Of being on time or not

GMT/IST  

I was waiting for my pizza, at a joint named 'pizza inn' at Accra Mall. The waitress told me "12 minutes". I was sitting with my friends, waiting for the meal, my friend said ' 12 minutes!!' A man sitting opposite said, ' that's 12 Ghanaian minutes!" And we knew that very instant that the pizza will only arrive in 20 mins or so, it also made me think of the Dominos offer, if the pizza isn't delivered in the stipulated time, it's free! 

Yeah, so if one says 10 o'clock here, they are probably not going to turn up at 10, being late is not an uncommon phenomenon for Indians as well. Showing up late is probably going to get you noticed. Yeah ofcourse, but if that event is not a party, not many people are going to be pleased with your actions. Indian Stretchable Time is not popular just like that! 

Ghanians and Indians should not migrate to Japan, I was watching a special show on BBC, on Japan, and their watch industry. That country is obsessed by being on time! Yeah, the lady who was being interviewed confessed it, everything is on time, trains, buses and most importantly people! 

Hmmmm...some one please send the central railway officials to Tokyo, the cost of the trip will be worth all the time passenger save waiting for the locals. I have missed an entrance exam, because I was waiting for a fast train. hmpf. 

Also, the traffic in Accra is erratic. All of a sudden on a saturday afternoon it will take 1 hour to reach Accra Mall, which is 10 mins otherwise, and sometimes when you expect a jam, there is none, so you end up reaching early. So, yeah one probably cannot blame people here for not being punctual. 

But hey, one thing people are punctual about, their weekends! Anywhere except India, people LOVE their weekends, they even put their phones off! Yeah, in India if you put your phone off, you put your boss off, and then you may as well give that phone up.

Another thing, the traffic lights are not as high as the ones in India, so at night when you are on the road, it pierces right into your brains! Bright red, and green flashing at you, ouch! And also, there is absence of yellow on the traffic lights.

Elections and Economy

Apparently Sen.Barack Obama is associated with radicals and terrorists, is not the right man for America, and is anti-white. They also said US is a Christian state and hence Obama is not a right choice(???)

That's what the Republicans perceive him at Ohio.

Whoa, those are some seriously strong statements. I wonder who is feeding them all that? Or is it that they like to form opinions without knowing much? Whichever it is, it's a serious problem. I have seen the coverage of U.S elections before, but never have I felt so strongly about one of the Presidential candidates. I will be extremely upset if a capable man like Barack Obama is not selected for this post. But since it is not my Presidential election, I can choose to be indifferent, but the damn media does NOT leave me alone!! Obama and McCain everywhere!! I feel bad for Biden, he hasn't receieved as much coverage as Palin, but I guess he is doing good without it too!

It is not like there aren't other news stories to cover...but nowadays it is only the financial crisis or US Presidential campaign :|

Can some one bother to inform me what is happening in the REST of the WORLD???

Of African markets

Si vous pensez l'Inde est une pays bonde, regarde-la!

Yes, I was trying to show off some french, but I hope that sentence construction was correct!or else I know some smart ass will correct me!!

Anyway, I visited the local African market in Accra, called 'Makola', as my friend corrected me it's pronounced 'Ma-a-k-0-laaa'. Hmpf. Great place though, especially if you place haggling and bargaining as your virtue and hobby. The shopkeeper shall say 12 cds ( 1 Ghanaian cd = 38 Rs. approx) and then you say 8, eventually it should be settled at 10. But it is way cheaper than the retail stores, I was window shopping ( yes, shopping becomes window shopping as soon as I glance at the price tag) at the Accra Mall, at a store called ' Truworths' , I liked one shirt, saw the tag, and made a face like I had tasted rotten tomatoes, it was freaking 70 cds!! You do the math, yeah I could buy 3 items from Bandra, from a store like Globus.
I saw shoes, yes shoe shopping!!! ( people who watch Scrubs will get the drift) Sandals, stilletoes, everywhere, and at a good price.
Just be careful of the vendors, they have some aggressive marketing strategies like holding your hand and literally pulling you to see their stuff!!! Now, don't get scared, they were trying to get noticed.
And hey, another thing, I was walking on the street, it was very crowded, yes I did not miss India so much at that point of time, anyway, so I happen to step on a girl's sandal, and it came off, it was not intentional, hence I said ' sorry'. The girl was pretty miffed and said.' why did you do that brownie?" !!!!! I was referred to as a brownie. haha. I said, ' sorrryyy wooman' and walked away, she laughed and I did too.
If I didn't have a lethal migrane today, I would have emptied my dad's wallet, are you feeling happy for my dad's wallet??
Meanies.
Le prochaine fois, je vais acheter tout le monde, donc, si vous voulez un cadeau pour toi, soyez gentil.

Me and N-deal

My friend said:

"I am like the N-deal, keep postponing my plans!"

haha

Dude, I simply loved it...!

Genocides and History

The Nuremberg Laws

What were they?
They were rules, formulated in 1935 by the Nazis which formed the building blocks of the discrimination between 'Aryans' and 'Jews'. Under these laws, it was forbidden for for any Jew to marry an Aryan or vice-versa. No Aryan could be employed by the Jews as their domestic help.
You can find more details here

But what is surprising was how could people ACTUALLY think of such rules, and implement them.
Almost 6 million Jews died. It was a genocide, the word itself was coined after this massacre.

It is probably considered general knowledge to know the basics about the holocaust, as it comes under the World War II, but hey my history books never went beyond the death toll, and the dictatorship of the Nazis. Adolf Hitler, and his inhuman ways of treating Jews, his downfall, his suicide. All in brief.
We were never taught about the details or this horror. I know one can say proximity is a good reason, but World War I and II are always taught in detail, so why not the holocaust?
Yes, it was a bitter chapter in human history, but everyone needs to know what happened, maybe in 10th grade, a 15 year old has a good mind, they will not instantly judge, and the motive behind teaching this event shouldn't be to create hatred against Germans, or sympathy for Jews, but to teach what stereotypes and hatred can result into. It's an example, the entire history is an example, to make sure we do not repeat those mistakes, though that's not true and we still commit the same mistakes over and over, but kids today need to know such horrendous acts took place, they need to know it happened, and that it should not happen again. I believe it could instill some level of tolerance among them. We need people to be tolerant. Tolerant to religion, language, nationality, ethnicity, sexuality etc.
How many of us knew about the Rwandan genocide of 1994 till we saw ' Hotel Rwanda' or studied only at college about the ' CNN effect'.
How many of knew about the Cambodian genocide of 1975 under the Khmer rouge regime, which slaughtered 1.5 million people?
Very few.
And why are we only taught about the European revolutions? French Revolution is as important as Latin American revolution, or the African revolution. It would be nice to study details about Nelson Mandela's freedom struggle. How various countries got their independence from their colonial powers, some literature from those eras could do wonders.
And our great Indian revolution, it's so much more than the way it is presented in our history text books. I could be sounding a history geek right now, but the fact is we were not educated enough. If math and science are important, so are social studies, they in fact, shape your opinions, what your teacher in school teaches you, you shall always remember, because at that point of time, you are probably listening and not hearing. I wish they would pick up more history and literature from around the world, and not make it just facts and dates, history has a purpose, if it is served, it can help in creating some peace today. Probably, maintain some harmony which we desperately need.
My professor once said' History is about the victor, not the vanquished', well we need to know about the vanquished too, or else we continue to repeat history over and over and over.

BSE ka asar

A newspaper published a story once, " The Bombay Stock Exchange is being used to fund terrorism". The stocks have crashed multiple times this year, does that mean the terrorist's kitty is than than gopal?? (empty)

Tell tell...

Larry King Live with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

Larry King Live has been a popular show, with interesting guests. Few hours back, I happen to watch the skilled interviewer question the current Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Most of the questions were on the stiffened ties between Iran and US. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad clearly stated, " US has broken all ties with us unilaterally." He also went on to say that Iranian people do not have any problems with American people, in fact Americans should come to Iran, and learn about our culture and way of life. According to him Bush lost an opportunity to develop friendly ties with Iran, on questioned whether he would like to rekindle diplomatic relations with the US, the President said he is open to it. He also referred to Israel as a 'zionist' state, and condemned homosexuality. He made it clear that Iran will not encourage being bullied by anyone, and that US should not interfere politically beyond it's geographical means.

So, what does one conclude from this interview. Well, it is hard to say. On one hand, there are a few things which one could agree with the President, like how the US could not interfere with another nation 's policy, but is Mahmoud Ahmadinejad himself a popular leader, has Iran benifitted under his leadership?
Iran has been accused of creating nuclear weapons by US and Israel, and the mounting tension between them is only going to lead to another political crisis.

It is easy to point fingers, but I cannot create an opinion unless I know what goes on in Iran. All I have heard and read in recent times is the stepping up of moral police, women and men being arrested for indecent dressing, which has resulted in wide spread agitation among young Iranian women.
But again, moral policing, code of conduct become an internal issue, it isn't fair to judge them on that? or is it?
It will be interesting to watch how this diplomatic tie shapes up when Sen. McCain or Sen. Obama takes over the White House.

Of watching FIVE news channels...

As usual I have forgotten about my blog, but once or twice a year I have a panic attack, and I publish a new post, I usually make false politician promises, like how I will continue to write, and how much I like writing...etc etc etc. But this time, I am just gonna write something, and not plan for tomorrow, if I am upto it, I will.

I have transported myself to West Africa, for a while. Accra, Ghana , yeah that's where I am living now, and what am I doing? No one knows.

Anyway, being in this part of the world teaches you a lot of things. Like, how much a cinema theatre means to you, that's right people, no movie halls here, no no I ain't kidding, I actually cannot see a film on the big screen here! So people watch everything on DVDs. Also, I have been recently informed, that there is no copyright law in Ghana! This probably explains the absence of cinema halls.

Ghana is also the main stop for all the aid coming in from non governmental organisations. Lots of volunteering work taking place in and around Ghana.

Keeping yourself busy is probably the biggest challenge one could face here, so I joined Alliance Francaise, but even that is on a break now. I would say the television selection is far superior, I am only emphasizing on the television news channels selection. There is BBC world, CNN, Sky News- another Brit enterprise, Euro News- pays special attention to developemental stories in Europe, and last but not the least- Al Jazeera English. It's simply brilliant. The coverage, the perspective, and for the first time not just a western perspective, thank you very much!
They broadcast from London, Washington DC, Doha and Kuala Lampur. I am guessing out of the four mentioned cities, only Doha recieves the telecast of Al Jazeera English. Reason being, it's HQ is in Doha, and Al Jazeera Arabic and English are the primary source of information in the Arab world. So Washington DC and London miss out on a great source of news broadcast.
One could wonder what is so exceptional about the channel, for starters, it has an amazing programming, shows like 'Inside Story' telecasted everyday after the World news. It is a discussion on a certain topic involving a news anchor, and two experts on the topic, who are usually telecasted from other parts of the world. The recent episode on US troops leading the militant hunt into Afgan- Pak border, which resulted in civilian casualties was fantastic. They had a representative from the Pakistani ministry and one from the American foreign policy. The questions were to the point, with no streak of diplomacy. Questions which made the representatives truly uncomfortable.
Then we have the famous Riz Khan, if you have seen him, you would know what I am talking about, catch him on youtube, so what if the Indian I & B ministry is not open to telecasting the channel, catch it on the web. Riz Khan had a show recently, where the topic was Iraq after five years, thats probably the most uncomfortable place you can put the experts in. It's not that Al Jazeera is anti -west, it just poses questions which the western channels prefer not to raise, and I believe this process is extremely important. For example, one never gets to hear about the American point of view, along with the other side of the argument. Because, the argument ends up being ONE sided. If you go to Iraq, I assume you would read opinions which could be anti west in nature, and if you go to America, you will read opinions which could be justifying the Iraq situation. Finding out an in between route is almost impossible and often leads to controversy. But when such a debate is actually carried out, it gives the masses an opportunity to gain a new perspective. Being a global news channel is anything but easy, your commercial interests are positively going to affect your coverage, and commercial interests are most often carry a strong political influence.
Having said that, I would like to point out another example, the Beijing Olympics 2008. A breath taking opening ceremony, followed by a almost perfectly organised 15 day event. Top notch amenities, high quality judging, and an enthusiastic crowd, proved that China could do it, and has done it. They set a bench mark for future games. Now, lets get to the main point- the coverage-
BBC was more or less neutral. CNN and Sky did their best to prove that Beijing is the most polluted city and a huge risk for the athlete's health, even when the IOC health committee officially measured the amount of pollutants in the Beijing air, and made a statement that it was safe. Euro News was not aggressive either, and Al Jazeera, did the similar stories, but with a different twist, they went on to show the problem and then the solution. Now, readers could say I am being biased about this, but the truth is Al Jazeera did not carry out stories which were out to sabotage China's capability, on the eve of the summer games. The question I ask is- had the games been in London, Paris, Moscow, Sydney, New York, Madrid , would the media have reacted the same way?
I guess no, because no one expected China to do so well. Also, obviously because China is a communist state, they have a bad human rights record, and primarily because of the Tibet situation which took place in March 2008. But give it to them, they were brilliant, Olympics is about celebration, and they sure know how to do it!
I will keep posting more examples now and then, and this is not a politician promise!

You are not alone!

long time ...
I always say that when i blog, which is usually in months....

complication comes at the worst time, there is a hierarchy to complication, and sometimes I feel I am sitting on a pile of it.

Sucks huh?

Everything you decide, you resolve, goes for a toss. Just one big complication an all your past lessons can be thrown out of the window. How is it that most of us commit the same mistakes again and again, an go through the cycle of the recovering from it, and pretending "its all cool" and then actually "be cool" for sometime, then shortly do the same freaking thing again.

I am being a cynic, a pessimist, but the self help books will still tell me to have confidence in yourself, believe in yourself etc. Mind you, I have never used any of these self help books, not because I think losers read them, because I am a sucker when it comes to reading slow and draggy books. But my father owns quite a few, and hence the mere titles of some books have prompted my opinion.

anyway, thats not the point. The complication will ease out, things will be fine again, I will figure a way out( thats the maximum optimism that can come out of me right now)

and whoever reads this blog, has issues, complications, you are not alone buddy, so stop trying to chew other people's head over it!!!!

My thought

Time to kickstart my year----

well the year has already started 6 months back, so in that context I am really late, but nevertheless, THIS is the start of my academic year. I am in Third Year, and I cannot believe it!

Two academic years have gone by very quickly, things have changed, people have changed,

So have I

there is always a new change, they say for the better. well only time can tell, but growing up, I must say is a good change, you do many things that you wished for, at the same time you feel too many things, which you would have never rather felt.

Sometimes I wish I was a boy.

So that
i could take off anywhere anytime I want, getaway with almost anything. Then I thought again.
and exclaimed

"NAH" "NO"

"NEVER"

hehe...prefer being a girl. not because of the "o my lady" treatment, because we hardly get that nowadays! but because of various other reasons , which I will tell you about later!

Short of time!

Voila again!

I have changed continents! i am in the undiscovered land of beauty! unexplored!...ok ok I won't go on yapping abt it...

O

I almost forgot! net will get disconnected in another 5 mins!!!!

I have internet from 6 pm to 11 pm...

Ain't that bad??

so....

Later...

now 2 mins to go...

ok bye

errr...

Cheers!

In front of Irish Village, between gates 1-21 and 23 -43

Voila!
I am blogging form Dubai International Airport...
Can't write a long post as people are waiting in queue to use the net...

I was really zonked when i landed in dubai...

but now feel fresh...will go and ogle at the duty free shops:p

Interesting people around...Interesting place to be at...

Will blog as soon as I reach Lagos...

another thing...

I saw this guy roller blading at Mumbai airport...it was wierd...but cool...wish i could do that at Dubai Airport...

:p

Cheers

Ruh.

Of 300 and Greek Gods

I saw 300 yday
Amazing film...
Mindblowing!!!
yea man must watch...!

Spartans ...what a breed of humans! The flick is not the fact but yet...it's awesome...lot of blood splashing around..but one gets used to it...or for some reason doesn't mind it.

The grainy look given to the film has just changed the basics of it's overall appearance.

The hues of Golden, Bronze are used very intelligently. They just enhance the effect of the surroundings.

I wish those places were real...but most of them are created in a studios.

Greek and Roman mythology is very interesting. Greeks and Romans worshipped pretty much the same Gods but with different names.

Greek name Roman Equivalent

Zeus Jupiter

Hera Juno

Herakles Hercules

Krono Saturn

Hermes Mercury

Ares Mars

Aphrodite Venus

Eros Cupid

Dionsis Bacchus

Demeter Ceres


but some like Apollo, Iris remain the same...there are so many greek Gods and Goddess ...and the stories behind every incident is worth knowing!
and I am gonna read abt it more and more in the coming days.

From the Deep End Of The Ocean

From the deep end of the ocean

Ever wondered what lies there?? I was, today , in the morning. Just a passing thought, but worth my time.
I have a theory
I have a few of them but don't write about them so often. Here is one:

All your desires,thoughts, aspirations, expectations, longings which are not fulfilled, they find a home in the Deep End Of The Ocean. Because that is one place where no one can find them. They are safe there. No one knows which is the deepest end. So no one will never know. As wierd as it may sound, I consider it a theory. Anyway no one knows what happens to most of our emotions, where do they come from. I still don't believe in electrons and molecules even though science can give me proof on it. So who is anyone to question my theory? I am a water person, love being around seas, ocean, lakes, rivers, waterfalls, ponds, estuaries etc. They supply my power, power to reason.
I was talking to a friend last night who told me the same thing, how tiny we appear in front of the sea. And this very reason why our problems are nothing compared to it.
I am waiting to touch the water again. Very soon I will.

Imagine if some one finds the Deep End Of The Ocean? He'll be the luckiest man in the universe.Because he will find the most beautiful things which no one has ever seen or experienced.

My thoughts are safe, very safe.... so are yours.

BIRTHDAY BLOG

GO -GO-GO

GO Shorty...
it's ur birthday...

Yes, I am short....hehe ...and it's my BIRTHDAY!

So what do I do what do I do??? BIG Q and it's my 21st birthday! whoa...I am biiig or old....or aging...hehehe nah I entering the 20s....YAY...

Things I would like to change in myself or do:

1. Do well in my acads

2. Live more for myself

3. Do what I really want to

4. Rely on my craziness a bit more

5. Kick stooooopid people's asses

6. Read more

7. Say "I love u" to important people in my life

8. Treat people what they are worth- nothing more nothing less.

9. Learn to say "NO"

10. Be there for all those who were there for me or even for those who weren't.

So, everything said and done it appears that I am gonna be an entirely new person...hehe...well I am essentially the same but I believe one has to continue making small changes for improvement. So I am gonna try all the ones I mentioned above.

I love myself! hehe some self obsessed person...

I think it is important to obsess about yourself a little otherwise you wouldn't love yourself. Atleast that's the conclusion I have arrived at.

Anyway....I am gonna go ahead and enzoy my budday!!!!

and ya the last resolution

11. Blog more often!!!

;)

Cheers!

PHOTOGRAPHY!!

Black and White rocks!

they just do...even though they lack colour(d-uh) but they manage to say everything the artist intends to. I recently went clicking B & W snaps on a SLR. It was an awesome experience. Nashik was the city which we chose for our shoot. Went to Pandolini Caves, Trimbakeshwar, Gangapur Dam and the Panchvati-Ramkund.

It's my birth place, and yet I did not know so much about the city!

and a Black and White lens just made it better. My favorite subjects were portraits, objects with dark and light patterns, and plants. I will upload a couple of pics very soon. Another thing that the SLR checks is your-patience! Yes, one needs to be very patient with the equipment, checking the shutter speed, aperture settings to make sure the film is not under exposed or over exposed. A digital camera is nothing but spoon feeding. A digital SLR will be interesting to handle but thats a long way, of only I could lay my hand on one...then mooohahahaha...I will go and SHOOT. and shoot SOME MORE.

I love photography. Simply love it. It's my passion.

THE SAME OLD STORY

So basically I am online throughout the day...have loads to study but JUST not able to put my brains into it...
really sucks
A friend and I were talking about fotos, like what they represent...and what could they start or end...very interesting...in fact, all such interesting topics crop up just before exams....
VH1 will play the BEST music..even Mtv who otherwise play average stuff will start showing exclusives and otha things which will result in us not leavin the television, all good docus will be telecasted on Nat Geo or Discovery or History etc etc.
ALL of a sudden we feel watching new is tres important!..not one channel but like 2 or 4...BBC, CNN,NDTV...so on and so forth....talking on the fone is like breathing...ALL THE TIME.
ORKUTTING has become another nuisance...ALMOST everyone is chirkutting and asking each other the same Q "KITNA HUA" and likes...no one who is relly studyin..and who is really chirkutting!!..
PLANS pre exams and post exams are already being made....the only diff is PRE exam plans includes the equal amount of timepass as post but with a tinu wini guilt factor....!
WE all need to study....KTs are not far off....and the distance between I and Kts is directly proportional to the input I put in RIGHT NOW.

SO basically all BMMITES get off BLOGGER, ORKUT, GMAIL, and all sorts of google affiliated accounts...and drag ur ass to the study table!!!!

hehe
:P

The Concept Of "HIM"

The concept of "HIM"

Oh its all about "him",

His words melt me down
His eyes so soulful

His arms so protective
His touch so perfect

"He" is some one who can lift ur spirits
"He" can break your heart into a zillion pieces

All is good
but it's not "Him"

She was looking for "him"
I was looking for "him"

"he" was there but he got lost in the crowd

After sometime I spot "him" again

Oh My Good Lord ! He's not the same !

Should I keep looking for "him"?

Or Just let "HIM"

The Way I Do

I feel like I am in another medium
Things are just going on and on and on around me

I am there, but not really there...

If only you could peep into my world

You'd probably know whats it like

Why I percieve the way I do

and Why I resolve the way I do

and Why I complicate the way I do

and Why I dissolve the way I do.

ZING IS BACK

17th and 19th september were amazing days!...
17th I wouldnt like to mention why
but 19th ..I did smething nice..atleast I think itz nice...I donated Blood!!! Man! I was so scared...u know all those situations where you go with absolute josh and then popat ho jata hai...ahem well something similar happened...I kinda assumed taking an injection and donating blood is somewhat similar! yea right gurl...no way...for injections there is this tini wini needle which into ur arm/butt, but here ...itz not even close to t of tini...they insert this fat thing into ur arm and connect it to the bag , where ur blood is collected...I freaked out lookin at that needle! Obviously chickening out wasn't what I intended, but I WAS scared...thanks to my friend Priya, without her moral support I wouldn't have done this amazing thing, it does make me feel good.
Though I kinda felt dizzy after tht but thts pretty normal...

I said thank you to thye organiser(a middle aged sweet looking man)

he said," today, we are taking away the right of saying thank you from you.

Thank you."

wow, that kinda made my day.