tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-273601412012-02-16T16:50:14.421-08:00There is properly no history, only biography. We see the world not as it is, but as we want it to be. Through the lens before our eyes, also called perspective. This blog records my views on everything and anything. It is said that people prefer to be wrong rather than to be differnt. Most of my posts would be different.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comBlogger361100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27360141.post-22032217379201316432011-10-31T01:19:00.000-07:002011-10-31T20:06:51.345-07:00

The general strike in Telangana came to an end last week, just the way I had predicted. There has been a barrage of opinions and counter opinions in the media ever since, on what the strike achieved and what it didn't achieve. But I think the most important measure of understanding the impact of the strike is a profit and loss statement of the strike. There were some winners who profited out of

Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27360141.post-48696889768050251202011-10-12T02:05:00.000-07:002011-10-12T02:05:13.259-07:00

The indefinite general strike (called 'sakala janula samme' in Telugu) in the Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh has been going on for four weeks now, paralysing public life in the region. The government appeals to the Joint Action Committee, a committee of sundry political parties and unions which called for the strike demanding a separate Telangana state, to end the strike as it is causing

Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27360141.post-90179181700121451002011-04-26T07:05:00.000-07:002011-04-26T07:05:10.459-07:00

There is so much of hype in the media about the Anna Hazare led movement to enact a Lokpal bill aimed at rooting out corruption from our system. The movement found enormous support from the public, which surprised Mr. Hazare too. But I am not really surprised. The fight for any cause touted by the media as a ‘good cause’ finds lot of support in India, only to be forgotten quickly. Popular

Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27360141.post-40184003302445279172011-03-22T10:02:00.000-07:002011-04-01T07:00:43.540-07:00

You are between 28 and 32 years of age. You have been working for more than 5 years now. You are single. You begin to notice that everything around you has changed, except you. You are still the same person. But you feel a big void within you. You just can not precisely answer why you feel so. An accident or an incident or a bout of ill-health or a serious setback causes so much of grief that

Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27360141.post-17102425146354951692011-03-12T06:16:00.000-08:002011-03-12T06:16:37.878-08:00

India is experiencing double digit food inflation. The government claims it is doing everything possible and the inflation should come down in a few weeks. Many weeks have passed, but inflation does not seem to be heeding the pleas of the government. Every time the food inflation figure comes down a bit, the government claims it is because of its policies. But every time the figure goes up, the

Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27360141.post-76565651285835139942011-03-05T11:42:00.000-08:002011-03-06T01:55:03.289-08:00

The pink newspapers claim that there is not as much demand as anticipated for television ad time during the ongoing cricket world cup matches. Some columnists went one step ahead to declare that cricket is in a decline. Is it really? I think it is not cricket which is in a decline but the economy built around cricket. Last 20 years have seen this economy growing by leaps and bounds. The game was

Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27360141.post-8536373824516267512011-02-06T08:16:00.000-08:002011-02-06T08:18:51.429-08:00

Today Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) headed by Chiranjeevi is merged with Congress party. Who will gain from this development? Political analysts suggest it is advantage Congress in the state of Andhra Pradesh. They say Chiranjeevi, being a popular film star hailing from a dominant community, strengthens Congress which was weakened by the exit of Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy (Jagan). Is it so? No. I think it

Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27360141.post-5363090699473820382011-01-23T01:21:00.000-08:002011-01-24T01:22:31.388-08:00

A.R.Rahman needs no introduction. He is arguably the most internationally recognized Indian music director ever. He is the only Indian music director to have won the Oscar, though many people believe his Oscar winning composition 'Jai Ho' was nowhere near his best. To his millions of fans, he is the best composer in the world. But I think there is one quality that is seriously missing in his

Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27360141.post-10807313763212727472011-01-06T08:04:00.000-08:002011-01-08T09:46:50.188-08:00

We have a day to honor motherhood, that is International Mothers' day. A day for fathers. A day for women, a day for men. A day for human rights, a day for peace. We also have a no smoking day. There is a day for almost everyone and everything. But there is no day to express solidarity with all the losers. Losers are everywhere, though no one admits to it in public. For every winner, there is at

Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27360141.post-46237450229141182252010-12-15T01:03:00.000-08:002010-12-14T22:13:17.320-08:00

India is no longer the land of snake charmers. Rarely do we find one on our streets these days. But we are a nation of queues. Wherever we go, we have to stand in a queue and wait for our turn. Almost every service provided by the government, like issuing a passport or a driving license, can be availed only by standing and waiting in a queue. It looks as if queues are mandated by the constitution

Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27360141.post-2019073013236877732010-12-14T06:58:00.000-08:002010-12-14T07:02:25.182-08:00

The committee headed by Justice Srikrishna is expected to submit its report on the Telangana issue to the Union Home Minister on or before the 31st of December this year. There is a lot of speculation in the local media on what will happen after that day? December 31st is projected as the D-day on which a decision on statehood for Telangana will be taken. Some pro-Telangana politicians

Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27360141.post-11135162553209317902010-11-21T23:16:00.001-08:002010-11-24T05:10:46.939-08:00

Yesterday one vernacular news channel telecast a show that allegedly criticized Sonia Gandhi. And hell broke loose in AP today. Congress activists across the state are protesting against this and are demanding unconditional apology from the channel. It is not just the activists who took to the streets but also ministers in the state cabinet. One woman leader was even crying before the cameras;

Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27360141.post-19219055144651881472010-09-21T23:56:00.000-07:002010-09-21T13:57:34.059-07:00

My dear young men, Axe deodorant won't get you a girlfriend. Not just Axe, neither will Wild Stone deo, nor will Denver deo, nor will Very Very Sexy deo, nor will any other deo for that matter. What they show on the ads is too good, too easy to be true. If a deodorant could get you a girl or a woman, there would be no poetry, no war. Only if a deodorant could get you a girl, this world would be a

Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27360141.post-47675750672266044612010-09-18T12:06:00.000-07:002010-09-21T00:02:07.377-07:00

It is KCR. I know it sounds like a fancy guess. But I am afraid that is the truth, inconvenient to supporters of a separate Telangana state. Let me tell you how. KCR stays relevant only as long as the movement for a separate Telangana state continues. It is from this relevance that he derives his clout and his money. Once Telangana state becomes a reality, KCR would lose his relevance and would

Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27360141.post-25800925684390548732010-09-12T00:38:00.000-07:002010-09-21T00:04:15.610-07:00

There are some catchy tag lines heard on Radio Mirchi Hyderabad. "Idi chala hot Guru" which means 'It is very hot Guru'. There is another one 'More music, less talk Guru". If I have to use a tag line to describe the ongoing movement for a separate Telangana state, it will be "More Noise - Less Logic". It is more of rhetoric than rationale that is powering the movement. Of course, it is very hot

Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27360141.post-50341695863215729752010-09-11T09:52:00.000-07:002010-09-11T09:54:09.902-07:00

The crown prince of India, prime minister in waiting (speculation is rife that he might replace Manmohan Singh in 2012), Rahul Gandhi seems to be tight-lipped on all the major issues facing the nation now. But he hogs disproportionately huge amount of publicity, just by travelling to various parts of the country. Kashmir is literally burning. The chief minister, said to be favored by the crown

Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27360141.post-33486530273770670872010-08-30T03:59:00.000-07:002010-08-30T03:59:43.646-07:00

Finally Bollywood is breaking free from the so called  'formulae', peppy songs, dances, skinshow... Aashayein is one such different movie, unlike the regular bollywood flick. Kudos to Nagesh Kukunoor for making such a sensitive movie. The movie is a heart touching portrayal of human emotions. It is all about a young man (John Abraham) who comes to know that he has got only three months left to

Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27360141.post-43306580847460634852010-08-15T10:08:00.000-07:002010-08-17T06:27:58.663-07:00

There is a new Telugu movie called 'Maryada Ramanna' (మర్యాద రామన్న), which has a song that starts with 'Telugammayi' (తెలుగమ్మాయి) . The song goes on to describe a Telugu girl so beautifully. Not just this movie, there have been many movies in recent past which had songs extolling the good qualities of a Telugu girl. Ironically none of the heroines enacting the role of that beautiful Telugu girl

Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27360141.post-42606689208694113812010-08-15T08:07:00.000-07:002010-08-16T09:04:37.299-07:00

I always wondered if we need to spend so much money on the so called team building exercises. A highly paid speaker comes and speaks about the qualities of winning teams. Some games, which supposedly illustrate team spirit, are played. I always found them either boring or amusing, but not useful. We grow up in a society that values individual achievements more than collective achievements. So, it

Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27360141.post-66654965504019395412010-08-15T07:31:00.000-07:002010-08-16T08:59:00.252-07:00

'Bandh', which literally means 'shut down' in English, has been the most employed form of mass protest in India for decades. The idea behind 'bandh' was that people show their protest by voluntarily shutting down almost everything, offices, shops, transport... Until two decades ago, a day of bandh was not so much of inconvenience to the people. It was in fact an extra holiday. Kids did not have

Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27360141.post-67834407729852787792010-08-02T20:28:00.000-07:002010-08-02T20:28:07.124-07:00

Some facts to consider... Shiela Dixit of Congress has won three successive terms (1998,2003 and 2008) and been ruling the state of Delhi since 1998. Congress, along with NCP, has won three successive terms (1999, 2004 and  2009) and been ruling the state of Maharastra since 1999. Naveen Patnaik of BJD has won three successive terms (2000, 2004 and 2009) and been ruling the state of Orissa since

Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27360141.post-1191359675354578702010-07-13T08:25:00.000-07:002010-07-13T09:07:13.197-07:00

Hector or Achilles (watch the movie 'Troy')? A small gift with lot of love or an expensive gift without any love? A good product with no sales pitch or a bad product with a hyperbolic sales pitch? A guy who speaks lot of sense in not so fluent English or a guy who speaks nonsense in fluent English? A guy who has a simple bike with tankful of petrol in it or a guy who has a high-end bike but very

Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27360141.post-804347691642788682010-07-11T12:22:00.000-07:002010-07-11T12:38:00.599-07:00

Have you ever wondered what purpose a newspaper serves? So many things might come to your mind. But there is one which you have not seen before. Come and see it for yourself in the state of Andhra Pradesh. Here is a daily called ‘Sakshi’, which means 'witness' in English. In reality, it does not stand witness to anything but the ulterior motives of its promoter(s). One might ask “what is wrong

Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27360141.post-63553849578043200232010-07-05T20:26:00.000-07:002010-07-05T07:59:56.598-07:00

Goes below the starting lyrics (pallavi) of a song from the movie Khaidi, one of the all time hits of Telugu cinema. The movie is said to have propelled Chiranjeevi to super-stardom. ఇదేమిటబ్బా ఇది అదేను అబ్బా అదేమిటబ్బా అది ఇదేను అబ్బా ............. ............. .................  I don't know if people really noticed the funny part of the lyrics. The song starts with a question "what is

Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27360141.post-5406085179270045792010-02-01T01:16:00.000-08:002010-02-15T01:51:05.485-08:00

I wonder why majority of men (Indians, don’t know about foreigners) don’t like the Williams sisters (Venus and Serena), especially Serena. In every match she plays, irrespective of the opponent, I see people supporting and cheering her opponent. Even when she wins, people don’t appreciate her. They rather sympathize with her opponent. I think it is because we all have a soft corner for white skin

Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27360141.post-5936552718177518572009-12-18T06:27:00.001-08:002009-12-18T06:27:49.923-08:00

Every time a colleague becomes a father or mother, the only phrase that I hear is "I/we am/are blessed with a baby boy/girl". Why is it that everyone uses the same phrase? This is the only phrase that I hear, without any changes, from everybody. Isn't it strange? Isn't there an alternative phrase to convey the same thing in English?

Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27360141.post-28993689076042649302009-11-12T08:34:00.000-08:002010-01-12T06:22:00.615-08:00

Everyone of you would have heard of the Women's Reservation Bill proposed by successive Indian governments. Every government since 1996 tried but failed to pass this bill in the Parliament. It means there is considerable opposition to the bill among the Indian lawmakers(MPs) even though every political party, except two or three, publicly expressed their support for the bill time and again. This

Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27360141.post-38366972849361408002009-08-24T03:05:00.000-07:002009-08-24T03:29:26.084-07:00

         I watched the much touted Telugu movie "Magadheera" on Saturday, after suffering, though briefly, the ignominy of having not watched the latest masterpiece of Telugu cinema. I am so disappointed that the movie is not even half of what it is hyped to be. I am even more surprised that not a single voice came out and said that the movie was not so good. May be the overwhelming numbers of

Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27360141.post-8903221401737458262009-05-23T03:41:00.000-07:002009-09-23T10:00:04.068-07:00

      There is a lot of hype in the media, especially the English media, that the new central government lead by Mr.Manmohan Singh will actively implement economic reforms as it is no longer dependent on the support of the Left parties. The popular perception also seems to be in line with the hype as the Indian stock indices shot up by 15% on the very next trading day after the election results

Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27360141.post-3610795677874583642009-02-06T07:24:00.000-08:002009-02-06T07:50:28.400-08:00

All of you might be aware of the recent incident at a pub in Bangalore. Some self-proclaimed protectors of Indian culture raided a pub and allegedly molested some women. The whole English media in the country vehemently condemned the incident and ran so many special stories and interviews from so called freedom loving citizens(only urban, of course) of the country. People denounced the moral

Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27360141.post-40542815965676744472009-01-09T05:55:00.000-08:002009-01-09T06:04:53.420-08:00

Everyday when I go home in the evening, there are many Telugu news channels(( I know five of them) on TV, all showing the same news. News is OK but the news readers are pathetic. I learn from my friends in the media that the only qualifications needed to be a news reader on one of these channels are presentable looks and above average diction. Where has journalism gone? These men and women

Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27360141.post-81303419295955488602009-01-06T06:51:00.000-08:002009-01-06T06:53:40.175-08:00

Many andhrites use the phrase "Wish you a happy Pongal" to wish a happy Sankranthi to each other. There is nothing wrong with it as such. But many people, including some school teachers, think Pongal is the English name for Sankranthi and teach the same to others. The truth is that there is no English name for Sankranthi. Pongal is the Tamil name for the same festival celebrated in Tamilnadu. It

Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27360141.post-34750809833995274672009-01-02T23:00:00.000-08:002009-01-09T03:37:20.356-08:00

Addressing a protest rally two days ago, PRP leadar Pavan Kalyan spewed venom on Congress leaders. Though experts see his language as too harsh to be politically correct, I think he did exactly what is just needed now. Every allegation he made is true. It is very well known that Shabbir Ali ( minister for power in the state cabinet) has links with suspected ISI agents. Of late, he is the only

Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27360141.post-89563442640594870282008-12-30T06:49:00.000-08:002008-12-30T06:54:12.460-08:00

The Andhra Pradesh Police have reopened the Nagarjuna Finance Limited case now. NFL raised deposits from the public and failed to repay them. There were rumors that the promoters siphoned off the money. It all happened some time in `1999 or 2000. Prima facie, it looks like a routine Indian style investigation. But, I think it is neither routine investigation nor the action of the government to

Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27360141.post-58716850843309998932008-03-29T02:23:00.000-07:002008-12-30T22:34:00.354-08:00

Pringles are a famous brand of potato chips (crisps?). Check http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pringles for more information. These are now available in India too. Go to any supermarket and you find lots and lots of Pringles cans on the shelves. Before you buy one, please check the top of the can for the date of manufacturing and the date of import. This is what I found on almost all the cans.Imported

Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27360141.post-11774383276317617182008-03-03T05:51:00.000-08:002010-01-12T06:28:27.621-08:00

Looking at the number of people(read agents..) hawking the so called insurance policies everywhere, I wonder if we are living in a country of insurance agents. Anybody with a little cynicism(most of us do have some..) can see the hidden side of it to some extent. These agents are not actually selling insurance products, but bad quality investment products disguised as great investment products.

Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0