Sorry for keeping this blog dead for a long time. I promise that I will spend more time updating the content in the coming days.

So…. Keep watching !

We went to Delhi for a day…. Chaitanya, Pavitra and Shashikala , my good old collegue were also with me. We had a nice meal from “Andhra Bhavan” and visited some places before we boarded our return flight to Bangalore. One thing that ruins the expectations of a visitor, I must say, is the attitude of Taxi drivers in Delhi…They are rude, they don’t listen to you, they charge unacceptable amounts of money, they take you through wrong routes and they will make you curse India……sad this is happening in the Capital of this country.. 🙁

Anyways.. here is some pics..

This time, I was fortunate enough to be with my family to celebrate Christmas. Though we are not Christians, we do celebrate Christmas in a full fledged manner. Every year we make a crib at our home and we try to make it as fascinating as possible by us.

This year crib was made by the children from all over our neighborhood ( Students of the tution class run by my Sister ). I too provided some guidlines before I left for Bangalore. This is what I saw on 24th December 2006 when I returned for Christmas !.

More pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/ksraju007/xmas_2006

It looked so good that I could not believe that it was done by some school going children. I asked them whether they have done it for some competition. The answer was very interesting. One of them said that the church or any other such committee would not let them take part in the “crib making competition”.

The reason was even more interesting : “Crib is hosted in a Hindu’s Home”

Happy Christmas !

I am a hardcore fan of Calvin and Hobbes. The kid with an attitude and a talking tiger made me laugh out all my stress many times.
Just came across this one and I just could not control myself. Thought I would share it with you guys… It beautifully portrays the dilemma of a cartoonist waiting for inspiration. And the mixing of the cartoonist himself and the character with a peculiar interest to know the benefits of the game adds to the fun.

You can find more about Calvin and Hobbes at these links…

http://www.simplych.com/comics.htm

http://www.angelfire.com/wa/zzaran/calvin.html

Looks like Mumbaikar is getting restless again. Heavy rains in some parts of Mumbai has already drawn attention and fear to common man. Reports are already flowing in about a number of deaths because of flooding in some areas. Memories of 26th July 2005 is getting fresh in their thoughts.. and as usual media morons are celebrating this “event” too with celebrity discussions and moody video clippings. I hope the rains will stop soon and no more lives would be lost.

Worst thing is that the Mumbai Administration has proved once again that all promises are made only in paper. When are we going to get the “real freedom” from all these corrupt politics and burocracy? And media is celebrating “where and why the goverment is failing?”… but I think we also need to think something here…

I saw a small “public awareness video” in a theatre recently. The message of the video was to keep our city clean. What do we do after consuming a softdrink or a packed fast-food item? We just throw the plastic packing away on the road or wherever we feel comfortable. We are so callous that we do not even bother to think about what are the possible consequences to what we are doing. Ever thought what would happen if all these plastic waste is blocking all the exit points of drainage system of the city?…..

Now you know How does the rain water gets clogged….

My friend, Think before jumping up and down your couch shouting slogans about the Administration… The goverment needs our help to resolve such issues… It is our duty more than courtesy to keep our city clean. If we are not caring for our city or country, who else will?

I know that some countries does punish people for littering the public places. In INDIA, you are free to throw things away in the road, chew pan and spit anywhere, pee on road sides….Do you think “freedom” means this? This is not freedom.. this is exploitation of freedom.

I agree that the Authorities must provide public toilets and other things like dust bins everywhere for us to do this… But can’t we start following the rules at least whenever and wherever we could do it?.. I have seen people peeing all around the public toilets in many places..( Wonder why they can’t do it inside toilets !!! ) ..and those places smell like helll… I have noticed this phenomenon mostly in Bus stands.

So.. Let’s make it a practice to look for a dust bin whenever you get an urge to throw something on the road. It is one of those small and easy things we could do to make a big difference. Lets start keeping our country clean…..