Its Raining .. and the light's have gone out !

It's June 30th .. and its been raining since last night.

Finally, the lights went out in Kandivili (East) at around 12.45 in the afternoon.

I guess I don't have to pay Reliability Charges any more .. so much for Anil Ambani spending Rs. 100 crores of MY money on his so-called Disaster Management!!

And no one is answering REL's complaint number 3030 3030 .. so that's another couple of 100 crores down the drain in setting up the Call centre ...

... the only Disiaster we have .... is REL as our electricity supplier ;)

Words of Wisdom - 3

I came across this beautiful capsule entitled "The Power of Attitude" by Mac Anderson.

I'm sure this must have done the rounds of the Internet, but I thought I'd put it down here as well, if nothing .. just for my own "Refresher Course" ... :)

The Power of ATTITUDE

1. DREAMS: A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step - Chinese Proverb.

2. PURPOSE: Your vision becomes clear when you look inside your heart.

3. PASSION: Belief fuels passion, and ... passion rarely fails - M. Anderson.

4. People are like sticks of dynamite. The power's on the inside ... but nothing happens until the fuse gets lit.

5. COURAGE: Courage does not always roar. Sometimes it is the quite voice at the end of the day, saying "I will try again tomorrow."

6. GOALS: Take a long view ... one day at a time.

7. STAY POSITIVE: You become what you think about - Earl Nightingale.

8. Attitudes truly are contagious. So ask yourself one question ... Is mine worth catching ?

9. SIMPLIFY: Things that matter most must never be at the mercy of things that matter least - Goethe.

10. LAUGHTER: Laughter is sunshine in any life- William Thackeray.

11. Laughter is your heart's way of telling your face to smile - D. Green.

12. EXPECT THE BEST: Its a funny thing about life; if you refuse to accept anything but the best, you very often get it - W. Somerset Maugham.

13. KINDNESS: Its not the things you get, but the hearts you touch, that will determine your success in life.

14. SING YOUR SONG: A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer. It sings because it has a song- Chinese proverb.

15. LOVE: Love doesn't make the world go round. Love is what makes the ride worthwhile - Franklin P. Jones.

16. RENEWAL: The will to win ... the will to achieve ... goes dry and arid without continuous renewal - Vince Lombardi Jr.

And, finally ..

In many ways, we're alike;
However, one LITTLE difference
Makes a BIG difference
The little difference is ...
ATTITUDE

A wonderful movie with the above text and pleasing visuals is available here: www.powerofattitudemovie.com

Aamir & Amitabh are Farmers, or not ??

Ok, so now Aamir Khan is also part of the controversy on who is a "Farmer". First it was Amitabh Bachchan....

By the way, just WHO is a "FARMER"???? Where is FARMER defined ??

Certainly NOT in the Constitution of India ... !!

Surprised? Yup, the word "farmer" is not defined by our Constitution. Article 366, which deals with "Definitions" defines "Agricultural Income" but "Farmer" is not defined.

Which means, this is now open to interpretation by all and sundry - unless the High Court and/or Supreme Court have laid down some definitions (I'm not a lawyer, so I wouldn't know..)

However, here's an interesting Case study ...

When we got Independence, there were a number of landlords (Zamindars) who owned Agricultural land. Most of these had hired help ... (bonded?) labourers ... to till the land for them. In one stroke, the Government abolished the Zamindari system and made the actual tillers, owners of the land - and compensated the Zamindars (with Bonds, I think).

Thereafter, one such labourer now became the owner and then in turn, also hired some additional help. Over time, the labourer-owner became old and his children (who were educated, as he could afford to educate them) didn't want to do farm-activities any more. They moved to the city and took up other career options.

Eventually the old man passes away bequeathing his (legally-owned) farm land, to his children.

Stop the press...

Questions:
- Are the children "Farmers" ?????
- Do they need a "Certificate" to prove that they are "Farmers" ?????
- Does Amitabh need a Certificate ? If yes, WHO is the Competent Authority to issue such a Certificate?
- Does Aamir need anything more than the fact that his father owns/owned Agricultural land???
- What is the status of our Politicians?

It seems the thumb rule being applied everywhere is that "if you owned farm land at any place in India.. you ARE a Farmer" ...

By this logic, we need to open the Pandora's Box and examine each and every Politician (and Administrative Officer) who has declared that they "own" farm land.

For those who were born much later (your's truly, included), India was a predominantly Agricultural country when we got Independence... so most of our fore-fathers, were "Farmers" anyway ...

I think this is political vendetta .. especially, in Amitabh's case. His obvious proximity to the (loud-mouth) Amar Singh and Jaya's obvious show of Respect (?) to Mulayam Singh (those who saw Koffee-with-Karan will know) has done him in.

Unfortunately, the politicians themselves and the IAS officers and other Babus involved have gotten away ... FIRs should be filed against these guys first, before anyone does that to Amitabh ... and the less said about Aamir's case, the better ...

Let all the Ministers who have made statements against these two, first prove that THEY are also "Farmers" - IF they own any "agricultural land" ... let them also "prove" how is it that they are being called Farmers ... when they themselves hardly ever till their land, nowadays ..

Well ... and that's how I feel ...

New Music Videos ...

Last night I managed to catch a few of the new Music Videos on VH-1.

1. There was Sophie Ellis Bextor's "Catch You" from her "Trip The Light Fantastic" Album. The lady seemed to have a major Madonna-in-her-hey-days hang up.

The same bright red (vermillion?), frilly, latin american-style dress, hair, gelled (oiled?), pulled back in a bun, Venice, Gondola, sepia tone shots, etc.

The clincher was the shot where she is sitting on a three-seater sofa with arms outstreched on the headrest ... reminiscent of what the Cicconne babe had done for Playboy (or was it Penthouse .. but does that matter?) .. except that she did it in the buff ;)

Verdict: Ho-hum !

2. Then there was "Boss's Life" by Snoop Dogg Featuring Nate Dogg .. whatta crappy song .. with an equally crappy video to boot.

Snoop Dogg is a 6-foot, tuff, rugged-looking, broad-shouldered BOY, complete with the hood on his head, et al ... and, oh yes, he also wears pig-tails in the video !!

Ha! Talk of a confused child..!! And oh, yes, there was the token, skimpily clad black girl in stillettos (and nothing much else) in the vid ..

Verdict: Lousy !

3. Finally, there was a true Rock video .. "Home" from Chris Daughtry (remember this guy ? Looks like Vin Diesel.. bald pate ..) He was the fourth last to be eliminated from last season's American Idol . Great vid .. great song ... great lyrics.

Incidentally, this song was chosen by this years' American Idol season, as the "going-away" number (the number they play in the background when one of the contestants is eliminated). Last season's song was "I've Had a Bad Day"...

Verdict: Beautiful !

Didn't wait to see further .. just shut the box after Daughtry ...

I also, managed to catch Avril Lavigne's "Girlfriend" (my daughter's fav song ... "Ooh Dad, I just love this video...").

Typical, girlie-vid ... high-school babes trying to "eliminate" much-wanted boyfriend's present girlfriend ... Ha !

So now you know what to expect from the vid ... there are the token shots of the present GF falling in the pool and making a mess of herself ... predictable stuff ..

But you know the kids these days ... "Ooh Dad, she is just sooo cooooool ... !!!"

Verdict: Cooool (just because my daughter is sitting next to me ...)

"DTH customers may get adult content"

Just read this news item on rediff.com (http://www.rediff.com/money/2007/jun/02dth.htm).

The news item does not clarify if CAS and/or IPTV media are also included.

A TRAI report puts the total number of cable & satellite viewers at 70 million and the article says that there are 3.2 million DTH subscribers - so only 4.5% of the viewers will be "entitled" .. (or should I say, "privileged") to watch adult content.

The Govt is going to "reward" this 4.5% for investing in DTH systems, by allowing them to view "adult" content ...

So, according to the Govt (or is it only TRAI?), 95.5% of the viewer population is NOT mature enough to handle adult content !

This smacks of a business deal, where the DTH players are going to use the excuse of a TRAI-approved plan for "promoting" their product.

They will make it look like the TRAI has done this only because access-control is easier through DTH .. but what about CAS and IPTV? These are also "controllable".

In any case, it is absolutely discriminatory to make such a move - any such decision should be inclusive.

I have written to TRAI asking for a clarification ... but who knows if they will reply!

Just thought that you all should know :)