India in the World

Was watching NDTV News the other day... the newsreader was talking about the recent successful test of Agni-III missile. He said '...we now have the capability to hit Tel Aviv and Beijing...'

This statement made me sit up and pay attention to the rest of the story. It also made me smile.

While we might now have the capability to 'hit' Tel-Aviv and Beijing we are increasingly loosing the capability to take care of our huge population. A case in point is the much touted National Capital Region (NCR).

NCR was created to 'distribute' development in the area surrounding Delhi. But it has ended up being something out of a nightmare. It has broken all kinds of 'bad' records. From being dangerous for women to record levels of pollution.

It is weird that Delhi has been having water and power shortage for decades now. In fact as far back as my memory goes there have been powercuts especially during the summer. The situation is a hundred times worse in the greater NCR area. Noida, Ghaziabad, Gurgaon and Faridabad.

People don't seem to think this is anything big. Every year the same complaints. But no changes. No new development.

Yet we can now strike Tel-Aviv and Beijing.

Maybe the saying is correct that the best way of dealing with a dissatisfied population is to divert their attention. That is the funny bit about India. The way there is duality in everything. The best of brands and water shortages (but that is only for the poor and middle class folks).

I want to figure out what will bring change. What will get rid of this duality. What will ensure that we have clean drinking water alongside multi-national brands. Regular power supply to charge up our Nokia phones, Dell notebooks and Apple Ipods.

I will try to figure this out..

Flowers at UWE

These photographs were taken at the University of the West of England's Frenchay Campus... don't know their names except for maybe the dark pink one is a Bougainvillea... so just enjoy the pics! :)

DJ Meow

Here is DJ Meow! Enjoy...

Timescapes....

Short exposure - 30 seconds...

1 min exposure... note the glow from different elements of the watch...

1 min 30 seconds exposure.. note the half shading on the second hand...

2 mins exposure... note the break in the path of the second hand. It shows that the second hand moves in discreet steps around the dial

5 mins exposure... note the movement of the minute and hour hands..

These are some pictures of my Traser H3 watch taken using a long-exposure setting.

Harrowing experience at Harrods...

Had gone to Harrods with a girl about 1.5 months ago.

It is only now that I have gotten over the trauma of the visit and can speak about the few hours I spent there.

As soon as we entered Harrod's I felt a chill down my spine. It were the souls of doomed MEN warning me to leave while I could.

We entered the store and suddenly I was surrounded by people! My friend (being a girl) was in her natural element. Her nose immediately picked up the scent of her prey and the hunt was on. I was just following her like a small school boy.

This was until we reached the women's leather goods section. That is when all of a sudden I started having a stomach ache as well as shortness of breath. No before you wonder if it was something I ate, let me assure you it wasn't.

It was the prices of things we found there. A wallet for about 200 pounds, a handbag (with the leather so highly polished that you could almost see your face in it) for 2000 pounds.

I was feeling the pain of all those men who have had to foot the bill of something purchased from this section by their 'girls'. My eyes were filling with tears.

My friend dragged me out of that section and slowly I regained the sense of mental stability.

After that she thought it would be safer if we spent the remaining time looking at cheaper things and that she would come later with female friends who are oblivious to the effects of high prices!

So we went to the stationary section and bought 2 pens (£4.50 each).

That was a narrow escape for me! Guys let me warn you if you are out with girls.. steer clear of Harrods. Let them go in (girls become lionesses in Harrods!) and you take a walk if you want. Worse case if you have to go in then head straight to the basement or go and sit quietly in the cafeteria.

:)

About shopping... with Girls

What is it about females and the way they shop? For some reason watching females shop is more fascinating than watching any documentary on the Discovery Channel! Instead of wasting their time with tracking down lions and elephants scientists should study how women shop.

I am sure the data collected would keep several scientists happy (and employed) for about 5-10 years to come!

Why I say this? Well it is because of a conversation I had with a friend (a girl) of mine.. this is how it went:

(The Girl): Oh I went shopping today but I didn't buy anything!

(Me): Why not?

(The Girl): Oh it is a long story!

(Me): Do tell...

(The Girl): I went to one shop and there they didn't have my size, in the other shop they had my size but not the colours I wanted and then in this third shop they had both the size and the colours but it was too expensive!

(Me): That isn't a long story and you could have just said that 'due to girl-type reasons you didn't buy anything', it would have explained everything!

Isn't it funny how girls get when they shop. In fact I know so many girls who will just not buy something till it is absolutely perfect! If I spent 3.5 hrs shopping and returned home without buying anything I would probably go mad!

Shopping with girls who do this kind of stuff will probably drive me mad as well! :D

Also it is quite funny when you go shopping with a girl (as in a guy wants to buy something and there is a girl with him) the shopping is quite smooth since the guy knows what he wants quite clearly and the girl is there to help him converge to something nice quickly.

Oh one word of warning.. if you are out shopping with a girl and she is looking at something to buy for herself DO NOT COMMENT!

If you comment they will realise that you are laughing at them, pretend to be frustrated and stop shopping... the same way wild animals run away if they see a human nearby! :D Keep all your comments to yourself and... ENJOY being a guy (and thank god too!). :D