मार ही ड़ाल मुझे चश्मे अदा से पहले
अपनी मंजिल को पहुंच जाउँ कज़ा से पहले
इक नज़र देख लूँ आ जाओ क़ज़ा से पहले
तुम से मिलने की तमन्ना है ख़ुदा से पहले
हश्र के रोज़ मैं पूछूंगा ख़ुदा से पहले
तूने रोका क्यूँ नही मुझको ख़ता से पहले
ए मेरी मौत ठहर उनको ज़रा आने दे
ज़हर का ज़ाम न दे मुझको दवा से पहले
हाथ पहुँचे भी न थे ज़ुल्फे दोता तक मोमिन
हथकडी डाल दी ज़ालिम ने ख़ता से पहले
— मोमिन खाँ मोमिन
मैं न कहता था मेरे घर में भी आयेगी बहार
शर्त इतनी थी कि पहले तुझे आना होगा
—कैफी आज़मी
Aasim’s exams are almost over and he was quiet bored today after he finished with his syllabus for the computer paper. He picked up Jonathan Livingston Seagull, read it in one sitting, and while I and Tarique were discussing the book after he finished reading it, he summed it up in one line ” There are no limits”.
It has been almost 8 years since we lost touch -she moved to australia got busy setting up her home and we got busy in business and Aasim’s growing up.
Have been searching for her since some time now and spoke to her today. It felt warm and nice.
She is Aasim’s ammu. A dear friend to me. She was someone I have always looked up to. At an age we were learning and honing our social and organizational skills she was always a step ahead and guided us. She shared my values in life, interests in literature and poetry and we sat and talked for hours at end.
It is not that we always kept in touch with each other, I went to Delhi to study, and then to work but whenever we met, even if it was after years, we picked up the threads where we had left them.
I wish we can sit and talk again like we did in those carefree days of yonder and wonder. I wish we meet soon.
Earlier this week, I stepped into my 40s and it does not feel any different from 30s – I guess its all a hype, which my older friends create to make me feel old 🙂
Aasim was thrilled that day because I baked pizzas for him and we had nice cherry tomoato, Parmesan and herbs pasta to go with it. DVDs dominated the 40th birthday – Tarique gave me The Lord Of The Rings – The Trilogy (12 DVD Collector’s Extended Edition Pack). It’s got Behind-the-scenes footage during filming, storyboards, test footages, CG demos and much more which i absolutely love to see, (film making was once my passion).
Mom bought for me the Gone with the Wind DVD set -Clarke Gable as Rhett Butler is as irresistible to me as he was to Scarlett O Hara.
Evening was a nice drive around the lake, followed by a simple Chinese chicken fried rice and the Filmfare awards. Couldn’t have asked for more… I am a woman of simple needs 😉
I do not know if Google Agents are authorised to spam people. I do not even know if Google knows about this.
Yesterday I got this mail to all our valid addresses. It says:
Dear Sir/ Madam, Do you have your own website? How do you make peopleknow about your website? How about listing your site on the first page of Google? Do you want 200 fresh hits every month in your website? For this you just have to send us your website address and your keywords with an simple confirmation that your payment will be made immediately after your ad appears on the first page of Google through your keywords. The packages are: 1) With 5 keywords first page of Google for three months Rs.3000/- onwards. 2) With 5 keywords first page of Google for six months Rs.6000/- onwards. 3) With 5 keywords first page of Google for twelve months Rs.12000/- onwards. 4) With 10 keywords first page of Google for three months Rs.5700/- onwards. 5) With 10 keywords first page of Google for six months Rs.11400/- onwards. 6) With 10 keywords first page of Google for twelve months Rs.22800/- onwards. 7) With 25 keywords first page of Google for twelve months Rs.36000/- onwards. Feel free to call us at (0)9830047136 or mail us at rima@mailmantra.net Thanks & Regards Sales Dept. Mail Mantra
Since I was not clear as whether I was being spammed for SEO services or for placing ads in Google itself, I replied to her mail asking for details and here is her reply:
Dear Madam, This is a simple sponsored ads of Google. When you search anything in Google you will find some sponsored ads on the right hand side of the page. Your companies advertisement will be displayed on that section with your keywords related to your product & services. We are authorised agents of Google for sponsored link ads. Our Clint ID number is 999-708-3443. We have hundreds of satisfied clients from all over India who are getting good response by listing their site on the first page of the worlds most popular search engine Google. We wish to drive your attention to this service so that you can also get a healthy response by listing your site on the first page of Google. For this you just have to send us your website address & keywords (related to your product & services) along with an simple confirmation that your payment will be made immediately after your ad appears on the first page of Google through your keywords. The packages are: 1) With 5 keywords first page of Google for three months Rs.3000/- onwards. 2) With 5 keywords first page of Google for six months Rs.6000/- onwards. 3) With 5 keywords first page of Google for twelve months Rs.12000/- onwards. 4) With 10 keywords first page of Google for three months Rs.5700/- onwards. 5) With 10 keywords first page of Google for six months Rs.11400/- onwards. 6) With 10 keywords first page of Google for twelve months Rs.22800/- onwards. 7) With 25 keywords first page of Google for twelve months Rs.36000/- onwards. Please select the package & confirm us. We have some special offers for bthe long term packages. You have to send us the payment only after your ad starts appearing on Google. We look forward to providing you with the most effective advertising available. Feel free to call arnab at (0)9432210581 or mail us at rima@mailmantra.co.in. Thanks & Regards Rima Sales Dept. Mail Mantra.
Anyone knows whom should I write about this abuse?
It is one of the most misused and misinterpreted term today.
Feminism is not about superiority over Men. Feminism means Equality of gender. Men and women are different -but we are equals. Feminism does not mean that women should have a separate queue, it means standing in the same queue and fighting it out shoulder to shoulder along with men with same rights and privileges. Feminism does not mean that women have to learn authority or beg for it to be given to her.
In a country like India where women in metros are employed in large numbers in technical fields unlike so many other countries in the world, being preached that Indian women should learn to handle authority sounds very flimsy and outlandish.
Today, Indian women also get the same respect from men in technical fields and Indian women also enjoy positions of authority and high stature. Of course, the basis of all this is competence – if you are incompetent weather you are a woman or a man, you can never demand (or beg) to be given authority and responsibility. In Indian scenario (I am talking of metros here) women choose their own field of work according to their own purposes and premises in the same manner as men do.
So, in my belief, feminism means to fight ,live, survive alongside men. Men who are our partners, our equals, not enemy. Feminism means fighting for your man, just as a man would fight for his woman. Feminism means being who you are and be the best in what you do. Feminism means not being a “second hander”.
A woman who does not demand to be treated differently on the basis of gender is a feminist. A woman who stands her ground in any gathering be it that of men or of women is a feminist. Even a saree clad woman who brings up her son to be a *Man* is a feminist.
It is the women who are insecure and have little self worth, who need a crutch to fight their own battles, are the ones that pull down true feminists. It is the women with low self esteem and hidden agenda that are enemy of their own gender. It is the women who take young women and make prostitutes (of mind or otherwise) out of them are enemy of feminism. It is such women of no moral values who would go any extent to malign people who are enemy of feminism. It is these repressed women who may have loud voices and big political speeches but no substance of their own who are enemy of feminism. It is the women who can not contribute positively and pull the contributing women down are the enemy of feminism. It is such people regardless of gender, who portray themselves to be saviors of women kind that one needs to be vary of. Enemy of feminism and women all over is that woman (or man) who picks up some fragments of truth and inserts several prejudices along with it to make it appear as truth.
Yes. I am a feminist – I am an individualist. I don’t need crutches. I stand my ground. I fight my own battle and I am certain my men will fight alongside me.
P.S. The Indian head of the state *is* a woman.
Aasim returned form Hyderabad today where he had gone as a part of a study/fun tour from School.
We were very apprehensive about his going by train that too sleeper class and as it turned out i discovered that he was not the only one who has not travelled in sleeper class. There were several parents who had the same apprehension and kids were asking questions like why do we have to take sleeping bags? They give sheets and blankets in train don’t they?
They reached hyderabad on 16th early morning without too much problems, only one boy lost his bag in train and children complained that they could not sleep in the night because sleeper coaches make too much noise.
The stay was arranged at Hotel Tara in Ramoji film city. Hyderabad/Secunderabad was fun for all of them. Aasim got extremely enamored by “Rebbecca” and called me to ask if its a veil on the lady or is it really carved!! He hated the animals trapped in cages in the Zoo though he enjoyed watching migratory birds and loved the snow world. He packed his suitcase properly and got back everything that he had taken for which he gets a +1
As parents we were apprehensive all the days while he was gone and missed him but we pulled through. He has come back a little more grown up and ls looking forward to another such trip.
Fasting – 119
Post Meal – 230
However, the good news, Glycosylated HB A1c – 6.5%.
End result – I am not on medicine yet though the diet and exercise regime is strict. I am told to reduce weight by 10 KGs if possible. Today’s reading was 63.300. I will be happy if i can bring it down to 57 / 58.
So the new year starts on a note that will make me work towards a healthier living.
A Happy and Prosperous new year to all!
The US standard railroad gauge (distance between the rails) is 4 feet, 8.5 inches. That’s an exceedingly odd number. Why was that gauge used? Because that’s the way they built them in England, and English expatriates built the US railroads.
Why did the English build them like that? Because the first rail lines were built by the same people who built the pre-railroad tramways, and that’s the gauge they used. Why did “they” use that gauge then? Because the people who built the tramways used the same jigs and tools that they used for building wagons, which used that wheel spacing.
Why did the wagons have that particular odd wheel spacing? Well, if they tried to use any other spacing, the wagon wheels would break on some of the old, long distance roads in England , because that’s the spacing of the wheel ruts. So who built those old rutted roads?
Imperial Rome built the first long distance roads in Europe (and England ) for their legions. The roads have been used ever since.
And the ruts in the roads? Roman war chariots formed the initial ruts, which everyone else had to match for fear of destroying their wagon wheels. Since the chariots were made for Imperial Rome, they were all alike in the matter of wheel spacing. Therefore the United States standard railroad gauge of 4 feet, 8.5 inches is derived from the original specifications for an Imperial Roman war chariot. Bureaucracies live forever.
So the next time you are handed a Specification/ Procedure/ Process and wonder “What horse’s ass came up with it?” you may be exactly right.
Imperial Roman army chariots were made just wide enough to accommodate
the rear ends of two war horses. (Two horses’ asses.) Now, the twist to the story:
When you see a Space Shuttle sitting on its launch pad, there are two big booster rockets attached to the sides of the main fuel tank. These are solid rocket boosters, or SRBs. The SRBs are made by Thiokol at their factory in Utah . The engineers who designed the SRBs would
have preferred to make them a bit fatter, but the SRBs had to be shipped by train from the factory to the launch site. The railroad line from the factory happens to run through a tunnel in the mountains, and the SRBs had to fit through that tunnel. The tunnel is slightly wider than the railroad track, and the railroad track, as you now know, is about as wide as two horses’ behinds.
So, a major Space Shuttle design feature of what is arguably the world’s most advanced transportation system was determined over two thousand years ago by the width of a horse’s ass. And you thought being a horse’s ass wasn’t important? Ancient horse’s asses control almost everything…and current Horses Asses are controlling everything else!!