Pre-Marital Health Checkup

In today's world where marriages as it is breakup so easily one does not want any extra issues to crop up which can threaten the stability of the relation. Especially if those issues are related to health.

That is why it is important to get pre-marital health checkup done so that issues, if any, are clarified before the marriage takes place.

Keeping this in mind many hospitals in India provide a Pre-Marital Health Checkup.
One such hospital in Delhi is the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), one of the premier medical institutes of India.

Here is their site offering the full range of checkups (including Pre-Marital Health Checkup):
http://aimshospitals.net/health.htm

The Pre-Marital Health checkup consists of the following tests:

For the Bridegroom:
Price: Rs 700/-
Hb, CBC, ESR
Blood group
VDRL
HIV HBsAg
Urine Routine
Urine Microscopy
Semen Analysis
X-Ray Chest
Consultation by Surgeon

For the Bride:
Price: Rs. 1100/-
Hb,CBC,ESR
Blood group
VDRL
HIVHBs Ag
Urine Routine
Urine Microscopy
USG Full Abdomen
X-Ray Chest
Consultation by Gynecologist

The tests target specific issues (sometimes quite serious and life-threatening) which can cause problems after marriage. These include HIV screening, test for impotency, gynaecological tests and blood group compatibility.

Something to keep in mind before getting hitched?

Types of Hindu Marriages

To take cognizance of the start of the marriage season in India (Nov. - April.) here is a post about ancient Hindu marriages.

Manu in his Dharma-shastra describes eight types of Hindu marriages:
(Source:Law of Marriage and Divorce in India by B.P. Beri, 2nd Edition, Eastern Book Company)

Brahma
The highest form of marriage. In this form of marriage the father of a boy who has completed his studies (Brahmacharya) initiate the process to look for a suitable match for him. The girl's father voluntarily invites the grooms family to take his daughters hand in marriage. The girl is considered to be a 'gift' from her father to the boy and no dowry is given. This form of marriage elevates womanhood by making the groom search for his bride thus giving the bride more importance.

Daiva
This form of marriage occurs when the girl's family has waited a reasonable period of time for a boy to ask for their daughters hand. Then the girl's family goes out to find a suitable boy. Usually girl's were married to priests in this form of marriage. This marriage is considered to be lower than Brahma because it degrades womanhood by forcing the girl's family to look for a groom.

Arsha
In this form of marriage the girl is married to a sage (rishi) in exchange for two cows from the grooms side. This type of marriage occurs when the girl's family was not able to afford marriage at the right time. The exchange of two cows shows that the groom acknowledges that he is far from perfect. In this form of marriage nothing is given to the groom.

Prajapatya
In this form of marriage the groom, as a suitor, goes to the father of the girl and asks for her hand in marriage. This is a lower form of marriage than the Brahma form because in this case the father of the girl does not voluntarily invite the boy to marry his daughter.

Asura
This form of marriage involves the sale of the bride to the boy. In such a marriage the boy is not considered suitable for the girl. To compensate for this, the boy gives as much money and wealth as he can afford. This kind of marriage is looked upon because it is similar to selling the girl for a price.

Gandharba
This form of marriage is similar to the classical 'love marriage'. The bridge and groom marry without the knowledge of the parents. This is considered a low form of marriage because the parents have no part to play and is without their knowledge or permission.

Rakshasa
In this form of marriage the groom overcomes the girl's family and forcibly takes the girl away for marriage. This goes back to the days of open war where the winner came to control not only the lands of the losing side but also their wealth and women.

Paisacha
This is the lowest form of marriage possible. In this form the groom tricks the girl into marriage or the girl is married against her wishes.

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Living abroad: The 5 step process

After writing about the changes that have come about in the lives of a typical student going to UK for studies I started thinking about what I felt during those days. I wanted to form a step by step sequence of how my emotions changed as I left India and settled in UK.

Maybe it will help prepare future students and workers heading outside India for a significant amount of time for what they will feel.

Step 1: Denial

This is the first step. This occurs when the plans are being laid down for the course or job and the paperwork has started. Information is on a strictly need-to-know basis and everything is done with as little fuss as possible. One denies the fact that one would actually end up successfully getting all the paperwork done. This is done from the point of view of minimising the impact of failure (or at-least trying to minimise it!). This state of denial exists till the paperwork is completed and the visa is approved.

Step 2: Pride

This is the 'high' phase where you break the news to everyone around you (friends, family etc.) that you are going to be travelling abroad. Overnight you become the VVVVVIP in your friend and family circles. You also become a source of envy, inspiration and stupid examples given by other parents to their kids. People start treating you like some kind of a demi-God. All your close friends clear out their appointment books for the time ahead because 'you are leaving'. This phase pumps you up for the bad times ahead. You feel like a Warrior leading troops to war and all the people around you are cheering you on! This state lasts till one week before your departure date.

Step 3: Exile
One week before the day your leaving a feeling starts somewhere at the back of your mind which breaks through all the funfair around you. It makes you realise you are not a Warrior, more like an exiled prisoner whose family members and friends are actually mourning inside that you won't be here. But in the long it is not going to make any difference because friends and family will remain back home, their life will go on and things will continue. It is you who will be sitting in a strange country surrounded by strangers. Thus you start feeling like you are being exiled away from all that you know and love. You start asking yourself why the hell did you even think of going out and leaving your home. This is where you start falling. The last night at home is the toughest. You will feel every nerve in your body thrumming like a wire, absorbing home and thinking about where you will be in a few hours time. The bed feels like a funeral pyre as your emotions are burnt away into smoke. When you get up to get ready for airport you feel like a emotionless piece of flesh. You feel numb. This phase lasts till you are at the airport and are being seen off. That is when the Spike of Pain hits.

Step 4: Pain
The way a dead heart is revived using electric shock, the numbness of Exile is removed with the Spike of Pain. It is inserted in your heart as you realise that this is it. It maybe the last time you are meeting any of these people (Who knows where life takes you? Many people never come back!). The pain wakes you up. You get busy with the airport formalities and the Spike of Pain remains inside, throbbing, reminding you that you are human. Sometimes it gets overwhelming. You want to cry. But can't. Not in public! Wait for the flight. Yes when the passengers are sleeping, you can cry. The Spike of Pain drains itself by the time flight arrives and you complete the formalities at the arrivals. This is perhaps the lowest point of the entire journey.

Step 5: Rebirth
As you step out of the airport and the strange new sights, sounds, smells and sensations hit you, you feel reborn. You realise why you are here. You realise that this is a fresh new game with fresh new rules and fresh new players! Life is laid out in front of you like a buffet. And you are a man/woman hungry for experiences. The emotions and the pain are by now a distant memory. The brain starts working, planning, listing, sorting, remembering, thinking!

Then it strikes you.....you are here to do great things... your return will be celebrated.... you are indeed an exiled warrior.

Then you smile.

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Cellphones for 2008!

As another year draws to a close the gadget companies start revealing their product lines for the Christmas - New Year period. This year is no different with all the major players in the cellphone industry (Nokia, Samsung, Motorola etc.) have revealed the latest batch mobiles.

N81 Nokia is the new Nokia music phone fairly boring and standard design with the usual (YAWN!) features.
(check it out here: http://europe.nokia.com/A4494086)

Then there is the new LG Voyager phone with full QUERTY keyboard and a touch screen, this might just be my first LG phone!
(check out a review here: http://www.infosyncworld.com/news/n/8405.html)

The Samsung SCH-i760 is an upgraded version of the i730 with a massive screen running Windows Mobile.
(check it out here: http://www.samsung.com/us/consumer/detail/features.do?group=mobilephones&type=mobilephones&subtype=verizonwireless&model_cd=SCH-I760ZKAVZW)

The new Motorola Moto U9 is one of the most different looking phones out there! It has an external OLED touch screen (yes!) on a clamshell phone. It is basically a music phone with integrated 2mpx camera. I think this one is going to be another winner from Motorola!
(Here are more details and images: http://www.motorola.com/motoinfo/product/details.jsp?globalObjectId=212)

bus yaaron zindagi se to ek hi khwaish hai,

haat mein jaam aur bagal mein yaar ho,

dil mein pyaar aur labon pe uska naam ho

- before anyone asks I was NOT drunk when I thought up these lines, but was talking to my drinking buddy (Vibhore)!

Interesting Times

May you live in interesting times.

- Ancient Chinese curse and proverb

Interesting times usually means times of great changes and revolution in society, which may not be the happiest of times. That is why it is also called a 'curse'.
A similar saying goes: 'It is better to be a dog during days of peace than a man during days of war'.

But I find it quite fascinating. Interesting times are what we are living through. Interesting times are fun! :)

Pictures from India

Spot the Eligible Bachelor!

Welcome to Haryana: The 4x4 state!

(see both the pictures ;)

My sweet darling Balvenie!

The Host: 'Macho'

From Mom with Love!

Setup by my Mom to make me do my knee-extensions... ain't it cute?

An Encounter with ACER: Are ACER Stupid?

I own an ACER laptop.
A funny thing happened a few days ago. The power cord got cut from the inside (I don't know how!) and two wires shorted which led to the plastic sheath of the cable melting. Obviously the cord was now useless.

Before I proceed further I need to explain the construction of the power cord. It is made up of two parts.
The first part consists of the adaptor and the cable which plugs into the laptop. The second part consists of the power cord which connects the adaptor to the power socket. The two are separate because the power cord changes from country to country (depending on the pin shape) where as the adaptor remains the same.

Now the adaptor bit was working perfectly and I just needed a new power cord. Since I am an optimist, I started believing that ACER, which has a brand presence in India, would be able to solve my problem in a jiffy. Oh yeah! Good customer service HAD come to India. But something at the back of my mind told me 'Dude, you are in deep shit and you don't know about it!'.

Of-course had I been in UK when this happened, getting a replacement would have been almost boring. Just go online and buy the power cord.

Anyway, so I went online and found out the Delhi ACER office (in Okhla Phase I) number (+91-11-40568000, 40568001 / 2).
Called them up and they told me all these bits are sold by their shop (The ACER Mall opposite Home Saaz) in Lajpat Nagar (these days the Toughest Market to Shop at in Delhi, coz of the crazy traffic rules and HCBS/Metro construction).
So I called up the shop and asked them about the power cord. Well.. I don't have the words to describe what I was told, but I shall try my best!
They said that they only sell the adaptor (which I didn't need) and NOT the power cord. Furthermore they suggested that Nehru Place market would be the best placeto find a new power cord.

But the only thing in my mind was ARE ACER STUPID?

I mean who sells half the power supply? How idiotic is that?

Its like you damaging the cover of the headlight on your car and the car manufacturer saying that they can only supply you with the headlight case and not the headlight cover.

What good is half the power supply in any case? I wonder who all can go around Nehru Place looking for an ACER power cord. I am lucky that I live not very far from Nehru Place.

Looking at the brighter side, I am quite happy that the person answering the phone was able to point me towards Nehru Place and didn't leave me hanging without any info.

Brain on Vacation!

Arti: how is ur brain? is it on vacation? or it never existed

Azahar: you see I have given it to you on loan!

I am sure many girls would agree with Arti!

Some new things that people call me....

I have been called many things by many people! But here are two new ones that I came across while harrassing the women of India :P

U r a donkey!
- This is funny for SO many reasons, if only I could figure out why this person thought I am a donkey?

You are warped!
- Being a fan of Star Trek I really liked this one and all it took was a telephone call!


:D - atleast the women of india have gotten a bit creative and have moved beyond calling me 'mad' or 'crazy'!

Moving to England: 5 years later...

I went to England in January 2003 for my masters.
Five years later I am still there.
Five years later I am being forced to look back and think about those days.
The last days in India and the first few weeks in England; the things I learnt and felt as I was undergoing the transformation.

Many things have changed. Things have gotten so much more easier and at the same time, tougher.

While five years are not that long a period in terms of time, the changes that have come about are nothing short of amazing. The change have come also about at both ends, not just in India or UK.

A major change has come about in the first stage of the process itself.

• Five years ago, Internet was not as big a force as it is today in the application process. With the spread of broadband, both in India and UK, the prospectus can now be downloaded off the university website instead of waiting for it to arrive by post.
• Consultants and Universities now use emails and faxes within the admissions process for communication. The whole admissions procedure has been simplified as more and more Indian students go to UK for studies. The requirement for IELTS has now been relaxed by many Universities, for Indian students, as it has become quite clear that students from India, on the whole, speak quite decent English.
• On the whole UK Universities now are keen to welcome International Student Fee (approx. 3 times the UK/EU Student Fee) paying kids from India. In fact most Universities, now, aggressively target the Indian education market through consultants and direct presence during Education Fairs. The lower ranking ones, in a bid to make money, even give discounts (termed as 'scholarships' or 'bursaries') on the International Student Fee.
• The student visa application process has been made dead easy. When I went to UK, one had to que outside the British High Commission at the crack of dawn to get the entry token for the mandatory interview. Then you had to return in the afternoon to find out the status of your application and to collect the passport. Now all applications are accepted at the posh Nehru Place offices of VFS where the documents are varified and pre-processed before being handed over to the High Commission. The passports are returned within 48 hours. Most students are not even called for an interview. You don't need to apply in person and the passports can be couriered to your house! What a contrast! From ques outside the High Commission to couriered delivery of passports!

The second stage, the travel arrangements and infomation gathering (about the city/country you will be studying in) have been similarly affected.

• Now you can get really cheap tickets (18,000/-) and special 'student discounts' on several major airlines (with direct flights). Excess luggage offers are now quite common with carriers like Air India, for students traveling to UK for the first time. We had to settle for second rate carriers with stop-over flights (Kuwait Airways).
• With Google Earth and Google Maps it has become so easy to explore the city you will be travelling to right from the comfort of your home in India. For example using a mapping software I was able to locate my friend's University department and indicate the route from the bus station. I was also able to figure out the bus timings from Heathrow. With the maps a lot of local information was also easily available. Information regarding cheap eating places (such as McDonalds) and grocery shops in and around the campus. If you have the address of your accommodation then you can even explore the area you will be living in using Google Earth and understand the lay-of-the-land.

The third stage is the actual arrival in UK and travelling to the city where you will be studying at. This can often be the most difficult and tense period for both the traveller and the parents/relatives/friends back home. Unless you are lucky enough to have someone meeting you at the airport (from the University or otherwise) or if you have travelled to the city before, you will naturally be stressed out trying to figure out how to get to your city while managing your luggage, money and important documents. At the same time your relatives back home will be waiting for you to re-appear on the radar.

• With international roaming at reasonable rates and shops through which you can get a UK mobile connection from India itself you can re-appear on the radar as soon as you land! A working cell allows you to get in touch with any and all of your contacts in UK. Even if they cannot meet you at the airport they can always guide you from far or just provide helpful advice and a friendly voice to talk to! You can contact your friends and relatives back home and they can call you (facilitated by cheaper calling rates) so that everyone knows you have arrived and you are well! When I had gone there, international calling rates were sky high. We were lucky that someone came to collect us at the airport otherwise it would have been difficult to manage with the luggage and stuff! We got a drop direct to our houses.
  

The fourth stage is the arrival in the city where you will be living. This is the settling down stage where you get your room and start setting up your own space. This is the best stage of them all! By now you have passed through the 3 stages of hell - Exile, Pain and Loneliness. Now you can start relaxing, getting over the homesickness (as you set-up your new home!), get your schedule going, enjoy the new life, start making new friends, reconnect with old friends and get into your course. The amount of fun you have during this stage is dependent upon you!

• With things like broadband and mobile Internet you will always remain connected with friends and family back home. When I had gone there, broadband Internet was very expensive. So expensive that we were sharing a dial-up connection between five people! VoIP services like Vonage and Skype have blossomed and now allow low cost calls to anywhere in the world. In fact if your family members have a VoIP enabled handset in India you can talk to them for peanuts! Mobile Internet allows the use of Skype over mobile handsets! Calls for peanuts where-ever you are!
• When I had gone there we had to spend money buying calling cards from shops and then seek out phone booths to call home. Now you have Reliance India Call service providing a virtual calling card which can be recharged over the Internet and which offers excellent calling rates!
• It was also tough to get a mobile connection let alone use mobile Internet. With 3 mobile service you can now use unlimited mobile Internet for £5 a month! They also give great discount contracts to students. We were forced to use pay-as-you-go for 6 months before we could get a contract.
• Internet banking is another big thing to come up since that time. We were forced to start with crappy Natwest bank. To check bank statements and balances one had to seek out ATM machines or go and visit the bank branch. With HSBC and Lloyds accounts not only do you get the flexibility of a fully working Internet Banking account you can also get things done on phone or through email.
• The number of Indian students in UK universities has exploded in the last five years. You are bound to find students from India in your University. During our days, it was difficult to find a large number of students from India.
  
• India has also come a long way as a country in the last five years. Now more people are aware of India and Indian culture in UK. This makes it easier to make friends there!

Perhaps the BIGGEST change in the last five years, which should really encourage students to travel to UK for studies, is the recently introduced International Graduate Scheme (IGS). Under IGS one can work legally in England and Wales for a year after completing any degree course.

When I had gone to UK, our future beyond the first year, was bleak and uncertain. Getting a job was almost impossible because we were not allowed to work full time (under the student visa) and no company would apply for our work permit. Things looked bleak and without hope once the course was completed. Many students deferred their course and started working 40+ hours in a part time job to earn money. Now students have an incentive to quickly complete their studies so that they can legally work in UK full time through IGS!

The new HSMP rules (since December 2006) further brighten the prospects beyond the one year with IGS.

Probably the only thing that hasn't gotten easier is leaving your friends, family and home behind and moving to a strange country. All in all, things are quite good now and they look to become even better as time passes!

:)

Dedicated to a special friend.
Thank you for the memories!
Thank you for making me smile!
Hope you enjoy your time in England!

Thoughts on Special Ability

Recent months have been spent in quiet contemplation of life.
Due to my knee injury and subsequent immobilization of my left leg I was forced to use crutches to get about for approximately 2 months. Spending all that time in the house, not being able to move around normally got me thinking about people with permanent disabilities.

It showed me life from their point of view. I realised how difficult even small things can become and how easily we take a normal lifestyle for granted. Taking a bath means planing each move like a chess game, climbing stairs feels like climbing Mt. Everest.

In the end, I also realised that it is about what you think more than what you can do. Your actions are limited only by your thoughts. If you think you cannot do something, then most probably you will never be able to do it!

Then the other day I was listening to a program on Meow FM (104.8 FM - Delhi) and the presenter (Manisha) was talking about sensitising children towards people with disabilities. One of the callers happened to remark that 'everyone is disabled, no one is complete, no one has everything'. This made me feel really happy for some reason.

This basic fact made me realise that we should always keep pushing ourselves to achieve new things in life. Somewhere inside we all have disabilities to deal with. How well we can over-come them, that depends on us!

Radio Ga Ga - Queen

One of my all-time favourite songs! It has an amazing video which uses clips from the famous silent movie made way back in 1927 called Metropolis

The Funny McCoy's

Check out this funny bit. ...

Real McCoy's chips with flavours such as Roast Ham and Mustard are 'Suitable for Vegetarians' (see the pic!)! Funny isnt it? I wonder which vegetarian would enjoy the taste of Roast Ham. Would they even know/remember the taste of Roast Ham?

> In fact the main thing is... what does it mean to be a vegetarian now?

> Is vegetarianism just about not eating meat?

> Is it ok if synthetic compounds, tasting like meat, are used?

> Does that still come under vegetarianism?

From IP to HoIP

What is IP (Internet Protocol)?

- It is the protocol used to create the internet. In conjunction with TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) it forms the logical basis for the internet. This blog post is not about IP or its details. If your interested in IP check out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Protocol

Networking is defined by the famous OSI 7 layer stack.

IP is defined in the Network Layer (3rd layer). The entire stack uses a different set of protocols at each level. All the protocols taken together form the 'protocol stack' which defines how applications running on your PC communicate through the protocol stack over the network. Kind of like how the CEO of a company reveals long term strategy to senior managers who in turn assign specific goals to middle managers so that the goals can be attained. In turn middle managers break down goals into specific sub-tasks and assign them to different teams.

So when you click that send button in your chat window a whole series of activities occour up and down the protocol stack in micro-seconds before your message is sent across the network.

IP is quite old (late 1970s). It was used as the foundation for richer applications like HTTP - for web-pages and FTP - for file transfer. But all this also quite old (around mid 1990s).

Following up on this was the concept of transmitting voice over IP (VoIP). This allows for efficient transmission of voice over traditional network systems (all this by creating stacks of protocols). VoIP has come into its own since 2002 and more and more data traffic on the worlds network is VoIP related.

So if we look at a time scale it is something like this -

-30 years (approx) - Internet Protocol - low level usage.

-10 years (approx) - Applications over IP (AoIP) such as mail/web/file-transfer.

-3 years till current (2007) - Voice over IP (VoIP) - integration of voice communication with packet based networking technology as compared to traditional circuit based implementations of communication systems.

I was reading "The world is flat" by Thomas L. Friedman. He predicts that the next big thing is going to be Services over IP (SoIP). SoIP is about delivering services like TV, Radio, Telephony etc. over a single connection. Treating everything like a packet of data - be it TV signals or voice signals. Where the money is charged for the services being used and not the duration of their usage.

I agree with him, IPTV is already making waves. Streaming movies and video content are already popular (e.g. YouTube). The hardware is available along with the storage to run the mutlti-media content servers.

So over the next few years we would see a growth in SoIP. But what next? What is the next thing afrer SoIP?

I think after SoIP it is going to be HoIP.

Human over IP (HoIP)

Where two people will be connected through IP directly. As computers come closer to the human, the day of embedded computers talking to each other through IP is not far. Computer based interfaces are going to form a separate sense for humans and IP is going to be the foundation to achieve the interconnect at that level.

That would mean I can talk to ANYONE or SEE ANYONE on the Earth AT ANYTIME! Usually one can just talk to the people around you (through voice). For people further away one needs to use a phone. But what if human senses were converted to IP?

So if I wanted to SEE you, you could convert your image into a live video stream and send it directly to the computer interface for my eye and it would be shown within my eye. Same thing can happen with voice, touch, smell!

Digitization of voice is already possible. With a wi-fi connection I can talk to anyone in the world (through Skype)! Down the line the other senses will get digitized and all humans will be connected.

You're never going to keep me down!

I get knocked down.

But I get up again.

You're never going to keep me down!

- From the song I get knocked down by Chumbawamba

The above lines are really inspiring. We all get knocked down at-least once in our lives. By knocked down I mean we feel as if life couldn't get any worse. Whenever you feel that way remember those above lines. Realise that those who turn failure into success are the biggest winners.

Say to yourself:

'I will smash through all barriers that stand between me and what I want to achieve, like a tank through a brick wall.'

Give yourself a confidence boost. You KNOW you can do it!

Be a tank. Let nothing stand in your way. Make your path clear through the problems that surround you. Grind your problems into dust.

The Price of Dreams

The other day I was thinking about fulfiling our dreams and the price we pay to fulfil them.



Most dreams have a clear price that you can pay to fulfil them. For example a car enthusiast might dream about owning a particular car which will most certainly, have a clearly defined price.

Then there are dreams which do not have a fixed price. There is no upper limit to the price that one might have to pay to achieve those dreams. Dreams of fame and fortune, for example, have traditionally compelled people to pay a very heavy price.

One might have many dreams to go after but limited resources to use in their pursuit. Therefore in the end it is down to a kind of cost benefit analysis to select the dreams to pursue.

All the analysis cannot answer the one moral question that has plagued mankind since the beginning: What is the price you should be willing to pay for your dreams?

Is there anything like an 'excessive' price?

What are the moral implications of chasing your dreams?

Will the paying of the price and achievment of the dream benefit a single person or a large number of people?

These are some of the questions hidden behind the one moral question, which one must think about.

Things people have said about me...

You should be banned from sending emails to OFFICIAL EMAIL IDs (SK)

A thousand devils would have died before you were born (DU)

Ek sapna to pura karo (SS)

a tight slap for you! (VG)

SHUT UP OH PLEASE FOR GODS SAKE, SHUT UP! (TK) <-This was implied and never actually spoken!

ho gaye tumhari non-tareeke ki baten shuru? (AC)

God Is Love!

The Bible says God is Love!

Thinking about Love, I wonder if the readers know that the ONLY major religion not to have caused any bloodshed in its name is Buddhism!

Maybe we should give the teachings of Buddha a little more thought.

Peace and Love.. what else do you need in life?