches you without any extra effort. I have seen so many enginnering students showing excellent results in exams like CAT where aptitude is checked thoroughly.

Four years of engineering teach one more important thing, that is facing tough situations. Semester exams are always time of high tension. But still student survive them year after year. My experience says, by the time they reach final year, they exactly know how to prepare for exam in exactly 2 days and how to pass it with flying colors. Stress is part of life in an engineering course and it really helps in long way.

khabarein..sabse pahle.. sabse alag...

Mahajans have created lots of breaking news last few days. I have full sympathy with them, but what happened in media last few days, is really sad.

Lets consider Mr. Pramod Mahajan's death. For at least three days after the unfortunate event, media was showing only one story. How it would have happened, what does some Mr. X feel about the events, what could have been the reasons? 10 News channels and 10000 questions. They asked doctors, they asked police, they saked poor Rahul. Dont they have any sympathy or feelings?

Last wednesday Rahul Mahajan episode happened. Rahul is still in hostpital, and doctors are still trying to find the exact reason for the problems. Police have registered case and are investigating it.
Yesterday(on Friday) two news channels claimed to be the first to bring the news of three possible suspects. According to them, these three guys were present at Rahul's residence where all the events happened. Both these newschannel claimed that the three guys came and spoken to them exclusively and told the story of what happened that night. So we saw two exclusive
red hot (breaking) news.
Today again, these news channels claimed that they could find the fourth suspect Sahil also. Sahil is in Srinagar, and he came out on his lawyers sugestion. News channels arranged for exclusive live coverage of Sahil's press appearance.Now look at the kind of talks happening there.
Reporter: Sahil what do you know about the events of that day?
Sahil: (silence)
Reporter: Who got the drugs?
Sahil: (silence)
Reporter: Sahil can you tell the viewers what exactly happened that night?
Sahil: (silence)
Sahil's Lawyer: Sahil is going to surrender before police and he has promised to help police every possible way.
Reporter: Sahil can you tell who all were there and who all consumed the drugs?
Sahil: (silence)
Sahil's Lawyer: I am telling you Sahil will tell everything he knows to police.They are the right athority. We dont need to speak here.
Reporter: Sahil, whatever you say here is going to the nation. Nation wants to know what happened that night. You can tell it here, for the whole nation.
Sahil's Lawyer: I have told you that Sahil will say only in front of the investigating agencies. There is no point of asking it here.
Reporter: But you can tell the story to whole country here. Whole country needs to know what happened that night.
Sahil's Lawyer: You are crossing all the limits.
[the above conversation are not the exact transcript but they have the exact feelings and sense]

What was the reporter trying to do? Create a story out of nowhere. Today most of the news channel give importance to creating sensation rather than presenting news. Everyone wants to show it first. They can go to any level to make a story. Grow up media.

grass and smoke...

Mr. Rahul Mahajan (son of Late Mr. Pramod Mahajan) is fighting with death in Appolo hospital in Delhi. He was admitted there on late wednesday night. polic initially considered it a case of poisoning or food poisoning. But when they searched his house (crime scene), they found some packet with white powder and some bottles of champagne. Today media stories are taking about that white substance as cocain. They are chances that it was a case of overdosage of drugs.
Let them find the truth and may god give best of health to Mr. Rahul.
But this issye reminded me of one basic problem todays youth is facing.
Drugs
I could never understand why people drink, smoke and take drugs? What do they gain by it?
Drinking, especially if it is in limits and is occasional, can not be as severe problem as others. There are some proven advantages of drinking also. Today in IT society, social drinking is a requirement also. So it can be accepted to some extents.

I could not think of any advantage of smoking. Some people do it for relieving stress while some do it for just some showoff. Most of the college going youth does it as smoking is known to be a hep thing. If you dont smoke in college, people might take it as a surprise. Why to burn your lungs for no advantage at all?
Last thing on list is Drugs and dope. I still remember seeing one football team tshirt in college. It said "my day starts

with kicking some green grass" I could not understnad the meaning initially but later I was told the maeaning of grass.
Its a hard truth, but drugs are present in college life. Today one friend of mine told me that she was very high. I asked do you take drugs? She asked me "are you surprised?" I was not surprised, coz I have seen it. College going guys and gals want to try atleast once. Someday it will become a trend which everyone will follow.
Its true also that not all are same, number of people doing drugs are not very high, but they do exist amongst us, in office, in college, everywhere. Why do people want to do something which will give them pleasure for a small time and pain for long-term?

Jokes of the day..

India, Pakistan agree on elimination of terrorism:

India and Pakistan on Wednesday agreed on the need to take steps for a "complete elimination" of terrorism.

A joint statement at the end of the two-day talks between Union Home Secretary V.K. Duggal and Pakistan Interior Secretary Syed Kamal Shah said the two sides "reiterated their commitment to fight terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, and re-emphasised the need for the complete elimination of this menace." It stressed the "need to pursue effective and sustained action against the terrorists."

India has submitted a list of 35 fugitives it wants Pakistan to trace and hand over. "Among them are Bombay don Dawood Ibrahim and Syed Salahuddin, the head of the terror outfit Hizb-ul-Mujahideen," said an Indian official.

"Pakistan has agreed to go through the list with all its seriousness," the official said, adding that in turn Pakistan handed over a list of 58 fugitives it wants deported.

Another one:
Panel set up to finalise modalities for free colour TV scheme:
The DMK Government in Tamil Nadu today initiated the process of providing colour TVs, one of the party's electoral promises, by setting up a seven-member committee headed by the State Secretary to decide modalities for its implementation.

The committee would announce within a week the procedure for floating global tenders and procurement besides modalites for identifying the beneficiaries, an official release said.

A meeting headed by Chief Minister M Karunanidhi also decided that a committee of representatives of all political parties which have members in the state assembly would discuss the plans to inaugurate the scheme in September this year.

and the real one now:
Himesh Reshammiya song attracting GHOSTS !!
Residents of Bhalej, about 80 km from Ahmedabad in Anand district, have banned his popular score "Jhalak dikhla ja..." saying those who listen to it or sing it get possessed.
The villagers cite several cases to substantiate their claim. For instance, Firoz Thakor, 25, was allegedly possessed by a spirit 10 days ago while singing the song in the evening. "He wasn't talking to anybody but himself and refused to budge from the place where he was sitting. He only became normal when we consulted the maulana," said Aarif, Firoz's elder brother.
"Getting possessed by evil power is not a new phenomenon. But of late the trend has increased. The evil follows you because the lyrics of the song have the words Aaja aaja that invite the ghost," said Isamiya Master, a retired schoolteacher in Thakor Mohalla.
"Since the evil has 'infected' five to six people, we have decided that nobody here would play the song," he said.
read some more about it here.