The friendly scavenger

Photo was taken near Jayanagar 4th block

Crows as the scavengers is part of the eco system.  We often see the crows eating the dead rats on the road side. Have we seen enough crows inside the city? I wonder.



And then, I recall in our school Tamil classes, crows were referred to as aagaaya thotti (flying scanvers) - ஆகாய  தோட்டி.  Some how, I could not find any tamil reference of this tamil phrase on Internet.

Photo (not the rat) shot by Ganesh

Meanwhile, read this article "Keep the crows flying to save the environment".

Flipkart's customer friendly service

Image: Namas Bhojani for Forbes India

I always find Flipkart to be very customer friendly.  All my online purchases have been through Flipkart for the past few years.



Some recent positive experiences:



a) I ordered a 16 GB sd card along with a mobile as a gift for my family.  However, upon receiving the Kingston sd card was bent. Since it was a gift, I did not have the bill and order no. handy.  I called up Flipkart Helpline and asked for SD card replacement.  After understanding my problem thoroughly, they agreed to replace.

b) If we  have ordered a book to your office address and if the delivery date falls on Saturday, they call up to check if we are available at Saturday. Obviously you dont :-).  SMS your house address, you get your order delivered at home.

c) This is the big highlight - I had ordered a gift for my daughter whose birthday falls on 4th July.  The committed delivery timeline was 7th July.  I requested Flipkart to consider delivering on 4th July - they really did the magic - the gift was delivered at 9 am!



There are few news I hear recently from my known circles - a colleague got a product over priced than MRP;  another friend got to know his order cancelled without intimation; another said an empty box was delivered.  And a very loud mouthed open letter to Flipkart's CEO on poor services.  I am only wondering its just happening after Junglee's entry.

Underachieving India

India is probably reaching a threshold. Ask any children to talk on "What he or she would if be comes a one-day Prime Minister"?  (Note:  the question is not "what if you become Prime Minister one day..").   

Every child will talk about every issue that is of concern. All the topics have become a subject of mockery and everyone talks about it. If anyone believes India is progressing, its out of pure luck and some good policies here and there. I often wonder why do all the retied people crowd the Nation's corridors and impede the growth of a beautiful nation?

• 
  Corruption - Something we have "taken" for granted
  
  


• Economy - we pay more than what we earn


• Infrastructure - Malls cannot be the only growth signs.  Why do many in village still travel on camels and buffaloes?


• Education - Is knowledge affordable?


• 
  Energy - Are we tapping all the right resources?
  
  


• Lives - It was disheartening to read farmers suicide in India on one side and innocent people getting killed in flash floods another side.  Drought and Floods - two sides of the same coin.  What stops us from linking the rivers?  Read yourself to the alarming stats on how many farmers commit suicide in India.


• Nasty politics - As of writing this, Karnataka gets its 3rd CM in 4 years of BJP rule.  What a dirty politics by people like Yeddiyurappa to place his own men on power corridor!  We also saw the drama of choosing the President.  We also know how "silent" our Prime Minister despite all.

Its timely the world recognizes it all and TIME's Asia Edition has a cover story on our Prime Minister. I am waiting for Wiki Leaks to list publicly the Swiss bank account holders from India.



And I picked Edward Luce's "Inspite of the Gods" from Just Books last week. Fascinating reading.

The burning tree

JP Nagar 2nd Phase, 9th Cross, Near the Ladies Hostel.

Corporator Incharge: Chandrasekar Raju

City, Publicity

 Here are some poster boys for you.  They need all the publicity to get noticed - at every part of the city. What an eyesore!

My 7 am Arivu

I am suffering from a very bad eye lid boil. Once in a while, I look into the mirror to see myself as a 7am Arivu logo.

Its a coincidence that its 07/07

The boil could have been because of body heat.

Or some microbes in the eyelid

I hoped my dad would have some naamakatti  (white power block used by Iyengaras to wear the naamam).  Its a wonderful home remedy - applying paste of it before going to bed would have dried up the boil next morning.

I also tried applying hot water so that the infection area gets cleaned.

What Gates reads this summer...

Bill Gates has posted his current summer reading. Please visit this link: http://www.thegatesnotes.com/Personal/Great-Summer-Reading?WT.mc_id=7_5_2012_summerreading_tw&WT.tsrc=Twitter



Also, its a wow feeling to see what he reads: 

http://www.thegatesnotes.com/All?search=Books&view=preview

Monday Malware Issue!

There is a news on the internet that on Monday, many of the Internet users will not be able to access the Interenet due to a malware. The details are here:http://www.firstpost.com/tech/malware-threat-how-not-to-lose-internet-access-on-monday-369517.html




Please click on the following link to check if your computer is infected: http://dns-ok.us/



If you see a bright, flashy green - then you are alright!



If not, you need to take some action.

Treasures to leave behind

I was talking to some friend and discussion centered around what we leave behind as treasures for our children. I was able to quickly list the first three, as I have been inspired the words of Jim Rohn (visit this link)

• Journals: Our writings, our recordings, perceptions, on everything that we could record.


• Pictures: Kids grow and there are several special moments every day. Click a lot of pictures. It will a good idea to develop the pictures too, instead of just leaving them behind as digital content.


• Books: Needless to say, build a library for your children. Also, make them familiarize with the great authors of our time.

 I went on to add the following:

• Music and Movies: Kids anyway, get exposed to every day filmy music. But they eventually miss the music by legends, and also good world music. How many of the kids know the richness of our Indian music? And how many know the world music, beyond the pop and MTV hits? World Cinema is another. There are several great world cinema - introduce them to good ones and talk about the ‘behind the scenes’ information about these movies. My friend Paramesh introduced me to this new age music called www.cokestudio.com.pk/


• Travel: I just do not mean a family picnic; I also meant anything you would ‘go, see and experience’. I have been reading off and on Evolve Your Brain by Dr. Joe Dispenza. His message is our brain goes through neurological changes under two circumstances: (a) when we learn some thing new (b) when we undergo some new experience.


• Right People: The teens believe their Facebook friends count makes them popular. Its our responsibilities to connect with them good mentors, well wishers, and also Mr.Clean leaders for them to follow.

Please comment, if there is a "treasure" to leave behind!

Its been a while!

Its been a while since I logged in to post my thoughts.



There was a hot summer days with guests and kids around; had some fun.



Bought new books like Personal MBA, Mathematics minus fear, Pursuit of Happyness, Flipside of Everything, The Last Man who knew everything.



I also have been experiencing a lot of coincidences happening back to back - not sure if I should and think if I have to make some solid interpretations - or just let the magic unwind itslef whenever it wanted to.



Also went through a stupid - really stupid activities like removing the sun control film from the car because "terrorists" may be in. What a nonsense rule to impose when the authorities have more than enough things do for the society.



The monsoon is setting in and if there is one reason anyone staying back in Bangalore, its for this weather.



Catch you, soon!

Urgent and Important Matrix

I advocate Urgent and Important Matrix (link: http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newHTE_91.htm)



We often distract ourselves with useless activities.



Or we end up doing everything in a hurry either with a false sense of urgency or yielding to other demands.



What is really needed is doing important things the right time.  Every one has roles and tasks cut out on earth. If we do the right thing at the right time, we will lead a satisfied life for sure.

Blogging from Ipad

Does not seem to be easy. I wish i have an app to write free.

Best Moments of Life

I am going through best moments of life now.  Having picked the book "The Buddha's Brain",  I simply adopting three things for me:  Happiness, Love and Wisdom as my life priorities. Apart from this, I am adding Character also to this list.



When I say best moments, you may wonder, what exactly has happened.  My short answer is nothing.  I did not say 'nothing is happening'; I just meant 'nothing needs to happen'.



Those best moments are not happening outside; They are happening inside.



To experience Happiness, be happy, and give happiness

To experienec Love,  be lovable, and love.

To experience wisdom, just be wise.



And all these, without comprising on the Character.