Sin City - Late Goodbye

by
Poets of the fall.

Monday Night Bonanza

Well, if you are crazy fan like me of : Journeyman, Heroes, Monday Night Football and Monday Night Raw, then you exactly know what I am talking about. The whole deal is that all this shows are shown on Monday Night between 9-11 PM Eastern.

Well some of the most expensive advertisement spots are during Monday nights, and if everyone is crazy like me flipping channels and not viewing a single ad, I wonder who is watching them. Off course a slightly sane and more importantly an affluent person would possibly be able to afford a DVR; concentrate on one program while the others are being recorded. Uh huh its not me, I would rather prefer them watching them then, than sometimes later.

Lets start with Monday Night Raw:

Recap of Sunday's pay per view event where the Legend Killer Randy Orten became the champion and as always "history was made." Yeah yeah WWE basher may call this joke, all I can say to them: ITS NOT SUPPOSE TO BE TAKEN FOR REALLLLLLLL. Its a male version of a soap opera and not meant to be a ethical sport. Its called Sports Entertainment for a reason, duh !!!!

Then hmm: Heroes

Hiro Nakamura continues is journey back to 16th Century Japan, where he motivates Takezo Kensei: his childhood hero. He continues his motivation of Kensei by encouraging him to get the scrolls and impress her lady love. That was the only part of Heroes I was able to understand, and besides the one where Saylar tries to imbibe Candice Millers powers but fails as he himself hasn't recovered yet from getting impaled by Hiro Nakamura's Samurai sword.

Journeyman :D

One of the best episode, where I was actually able to comprehend everything. This episode was to teach a lesson to Dane that he cannot do everything :). Well scripted, Dan goes back to 1989 San Francisco to prevent casualty arising due to the SFO earthquake. Dane tries his level best to convey the message that an earthquake is going to strike but to deaf ears. His quest to save Charlotte Zilliman and Allen the Attorney fails too. He is again torn apart between Katie (his wife in the present) and Livia (who haunts her in his journey back in time).

Monday Night Football

MNF returned to Buffalo after 13 years with celebrations and fireworks. Bills heavily underdogs against 4-0 Dallas Cowboys. T. Romo (Cowboys QB) has taken the nation by storm with his heroic until he came here to Orchard Park in Buffalo. TO ( Terrel Owens ) widely touted wide receiver known for his histrionics on and off the field too got a beating. Bills defense forced 5 turnovers and with their under-rated rookie QB ( Trent Edwards) are currently leading 24-16. Well Edwards just threw an interception :( and with 6 minutes remaining it could be a the one and only costly mistake of the day. Let me go back to the game, keeping my fingers crossed for the Bills.

help - Suresh !!!

Friends,

An Indian student on F1 visa met with a deadly accident and because of the extent of Insurance coverage, his family needs help badly. Please help him and his family !!!!!

For more information visit:

http://www.help-suresh.org/

The Holy Quran and Science - Part 1

"Zaalekal Kitabo La Raibafiha"

A very famous verse from the holy Quran which means: " this book has no doubts," Indeed !!. It is the book of Allah Subhanahu, was revealed too His beloved Prophet Mohammed (SA) who taught it to his beloved the Ahl-e-Bait (AS) . From Ahl-e-Bait (AS) the knowledge passed from generations to our Aimat Tahireen (AS) and Duat-ul-Mutalkeen.

Mutalkeen here refers to those people who do Takwa ( people who believed in Allah, prayed namaz, bought Islam and who do khairaat (donate to the poors). So Duat-e-Mutalkeen(RA) actually refers to our Daais from 1st to the present 52nd (TUS) who bought Imaan, spread the good word of Islam and explained us the Holy Quran. And with there knowledge of the Quran were able to do Moajizas (miracles).

Now going back to our topic, how is it related to science. Well you must have probably heard many examples relating scientific discoveries to be already mentioned in the Quran. Well the glory lies in the fact that even before the advent of science the Quran existed and more important it has never been altered from its true form. Afterall Allah said in the Quran:

"Inna Nahno Nazalna al Zekr wa Inna lahu lahafezoon"

In which Allah says that He has revealed this book and He Himself will protect it (Inna Lahu lahfezoon) and at the same time also taught it to His prophet Mohammed SA.

.....to be continued...

The "Are you a fat ? " quiz

Concerned about that tummy of yours and all the complications ( cholestrol, heart attacks blah blah), well then take this fat quiz here :

http://fat-quiz.com/?category=fat2&source=google

Well dont worry, most ppl in this world are fat :)

Fergie Feat. Sean Kingston - Big Girls Don't Cry (Remix)

Gandhiji - Guest of Honor

Happy Gandhi Jayanti to all the Indians.

Yes, today Oct 2nd Gandhiji the father of our Nation was shot by Nathuram Godse ( a brahmin who was infuriated by Indian government's decisions to transfer the promised 55 Crore Rs to Pakistan). Gandhiji had decided to fast for it because the Indian Government headed by Nehru had initially decided not to transfer those funds, but later did because of Gandhiji's resistance.

So, the message to all the Pakistani brothers who mock Gandhiji is I guess clear that it was Gandhiji who actually fasted for them. It was he who fought for them instead.

Well coming back to Gandhiji's association to us Dawoodi Bohras and the topic in discussion. Gandhiji was Muqaddas Moula Sayedna Taher Saifuddin's (RA) guest of honor at Moula's palace in Dandi.

Dandi march is well known to every Indian. It was when Gandhiji asked the British to amend the Salt Tax laws and off course the angrez disagreed. So Gandhiji decided to march from Sabarmati to Dandi, both cities in Gujarat. He reached Dandi with his followers on the coast of the Arabian Sea and prepared salt which was banned by the British. This was significant as it send shockwaves through the entire nation as a simpleton like Gandhi could defy the omnipotent British, more important through peaceful means of non-violence.

After the historic walk Gandhiiji and some of his followers were invited to rest at "Saifee Villa" and was welcomed by Sayedna Taher Saifuddin AS, a champion of harmony, non-violence and justice in his own way. The picture above taken from:
http://www.hindu.com/mag/2005/03/06/stories/2005030600200200.htm
signifies both leaders incessant quest for communal harmony and fight against oppression.

Later this Palace was dedicated to the Archaeological Survey of India by Sayedna Taher Saifuddin and has become a significant landmark in Indian History.

An Ideal Wife - Bharatiya Naari :D

BRIC's Brilliance

Everyone is talking about the BRIC which is an abbreviation used for 4 countries: Brazil, Russia, India and China offcourse ( couldn't be Colombia :-) ). Well everyone was talking about them and I too decided to contribute. Following graphs display the fall of US dollar against the respective currencies of these 4 four countries. The graphs are self-explanatory and the reference is provided with the image itself :).

1. Brazilian Real
14.04% drop in the value of 1 USD in the past one year.

2. Russian Rouble
7.4% drop in the value of 1 USD over the past one year.3. Indian Rupee
13.34% drop in the value of 1 USD over the past one year.
4. Chinese Yuan
5.06% drop in the value of 1 USD in the past one year.

Y-axis is the value of the respective currency to 1 US $.

13.34% gain for Indian Rupees :). Go India !!! Well when we glorify India how can we forget to look at our most favorite rival Pakistan :)

Pakistan
A +1.5% gain in the value of 1 USD
This is just to prove how messed up Pakistan is. Another one of Pakistan bashing ;)

Plain White T's - Hey There Delilah

The Memory Remains, Part II

Another memory that I linger on most of the time was my experience with Premalayam, a non-profit governmental organization (NGO). They concentrate more on medical camps, sanitation, and education. Well education is definitely the cure for all the misery that people incur upon them. So, I guess Premalayam's idelogy is well thought off and executed.

Premalayam targets the most backward and extremely sluggish part of the Hyderabad. When people think of Hyderabad first thing that comes into their minds is a booming high tech city, a rich and rising middle class and not to forget well to do NRIs. But its not the same everywhere. What I saw at Premalayam's volunteer programs was like an eye opener.

No doubt India is making tremendous progress, but the entire globalization wave which is sweeping India, is limited to the metros. That too certain parts of the metros. Well you wouldnt be wrong to state that 5 percent of India is becoming America while the rest 95 percent is becoming Somalia.

Well coming back to the topic, this was a sanitation drive, where we were suppose to clean an entire village and educate the locals on basic sanitation. For someone like me it was next to impossible as I had no command over telgu the native language, but I still tried my best.

ISKCON Temple - West Virginia

Lake of Traquility *

Lake of Tranquility

Facade - Palace of Gold

Click on the photopraghs to see a nicer more enhanced version :).

* Didnt know the name of the lake so just decided to name it something. I hope i did justice to this amazing lake right in the middle of nowhere.

This place was visited by me on 20th of June, 2006.

Shaan of Moulana Ali AS

I Heard this during a bayan:


Rasulallah (SA) on his trip to the seven heavens during Mehraaj was told by Allah Subhanahu that every farishta in every heaven had the intense desire to do deedar of Moulana Ali AS and hence Allah has made one Farishta ( an angel) that resembles Moula Ali AS on each of the seven heaven :).


Pardon my english it was hard to translate.

Attitude

This following verse from Rang De Basanti summarizes the attitude towards life:

hone hone de nasha khone khone ko hai kya
ek saans mein pee ja zara zindagi chadha
hai yeh toh ek jashan tu thirakne de kadam
abhi saanson mein hai dam abhi chalne de sitam

Translation:

get high there is nothing to loose
enjoy life like an adrenalin rush
becuase its a celebration so dance
as we are still alive and kicking

Lamest Electronic Game

Check this link out to view the Lamest Electronic Game every built.

Recipe 101

How to make Bhindi ( lady finger) in the most optimized ( least time) way:

well i will tell u how to make Bhindi ..this steps are optimized to save time too

all u do is cutt the bhindi in small pieces
chop the head and tail offf
take a kadayee heat oil
let it heat for some time
add some jeera and cummins seeds

while the oil is heating cutt onions
and add those onions + garlic + green chillies + red chillies + salt depending on taste

let them simmer for sometime
while the the onions and spices are frying
cutt the bhindi in small pieces
chop off the head and tail

enough time for the onions to turn golden brown
when they turn brown add the bhindi to the fry
mix it like there is no tomorrow ....

let the entire thing fry for 10 minutes at high stove....when u see the bhindi turn slightly black from green ..serve it hot ....can add some potatoes too with it ...this is ur bhindi fry ...

Status of Woman in Islam

Well to begin blogging on this very tabooed topic let me start with a few quotes on women from my Moulana Ali AS:

Engage in marriage; because this is the tradition of the Prophet (saw) of Allah. - Moulana Ali(as)

Women are like flowers. They should be treated gently, kindly, and with affection. - Moulana Ali(as)

Act moderately with women in every instance. Speak to them nicely in order that their deeds become good. - Moulana Ali AS (as)

On the right is the shrine of Moulana Ali AS located in wartorn Najaf, Iraq. Moulana Ali AS was the cousin brother of Prophet Mohammed (SA) and the first male to adopt Islam.

The Memory Remains, Part 1

Unperturbed and comforting are two words that sum up my stay in Hyderabad and Secunderabad: twin cities, but distinct in their own way. The former bustling with commotion while the later as tranquil as you can imagine.

It was totally unexpected and uncalled for me to end up there. But as always the best things in your lives happens when you least expect it. Though I had conflicting notions about going there in the first place, I still went as I had no choice but to go there. You got to do what you got to do.

In this new series of blogs I will discuss some of the memorable and definitely hilarious incidents that happened to me while I was here in Hyderabad.

And this is the place where I began:

This was my work place for close to 8 month located right in the heart of Gachibowli, a booming high tech village on the outskirts of Hyderabad. Well, at first glance it resembled, a high tech ET( extra terrestrial) research facility. The domes are shaped like UFOs to attract prospective aliens ;), then you have a maze like structure where researchers could hide and study their movements and could trap them.

This building was designed by I.K.Gujral’s (India’s former PM) brother and it’s a replica of the Golconda Fort. Its eerie settings reminded me of the Stonehenge and the variety of mountainous stones, further justified this assumption to some extent. The sprawling campus of around 100 acres is laden with trees and wild plantations, providing a beautiful surrounding. At the same time, it was a dream opportunity for employees to have a decent1 km long walk after the sumptuous lunch and play hooky with their managers.

Gold Rush in Banswara [:D]

Well I wanted to blog about this mind boggling discovery that happened in Banswara district of Rajasthan from a long time.

Okay if you are wondering what Banswara is all about well , then its a small district town located in southern Rajasthan bordering Gujarat on the south east and Madhya Pradesh on the north west. Its the place where I was born. Its been a lethargic town with SCST ( bhil tribes) being the majority and few Muslims and hindu business owners. Well can write a whole book about it but no thats not the issue we are discussing.

As per the Hindu article:

http://www.hindu.com/2005/03/04/stories/2005030408550500.htm
2.5 crore tonne Gold deposits have been located in Bhukia-Jagpura village in Banswara District.

Also as per http://mines.nic.in/archp3gsi.html
Exploration for Gold in Bhukia (E) Banswara district, Rajasthan has indicated a tentative resource of 7 m.t. of gold ore with an average grade of 2 g/t.

Well with incessant rain, Banswara is already referred to as the Cherrapunji of Rajasthan, very soon if the gold strikes hopefully, we will be known as the Yosemite valley of India.

India Vs Pakistan

If I dont debate on this topic I feel like something missing :).

Okay so I saw this video on youtube: (for reference purpose).
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7271756746274927764&q=Musharraf+debate+video

This guy very wells tells General 'Bush'arraf that Pakistan
should learn something from its neighbour India which too got independence at the same time and had exactly the same time to establish a governance.

He says that no matter what , Indian Democracy is so strong that no matter how worse the government is, the army wont leave the barracks and take over the reigns of the governance. Which is not possible in Pakistan, where the army is infact more powerfull then the elected government.

I guess Indian Political propaganda machine should stop raising this issue of blaming General Busharraf of not preparing grounds for democratic elections. Because, even if an elected prime minister do come up, he/she will be controlled by the army nevertheless

Fatimid Dynasty- Time of Imam Moiz AS

War with Byzantine

In 345 H, the Fatimid naval fleet inflicted a major defeat on the Byzantines in Italy under the command of Ammar bin Hasan, following several minor entanglements and forcing the emperor Constantine VII (913-959) to pay tribute and send a peace-negotiating embassy to the court of Imam Moiz. Later the Umayyids joined hands with Rome and started a campaign against the Fatimids.

Imam Moiz traveeled to Mehdiya in a huge army and ordered the Fatimi fleets to pursue them under the command of Qaid Joher and Hasan bin Ali, Governor of Sicily. It was no sooner that Rome was inficted with a heavy defeat and they had to flee. The news of the defeat had reached the Umayyids in Spain, who ordered their men to return. Ibn Hani of Spain, one of the famous poets of the Fatimid Era has described with detail in many verses, about the victory of the Fatimi forces.

The emporer later sent gifts and precious tokens of silk and gold to the court of Imam Moiz asking him to return his forces back home and award a peace treaty with Rome. In 356 H, a peace treaty was concluded between the Fatimids and the Byzantines, and accordingly, the Muslims sought the right to impose jizya on the Christian inhabitants of Sicily. This defeat of the Byzantines was indeed celebrated with pomp through out the Islamic world.

Fatimid supremacy on the seas was possible due to their knowledge of astronomy and geography.

The Fatimid Caliphs were great patrons of science and learning, thus encouraging research in astronomy and geography.

There were big observatories in Cairo where scholars could follow the movement of the stars. Ibn Yunus, who worked in these observatories, is considered one of the greatest astronomers of the Islamic World.

An astrolabe (instrument for measuring altitude of the sun and stars at sea) developed in the time of Imam Moiz is still kept in the British Museum in London. Geography formed an important part of the curriculum at the Al-Azhar.

Imam Moiz AS was greatly interested in geography and commended a piece of silk to be made at Tustar in Persia, representing, in gold and colours, a map of the world, which cost him 22,000 Dinars (7).

Pursuit of Happiness

Researchers have proved that Happiness doesnt come to you by magic. Its is an end result of proper decision making.

I dont mean to deny that fact that lot of people associate spirituality to happiness. Lot of people chose a particular religion because they made a decision that this was the way of life they want to live and hence it makes them happy in whatever religious duties they perform.

Now you make investments ( whatever kinds ) they are but they involve thorough decision making and when you reap the benefits you are happy.

Aloneness Vs Loneliness

Gautam Budha insisted to his disciples: "Be a light unto yourself."

Ultimately we have to learn to live alone. We have to develop in each of us the capacity to guide ourselves through darkness without a companion : all alone.

That brings us to the aloneness vs loneliness debate. Loneliness is being deprived of something while aloneness is the presence of oneself. You start with loneliness and its height is aloneness i.e. you get so used to staying lonely that you get enconsed to it and you end up enjoying it (aloneness).

For furthur reading refer to this article by Osho:
9. Aloneness

BS : " C++ is a waste of time "

Acronymn BS in the caption might mean bullshit, but wait till you read the entire article on why Bjarne Stroustoup created C++ in the first place.

Excerpts from the leaked interview of Bjare Stroustrup (BS) the creator of C++.

Stroustrup: Well, it's been long enough, now, and I believe most people have figured out for themselves that C++ is a waste of time but, I must say, it's taken them a lot longer than I thought it would.
Interviewer: So how exactly did you do it?
Stroustrup: It was only supposed to be a joke, I never thought people would take the book seriously. Anyone with half a brain can see that object-oriented programming is counter-intuitive, illogical and inefficient.
Interviewer: What?
Stroustrup: And as for 're-useable code' - when did you ever hear of a company re-using its code?
Interviewer: Well, never, actually, but...


This link provides the entire interview. Interview with IEEE's Computer Magazine.

International Breast Milk Project

Ever wonder what happens to the bulk of expired food items that are of no use. I never thought about it till I saw this box of Whey Proteins which had expired a month ago.

I wondered who would buy that but I later learned to my surprise that all the expired food items are actually exported to hunger striken Africa. This on Genetic Food by Hurmut Meyer of GENET ( European NGO Network on Genetic Engineering ) furthurs this observation.

This Time magazine article caught my eyes. International Breast Milk Project started by Jill Youse took the step no mother would ever take: she actually began shipping the extra breast milk to Africa beacuse she produced more than what her baby desired.

Taking such a tread would be an herculean task for us, so I guess the least we can do is not to waste the food that is bestowed on us.

Homosexuality is Biological

Recent study have shown that some rams turn gay just because of a distinctive smaller size of a part of their brain.
http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn3008

And this particular research conducted by the scientists in US has resulted in an outcry from the gay and the lesbian community.
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,21000495-401,00.html