RIDICULOUS MODE OF TRAVEL

People I am an undeniable fast car fan; not of the Bugatti Veyron ilk but rather of the classy Porsche breed. Yet, even an avowed speed freak like me appreciates the sense in conserving fuel and minimizing pollution. But a particular Indian motor company is not being particularly helpful in tipping the balance in favor of electric cars. The company in question is the utterly style devoid REVA! Tada!...as if that was any surprise at all!

At no other time in history has the world been so collectively aware of the fuel crisis; what with the humongous increase in the fuel prices? And as a result most people are looking to cut corners wherever possible, starting with the kitchen to the daily commute to the work place. And an electric car makes very good sense in this situation. However, as I have already dealt with in a previous blog post there is something that governs the spending of the average buyer- style! I mean even 5 year old kids will give the locally produces undies a miss in favor of the 'Phoren' maal these days!

Take a look at the ultra monstrosity( in a lesser size than the word implies) that is the REVA car. It looks like it belongs inside a bakery, rather than on the roads- it's appearance all but resembling a loaf of piping hot bread! The proportions of the car are itself rather 'cutesy' but the whole treatment of the aesthetic aspect totally reduces me to a mess. The utter lack of concern for the better style judgment of people like me has convinced me that either of two things happened;

1. The REVA was designed by a pre-cambrian man who by some queer process survived thousands of years un-mummified. Style being wholly confined to the number of animal tooth and nails around the neck during the time, one can quite grudgingly humor his failure with the REVA experiment.
2. The second and more plausible explanation is that the REVA is actually being produced by giant automobile companies that are scheming to permanently put off the general public from the idea of ever owning an electric car! Think how much sense that makes... produce an electric car so grotesque that people would rather choose self-annihilation from too much pollution instead of squeezing themselves into a mobile loaf of bread!

Whatever the case I think that the REVA is doing a huge dis-service to the whole conservation movement by pressing such an ancient car( I am actually against using such a name to describe the REVA; cart would be a better word, no?) into the general consciousness. In this 21st century that is obsessed with style to such overwhelming degrees something like the REVA makes absolutely no sense.

However, there is still hope. Give the car some time to mature on a good designer's drawing board and who knows we might actually see it become a stylish, and not to mention environmentally conscious, product. As of now I'd rather ride a tricycle instead of driving that piece of ju*k!

As the grand finale, there was an episode of the BBC show 'Top Gear', the fuel guzzling motor enthusiast's favorite program, that did a small rendezvous with the REVA that has been launched in Britain too. The Britishers being rather stoic in their style sense like everything else we can quite understand the motivation of the people at REVA for launching it there. What they did with the REVA was novel to say the least. Simply put they fitted the REVA with a remote controlled device, played it like they'd do with a RCA toy and finally blew it up! I have to confess that the satisfaction I felt on seeing it being blown up was sinfully close to the satisfaction I got on watching Nadal finally beat that boring Federer at Wimbledon!

HEART BREAKING!

This morning I got up early( for a change!) and like I usually do the first thing I did was log on to BBC.com to check the latest news and get my Wimbledon update. While reading about Hillary and Obama's tryst, and other run of the mill news I came across something that literally broke my heart. Please find time to read this bit of news on BBC and support these unfortunate brothers and sisters of ours in whatever way possible. The link is below.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7474998.stm

NOT MY FAVORITE KIND OF PEOPLE

Ok, I know that the Bible and every other peace loving religion tells us to be loving to all. And thats all fine, but at least where preference in spending time with is concerned, there is a group of people that I'd rather not have regular contact with. Did that sound very pro-segregation? Believe me I am all for democracy and the equality of all men; in fact I believe in certain aspects of democracy that some of you might consider extreme. But in the area of company I reserve the right to chose, that too very carefully. The popular saying ' A man is known by the friends he keeps' bears a lot of truth, at least in my reckoning.

The group of people that I refer to are those people who have two traits in combination. Misery and generosity! Yes, thats right- miserable people who have a generous bent to their personality. The reason is that they find reasons in every slight thing to be miserable, but they will not be content with that; no sir, they are generous remember? In fact they are so generous that they'd rather prefer to share their misery with ever other person they meet.

Misery is a trait that robs life of it's redeeming features; and believe me there are quite a few of them if we'd care to look in the right places. It slowly takes from a person the will to live and what's left is a human that is as positive and alive as the last wisp of smoke escaping a dying candle! There are enough reasons in life to make one feel like giving up, and in this dark situation misery does not help at all. The people who have a habit of being perpetually miserable not only harm themselves but also those around them. Have you ever felt that being with certain people for a long period of time makes you self pitying and fearful? More often than not such people are those who complain unceasingly about every darned thing. It's almost as if they were carbon dioxide that sucks off the very light that sustains life!

I do not suggest that we completely abandon them; in fact they need whatever help they can get. But marinating in their company will not do a person any good. Like I mentioned earlier, there are enough reasons in life to feel bad about without adding the added burden of a miserable person's negativity to the list. Spend time with them and try to help them see the positive side to life; but when you start feeling like you are turning into them, escape! Find people who are positive and cheerful because like misery cheerfulness also rubs off on others. One very good reason to be cheerful yourself; God knows this blasted world needs it! Talk about being self contradictory!

Miserable and generous- surely a most lethal combination if ever there was one!

MEN BEING HUNTED LIKE ANIMALS!

Yes, you read the title right, and mind you it's not sensationalized. It is as honest and straight forward as the statement 'the sun rose today!'. People are being hunted for no fault of theirs in the 21st century. The reason for this hateful development is not leisure or entertainment, though one can argue that it is in fact a reality in certain places.

The place is Tanzania and the time is 8 in the morning. Little Alice* is getting ready to go to school and when her mother announces that the security has arrived she hurriedly stuffs her books into the bag and rushes out. Contrary to what this scene might suggest she is not the daughter of the president. She is not even the daughter of a rich man. Alice is an albino- that rare condition in which the skin loses it's pigmentation and becomes pale white. The condition is not contagious in any way, neither does it affect the efficiency of the patient in any way. The need for security for this little albino girl arises from the fact that her kind are being hunted for their skin and bones and other body parts!

Tanzania, like many of it's African fellow nations has a history that is deeply rooted in witch craft and voodoo. The voodoo priests still exert a huge influence on the general populace even in today's world. It is these voodoo priests that have popularized the view that the albinos have non-human powers and that their body parts will bring favor on people. Thus albinos, including little children, are being hunted like animals and their body parts are being sold as voodoo aids. The albino community is very understandably alarmed and fearful for their lives. The government has taken note of this most unfortunate development and has deployed security to protect the albino community. As a result kids like Alice have to have security even to go to their schools lest they be hunted like animals!

This is alarming and disconcerting to an extreme degree. But if we stop to consider it carefully the same seems to be the case for certain other groups of people: the difference being that we have sanctioned it. And the biggest motivator for our sanction is fear. Irrational and unjustifiable fear. In India there have been instances where entire communities of Dalits or untouchables have been lynched merely on suspicion of thefts. How can this be justified? Have we not sanctioned their deaths with our indifference to their cause? Have we not relegated them to a position that's lower than human by silently allowing these events to occur? A single case of crime in a middle class affluent society has been given wide coverage and the entire law machinery has been pressed into service. What about the more than a dozen group of untouchables that were lynched in central India this year? They have been stowed away in some corner of the print media that is surprisingly very biased in it's coverage- the media that is supposed to lay everything on an equal platform.

The perversity of the albino hunt in Tanzania shocks us only because it represents something that we have not sanctioned. But what about the daily murder of dignity and pride we silently observe only because we have learned to live with them? Their fault is only that they belong to the wrong group, but is that a fault at all? Lets be more conscious of our role in society and not act as if we are merely observers. We are not- far from it, we are society itself. It's values, it's creed, it's laws and principles- we create and live them.

HOW TO BECOME IRRESISTIBLE!

Do you want to know the number one rule of becoming irresistible to women/men? Well if you really are desperate for some gyan read on.

For starters this is not based on research of any kind. The only basis for this writing is something far less daunting- simple commonsense, and not to mention plain experience. I am actually amazed at all the trouble people go to, to prove the most mundane things when commonsense more than suffices: they even have researches on the connection between too much speaking and hair loss- actually I am being too creative here, but who knows!

So then a friend mourned his absolute lack of luck with women. I naturally asked him what he thought the problem was. Poor guy thought it was because he was not very rich- which I will have to agree he's not. But anyway though being loaded is sure an incentive, to the wrong kind of girls I may add, I told him that it was far from the truth. If all women ended up with rich men what chance do down and out guys like us have, eh. And in any case even the condemned need hope!

So I, who by the way fancy myself to be a part time philosopher, let him have my gyaan, unsolicited or otherwise.
The number one rule is...(trumpets accompanied by the blowing of horns and the sound of a heavenly choir)- BECOME INTERESTING!
Was that a little bit of a letdown? Well, don't be down because there is logic here.

The cardinal sin in the game of courtship is to become too self involved. When you become too self involved, you end up spending too much time thinking about your negatives and weaknesses. This while it obviously does no good to your self esteem, also leaves you with no time to develop your personality. On the contrary you even lose the positives because good social skills are learned through practice like any other skill. And what you learn you can also forget. What I suggested to him, that too with a fool proof guarantee, was that instead of spending all his time wondering what the problem was and uselessly worrying about it, he should make an investment- in himself.

I know this for a fact that most guys would rather spend time with someone who's interesting. Yes, a woman who looks like a cross between Angelina Jolie and Megan Fox will have our undivided attention even if she has insect brains. But not for long! The fact is that after the initial period of attraction it is the personality of a person that becomes far more involving than the appearance or bank balance. The same can be said for women too, though this might seem to be a blatant generalization. Correct me if I'm wrong ladies. Everyone prefers to be with an interesting person who does not speak nonsense every time they open their mouth.

Believe me when I say that the human personality is like the real estate business. You will get your returns in proportion to your investment. And in this case what you invest is time. Get busy finding your interests and start working on it. You will most certainly surprise yourself with what an interesting person you really are.

Ok, here are a few practical pointers,

1. Find something that genuinely interests you. It can be anything from books to jazz or culture, but find an interest. Ok, on second thoughts lets rule out collecting soiled socks- that'd be disastrous I have to admit no matter how much it interests you! Now gather information about this interest of yours and build on your knowledge volume on the subject. Before long you'll realize that you do not have to struggle to find a conversation topic anymore. It goes without saying that having varied interest naturally makes you that much more of an interesting person to know.
2. Do not take yourself too seriously! The reason for this is that doing so makes you self centered and therefore unaware of how others are reacting to you. Have a sense of humor not only where it concerns others but also when it concerns you too. You will discover that you have then become a more sensitive person.
3. Be kind to yourself. Allow yourself to make a few mistakes. This does two things. First it makes you come across as human, and secondly it takes off a huge pressure from yourself of trying to be flawless, which we are not.
4. Do not always react. Instead when the time is right ACT! This is a huge problem with most of us, and rightly so too. Some of us always seem to wait for the other person to act before we react. However, prudence and wisdom demands that we have to act too, as and when the occasion requires us to. Granted, the question of when and how to act is something that we can only learn through trial and error. But who said courting was easy?
5. The final pointer that I'd like to give you is - learn to live with failure! J.K Rowling recently said that her failures helped her become successful and I have to agree with her totally. I even came out with my own slogan ' Nothing prepares you for success like failure'. I do not mean that we should go around looking to fail so we can be successful. What I mean to say instead is that we should learn to look at failure with the right perspective. I like to think that facing failure is like being given a clean slate to start all over again! So be prepared for failure in relationships and courting too.

These are certainly not magic tricks but simple commonsense like I've already mentioned. And then I'll also have to warn you that if you have thoughts of trying them on a Hollywood celebrity you have a huge chance of being arrested on charges of stalking! So be wise and choose carefully because when it comes to relationships it involves so much more than the physical aspects. The magic words again are BECOME INTERESTING! But then again I've already told you that it's no magic... Ah, you try them and decide for yourself.

Ciao then and all the best!

KURT NILSEN

Here's something for your music fix. Kurt Nilsen is a singer from Norway who incidentally won the world idol competition. I know that seems rather corny with all that American Idol has come to be associated with- read all show and very less talent. But this guy's different if I may say so.

His first album with the rather quirky name 'I' established him as a major Norwegian singer . Other albums followed; "A part of me', 'Push Push', 'Rise to the occasion'. Now he's one of the most well known singers in Europe and seems all set to break into America as well.

Something that has been a constant thorn in his side is that he does not exactly have the good looks you might expect of a star. One of the judges in the World Idol notoriously compared him to a hobbit! But instead of taking it in a negative way he has risen above it and made some very nice music. Proving once and for all that talent need not necessarily by hijacked by looks! Very inspiring.

His latest 'Lost Highway', a collaboration with Willie Nelson, the country legend is a very nice take on the original performed by Hank Williams. ' Last storm', ' Push Push', are also some other very good tracks. If you want to explore more of this musician follow the link below on MYSPACE. Enzoyy!

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=194341627

UPDATE ON THE PHILIPS HP 200

Like I promised before I am here to give you an update on how my affair with the Philips can is progressing. A week now into our relationship I am finding out more about it, and it is very much like a woman in one department- it's very temperamental!

The experience is kinda like having a multi flavored ice cream- only there are certain flavors you'd rather avoid. And truth be told it's someone else's favorite ice cream altogether. Not mine.

I had mentioned the rather good bass reproduction before. And it seems to have gotten a lil better with pink noise break in. As a result listeners of techno, trance and hip hop will probably like the sound now.

However, the part that has not gotten even marginally better is the Mids! Let me break it down for those who do not understand the concept of mids, highs and lows. They basically have to do with the sound frequencies; in that the positioning on the audio scale determines whether they are Mids , Highs , or Lows. The highs are usually associated with the word treble and the lows with bass- concepts that most people are familiar with. However mids become a lil tricky to understand. I'd say to simplify things that the mid frequencies are where the major body of then vocals lie. In short it's what gives the vocals it's thickness. The absence of mids will especially irk fans of modern rock and alternative music...

The modern rock and alternative genres are characterized by the heavy usage of overdrive in the guitars and the snare drums. The two things that this Philips absolutely sucks at reproducing! The bad mid reproduction means that the bite has been taken out of the electric guitar overdrive and the snares sound like tin cans! And since I am a very heavy listener of the alternative genre I'm naturally disappointed. It's quite pathetic really in this area.

So even though I am not a fan of techno and trance it seems like I'll be listening to these two genres quite a bit. And it's mainly because I cannot stand bad sound! Not because I am contemplating permanently switching genres. I hope that this gives you an idea of what to look for when you're looking for a pair of cans: your taste in music should ultimately determine what you buy, not the brand or cost of the headphone. Ciao!