Great Wall of China

No, I am not talking about the 2400 KM Great Wall of China built centuries back. It may be crumbling in some places, but Chinese Government is building an invisible information wall that is supposed to keep certain information away from China. Experts tell us that, this information barrier being built by China is one of the most advanced use of technology anywhere. With strategies ranging from automated keyword filtering and Web site blocking to Internet traffic surveillance, the Chinese government has unmatched ability to censor and monitor its citizens online.

Google Blinks
Google, whose motto is Don't be evil has now become party to information censorship by China as a quid pro quo to be able to do business and physically host servers in China. Interestingly, the same Google is fighting a subpoena from the US Government and is refusing part with some search data in the name of privacy.

To be fair to Google, other giants like Microsoft and Yahoo have already complied with this censorship diktat by China and are doing business there. Very soon China will have more internet users than the western hemisphere and a market of that size is simply too hard for any company to ignore. So, when it comes to China, everyone seems to be pervious to let certain deviations take place and Google is proving to be no exception.

Post a secret

I call this innovation... These guys have come up with a new business model to make money through blogs.

So what do they do?
They invite readers to anonymously contribute secrets. These secrets can be on anything as long as it true and has been never revealed to anyone.

This blog is wildly popular and financially very successful. It gained prominence last summer when a popular US band All-American Rejects used images from the Web site in its video for the song Dirty Little Secret.

So far, these guys have done an exhibit and even published a book called PostSecret: Extraordinary Confessions from Ordinary Lives. When I last checked, this book ranked No. 34 in Amazon.com best sellers list. Now these guys are in to video posts as well.

Not bad for a concept / business model that makes use of free tools and was non existent 14 months back.

PicutureCourtsey:Postsecret.blogspot.com

Related Links
Dirty Little Secret
Amazon Best Sellers

Perfect quota regimen

Its election time in Tamil Nadu and all political parties have switched to election mode. So, what is the most pressing issue in this election? Even after a continuous 50+ year run, reservation is the single most important issue this election year as well. Every conceivable caste / religious group is flexing its muscle. All of them, invariably demand reservation for their group / caste / religion in exchange for their political support. If one were to go by the various bloated demands, total reservation would exceed the available seats.

The tentacles of quota regimen has now spread to all spheres of Indian society. From Govt schools & colleges to privates schools, colleges and premier institutions like IITs & IIMS, from public sector to private jobs.
Related Links
Reservations for Muslims
Reservation for Vanniyars
Reservation for Women

Everybody is a millionaire

Everybody is a millionaire in Indonesia.

Yes, everybody is a millionaire here. I am only visiting here and even I am a millionaire and will be till tomorrow. I am not sure if I will be a millionaire ever again after tomorrow. But hey… I am enjoying the present moment.

Before you jump to conclusions, let me tell you, I am in Jakarta, Indonesia now and everybody is a millionaire here. The minimum wage in Indonesia is around IDR 1,000,000 per month. Even I had over IDR 1,000,000 on hand when I converted some of my USD currency on arrival.

Check out the exchange rate and you will also see how easy it is being a millionaire in Indonesia. Not that, a million IDR will take you far, but you can feel good for what its worth. (hint: USD 1 = IDR 9,346)

The Lord of War

Saw this interesting movie in Singapore Airlines, en route to Jakarta.

The Lord of War is about arms dealers and how they keep supplying arms and ammunition to the hot spots all over the world. It traces the story of a big-time arms dealer over the course of two decades and is pretty interesting because of its subject: the shadowy world of international arms running.

Nicolas Cage as Yuri Orlov does a commendable job and dominates the movie. He does an excellent job of portraying the role of an arms dealer whose main motivation is money and deals with anyone without any political leanings or moral compulsions.

The opening sequence was rather unique and telling. It traces the life of a bullet and provides a glimpse of what's in store with the rest of the movie.

I was mildly to surprised to hear some familiar background score from the Tamil movie Bombay. I later learnt through Google that our own AR Rahman has done some of the background music for this film.

Movie ends with a poignant note that the biggest arms dealers are not the individuals like Yuri Orlov but the most powerful countries of the world. Ironically, they are also the permanent members of the UN security council.

Over all rating B+ (For an interesting insight in to the shadowy world of arms dealers and solid performance by Nicolas Cage)

Bottom Line: Watch it in DVD

SCV & Ten Sports to the rescue

Some one must have heard our pleas..

Chennai cricket fans were in for mild surprise today as the second Indo - Pak test match commenced. CAS restricted Chennai TV viewers were able to watch the test match live, thanks to SCV (a major cable multi-service operator) and Ten Sports. The details are not clear, but SCV in an arrangement with Ten Sports started telecasting the Ten Sports pay channel over the free channels bouquet. So, a big Thanks to SCV and Ten Sports.

Of course, the beneficiary of this agreement is only the SCV cable subscribers and the Hathaway subscribers will have to wait for the Doordarshan highlights.

In a totally unrelated move, Tamil Nadu Government announced the take over of Multi-Service Operators (MSOs). Guess who is impacted by this move ? SCV & Hathaway. This story is still evolving but seems to have a strong political overtone.

R2I - the dilemma

Another Pravasi Bharatiya Divas just ended in Hyderabad. It’s an annual event started by the previous Indian Government to acknowledge and honor people of Indian origin spread all over the globe. While thousands of Indians came and went back to their cozy corners of the world, there are thousands of first generation Indian immigrants who keep thinking about returning to India (R2I).

Let me preface this post by saying.. I firmly believe in யாதும் ஊரே யாவரும் கேளீர். I consider all of us to be the citizens of this world (like Kalpana Chawla said) and wherever we choose to live, we are there.. Having said that, I am part of countless discussions about R2I and wanted to post my bit..

I returned to India couple of years back and call Chennai my home now. People ask me if it is permanent, my response is Yes, till the next move. I don't know and don't want to speculate if I will ever move again. But I do know that for time immemorial, mankind has always moved and we are all part of that continuous migration.

With that said, Let me get back to the subject on hand. R2I as a topic / issue is regularly discussed, debated and argued frequently in most of the social gatherings is US and elsewhere. One question that universally gets asked is WHY? Is it the parents, kids or the job?

In fact, before answering that question, I tried to understand why I went to US in the first place. I moved to US because it was the in thing to do at that time. No body questioned me why I wanted to go to US. It was assumed and understood that I am going to US for all the right reasons namely for higher education, better paying jobs & more opportunities etc., However, when we decided to return, every one from our immediate family to acquaintances asked us WHY?

I had a tough time answering this question then and I struggle even now. There was no single reason why we decided to move back and I didn't believe we needed one. As the mind tried to rationalize (analysis paralysis stuff), we listened to our heart and made the decision to come back. But I must admit, I am NOT fully at ease with our R2I decision even now, but I am more comfortable now than two years back.

X+1 syndrome
Most of us have heard of the x+1 syndrome and we generally have laugh about it and move on. But this is one of the most critical elements of the R2I decision making process that requires close attention. I vividly remember even now a play my mother acted, when she visited us in Columbus, Ohio. The play, aptly titled திருநாளைப்போவார் (ThiruNalaipPovaar) was about a person who keeps talking about returning to India but postpones it to அடுத்த வருஷம் (next year) perennially and never returns. At that time, we didn't even think of R2I but I made a mental note that if we were to do it, it has to be time bound. While a fair amount of thinking, deliberation and planning is definitely required, unbound discussions and dithering will be detrimental to the family cohesiveness and emotional well being.

Regardless of the reasons (or lack of it), the move has to be strongly internalized and accepted. It has to be a family decision. Not that everyone will be on the same page and see it the same way. There will be different threat perceptions and different fears. But, everyone in the family unit must be taken in to confidence and involved in the process to the degree it is apt for their age and role.

Several factors like job, kids, schooling, location, family and social network will come in to play as you go through the decision making process. All these factors must be considered based on its applicability to the family. My point is “Don't move back just because IT sector is booming in India now”. It is the overall eco system (for the family) that is important.

Also, keep the decisions making process separate from the execution / implementation aspects / details. It is important to understand various factors that will impact the decision and take them in to consideration. However, trying to iron out all execution details will only derail the whole process. Once the decision has been made then things like school admission, accommodation etc., should be delved in to. There will always be challenges and surprises that we haven't thought off. So, focus on the decision first and then get in to implementation aspects with some flexibility.

I am considering a few more posts on this subject as a series. I welcome your comments and thoughts on this important subject. If you have queries and would like to discuss this further, please do ping me @ rviswana@yahoo.com.

What is Google up to?

So, What's Google up to with this acquisition? Google inked a deal to buy dMarc broadcasting for a cool USD 1.24 billion. dMarc pioneered the concept of directly linking the marketers and radio stations and is a market leader in that space.

Google has long straggled from its search origins, but what could they be doing with a broadcasting company? How can Google integrate this business / channel with its mainstay, which is still its search business.

I am amazed at the kind (and rate) of innovations coming from Google and I am expecting some game changing plays with this acquisition as well.

Related Links
dMarc
News stories on acquisition

Who Discovered America?

Zheng He..

Yes, The Chinese sailor Zheng He discovered America much before Christopher Columbus did, if one were to go by Gavin Menzies & Liu Gang..

The basis for Liu Gang's claim is a map he picked up for USD 500 in a Shanghai book store in 2001. This 1763 map (with a note about its reproduction from a map dated 1418), presents the world as a globe with all the major continents. Liu Gang, a partner in a well-known Beijing law firm claims to have done extensive research before presenting his findings to public last Monday.

Gavin Menzies, a former British Navy submarine commander, argues in his book 1421: The year China Discovered America that Zheng He visited America in 1421, 71 years before Christopher Columbus did.

If Zheng He did indeed discover America before Columbus did then it topples one of the central tenets for western civilization which states that Europeans discovered America and sailed around the world first.

Unfortunately all this will remain in the relam of speculation only as much of what Zheng He found and discovered have been destroyed by the later Chinese rulers as they went insular and didn't want to connect with the outside world.

Related Links

NY Times Article - Require registration

Gavin Menzies

1421 - The year China Discovered America

Google News

PIO Vs OCI

Finally the check did arrive. Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) card was launched with much fanfare in the recently concluded Pravasi Bharatiya Divas. I have been trying learn more about OCI card and see if it is really different from PIO card which I already have. Both of them (PIO & OCI) are fundamentally same but there are subtle differences in the process and the benefits. Here is what I could gather.. Would love to hear from you if you know more or otherwise.

Application Process
OCI

1. Apply online, get a registration number and then submit required documentation to the nearest embassy or Indian immigration office.
2. Applications processed centrally in New Delhi
3. Applicants must submit their original passport (of the adapted country) to be endorsed.

PIO

1. Can download forms but a fully manual process. Complete the application and submit with relevant documentation to the nearest embassy or Indian immigration office.
2. Decentralized processing
3. Submission of original passport (of the adapted country) NOT required.

Benefits
OCI

1. Treated on par with Non Resident Indians (NRIs) in all cases except 1) Cannot vote or hold public office 2) Cannot own agriculture property.
2. Valid for life
3. Can apply for full fledged Indian citizenship after 5 years (should have lived in India for at least year)

PIO

1. Treated on par with NRIs in all cases except 1) Cannot vote or hold public office 2) Cannot own agriculture property.
2. Valid for 15 years (20 in some early cases)
3. Cannot apply for Indian citizenship.

One area where there is still no clarity is in the financial arena. As a PIO card holder, I was NOT able to open a brokerage account with ICICIdirect.com. Will the OCI card take care this issue? Do you know?

Unrelated tidbit
I went to Shastri Bhavan in Chennai to gather juice on this stuff and observed an interesting phenomenon. Most of the staff at the counter looked distinctly South Indian but were all conversing in Hindi.


Related Links
OCI details
OCI Overview
PIO Card
Indian Embassy - PIO Site

Paramasivan

My customary practice of seeing a movie whenever I go to Nanganallur, took me to Ajith's new flick Paramasivan. This is a much awaited movie for Ajith as last few films didn't do well at the box office for him. I am not sure if this movie would do any better either.

One gets to see a new Ajith in this movie. He has lost lot of weight and appears slim and well suited for the role of an assassin. However, what hasn't changed are his monotonous dialogue delivery and comic dance movements.

Paramasivan has patriotic theme and the oft repeated Pakistan bashing. Its about a honest police officer (Prakash Raj) going after the perpetrators of terrorist bombings in Kovai in the most unusual way. He recruits a death row inmate (Ajith) to eliminate the perpetrators while having a secret plan of his own to eliminate his recruit after the job. This simple story line has been complicated by introducing all the regular masala ingredients that have become a must for a Tamil Movie.

The director, P. Vasu has also scripted the story line and the dialogues. He has done a fairly decent job with the story, but failed to keep it simpler and focused. There is a unnecessary comedy track with Vivek and a CBI track with Jayaram. Also, this movie would have been lot more tighter and simpler without a female lead. Laila's character doesn't jell with the movie and seem to have been introduced just to have some dance sequence. If Laila was unnecessary, Ragasia dance sequence in the jail was a total waste. At its best, it was a distraction and slowed the movie down.

The only redeeming feature of the movie is Prakash Raj. He is the second hero of the movie and does a great job of carrying the movie on his shoulders.

Grades
Story B - (for a good story line wasted)
Acting B (for exceptional performance by Prakash Raj & image make over by Ajith)
Music C (for mediocre score by Vidya Sagar)
Direction C (for a wasted opportunity by P. Vasu)

Overall C+

Bottom line: Skip the movie

Related Sites
Paramasivan official site (some links did not work)
Ajith Fans

Don't stand still

Beware, If you stand still Chennai, someone might stick a poster on you too...

For a while now, Chennai has been a city of posters, but now it is also a city of billboards. Hoarding (mostly illegal) have mushroomed all over Chennai. Marketing starts even before you enter Chennai. Yes, giant hoarding now dot the periphery of Chennai Airport and they are visible as plane lands. But, the marketers are still hungry for space and their latest victim are the gates of residential properties.

With the increasing vehicles on the Chennai roads, it is customary to see Don't park in front of the gate in the gates of most of the residential properties. This small sign is now the latest victim of the space hungry marketers. Very often, with out permission, large sign boards will sprung up in the gates selling from anything from mosquito coils to banking services. Oh, yes they will also say the obligatory 'Don't park in front of the gate' statement in bilingual.







These boards come up uninvited and there is fierce competition amongst various agencies for space. It is not uncommon to see various agencies fighting it out (literally) about missing boards and space. Of course, they fight amongst themselves and hardly ever bother to seek permission from the property owner. Also, I am not aware any payment being made to the property owners for putting up these signs.

Very soon, they will run out of space in these gates and would be looking for the next victim and that could be you. Be warned, If you stand still in Chennai.. a poster could be stuck on you.

Shutter down on Film Cameras

Nikon, a major camera maker is going to end making traditional film cameras and focus on digital cameras. Other major camera makers, Cannon & Kodak have already announced their intention to stop making traditional film cameras. Very soon, traditional film cameras will only be found in museums and special collections.

My association with film cameras started with Yashica TLRs and black & white photos. In fact my first earning / salary came from photography. I used to be a side kick to my brother-in-law who was a photographer. After a year of changing batteries, rolls and running errands, my BIL graduated me to take photos in a marriage which brought me my first earning of INR 200. I continued my freelance photography with him for several years till my departure from Chennai. Of course, by then we had moved from Yashica TLRs to Nikon SLRs and from B&W to color photography.

Since then, several cameras have passed through my hand, but I still fondly remember the Yashica TLRs and the sharp B&W pictures it used to produce.



Related Articles
MSNBC: Kodak..
NYTimes: Nikon Plans... (Require registration)
Google News

Cricket blackout in Chennai

While the rest of India would be enjoying the India - Pakistan test match starting today in ten sports, poor Chennaites wouldn't be. Chennai is the only city where the conditional access system (CAS) has been implemented in India and since ten sports is a pay channel, most of Chennaites wouldn't have access to it.

As a cricket follower, I am unhappy the way Chennai has been victimized. While CAS makes good sense in principle, its muddled implementation and political interventions have made a mockery of the whole scheme. CAS was implemented in Chennai over two years back on a trial basis. If it was success, then it should have spread to other cities and if it is failure (which is the case) then it should have been folded back long back.

What's going on with Chennai CAS implementaion.. Do you know?

Related Articles
The Hindu: Today, Rest of India is watching..
New Today: Another Series..
Indian television: Three Options..

Chennai Craigslist

Some one in the bloggers meet last year was talking about launching a site similar to craigslist for Chennai. Now I am kind of surprised / excited to see Craigslist itself has come to Chennai. I am not sure when they launched the site in Chennai, but it has few listings.

Craigslist is not only in Chennai but also in Bangalore and 150+ cities through out the world. I shouldn't be surprised. I guess, it is completely plausible in a flat world. It's a simple free classifieds concept that started in the Bay Area, now seems to be spreading across the world. For a site with 3 billion page views and 7 million new listings a month, it employs only 19 people. Craigslist is also amazingly is advertisement free and its sole revenue is from the paid job ads.

In this model, there is nothing to prevent craigslist from becoming a global classifieds site. Unless, of course artificial barriers are put up by the affected parties in various countries. What's your take on this?

Related Sites
Chennai craigslist
Wiki on craigslist

அன்பென்ற மழையிலே

அன்பென்ற மழையிலே அகிலங்கள் நனையவே அதிரூபன் தோன்றினானே..

I am hooked to this song. It has been around for a while, but I listened to it closely only this week. The more I listen to this song, it clings to me more. Anuradha Sriram has done a great job of modulation in this simple but difficult song. It's song about Jesus Christ sung my Hindu and music score by a Muslim (only in India).


Film - Minsara Kanavu (1997)
Directed by - Rajeev Menon
Music by - AR Rahman
Sung by - Anuradha Sriram

Talaq under intoxication

This is interesting but sad story. A couple (Nizama Bibi and Ser Mohammad) with four minor children want to stay together but the local community wouldn't allow them. Why? Because the husband apparently divorced his wife by uttering 'Talaq, talaq, talaq' while intoxicated. To complicate matters, contradictory fatwas were also issued by the local mufti. (I don't understand this fatwa business, but it looks like the katta panchayat.)

India is one of the very few countries where the Muslim personal law allows this practice of oral divorce (triple talaq). Several Islamic countries (Bangladesh, Pakistan, Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Indonesia) have laws that expressly ban triple talaq. It is strange that India allows triple talaq in the name of freedom of religion. I feel this is actually a disservice to the Muslim community and the Muslim women in particular.

Related Articles
Times of India: Drunk man utters 'talaq'. Is it valid?
The Hindu: Triple Talaq: SC notice to Orissa Govt. on Muslim couple's plea
IRFI on Triple Talaq
Wiki: Talaq

Chennai Music Season

This music season has come very handy for me. I am not talking about the continuous music feast, but talking about the food fest. Canteens (restaurants) have become synonymous with the music season in Chennai. All sabhas setup temporary canteens and one such canteen has come very handy for me.

There isn't a good restaurant near my office, so I generally don't venture out for lunch. But Narada Gana Sabha is close by and New Woodlands has opened a canteen for the music season. So, I have been soaking in on the food fest. It's a pity that this food feast would last only a few more days as the music season would end soon.

Related Article
The Hindu: Music on a full stomach
Hotel New Woodlands

Thumbs Down for Treo 700W

I am disappointed to read the early reviews for Treo 700W. I have this itch to switch my mobile phone (for no particular reason) for a while now and zoomed in on Treo after considering few others like Blackberry and the likes. I decided to wait for the new Treo 700W thinking it would be better than 650. But after reading the reviews of David Pogue and Walt Mossberg, I have decided not to buy the new 700W. Microsoft OS seems to have tied down the hands of Palm designers.

My itch is still there.. may be I will settle for Treo 650 or might ditch Treo and go to Blackberry


Related Sites
Palm - Treo 7ooW
NY Times: David Pogue review (Require registration)
WSJ: Walt Mossberg review
Blackberry

Killed for teaching Girls

A school teacher in southern Afghanistan was beheaded for apparently teaching girls in a high school. Authorities believe this dastardly act was the handiwork of Taliban who have become active again. Taliban is against educating women and wants them stay indoors. To that extent, Taliban has been successful in Zabul (a district in southern Afghanistan). Of its 35,000 students only 2,700 are girls. In fact, Taliban has been effective in closing down schools as well. Over 100 schools have closed in Zabul district due to security concerns in the last few years.

So, what is the Afghan Government doing? Not much as it writ doesn't run much beyond Kabul.

Related Article
NY Times: Taliban Behead High School Teacher in Southern Afghanistan (Require Registration)

Raj Bhavan

Tamil Nadu Governor's mansion (Raj Bhavan) has a web site now. This site has lots of information about the Governors residence past and the present.

Did you know ?

• There are two Raj Bhavans in Tamil Nadu, one is Chennai and the other one in Ooty.
• French ruled Chennai between 1746 - 1749
• Governors initially stayed in Fort St. George which is the seat of power now.
  

If you are in to trivia & stuff, this site is for you. The site is kind of slow and drab but informative.

Related Sites
The Hindu News Item
Raj Bhavan Web Site

End of OS/2

Though I haven't used OS/2 for about 9 years now, feel sad about the end of this wonderful operating system. I ran OS/2 on my desktop for about 18 months before I was asked to switch to windows. Initial months on windows 3.1 was an unmitigated disaster with at least 2 crashes every day. But then again, market momentum was always with windows and everyone knew IBM lost the desktop of operating system battle with Microsoft and it was only a matter of time before IBM pulled the plug on OS/2. It has been long coming and it did finally come on Dec 23, 05.

As of Dec 23, 05, IBM is officially withdrawing OS/2 from the market, and product CDs are no longer available. Throughout its life, OS/2 faced competition from Microsoft Windows and never overcame it. The true death knell for OS/2 likely came, though, once IBM began its full embrace of Linux in 1999. In fact, IBM is explicitly recommending to OS/2 users that they switch to Linux. Though IBM is giving up on OS/2, its users aren't. Over 13,000 of them have signed a petition asking IBM to open source some, if not all, of OS/2 and its components.
Related Articles
OS/2 Product Page
IBM's Announcement
Article in Internet.com
OS/2 User Group Site

Dislodging MLS

Photo courtesy: fsbomadison.com

As a person who bought and sold two houses in US, I am glad to see the For Sale By Owner (FSBO)concept picking up. The real estate business in US is a perfect monopoly tightly managed by the National Association of realtors.They control the listings that get in to the MLS (Multiple Listing Service) and pocket a hefty commission of 6 - 7% of the sale price to execute the transaction. Commissions alone amount to a whopping USD 60 billion a year. No wonder realtors driver some of the most expensive cars around.

When I sold my first house, I did try to sell it myself but backed out after few months as there were no buyers. But, with the spread of Internet, it is high time the monopoly of the realtors is broken and towards that end, it is heartening to see that process may have began in a small way. A Social worker and a nurse in Madison, WI have been successfully operating a FSBO site for the past five years. This site now has over 2000 listings and account for over 20% all real estate transaction in Madison. They only charge a nominal USD 150 as compared to an average of USD 12000 by the realtors.

Related Sites:
Owners' Web Gives Realtors Run for Money - New York Times (require registration)
National Association of Realtors
Realtor
FSBO Madison

Looking back 2005

Another year has passed by. Here are some of the happenings that impacted me..

Fury of Mother Nature - Tsunami
The real impact of the massive tsunami that stuck India, Indonesia, Thai Land & Sri Lanka in the last week of 2004 was felt only in 2005. The countless deaths and the resultant sufferings still continue to haunt innumerable families cutting across all religions. It is heartening to read that India has done a good job of rehabilitating the victims. But, the job is by no means over and I hope all countries help the tsunami victims get back to some sense of normalcy, in particular help the orphaned children.

Fury of Mother Nature - Kashmir Earthquake
The powerful earthquake that stuck both of sides of Kashmir showed the ugly face of polity between India and Pakistan amdist of human suffering. Both countries stuck to their rigid postures while letting the victims suffer and die in the bitter himalayan cold.

Fury of Mother Nature - Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina showed how even a super power can falter and exposed deep divisions within the American society. While City, State & Federal officials played the blame game, bloated bodies floated on the streets of New Orleans and gangs ruled the refugee centers. FEMA did buckle up and poured in funds to help the victims but a disturbing question lingered Did color of the victims play any role in the initial tardy response ?.

Human Tragedy - Terrorism
This is a world wide phenomenon with no sign of letup. From Israel to Istanbul, from London to Lalbagh no place is safe any longer. Humans might conquer the moon and outer space but have utterly failed to learn from history.

Human Tragedy - Iraq War
There is no end in sight for this war based on faulty intelligence. Americans and Iraqis have suffered a lot in the last few years. It is starting to look like Vietnam revisited.. I sincerely hope it doesn't come to such a pass.

Triumph of Human Spirit - Lance Armstrong
Lance Armstrong defied all odds and created history by winning tour de France record number of times. His tenacity and undying spirit have become the guiding force for lot of people around the world.

Triumph of Willpower - Nambikai Jana
By his sheer determination and the willpower to make difference, Jana has shown the world that if there is a will, there is way. He learnt to paint using his mouth and competed with regulars and won awards. He is now learning to play keyboard. God Speed Jana..

Raising Indian Star - Sania Mirza
Sania Mirza burst in to the Indian Tennis Scene like no other player. She is a role model for millions of Indian kids and has changed the way in which people look at sports. I hope to see her scale new heights in the coming years.

Disturbing Trend (in Tamil Nadu) - Moral Policing
Starting from the dress code for college kids to individuals view on pre-marital sex, moral brigade in Tamil Nadu is out to stifle the voice of women. It is unfortunate that there are so many holy cows and the saner discussions have been replaced by brute force of violence and verbal intimidation.


At a personal level
I guess God helps people through people.. Numerous people have helped me in various forms with out expecting anything in return. So thank you God for placing me in the midst of such a wonderful people.

Here are some of the things I set out to do in 2005:

Rise early:
I have always wanted to do this but never took to it. Even now, I am not sure if it has become part of my DNA yet, but I have been consistently getting up early in the morning to get my dose of exercise for the day. My frequent travels have been a hindrance to this but I am sticking with it so far.

Exercise regularly
This again has been a elusive goal for me but have made some progress this year. I participated in three marathons and completed two. This has given me the much needed focus to rediscover running and lose some weight in the bargain.

Post regularly
I could do lot better in this front. I did better in 2005 than the previous year but still have a long way to go. I am yet to find my niche and consistency. I hope to do better in 2006. I do dream of writing like Sujatha & Tom Friedman. I hope to do better in 2006.