Rain Songs

Ahhhh!!! Finally rain has arrived in my town. Its such a beautiful evening with wet leaves and the wonderful smell of wet earth. Just felt like sharing my favourite rain songs. [Hope your internet speed lets you watch the videos and lyrics]

#1 Rain by Madonna (I'm a huge fan of the lady!!)





#2 November Rain by Guns n Roses (for rock lovers!!)

#3 I Love a Rainy Night by Eddie Rabitt (wonderful music!!)





#4 It's In The Rain by Enya ( beautiful video!!)





#5 Crying In The Rain by A-ha (nice lyrics and great voice)





and last but not the least the classical I'm Singing in the rain by Gene Kelly (a must-must-must watch for the dance!!)

Save the Environment

Stop thinking like that!! On World Environment Day i.e. today, I want to list few tips and ways to do our part in saving the environment. Though there are many sites which tell about 100 ways or 51 ways to do it, I thought of listing some of them here as well.

In Your Office

# Copy and print on both sides of paper.
# Reuse items like envelopes, folders and paper clips.
# Set up a bulletin board for memos instead of sending a copy to each employee.
# Use e-mail instead of paper correspondence.
# Use recycled paper.
# Use discarded paper for scrap paper.
# Use a ceramic coffee mug instead of a disposable cup.
# Shut off electrical equipment in the evening when you leave work.

In Your Home

# Clean or replace air filters on your air conditioning unit at least once a month.
# Turn off unneeded lights even when leaving a room for a short time.
# Set your refrigerator temperature at 36 to 38 and your freezer at 0 to 5 .
# Use a microwave whenever you can instead of a conventional oven or stove.
# Turn off lights, computers and other appliances when not in use.
# Use compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs to save money and energy.
# Use cold water instead of warm or hot water when possible.
# Learn about alternatives to household cleaning items that do not use hazardous chemicals.
# Use traps instead of rat and mouse poisons and insect killers.
# Check and fix any water leaks.
# Install water-saving devices on your faucets and toilets.
# Don't wash dishes or brush teeth with the water running continuously.
# Use cloth napkins instead of paper ones.
# Use reusable plates and utensils instead of disposable ones.
# Use reusable containers to store food instead of aluminum foil and cling wrap.

In General

# Walk or ride your bike instead of driving, whenever possible.
# Avoid products with several layers of packaging when only one is sufficient.
# Buy products that you can reuse.
# Maintain and repair durable products instead of buying new ones.
# Reuse items like bags and containers when possible.
# Shop with a canvas bag instead of using paper and plastic bags.

So implement some of these atleast if not all before it comes to this:-

Last but not least, let us all strive to save the social environment too by promoting love and peace. As Michael Jackson puts it "Heal The World".

P.S. For lyrics to the lovely song read here. All images credited to Chris Madden.

Seed of Discord

Just now one of my colleagues called me to ask for a favour. Her relatives had gone to Ajmer Sharif and are now stranded there. She wanted to know from Internet about bus journey details from Ajmer to Ahmedabad. How distraught rest of the family must be feeling. For most of us its like "None of my near & dear ones are there. So it doesn't matter". Not only her relatives but around 50,000 people have been stranded as more than 50 trains have been canceled due to Gujjar women who have blocked the rail routes. Earlier, the men had damaged railway tracks. In fact it has been estimated that India's corporate sector has lost some $1.25 billion since May 23 and Indian railways suffered a loss of Rs.29.6 million ($696,659) on May 29 alone because of delays and cancellations of trains. Read this here and here. All this because the Gujjars want to be re-classified as a ‘Scheduled Tribe,’ to qualify for jobs and university places reserved for disadvantaged groups.

Do these people ever think of the sick persons, pregnant women, examination/interview candidates, small kids, the elderly or poor people who are stranded due to cancellation of trains? As if terrorists weren't a big enough problem for all; that now we have Indians causing problems for Indians. We have become so selfish in our demands and so greedy that we ignore everyone else's inconvenience. Like these Gujjar protests, political strikes in Kolkata etc etc. Satyagraha or rather Gandhigiri is just a celluloid dream. Now the attitude is "If I want something I'll snatch it by hook or crook"...rather only crook i.e. violence and riots.

My point is that Indian leaders who laid the foundation of a new country 60 years ago just sowed the biggest seed of discord by defining different castes and tribes and making provisions in the Constitution for them; by giving the word "reservation" a whole new meaning; by creating a divider bigger than the Partition. We are just reaping what they sowed. It was supposed to benefit the rural and backward classes who are poor to get education and job. But in reality? A friend of mine who is a Bachelor of Engineering, has own house, very good monthly income and is counted as upper middle class; gets job in public sector using "quota" allotted to his caste. And a kid in a village is still illiterate and a farmer or weaver. So Mr.Leader's soul, it hasn't quite turned out the way it should have been, right? Now what do we do?

As for these Gujjars, they want a re-classification!!! I want one too. From being "General" or "No Category"; I want to become "Categorized". I want to be given preferential treatment everywhere. I want my son/daughter to not do hardwork in studying and to get admission in finest colleges/schools just on basis of caste and to get a job just as easily.

As for these Gujjar women, have they stood up in protest against the rampant use of infanticide against the girl child in their caste? Have they ever raised their voice against abusive husbands or other malpractices against women? Have they protested against the falling sex ratio, unavailability of brides and the resulting polyandry in their caste? Then why now? Out of greed? Even if they are "re-classified" do they assure that they will send their daughters to school too and give them equal opportunity as their sons?

I just pray that may all the people stranded reach their destinations safe and sound. And...

रघुपित राघव राजाराम , पतित पावन सीताराम
सीताराम सीताराम, भज प्यारे तू सीताराम
ईश्वर अल्लाह तेरो नाम, सब को सन्मित दे भगवान

Translation:

Lord Rama, Chief of the house of Raghu,

Uplifters of those who have fallen,

(O divine couple) Sita and Rama,

Beloved, praise Sita and Rama,

God or Allah is your name,

Lord, bless everyone with wisdom.

Disclaimer: The views expressed here are entirely mine and I have no intention of hurting anyone's feelings. Neither do I support nor I oppose anyone.
All images credited to NDTV.

Social Awareness Ads

I came across these ads for social awareness on YouTube.

Although the uptight sophisticated feel & the price of ticket didn't appeal to me, this is the one thing I liked about Gold Adlabs in Pune that they played the National Anthem of India before the movie started and all stood up in respect. I don't know if all movie theaters of Maharashtra follow that or only Pune. And I've no idea about other states except MP & CG where there is no such practice.

This one is a bit long but a very nice song & theme and one cant guess whats the ad about till the end. I hope posting it here will spread the awareness.

I couldn't believe this one was titled "social awareness". I admit there should be freedom (with responsibility) to choose one's career/job/life partner but creating a ad about Mens' Freedom??? and what was the implication? First guys should get their freedom then girls??? What a sexist ad. Stop cribbing and comparing to women. But its funny. Enjoy!

Blogging Truth & C.W.S

After having experienced some weekends since I started blogging actively, I reached to this conclusion. I'm suffering from C.W.S - Comment Withdrawal Syndrome. Its typical symptoms are looking blankly at mail inbox [gmail in my case], refreshing it in the hope a new comment has come but gmail hasn't recorded it yet, refreshing blog page to see any new viewers in FEEDJIT and checking the FeedReader even when its tray icon hasn't gone orange to show new feeds..Meanwhile I get around accomplishing some of the resolutions posted earlier here. I do active commenting in the blogs I'd bookmarked to read later [Ishmeet must be feeling deluged right now]

I guess all experienced bloggers already know this...I'm posting this just for killing time and helping some newbies. This is the blogging truth my dears.

My blog readers & commenters seem to have a social life on weekends. On other hand there is me..whose circle of friends got separated after college, has now colleagues as friends, who lives in a small town which has only 2 or 3 hangout places and who even if hangs out there encounters many of her students & it becomes awkward. Sad state of affairs! Here is another flow diagram about my blogging process.

Please click and see enlarged view

This the reason why the bar doesn't reach 100% in the bar graph. But as rightly said in Bhagavad Gita;

Meaning : Your freedom is only in the field of action, and not in the field of bringing about the fruits of action. Never take yourself as the cause of bringing about a karma-phala (situation), and never resort to a life of inaction.

P.S. I made these diagrams on Smart Draw. Its a wonderful software with all sorts of templates ranging from engineering diagrams to organizational charts.