jo tuufaanon mein palte jaa rahe hain
vahii duniyaa badalte jaa rahe hain
-Jigar Muradabadi
Those who are raised by the storms
Changed the face of the world
Sher contributed by Qazi Muhammed Saleh
English translation by Manish Modi
Author: ashokkarania
-
SQB : Storms!
-
SQB : Forgive & Forget II
“It is easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend.”— William Blake
-
Visual Dictionary Online
A new concept in Dictionary – Visual Dictionary!
Merriam Webster and QA International has created Visual Dictionary Online. It explains words and concepts with the help of images. It has 20,000 terms with contextual definitions and has 6,000 images from various subjects. It will be a great hit with people across all strata of the society.
It claims to be a dictionary with a new point of view that catches the eye and enriches the mind. According to the site:
The Visual Dictionary is designed to help you find the right word at a glance. Filled with stunning illustrations labeled with accurate terminology in up to six languages, it is the ideal language-learning and vocabulary dictionary for use at school, at home or at work.
When you know what something looks like but not what it’s called, or when you know the word but can’t picture the object, The Visual Dictionary has the answer. In a quick look, you can match the word to the image.
Visual Dictionary Online is a venture of QA International and Merriam Webster.
QA INTERNATIONAL creates a wide range of encyclopedias, practical guides, atlases and edutainment products intended for the whole family. Built around cutting-edge design, stunning illustrations and informative content, these works explore a world of facts and ideas in a dynamic and creative way.
The Visual Dictionary, which has become a global success with more than 8 million copies sold worldwide, is the premier achievement of QA INTERNATIONAL. Created 20 years ago, The Visual Dictionary has traveled from the illustrator’s drawing table to the computer screen and now onto the Internet.
-
Om Shanti Om vs Saawariya
Shah Rukh Khan’s Farah Khan Directed Om Shanti Om and Sony Pictures’ Sanjay Leela Bhansali Directed Saawariya have ensured a gala Diwali at the box office. Both were fully hyped and aggressively promoted movies.So what is the audience verdict ?
Om Shanti Om is going to be a bigger hit. Saawariya had started off well due to headstart over Om Shanti Om in booking. However, it is not likely to continue its close fight and collections will drop in the second week.
Only SRK and Sex sells ! Proven again.
-
Saawariya : Beautiful Painting!
Picture perfect scene. Magnificent sets. Attention to minutest details. Good music. Focused theme. This is out and out Sanjay Leela Bhansali movie.
Sanjay Leela Bhansali does not care for the lowest common denominator. His movies are about himself and his expression of certain ideas. If they click with the audience and succeed at box office like Black, great. Else, who cares!
Hollywood’s first Indian production Saawariya is a movie based on White Nights. It is a visual treat and one cannot put your eyes away from the beautiful sets. Omung Kumar has created magic in blue and green. The bridge, RK Bar, Budhha etc are all delight to watch.
Ranbir Kapoort looks promising and is indeed going to go places. He will keep the Kapoor tradition alive. Sonam Kapoor is good but not in the same league as Deepika Padukone. Salman and Rani and Zohra Sehgal give wonderful support to the main lead.
The music is good and songs are artistically picturized. Though one wished that a few songs were eased out.
However inspite of all the positives, the movies fails to impress the audience. The story is quite slow and stretched. People did not like the ending as well. Watch it for visual treat!
-
Om Shanti Om – Wonderful Dry Fruit Pav Bhaji!
Have you eaten Dry Fruit Pav Bhaji?
– It has assortment of Dry Fruits
– Everyone try it
– It is expensive
– It lacks the taste of Regular Pav Bhaji
– It fills the tummy but does not satisfy you
Well, Om Shanti Om is one Dry Fruit Pav Bhaji. Om Shanti Om is watchable. OSO is an entertaining fun-filled movie. One comes out of the theatre with lots of smile. And that is OSO’s victory – good 150 minutes of pure fun. Nothing beyond that.
Om Shanti Om is a movie only SRK can carry off. Only he can get such an assortment of Stars for his movie. Only he can carry off such spoofs. Only he can laugh at himself. And that is a big thing!
I liked the following one liners / acts:
1. Kirron Kher is rehearsing to confront Arjun Rampal in second half during the launch of Om Shanti Om. Shreyas tells SRK – Mom is overacting. SRK – Yeh to hamari family problem hai!
2. Arjun Rampal telling Satish Shah that ultimately it is the Manmohan Desai shot that will work.
3. Spoof on Suraj Barjatya
4. Filmfare Awards Spoof – SRK in Phir Bhi Dil Hai NRI, Return of Khiladi, Dhoom 5
5. Overacting and hamming of Kirron Kher in first half.
It is an SRK movie all the way. The real Pav Bhaji or plot is really incidental to the movie. Logic is definitely out.
The movie is by, for and of SRK. Deepika Padukone is a wonderful beauty and shows great promise in the limited screen presence. Shreyas Talpade is brilliant and shows his ability to transcend into out and out glamour films from offbeat roles. Arjun Rampal, Kirron Kher and Bindu are all predictable.
The music is good. The mega star cast video looks good and sounds good as well. Surprisingly, Dard E Disco makes SRK look odd – leave those moves for John and Hrithik. Art direction, cinematography, costumes are all upto the expected high levels. One big question – did this movie need a director? Did Farah Khan do anything here?
Om Shanti Om is a movie all of us will watch. Reviews are irrelevant. Anyway, I thought most of the reviews were too generous. Overall the movie is all of hype and hoopla. It is over the top unadulterated SRK entertainer. People will watch if for SRK. And come home entertained. Most of us watch movie for entertainment anyways!
-
Outsmart Robber at ATM!
Pratik Shah emailed me this useful information on handling robbers who force you to withdraw cash from ATM. I have not verified it though. Also, ATMs have CCTVs these days.
I have heard of incidents where thieves force you to withdraw cash from ATM. They also understand that people do not carry much cash. One such incident has happened to a relative of mine at Borivali West.
Anyway, here is what Pratik shared :
If you should ever be forced by a robber to withdraw money from an ATM machine, you can notify the police by entering your Pin # in reverse.
For example if your pin number is 1234 then you would put in 4321. The ATM recognizes that your pin number is backwards from the ATM card you placed in the machine.
The machine will still give you the money you requested, but unknown to the robber, the police will be immediately dispatched to help you.
This information was recently broadcasted on TV and it states that it is seldom used because people don’t know it exists.
-
Zankhana’s Sky Diving Video
Zankhana shared her wonderful Sky Diving experience. Though she was scare initially when the plane descended to 15000 Feet, the experience that followed was addictive and memorable. The free fall for sixty seconds at the speed of 120 mph is exciting and exhilarating.
The video is a good idea. It is professionally made and serves as a great memory. Great marketing !
-
Tips For Working Successfully In A Group
By Randy Pausch, for the Building Virtual Worlds course at Carnegie Mellon, Spring 1998
1. Meet people properly. It all starts with the introduction. Then, exchange contact information, and make sure you know how to pronounce everyone’s names. Exchange phone #s, and find out what hours are acceptable to call during.
2. Find things you have in common. You can almost always find something in common with another person, and starting from that baseline, it’s much easier to then address issues where you have differences. This is why cities like professional sports teams, which are socially galvanizing forces that cut across boundaries of race and wealth. If nothing else, you probably have in common things like the weather.
3. Make meeting conditions good. Have a large surface to write on, make sure the room is quiet and warm enough, and that there aren’t lots of distractions. Make sure no one is hungry, cold, or tired. Meet over a meal if you can; food softens a meeting. That’s why they “do lunch” in Hollywood.
Let everyone talk. Even if you think what they’re saying is stupid. Cutting someone off is rude, and not worth whatever small time gain you might make. Don’t finish someone’s sentences for him or her; they can do it for themselves. And remember: talking louder or faster doesn’t make your idea any better.
Check your egos at the door. When you discuss ideas, immediately label them and write them down. The labels should be descriptive of the idea, not the originator: “the troll bridge story,” not “Jane’s story.”
Praise each other. Find something nice to say, even if it’s a stretch. Even the worst of ideas has a silver lining inside it, if you just look hard enough. Focus on the good, praise it, and then raise any objections or concerns you have about the rest of it.
Put it in writing. Always write down who is responsible for what, by when. Be concrete. Arrange meetings by email, and establish accountability. Never assume that someone’s roommate will deliver a phone message. Also, remember that “politics is when you have more than 2 people” – with that in mind, always CC (carbon copy) any piece of email within the group, or to me, to all members of the group. This rule should never be violated; don’t try to guess what your group mates might or might not want to hear about.
Be open and honest. Talk with your group members if there’s a problem, and talk with me if you think you need help. The whole point of this course is that it’s tough to work across cultures. If we all go into it knowing that’s an issue, we should be comfortable discussing problems when they arise — after all, that’s what this course is really about. Be forgiving when people make mistakes, but don’t be afraid to raise the issues when they come up,
Avoid conflict at all costs. When stress occurs and tempers flare, take a short break. Clear your heads, apologize, and take another stab at it. Apologize for upsetting your peers, even if you think someone else was primarily at fault; the goal is to work together, not start a legal battle over whose transgressions were worse. It takes two to have an argument, so be the peacemaker.
Phrase alternatives as questions. Instead of “I think we should do A, not B,” try “What if we did A, instead of B?” That allows people to offer comments, rather than defend one choice.