news views and analysis

In another ridiculous move by Google to appease some governments, Google has removed the name Persian Gulf from its Google Maps site. There has been a long standing dispute where surrounding countries want to call it the Gulf of Arabia or the Arabian Gulf.

Google’s solution in trying to appease to everyone is to remove the name totally.

The channel of water has been called Persian Gulf for millenia, much before the idea or notion of an Arab entity even existed.

The direct link to Google Maps: http://g.co/maps/2s5rd

Here is a BBC Persian report of this same issue: http://www.bbc.co.uk/persian/iran/2012/05/120504_l51_persian_gulf_google_maps.shtml

A milestone day for India. One of the greatest batsmen of this generation retires today. Well played Dravid. Thanks for the entertainment all these years.

More on Dravid.

• One of the great things about Rahul Dravid was how, without being falsely modest, he could leave cricket behind when off the field and connect with the world at a real level
• Eight of Dravid’s best: Rahul Dravid retired from Test and domestic first-class cricket on March 9. We look back at eight of his best Test performances from his 16-year long career
• The Dravidian Era

Men Are Just Happier People

What do you expect from such simple creatures?
Your last name stays put.
The garage is all yours.
Wedding plans take care of themselves.
Chocolate is just another snack…
You can be President.
You can never be pregnant.
You can wear a white T-shirt to a water park.
You can wear NO shirt to a water park.
Car mechanics tell you the truth.
The world is your urinal.
You never have to drive to another gas station restroom because this one is just too icky.
You don’t have to stop and think of which way to turn a nut on a bolt.
Same work, more pay.
Wrinkles add character. Read More

What is Single Malt?

Single malt is so-called because the malt comes from a single distillery. It is a whisky refined by a single distillery, using malted barley as the only grain ingredient. Each distillery has its own distinct taste, flavour and style and single malts bear that. Some world-renowned single malts are Glenfiddich, Glenmorangie, Glenlivet, Glenkinchie and if you move into the rare varieties, Port Ellen. Enjoying a single malt is a connoissseur’ s job and you have to learn to be one.  A single grain, as distinct from a single malt, is a grain whisky made at one distillery, while the single malt is made with barley.

What is Blended Whisky?

Blended whisky is a mixture of single malt whiskys and ethanol derived from grains. Developed for those who could not stommach the strong taste of whisky, it is a combination of malt and grain whiskys. First distilled and bottled by Andrew Usher in Edinburgh in the early 1860s, it turned out to be softer, lighter and more palatable. The character of the whisky is determined not only by the proportions of malt and grain whisky, but also by the ages of the individual whiskies and the manner in which they are combined to bring out the finest qualities in each other. Most whisky drunk across the world is blended whisky. Famous Grouse, Bells, Teacher’s, Whyte & Mackay and Johnnie Walker are a few that are well-known.

What is the difference between Whisky and Whiskey?

Alcohol, malted or not, made from grain which is produced in Scotland is called WHISKY, while it is called WHISKEY if it is produced in USA or Ireland. American whiskey is called Bourbon and is made from grain. Bourbon is at least 51 per cent corn or maize. Scotch whisky is generally double distilled, while Irish whiskey is generally distilled three times. Wheat whisky is the rarest whisky. Rye whiskies are mostly popular within the US. Scotch whisky is whisky that has been distilled and matured in Scotland for at least three hours in oak casks.

Read More

On Eastern express highway
Navratan tel in my hair
Warm smell of theplas
rising up in the air
Up ahead in the distance
I saw a shimmering light
My had grew havy, aney, my sight grew dim
It was Hetal ben I was right!

There she stood on the highway
I heard the ringtone bale
And I was thinking to myself
This could be Phalguni Pathak, not Adele
Then she lit up a metch stick and she showed me the way
There were voices down the corridor
I thote I heard them say…

Read More

This is a google cache copy of the article in The Caravan that appeared a few months ago. Our man Arindam has now sued Caravan and Google for over 50 crores in damange. Read below and make up your mind.

How Arindam Chaudhuri made a fortune off the aspirations—and insecurities—of India’s middle classes

A PHENOMENALLY WEALTHY INDIAN who excites hostility and suspicion is an unusual creature, a fish that has managed to muddy the waters it swims in. The glow of admiration lighting up the rich and the successful disperses before it reaches him, hinting that things have gone wrong somewhere. It suggests that beneath the sleek coating of luxury, deep under the sheen of power, there is a failure barely sensed by the man who owns that failure along with his expensive accoutrements. This was Arindam Chaudhuri’s situation when I first met him in 2007. He had achieved great wealth and prominence, partly by projecting an image of himself as wealthy and prominent. Yet somewhere along the way he had also created the opposite effect, which—in spite of his best efforts—had given him a reputation as a fraud, scamster and Johnny-come-lately.

Read More

417 emails received…

533 emails sent…

1000+ pages of paper/documentation….printed

100+ scans

50+ phone calls

50 signatures upto closing

56 signatures x 2 people at closing.

One apartment

A moment etched in time.