Words

Delhidreams Weekly Digest: Vol. 2 15/01/11

posted by adee on 14/01/2011 in Uncategorized

NG Photo Gallery: How to Take Camera Phone Pictures

Brilliant tips for all of us mobile phone camera pros: http://ht.ly/3AVLI

Gas – Microscopic (Ambient Electronic Space)

MUST WATCH!!! Brilliant! amazing, puts our universe sized egos into a much-needed perspective!!! http://ht.ly/3Cldu 🙂

A Light in India

A small company’s innovative system is turning rice husks into electricity and illuminating India’s poorest state: http://ht.ly/3Co4R

What the company illustrates is a different way to think about innovation — one that is suitable for global problems that stem from poor people’s lack of access to energy, water, housing and education. In many cases, success in these challenges hinges less on big new ideas than on collections of small old ideas well integrated and executed. “What’s replicable isn’t the distribution of electricity,” says Pandey. “It’s the whole process of how to take an old technology and apply it to local constraints. How to create a system out of the materials and labor that are readily available.”

Justice, System and Jessica

A good blog post on the now ‘ever relevant’ topic in urban India, No One Killed Jessica. Do read here: http://ht.ly/3CoXE and share your feedback.

Diesel’s SFW XXX Party Clip

This is old but this is good! Diesel rocks the advertising world with whatever it does. Check the safest xxx video to watch in workplace here: http://www.break.com/index/sfw-porn-clips.html

Smart, eco-friendly sanitation for all

The technology choice that China made for sanitation and wastewater management has led to not only blistering economic growth but also rapid urbanisation as it helped Beijing reduce GDP loss that poor sanitation brings.

Read the full report here: http://ht.ly/3Cpop

10 Amazing Uses For Toothpaste

Yeah you read it write 😉 and here they are: http://preventdisease.com/news/11/010411_toothpaste_uses.shtml

Earth project aims to ‘simulate everything’

“An international group of scientists is aiming to create a simulator that can replicate everything happening on Earth – from global weather patterns and the spread of diseases to international financial transactions or congestion on Milton Keynes’ roads.”

Movies, Music, Books and all that…

New blog I discovered by a twitter friend @rohwit I respect a lot for his knowledge of and zeal to share to good music with us. Do check http://almostareview.blogspot.com/

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Tagged: digest, past week

Swami Vivekananda and the social networking generation

posted by adee on 12/01/2011 in India

“Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life – think of it, dream of it, live on idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success.” – Swami Vivekananda.

It is Swami Vivekananda’s birth anniversary today. But does this matter to we the facebook, twitter generation of young Indians? Pity is, many amongst us don’t even understand what he was and what he did for our nation, for our spirituality. That our government has labelled this day as National Youth Day is ironic at best!

I’ll keep this post short, very short. All i would request you, my young friends is to study some works by him. Because if you are an Indian, if you’ve to know and understand the idea of India, and if you are interested in the spiritual aspect of Hinduism (though you don’t have to be a Hindu to appreciate him!) you’ve to know, understand, study, the life and works of Swami Vivekananda. I’ve read some of his works, that’s why i can say this with surety.

And maybe, by the time we celebrate the next youth day, we’ll have better understanding of him and his contribution towards the making of India.

6 Comments

Tagged: Swami Vivekananda

आजकल नहाते समय, गीता की बड़ी याद आती है

posted by adee on 10/01/2011 in Uncategorized

आजकल नहाते समय,

गीता की बड़ी याद आती है

पानी के प्रथम स्पर्श से ही

देह तो नश्वर है की गूँज आती है

आत्मा का क्या है,

वो तो अजर है, अमर है

न उसे पानी भिगोता है,

न आग जला पाती है

पर बाथरूम की

महीन झिर्रियों से आती हवा

इस देह को

बेहद सताती है

हे कृष्ण, तुम तो कह गए:

कर्म करो और फल की चिंता न करो

पर इस मौसम में देवी रजाई की सिखाई,

अकर्मण्यता ही ज्यादा भाती है

आजकल नहाते समय,

गीता की बड़ी याद आती है

आत्मा अमर, देह नश्वर,

तो नहा के क्या होगा का पाठ पढ़ाती है

कहत कवि ‘आदि’

नहाना तो सिर्फ है बहाना

मन साफ़ रखने की कला,

अब किसे आती है

15 Comments

Tagged: bath, Hindi poetry, mausam, sardi, satire, vyangya, winters

Delhidreams Weekly Digest: Vol. 1 08/01/11

posted by adee on 08/01/2011 in Uncategorized

Coke signs Sachin for Rs 20 cr; will feature in corporate ads
Ace batsman Sachin Tendulkar has finalised a three-year endorsement deal, estimated at around Rs 20 crore, with Coca-Cola India. PepsiCo had dropped Tendulkar about two-and-half years ago as part of its strategy to phase-out aging brand ambassadors.

Read the full report at: http://ht.ly/3zfaS

Injured Kallis out-thinks India

Jacques Kallis faced more adversity on the fourth day than he did in the first innings and came up trumps again, winning the mental battle against the Indians

Read the full report at: http://ht.ly/3zfev

England on the brink of series glory

England were three wickets away from an emphatic 3-1 series victory after more superlative all-round cricket left Australia in tatters on 7 for 213, still 151 runs short of making the visitors bat again.

Read the full story at: http://ht.ly/3zfh4

Fat World

A study shows species across the board putting on weight. Is there something in the environment contributing to it?

Read the full story at: http://ht.ly/3zpDs

No risk, no reward for South Africa

South Africa made sure they wouldn’t lose this Test by not declaring in their second innings, but in the process might have missed out on winning it too

Read the full story at: http://ht.ly/3zMzB

England complete crushing Ashes victory

England ended 24 years of hurt in crushing style at the SCG as they secured an innings-and-83-run victory to take the Ashes series 3-1. The crowning moment came shortly before noon when Chris Tremlett found Michael Beer’s inside edge to bowl him leg stump. It was the first time in their history that Australia have suffered three innings defeats in a series and left nobody in any doubt where the balance of power now lies.

Read more at: http://ht.ly/3zMGo

Yet another GoM!

January 07, 2011 7:08:44 PM

Soon a full-time Minister will be required to keep track of and coordinate with all such groups that have been set up to deal with the problem of corruption.

Read the full editorial at: http://goo.gl/9PFhl

Floppy disk art

Nick Gentry is a British artist who uses obsolete media formats, such as floppy disks, VHS tapes, polaroids and cassettes, to create his unique portraits.

He is also using his art to make a comment about waste culture, limited life cycles and identity in general. His works have been exhibited in the UK, USA and Europe, and his book, Obsolete, is available for sale. All proceeds will go to Oxfam, a global movement of people working with others to overcome poverty and suffering.

The complete post with visuals at: http://ht.ly/3AnXz

Amazing Kinetic Typography Examples

Kinetic typography the technical name for “moving text” is an animation technique mixing motion and text.

It’s a cool way to add motion to your words! Do check it at: http://goo.gl/60Pwc

When…

When did it become ok, fashionable even, to hate? When did tolerance and co-existence become “weakness”? When did pride in one’s culture, faith, or language start being based on hatred for another faith, culture or language?

Read the complete post at my friend N’s blog here: http://goo.gl/WQlVH

Kawah Ijen by night

Photographer Olivier Grunewald has recently made several trips into the sulfur mine in the crater of the Kawah Ijen volcano in East Java, Indonesia, bringing with him equipment to capture surreal images lit by moonlight, torches, and the blue flames of burning molten sulfur. Covered last year in the Big Picture (in daylight), the miners of the 2,600 meter tall (8,660ft) Kawah Ijen volcano trek up to the crater, then down to the shore of a 200-meter-deep crater lake of sulfuric acid, where they retrieve heavy chunks of pure sulfur to carry back to a weighing station. Mr. Grunewald has been kind enough to share with us the following other-worldly photos of these men as they do their hazardous work under the light of the moon. (30 photos total)

See them all at: http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/12/kawah_ijen_by_night.html

1 Comment

Tagged: digest, favorites, links, past week

खबर आई है के बड़ी अम्मा मर गयी!

posted by adee on 07/01/2011 in Uncategorized

खबर आई है के बड़ी अम्मा मर गयी! अम्मा, यानि दादी, बड़ी अम्मा यानि दादी की भी माँ. पूरे 105 बरस की थी बड़ी अम्मा. स्वाति कहती है, “50 हज़ार रूपए, एक जोड़ी कानों की बाली और एक भैंस छोड़ गयी है मेरे लिए! मुझे नहीं पता के मैं रोऊँ या खुश होऊं!”

105 बरस! एक पूरी सदी गुज़र गयी आज. और कुछ नहीं, लोग सुबह उठेंगे और काम पर चल देंगे अपने-अपने. सभी बढ़ जो रहे हैं अपने बरस पूरे होने की तरफ.

बड़ी अम्मा मर गयी. मेरी दोस्त स्वाति की, मेरी नहीं. फिर मैं क्यूँ लिख रहा हूँ ये सब?

जैसे बच्चे पूरे समाज की ज़िम्मेदारी होते हैं, वैसे ही बड़े-बूढ़े भी तो इसी समाज के साझा अनुभव का पिटारा होते हैं, वो सबके होते हैं न? पता नहीं कितने किस्से, कितनी कहानियां, जीवन के खट्टे-मीठे अनुभव बड़ी अम्मा के साथ ही चले गए!

न जाने क्यूँ, पर स्वाति का मेसेज आया तो लगा जैसे मेरी ही दादी गुज़री है. दादी चाहे दोस्त की हो, होती तो अपनी ही है न?

3 Comments

Tagged: Hindi, life, prose, ramble, remembering

Remembrance

posted by adee on 04/01/2011 in Uncategorized

They are talking about people from the past. A young, male relative who one day made such delicious and evenly fried pakodas* that even the ladies of the household couldn’t stop envying him; a long forgotten neighborhood aunt whose clothesline was the embodiment of middle class organizational skills; their always grumbling mother/mother-in-law and how she was not happy with the way the young male relative made those pakodas.

They are talking about them, remembering them from their last storehouse of memories, because when they left home, their relatives and snapped ties with that old life forever, they ceased to make new memories about it. So now until they themselves cease to exist, the now old male relative will always be young, forever cooking delicacies for the extended family, freshly washed clothes will continue to drip proudly in the backyard of that neighborhood aunt and the now (presumably) dead matron of the house will continue to grumble away forever. This is the fate shared by everyone who has left something behind in a hurry, more so of the refugees of fate itself.

As if time is a river which though doesn’t stop for anyone, it is we who drop the anchors of our memories and linger on, sometimes for a moment, sometimes forever.

A *Pakora (पकोड़ा; پکوڑا; பஜ்ஜி;); is a fried snack found across South Asia. Pakoras are created by taking one or two ingredients such as onion, eggplant, potato, spinach, cauliflower, tomato, chilli or occasionally chicken and dipping them in a batter of gram flour and then deep-frying them. …en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakoda

11 Comments

Tagged: memories, prose, ramble, snippets

joining the resolution bandwagon

posted by adee on 03/01/2011 in Uncategorized

the first two days of the ‘new’ new year are coming to an end. not only is this the beginning of a new year but of a new decade as well. agreed, these divisions of time into moments, months, years, is just a facilitating tool and memory doesn’t always follow its cold, logical precision, nevertheless by compartmentalizing our life in time, we can compare where we stand today in relation to our past(s).

normally, my personal favorites for this pensive task are the two days of my birthday and the festival of Diwali. the universally applicable new year resolutions mania doesn’t affect me much 😀 this time though, i’m making an exception.

now, i want to start collecting, transcribing my memories, capturing the swirling sounds and images with my magic wand and storing them in clear glass vessels, one page at a time. the purpose is twofold: a written record of my experiences will help me gather my thoughts better, hopefully help me journey constructively towards my goals (not in the chaotic, haphazard manner i’ve all my life till now) and secondly, help sow the seeds of discipline and craft that i so desperately require to succeed as a writer.

hope i’ll be able to stick to this resolution and bug you with more regular posts throughout the year 🙂

10 Comments

Tagged: 2011, diary, new year resolutions

welcoming the new year

posted by adee on 02/01/2011 in Uncategorized

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Tagged: 2011, New Year, Resolution

the real lover

posted by adee on 30/12/2010 in Uncategorized

at any given time in life, we all are carrying the best and the worst of us within us. the noblest of our thoughts co-exist with the excreta in our small intestine, the purity of the heart with the cunning of the mind. and only a person who is in love with both these sides of ours can be said to be truly in love with us.

8 Comments

Tagged: life, musings, ramble

taking lives

posted by adee on 22/11/2010 in Uncategorized

death is all around me

the dead, undead

they eat, laugh, procreate

traveling bed to bed

the sun gives dark

the night sheds light

each moment a dilemma

whether stay or take flight

who created this world

this life full of debt

made me sign my death certificate

when i drew in first breath

someday i’ll meet Him

my maker well bred

and ask why He creates life

when all He gifts is death

13 Comments

Tagged: death, English poetry, life