To be in love with a Militant

.....can be injurious as a lady teacher in Manipur learnt, the hard way.

She was allegedly tortured by the police because it was learnt that she had an affair with a Militant who was invovled in an ambush that caused the death of four police personnel.
It was sad that people had to die, and no cause is worth a human life as I keep saying. But what did the poor girl had to do with the ambush. And why torture? [via1, via2]

Next thing, Family members will be targeted, and then maybe old friends.
For god's sake, every militant is also a Human who do have relationships.
Does it mean that everybody the militant is related is conspiring againts the government?

In another incident

Md Abdul Hakim, it may be mentioned, was shot by police personnel at around
11:30 am yesterday near Pratap Talkies in the busy Paona Bazar area after he apparently failed to heed orders to stop for checking.[ more ]

Fodder for strikes and public disturbance. But then, these are common occurences. He should have stopped when asked for checking.
BTW it is not like the traffic checking that happens in other parst of the country. The checking, that is mentioned here is the kind of checking that happens in the airports, frisking is the word. And since we live in a Disturbed area , we have to go through the same. If I were deaf and could not hear a police commando asking me to stop, then it is sad. How would the commandoes know that I were deaf and not a militant who is not heeding their command? It is sad though that I might get shot for the same as Md Hakim learnt too late. No I am not saying he was deaf but it could have happen to a deaf guy right? God bless his soul.

The police are saying that some documents and a pistol were found on him.
I won't say it were planted, but he never did drew the pistol and started shooting.
They could have been more creative than that. The encounter specialists would have shot one of the constables in the arm. Oh! but I forgot, it happened in broad daylight, so it wasn't possible.

And I thought I was going to stop writing these things... and concentrate on my writing skills...

Nothing In Particular..

Writing, experts say, is a skill that can be systematically learnt.
It is not like creating fiction or writing a great novel, good writing can be cultivated and that is what most books on writing seem to be saying.
I hope it is true.. because I am doing just that.
Learning.

I got myself some books, though I am not getting much reading time.
Blogging is one good way of learning how to write better.

I am trying trying to repair what damage i did to my writing, with years of Email, Chat Rooms and SMSes... More than a bad grammar what it gave me is this Sloppiness, where i don't actually realise what i am typing and then press the publish button without as much as giving a second glance.
Well, I guess I need to start writing on notepad, becuase the automated spell and grammar checker is another thing that does add to the general sloppiness...

And I m going to do a lot more writing, and less of reporting and linking.
I am hoping that by the end of this year I will get at least a few readers who actually come to read what i write and not because I left a comment on their blog.
That doesn't mean I will stop writing other non-writing stuff..
But I will try to write for the sake of writing too.

Like the doorman said "Lock yourself in a room for a few hours, every day. Read. Write. Read. Write. Read. Write. Read. Write. Compare. Go back to the drawing board. Write more. Read more. Write more. Repeat. " [ via JAP, BTW, Clublife is one of fav blogs alongside to waiterrant and mimi]

But I know I will take sometime..
But I will be patient.
Afterall I have been blogging for more than 2 years now.
Only I never cared about what I wrote.
Now I will learn to.
And feedbacks are welcome.

Uh! Today I did something I can't blog about..
Maybe someday.
How will I carry all the secrets to my grave...

Monster housewife...contd

In the Newspaper today..

........A 24-year-old Bhayandar housewife was arrested on Friday for brutally assaulting her 14-year-old domestic help, Mangala. Police said Mangala's body was covered with burns, some of them at least four months old, and her skull was torn open when neighbours found her in a semi-conscious state on the building staircase on Thursday night.

"Didi would hit me with an iron rod because I took too much time to finish work. At times, I was hit with a heated knife or a hot ladle on my back and thighs. It hurt so much I could not sleep properly,"Mangala said in chaste Hindi from her bed in the ICCU of Kasturi Hospital. [ read more ]

Did a Monster mauled her?

.... But I don't know if a monster would do that to a child.
I have always been very Loud about Child abuse, and get real upset when a women abuses a child as I wrote about Dhruta here. Here, I am breaking the news of another Dhruta..

Today I was in a Reliance webworld because I like sipping coffee as I blog. As I was coming out, I saw this Crime Reporter watching a playback on his Video Camera. I have known him for sometime now and I learnt today only that he was the one who broke the news on Dhurta. He works for a Major TV as well as a Print Media House. I just went to watch what he was watching and what I saw disturbed me so much I had to turn away.

I asked him if I could blog about it, and luckily he agreed.
This news will break tomorrow on all the major news papers, and the video I saw will be telecasted at 11:30 PM IST tonight on NDTV.

In a place called Bhayandar in Thane District, Varsha Bable had been abusing Mangala Mallick, a 14 year old house maid from Bengal who was sent to Mumbai by her parents for 500 rupee a month, for some time now. When I couldn't watch the video I listened to what the doctor had to say and what he said too disturbed me.

He said that some scars will never heal and looked like she had been poured Hot oil at some point of time and that she had been abused for months now as some of the scars show. Something hard hit her head as well...

Could a monster do that?

Here is the Monster who just spoilt my weekend... being taken to the Bhayandar poilce station. Can I Swear?? YOU %&^&%$$#$#@((.... can a women do this?? and please, I am not being anti-feminist here, but I though Woman were incapable of such deeds....... Me and my assumptions!!!

An NGO had saved the child and the lady monster will stay at police custody for at least the weekend. She was taken to custody today afternoon. More news will follow.

PS: The reporter gave me the pictures to be published on my blog.
PS2: Excuse the tense of the title, which was already parmalinked.

Update: Click Home to read Updates...

Poo!!

....I don't need no solar power, Says the prudent neighbour who owns a dog..

Hurrican Katrina video

Click here to view a live video of the Hurrican katrina taken by an unknown person inside the Beau Rivage casino during the hurricane..[ Via Google video and playback not avaiable in India, so do send me a Feedback LOL]

IE-7 Beta has Tab feature... My bro says that it is better than Firefox.. Ouch! what was that? ...a punch!! Not me... hit my Bro :-D

Remembering Manjunath..on his birthday!!

23rd feb or a few hours from is Manjunathan’s birthday.

I don’t know how he might have celebrated his birthday if he were alive today. Maybe, he would have had a busy day at work, and might have treated himself to a private dinner at a restaurant with a small group of friends. Maybe he might have had a bash. I don’t know.

But this, I know. His father would have called him up to wish him happy birthday, and his mother and kin and all his close friends would have called him up, and even though he might have been 1 year older the same time last year, he might have felt really good that his friends have remembered his birthday. Small pleasures of life. His mother would have offered sweets to the Deity for the long life of her son, “Let my son live longer”"Meri Ummar bhi unhe lag jaye".

But none of that would happen as we all know.
For, thanks to some People who thought his life wasn’t worth the ill incomes they were making by cheating customers, cheating the government, evading taxes, abetting in polluting the environment further, and all these they did by mocking the government, “ Look we killed one of agents because we know we will get away with it” . We will buy some other agents of the same government and get ourselves acquitted.

And indeed, they might still get away.

But we don’t want to let it happen, would we?
Manjunathan didn’t die in vain. And he left behind a strong example of truth, and the ability to stand by truth. A heroic deed few of us would ever be able to repeat.
But we can stand by him, and remember him on his birthday.

And we can do a little more, we can help in whatever we can by helping this trusts, The Manjunath Shanmugam Trust . You can help by contributing some money, give some time and effort or The least we can do is spread the word.
Visit the site and Gaurav's Post for more info.


The media did started to take notice, and the news got a fair amount of coverage partly due to the effort by some Bloggers. Blog about it, link to it. Do spread the word.

It is about the good and the evil.
Let the good win.
Let there be justice...

Cross posted at the other blog

40 year old Virgin..

I watched 40 year old virgin on Sunday; it was a good way to spend the afternoon with the temperature here rising way beyond the spring temperature that made me nostalgic a few days back..

As the name suggest, it is about a 40 year old virgin.
And how he ultimately got it.
Leaving aside all the other aspects of the movie, what striked me more was the way Virginity is made into such a big issue.

There was this scene where a very young barely 16 girl was mocked at when she said she was a virgin, well the whole movie was about mocking virginity which many people might have found to be in bad taste. I however enjoyed it.

What was interesting was the fact that the protagonist of the movie had to lie, or rather couldn't say that he was a virgin. While on the other hand, here in india, we still put a premium on virginity. A man may spray his seeds all over country, yet he would expect that his wife must be a virgin on the nuptial bed. Of course, it is not just the only way round, for women too expect that all her man be a virgin, unlike what happened in the movie. Two opposite poles, east and west.

Just as andy lied or tried hard to hide the fact that he was a virgin, We try hard to hide the fact we are not virgins, unless if we are among same sex peers and bragging( I don't know if women does that, bragging about scores).

Well, both the extremes din't appeal to me.
I'd say what big deal....

By the way, I just discovered the secret behing the 17 kisses of Mallika Sherawat, read on...

For all those who thought kissing was un-Indian and a foreign influence on desi sensibilities, here’s a reality check to make you pucker up and take notice. Research reveals the first recorded kiss in human history can actually be traced back to Indian origins. [ more ]

But what is funny is that, Indian sued to kiss with the nose... nooooo .. because that was the first recorded kiss the study is talking about.. Nose to nose, Mallika.... listening???

According to Texas A&M University anthropologist Vaughn Bryant,"References to kissing did not appear until 1500 BC when historians found four major texts in Vedic Sanskrit literature of India that suggested an early form of kissing. There are references to the custom of rubbing and pressing noses together.

You may still Eat those Chicken Butter Masala!

Says the Union Health Ministry.

Bird Flu and my phone's been ringing ..

I got more than 5 calls today.
From home..

In fact father woke me up to tell me about the bird flu.
But I have been bird watching for a long time haven't I..

Last time there was a bomb blast in delhi, and the news casters said there was threat of the same in Mumbai too, i got these million calls. Am I alright?

There is something about the way news travel back home.
It is a state capital, but we don't live in Apartments yet.
We all have homes, well Houses. And everybody know each other in a maybe 3 km radius.
And beyond that everybody knows someone who know someone and thus everybody is somehow interconnected. Well it's a small world.

And the news grapevine is awesome.
Something happens in Bangalore and everybody talks about it.
You see, many families have someone or the other studying or working in Delhi, Mumbai Bangalore, Pune or Chandigarh and elsewhere.

So, newsmakers in bangalore makes more news back home than maybe Bangalore.
There was a report of a dead bird carrying the flu in manipur and it made no news even in manipur... ( i am not talking about the media not covering about manipur here).. You see, people back home are more worried about their children here than themselves back home..

As such, I got to talk to many people from home today. That I should avoid chicken and all.
I didn't mention that I had chicken only yesterday.

BTW, eating chicken is fine. The virus die at 70 degrees celsius and as long as you don't eat RAW chicken its not going to cause much of a problem. But wear a gas Mask if you going to the Butcher, lol. I told my vegetarian Mom that I could live on Bigger Meat than Chicken, she wants me to live on Ghaass Phoos..

Anyway, That was about bird flu.

A few days back, this massive colleague of mine who was my Kabaddi Partner suddenly told me that he was very girly.
What??
Well, then, he said that he likes girls so he was very girly.
He likes all the girls.

Well, then we can't say that "I am manly" anymore....
Watched 40 year old virgin.
It was very funny.... long post on that later....

That face washed by the moonlight..

Multiple tasks at work..
How I wish I had Ravan's heads and Goddess Durga's hands?
It is Mid feb already, and spring must have set in where there are spring seasons.
Don't know if mumbai will have one..

Spring!! Or Mera in Manipuri..
Oh!! How I miss the spring of Manipur..
It's been a long time since I was home in Spring..
4 years, 5 , 6, i don't even remember.

But I haven't forgotten the smell of spring and the warm rays of sun that caresses the skin in the late mornings. ( here, I am trying hard to write a piece of literature types HAHA)
Oh yes, there was something different about the spring Mornings.. Yellowish Sunrays, Sarsong ka Stew, Flowers blooming in the courtyard.. We have a huge one.. And in the night, the smell of a flower the name of which I have forgotten, the smell though, I can't forget... Smells like Rajni Gandha.. but not as sharp as Rajni Gandha

And every Manipuri associate this Spring warmth and smell of gulmohar with Yaosang, the Manipuri name for Holi, a five day affair. Five days of festivities... of playing with Gulal and powder ( oh yes we use talcum powder as well as neem-robin) during the mornings, Sports and events in the afternoon, Junk Food and Thabal Chongba in the Night...

Thabal Chongba maybe roughly translated as Moonlight dance.
Much like the Balls of the west and dandiya of the east.. Where young girls chaperoned by their elder sisters or mothers or Aunts or the watchful eyes of an Ganny, sometimes a short tempered brother, come out in the evening to dance away till 12 O clock or 1 am.. (Nowadays our Moral police have set Time limits etc etc though, so I heard).

The dance is like a Human Chain, where the girls and boys, well young men, move in circle hand in hand and dance with the beat of drums and an orchestra, the sound of which will fill the nights of manipur during Holi.( not an easy dance though, I find it quite difficult to follow the beat) These dances are organised in every locality, and girls and Male volunteers from that locality will arrange it. Guys, however, go Thabal hopping from one thabal to another thabal event and it is not proper for a guy to dance in his own locality, as we consider our neighbours as sisters lol. Likewise, girls only dance in their locality under the watchful eyes of local BROTHERS lol, and of course some Jealous Brothers.

Fisticuffs and Violence are to be expected in such grand fairs where there are watchful brothers and jealous neighbourhood Romeo who won't stand an outsider holding the hand of his Juliet.. Wayward Outsiders however go back with a broken head; remember the Volunteers.

Otherwise this is a very romantic tradition and a great way to know Girls, and of course guys (for girls)..and all girls look pretty under the Millions of Tube Lights.. there have been instances of proposals in first tube sight, not to mention the repentance the next day...

We still follow this tradition, and Manipuri students organise the thabal chongba in places like Pune, delhi and bangalore every year.. Such are the springs of Manipur..

Ningsinglee Meragee Thabaldo....
Thabalna Chamlaba Maithongdo...

roughly translated:
( Remembering the Full moon of Spring
and That face washed by the Moon light)

Download this song from e-pao.net and listen to it.. the melody is amazing even if you don't understand a word..

Another Charge of gangrape

........Sorry readers that I keep linking these kind of Articles but then these things shouldn't be happening anywhere......................Army charged with gang rape in Agartala.

Laptops and Viagra.

Been busier, these past few weeks.
So the link posts, because I still read news :-D.

But One news ( won't provide links today for a change) have upset me quite bad.
Well, it scared me.
recently, a tabloid type newspaper carried on its frontpage that Mumbai saw a 20-25% rise in infertility owing to three main reasons, namely

1. Using laptops
2. Taking hot water bath
3. Stress

Worrying isn't it?
Even more worrying is the fact, I have all the above three.

Ok, leave out the stress part. Lucky that I don't get stressed easily eversince I worked under that sleazeball Boss a few years back during my internship, who suddenly decided to be my enemy because a lady colleague of mine who also happened to be my classmate didn't fall for his dirty workplace tricks, and he blamed me for it, somehow. Long story cut short, He made my life hell, and it is still a running joke back in campus. After him, everything seem a cakewalk. So lets leave out stress, anyway I am always cheerful. And my boss is as crazy as me..

BUT I still take hot water baths even in Mumbai... I guess, I have to try cold water from tomorrow.

And ah!! the amount of time my laptop spend on my lap, my lazy ass on bed, has raised many a jealous eyebrows. I have even named my lappy as Aishwarya... But then it looks as beautiful, if not better. Abhishek, watch out..

But After the news I guess I might have to buy one of those lead jackets that are used in XRay clinics to prevent rays, because putting a pillow under it as I am doing now to won't be of much help other than preventing from having a burnt thigh.

Indian casualty in the cartoon row...

An Indian sailor was allegedly beaten to death by his colleagues on board a Norwegian oil tanker in the international waters off the coast of Fujairah in the UAE following an argument over the cartoon row. [more]

Still Burning !!

Where Assam is still reeling under bandh related violence after the killing of eight villagers in police firing in Tinsukia, Assam, there is news of an alleged gang rape by jawans of Assam Rifles by a Woman in Dhalai district..

Warmongers

...........this, but then either way there will be deaths.. war now or war later. .. Is there no other way???

10 Million $ Puzzle

No other thing have never benefited the geeks and scholars as the Knowledge economy, and here is the latest proof.

Frustrated rapists??

At times I think the islamic justice should apply to this kind of people.

Bird watching..

Ever since It was reported that a dead falcon carrying the A(H5N1) was found in Manipur, I have been keeping a watch on the bird flu.. Now it has been detected in wild birds in Italy and Greece, also reported here. Maybe I will stick to Mutton Korma for a while.


On my Feeds,

“Veni, Vidi, Vici,” act by Adwords.....

Software engineers on bench will have more fun than email forwards..(blog hopping unfortunately is still at its nascency)


Lawyer jokes turned a bit too serious..

And quite Eerie, this.

Brits Valentined Kenya.


By the way, we had a great time, and today was suppose to be off.. Had nothing better to do than sleep so I came here..

Polo And the North East

Polo - A Legacy from Manipur was first played in Silchar. A comeback.

Lunch break links...

There is an air of festivity in the office with the upcoming annual event for which we shall all be leaving, in a short while, for a resort for 2 days.. I won't be accessing the net till Monday.. So till then these are some intersting Links i have given below....

Something very interesting....Where Do Muslim Protesters Get Their Danish Flags? There seem to be an endless number. I hope the Chinese are not exporting cheap Flags (purely for commercial purpose of ourse)..

I am not at left from any angle but Imperialism is something that hurts me, so my antennae went up when he said this...... But I can't quite agree that when Evo Morales said "You have to realise that, for us, the coca leaf is not cocaine and as such growing coca is not narco-trafficking," because he knows that they are growing for all the nice thing and then some more.. much more.
You can't save one life by killing another, because drugs do kill whethere it is taken voluntarily or not. By the same logic, I don't agree with Lord Birt who wants to prescribe more free heroin.


Bird flu in Africa, good that it don't seem very contagious since there have been only very isolated sightings, even one in manipur..

The real basis for warrantless spying on Americans: Pure, unbridled executive power, but of course Money can't currupt a Man as can power.. Everybody wants to be a Hitler at some point of time.


George C. Deutsch, the young NASA press aide who resigned on Tuesday amid claims that he had tried to keep the agency's top climate scientist from speaking publicly about global warming, says "I have never been told to censor science, to squelch anything or to insert religion into any issue," I first blogged about this here, bush tries to silence global war(m)ning.


Oh! BTW, EFF Warns Not to Use Google Desktop

Lotus Notes is used by millions of people, but almost all of them seem to hate it. How can a program be so bad, yet thrive?
Answer: Ask Microsoft.

And then proceed to read the story of these young Tech Billionaires...

And here is a very usefull website, where you can track sex offenders in your locality..[ we must have a .in for India too], it is aptly named as family watch-dog.

How will I get 100000 Hits?

The problem, of course, is in the "get." The request has at its foundation the assumption that what you've built has somehow earned attention. "Our business model is working great--we just need more traffic..." writes Seth Godin as an answer to all the people who asked him, "How can I get more traffic?"

He is of course referring to websites in general, websites that are suppose to generate revenues. But I just felt it was quite true for Blogs as well. A link from desipundit or a popular site to a one off topic will increase the hit for a few days (or a day), but for repeat visitors, you need to have a decent content, people will want to come and read every day. The content could be an interesting anecdotes, humour, sharp opinions or just a well written blog about nothing.

In a very shocking incident...

..... a senior journalist shot at , reports Hindu.

AFSPA documentary won prizes at MIFF

The AFSPA movie that I blogged about earlier, won both the jury and critics award [ more ]

18 Again!!!!

I turned 18 yet again at the stroke of midnight tonight, that is exactly now.
I don't remember when I turned 18 the last time.. It was many many moons back.
But I am glad, I am one year wiser than last birthday.


And, this is my 100th post on A Journey called Life.

Do scroll down to read the saga of my Birth. or click here.

Thank you Dear Friends..

Update :

SharmaJee @ Hindustan Times says on my Birthday:

The number 9 influences leadership, compassion, selflessness and inspiration ( How did you know Sharmajee)....although you are imaginative and optimistic, you have difficulty concentrating on thing at a time ( I am working on two modules at project now hmm)..You love company of friends and enjoy a carefree environment( bang on)... however your nature may at times makes you non serious on the professional front, you need to overcome this negative aspect( but someone has to make the workplace lively... but you are right)
Your vibrant nature makes you attractive to the opposite sex ensuring ready availability of Lovers( ummm... no comments... but shouldn't you count that Buddha fairy who offered me drinks..Black label.. at the Disc. also lol) However commiting yourself to single partner will be a problem( but Mom says I can do as I want before getting married, that I should be faithful once I am married and I promised my mom that I will be faithful once I am married, and I don't break promises :-D )... Your sense of humour will keep your spouse happy and domestic front, blissfull( No doubts about that... ) May and August are good months... ( got my first job in a may, my second in an August) So Dear Sharmajee it was 10/10.

And:

I share my Birthday with
Mena Suvari- Actress,
Brendan Behan- poet short story writer, novelist, playright,
Carole King- Singer and song writer
Alice walker- Author

So all hopes are not lost yet. I might become a writer after all, only if I could improve my grammar. Damn LOGIC.

[Ignore the time stamped below, I clicked pm so that this post remain sticky, since I knew I would write more today. I am not going to office]

Ten Reasons to Keep Eating Healthy Foods

I linked an article yesterday and again early today that Low-Fat Diet Does Not Cut Health Risks, then I got a mail from a blogger who maintains a blog for a doctor, Dr. Joel Fuhrman MD, and he has got something very Interesting to say
........Ten Reasons to Keep Eating Healthy Foods Despite Today’s Headlines

But I love healthy food, and hate medicine.

I could work at HT

Hindustan times can get me a job; of the few articles that I linked yesterday, one made it to the front page today ( cutting fat does not cut heart and cancer risk, check out the front page of Mumbai edition) and another that I linked about apple cutting Ipod prices. Maybe we have the same RSS feeds lol.

On a completely unrelated feed, Uk crime Drops after Pubs stay open 24X7, but of course. Only when the drunk comes out in the street do they commit crimes, as long as they slosh out inside the pub... Mumbai Police Commisioner says he will only comment after seeing the statistics, but then Indian criminals don't drink in pubs anyway, I guess... Open the dance bars instead... And thank you everybody, for wishing me on my nth 18th birthday... Scroll down to read the post two posts back, it is beautiful, so said some....

I am on a Linking spree today..

Please scroll down to read the previous post first......on the story of my Birth before reading this post....

..As Outrage over a series of Danish cartoons that depict the Prophet Mohammad continues to spread throughout the Middle East......, a Question arises Does Islam really prohibit images of religious figures?

If you think everyone and their mother has a blog these days, you're probably right., the blogosphere is expanding like bunny rabbits.

Ipod slashes price of Ipods, if only India would slash the duty, who are we protecting anyway. We don't manufacture any...

Researchers, including a BYU scientist, believe they have found a new compound that could finally kill the HIV/AIDS virus, not just slow it down as current treatments do. [via ]

Another Dig at Bush..

Low-Fat Diet Does Not Cut Health Risks, Study Finds , thank god.

At least 35,000 attempts to access internet child pornography are blocked each day in Britain, and the total number could be much higher, according to BT figures released today. Bloody Sickos.

And Technological advances benefits the poor, indeed!

Once Upon a Time

Have you read my post on celebrations of Manipur, and that Manipur is full of festivals and celebrations. Let me write some of it again, from the mind, right off the fingers.

I will start by telling you a story, a story that will result in the birth of a Happy go lucky, almost always smiling boy child, who brought magic to a family in a place called Imphal in Manipur. It was maybe a million years ago, you see I have stopped counting my age, since …18, I guess. So about 20 years before I was actually 18, one naughty tadpole met a passionate egg, and I was conceived.

Before that I will tell you the story of the parents. I don’t know much about the romance between the father and the mother, only that it was a romance between a very handsome man ( he still is) and a very pretty young girl ( she still is sweet). They had to marry in a hurry, because the guy was afraid, that the girl wouldn’t wait (my theory) because he was still in college. He was still in the university when I was born. So after a courtship for, I don’t know how many years, they married against the wishes of both parents and thus had to undergo certain hardships like in the movies. They got married, and years later..........

.......well, how many of you have ever lived the moment when you were actually conceived? before you were actually born. I have, well almost.

I have this NASTY habit of peeking, call me a peeping Tom into other people’s private property like diaries, and with technological advances, gradually graduating to inboxes, sms, and camera phones gallery of late etc etc.

And it so happened that, one fine day, it was a summer holiday I guess, I was browsing through old books and diary in our attic when I came across a diary which was from a year prior to my birth. It belonged to my father. Curiosity didn’t even had a chance to get over me, I just opened it. And it was quite nice to read the short entries by my father, it had some budgets also, and he wrote letters to my Mom since he was still studying and then how elated he was when he came for a holiday.

And the thunderbolt struck.
One entry reads,
“Yesterday my child was conceived” (or something to that effect)

And some other things related to that. But I couldn’t read further. It was about 9 months before my birthday. There, I was reading something from the past, something about me before I was even born. But I was glad that it was documented to that detail, thank god my father is a zoologist, and knew the cycles very well.
Today, of course, we have Google.

And so I was conceived.

I didn’t know that I was born pre-mature by a few days until a few months back when my mom told me while talking about my childhood. They were here to meet me during the new year. But thank god that I was born a little pre-mature and my mom had to go through lesser days of the burden of carrying an XXL kid.

Oh yes, I was one of those 4 Kilo plus at birth bouncy babies. That I have known for long *smiles*, what pained me was that I was a bloody sucker as a foetus. My mom didn’t tell me that but I knew. She told me that all the doctors were worried about her while she was carrying me because she weigh only 38 Kilos. 38 Kgs , that is 83.6 pounds and she was only a baby, my mom. She was the youngest of 3 sisters well pampered and was 23 when I was born. Imagine a 38 kilo girl , carrying a 4 kilo heavy baby. If I wasn’t born pre-mature, I can’t imagine the pain she might have gone through. And apparently her weight gained very well once I was born, so all her nutrients were being sucked by me. Selfish me! And I am glad she told me the story. Of, how I was born, and Oh BTW it was on a 9th of February.

I have come a long way since then.
I was quite a celebrity then.
First born of my generation in the clan.
The Maharajkumar types.
And, my grandfather returned home from her Mistresses’, where he was spending more time than with the family, after I was born.
That made me extra special, to everyone around.

And since Amar Akbar Anthony had been running for 2 years in a row, and since my father was better known as the-guy-who-looks-like-Amitabh, I was promptly named Anthony by the thousand of aunts as a harmless joke on my father and the name stuck.[My post on how I was named ]

A Manipuri child has his/her first birthday on the fifth day of birth, called the Swasti puja when Kheer is served to the guest. Lots of other snacks are also served but the Kheer is very important for the ceremony as I blogged here.

The next ceremony being the one where I was fed with the first solid food, and story runs in the family, that though a child on his/her first day only eats a tiny-weeny bit, I had one Katora ( small bowl) of Kheer, yet again. [ Read my kheer recipe here, lol] My sweet tooth is older than my teeth.

After that I have had several ceremonies, endless Feasts, the head's been clean shaven at least 5 times, and have missed as much since I was in the hostel all my life.

Let me tell you about the feasts of Manipur. We have these grand feasts called utsov every so often that even my parents have stopped telling me now. And whenever I get a call from the home phone and not from the cell phones during the day, I know for sure that my parents are home for a feast. And that happens quite often.

Usually we have feasts on the death anniversary of ancestors, back from how many generations I don’t know, and since we go back many generations, there is a feast every so often, and don’t forget that we get invited to these feasts. So our life revolves round this feasts, and most Brahmins make a living out of cooking, and good cooks have to booked well in advance.

And these feasts aren’t small affairs, and are cooked by Brahmins only. There are at least 20 dishes/courses, and only more ( the more the merrier, and it’s a matter of prestige also) and it is not a Buffet, everybody sits in endless rows and are served at the same time by an army of the cooks whose mouths are covered with pure cloth less the food don’t get polluted with an accidental spit. [ I will be cooking all the dishes in my cook blog]

Everybody should start at the same time and you can’t just get up until the eldest announces so. Quite romantic, though very boring. It is like the pictures on the Mahabharat comic series. Not to mention, I usually have my food taken in inside the house.

And, oh, these feasts are held in Mandaps. We have one too lol, like many people. As kids, we used it as a shaded playground during the summer when it is not used for a feast or a ceremony.

During the Rath Yatra, the feast carry on for 10 days. I am sure some of the food don’t mix well and might cause nasty reactions inside the tummy. But the Manipuri Brahmin cooks are damn good cooks.

Most of these feasts are vegetarians, which is why I said 'boring'. Fish is served only on some feasts, like house warming (yes, we have feast on house warming too), ear- piercing ceremony of a kid ( Yes, My ear is pierced as is the tradition though the rings have long gone before I had my first kiss) , and the fifth day feast ( or Mangani Chakouba), when the bride’s family invite their daughter and the groom for a Grand feast on the fifth day of the marriage. This is a big event, and the ladies in traditional attire are a sight, which is a bigger feast for the eye than the feast.

The guys of course look Boring, we don’t have much choice when we have to wear traditional dresses, do we? Ladies do have an upper hand, talk about equality.

And to sum up the log post, thousands of birthdays later, I have yet another one this year. Not to mention that it is not to be counted. Don't wish me yet!!!
{ Bad joke}

Restricted Area Permit Act!

Another reason to remove RAP (restricted area permit) act. Tourism Boost being the other, currently on my mind.

Few Updates: Dated 8th feb 06.( will update only here till the Birthday)

Traders seek better export amenities at Moreh

Another fake encounter., Creating another mayhem..

Shaken Not Stirred!

A much underrated James Bond Signature much more apt than the "Vodka Martini! Shaken, Not Stirred" or My name is Bond, James Bond.......

Oh, James....

Currently collecting many Bond puns and witticism for a post i am working on.... through a lot of reruns.

Know Childline 1098

I just attended a short presentation by our company's social welfare foundation and United way Mumbay( Our company's partner in reaching out to NGOs). It was for an initiative called informed giving, about knowing where you are donating, who you are actually helping.

Now, Our company does a lot of these work, as I blogged about SEARCH, earlier. If you don't know about it yet, SEARCH (Society for Education, Action and Research in Community Health), is about a couple of US educated Doctors who have taken up the tasks of providing healthcare to tribals in Gadchiroli, a region in Maharastra inhabited by the gonds. And they have done exemplary work and many of their practice and finding have been not only pioneering but have become the basis of certain studies.

Today, the presentation was on Childline, a 24 hour toll free helpline for children. And as the endorser said, in the presentation, they are not there to preach or change the world but to be there in the time of need, for the children. [ The page on childline on Unitedway here] .
This NGO is a NUMBER.

The NUMBER is 1098 ( read 10-9-8, Dus Nau Aath),

...every street children in Mumbai knows this number and so do a lot of other children in more than 60 cities. But we, the educated class and the adults don't know about the number, 1098 which have reached out thousands of kids in distress. Hundreds of people working or volunteering for Childline does a lot of awareness program for the street children, but the phone number is not only for the children but for us as well. And we don't know. Seriously, did you?


It is so often that we see a child we want to reach out to, and help, but somehow we just go on with our lives. Maybe, if it were a serious mater like the case of Dhruta, the neighbours did took up the action in their hands, but all those small incidents, those fleeting instances when you feel," maybe I could help this kid" but due to inertia or with your busy schedule, or personal things that you are already tied up with, you just went on with your work... It is at those instance that we can pick up the phone and call this number. It is the least we could do. They will be there where you couldn't. Do inform. PICK up the phone, Dial 1098. And it's free. And it will make a difference.

As their website says,

Do visit their website, and also educate your close circle.
.....About 1098 (Ten-Nine-Eight)

It will matter. If anyone can make a small banner like the "Tsunami remembrance week" to be adorned at the corner of my blog with a link back to the childline webpage, It would be great. or maybe a link back to United way, since they work with a lot of other NGOs. Or tell me how to make it. I see spread googletalk in the script..maybe I will R&D later tonight. I am blogging from work anyway, since everybody had gone for lunch( my boss sits right behind to me, got to get a monitor rear-view mirror)

This a personal endorsement, something that I thought I could and must do. It has nothing to do with my company or the organisation. But of course I thank my company for the effort they are taking, and arranging the presentation in the middle of work.


One last thing, it is not just street children that they are helping. There are kids from well to do families with problems, runaways, and victims of abuse. many children from well to do families also call Childline. And childline is there 24 hours.

What I like about childline is that they do little things that matter for a million children instead of doing a lot of things for 10-20 children.

As the website says,

Any concerned adult or a child in need of help can dial 1098, the toll free number to access our services. We not only respond to the emergency needs of children but also link them to services for their long-term care and rehabilitation.

Read my post on SEARCH.

Global Warming and Rice

Against the backdrop of concerns that climate change due to Green House Gas effect could hit rice production in India, the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) today said it was collaborating with Indian scientists to address the problem by trying to create a hybrid variety that can withstand global warming. This was conveyed by IRRI director general Mr Robert Zeigler to President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam who visited a field in the IRRI complex. [ more ]

The effect of global warming is not the problem, global warming is the problem. We will be producing hybrid rice but are we going to tackle all the resulting problems individually. India is doing its part, with carbon credits being a great incentive. But with our economy only going one direction, we must take care that the environment is NOT further ravaged.

I think the pollution should be a matter of Global concern, so that this thing don't happen again and again. A serious Global task force, not heavily dependent on the USA.

You are tagged!!!

PS: I am so angry now. this is the third time I m posting this again. Somehow, the post was missing again. Something wrong with Blogger software or someon is playing pranks. If someone knows my password, then he/she could only be a friend. But dear friend, this is not funny anymore. The post was deleted myteriously TWICE.

What could be wrong????

This was an older tag from Soumyadip and Aqua.

Alka tagged me again, and then Sanity starved tagged me.

And I had written a long post and even published it but it was mysteriously missing.
I somehow pressed the delete button, perhaps.
Wouldn't have known if Khizzy hadn't mentioned.
I am sorry to those I tagged. You came here and see no tag post around. :-)
and Also I just realised that I made an incomplete tag last time around....
I wrote 7 points only..


Rule number 4 said, if tagged, there is no need to post. But it didn't say I can't post.
lol, I am reproducing the post ( the tag portion) more because last time around I abruptly ended the tag by not tagging anyone in particular. So I thought I had tag 8 people so that I don't break the rule. I have made some updates too, some changes.

Good friend Kusum, answered the tag though. Thank you, and so Kusum is the first TAG victim.


Here are the rules of the game that I have taken from the original post:

1. The tagged victim has to come up with 8 different points of their perfect lover.
2. Need to mention the sex of the target.
3. Tag 8 victims to join this game & leave a comment on their comments saying they’ve been tagged.
4. If tagged the 2nd time, there’s no need to post again.

Target: Female~ (Please.. )

# Different Points of my Perfect Lover ~ lets assume that this lover Is the perfect life partner. Well,

1. She should be Wise ( not cunning).
2. Very Good at Heart with no Hate whatsoever.
3. Attractive and ....... Voluptuous ( even if she wants to have salads only, it better be a Huge Caesar salad, with tuna).
4. Good Listener.
5. Disagree with me from time to time( not all the time though lol).
6. A good mother.
7. Independent, but should be dependent like a child when with me (alone).
8. Well, I only wrote 7 points last time around.. Well, SHE SHOULD BE FUN TO BE AROUND AND MAKE ME LAUGH( Its not fair that only she laughs huh! People do laugh when I am not serious and I am seldom serious except at work)

Consider yourself tagged if you want to.. .....am in a hurry....

Victims. Heeeheeeheeehaahaa.
I have tagged some married people also. LOL.
You may lie to suit your partner, but a little mischief will be fun reading.

First, I tag two person who I tagged earlier with a lousy meme. I take it back and tag you, khizzy and TCP, now with the 8 points.

Khizzy my Pakistani pal. Full of happiness and fun. It will be fun to read her tag, and who knows, some tribal chieftain might just read her tag and groom himself accordingly.

TCP, of the comic project. His aim in Life today, is to let all the kids who grew up on harry potter to enjoy The Phantom and mandrake. A very noble cause, we strike an instant rapport, since I also happen to have grown up on Phantom, the ghost who walk and svelte Diana and Bela of bahadur. I have been fortunate enough to have been the second person to meet the personality.
he won't tell him his name though or where he works.
As he said, "but then I would have to kill you, if i told you my name".
His voice can chill the blood of Tigers, Old Jungle saying.
Who have seen the Phantom anyway.
For those who came in late, he has been tagged.


Casablanca, I always associate her with the movie of the namesake. Very witty and intelligent person. She gets irritated with tags, but I hope she will like this one.

Gypsynan, she was very excited when she found out that I was from manipur.

Thalassamikra: just because i want to know what she has to write about the perfect lover.It is a such a delight to read her posts. If only she would write more... I keep telling her to start writing instead of thinking how best to design Roadways. *smile* A very fine writer.

Kusum, i already tagged.

And two Food blogger.

Indira the queen indian food blogging , the inspiration of many Indian food bloggers.
Its never been a day that I don't check out her blog to look for a good vegetable recipe.
And the Pictures are awesome.

and Ammani, of Chai pani, a fine blogger.

Sorry if you came and didn't find the post last time around.

Wait for a long post later today. Personal...

Another link

Linked again. Do read.

Bombayla Devi scripts history for Manipur

L. Bombayla Devi on Wednesday entered into the sporting history of Manipur. In the women’s recurve final of the Olympic individual round, she upset Sumangala of Uttar Pradesh 111-99 points and became the first Manipur girl to win a senior national archery title. [ more ]

Size does matter!

Bumps ahead!
Warning! Might be offensive to ladies, and may not continue ;-). Post was targeted at Guys...

........And what did I learn? First, that Freud was wrong: it is not women who suffer from penis envy, but men. Even on a parochial, day-to-day basis, it is men who stand in public urinals sneaking a peep at their neighbour's johnson to see how they measure up in the pecker order.[ Read rest of the article here ]

Strikingly true, whatsay?
I still remember those growing up years when I had developed this extremely depressing Inferiority complex after seeing those movies with super human anatomy. It was such a relief when at times the pecker at neighbour's Johnsons were MUCH lesser endowed...
Damn those porn movies, though. You watch to have some cheap fun and end up with despair.
Severe inferiority complex, a mix of fear and shame how we would ever do it.
Damn the movies, they should be banned.

Peeking reminds me of the movie where Jim carrey or someone kept looking for his lost ring or something in the John. Can't remember the movie though.

Did you Know? Sad But True!!!

Manipur Burning Dangerously:

Everybody in the country knows that terrorism takes the heaviest toll of human life in Jammu and Kashmir. But not many outside the north-east region may be aware that the second in this dubious list is the tiny state of Manipur that occupies a little over 22,000 sq km. While Jammu and Kashmir accounts for over 1000 deaths in a year, the figure in Manipur is less than 400. It is, however, a high casualty rate for a state with a population of about 2.5 million.

Though acts of insurgency are common to almost all the ‘seven sisters’ of the north- east, over 46 percent of insurgency-related deaths in the region are reported from Manipur alone. The state has just 6.3 percent of the total population of the north-east and occupies 8.52 percent of the land mass of the region. What is alarming is that 72 percent of the fatalities in the security forces operating in the region are reported from Manipur. Clearly, a dangerous place from the security point of view. [ From asian tribune]

German ad boss apologises to bloggers

Jean-Remy von Matt, the head of the leading German advertising agency Jung von Matt, has been forced to apologise after dismissing weblogs as "the toilet walls of the internet". [ more ]

Don't you dare!!!!

More on Aribam Shyam....

.............In 1991, Sharma’s Ishanou (The Chosen One) was the toast of the Cannes Film Festival. Sangai: The Dancing Deer of Manipur won five prizes at the International Wildlife Film Festival in Montana, US. The London-based British Film Institute adjudged the same film as the Outstanding Film of the Year, 1989. [ More ]