New Currency Note with Rupee Symbol

Many of us in India, might have noticed the new currency symbol in Rs in 1 rupee and 2 rupee coins. Have you noticed the change in our currency notes? I found a 10 rupee note incorporating the new rupee symbol.

Not much change if you compare the old currency note given below.

Aravind Adiga's Mangalore Connection

2 years ago, in 2006, it was first time, I had heard of Aravind Adiga. Back then, he had written an article about Mangalore in TIME magazine, on how Mangalore as a city is growing up and had made whole of Mangalore proud. I kept on saying about this article in an international magazine to my friends and had written a post on it then. Aravind Adiga, a native of Mangalore, had done his schooling in St.Aloysius High School, Mangalore, one of the premier educational institutions in Mangalore. This year, when he was nominated for Booker prize, I sincerely hoped he wins it. Well, he has won the Booker prize and made whole of India proud. Congratulations Mr.Aravind Adiga.

Aravind Adiga [Picture Courtesy : mangalorean.com]

Well, first task for me now is to buy and read his award winning novel, 'The White Tiger' :)

Regards
Raveesh

Will There Be 'A Wednesday'?

Few films leave their mark in the sands of time and 'A Wednesday' is one of them. A gripping story and top class performances by two senior actors in bollywood. No hero but the film is still a winner. Neeraj Pandey's directoral venture keeps you glued to your seats for about 1 hour 45 minutes. A Wednesday is the story of a common man who is fed up of frequent terror attacks and wants to get rid of the evil in his own way and also wants to send a clear message to the bureaucratic system in the country. Anupam Kher delivers his best as Prakash Rathod, Police Commissioner of Mumbai and so does Naseeruddin Shah as the anonymous caller who calls him. Naseeruddin Shah represents millions of our country men who as common men, have to bear the consequences of terrorist attacks. Angst of common man against the system which takes more than a decade to punish the culprits behind bomb blasts represents the current scenario in India.
Film depicts all the situations which surrounds a bomb blast - how easily one places the bomb in the police headquarters, how the news hungry media exploits the situation when terrorist sends them the message of possible attack and in turn helps the terrorists to see the aftermath of their actions live on tv, how a redtape bureaucratic system like ours fails protect its own citizens in the time of need, how easily one makes judgements about a person knowing his religion and the list goes on. Neeraj has also handled the sensitive issue of religion well as seen from the fact that even at the end of the film, anonymous caller does not reveal his name or identity as people draw conclusions about his actions based upon his name which reveals his religion.

Script has been handled well and there is never a dull moment in a thriller of a movie. New story line and its connection to the real world, impresses and provokes thought at the same time. Jimmy Shergil has donned the rough and tough role as inspector Arif khan, something new for him. Tamasha news aired nowadays by '24 hour news channels' and the telemarketing call by a credit card company to Prakash Rathod in middle of a crisis may make brief comic reliefs in an otherwise serious movie. In the end the only words I can say here are - 'this film is a must watch for all'.

September 15th - Engineers Day in India

Every year, September 15th is celebrated as 'Engineers Day' in India in honour of the greatest engineer and statesman the nation has ever seen, Sir M Vishweshwariah. Sir M V was born on September 15,1860. He was bestowed the highest civilian honour in India, Bharatha Rathna in 1955. He is a role model for all engineers for his brilliance, honesty and dedication to his job. Karnataka owes most of its industrial progress to this man. He was responsible for the starting of following institutions in the state

• Krishnarajasagara or KRS dam
• Bhadravati Iron and Steel Works
• Mysore Sandal Oil Factory and the Mysore soap factory
• Mysore University
• State Bank of Mysore
• Public libraries in Mysore and Bangalore
• Mysore Chamber of Commerce
• Kannada Sahitya Parishad
• Sri Jayachamarajendra Occupational Institute, Bangalore

Apart from these his other achievements include

• Implementation an extremely intricate system of irrigation in the Deccan area.
• Design of a system of automatic weir water floodgates, which was first installed in 1903, at the Khadakvasla reservoir near Pune.
• Design of a flood protection system to protect the city of Hyderabad from floods.
• Developing a system to protect Visakhapatnam port from sea erosion.

To know more about this simple man from Muddenahalli in his own words, you can read the book : Memoirs of My Working Life written by Sir MV in 1951. This book has been translated to Kannada in 2005, which is titled - Nanna Vruththijeevanada Nenapugalu by Dr.Gajanana Sharma. Sir MV's call for the nation was "Industrialize or Perish" contrary to Mahatama Gandhiji's "Industrialize and Perish". Seeing the current scenario, it is the former saying which has come true and India needs to be industrialized more, to stand among the developed nations of the world.

Mangalore, next BPO boom town - CNBC TV18 Reports

Came across this video in youtube, in which CNBC TV18, one of the premier business news channels in India reports of Mangalore, calling it next BPO boom town and a serious challenger to India's silicon valley Bangalore according to a NASSCOM study! Watch the video to know more.

CNBC TV18 reports, Mangalore is now home to 27 outsourcing firms including big names like Infosys, Wipro and Mphasis. With over 186 educational institutes in and around Mangalore and over 3000 engineering graduates every over boom is here to sustain. Being in one's home town is certainly a dream nowadays as one goes in search of jobs to India's big cities. So, Mangalore provides a window of opportunity in the near future for more Mangaloreans to stay in their home town. People interviewed by CNBC too echoed the same opinion. Even the people who moved into this town from outside too were also happy about the city, typical cosmopolitan nature of Mangalore evident from many years. Sky scrapers in the city are common scene now. Real estate prices have gone up. City's economy is changing with new malls coming up. But again infrastructure is the main concern here too as in the state capital.

Related Posts:
Mangalore International Airport ready by 2009?
Infrastructure Projects in Mangalore
Small City to Mall City
Mangalore Photo Essay
Mangalore Photos Shot in 2007

Mangalore Photo Essay

This post is a compilation of the photos of Mangalore City shot by me.

Mahaveera Circle ( also known as Pumpwell Circle) which has the giant Kalasha, is the first landmark you would see if you reach Mangalore from Bangalore via NH48 or from Kerala via NH17.

Town Hall, Mangalore, is the place where most of the Tulu dramas are performed

High rises in Mangalore as seen from Bharath Mall

Time Out, the food court at the Bharath Mall, Mangalore

Pabbas in MG Road is one of the famous ice cream joints in Mangalore

Saibeen Complex, MG Road, popular commercial complex before malls in Mangalore took over

Mangalore City Corporation Building in MG Road, Mangalore

Fishing Boats Boats near Nethravathi River Shore, thanks to the Monsoon Rains, the river is in full flow.

Related :

Mangalore Photos shot in 2007

Being a Blogger for 2 Years

Exactly 2 summers ago, I entered what now is well known as blogosphere. Circa 2006, Nidhi had started his personal blog a month ago and had asked me to have a look at it. Nidhi as a student in our school days was an active participant in literary events and had several news paper articles to his credit. Nidhi’s blog inspired me to start one.

Naming Ceremony : To give anything a name can be one of the most difficult tasks in the world. We have heard stories of how companies like Google, Apple, Hewlett Packard got themselves named. I had to think a lot about the name for my blog. At last, named it ‘Ee Prapancha’ – taking cue from my friend Nidhi, his blog being eNidhi – A Professional Amateur. Well, Nidhi had this metaphor ready long before he started blogging, calling himself enidhi, when we were at nascent stages of our computer education in high school.

My Little Moments of Fame: They say, for any artist encouragement/appreciation is the boost to create a better work. Naturally, we get excited when our work gets recognized. I still remember Sandeep’s phone call telling me that our reviews on Gaalipata have been listed on thatskannada.com. And then came the big one – my report on Kannada bloggers meet held this year being referred in Bangalore tabloid, Mid-day. This time too the detective was none other than Mr.Sandeep aka Shande, the Bond 007 of internet! Latest addition to this list is my article on seminar conducted by kannadasaahithya.com. kannadasaahithya.com‘s editor Shekhar Poorna had called me to compliment on the article. These little things make a lot of difference in the long run and makes you nostalgic at times.


Close to being a Journalist: Camera is my constant companion whenever I go out. One of my friends keeps teasing me for the obsessive photographic hobby and will tell enthusiasm in the initial days of photography will end soon(raveesha, ee hurupu estu dina iruththe antha nodtheeni? – how many days this enthu will last?). Well, it is more than a year now since I bought the camera and enthusiasm has not died and will not die in the near future. Sometimes I wonder, instead of enjoying the place, do I keep wasting time in capturing the pictures? Journalistic look is natural for a person with camera going for a public function. Last year when I went to Kannada Saahithya Sammelana in Udupi I had this equipment to capture almost every scene in the literary event. Stall owners at the event kept on asking which news paper I work for? I explained me being a blogger. Next time it was similar experience, when I was in Hubli taking picture of Rani Kitturu Chennamma circle. One more thing more evident these days, I keep thinking about how to report if I attend an event or how to write a travelogue if on a trip. Also this is being constantly reminded by the people around me when they ask – enappa idanna blog alli haakbidtheeya? – what man, you will put this in blog ?

To Send or Not To Send: I had often faced this dilemma when I had written a post on the blog and about to email the link to my friends. I would think whether it would be yet another spam mail to them! Or will they get irritated seeing the mail. It was about some 6 months ago when I had to resolve this but now I wish people visit my blog voluntarily or through search engines. Well, I do send email here and there when I feel this info needs to reach my friends :)

Commenting in Reel Life: Commenting is the best part of blogs or rather blogging. Comments by the readers start a dialogue between the author and reader and sometimes discussion among several readers. Traditional writing such as in newspapers, magazines, books used to provide less scope for these dialogues. Though newspapers provided someway for comments from the readers, they are moderated and there is space constraints in newspaper space to put only selective comments and in case of magazines, you need to wait for 1-2 weeks before your comment gets published/answered. In case of blogs though there is some moderation from the authors more often, comments get published. Space constraints are unheard of, giving it a democratic space to voice opinion. When somebody comments on my blog I make sure that I answer their query if any and these 2 years have taught me how to handle the aggressive and witty commentators and accept the compliments from the like minds!It would not be out of place to say that this has certainly changed the way I communicate with people whether verbally or in a written communication.

That was a scattered account of my experience as a blogger. Well, I would like to hear feedback from you, the readers, as you had always done in my earlier posts. Also, I want to know what kind of posts you liked to read in this blog and whats that new genre you would like me to explore. Your comments are valuable in this regard.

Thats all folks, its Raveesh, the blogger signing off for now, ending yet another blogging week! See you soon. :)

5 things I liked about 5 Point Someone

Chetan's first book was lately read by me in 2008, with the book being released way back in 2004. But the charm of the book is still not lost, even after 4 years of its first publication and it is still topping the best sellers list in India. So, I am not presenting the review of the book here, but things I liked about the book while reading, mostly drawing similarities between IITians and non-IITians. For the non-starters, Five Point Someone is a fictional work by Chetan Bhagat about 3 friends - Hari, Alok and Ryan in an IIT.

Our Language: Chetan speaks our language, language of youth which enables him to reach the majority of young indians through his writings. Though novel is set up in an IIT background, the scenarios depicted by him is pretty much similar to other engineering colleges in India, with most of the engineering under-graduates speaking the same lingo, as he has presented with over emphasis on some special 'key' words! Dreaded Viva: I think atleast some of us, engineering students, used to shiver and most of us used to develop a healthy fear during those lab exam days. That is one of the reasons for Hari, one of the 3 characters to feel uncomfortable during the grilling viva-voce and he goes to the extent of attending viva after having vodka to overcome the fear, only possible in novels! This fear among students is not without reason as in the case of other engineeing colleges, professors from rival colleges who come for lab viva try to settle scores by means of this dreaded tool and make life miserable for the students like Hari. But the question always remains as who started the trend first: the professors from this college who had gone to other colleges or is it other way! Atleast IIT guys should be lucky in this regard as these institutions are autonomous and vivas are conducted by in-house faculty only! Is it right to assume so?

Placement Scenario: Placement scenario is almost the same in decent engineering colleges as in IITs nowadays, with software companies knocking the door of every possible engineering college to hire talent, leave alone the higher pay packages IITians get. Here, the cutoff aggregate percentages are 60-70% as they vary from company to company. This aspect do worry students at the beginning of 6th semester. Aggregate percentage below this is as good as five pointer in IIT but unlike in IITs there is no relative grading of students! Also, as in the case of novel's characters, Alok and Hari, companies arriving for recruitement last, relax the eligibility criteria little bit.

Lots of Ryans! Characters like Ryan can be found in almost every second guy you meet in any engineering college bashing their own college and then the University for the same reasons as Ryan's like mugging up the portions, no original thinking etc etc. The 'novel' idea of Cooperate to Dominate extended here as well, as assignments if at all given carried little or no weightage and so, mass copying was common and semester projects, that was another story in itself! Well, Chetan indicates how it is important to make a balance between the usual routine stuff in the colleges and the original thinking.

Other than IITs: At the end of the novel, Chetan does not forget to mention that it is not only the IITs which produces quality engineers in India. This has been depicted as a speech made by Prof.Cherian, Head of the Department, Mechanical Engineering in Hari's dreams, which might indicate how this viewpoint is not yet fully accepted. Also, he stresses on the point that it is not the end of the world, if you dont get into IITs.

Regards
Raveesh

The 3 Mistakes of My Life : Book Review

New books of any best selling author is awaited eagerly by his readers. Chetan Bhagat is the same case. I had read the prologue of 'The 3 Mistakes of My Life', which had been given in his site www.chetanbhagat.com. After reading the prologue, I had the option to send the link of the just read stuff to 3 more people by giving their e-mail adresses to get the Ist chapter for reading. In other cases, it would have been the case of spamming but considering Chetan and his credibility, I proceeded and read the first chapter, got thrilled and on the following weekend bought the book from Landmark, Forum, Bangalore.

Chetan in his new book, has stuck with a story revolving around 3 friends much in the similar fashion as in his first book, Five Point Someone. But this time, the story is not from the corridors of prestigious IITs. As he says, it is from small towns like Ahmedabad. Anyway, I never thought Ahmedabad was a small town at all. As the book's synopsys says it is a book about 3 of India's passions - Cricket, Religion and Business, personified by the 3 characters - Ishaan, Omi and Govind. As in Five Point Someone, this story is told by one of the characters, Govind in first person.

Though Chetan starts off with Cricket, story line turns into religious aspects quickly. Chetan follows up the series of India v/s England and India v/s Australia in 2001 and shows up how these 3 guys react to the match results and this forms the core of the story but there is nothing extraordinary about that as you would have already heard or seen yourself the live analysis, aftermath of the cricket matches in regular households.On the other hand, I felt most of the times that he is presenting the same old stuff about religion, churned out most often by the media again and again, which shows up only one side of the story. I also saw little merit in tracing Gujarat's history from 2001 which comprises earthquake, religious clashes etc, as enough has been said and it has been the hot topic of discussion in the intellectual circles of the country. What is disappointing is the same perspective of the state from India's west, thrusted upon by the media is reiterated by the author. But Chetan has attempted to be different when one of his characters says about Chimpazees kissing after the fight among themselves akin to religious clashes and that dialogue among people is what is missing in India in these situations.

Cricket, a national time pass has also been seen from a businessman's point of view, which may be relatively new to the young readers. Businessman also sees religion in an agnostic point of view. The common glue which binds the 3 characters though they pursue different passions is cricket. Well, how can one forget the romantic part of the story, typical to Chetan's novels. Here too one of the characters falls in love with a girl and events which lead to this is presented in almost similar way in Five Point Someone. But Chetan here conveys some serious stuff yet jokingly.

Happy ending is any author would love to provide to his readers after all the trauma and Chetan follows the tradition here too but with some sacrifices. One liners like his first novel are witty and worth 2nd read. All in all, it is not a must read but can be useful if you can take the real jist out of the full write up.

Regards
Raveesh

Buy Three Mistakes of My Life here

Not just Music, Now News too...

If the recommendations of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) gets approval from the Broadcasting Ministry, you could soon hear news on private FM channels too! The sources of news for these FM channels have to be one of All India Radio, Doordarshan, authorised TV news channels, UNI, PTI or other authorised news agencies.

Well, now state owned FM Channels like Vividh Bharathi 102.9 FM and FM Rainbow 101.3 FM broadcast news in bytes or for a brief moment. If the Broadcasting Ministry gives its node to the TRAI's proposal, this could begin a new era in news broadcasting. Now, with FM Radios becoming extremely popular in Metros and Tier II cities in the country, this could well change how fast people get to know the news and have their opinion.
It is not that private FM channels are not broadcasting any news stuff now. They are, with those score updates of cricket matches and some wacky but interesting news to keep the listeners tuned. Also, some untraditional news like jam busters or reporting of traffic jams in various parts of the city in peak hours. How these jam busters by FM channels played their role in reducing traffic jam needs to be surveyed!

So, now we might have FM Stations which broadcast news too, along the usual film songs. In Bangalore, there are already 7 private FM Radio channels - Radio City 91.1 FM, Radio Mirchi 98.3 FM, Radio One 94.3 FM, Radio Indigo 91.9 FM, Radio Big 92.7 FM, SFM 93.5 FM, Fever 104 FM. It would be interesting to see how these channels would make the best use of this license, if they get one. With very competitive FM Radio market in place, sometimes these channels have used the same trick to get more audience. One example for this would be the back to back playing of 3 songs with no advertisements in between. Radio Mirchi, Radio Big and SFM, all use the same concept with different names. Now, dont ask me who started this first!

Regards
Raveesh

References:

The Hindu

The Times of India

Also Read,

Radio Revolution in Bangalore

Game Shows in Radio

FM Radio Channels in Mangalore

Azaadi Express Bangalore January 23 to 27 2008

Seeing the ads about Azaadi Express in Bangalore in leading news papers few days back, I had decided to go for the photo exhibition of the first war of independece in 1857 and freedom movement after that. This exhibition had been scheduled for 5 days, from January 23 to January 27, 2008 at cantonment railway station in Bangalore. I had missed the same train exhibition when I was in Mangalore few days back so did not want to miss this one in Bangalore. On Saturday, 26th January 2008, along with two of my cousins I headed for the cantonment railway station near Shivaji Nagar, being happy for the fact that I was there on Republic day for viewing our footsteps towards freedom. Sandeep joined us later at the venue. When we reached the railway station, it was 3 30 in the afternoon. Enthusiasm soon died when we saw the people standing in a very long queue to see the glimpse of the historic train. Public holiday on account of Republic day had a bigger role in drawing the crowds. Of course free entry for all too had its positive effect on that. To make things worse there was constant flow of people who would intrude into the long queue wherever possible, not even bothering about the people who had stood there for more than two hours. This is disgusting when the well educated intrude into the queue forgetting minimal ethics. With four of us standing in the queue time pass was never a problem or boring. We discussed a wide range of topics like physics, blogging, history and what not! The announcements came at regular intervals regarding the exhibition being open to general public only till 6 pm. It was already nearing 6 and we were not the ones who would give up and go back home after waiting for almost 2.5 hours. And when we finally got our chance and entered the train it was 6 in the evening. 12 coaches were filled with memories from the freedom struggle like quotes, photos, visual models, paper cuttings etc. With volunteers there asking everybody to move fast one could hardly grasp anything from our past. What is this; did we wait and waste our time just to walk fast in the train?? But we managed to take snaps of the material exhibited in some of the coaches. Frankly speaking it hardly mattered whether we entered all the coaches to have the glimpse since most of the coaches were decorated much in the same fashion as we used to do for school day celebrations for social science exhibitions!! Some of the coaches even had elementary models like irrigation pump and hydro electric power generations and in some other you would find Sania Mirza, MS Dhoni, Yuvaraj Singh and others trying to be the part of freedom struggle. For this Sandeep said it was because they had depicted nation building in the last 150 years. Then I thought more appropriate title should have been given to the photo exhibition. Some of the coaches had very good quotations, citations (like Macalay’s address to British Parliament on how to weaken India by disrupting the traditional education system here) and rare photographs(like handing over of power in 1947 and pictures from 1857) from history. Do spend your time in these. Photo highlights of the show were - pictures, maps from Ist war of Indian independence, Indian national flag over the years, Gandhian era, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose's Azaad Hind Fauz or Indian National Army, The Hindustan Times reporting freedom in 1947, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru becoming the 1st prime minister, prominent scientists like CV Raman, way of progress in Agriculture, Green Revolution (by MS Swaminathan), White Revolution(by Verghese Kurien), Hydro electric projects, Non Alignment Movement, Missile technology, Space technology, Indian currency over the years, war pictures, different models of Electronic Voting machines, Music maestros, sports heros. Also there were some audio recordings like Pandit Nehru's address to the nation on August 15, 1947. In the final coach there were books for sale which were on 1857, freedom movement, gandhian etc and other topics. Sunday, 27 January 2008 is the last day in Bangalore for Azaadi Express. Sunday being a holiday will draw crowds to the venue. So plan well to reach the venue in the morning itself to have the glimpse of history. And if you are planning to stand in the queue for more than two hours in the evening then it is not worth it as if it is in the closing hours you will hardly able to glance over the pictures. In our case we stood for 2.5 hours in the queue and finished seeing the exhibition in just half an hour with closing time of the show being extended.

Regards,
Raveesh

60 years of Freedom

Tomorrow India turns 60. Somehow the importance attached to these ‘round figures’ like 25, 50 or 60 refuse to die. Anyway that is the world looks at it. Suddenly the achievements in 60 years become important when a nation turns 60, no matter what it has achieved in last 59, 58 or say 53 years.

Any way progress is not a destiny but a journey in itself. The so-called developed countries, have they stopped advancing their progress, No. Whenever we talk of progress comparisions are always made against those bench mark nations. Are we justified in this? A nation can not call itself developed unless the basic necessities of every citizen are met. We don’t just want to be Super power in the world, but a nation where all citizens are treated equal and have the basic amenities. The current economic boom has resulted in more cities, more employment opportunities but also the rift between the haves and have-nots has increased. As the nation turning 60, I would like to see my nation as developed yet caring for all the sections of the society in the days to come.

Gandhigiri Works

Few days back I had written a post on Gandhigiri way of protest in USA by Indian green card seekers. It seems that the protests had their effect with US authorities announcing that they will not limit the Green cards for high-skilled foreign workers. For more details click the below links.

Regards
Raveesh

http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/001200707182165.htm

http://www.ibnlive.com/news/gandhigiri-works-magic-for-indians-seeking-a-green-card/45233-2.html

One more letter to differentiate

Finally, centre has approved Karnataka state government’s proposal to rename Bangalore and 12 other cities in the state. So from now on Bangalore will be Bengaluru (not sure whether this will be Bengaluru or Bengalooru) and Mangalore will be Mangaluru. So one more letter to differentiate between Bangalore and Mangalore, previously it was the initial letter and now the first 2 letters.

Renaming the cities to its original name has been an old phenomenon, not only in India but in other parts of the world too and it is more so in those regions which were colonized. A classical example is of the city in Turkey, now known as Istanbul. Originally named by Greek as Byzantium, then by Romans as Constantinople and now presently known as Istanbul. And neighboring Burma changed its capital name to Yangon from Rangoon of British after independence.

Most of the change in names of the cities of the world from the original ones can be attributed to the British, as they renamed several of them in their colonial empire for their easy pronunciation. Like in Karnataka, we have Coorg for Kodagu, Shimoga for Shivamogga and Kaup for Kapu. In India renaming of cities started with commercial hub Bombay getting back its original name Mumbai. Then Calcutta, Madras followed suit for being renamed as Kolkata and Chennai respectively.

Whatever may be the opinion against the renaming of the cities people get used to the new names over a course of time. As it is the case with most Indian cities too like Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkota.

But interesting to note is the effect of changing the names of roads in the city. It is here the name change has less impact. People use the old names only to refer to the now renamed roads. For example, did you ever notice that in Bangalore, Race Course Road is officially named as Devraj Urs Road and Residency Road’s official name is FM Cariappa Road?.

Related Links :
http://www.hindu.com/2006/08/16/stories/2006081618170200.htm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4579905.stm

Green Card on the other side

Gandhigiri is going places. Now it is in the United States of America. Indian green card seekers in the US who were irked by the last minute reversal in stand by the American government are staging peaceful protest in the form of Gandhigiri. US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director Emilio Gonzalez is being delivered a thousand flowers in this novel way of protest. Will it have the same effect on him as it was on Luck Singh in Lage Raho Munna Bhai. Lets wait and see.

Earlier in 2006, in Pune, India, a 'Gandhigiri Club' was started inspired by the Hindi movie 'Lage Raho Munna Bhai '. The members wear a white Gandhi cap and would garland the offenders (like traffic rule offenders, corrupt officials in public offices etc) with a gleeful smile on the face. The non voilence or ahimsa preached by Mahatma Gandhi is relevant to this day as was in the days of Indian independence. Or probably more relevant than before.

Lage Raho Munna Bhai was a bollywood flick diected by Rajkumar Hirani, released in 2006 which went on to become a huge hit. To find out more about the film read the below post
Munna Shines Again

Regards
Raveesh

Glimpses of Nature

These are some of the photos taken by me presenting the glimpses of nature.

Bannur Village, Puttur, Dakshina Kannada

Bannur Village, Puttur, Dakshina Kannada

Kudlu Village, Kasaragod, Kerala

Kudlu Village, Kasaragod, Kerala

for full set of photos click below

Heroes in the End

You feel immensely happy when you see the hero winning in the end of the film fighting against all odds. Anybody remembering Revanth in the movie Beladingala Baale when at the end of the movie solves the puzzle to find the Beladingala Baale's address when he is in a chess tournament.

We are like that. We wait till the last minute to do our work. Let it be the paying of bills, finishing the assignment in colleges or planning for a trip. And its more joyful when finish your work in the end when the pressure is mounting rather than you do it in the beginning itself. Out of the chaos you find the solution and it is better. You are more happy to see Indian cricket team winning the final against Australia after losing all the matches against them in the league stage rather than winning all the matches including the final. Strange isn't.

Remembering a incident in the school days. Our teacher asked that how many of you would like finish the homework much early before the submission date. Hands raised were few. But when asked how many of you would like to finish the homework on the day before the submission date many hands were raised. Many of us still would remember the last minute assignment completion whether in school or in college. In college that was different, come early in the morning to college finish the assignment work just before the lecturer arrives. And how can I not mention the day or night before the exam when you yourself are tensed and get calls from all of your friends for those extra tips for the exam. Even remember some of my friends saying proudly 'I read all in the last 2 days and still able to finish and write the exam'.

Our movies reflect our attitude and sometimes it influences the latter. We want happy adventurous endings in our films. So for all, the title suits the best "Heroes in the End".When success comes to you on a daily basis you are obsessed with it. So when greater challenge comes before us, we would enjoy facing it.

What's In A Name

Time and again this question has been asked and it has never been easy to answer the same. As far as individuals are concerned, their name is the word which is used more by others than by themselves.

Movie names are always interesting. There, gimmick is part of the game when naming a film. Kannada film star Upendra started the trend in Kannada film industry, of using unconventional names for his films. Look at this titles : Om(Symbol and not the word here), 'A', 'H2O' - unique in its own sense.

When we talk of names I remember a story heard in my childhood : 2 students were quarelling in the class, so the teacher gave the punishment of writing their own name, 100 times. But again there was trouble with one of the guys name being Shiva Kumar and another being Somanahalli Somanna Gowda.

Movie names are interesting to observe, as they are the ones which grab the attention of the viewers first. And there are often disputes over the name of the film with one producer already registered that name and another trying to look for the same name. Thats why the caption we see at the bottom of film titles to resolve any dispute. For example Deewar - Let's Bring Our Heroes Home was named so to avoid any clash with Deewar the Amitabh block buster of yesteryear. In Kannada, Namma Basava was renamed so because Basava was already registered. But in the posters, Namma was too small and Basava was prominent.

Origin of company names is very interesting. Look at these : Reebok - is the alternate spelling of rhebok(changed to Reebok in 1960 from a original name Mercury Sports), Adidas - from the name of the founder Adolf(Adi) Dassler, Cisco - short for San Francisco, ESPN - Entertainment and Sports Programming Network.

There are instances when a newcomer to the city get confused to get into the wrong place, because there are two areas in that city by the same name. If somebody's name matches with that of some celebrity he/she gets unexpected honours and what not. Thats how the world is, when you here a catchy name you are sure to have some impression about the person you are going to meet.

Comments are welcome.

Raveesh

referred links for the info in this post
- Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_company_name_etymologies
- Answers.com
http://www.answers.com/topic/reebok-international-ltd

Sarvam Mobilemayam!!

Reading at the title of the post itself you must have got the jist of this write up. Yes it is about the wireless world or shall we say the mobile world, we are into. Now having a mobile phone is not a luxury but is sometimes a bare necessity. Gone are the days when mobile was meant only for the elite class, now you can find mobile phone in every hand atleast in India.

With the many players in the field for providing you with the mobile hand set and connection to choose from the customer has a wide variety of choices never before. Today technology has provided us with choices that one now can have a very basic model with just messaging and calling to the most sofisticated model with camera, audio player, video player and whatever theat can be fit into a mobile handset.

These little electronic gadgets have changed way the we communicate in a big way. Few years back one used to search for the STD booth for calling his home, when he is far away from home. Now you can call (provided the network is there in the area you are travelling) without any bother to your home or vice-versa. When you have somebody's cell number most of the times you are sure to reach the exact person you wish to reach unlike landline connection. Gone are the days when a decade ago caller was charged Rs.16/min and the receiver with Rs.8/min.

With cell phones having in built audio-video players and camera etc, it has become quite easier to carry one gadget instead of many as many used to do when going to a trip or vacation. With bluetooth, infrared technologies you can also transfer data from one mobile to another quiet easily. The reach of mobile phones is amazing, throughout all sections of society regardless of the economic status.

Mobile phones with their usage has certainly change the way people behave or act in public places. You are now made to hear to the private conversation one is having with his mobile without bothering surroundings. Ring tones with all nuisances comes up all of a sudden from nowhere. With the cell phones usage, people spending time on telephone conversation has increased by leaps and bounds. No matter how many times the organisers tell the audience in a meeting, show or any perfomance to switch off their mobile phone or keep them in silent mode hardly anyone listens. So it comes hardly as a surprise, when in the middle of some important discussion the annoying ringing tone takes away the charm.

Cell phone buyers are often faced with problem of having plenty to choose from. More often than not one goes with the opinion of friends and of course the ads which influence the buyers quite a lot. Main concern for the cell phone buyers is the sudden decrease in price after they bought within 3-4 months itself. But that is the story with all the electronic items. So, you cannot predict the right time for buying the cell phone as is the case today with buying computers.

The most common question asked when a number is called is "Where are you?". Surely sometimes this is very annoying. It may prompt the receiver to tell lies.

Cell phones are here to stay. They have influenced our daily lives and continue to do so in the coming days with their new features.