Thank you - Anna Hazare

"Hazare ended his 98-hour protest after the government issued a gazette notification constituting a 10-member Joint Committee of ministers and civil society activists, including him, to draft an effective Lokpal Bill."

A great achievement. A selfless gesture by a person, not for personal gain.

It was the kick start that everyone was waiting for. Although majority of the public suffers from corruption and wishes he/she could do something, the action was missing.

Thanks to Anna to have opened up a path, a way towards light at the end of the tunnel.

Corruption in India is not restricted to the major ones like 2G, Adharsh, Bofors or the other 100 well known ones. Corruption is part of day-to-day life - In Roads, hospitals, All government establishments, everywhere.

Corruption free India will be a much Safer and Happier place to live.

The few 1000s of politicians have become Corrupt and act blatantly, without any fear or hesitation. There is hope now that the Crores of voters can again be Masters over this small minority!

Support for Anna Hazare in Chennai - Beach, Near Gandhi Statue

In Chennai, there was a candle light vigil today near Gandhi statue - About 500+ supports had turned up and were enthusiastic in voicing their opinion against corruption.

From Citi Notes

Programs/events in Chennai:
Morning 9 to evening 5 - Prayer meetings in Thakkar baba school, Venkatanarayana Road, T.nagar (Near TTD )
Evenings 6.30 to 8.00 p.m. - Candle light vigil near Gandhi statue ,Marina beach.


Coordinator contacts for Chennai
Venkata Narayan Krishnan 9940066327
Venkata Prasad 9382525222, 9500032718

To find contacts for Anna hazare support in your cities, check out http://indiaagainstcorruption.org/citycontacts.php

Reference websites
http://indiaagainstcorruption.org/
www.annahazare.org

Heroes or Zero-s? - Where are the Heroes when required to support a cause

Anna Hazare has taken up a very courageous step in fighting against corruption.

Where are our Reel life Heroes when we need them. (Applause to some of them who have come out and supported, who had the courage and the goodwill)

While they fight causes in studios, where are they when they are needed?

Where are the Stars, Super Starts, Kings and others?

Check out http://indiaagainstcorruption.org/. Take action!

India Wins ICC world cup 2011

What a wonderful feeling. Indian team won the world cup after 1983. I still remember a few moments from that match

Micheal holding's runup from near the boundary line, Mohinder Amarnath's wickets going cartwheeling, Srikanths' pull, Greenidge shouldering up only to get bowled, Mohinder Amarnaths victory run and of course the Champagne and celebrations from the Lord's Pavilion

2011 is a great win. The team really went about winning in a no-nonsense way.

Just like Spain in Soccer, it was good to see a "Clean" team winning the world cup.

And as an added feather in the cap, India went on to beat all the previous world cup winners in the correct order - Windies, Aussies, Pakistan and finally Srilanka.

Kudos - Indian team and Kudos Dhoni. Dhoni shone as a cool, controlled captain and the indian team played as a unit with a mission. Sachin thoroughly deserves this missing cup on his shelf.

Carry on and show the world how to play and win "Cleanly"!!!!!

50Bucks, R.K. Salai: Good value for money

Had the chance to go to 50bucks restaurant more than a couple of times over the past few months. It deserves appreciation on a few things

1. Nice, simple concept and a straight forward way of marketing (all dishes are either 50bucks or less)
2. Found a nice niche segment - nicely positioned between the Mess kind of eateries and the restaurants
3. Good menu/choices
4. Neat interiors - Nicely setup tables, simplistic and clean
5. Not too stingy on the Air conditioner

They are true to their name, 50 bucks or less. Menu consists of South indian, North indian, Oriental, Thai, Mexican and Continental choices in both Vegetarian as well as Non. I have tried south indian Thali, Shanghai fried rice, Pasta, Lasagna, Thai rice with Curry etc and they have been good. The portions are decent.

Obviously, they are doing good as can be seen from the increasing lines and the fact that most times the place is filled.

A few suggestions to make the experience "better"

1. Cleanliness - Steel wares, plates as well as the cleaning procedure (till about a week ago it involved just brushing stuff from tables to the ground)
2. Service – Initially there were less employees, but they were nice and smiley, now there are more guys (with nice uniforms), but the care and attention is definitely gone..

I have not mentioned about the food quality/taste here. It is Good. Not bad, not great, but good enough.

Bhagavata Mela - Rukmini Kalyanam, A fantastic treat

Normally I am not one who has opportunities to view art, theater, performances etc., so it was a pleasure when I got the good fortune to witness the dance drama "Rukmini Kalyaman" in Karnataka sangha school auditorium on 29 Dec 2010.

The drama was presented in a unique form called "Bhagavata mela" where a fixed set of stories from Bhagavatam are being enacted in the traditional form over many years (More about Bhagavata mela @http://www.bhagavatamela.org/)

The event started with some details about Melattur Bhagavata Mela and its unique properties. (Melattur is a village near Thanjavur and this art form is being practised only in about 5-6 villages around Thanjavur). The songs are sung in Telugu (as written originally many decades ago) and all artists are amateur male artists.

The dances follow a method in which each character was introduced by performing a traditional dance routine and then the drama unfolded.

Totally the dance drama was for about 2.5 hours (seems it is a smaller edition for city). The dances and the sincerity from the artists was just amazing. The singers were prefect to the last beat and the dances were graceful and beautiful.

The best part was by Rukmini, the grace, dance and the makeup was amazing. The emotions, pathos and the dance movements were so real that after a point in time, it was very difficult to remember that it was a male artist performing the role (Most of the audience felt the same)

The artists included doctors, bank officials, retired Government officers, Engineering college kids and like.

Though the event was free, there was sparse audience (about 50 in a room capable of 900+ seats). Kudos to Sponsor who helped in bringing such an art to the city and Kudos to the artists and their hardwork.

Would have been great if some of the portions were explained a bit more for the audience, but that was a minor glitch which I am sure they'll overcome in coming events.

All in all it was a great event as I got to see a theater at work and I wish the team a big success.

Garbage - The urban malady

Of all the illness and malady of urban life - The Garbage problem takes the cake!.

Here is the garbage in bang in front of a health center ....And we wonder why urbanites face so many health related problems and issues ..