Developed? or Dumb & Dumber?

The hype around doomsday was generated by some fools and supported by some useless TV channels. No wonder there some TV channels surviving only for spreading rumour and creating panic. Finally, we got over it and I think 21^st, 2012 was as good as it gets. When the urban Indian took it quite coolly, people from some of the so-called developed countries were having petty immature approach towards it. The precaution taken by some of them were so ridiculous that you only doubt about their sanity. The doomsday bunkers, the ship (Noah’s Ark) and many more that we have seen or heard during past few days or rather almost a year.  Every civilization left some footprint behind and it was same with the Mayan. The Mayan never invented the calendar was in question but they developed it further and still used in some of the Mayan countries. The calendar is over 5000 years old and ended on 21^st December, 2012. The Mayans never predicted the end of the world.

Mayan Calendar

The Maya kept historical records such as civil events, their calendar and astronomical knowledge. They maintain a distinctive set of traditions and beliefs due to the combination of pre-Columbian and post-Conquest ideas and cultures. The Maya and their descendants still form sizable populations that include regions encompassing present day Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, El Salvador and parts of Mexico. The essentials of the Maya calendar are based upon a system which had been in common use throughout the region, dating back to at least the 5th century BCE. It shares many aspects with calendars employed by other earlier Mesoamerican civilizations, such as the Zapotec and Olmec, and contemporary or later ones such as the Mixtec and Aztec calendars.

Designed

The Mayan Calendar consists of three separate corresponding calendars, the Long Count, the Tzolkin (divine calendar) and the Haab (civil calendar). Time is cyclical in the calendars and a set number of days must occur before a new cycle can begin.

Tzolk'in

The tzolk'in  or tzolkin is the name commonly employed by Mayanist researchers for the Maya Sacred Round or 260-day calendar. The word tzolk'in is a neologism coined in Yucatec Maya, to mean "count of days". The various names of this calendar as used by precolumbian Maya peoples are still debated by scholars.

Haab'

The Haab' was the Maya solar calendar made up of eighteen months of twenty days each plus a period of five days at the end of the year known as Wayeb'. The five days of Wayeb', were thought to be a dangerous time. Maya had customs and rituals they practiced during Wayeb'. For example, people avoided leaving their houses and washing or combing their hair.

The Long Count

The Long Count is an astronomical calendar which was used to track longer periods of time, what the Maya called the “universal cycle”. Each such cycle is calculated to be 2,880,000 days (about 7885 solar years). The Mayans believed that the universe is destroyed and then recreated at the start of each universal cycle. This belief still inspires a countless of prophesies about the end of the world.

The Mayan calendar completes its current “Great Cycle” of the Long Count on the  December 21, 2012, hence the innumerable of doomsday prediction was surrounding on this date.

Doomsday’s fear is all in the mind of a person and only for those who are having a very weak frame of mind.

!!!I In due time Life will die its own death, fear cannot prevent it!!!

The Sun sets in the west!

In the work culture front, we always took the beating from the west but not in the cultural front. India is one of the oldest and its uniqueness lies within its multi-cultural society.  A billion plus population who speak different languages and if go by the book then it comes to be a several hundred of languages spoken around India yet we are one.

In musical front too India is very different from other countries. The various folk music always played an important part in our life. India also have two form of classical music, North Indian is known as Hindustani and South Indian as Carnatic music. Both streams are very different and both consists complex 'raga' frame. Some starlets who ruled the roost of Indian classical music are no more with us. Like Ustad Bade Gulam Ali Khan, Amir Khan, Ali Akbar Khan, Ustad Allrekha, Ustad Bismillah Khan, Pandit Bhimsen Joshi and recently we lost Pandit Ravishankar too.  Apart from oldies like Jakir Hussein, Amjad Ali Khan, Hari Prsad Chawrasia, Pandit Jasraj, Pandit Shivkumar Sharma,  there is dearth of talent in the current generation and there are no such flag bearer can be seen like the mentioned ones. This page a tribute to the one and only Pandit Ravishankar.

Pandit Ravi Shankar

Early Life

Ravi Shankar was born Robindro Shankar Chowdhury on 7 April 1920 in Varanasi to a Bengali Brahmin family. He was the youngest among the seven sibling.

At the age of ten, after spending his first decade in Varanasi, Ravi Shankar went to Paris with the dance group of his brother, choreographer Uday Shankar. By the age of 13 he had become a member of the group, accompanied its members on tour and learned to dance and play various Indian instruments. Uday Shankar's dance group toured Europe and the United States of America in the early to mid-1930s and Ravi Shankar learned French, discovered Western classical music, jazz, cinema and became acquainted with Western customs. Ravi Shankar heard the lead musician for the Maihar court, Allauddin Khan, in December 1934 at a music conference in Kolkata and Uday convinced the Maharaja of Maihar in 1935 to allow Khan to become his group's soloist for a tour of Europe. Ravi Shankar was sporadically trained by Khan on tour, and Khan offered Ravi Shankar training to become a serious musician under the condition that he abandon touring and come to Maihar. Ravi Shankar gave up his dancing career in 1938 to go to Maihar and study Indian classical music as Khan's pupil, living with his family in the traditional gurukul system. Khan was a rigorous teacher and Shankar had training on sitar and surbahar, learned ragas and the musical styles dhrupad, dhamar, and khyal, and was taught the techniques of the instruments rudra veena, rubab, and sursingar. Ravi Shankar began to perform publicly on sitar in December 1939 and his debut performance was a jugalbandi  with Ali Akbar Khan, who played the string instrument sarod.

Marriages and Affairs.

Shankar married Allauddin Khan's daughter Annapurna Devi in 1941 and a son, Shubhendra Shankar, was born in 1942. Ravi Shankar separated from Devi during the 1940s and had a relationship with Kamala Shastri, a danseuse, beginning in the late 1940s. An affair with Sue Jones, a New York concert producer, led to the birth of Norah Jones in 1979. After separating from Kamala Shastri in 1981, Ravi Shankar lived with Sue Jones until 1986. He married Sukanya Rajan in 1989. Anoushka Shankar was born to Shankar and Sukanya Rajan.

Liaison with George Harrison

George Harrison of The Beatles became interested in Indian classical music, bought a sitar and used it to record the song "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)". This led to Indian music being used by other musicians and created the raga rock trend. Harrison then met Ravi Shankar in London in 1966 and visited India for six weeks to study sitar under Ravi Shankar. Apart from others Ravi Shankar was also associated with many musical institution in USA

Awards

Shankar won the Silver Bear Extraordinary Prize of the Jury at the 1957 Berlin International Film Festival for composing the music for the movie Kabuliwala. He was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award for 1962, and was named a Fellow of the academy for 1975. Shankar was awarded the three highest national civil honours of India: Padma Bhushan, in 1967, Padma Vibhushan, in 1981, and Bharat Ratna, in 1999.

Death

He died on 11 December 2012 at a hospital near his home in Encinitas, California.

!!!“The hour of departure has arrived, and we go our separate ways, I to die, and you to live. Which of these two is better only God knows.” ― Socrates!!!

Murdered! Only for the Fame!!

Having fun is no crime, but not at others' expense.  It is not an advise or a sort of idiom, it is just a caution. But, how many of us follow it? We are living in a society,  where it doesn’t matter who are the scapegoat but all matter that you had what you wanted. Sorry to see that the tolerance and feelings are fading from the face of the earth. We end up living in a ruthless world. People are least bothered about others to achieve personal gain or glory. Last week we witnessed how two Djs from Australia forced a women to end her life. The people who are related to any sort of media are dying for overnight glory which finally it took away an innocent life.

It happened many times, everyone aware of the circumstances under which Princes Diana died. In our country we have seen before how renowned journalist Barkha Dutt of NDTV linked to 2G scam with lobbyist Neera Radia. In recent, how two editors of a prime channel demanded a whopping hundred crore from a minister  to drop a news item regarding coal scam. All sorts of media are in a a rotten mess and people around it needs some soul searching to do.

Jacintha Saldanha

Jacintha Saldanha an Indian from Manglore, she was 46 years, a nurse at the King Edward VII's Hospital in central London, answered a call on December 4 morning, with any suspicion. The call was from the Sydney-based 2Day FM station, whose two DJs pretended to be the Queen and Prince Charles. Ms Saldanha put them through to a colleague who provided details of the Duchess's condition.

Ms Saldanha was found unconscious at a nurses' residence close to the private hospital in Marylebone at about 9.35am and despite the efforts of paramedics could not be revived. Police said the death was not being treated as suspicious, and a source said she had taken her own life. Mental health experts cautioned against any assumptions about factors contributing to her death. The nurse, a mother of two children, who started working at the hospital in 2008, is the first member of staff heard to answer on a recording of the hoax call from presenters Mel Greig and Michael Christian.

Ms Greig, seeking to impersonate the Queen, asked to be put through to "my grand-daughter", prompting Ms Saldanha to pass the phone to another nurse who was looking after the duchess. The hospital, which is rated as one of London's best private medical establishments and has a reputation for closely guarding the privacy of its patients.

In addition to the inherent humiliation caused by the prank, Saldanha was further humiliated by the DJs, who gloated that she fell for the "easiest prank ever made." They never expected their absurdist British accents to succeed. On the morning of the tragedy they were still gloating on Twitter. Doing a job is not mean taking an innocent life. It is so painful to think that how horrifying it was for the woman with a loving husband and two kids to come to the extreme decision.

The obsession for the royal family by the Brits should partially blame for the sad incident. People of Britain should realize that the members of royal family are not god but a normal person like others. At the same time royal family too has some responsibility, instead of enjoying the craze around them, they themselves should make people become conscious that they are nothing more than an ordinary human.

!!!Who lives with disproportionate of excuses should prepare to die with the same amount of regrets !!!

Murdered By The Law!!

An innocent woman was sentenced to death by the law of the land and executed perfectly by the doctors. It sounds bizarre but it is true. It is not something that happened in some backward countries from Africa or Asia but happened very much in a so-called developed country and I am not talking about euthanasia. The incident happened in much developed country like Ireland.

Savita Halappanavar, a 31-year-old citizen of India, originally from Belgaum, in the Indian State of Karnataka, and who was working in Ireland as a dentist, died at University Hospital Galway. On October 21, Savita, a 31-year-old Indian dentist, was admitted to Galway University Hospital in severe pain. She was 17 weeks pregnant; within hours, doctors determined she was miscarrying. Nevertheless, they could hear a faint fetal heartbeat and refused to perform an abortion.

As Savita’s condition worsened and her suffering increased, she begged for the operation. She was told: “This is a Catholic country.” By the time the fetus was declared dead and removed, Savita had advanced blood poisoning. On October 28, she, too, was pronounced dead. Murdered is the correct word.

Ireland’s constitution bans all abortions, but 20 years ago the country’s high court ruled that an exception had to be made when there was a “real and substantial risk” of maternal death. That risk must be balanced against the risk to the fetus — even, apparently, if the fetus has no chance of surviving.

It reminds, the infamous case of 1992 involved a 14-year-old rape victim who became suicidal after the state had prohibited her from traveling to England for an abortion. Her case led to mass demonstrations of support for abortion reform in Ireland and the unequivocal Irish Supreme Court ruling that lifesaving abortion services are legal. In other words, the Supreme Court interpreted the Irish Constitution to require abortion when necessary to save a woman’s life.

Under Irish law, according to the Offences against the Person Act 1861, as amended, an unlawful act of abortion is a criminal offence punishable by imprisonment. Following a ruling of the Supreme Court of Ireland in 1992—now known in Ireland as the X case—terminations are allowed under certain circumstances, where "a pregnant woman's life was at risk because of pregnancy, including the risk of suicide".

The human rights court found this to be a clear violation of my client’s rights under the European Convention on Human Rights and in 2010 demanded that Ireland reform its abortion laws. The case was considered a major victory for women.

The court ruling has not been codified into law. Halappanavar's death led to protests at Galway, particularly from the local Indian expatriate community. The University Hospital is currently a subject of several investigations. Halappanavar had been one of the organisers of the annual Galway Diwali festival, which was cancelled in response to her death.

The big question was how the doctors can perform such acts and how can be a noble professional turned to a so unethical. How come a doctor take out the rule book to a patients who is dying, why then they denied the euthanasia. So, it is not Muslims or Hindus but in the name of religion, murder committed everywhere.

!!!It is not the matter that how many years you are permitted to lived on but in the end, it is all about, how many years are taken away from you.!!!

Death of a Robot?

After all most four years, the curtail finally came down upon a life. Last four years Ajmal Kasab lived a life without a home but many name except his own, a terrorist, a gunman and a Jehadi. Everyone, including his country, his peoples and his handlers, disowned him. However, for India, crores of taxpayer money spent to keep him alive so one fine morning he can walk to the gallows healthy with his last word ‘Allah Maf Karna’ (Oh God, forgive me). All these four years he was getting envious hospitality under strange condition. Every Indian whoever experienced that sixty horrible hours of Mumbai carnage wanted him dead. I am not a saint, I too wanted him dead may be wanted more horrific than something he died. However, when one morning I read about his execution there was not much happiness or joy that I felt or there was not any reason for which I felt like celebrating. Mater of fact I felt little other way and I was shocked by my mindset and my remorse. May be the cause was that the news was so unexpected and came from nowhere or may be I was not among those peoples who lost their loved ones. After all, I am a human and do not clam to a human with high quality but one with some simple values. We all are human indeed and not the animals who were planned calmly, then remote controlled these young innocent peoples and guided them to act as a demon. No religion tell their people to kill the innocent one. It is an act of madness. During his only one on camera interrogation, when asked the meaning of ‘Jehad’, his reply was blunt, a primary school dropout had no idea about it, he said he was doing it because he believed he was going rewarded handsomely by his handler. Pakistan is always safe heaven for these thugs and fund unlimited as oil reach countries are certainly very generous for these purpose. However, the time will arrive when everyone going to repent for creating these monster. The combo of  USA Government and Osama Bin Laden, set a perfect example.

Kasab was born in Faridkot, Pakistan to a family belonging to the Qassab community. Hailing from a poor family, his father could not provide him with new clothes on Eid, so he left his home in 2005, engaging in petty crime and armed robbery with a friend. In late 2007, he and his friend encountered members of Jama'at-ud-Da'wah, the political wing of Lashkar-e-Taiba, distributing pamphlets, and was persuaded to join. Kasab was found guilty of 80 offences, including murder, waging war against India, possessing explosives, and other charges. The trial court sentenced him to death  and the death sentence was upheld by the Bombay High Court as well as  was upheld by the Supreme Court of India. It was all over for Kasab when his  plea for clemency was rejected by President Pranab Mukherjee.

Kasab was shifted from Mumbai’s Arthur Road Jail to Pune on November 19. He was taken on a special flight late at night and whisked off to the Yerwada jail. “He was escorted by senior officers of the Crime Branch, commandos of the Quick Response Team and officers of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police. The team reached the jail in the early hours of Monday morning. Few jail officials were aware of the identity of the prisoner. In a top secret operation, 25-year-old Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving gunman of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, was hanged in Pune’s Yerwada Central Jail at 7.30 a.m. on Wednesday,21st November 2012.

Kasab described by the media with many names apart from his own, as a pawn, a robot and a puppet yet he have to pay the price for the crime he committed but only after brainwashed by his peoples who are sitting at the back and enjoying their life, a Kasab means nothing to them.

!!!Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.-Martin

The Tiger who Roared from his Den!!

This post cannot be termed as tribute to Bal Thackeray as I cannot pay respect to him like others I mentioned in my blog. My personal feeling is that the celebrities who were present there were not for the respect but performing their duty or having some personal interest. I have some mixed feeling about him and by writing so I may hurt my Maharashtrian friends but I cannot hide my feeling for the sake of it.  The main reason why I never regarded him to fit for due regards because his lack of respect towards women. We can forget some of his ridiculous and derogatory remarks against prominent women like Mrinal Gore, Sonia Gandhi and others. Then because they way he and his clans always behaved as if they are the ruler of Mumbai. For me nobody is bigger than the country we live in and the integrity of our motherland is more important than the vested interest. Barring twice, when he have to travel to Lucknow for some legal dispute, Bal Thackeray never set his foot out of Maharashtra and the reason for it best known to him only. He mainly voiced his sermon from his home Bandra, Dadar Shiv Sena Bhavan and Shivaji Park. Very often he travelled to others part of Maharashtra and those were too during various election campaigns. However, there is no doubt that he was a good cartoonist, equally good orator and having great sense of humour. Once during the facilitation ceremony of Lata Mangeshkar he mentioned himself as ‘Asur’ while comparing himself to Lata. ‘Asur’, can be termed as a person who lack musical sense but also have other meaning too, ‘a monster’. Therefore, I agree with former chief justice of India Mr. Katju that “He lived with the anti-national ‘sons of the soil’ (bhumiputra) theory to create a vote bank for himself.

Balasaheb Keshav Thackeray

Balasaheb Keshav Thackeray born in 23 January 1926 in Pune. Thackeray began his professional career as a cartoonist with the English language daily the The Free Press Journal in Mumbai, but left it in 1960 to form his own political weekly Marmik. His political philosophy was largely shaped by his father Keshav Sitaram Thackeray, a leading figure in the United Maharashtra movement, which advocated the creation of a separate linguistic state of Maharashtra. Through Marmik, he campaigned against the growing influence of Gujaratis, Marwaris, and southern Indians in Mumbai. In 1966, Thackeray formed the Shiv Sena party to advocate more strongly the place of Maharashtrians in Mumbai's political and professional landscape. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Thackeray built the party by forming temporary alliances with nearly all of Maharashtra's political parties.

The posterboy of rightwing Hindu and Marathi chauvinism, he never plunged into electoral politics and never contested any polls. Thackeray was also the founder of the Marathi-language newspaper Samana. Thackeray's famous comment to Time magazine after the demolition of the Babri Masjid was a vituperative "Kick'em out!".  The anti-Muslim stance fuelled by the demolition led to Mumbai's worst-ever riots in December 1992-January 1993. It continued for another two months in some small pockets, followed by the retaliatory March 12, 1993, serial bomb blasts in the city. These incidents were largely responsible for catapulting the Shiv Sena to power in Maharashtra in the 1995 assembly elections.

In 2002, Thackeray issued a call to form Hindu suicide bomber squads to in response to Islamist suicide bombers and other violence. In response, the Maharashtra government registered a case against him for inciting enmity between different groups. Thackeray has attracted controversy for his praise of Adolf Hitler. Thackeray harped on emotive issues like "Mumbai for Marathis" and "jobs for sons of soil"

On various reason I cannot write a tribute to Bal Thackeray and I am happy that I am no longer stay in Mumbai. At least, I can express my thought freely without being arrested. I wondered what happened to the Maharashtra Police, sad to see that once highly regarded police force acting so amateurish like a personal body guard.

!!!Legacy cannot bought or left by an external force, only remain by leaving unaccounted goodness!!!

Mother of all Election!

It was 1977, since when I started following USA presidential election. That was between democrat candidate Jimmy Cater and Republican Gerard Ford. However, the current concluded presidential election had it all. Until last phase, Mitt Romney was edging over Barack Obama but it was Sandy (the cyclone) which left peoples of New York and New Jersey under neck deep water but it rescued Barack Obama and finally gave him the second chance.

Barack Hussein Obama

Barack Hussein Obama,  born August 4, 1961, is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office.

Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, Obama is a graduate of Columbia University and Harvard Law School. He served three terms representing the 13th District in the Illinois Senate from 1997 to 2004, running unsuccessfully for the United States House of Representatives in 2000.

He received national attention during the election and primaries of the 2004 U.S. senate in Illinois which he won, and his keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. After a close race in the 2008 Democratic Party presidential primaries, he won his party's nomination against Hillary Rodham Clinton. In the 2008 presidential election, he defeated Republican nominee John McCain, and was inaugurated as president on January 20, 2009. Nine months later, Obama was named the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

As president, Obama ended U.S. military involvement in the Iraq War, increased troop levels in Afghanistan, signed the New START arms control treaty with Russia, ordered U.S. military involvement in Libya, and ordered the military operation that resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden. In May 2012, he became the first sitting U.S. president to publicly

United States Senator from Illinois
Personal details
Born	Barack Hussein Obama II August 4, 1961 Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Michelle Robinson
Children	Malia, Sasha
Alma mater	Occidental College Columbia College Harvard Law School
Profession	Community organizer Lawyer
Awards	Nobel Peace Prize

Willard Mitt Romney

Willard Mitt Romney, born March 12, 1947, is an American businessman who served as the 70th Governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007. He was the Republican Party's nominee for President of the United States in the 2012 election.

Raised in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, by his parents Lenore and George W. Romney, Mitt Romney spent two and a half years in France as a Mormon missionary starting in 1966. He married Ann Davies in 1969. Romney had participated in the political campaigns of both his parents.

By 1993, Romney had begun thinking about entering politics, partly based upon his wife Ann's urging and partly to follow in his father's footsteps. He decided to challenge incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy, who was seeking re-election for the sixth time.  Romney changed his affiliation to Republican in October 1993 and formally announced his candidacy in February 1994. In addition to his leave from Bain Capital, he stepped down from his church leadership role in 1994. Elected Governor of Massachusetts in 2002.  Romney did not seek re-election in 2006, instead focusing on his campaign for the Republican nomination in the 2008 U.S. presidential election. He won several primaries and caucuses but lost the nomination to John McCain as he withdrew from the race and ultimately endorsed McCain. In 2011, he began campaigning for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, eventually winning enough caucuses and primaries to be nominated with his chosen running mate, Representative Paul Ryan.

70th Governor of Massachusetts
In office  January 2, 2003 – January 4, 2007
Personal details
Born	Willard Mitt Romney March 12, 1947 Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Ann Romney
Alma mater	Brigham Young University Harvard University (MBA, JD)
Profession	Management consultant, Venture capitalist, Private equity
Positions	Cofounder and CEO, Bain Capital CEO, Bain & Company CEO, 2002 Winter Olympics Organizing Committee

Expense

Spending on the 2012 U.S. presidential campaign was the highest ever, soaring beyond $2 billion as independent fundraising groups financed advertising to promote their favored candidates. Notwithstanding a weak economy, the 2012 general elections was the most expensive in US history, costing a whopping USD 6 billion, with the presidential race alone accounting for USD 2.6 billion.

Polling Data

Poll	Obama (D)	Romney (R)
Final Results	50.5	47.9	Obama +2.6

!!!Pity, Spending billions only for accusation and allegation that too only in the name of Election Campaigns!!!

A Dream Merchant – Who Sold Love!

We are week away from the release of “Jab Tak Hai Jahan”, Yash Chopra’s last work. I was travelling when I came to know about his sad demise. I am not a big film buff but I am certainly a fan of most his work. He was one of the rare gentleman and great human being that we could found in a place like Bollywood, other name came to my mind was the late Balraj Sahani. It will be unfair if I doesn’t pay a little tribute to him.

Yash Chopra was born on 27 September 1932 in Lahore. He was a film journalist but then initially worked as an assistant director to I. S. Johar, and then for his director-producer brother, B. R. Chopra. Chopra received his first directorial opportunity in 1959 with the social drama Dhool Ka Phool, produced by his elder B   .R. Chopra. Yash Chopra made another hard-hitting social drama, Dharmputra,  which was one of the first films to depict the partition of India and Hindu fundamentalism. The film marked the debut of Shashi Kapoor in a fully fledged role and was awarded with the National award for Best Feature Film in Hindi. Theatrical screenings of the film were disrupted by violent demonstrations in response to its raw depiction of the partition riots and related sloganeering. 

Chopra's collaboration with his brother continued in the form of the 1965 film Waqt, the film became a commercial and a critical success. One of his best work was 'Ittefaq',  a suspense movie based on a Gujarati play, depicting the events of a single night with Rajesh Khanna in the lead role. Shot in a month and on a low budget, the film was deemed unusual by critics as it was one of the first Hindi films which did not have any songs or an interval. it was eventually declared a semi-hit at the box office and won Chopra another Filmfare award for best director. In my opinion it was the one of his best work.

In 1971, Chopra founded Yash Raj Films, thus terminating the creative collaboration between him and his brother. His first independently produced film Daag. He then made a number of classic cult films starring Amitabh Bachchan and scripted by Salim-Javed notably Deewaar and Trishul which were great hits and remain popular even today. These films set the trend for the late 70s and 80s, establishing Bachchan as a superstar, in his role as the angry young man. Chopra won yet another Filmfare Best Director Award for Deewaar. Chopra produced, directed and scripted two more films starring Bachchan, unlike his earlier action oriented films, the two cinematic outings were romantic dramas, First, it was Kabhi Kabhie in 1976 followed by Silsila in 1981. Chopra was responsible in shaping Shah Rukh Khan's career. He made Darr, Dil To Pagal Hai, Veer Zaara and last one Jab Tak Hai Jahan with Shah Rukh Khan. Yash Chopra was known to often cast the same actors in his films. His most famous collaborations being with Amitabh Bachchan, Shashi Kapoor and more recently Shahrukh Khan and Rani Mukherji.

My personal choices are Ittefaq, Chandni, Deewar, Kabhi Kabhie  and Trishul.

Filmography

As Director :

Dhool Ka Phool, Dharmputra, Waqt, Aadmi Aur Insaan, Ittefaq, Daag, Joshila, Deewaar, Kabhi Kabhie, Trishul, Kaala Patthar, Silsila, Mashaal, Faasle, Vijay, Chandni, Lamhe, Parampara, Darr, Dil To Pagal Hai, Veer-Zaara, Jab Tak Hai Jaan.

As Producer :

Daag, Kabhi Kabhie, Doosra Aadmi, Trishul, Noorie, Kaala Pathar, Silsila, Nakhuda, Sawaal. Mashaal, Faasle, Vijay, Chandni, Lamhe, Darr, Aaina, Yeh Dillagi, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, Dil To Pagal Hai, Mohabbatein, Mujhse Dosti Karoge, Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai, Saathiya, Hum Tum, Dhoom, Veer-Zaara, Bunty Aur Babli, Salaam Namaste, Neal N Nikki, Fanaa, Dhoom 2, Kabul Express, Ta Ra Rum Pum, Jhoom Barabar Jhoom, Chak De India, Laaga Chunari Mein Daag, Aaja Nachle, Tashan, Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic, Bachna Ae Haseeno, Roadside Romeo, Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi, New York, Dil Bole Hadippa, Rocket Singh: Salesman of the Year, Pyaar Impossible, Band Baaja Baaraat, Mujhse Fraaandship Karoge, Mere Brother Ki Dulhan, Ladies vs Ricky Bahl, Ishaqzaade, Ek Tha Tiger, Jab Tak Hai Jaan.

!!!Hope his family carry on his legacy with same dedication and conviction!!!

Barbaric at its Best!!!

There is no Tali (Claps) but definitely wanted to ban these thugs from the face of the earth. Talibans did it again and again but this one is a cowardice and habitually beastly act. The shooting of Malala Yousafzai of 14-year-old girl in the head by Taliban gunmen in the Swat Valley was so creeping that it was hard to believe that any human being who called themselves preacher of god could do this. There was endless tales about them and who can forget the hijack of IC-814 plane in the year, 1999 December. Let me recollect some of their shameless acts.

Buddhas of Bamiyan - Apathy towards the other religion.

No religion in the world tell its people to hate peoples from other religion. At the end we all are god’s greatest creation know as human.

Abdul Wahed, a Taliban commander operating in the area, announced his intention to blow up the Buddhas in 1997 even before he had taken control of the valley. Once he was in control of Bamiyan in 1998, Wahed drilled holes in the Buddhas' heads for explosives. He was prevented from taking further action by the local governor and direct order of Mullah Omar, although tyres were burnt on the head of the great Buddha. In July 1999, Mullah Mohammed Omar issued a decree in favor of the preservation of the Bamiyan Buddha statues. Because Afghanistan's Buddhist population no longer exists, so the statues are no longer worshiped, he added: "The government considers the Bamiyan statues as an example of a potential major source of income for Afghanistan from international visitors. The Taliban states that Bamiyan shall not be destroyed but protected." In early 2000, local Taliban authorities asked for UN assistance to rebuild drainage ditches around tops of the alcoves where the Buddhas were set.

Execution and Punishment - No one spared

You can only expect inhuman acts from these peoples and here is some ghastly tales.

• While in power in Afghanistan, the Taliban became notorious internationally for their treatment of women. Afghan women were forced to wear the burqa at all times in public, because, according to one Taliban spokesman, "the face of a woman is a source of corruption" for men not related to them, even they needs woman for all purpose. The Taliban claimed to recognize their Islamic duty to offer education to both boys and girls, yet a decree was passed that banned girls above the age of 8 from receiving instruction.
• An Afghan woman in her 20's, shot 13 times in front of a cheering crowed in Parwan province -- and seen widely online in a grainy cell phone video -- is a show of confidence by the Taliban.
• Punishments were often carried out publicly, either as formal spectacles held in sports stadiums or town squares or spontaneous street beatings. Civilians lived in fear of harsh penalties as there was little mercy; women caught breaking decrees were often treated with force
• In October 1996, a woman had the tip of her thumb cut off for wearing nail varnish.
• In December 1996, Radio Shari’a announced that 225 Kabul women had been seized and punished for violating the sharia code of dress.
• In May 1997, five female CARE International employees were forced from their vehicle by members of the religious police. The guards used a public address system to insult and harass the women before striking them with a metal and leather whip over 1.5 meters in length.
• In 1999, a mother of seven was executed in front of 30,000 spectators in Kabul’s Ghazi Sport stadium for allegedly murdering her abusive husband. She was imprisoned for three years and extensively tortured prior to the execution, yet she refused to plead her innocence in a bid to protect her daughter.
• When a Taliban raid discovered a woman running an informal school in her apartment, they beat the children and threw the woman down a flight of stairs and then imprisoned her. They threatened to stone her family publicly if she refused to sign a declaration of loyalty to the Taliban and their laws.
• An Afghan girl named Bibi Aisha was promised to a new family through a tribal method of solving disputes known as baad. When she fled the violence girls often suffer under baad, her new family found her and a Taliban commander ordered her punished as an example, "lest other girls in the village try to do the same thing". Her ears and nose were cut off and she was left for dead in the mountains, but survived.

While posting it the girl gone through a surgery and still critical. Hope she survive and continue what she was doing.

!!!If one believe in god’s existence then In name god one cannot go one and punish others, it should left to the god.!!!

Live with the Science of Life!

Religious values, different languages, traditions, customs and the unlimited colourful festivals that make India a very unique one. India regarded by many as the country of oldest living civilization and the tradition dates back to 8000 BC. However, often we failed to go by the values of our own while others embracing it heartily. Most of GenNext Indian preferred the high-tech gym than taking up the age old Yoga routine. The most significant gift of India to the world was the Ayurveda. In current situation, even we have a small headache we never goes by the book rather preferred to gobble a painkiller than find a safe solution..

Ayurveda

Ayurveda, in Sanskrit it is “science of life”, form of alternative medicine based on the principle that disease is caused by an imbalance of life forces. Derived from spiritual visions found by Indian sages before 5000 years. Ayurveda is the oldest existing system of medical practice and is regarded by proponents as a complete way of life aimed at spiritual, mental, and social well-being as well as physical health. Ayurveda emphasizes re-establishing balance in the body through diet, lifestyle, exercise, and body cleansing, and on the health of the mind, body, and spirit.

According to Ayurveda, everything is composed of five elements: air, water, fire, earth, and space. These elements combine to form the three doshas, vata, kapha, and pitta, or metabolic types. In Ayurveda, doshas account for some of our individual differences.

Ayurvedic practitioners approach diagnosis by using all five senses. Hearing is used to observe the condition of breathing and speech. The study of the lethal points or marman marma is of special importance. Ayurvedic doctors regard physical and mental existence together with personality as a unit, each element having the capacity to influence the others. One of the fundamental aspects of ayurvedic medicine is to take this into account during diagnosis and therapy.

However there some con’s too in Ayurveda and some herbs used for the medicine could be toxic but still it is safe bait for many thing.

!!!There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle.The other is as though everything is a miracle.!!!

Last Man Standing!!

The huge expectation and burden works as a barrier for any human being when one goes on to succeed  another great man. That’s why it is said that ‘avoid Stepping into a Great Man's Shoes’. However, there are some who like to take it as challenge and stride on to achieve the goal that expected form him or her. When the great man late J. R. D. Tata entrusted the mantle of Tata Empire to Ratan Tata, the situation was the same. But he appeared from the shadow of JRD and surge forward. Ratan Tata, having the lethat combination of as a great human being and as well as is an excellent CEO. Let me put little light on his life while within short period he is going to entrust the mantle of Tata Empire to Cyrus Mistry.

Ratan Naval Tata, born in 28 December 1937, in Mumbai. Ratan is the grandson of Tata group founder Jamsedji Tata.

Tata started his schooling at Campion School and finished at Cathedral and John Connon School both in Bombay. Ratan Tata completed his B.S. in architecture with structural engineering from Cornell University in 1962, and the Advanced Management Program from Harvard Business School in 1975.

Tata began his career at the Tata empire in 1962; he initially worked on the shop floor of Tata Steel, shovelling limestone and handling the blast furnace. In 1971, he was appointed the Director of National Radio and Electronics, which was in dire straits when he came on board: with losses of 40% and barely 2% share of the consumer electronics market. However, just when he turned it around from 2% to 25% market share, the Emergency was declared. A weak economy and labour issues compounded the problem and Nelco was quickly near collapse again.

For his next assignment, in 1977 he was asked to turn around the sick Empress Mills, which he did. However, he was refused a Rs 50 lakh investment required to make the textile unit competitive. Empress Mills floundered and was finally closed in 1986.

In 1981, JRD Tata stepped down as Tata Industries chairman, naming Ratan Tata as his successor. He was heavily criticized for lacking experience in running a company of the scale of Tata Industries.

In 1991, he was appointed group chairman of the Tata group. As group chairman, he has been responsible for converting "the corporate commonwealth" of different Tata-affiliated companies into a cohesive company. He has been responsible for the acquisition of Tetley, Jaguar Land Rover and Corus, which have turned Tata from a largely India-centric company into a global business, with 65% revenues coming from abroad. He also pushed the development of Indica and the Nano. He is widely credited for the success of the Tata Group of companies, especially after the liberalization of controls after the 1990s.

In August 2007, Ratan Tata lead Tata Group's acquisition of British steel maker Corus. At that time, this was the largest takeover of a foreign company by an Indian company, and resulted in Tata Group becoming the fifth largest steel producer in the world.

When Mumbai along with Hotel Taj was attacked by the terrorist, he was the man who stood by the victims and many of them were not even belongs to the Tata Groups.

Among many other honours accorded him during his career, Tata received the Padma Bhushan, one of India’s most distinguished civilian awards, in 2000 and Padma Vibhushan in 2008 and Lifetime Achievement Award awarded by prestigious Rockefeller Foundation in 2012. He has also been ranked as India's most powerful CEO. In 2009, Tata was knighted as a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (K.B.E.).

Ratan Tata is set to retire in December 2012 to be succeeded by Cyrus Mistry.

   

!!!Ratan Tata, is last man standing? Hope Cyrus Mistry going to prove it wrong.!!!

The Ironman & The Father of Indian Civil Aviation!

The tribute for the great man may came too late but it was always in my mind. My father worked in Tisco (Tata Iron & Steel Company) and for obvious reason I was brought up in Jamshedpur under generous hospitality provided by the company.  Jamshedpur the town, I still looked upon as one of the best place to live in. I spend a fair amount of my life in that town which breathes around the company itself. There is no doubt that the brand ‘Tata’ draws more respect than any other corporate house. One of the pioneer who built this empire that founded by Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata, was J. R. D. Tata. The name itself draw mammoth admiration. Being a ‘Jammy’ (Jamshedpur) we owe lots to this great man.

Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata

J. R. D. Tata was born in 29 July 1904 in Paris, France, the second child of Parsi father Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata and his French wife, Suzanne. His father was a first cousin of Jamsetji Tata, a pioneer industrialist in India. He spent much of his childhood in France and as a result, French was his first language. Tata also attended the French Foreign Legion. He attended the Cathedral and John Connon School, Bombay.

J. R. D. Tata was inspired early by aviation pioneer Louis Blériot, and took to flying. On February 10, 1929 Tata obtained the first pilot licence issued in India. He later came to be known as the father of Indian civil aviation. He founded India's first commercial airline, Tata Airlines in 1932, which became Air India in 1946, now India's national airline.

He joined Tata & Sons as an unpaid apprentice in 1925. In 1938, at the age of 34, JRD was elected Chairman of Tata & Sons making him the head of the largest industrial group in India. He took over as Chairman of Tata Sons from his uncle Nowroji Saklatwala. For decades, he directed the huge Tata Group of companies, with major interests in Steel, Engineering, Power, Chemicals and Hospitality. He was famous for succeeding in business while maintaining high ethical standards - refusing to bribe politicians or use the black market.

In 1945, he founded Tata Motors. In 1948, JRD Tata launched Air India International as India's first international airline. In 1953, the Indian Government appointed JRD Tata as Chairman of Air India and a director on the Board of Indian Airlines - a position he retained for 25 years. For his crowning achievements in aviation, he was bestowed with the title of Honorary Air Commodore of India.

JRD Tata received a number of awards. He received the Padma Vibhushan in 1957 on the eve of the silver jubilee of Air India. He also received the Guggenheim Medal for aviation in 1988. In 1992, because of his selfless humanitarian endeavors, JRD Tata was awarded India's highest civilian honor, the Bharat Ratna. In the same year, JRD Tata was also bestowed with the United Nations Population Award for his crusading endeavors towards initiating and successfully implementing the family planning movement in India, much before it became an official government policy.

The Former chairman of Tata Group Known for Founder of TCS, Founder of Tata Motors, Founder of Titan Industries, Founder of Tata Communications, Founder of Tata Tea, Founder of Voltas. He died 29 November 1993 Geneva, Switzerland.

!!!Greatness of a man lies in his achievements!!!

The Milkman and his Journey towards the Milky way!!

Today’s generation is mostly clueless about the contribution of Dr. Verghese Kurien. There was a time when urban population ran from pillar to post to get their daily quota of milk and in rural India the excessive milk used to thrown out like water. The poverty ridden villagers without any source or clue they had no other options to choose from. Things changed when a young man with a Metallurgical  Engineering degree from Michigan University brought a revolution was know as ‘White Revolution’. Here is the story of the man who helped the rural India prosper and is know as

Verghese Kurien

Verghese Kurien was born on 26 November 1921 in Calicut, Madras Presidency, British India. His father was a civil surgeon in Cochin. He graduated in Physics from Loyola College, Madras in 1940 and then obtained his Bachelors in mechanical engineering from the University of Madras. After completing his degree, he joined the Tata Steel Technical Institute, Jamshedpur from where he graduated in 1946. He then went to the United States on a government scholarship to earn his Master of Science in metallurgical engineering from Michigan State University.

Kurien arrived on 13 May 1949 on a Government of India deputation at the Government Research Creamery, Anand. Since then he built the dairy development cooperative model into one of the largest and most successful institutions in India. Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru visited Anand to inaugurate Amul "factory" and he embraced Kurien for his groundbreaking work. The Amul pattern of cooperatives became so successful, that in 1965 Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri, created the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) to replicate the program on a nationwide basis citing Kurien's "extraordinary and dynamic leadership" upon naming him chairman.

Kurien and his team were pioneers in inventing the process of making milk powder and condensed milk from buffalo's milk instead of cow's milk. This was the reason Amul became so successful and competed well against Nestle who only used cow milk to make powder and condensed milk. In India, buffalo milk is the main raw material unlike Europe where cow milk is abundant.

He is one of the greatest proponents of cooperative movement in the world. His work has alleviated millions out of poverty not only in India but also outside India. NDDB is an exception as it is a govt organisation but set up to replicate success of Dr. Vergese Kurien across India which is called "Anand model".

Film ‘Manthan’ by Shyam Benegal was inspired by on his life

Some major Awards and Recognition

Award	Organization
Life Time Achievement Award	CNN-IBN
Godfrey Phillips National Bravery Award	Godfrey Phillips India Ltd
Padma Vibhushan	Government of India
World Food Prize	World Food Prize USA
Wateler Peace Prize Award	Carnegie Foundation, USA
Krushi Ratna Award	Government of India.
Padma Bhushan	Government of India.
Padma Shri	Government of India.
Ramon Magsaysay Award	Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation.

!!!The Great Indian Milkman  and The Father of white revolution -  Dr. Verghese Kurien- R.I.P. !!!