random thoughts

Gaze at the Star Maze

While managing their professional careers may be child's play for a few, managing their personal life seems to be a tougher nut.The following stories, though all cannot be confirmed, throw light to the extreme rollercoaster ride on their personal front.

Britney Spears - Kevin Federline
Britney started an illustrious career in singing with the song,"..baby one more time" and she is in the process of getting her second child.

Britney started as the new teenage sensation and a mentor to all young as apriring kids.

But soon with her increasing popularity came a lot of controversies. Her claims of being chaste were soon refuted by her former boyfriend Justin Timberlake, which she too later accepted. Also images of her raunchy videos and her smooch with Madonna left many uneasy. Her four-year relationship with Justin Timberlake had ended in March 2002 and reports indicated that Britney had unfaithful in relationship.

On September 2004 she was married to a popular dancer and aspiring rapper Kevin Federline and they had their first child a year later. Britney then had put on 50lbs during the time and she seemed quite keen to lose those extra pounds. However her priorities soon changed when things became difficult on her personal front.

Reports on her strained relationship with Federline who was caught drinking and smoking Cannabis in the basement. Britney it seems had lost patience and now has forbidden him from entering the basement. Its also said that she is holding on to the relationship for the sake of her baby boy Sean Preston Federline.

Tom Cruise - Katie Holmes
Tom Cruise being among Hollywood's ace actors, having acted in more than 30 movies over the years. His personal life has also been as eventful if not more. His second marriage to Nicole Kidman in 1990, during which the couple had adopted two kids, came to an end in 2001. Reports say Nicole did not lend her support for the Scientology movement, a religion which Tom Cruise had seriously followed.

After his divorce with Nicole Kidman, he had been seen with Penelope Cruz, before publicly declaring in March 2004 that their relationship had ended. He then started dating Katie Holmes in April 2005 and had publicly proposed to her in July 2005 at the top of Eiffel Tower.
His relationship with Katie Holmes seemed to gather a lot of attention from the Paparazzi. They were soon married and Katie Holmes had their first child Suri in April 2006.

The incidence where Tom Cruise does over-the-top display of love for Katie Holmes in the Oprah Winfrey was rated the most suprising moment of the year. He had jumped on the sets, hopped on the crouch, feel on one knee before professing his love for his girl.
However impressed Katie was then never showed on her parents. They had a strained relationship with Tom Cruise and were not keen on Katie marrying him.

Now reports say that Katie's wanting to take the kid to her parents in South America had created ripples in their relationship. They were heard arguing and with Katie Holmes finally ending by saying 'I don't care but I'm taking him' has caste serious aspirations on their future.

Angelina Jolie - Brad Pitt
The couple who looked picture perfect in Mr. and Mrs. Smith and have been nicknamed Brangelina too had led notorious personal lives.Brad Pitt had his second marriage with Jennifer Aniston on July 29, 2000. While both seemed to grow in popularity and managed their acting careers really well, their personal lives made the headlines in the tabloids once too often in recent times. Their marriage had soured when there was news on Pitt's affair with Angelina Jolie.

Some reports also said that it got bitter when Anniston did not want to have kids with Pitt, which he really interested in and also with Brad Pitt's close proximity with Angelina did not help his relationship with Jennifer Anniston.

Angelina Jolie on the other hand had a long estranged relationship with her father and also dropped her surname Voight when things did not get better. She had her first marriage in 1996 with a British actor Jhonny Miller. Her love for him seemd eternal when her wedding suit had her husband's name written in her blood. Media also became active when reports of Jenny Shimizu bisexual relationship with Angelina Jolie came to the fore.

Soon Angelina was seen dating Brad Pitt and on March 10, 2002, Jolie adopted her first child, Maddox Chivan Jolie-Pitt. He was born on August 5, 2001 as Rath Vibol in Cambodia.
Now Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are brand new parents together, they welcomed the arrival of their new daughter Shiloh Nouvel Jolie-Pitt in Nigeria, Africa. The couple have been deeply involved in a lot of charity world-over.

Hillary Rodham Clinton - Bill Clinton

Another celebrated couple , though from a different domain were Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton.Bill Clinton served two terms from 1993-2001 as the President of the United States and five terms as the Governor of Arkansas. His wife Hillary Rodham Clinton serving her frst term as a Junior Senator of New York.

Universal Health care, improved education system and internationally, a military intervention to end the Bosnian war were few of his achievements as President. Bill sure seemed to have a great presidential term and many of his policies very appreciated from different categories of people all around the world.

However soon rumors about Clinton's adultery started floating with sporadic stories from his associates. He was soon distracted with these allegations and his impeechment proceedings keep him occupied. He was linked with sexual relationships with quite a few women and soon he too confessed to having an illicit relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. This confession along with the subsequent revelations has strained his public image and more importantly his relationship with Hillary Clinton. rememberance of his good stint as President has been marred by these events.

How many times have you used the 'F' word

Are you counting the number of F's you're using these days. Have a look now.


Count every " F " in the following text:

FINISHED FILES ARE THE RE
SULT OF YEARS OF SCIENTI
FIC STUDY COMBINED WITH
THE EXPERIENCE OF YEARS...

(SEE BELOW)
HOW MANY ?














WRONG, THERE ARE 6 -- no joke.
READ IT AGAIN !
Try to find the 6 F's before reading further.

The reasoning behind this is below.
The brain cannot process reading "OF" easily.
Incredible or what? Go back and look again!!

Anyone who counts all 6 "F's" on the first go is a genius.
Three is normal, four is quite rare.

The ALTO Review*

Who would have imagined the SmallCar segment's growth in India especially when the classic Ambassador was so popular.

->Hyundai's Santro has revolutionised the smallcar segment in the market and keeps coming up with new versions at near perfect intervals.
->Maruti's Swift has being seen as a close competitor. Its being promoted by Maruti in a big way.
->To score a few points and stand on par with Santro, WagonR's features were boasted.
->Then we have the Indicar whose price and fuel efficiency seems to be beat most other cars in the segment.
->We also did have few flashes of Daewoo's Matiz but Daewoo couldn't sustain its popularity.
->The spacious Getz has also got a huge share of promotion by Maruti.
->However the smallcar versions of Ford and Fiat did not penerate as much as they would have liked.
Here we come to the underdog in the segment and its has been undercover for long. Bringing to your notice the Alto and its review.

1)The reason why Maruti Udyog Ltd. has many patrons is their after-sales service and accessibilty to their Service stations from anywhere in India. Alto and other cars from this company score hugely over their competitors because of this solitary reason. Infact the company's made it their punchline.

2)Atlo owners find the steering smooth and easy, they say for an Alto you sometimes feel the Power steering is not necessary.

3)While the most important selling point many say is its pricing. May not beat the Indicar but definitely an extremely competitive price. On road price anywhere between IR 3.25-3.75 Lakhs.

4)Another most sought after detail by us would be the mileage. The mileage of the Alto is fantastic, it gives upto 22Kmpl on highways and around 14-16Kmpl on slow city roads.

5)Some complain that the Alto gives a rattling noise when driving at low gear. They suggest you replace the normal filter in the AC with a K N filter.

6)Its also felt when compared to the Getz and Santro the Alto backspace is little bit cramped. However it should be fairly comfortable for a group of four.

7)There are some who say the pick-up is sometimes a problem, allege the gear-box makes a rattling noice during transition.

8)Nevertheless there are many who say its interiors and looks are among the best when compared to its competitors.

It is also preferred by many as their first car and to vehicle to actually learn the nuances of driving in Indian roads.

So Let's go in an Alto !!!

The US Visa Interview (Chin Music)

Tara had all the attributes of a good humanbeing, she was a caring mother, a friendly neighbor and a brilliant cook who loved serving her Biryani. Her kids were brilliant and soon they had the .com hunch, working for nearly 5 years in a software company in the US. She however had been kept occupied in India till she recently became a widow. She then decided it was time to see her children and to make her first visit to the US.

She spoke to her children, who were delighted and she soon got an Interview date in the US Embassy. She was eagerly waiting for the interview day and the day she would be leaving for the US. She heard many accounts of friends who had attended Visa interview and she sometimes wondered if the weirder ones were actually told to make their conversations more interesting.

Soon the Interview day had beckoned and she was soon seen entering the Embassy. After prelimnary checks(for a while she wondered if she was going to meet the US President), she was asked to wait for her turn. She kept gazing around and she soon felt she was in the Los Angeles, the city where her son lived. She tried to picturize the US. She thought about the images of the US in the Indian movie Jeans and wondered if she did actually look like the lady in the movie.

Her imagination were cut short with her name being announced. Within no time she had entered a lounge and then was directed to a room. All the while she noticed a lot of camera's moving around. She had never attended a job interview in her life and wondered if this is how interviews were conducted.

She entered the room and soon saw a middle-aged woman (looked more like a Chinese) greet her and introduce herself as Ms.Rebecca Chin. Good Old Tara gave a smile and got herself comfortable sitting on the chair.

The Interview (The Chin Music)

1. "So Ms.Tara, do you like pizzas? How often do you go to Pizza outlets?" enquired Ms.Chin.
Stunned by the question, she had murmured "You repeat the question." Ms.Chin wasn't surprised by the tone and language of the response. After all she had done a thousand interviews and in many interviews the applicants weren't fluent in the language. She repeated the question again and waited for the response. "Yes I like pizzas. I go to Pizza Hut one time only", she said with a wide smile.
Ms.Chin makes notes and soon gets ready with the next question. Good Old Tara seemed uneasy wondering if the interview actually started. Her lips just started to move when Ms.Chin began with the next question.
"Do you have any children working in India, Ms.Tara?" she asked. "My two children working in America and thats why I want to see them. They want me to come there because they do not get holidays. I can.." she replied, abruptly ending when she remember the golden words of her children.

They used to say "Mama please keep your answers short."
"Do you work? If yes, what's your job profile?" enquired Ms.Chin
"No" came a quick response.
"So how's your day like; what is your routine?" Ms.Chin asked. Good Old Tara couldn't understand the sentence completely but could somehow infer the meaning. She realized this question was on what she does amd this definitely required a detailed answer.
She replied "I do prayer in the morning and prepare breakfast. My next house comes and talk with me and then we slowly prepare lunch. Maid comes home.

I watch TV and sleep after that. In the evening two friends come. We sit in terrace and sometimes for a walk. We come home by 7.30 to prepare dinner fast and then see serials. My relatives come home sometimes and my children call me many times." She ended with a tired smile, pleased with the lucid description of her daily routine.

Ms. Chin then asked "What else would you like to do in the US other than meeting your children?" "I will prepare Biryani for my son-in-law. Then I will see the nice places. I will miss serials so I will call my friend daily."Good Old Tara replied. However serious Ms.Chin tried to look, this reply brought a low giggle which she found hard to control.

Ms.Chin then concluded by saying "Alright madam your interview is done".

Good Old Tara heaved a sigh of relief ans did seemed pretty confident, afterall she had seen Ms.Chin smile on more than a single occasion.

Alas, she heard the dreaded words that her Visa had been rejected and she could apply for it again after a while.
Good Old Tara was really disappointed and hardly wanted to hear the next few sentences. She was wondering if the dramatic stories told to her by her friends were actually true. They always compared the Visa interview to a dice, whatever your profile you have only a sixth of a chance to get a six.
She then spoke to her kids and together they tried to figure out the reasons. They too weren't sure and were a tad tried trying to find out the reasons.
The few possible reasons that came to their mind were the ones below but none of them seemed conclusive.

Possible reasons could have be:

She might not leave the US because of her love for Pizzas.
The clear indications she gave on her kids badly wanting to see her in the US.
They possibly thought she would start a Biryani restaurant in the US.
She did not have any commitments in India, never spoke about her property.
Do Visa-reject applicants need to be told the reasons for their reject by the officials concerned, was something they were thinking about. However the only next step they could take now was to apply again and hopefully they have better luck this time.

India and China - growth beyond boundaries

Anything that is created must sooner or later die. Enlightenment is permanent because we have not produced it; we have merely discovered it.
Chogyam Trungpa (famous Buddhist quote)

Staggering stats - India & China share common ground in many fields, yet there are a few clear-cut differences too.

India has got the chunk of the BPO industry. There are indications of a further increase, this along with their software export makes it a lively economy.
China on the other hand is going to become the biggest economy by 2050. Low manufacturing costs resulting in cheap exports has boasted their economy.

At present India's growing at 8% annually and soon they are expected to stablise at 10% annually. Their GDP per capita is 800 billion dollars.
China which had seen tremendous growth percentages of 15% during mid-90s and 13% in 2001, will also coast along a growth percentage of 10%. China's GDP per capita is 6300 billion dollars.
We need to note the growth of the US at 2% and their GDP per capita being 13000 billion dollars.

There are a few distinctive differences though they share a similar genre of workforce. Their ideals and implementational techniques vary to a great extent.

To start with India and China took different approaches to population control. India were the liberal of the two in implementing the stringent measures required to control population.

While India’s average age is 26 and is espected to come down further, China’s population seems to have got steady and has even reached a stage where it's working class has slowly started to dwindle. This in effect would mean a smaller workforce. India will have a growing working class, the concern would be on the proportional growth in agriculture and employment opportunities thats required.
Need to note that Japan has a huge depleting working population. Soon around 25-30% of the population would be above the age of 60.

However for India and China to grow they need to over come few hurdles.

China would have to expand its English-speaking population. Huge strides have already been made towards this goal.

India on the other hand needs to be proactive on Infrastructure development, currently they have their task cut out.

The focus and strength of emerging powers would be in identify their weaknesses and converting them to strengths. With World Business looking eastwards, it would be interesting to track the economic development of these two economic powers.

Let's think before we drink

I did visualize on aspects while watching a debate on TV, the topic there being ‘Have the youth been drinking excessively?’

We also had a poll on this topic in PressMart.
The poll results: Yes-74% No-5% Can't say-21%

But the question here is when people decide it’s enough for the day. The following could be signs:

1. Calling for support when you’re neck deep though your stomach can always float.
2. Start admiring an empty glass when nothing can turn you on.
3. When you start saying legs instead of pegs, you need to switch off.
4. When you hear the bouncers tell you to bend, instead of end.

Below are a few situations that today’s people might experience:

#1 You really wouldn’t want to drink and drive. But what are the options. A few could be:
a)Shell out a few bucks for your Chauffeur to take you home. Well, all’s well that ends well.
b)Some can avoid drinks altogether, you can consider the option of being content with the snacks served along with the drinks.
c)One way could be to just walk home; however avoid walking home all alone. You could land up in wrong place at the wrong time or you may even call it a night midway.

#2 An Invitation warmly extended. Given below are few ways of bringing people to such Parties:
a) There is a party in our apartment Sagar* and we’re serving drinks. This according to Sagar* is a typical way of inviting people to an Party in the city of Delhi.
b) You’ve done great; you need to celebrate with a bottle of Champagne. Wonder if this is the only thing on the Party menu.
c) Or maybe use the Kingfisher motto in your invitation. Let’s ‘Live life King size’.

While you have the right to make choices, the bottom line here is if you want more power you need to be responsible.

Rights deserved or rights reserved

What is the Reservation voice all about? The debate’s already started and the reservation noise is being heard far and wide. You surely must be having your point of view. We have given a summary of both views for you to decide on the sensitive subject.

Anti-reservation policy view

Sincerity in social upliftment could be portrayed giving the means and not alms.

While the pro-reservation contingent talk about a difference of only 2-5 marks of advantage for the backward students. But there have been instances where they have not been many even in this special category. So there are some who even get in with just qualifying marks of 50-60% because of their special quota.

Would the HRD minister go to such a doctor of fly with such a pilot in cockpit? This is an unhealthy as well as a dangerous practise.

Being in a premiere institution without reaching the level of competence required only leads to depression and a few of these students even get suicidal.

Pro-reservation policy view

As it was said during the recent State election campaigns, this could definitely be a way of bridging the gap between the have and have-nots.

Most of these students once through, do have a sense of gratefulness and are therefore more likely to help bring up the other backward societies. Their success will also inspire many other kids from these societies to look forward to a bright future.

These students could also give their prospective companies and education institutions different perspectives to think about. This would inturn help the organizations to analyze ground realities in Rural India and come up with more realistic plans.

(Mal)Function

Watch out for the power of the Camera
Catch the TRP rating of shows shoot up
Shakespeare might have said all the world’s a stage, men and women mere actors.

But we have heard something different and maybe the flavor of the season

Wardrobe Malfunction
Is this fashion mania by the fashion maniacs.

Jerry chases D Cat

This is about an ePaper article that I had read on Trinity Mirror Midland's 'Birmingham Mail'. First would like to give you a brief up of the Newspaper. Trinity Mirror is the premier newspaper in the UK and the no.2 in Europe.

According to the article the Stilton Cheese Makers Association has bizarrely come up with a new brand of scent called the Eau de Stilton. They have chosen the glamourous TV presenter Cat Deeley to promote their product.

For those who are not aware of the Stilton Cheese. Here is a brief up:
Stilton Cheese is made in England and claimed by many as the chief variety of Cheese. This type of cheese gives out a very pungent aroma, which puts it among the most smelly objects around. The the Stilton Cheese production rights are given to only three regions of England, which are Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire.

Now the FAQs

# Why would people try this weird scent?

1) Those people who would not want to be sniffed at by other people. As the caption goes 'not to be sniffed at' by others.
2)A man had said that the Stilton Cheese reminded him of a Scottish Bar. The nostalgic ones might just save it.
3)While another group of people who could try this are those living with the tag of being Style Icons (indifferently different and am sure they would beg to differ). We will have to wait to see if this is a fashion statement.

#Who might shell out any amount to buy this Scent:

1) Women who do not want to be sniffed by 'we men'.
2) The overly possessive men might also overuse it.
3) Employees of the Scottish Bar Association.
4) Pet-lovers and Mouse-hunters might also get it.

#A few unanswered questions:
1. Is it only for the Women? The Metrosexual men of today are surely going to find out.
2. The exact odour and the cost of the brand.

A final quote as Friends star Lisa Kudrow would sing.
Smelly Cat, Smelly Cat,What are they feeding you?Smelly Cat, Smelly CatIt's not your fault

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