Johnny Depp

Achan.. Dad..

Smoking...

The Moon

Pencil - 2H, HB, 4B, 6B, 8B; Charcoal, Ash, Whitener

Thanks to you.. we are safe...

I was reading one article on 26^th November incident, when US helicopters attacked Pak base and killed Pakistani soldiers. My condolences are with the victims’ family and dear ones. http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/article2689765.ece

The article goes onto say: Questions are being raised as to why the Air Force was not called in that night to counter the attack, but the DGMO indicated that this would have “escalated the scale of the incident.” Also, given the disparity between Pakistan's military prowess and the combined strength of the NATO forces, a political response was preferred — though the civilian leadership was informed about the incident only after daybreak.

------- -------

This reminded me of an incident that took place way back in 2000, when I was studying in Xth standard. It was a Sunday afternoon when my uncle, who is an airman, took me to Air Traffic Control (ATC) tower in Amritsar.

Rajasansi airport in Amritsar is used by both civil and defense aircrafts.Since I was with a defense personnel, getting access to the ATC tower was not much difficult. As soon as we entered the control room, we saw lots of activities going on in the small glass walled room. For a small Airport of the size Rajasansi, where there were not many international and domestic flights, this was unusual. I kept quiet as the drama unveiled in front of me.

The chief was shouting at his sub-ordinates, ‘Ask him to take XYZ route’ and the message was aptly delivered through a microphone. I had never heard of the place which ‘The chief’ had mentioned, later I realized that it was a code. The sub-ordinate spoke to the pilot again and relayed the message back to ‘The chief’, ‘He says everything is fine now. We will be able to see him in couple of minutes’. Meanwhile my uncle went and spoke to his Air force counterparts. He came back and suggested that we should better go outside as something critical was going on. As soon as we came out of the room, I asked him the details. He said, ‘There is this Uzbek cargo flight, which is coming to India after a long gap. The pilot is not sure of the route. As soon as he diverted from the route, he got tailed by 2 MiGs, which took off from Pathankot. Everything seems to be sorted out now and we will be able to see this flight soon.’

As soon as we reached the ground floor, I could see the pilot of the Uzbek aircraft coming in from the runway. A tense looking fat guy in mid-50s. He was narrating the incident to the people who were walking alongside him. His face was animated and he was gesturing the MiGs with his palms, which were shivering.

My uncle asked me whether I would like to see the Aircraft and soon I found myself standing beneath the humongous Uzbek machine. While standing there I recollected the pilot’s tense face in my mind who flew that machine a while ago and who was made to say all his prayers by our alert Indian Air Force…'Thanks to you.. we are safe...'

Short Story

03-Dec-2011

The Bicycle Thief

A hot summer afternoon in the month of May. Shopkeepers had closed their shops and they had gone home for lunch. There were hardly any human souls on the road. The only shop that stood out in this bland view was ‘Rafique’s Salon’ with a missing ‘o’. The saloon’s board stretched across with the pictures of Indian cricketers and cine stars. Though the pictures can hardly be classified as portraits, nonetheless a good stare can help one identify the immortals. The shop was teeming with customers. Inside the shop, the barber was busy cutting hair and there were least five customers waiting for their turn. One thing was common among the customers (even the person who was getting attended by the barber), once in a while they looked outside the shop to make sure that their bicycles were safe.

Raju was sitting beneath a banyan tree and he looked attentively at the barbershop, which was across the road. He neither belonged to that village nor he was interested to get a haircut. He was interested in the bicycles parked outside the shop. He had calculated the risk and narrowed down on the bicycle, which he would steal. After waiting for sometime, he went to the shop. He opened the door and quickly glanced at the customers. With an air of disappointment he turned towards the barber, ’How much time will it take?’ Barber greeted Raju with a warm smile and like a shrewd mathematician he looked at his customers and calculated, ‘ One… One and half hour Sir’

‘Okay, I will come later’, replied Raju.

Raju closed the door behind him. On the right side of the shop, a bicycle was kept slanted to the shop’s wall. There was no lock on that bicycle. Raju took that bicycle and rode away with it at a normal speed. After riding the bicycle for a good five minutes, he looked carefully at the bicycle’s machine. In the bright sunshine, he could easily see those silver letters inscribed on the machine. He ran his fingers over the letters, which said ‘Rafique’

Like an artist, who was satisfied with his work, Raju looked pleased with his current possession. He rang the bicycle bell and said to himself, ‘ One... One and half hour ’

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You Can...

Remember when you were a kid and your mother used to tell you to not to mingle with bad kids!! It was easy to distinguish a bad kid from a good kid. Someone who usually indulges himself in street fights or someone who sits on the last bench in a classroom was considered to be a bad kid. On the other hand, someone who was good at studies or someone who was good natured was considered to be a good kid.

As you grow up the aforementioned definition of good and bad changes. (Here I assume my readers do not share camaraderie with criminals).

If you ever hear someone say ‘You Can’t!!’, then avoid that person for the rest of your life. It’s a leper’s bell of an approaching pessimist. Someone who hasn’t done anything significant in his life, someone who wants to see the rest of the world standing next to him in the dark and cold alleys of despondency . Avoid him!!

‘Hey. Don't ever let somebody tell you... You can't do something. Not even me. All right? You got a dream... You gotta protect it. People can't do somethin' themselves, they wanna tell you you can't do it. If you want somethin', go get it. Period’ - The Pursuit of Happyness


Always remember - 'One Life!!!'

PS : Surround yourself with achievers…optimists

Last rain before snow (Ink) ...

Winter (Ink)

Ship

Eraser Sketch ....

Tried a different technique, First shaded the entire drawing sheet with 6B,7B and 8B. Then used eraser to draw.

One good reason why 'A' is better than 'B' (*books)

It wasn’t intentional, but it so happened that I read couple of Kids’ fictions back to back. First one was John Grisham’s ‘Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer’, followed by Keith Gray’s ‘Ostrich Boys’. I found the latter to be more interesting and gripping than the former. It was a surprise that the work of a famous author like John Grisham didn’t impress me as much as the work of a lesser known author Keith Gray.

Consider two situations:

A. your friend went for an adventurous trip and he narrates you his adventures.

B. your friend’s friend went for an adventurous trip and your friend narrates his friend’s adventures to you.

Which one would you prefer to hear?

Stories written in first person fascinates its readers a lot compared to stories written in third person. If there are only few characters in the story and apart from the main character, other characters can be detailed well using first person technique then always go for first person approach. Especially when the targeted readers are kids,an approach that will help them see the world through a kid’s eyes will be far better than an approach that will force them to listen to an old man’s chatter.

PS : It will be difficult for an author to narrate stories of ‘larger than life’ characters in first person without making the character sound like a narcissist. First person technique will also fail when there are hundreds of characters in the story.

Book Review : ' Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer '

John Grisham is one the finest story tellers in modern literary world. He makes his readers turn pages over pages without letting them keep their books down. Grisham has mastered himself in writing legal stories. He has written more than 20 novels and he continues to mesmerize his readers with the incredible details of American law.

‘Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer’, the novel is an attempt by Grisham to reach young readers. The novel was published in 2010, followed by a sequel in 2011- ‘Theodore Boone: The Abduction’.

Hardly anyone has ever written legal thrillers for children. ‘Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer’ is one of its kinds. The story revolves around the main character, Theodore Boon, who is a 13 year old kid and who fancies to become either a criminal lawyer or a judge someday. Theo’s parents are lawyers and that tells why he wants to become a lawyer, rather than a cop or a surgeon. The story is about a murder trial and how Theo, with his knowledge of law, helps to bust the real murderer. Grisham keeps the story simple and comprehensible for his young readers.

Though Grisham’s attempt to reach young readers is applaudable, he needs to improve his storytelling ability by leaps and bounds especially when his readers are of the age group 8 to 12.

How many kids do really enjoy reading legal thrillers? For kids who enjoy reading Harry Potter books, legal thrillers are plain and boring. When there are hardly any elements of surprise in the story, the novel turns out be another textbook on law and judiciary system. Grisham needs to put more elements of surprise in his story. If he really wants to make a mark on his young reader’s mind, then he will have to venture more and start thinking like a 12 year old. He will have to come up with a solution where he keeps the legal nitty-gritty intact, along with adventures which will keep his young readers thrilled till the end.

Since Grisham has already published a sequel and looks to come up with more Theo’s stories, it is better to start with ‘Kid Lawyer’ and hope the series gets better as it unfolds.

Twin Earth...

You would have heard of the 'Big Bang Theory'!!

During the Big Bang, apart from the Sun and the Earth (our Earth -OE), a Twin Earth (TE) planet was formed. TE revolves around the Sun just like OE. The only difference is, it revolves on the opposite side of the elliptical path, around 6 months ahead of us. TE has same set of stars like OE, that are similarly positioned. From the theories of astrology and astronomy, OE and TE are ditto in every aspect.

Even there is a person named 'Harry Potter', who wrote a similar article 6 months ago.

Can you explain how can he write the preceding sentence in his article 6 months ago, when the person in OE is writing it now?

Confusing !!!


PS : Why we didn’t find TE yet? Because they didn’t find us yet.. :)

Does goal justifies the means !!

Did anyone stop you from voting? Did anyone stop you from fighting elections?

'I voted (or chose not to vote) during last elections. It is my Government. Stop blackmailing ‘MY’ Government!!!'

• I believe 'fast unto death' is a weapon to blackmail Government and by calling it 'Satyagrah', they are demeaning the spirit of non-violence.

• Indian Prime Minister rightly mentioned in his statement in Lok Sabha: 'The Government wishes to stress that the issue before the nation is not whether a Lok Pal Bill is necessary or desirable. All of us in this House are agreed that a Lok Pal Bill must be passed as early as possible. The question is, who drafts the law and who makes the law?' source

• Instead of asking Government officials to take leave for 8 days, ask them to stop taking bribe.

• Instead of asking common man to come out on streets and protest against corruption (in favour of Lokpal), ask them to stop giving bribe in their day today life.

• Most of the youngsters who are out there on streets are there because of a ‘sense of participating in a struggle’ not because they truly understand the cause. I call them ‘Rang De Basanti’ Generation. They will break under pressure and run from these morals when the chips are down.
Consider this scenario - you got admission in a reputed school in US. With a month to go, you apply for passport. Now the policeman who comes for background check asks for money. Will you give him the money and try to get the passport as early as possible? Or Will you fight against corruption, though it might put your future in jeopardy? Think before you answer!!

• One more thing which I observed…
You support the movement when you see Anna Hazare , Kiran Bedi and some well-known social activists participating in the movement. But once you see Baba Ramdev getting into same movement, you get a bit sceptical. Does that mean your faith on the path you chose depends on the people you follow?

• A weak argument, but still just want to show your two face.
It’s the same prime minister about whom you used to send e-mails a year ago, telling how proud you are of your PM and his qualifications. And look at you today!! You are not sparing a single chance in slinging mud at him.

* A friend rightly said,'It is what media feeds in to the minds of people...some people agree with it and blindly follow the direction of media...'

Palmistry

A friend told me about this long back. Today I am going to let out that secret.
I know, lots of you will get disappointed after knowing this. But remember ‘Lines doesn’t mean anything, it’s YOU who have to realize your dreams’

Palm – Mystery - Unleashed

If you are a guy, have a look at your right palm (for girls it is left). Just below the little finger (between the little finger and the big horizontal line), you will be able to see some small lines. Count the number of lines. Do you know what does it signifies?

Naah!! You are wrong. It doesn’t tell you the number of kids that you are going to have.
It tells you a lot more serious stuff.

It tells you the number of times you are going to fall in love. (One of them obviously being your marriage)

Now how to know the timing?

The space between the little finger and the big horizontal line is considered as 60 years. (0 to 60)
Just check when these little lines come in those 60 years.

Sorry. I know I hurt you a lot.

Please feel free to enlighten me with your knowledge of palmistry.

PS : There is a ‘not so’ dark line going towards your index finger. That is called vidya-rekha. (line of education). If it is going towards the gap between middle finger and index finger, then that means your education is going into a pothole. (like mine :D )

PS PS: Above article is written in a lighter vein. Since the author of this article has lost all his humorsense, he might sound cynical.

PS PS PS : I have let out the secret because I don't believe in it anymore. Now its your headache.. Phew !!! :D
PS PS PS PS: I have got a love-line near 60 yrs as well. I am really excited about that :D

Objective Questions....

We all have written so many objective exams.
Consider a situation where each question has four options –A, B, C, and D respectively.
The examiner has set all ‘A’s as correct answer.
………..
You will solve the first Question correctly and tick ‘A’
You will solve the second question correctly and tick ‘A’
You will solve the third question correctly and think a lot before ticking ‘A’ …
By the time you reach the fourth question, you will start questioning your logic. Even if you would have found the correct answer, you will hesitate before ticking ‘A’.

Why so?
I guess mathematical ‘Probability’ comes into picture here. Probability of getting all As (or Bs, or Cs or Ds) in first 5 question is far less than probability of getting 1 or 2 or 3 or 4 - As in those 5 questions.

PS : Even the little toddler studying in Std. 2 will hesitate to tick the 5th questions' answer as 'A'.
So that raises one doubt : Are we, by birth,tuned to calculate probabilty without even knowing what it is?
Think about it :)

PS PS :

Adding one more case:

Consider there are 10 questions in an exam?
If the correct answer for first 9 questions is ‘A’ and the correct answer for 10th question is ‘B’, then what will happen?
After ticking first 9 answers as ‘A’, you will think a lot before ticking ‘B’ for the 10th question.
What is the logic in this case?

Blame Narad - 2

One fine day, Narad Maharishee told his father, ‘Papa.. You work a lot and you need to take some rest’.
Brahmdev (Brahma) who was busy inventing some new species looked up, ‘hmm… Now what? You already screwed up my message for the earthlings. Now what do you want?’ (Flashback)
Narad Munee replied,’ I am sorry Papa. It was a mistake. I won’t repeat it. …..’

A moment of silence passed between dear God and his beloved son.

Narad continued, ‘I was saying, you need to take some rest. You work a lot. You should take a break and go out on a vacation.. Bahmas or some other place...’
Brahma thought about it, ’But…What about my work? Who will take care of it? You know I can’t trust anyone with my work’
‘I will look after your office when you are gone. I promise I won’t screw it this time’
Brahma started thinking about it. He knew something or the other will go wrong if he handovers the office to his son. Then he thought to himself, ’What the heck!! I can revert back whatever he does.. He is right… I need a break.’
‘Okay son… I will take a break. You manage this office in my absence. In case you need any help just ask Uncle Vishnu or Uncle Mahesh. And one thing… Do not touch any of my tools !!’
‘Okay I won’t. I promise’.
After finishing his pending work Brahmdev went on a long vacation. He handed over office keys to his beloved son Narad.

First couple of days went fine. Narad kept his promise. He didn’t touch any of his dads’ tool. But soon Narad started getting bored. He thought he will have a look at his fathers’ upcoming assignments. He opened the file which said ‘New Assignments’.
There were two new assignments:
1. Creat a fruit.
2. Create a bird.
Narad looked at it as an opportunity to impress and help his dad. So he started off with the work. He spent couple of weeks in coming up with the design. It took him almost a month to finish both the assignments.

By the time Narad finished his work, Brahmdev returned from his vacation.He was glad to see that everything was still in order.
He said to Narad, ‘So what did you do in my absence?’
‘Dad.. I couldn’t keep my promise. I went through your upcoming assignments file. I thought those assignments were pretty easy, so I finished it’
Brahmdev got curious, ‘What did you do?’
‘The fruit and the bird assignment… Look …over there.. I created them and placed them all over the earth’
Brahmdev had a close look at his sons’ work.
Narad, with an innocent smile and with the expectation of getting praised by his father asked, ‘Papa… I hope you are impressed with my work!!’
Brahmdev didn’t say a word. He went near the door and opened it… then he looked at Narad, ‘Please…Never ever enter this office again!!’
‘But what did I do Dad!! I tried to help you’
Brahmdev got angry, ‘I told you to not to touch any of the tools. You disobeyed me. And look what you have done now… You created a fruit with its seed growing outside the fruit… and you created a bird which is neither a bird nor a mammal. Enough of it… Please leave this office now!!!’

………….
Dear readers,
It’s a mythical story presented in a modern way.
Even though you know the fruit and the creature, you wouldn’t have known its creator until now.
Thanks to Narad Maharashee, we have a uniquie fruit called Cashew and a unique creature called Bat.
……………

Blame Narad - 1

Brahma is the ‘Creator’ and he is the one who defines 'how we should live' rules.

One fine morning, Mr. Brahma told Narad Munni to go and tell Bhumiwasi (people from earth) to take bath 3 times a day and eat once a day. Like always Mr. Narad screwed it up and delivered wrong message. He told us to, ‘Eat 3 times a day and take bath once’.

Now we all know whom to blame for our bad looks and overweight !!

Amnesia...

Read this in the newspaper today.

Naomi Jacobs got a peculiar form of amnesia. She is 32 now and she can’t remember what happened in her life for last 17 years.

You can read the story: here

Something that grabbed my attention and why I am posting it here is -

She says: ‘At 15, I thought I would have conquered half the planet by the time I was 32’

Didn’t we all think like her when we were 15? Her condition made her realize what she has lost in last 17 years. Amnesia or not, one day most of us will end up feeling the same way.

Let us not go to sleep when the world is full of opportunities!!! Work hard..Realize your dreams!!!

The Wall ...

Eggless Orange Cake...

Maharaja of Indian Sweets !!!

Gigantic Gulabjamuns....

Diana, Princess of Wales

There is no Secret Recipe...

Gajjar Ka Halwa...

Easy to Cook
(Take bath, wash you hands...recite Saraswati mantra, because you are going to learn something new)
1. Grate the carrot

(Need not take bath this time..but you should wash your hands...need not recite any mantras)
2. Put it in a vessel totaly soaked in milk..add some more milk on top of that :)

(Concencentrate on the activity on-hand...you can watch the movie later)
3. Start heating...after 10 minutes..add sugar..lots n lots...

(At one point, you will start thinking..Why? For whom I am doing this?
I have no answers... Even the saints couldn't find answers to these questions)
4. After 20 minutes...Add Ghee..Cashew nut..Rasins

(Taste it to check sugar level ..don't eat it..its called 'Aakrantham' in Malayalam)
5. Keep stirring it...till the milk gets dried up

(No more extra comments)
6. Halwa will be ready, once it gets the golden color

French Open 2011

Magician

Champions League Final - Wembley Stadium

Mother...

Final Fantasy ...

Final Fantasy ...

Puzzle

I was watching Guinness Book of Records, when I thought... No one cares about second..huh !! Here is a puzzle dedicated to all those who always stood second in class...at work...in love..in sports....


A has come second in 51 Guinness record events
B has come second in 50 Guinness record events

Guinness decides to give Guinness Record of 'Most number of second in Guinness record events'.


Q. Whom should they give it to? A or B.....

Take It or Leave It

The NEWS

On Monday, most of Britain’s broadsheet and tabloid newspapers featured waste news on their cover page. Sorry for being too literal. ‘The Daily Telegraph’ headline read – ‘Rubbish piles up after no collections in 4 weeks’. That just show how a most common sight in some parts of the world, can make it to headlines in other parts!!