The Indo-American nuclear Deal

I am cutting into seriously needed sleep time to post this. So forgive factual errors if any.
I just read that The UPA government has finally given into the presssure exerted by the Left Front and decided to 'go-slow' whatever that mine mean on the nuclear deal.
Let us first examine the facts at hand.
India carried out a set of nuclear tests in 1998 and in response the US and preety much the rest of the potrntial nuclear suppliers imposed sanctions on high-technology trade with India. After years of negotiaitions in which India was never in a position of strenght we got a deal which the Americans admit will not be offered to anyone else.
Circumstatial evidence I admit, but exhibit A , Pakistan asks for a similar deal and China cries foul. Sounds like the deal might actually be in India's interest after all.
Now last I checked we have a nation of a billion growing at a rate of 9%. Last I checked we were importing 70% of our oil requirement. So based on just those 2 facts we are a nation with a serious need for energy. Where does this energy come from? $80 a barrel of oil (mixed with kerosene in India) is an option. The third and most promising option is for someone to invent a way to harness energy from all the Hot air that the communists so ceaselessly generate.
Since the aam aadmi can't pay for the real price of oil,
maybe just maybe we can generate some nuclear energy(To be honest I am not comepletly sold on the environmental aspects of nuclear energy, But since this hasn't figured in the protestations of the left , we will let it be for now).

Not if the Left can help it though , they have put a spanner in the works based on something to do with India mortgaging its soveriegnity. This is rich coming from an organisation that critised the nuclear tests in the first place.
What galls me most is that the left hasn't pointed out anything inherently wrong with the deal.
So all it boils down to is another 'cholbe na' protest that has no rhyme or reason. Only this time it costs the entire nation.
Make no mistake , Indian communists , every time they have had a chance , have proved that they are guided more by outmoded ideology, than any sense of what might be India's national Interest. And here am being less than harsh lest I really reveal what I think of those idiots.

Gee Whiz!

This very much a "I can't believe I did'nt think of this earlier" moment for me.
I knew people have been touting electric cars over gasoline ones for ages. I understood that the vehicular emissions would be reduced, but would this really help? Since we were already burning fossil fuels to generate that electricity, not tkaing into account the generation losses.
So why/how then can we use electricity sensibly to power our vehicles?
Another fact that I was aware of leads the way, in this regard.
Electric plants produce a fixed amount of electricity over a day. And that electricty is put on the distribution cables(there is more to it I am sure). Now wether all that electricty is used or none of it is, the same amount of fuel was burnt to generate it.
Efficiencies of operating generation equipment dictate when and how many generators can be fired on and off.
All that really means in times of non-peak demand , there is a significant wastage of the electricity we generate. Why not plug in our cars at that time., to utilize the electricity.

Who wants to be president of India?

The perks of the job include being the titular head of a country of a billion people and the commander in chief of an armed force 1.7 million strong(I might be off a little).
U get palatial accommodation(that includes of all things a zoo and a veterinary hospital) and a presidential body guard.
A jet and a fleet of cars.
Your responsibilities include rubber stamping every decision that the government of the day makes , showing up to great foreign dignitaries and making trips abroad .
Sound good? How do u apply? It would help if u have never trod on any toes. It would help still further if ur Dalt/woman/Muslim or disadvantaged in any other way. Cos then we can say we are progressing We have a Muslim/woman/Dalt/Sikh president.
It doesn't matter what state the actual community is in , if one member of that community has done well for themselves , we can hold it up as a shining example that draws attention away from even more glaring failure.
Another prime qualification would have to be the complete lack of any spine/charisma or personality , which politician wants to be outshone by the ultimate sinecure , the President of India. And who wants to deal with a President with some spine who will actually voice his opinion against patently illegal ordinances that are so much in vogue with the government of the day?
So now that the presidency of one of the most admire men in India , Abdul Kalam
is at an end, its time to elect another 'minority' to the post. A political lightwiegth at best and a sycophant of the Nehru Gandhi dynasty at worst. Turns out that Pratibha Patil fits the bill.
Trust politician after politician to praise the 'wise' choice made by Sonia Gandhi, who is doing so much for the uplift of women by delivering all the comforts that tax payers money can buy to a career politician, who can scarcely claim to be known in the country let alone be admired.

Exercise Physiology page.

I have'nt had the time to go thru this toroughly, but seems preety comprehensive.

A funny analogy

Indian cricket's present predicament of being one of the weaker sides in world cricket but easily the financial life-force of cricket reminds me of a childhood analogy.
As a kid playing cricket in the neighborhood, there was always one rich kid (or one who had indulgent parents) who owned the bat/ball and stumps.
Almost invariably that kid was not as good as some of us who turned up with nothing other than a grin. No prizes for guessing which kid I preferred to be.
I wonder if Indian cricket has been reduced to the kid with the stumps while the others nations flash a grin at out predicament.

Coldplay "Fix You" lyrics.

Could'nt have said this any better.

COLDPLAY LYRICS"Fix You"
When you try your best, but you don't succeed
When you get what you want, but not what you need
When you feel so tired, but you can't sleep
Stuck in reverse
When the tears come streaming down your face
When you lose something you can't replace
When you love someone, but it goes to waste
Could it be worse?Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones And I will try to fix you
High up above or down below
When you're too in love to let it go
If you never try you'll never know
Just what you're worthLights will guide you home
And ignite your bones And I will try to fix you
Tears stream down your face
When you lose something you cannot replace
Tears stream down your faceAnd I...
Tears stream down on your face
I promise you I will learn from my mistakes
Tears stream down your faceAnd I...
Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you.

32 young lives extinguished

32 young lives extinguished,
with each died hopes and dreams of a future so bright,
32 families in pain, so much anger so much pain.

There will be prayers there will be candles,
There will be Talk of healing and moving on.
None of which can dull the anger or the pain.
Anger unlike pain is a funny beast,

Pain is far more private still.
Tragedy it is in many ways,
Whom do we question and who do we blame?
The madman who fired the shots ,
or the law that allowed the madman to have a gun?
Temples of learning and enlightenment,
turned to killing fields.
Whom do we question and who do we blame?
For all the Anger and Pain.

The anguish of the wooden spooner.

In India, (and amongst Indian's abroad) most can be classified as either in love with the game of cricket and those who don't care much for it. I'll stick my neck out to say, that "those who don't care much are in a minority.
So though I am slowly drifting towards the minority, I would like to articulate the anguish If I can the anguish of a billion people at their one great hope of getting some "Feel good" going for them.
The Indian Cricket Team with more combined experience than a few other nations combined , was unceremoniously dumped out in the qualifying stages of the Cricket World Cup yesterday.
I have a million things to do, but I find myself constantly scanning for news stories on the aftermath of this most ignominious exit.
The post mortem to follow will have the saner voices reminding us that its "just a Game" and that "Nobody died". They will caution us against "Overreacting" and "Chopping and Changing".
Dire warnings will be given with respect to the talent pool .
They will blame the media for raising expectations too high and the adulation of a billion fans as being unbearable pressure.
So 2-3 months from now we will see the same bunch of incompetents save one or two, doing duty for India. Murdering teams at home and doing just enough abroad to create "History"(how does a test win in Ireland sound?).
We react strongly when told of by the likes of Malcom Speed, about our lack of infrastructure for paying spectators , lack of an assemly line of good young players and a lack of results in major tournaments.
We react even morre strongly when Ricky Ponting rightly taunts us about our results.
But make no mistake excuses run their course after a while. No One wants to hear team India's sob story. They are not held to the same stanadard as the rest of us dimwits when it comes to taking home a pay check and delievering results.
Unlike professional footballs teams in the US or the european soccer teams. We have no draft or acquiring players with better pedigrees, to turn this ship around.
So after public anger has died down the same people who criminally spent millions to bring home a wooden spoon will be rehabilitated.
Our 34 year old triumverate who have failed so often in unision , you would believe they are joined at the hip will happily retire on the millions they have earned. Move one to braodcast journalism perhaps, and nothing will change.
This is not just a game and it never was. Those who put on Indian colors know it. On the positive side those in India will have a whole lot less sleepless nights than they had anticipated.

Poor little Rich kids.

So Fortune magazine has gone through its ritual of identifying the worlds billionaires.
Thanks to the ferentic pace of growth witnessed in India, 36 Indian billionaires find themselves on the list. 10 years back I would put this number at 3.
A lot of these freshly minted billionaires have come under media scrutiny as to how they spend to share their billions with the rest of the country for the greater good.
Naturally they have drawn comparisons to billionaires such as Warren Buffet and Bill Gates. Who have pledged their billions to Humanitarian efforts the world around.
No that this affects anyone in particular , but I find this comparison both illogical and unfair.
Warren Buffet and Bill Gates have Billionaires for the last 20-30 years. Their approach to philantrophy has evolved over the years. To expect the same of an Indian paper billionaire is foolhardy. Maybe charity has forever been a game of one upmanship. But for what its worth , its just that, charity - A voluntary generous act or donation to aid those in need.

His excellency The ambassador of a brand

Almost all of us , who have'nt been livign under a rock, have seen a celebrity endorsement of a product. Naturally if a celeb can use a product, its certainly good enough for me.
Maybe a decade back, I heard the term brand ambassador being bandied about. Usually it was to assosciate one celeb in particular with the brand, and the brands were usually premium brands(at least by Indian standards). The term ambassador, had to stand for something regal right? Wrong. I just read that Priety Zinta has been decalred a "Brand ambassador" for something as mundane as Rexona Deo.
For the life of me I can't figure out how a deo will make its way into a classy converstaion.
"Damn , have u heard of deo" doesn't count. Nor can I quite imagine anyone associating apreety lass like Priety with deo either. "God Priety makes a perfect ambassador for Rexona Deo, she sweats like a hound dog on a hot summer day , but u can't tell, cos she has a life time supplyy of rexona deo".
So marketing folks who make a lot more than I do, take a moment and maybe a breath or two, before u decide to get a brand ambassador for the next ,mousetrap.

Oh yes ! We made it.

I took 3 local flights within europe on "low cost" airlines.. And the one thing I noted in each case was that when we landed , people broke into frenzied clapping. As if they didn't expect to land.
Ah well we were flying budget can't be too harsh on them for clapping.

Welcome aboard Mr. Ottawa Dhulipala

I was on the last leg of my european trip flying from madrid to paris. Checking in at the Ryanair counter I handed over my passport over as identification. All this is routine so I did'nt pay any attention till I got back my boarding pass. As I stepped Away from the counter , I saw Ottawa very clearly written as my first name. The security environment at the airports being as it is I headed back to the counter to get this error fixed.
The clerk at the counter pointed to my US visa which had listed Ottawa as the issuing location right above my last name Dhuliapala.
I can't figure out whats funnier, the fact that he made thew mistake or thought that Ottawa was a fine first name to go with Dhulipala. I am sure Ivana Humpalot would have gone past his vast intellect just as easily.