Just like that

18/12/2007 Moments ago, I was reading a mail that enlisted the simple pleasures that people born before the 80s enjoyed. One which talks about the regular activiities of the kids of those times, rare for kids of these days, which involved simple pleasures such as jumping over the wall, climbing the tree, running in grounds, a fairly good immunity to eat anything that we want, so on and so forth. Just after basking in that cosy feeling, the first news to hit me from the ticker was that of a class 11 boy stabbing a class 8 girl for rejecting his "marriage" proposal. Dejected over the girl's refusal to "marry" him, the boy had stabbed her to death and he consumed poison himself. Not long ago, was that incident in a Delhi school when a class 9 student fired gun shots at his classmates over some minor disagreement. A similar case of a school boy throwing acid in the face of a girl who rejected his wedding proposal also hit the headlines a couple of months ago. O...

It is one of the most ironic judgments of an Indian Civil court. We all know that the mother is the natural guardian of a child. Even the animals acknowledge the fact. However, a local court in Jaipur refuses to believe the dictum. Recently, a Rajasthan court has passed a judgment in a case filed by a woman under the Domestic Violence Act saying that that the mother cannot take care of her daughter because she is a HIV affected patient. And how did she contract the virus? From her husband who was an army officer. Her husband who died March 19, 2003 gifted his wife both the daughter and the virus before his last journey. And the poor lady, ever since her husband’s death, has been facing the wrath of her in-laws. With the diagnosis of HIV virus in her, she was even thrown out of the house. And now the in-laws have taken away her daughter and are even refusing to let her meet the child. Disgusted with her state of life, the lady had appealed to the court of law hoping for some justice and...

Bitten by the blogger’s bug and also by my editor (who insisted that I produce at least a couple of copies after the month-long recess from work), here goes my first international travel tale (read travail). Curiously enough, the start of the story was a sudden bolt from the blue in the form of a call from the US consulate in Chennai. They called up to let me know that I had been invited for a month-long trip to the US by the Bush Government. “Hey.it was not even the month of April?” I replied thinking that it was one of my friends trying to play a prank. But the lady at the other end assured me that she was an employee of the USIS and that she wanted my consent for the economic journalists programme immediately. Initially, it was a moment of pride to proclaim myself that I had been invited by the US State Department but later I realised that it was one of their annual event and many journalist colleagues have already been a part of this exercise. (May be I was the only one in Chennai ...

Not just being satisfied with having donned the rold of Amitabh in Don, now Shah Rukh is going to take his seat in KBC too. This is sad news for all those KBC lovers who were held spell bound with Amitabh's antics and baritone voice. The show rose to be one among the top ten, mostly owing to Big B's charisma and presentation. I am not sure how much will Shah Rukh be able to replicate Big B in dealing with the people in the hot seat. Definitely, it will be a let down for all those who had stayed glued to the programme. So much so, that even my son, who is a great of fan of KBC, is not happy with the idea of seeing someone other than the BIG B himself. Amitabh is so dear to children too especially with the kind of ads that he gets featured in. No wonder he is the top most brand ambassador in the country who endorses the maximum number of products. But with rumours agog about his imminent entry into politics, and with his proximity with Amar Singh of Samajwadi party, it will sure...

Alkali metals A coolest chemistry video! Am not sure its for real or not. However, interesting to watch. Behold the power of rubidium and cesium!!!

Umrao Jaan xlent song and xlent acting.

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