Doing the right thing the right way ....

Doing the right thing the right way ....

Just after the NCAR fiasco, I had the opportunity to attend a function arranged by the Alliance Francaise of Hyderabad (AFH). AFH was celebrating its 30th birthday. There was song, music, dance, and mime, interspersed with some short speeches by people who know France, French and AFH. It was all so pleasantly done and organised. The performing artists were in the age group 6 to 26 (about). Every one played his/her tune well. The Band Master , the Director of AFH, had planned it all so well, and orchestrated the event flawlessly. The evening ended with a sumptuous dinner. And every one went back, with the satisfaction of having spent the evening in a worthwhile way.

What a contrast with the other event (NCAR)I saw that morning !

Bravo, et mes felicitations.

partha

Doing the right thing, the wrong way.

I have just come back from a 2-day FOSS event called NCAR2010. This FOSS event, organised by the Free Software Movement of India, and inaugurated by our famous scientist President Honble. Abdul Kalam himself was a place where we were expected to talk and listen about FOSS. The anticlimax came when some of the lecturers found it important to use "Microsoft Power Point", to make their presentations. FOSS admirers like me were naturally shocked and furious to see this double standards. Do we really need Microft tools, to tell us what FOSS is all about ? The organisers of course found it all very acceptable and fine. I complained to the organisers, and left the venue.

When I came back the next day, I was in for more surprise. The lecturers still had their powerless-pointless presentations. The organisers were still blissfully ignorant of this incoherency. I left the venue this time, promising I would never again attend any event promoted by the FSMI. Amen.

The learned lecturers, most of them from reputed academic institutions were dull and bland. They made an absolutely shabby show, making even debutants feel ashamed of their performance. Does no one have any sense of guilt or shame ? I understand that these lecturers were handpicked by the organisers. In addition, there was one institution which dominated and monopolised the entire event. Maybe, the organisers don't see anyone else in the city who knows a thing or two about FOSS.

In short, the show was a big disappointment.

Moral of the story :: If you are looking for some serious FOSS event, NCAR is not the place, and FSMI is not the one who you should trust.

partha

Dusi ... again

I have uploaded the finished version of the Dusi website. Take a look at:
http://dusi-roots.zxq.net/index.html. Send me your suggestions, if you find something lacking or wrong.

Donations for the temple rejuvenation have started trickling in. I will wait till 15 Dec., and then stop my campaign for collection of donations. Of course, you can still send in your contributions, directly to the "kainkarya sabha" which is actually the prime mover in this project. The address of the "kainkarya sabha" is in the Dusi website mentioned above.


partha

A picture is worth......who says ?

"A picture is worth a thousand words" ....NO. This picture is worth a million words.

The picture summarises the anger and bewilderment of many Indians like me. Our country can host the Olympics for scams and scandals. We had our politicians and bureaucrats swindle the country -- 2G spectrum issue, housing scam in Bombay, Commonwealth Games scam .....etc. etc.

When will this all end ?


partha

I paid a bribe

A Minister gets thrown out because he swindled Government money. There are a hundred thousand
scoundrels out there who swindle common folks like you and me everyday.

Maybe this site will help us all fight the cancer called corruption in our society :
http://ipaidabribe.com/

Hats off for the guy who started this site.

partha

Another beautiful poem (on a beautiful subject)

I think I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the sweet earth's flowing breasts
A tree that looks at God all day
And lifts her leafy arms to pray
A nest of robins in her hair
Upon whose bosom snow has lain
Who intimately lives with rain
Poems are made by fools like me
But only God can make a tree

Joyce Kilmer (1886-1918)

Born free....now walking free

What is so special about a 65 year old lady walking free from her own home ?

If the lady in question is :: Aung San Suu Kyi of Myanmar, it is an event for celebration. It is an event which proves once again that when it comes to principles, there should be no compromise. Even if that means being locked up in your home for several years. Justice and faith will alwys triumph. Evil and force will fail one day or the other.

May GOD give this world, many more Aung San Suu Kyi

partha

Dusi again .....

Courtesy Mr. Prabu Veeravalli, we have some activities planned for the Dusi temple:

1. On Saturday the 13th Nov 2010, a grand THIRUMANJANAM is being proposed by Dusi Pattappa's family.

2. On 19th November 2010, Balalayam is proposed to be carried out for RENOVATION OF THAYAR SANNADHI and MADAPPALLI.

3. After around 40 days a simple SAMPROKSHANAM is proposed to be performed.

More details will be posted soon on the web.

partha

Let's go to Dusi

"Dusi" a tiny village near the sacred twon of Kanchipuram, in Tamil Nadu, South India, is the place to which I can trace my roots. After several years, and a lot of effort, I have come across some people who are keen about doing something for Dusi. I thank Mr. Prabu Veeravalli for the initiative he has taken. I will be putting up details, on the web, very soon. There is a blog post further above, about my Dusi website.

If you, or your ancestors, are from Dusi, do get in touch with me (drpartha@gmail.com). Pleaase do NOT fone me up. I hate fone calls. I do not like being disturbed while I work.

I have also set up a family tree of my "Dusi family" at ::

http://algolog.tripod.com/dusi.htm

Take a look,

partha

A milestone date... a milestone birthday

On 30 Oct 2010, I crossed the milestone age of 60. According to Hindu custom, I got married again ! Married a 57 year old lady, mother of two (see picture).

partha

Common Wealth Shame

P T Usha, the Dash runner, who is a world famous gold medalist athlete, was not called or invited to the Common Wealth Games (which was launched yestaerday in Delhi). P T Usha's former coach, O M Nambiar, who is a winner of Dhronacharya Award, also regretted that he has not been called for the ceremony.

Compare this with all the political heavywights who were
occupying the best seats in the stadium. You will know why we are
still a "developing" country (sic).


partha

Tagore -- the immortal

I slept and dreamt that life was joy,
I awoke and saw that life was service,
I acted and behold, service was joy.

Rabindranath Tagore

PS: Now I know why Tagore got a Nobel Prize.....partha

My roots .....Dusi

I have been trying to get a good picture of my own roots. I did a lot of research and hard work, and created the "Dusi family tree" and put it up on the web, at ::

http://algolog.tripod.com/dusi.htm

just so that this information is not lost. I now need a young volunteer from my family, to take over the tree and keep it up-to-date. No one has responded till today.

If you are reading this, and if you are part of the above Dusi family tree, please get in touch. Let this heritage not be lost forever.

BTW, I was in Chennai last week, and met two people whose families hail from Dusi. They had found me, thanks to the dusi tree, and had contacted me. Although I could not find any link from them to my tree, it was a pleasure meeting them and talking to them. Strangers find me, but my own kinsmen do not seem to find me. How sad !

partha

One more achievement, by India ....

My other blog (the Professor's blog) speaks of an achievement by an Indian (in USA), which makes us all proud. This blog is about another achievement, by Indians in India, which makes me hang down my head in shame and disgust. The Government of India, has now decided to ask every Indian, his caste, and record it officially. We will thus give an official stamp for the unnatural, unnecessary, uncivilised concept of caste. What about people who do not believe in this concept ? What caste will they call themselves ? Why should they give themselves a caste in any case ? Who cares ?

63 years after we got our independence (we will celebrate our Independence day on 15 August), we still seem to be a "developing country". I was wrong. We are no more a developing country, we are a "regressing country", taking steps to go back to the dark ages, as fast as possible.

Thank GOD, Vinay Deolalikar, Chandrasekhar and Amartya Sen are not living in India.

partha

Shame of India ....more

First it was the Chairman of AICTE, the apex body which supervises technical education in India.
Then it was the Chairman of the Medical Council of India, the apex body which supervises medical education in India. And now, it is a Director General of Police, who is in jail, for molesting a young girl and harassing her family.

The only thing we are good at is in letting these criminals flourish for several years, and then nab them. Never mind the irreparable damage they have done.

partha

Shame of india ... again

This time it is a HUGE scandal concerning the Commonwealth Games, to be held shortly in India. The swindlers' list includes top politicians, bureaucrats and sportsmen. We are making a shameless donkey of ourselves in the international arena. When we learn to behave more respectably ?

partha

Vive le progres....

Let us keep parents happy. Send them a tweet, or an email greeting. Dont have to waste your time calling them up or visiting them or holding their hands while they fumble around, all alone.

We are all very busy, aren't we ? We have so many more important things to do, don't we ?

partha

PS Mr Subhani, the cartoonist who drew this cartoon lives close to my place, in the same neighbourhood. Congrats, and well said, Mr. Subhani.

Why ?

Why don’t people stop and smell the roses ?

Why don’t people applaud a singing bird ?

Why don’t people appreciate a good job done ?

Why don’t people stop grumbling that this life is so terrible ?



Added by Partha .......

Why don't people answer mails ?

Why don't people read and respond to blogs by well-intentioned people ?

The journey

It is the journey that counts,
Not the destination

How well you travelled in life, means more than
How far you travelled

Life is not the grave at the end of the journey
It is the flowers and thorns along the way

You can choose to reach the grave faster
or, you can stop and smell the flowers along the way

The question is not how far you went
But how well you travelled

Magic of modern medicine

Got my left eye operated for a cataract. The whole operation was over in twenty minutes. No injections, no bleeding, no pain. I was talking all the time with the doctor as he was operating my eye and scooping out the cataract. Unbelievable. And all that was done in a hospital close to home. I remember the day when my dad got operated thirty years ago. And he had to wear a spects which looked like a crushed binocular. I am typing this blog within two hours after the surgery.

Hats off to the progress,

partha

How to comment on my blogs......

It is always a pleasure to notice the number of people who care to read my blogs, and also leave comments. Unfortunately, I am not able to decide on accepting or rejecting your comments, unless I know who you are. The notice for moderation I get from blogspot, does not give me your mail ID, so I cant actually check back with you.

Please remember to send me a separate mail with your comments and your mail ID too. Also identify yourself, tell me something about yourself, wher you are located, and what do you do in real life when you are not blogging. You see, I give all these details and much more in my websites which you can access from my blog pages.

Many thanks, and keep the comments flowing (along with your details).


partha

drpartha AT gmail DOT com

Not all fathers are so lucky .....

A frail old man went to live with his son, daughter-in-law, and
four-year-old grandson.. The old man's hands trembled, his
eyesight was blurred, and his step faltered

The family ate together at the table. But the elderly
grandfather's shaky hands and failing sight made eating
difficult. Peas rolled off his spoon onto the floor. When he
grasped the glass, milk spilled on the tablecloth.

The son and daughter-in-law became irritated with the mess. 'We
must do something about father,' said the son. 'I've had enough
of his spilled milk, noisy eating, and food on the floor.'

So the husband and wife set a small table in the corner. There,
Grandfather ate alone while the rest of the family enjoyed
dinner. Since Grandfather had broken a dish or two, his food was
served in a wooden bowl.

When the family glanced in Grandfather's direction, sometimes he
had a tear in his eye as he sat alone. Still, the only words the
couple had for him were sharp admonitions when he dropped a fork
or spilled food.

The four-year-old watched it all in silence.

One evening before supper, the father noticed his son playing
with wood scraps on the floor. He asked the child sweetly, 'What
are you making?' Just as sweetly, the boy responded, 'Oh, I am
making a little bowl for you and Mama to eat your food in when I
grow up. ' The four-year-old smiled and went back to work.

The words so struck the parents so that they were speechless.
Then tears started to stream down their cheeks. Though no word
was spoken, both knew what must be done.

That evening the husband took Grandfather's hand and

gently led him back to the family table. For the remainder of his
days he ate every meal with the family. And for some reason,
neither husband nor wife seemed to care any longer when a fork
was dropped, milk spilled, or the tablecloth soiled.

NOT ALL FATHERS OR GRANDFATHERS ARE SO LUCKY

**********

Father's day ? So what ?

"Father--a man who keeps pictures in his wallet where his money used to be. "

I know what it means to be a lonely and broke father.

partha

The long road ...

Some choose the long road,
some take a short cut.

Some run the marathon,
some watch sunsets.

Some swim in the ocean,
some wade the bath tub.

Some make history,
the others become soap bubbles.

(Partha -- May 2010)

Born again !

Google restored my drpartha AT gmail DOT com account ! Please use this mail ID for contacting me.

I now know how it feels to die and come back to life.


partha

A lovely Irish poem

May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind always be at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
and rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.

Not only do they have lovely ladies in Ireland, they also write lovely poems like this.



partha

Freedom Day

Read this page ::

http://documentfreedom.org/

Enjoy freedom. Stop being a slave.


partha

Why I reject certain email attachments

I am always disgusted and angry at people who use non-standard, closed, and proprietary formats for the attachments they send me. I have always been quietly deleting their mails along with the attachments. I discovered recently that I am not the only one to do this, and I am not being impolite or harsh or unreasonable.

Here is evidence in support of my campaign to rid the world of such pests::
http://www.fsf.org/news/why-im-rejecting-your-email-attachment

So, stay away from non-standard, closed, and proprietary formats, if you want me to read your mails fully.

partha

A plane on the rooftop

Two days ago, a plane landed on the rooftop of a house nearby. Thank GOD, it missed the school which was just next door. In Hyderabad, it does not "rain cats and dogs", it rains planes.

partha

The Police, and the emergency services did a brilliant job, and took exceptionally fast action. Thank you.

Why should anyone care, anyway ?

Washington, DC Metro Station on a cold January morning in 2007.
The man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45
minutes. During that time approximately two thousand people
went through the station, most of them on their way to work.
After 3 minutes a middle aged man noticed there was a musician
playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and
then hurried to meet his schedule.

4 minutes later: The violinist received his first dollar: a
woman threw the money in the hat and, without stopping,
continued to walk.

6 minutes: A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him,
then looked at his watch and started to walk again.

10 minutes: A 3-year old boy stopped but his mother tugged him
along hurriedly. The kid stopped to look at the violinist
again, but the mother pushed hard and the child continued to
walk, turning his head all the time. This action was repeated
by several other children.. Every parent, without exception,
forced their children to move on quickly.

45 minutes: The musician played continuously. Only 6 people
stopped and listened for a short while. About 20 gave money but
continued to walk at their normal pace. The man collected a
total of $32.

1 hour: He finished playing and silence took over. No one
noticed. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the
greatest musicians in the world. He played one of the most
intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million
dollars. Two days before, Joshua Bell sold out a theater in
Boston where the seats averaged $100.

This is a true story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the
metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a
social experiment about perception, taste and people's
priorities . The questions raised: in a commonplace environment
at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to
appreciate it? Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?

One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be
this: If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of
the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest
music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments
ever made..... how many other things are we missing?

Global warming and stuff like that...does anyone care ?

A week ago I put up some stuff about what we, as individuals, can do to save our planet from the impending holocaust. I made announcements in this same blog. No one seemed to take notice. Then i mailed to some people, all of them are very well-placed, highly educated and responsible people whom I know personally. No one, save a young lady, cared to call back. This is what, we all, as individuals, care for our planet. Never mind that single crusader who is crying out loud and hoarse. Why is it that people dont have time to answer mail, and at least give a small wink to a well-meaning individual ?

partha

Composting, vermiculture and organic farming

My new website for my organic farming and composting and vermiculture related activities is at :
http://drgarden.zxq.net/

Take a look.

partha

When mission meets passion

A new webiste for setting up people on the path to an eco-friendly life style is coming up soon. Watch this space. Also watch my tweet on twitter.

partha

***************

My library

This is the place
Here are my friends
This is where I want to live
This is where I wish to die

(From : Dying in my library -- a mad man's rambles)