tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-71452876461929446382024-03-16T12:58:15.670+05:30Wandering ThoughtsWelcome to the world of my Wandering Thoughts... Feel free to explore more!Aashish Soodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01008682342586125061noreply@blogger.comBlogger127125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7145287646192944638.post-74487789853292233492022-01-09T22:20:00.000+05:302022-01-09T22:20:01.357+05:30New Blog for CAT and other exam preparation tips<div style="text-align: justify;">I have been working extensively in the education segment for around 7 years now. More specifically, I am into Management Entrance exams preparation.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I have written several articles on Rediff.com and have been previously published in newspapers several times.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Since I write on several topics, like exam preparation strategy, motivation articles and various other posts for students, I have decided to start writing another blog, however sporadically.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Feel free to visit me at <a href="https://quantsensei.blogspot.com">https://quantsensei.blogspot.com</a></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">You can reach also reach my telegram channel at <a href="https://t.me/quantsensei">https://t.me/quantsensei</a></div></div>Aashish Soodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01008682342586125061noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7145287646192944638.post-15485976190491671822021-11-16T21:41:00.000+05:302021-11-16T21:41:25.007+05:30A piercing news...<p><span style="font-family: verdana;">I have always been super conservative. I am a dad of two boys and have always been conscious of my actions. I teach. Students of all ages and all background. Even students who are working themselves.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">I don't like to try anything ostentatious. I even buy shirts with nothing written on them.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">But there was something that I had been wanting to try for so long.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Something which is so not me.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">I wanted to get an ear piercing. Don't ask why! Just a random flex.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">I was scared. What would everyone say? What would my students say? Would my kids disown me? Would it hurt? What if it gets infected? Would it hurt really bad?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">So, finally got the courage.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_yLu8WqvVNElUTAh-p2ArEICU6gIk0hPJgpSL1uPwr6_mJEZPuwwo7Dtyk2VfxQPMVrmujFLegBaB0LRJvCDqKT_QgNtf0laa30rSS9JLjadHvfPajUlUvZWA621R6pjgTHkpiyRst0kU/s1280/photo_2021-11-16_21-37-14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="960" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_yLu8WqvVNElUTAh-p2ArEICU6gIk0hPJgpSL1uPwr6_mJEZPuwwo7Dtyk2VfxQPMVrmujFLegBaB0LRJvCDqKT_QgNtf0laa30rSS9JLjadHvfPajUlUvZWA621R6pjgTHkpiyRst0kU/w150-h200/photo_2021-11-16_21-37-14.jpg" width="150" /></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">And got the piercing done in right ear.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">PS: Still in the healing phase, so a basic silver wire. I have a stud in mind that will replace it. Will upload the then photo.<br /></span></p>Aashish Soodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01008682342586125061noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7145287646192944638.post-27851460422097505532020-08-11T08:34:00.006+05:302020-08-11T08:34:47.275+05:30What my kids have taught me! <span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Patience </b>– When you have two kids, both vying for your attention, not to mention that work you been putting off for such a long time and to top it all you are feeling sleepy; it takes all your strength not to pull out your hair or shriek at the top of your lung. Best bet is to take a deep breath and prioritize actions. Losing your cool at that moment will only add the task of soothing the kids and answering the scathing looks that your parents and/or spouse must be giving you by now.</span><div><b><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></b></div><div><b><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></b></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Putting yourself second</b> – When you have kids, your own requirements do tend to become a second priority; at least at times. Imagine having to go to bathroom on an urgent note, when your younger one also acknowledges a natures call – You have got to let them go first!</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Whatever you do, it will always fall short </b>– However fancy toy you may buy for them, they will still want to play with the Amazon box. So, don’t compensate with fancy toys. Take a scrap box and help them make something out of it; even if it’s a pen stand. Trust me, it will be a much more satisfying experience for all of you.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Kids will fall sick </b>– However best you try, those little buggers will fall ill. Take them out too much, they will fall ill from over exposure. Take them out less, they will fall ill due to lack of sufficient immune system. Play with them a lot, they will get tired too much and get fever from over exertion. Don’t play with at all, they will watch TV and phones and get thick spectacles.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>As an addendum to the point above, Don’t Google </b>– Further to above point, don’t begin to search their symptoms on google. According to Google, a mild rash on the back will quickly turn out to be <i>LymphoCircomaoftheIntestine</i>. Trust your gut and take a deep, calming breath.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">Ability to adapt – Would you have believed in March 2020 had I told you that in a few days your life is going to change. You will have to work from home, have classes online and not go out at all? I know I wouldn’t have. But both my boys took to their online classes. Yes, there were initial hiccups, but the proficiency with which they adapted to the change was phenomenal. Not to mention the IT enablement which has grown leaps and bounds.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>What you sow is what you reap</b> – When you and family are spending “quality time” with your family, make no mistake you are also under sever scrutiny from your kids. They are watching you like hawks. Dare you take a mis-step and they begin to load their ammunition. Any deviance from a standardized behavior is like an addition to their already bulging arsenal. You step out of the proverbial "<i>Laxman Rekha</i>" and be prepared for that example being cited in a totally relevant, but inappropriate, context; in a way that is bound to leave you red - faced.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Unending quest for knowledge</b> – Have you ever wondered who will win in a fight between “<i>Pokemon Dr. Strange</i>” and “<i>Ben 10 – Alien X</i>”? Me neither. And my kids provided me with a step by step logical analysis of who would win and why? Do you know the dwarf planets of our solar system? I do! Not because I wanted to. But because I was a willing audience for them. In exchange, they now have their views on political parties and while they address a politician with honorific “ji”; another politician is called by his bare surname.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Learn to enjoy the little moments </b>– All that time away from the malls and the vacation culture, and you realize that it’s not that the kids really want an expensive vacation. In fact, mine didn’t even talk about any. Then, why do we have that incessant need to have a social media friendly vacation? Why can’t we just have a lazy weekend? Why can’t we embrace our inner child and do something stupid with them? Have a cooking activity. Read stories. Watch their cartoons. Binge watch MCU.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">All in all. They can make you borderline crazy (Don't let my wife hear that).</span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: helvetica;">And then bring you back from the brink of insanity with those puppy eyes!</span></div></blockquote>Aashish Soodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01008682342586125061noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7145287646192944638.post-65108178514988825512020-03-11T11:09:00.000+05:302020-03-11T11:09:17.680+05:30Dilemma of a CEO!!!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I have been meaning to write this for so long.</div>
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A new CEO was appointed for a 70 years old company. The company had always been a very profitable venture. </div>
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However, off late, several troubles had been brewing. The year on year growth in the revenue has been below the estimated numbers. Management decisions have been questionable at best. Different employee unions were always at war with each other. Several departments have started to operate as an independent entity with no concern whatsoever to the well being of the parent company. Some employees have also been rumored to sell confidential internal information to competitive companies for various incentives. One particular manager even had the audacity to have his wife fill in for him, while he was incarcerated on a scam.</div>
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The past three CEOs have been from the same family. Hence, a lot of key management personnel were from within their family. In fact, a lot of subsidiaries were being held by various persons loyal to the previous CEOs. Various key decision-making persons from different departments were appointed by, and hence loyal to them. Several loss-making companies were inorganically absorbed, and the corrupt officers taken in good position or offered a hefty severance package!</div>
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The stakeholders, several lakhs, were ill-informed about the internal politics but displeased with the general state of the affairs of the company.</div>
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Furthermore, the structure of the company was indecipherable with no accounting for who is responsible for whom. In addition to the direct reporting structure, because of different loyalties, there were several indirect reporting structures as well.</div>
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And the best part? Nothing properly documented. Blatant scams going on in different subsidiaries, in different departments, across various levels of management. Several fake employee IDs withdrawing salaries for several decades. Some fake IDs even collected their retirements benefits as well. :)</div>
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Now the task facing the new CEO was:</div>
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A) How to put a new structure in place?</div>
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B) How to get everyone to accept the proposed new changes?</div>
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C) How to trim the un-necessary manpower placed by the previous CEOs without creating a mass hysteria? How to let go of Non-Performing Assets?</div>
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D) How to reduce the dependence on the majority of components being outsourced and how to inculcate internal problem-solving abilities?</div>
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E) How to combat the internal friction between the different departments and unions and to impress on them the need to follow a similar set of rules and regulations?</div>
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The major challenge being, how to do all of that when the internal structure has become so corrupt. Any new change introduced is met with a vehement disapproval from the employee unions, even if it were a change for their benefit. All because, the loyalists to previous CEOs were so deeply interspersed within the ranks.</div>
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The choices with the new CEO are simple:</div>
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A) Brave all the odds and the shouts from the unions. <u>Be prepared to get hated but take the moral high road and think of the benefits to the company masses and shareholders</u>.</div>
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B) <u>Let the things continue as before, and accept own kickbacks</u>.</div>
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<b>If you were in the shoes of the new CEO, what would you have done?</b></div>
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Aashish Soodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01008682342586125061noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7145287646192944638.post-17168132592398987152019-02-18T08:37:00.001+05:302019-02-18T13:55:35.543+05:30Long time no see<p dir="ltr">It has been quite a long time.</p>
<p dir="ltr">In fact around four and a half years that I posted anything on the blog.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Time has been very very tight these days but as a part of my new <u>year</u> resolution decided that I'll give however less or more time I can to the blog. Because writing was one thing which I really really cherished and I would like to continue to do so hopefully be able to provide you with some good content.</p>
<p dir="ltr">A lot has happened over these 4 years. I switched career. Was in consulting before. Loved the work. Didn't love the tere and conditions applied. </p>
<p dir="ltr">Am in education now. Still a work in progress but at least I am loving what I do...</p>
Aashish Soodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01008682342586125061noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7145287646192944638.post-58732788034632930112014-08-23T10:22:00.004+05:302014-08-23T10:22:32.599+05:30Have you taken your Ice Bucket Challenge yet?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNLCetNE8JiOVOX-XXTJzeO5ROHbOytk1IYWdkl8T_LAX7mFQOkBSEDJqNk-BR18A0fcTY205hZhGKxWBLAg9rgep7-aKafUvBeTjd2AQlzLLOituk4h_YY5N3rnjwey-BqC1GazywxiPV/s1600/IceBucketChallenge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNLCetNE8JiOVOX-XXTJzeO5ROHbOytk1IYWdkl8T_LAX7mFQOkBSEDJqNk-BR18A0fcTY205hZhGKxWBLAg9rgep7-aKafUvBeTjd2AQlzLLOituk4h_YY5N3rnjwey-BqC1GazywxiPV/s1600/IceBucketChallenge.jpg" height="128" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The Ice Bucket Challenge, basically, is dumping a bucket of ice water on one's head. In case, it has been associated with some diseases to promote donations to research.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The current version of the challenge dares nominated folks to be filmed having a bucket of ice water poured on their heads and challenging others to do the same. The nominated person has 24 hours to complete the challenge or make a donation to a charitable foundation. If they complete the challenge, the can call out a challenge to other people.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">There can be various versions of the challenge:</span></span></div>
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<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">If participant completed the challenge, they can donate amount; if they don’t, a multiple of x</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Donate only if challenge not completed</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Donate without attempting the challenge</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Donate as well as complete the challenge</span></span></li>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Off lately, challenge has gone viral with Hollywood and Bollywood celebrities, politicians, athletes, and public in general are going through this and challenging others to do the same.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">My peeve with all this is:</span></span></div>
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<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">All the hoopla around the challenge seems to be taking the seriousness of the diseases out of it. While researchers might be grateful for the inflow of funds; would it not be having a negative impact on people suffering from the diseases? Samsung has taken this opportunity to promote the waterproof feature of S5. View the video <a href="http://mashable.com/2014/08/22/samsungs-galaxy-s5-als-ice-bucket-challenge/" target="_blank">here</a> </span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Where has the good old anonymous donation gone? Why the race to claim the glory and prove that you did donate?</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Whether you donate or not, what’s the point of wasting so much water and ice, all the energy went into making potable water and cooling water sufficiently for it to become ice?</span></span></li>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Image source: http://www.golfwrx.com/228683/icebucketchallenge/</span></span></div>
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Aashish Soodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01008682342586125061noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7145287646192944638.post-32732936905495515502014-06-25T16:44:00.000+05:302014-06-25T16:44:26.205+05:30Consultant Speak #8<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipFlBQnldzqv9DJgu8p-XCtsIYlktpxsu2H0AxCsvdjYph_P82dY1HINc0_0BrSgu_Co_LRqN6RvpuhsniT9BzyB3Rlvuul0SDH0M12Oxwqs6NvV348t3s18i6y9m0s2rnZbamgeP6qJJE/s1600/Consultant+Speak+%238.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipFlBQnldzqv9DJgu8p-XCtsIYlktpxsu2H0AxCsvdjYph_P82dY1HINc0_0BrSgu_Co_LRqN6RvpuhsniT9BzyB3Rlvuul0SDH0M12Oxwqs6NvV348t3s18i6y9m0s2rnZbamgeP6qJJE/s1600/Consultant+Speak+%238.jpg" height="450" width="640" /></a></div>
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Aashish Soodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01008682342586125061noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7145287646192944638.post-21802915588415573032014-06-22T13:23:00.000+05:302014-06-22T13:23:00.349+05:30Consultant Speak #7<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPYEl0LyiAZw-Q55lzNaHUE3Jwz8rwhlfU4RHsPZ9vUamY7EMdtamw5tXHombOM7AiTatKav6hSYfrklFqmfEiGSahHj_cY95wUuJcYjctimk5_m74YKQ6ZuQdxS7gpSWif5APLXm7A4oY/s1600/Consultant+Speak+%237.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPYEl0LyiAZw-Q55lzNaHUE3Jwz8rwhlfU4RHsPZ9vUamY7EMdtamw5tXHombOM7AiTatKav6hSYfrklFqmfEiGSahHj_cY95wUuJcYjctimk5_m74YKQ6ZuQdxS7gpSWif5APLXm7A4oY/s1600/Consultant+Speak+%237.jpg" height="448" width="640" /></a></div>
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Aashish Soodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01008682342586125061noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7145287646192944638.post-78608522306354539022014-06-18T15:02:00.001+05:302014-06-18T15:02:39.300+05:30Consultant Speak #6<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyI27FSMBS4CVIrQzAfvXFtd1rIfd60r86dhc8HJzZo6HwICTe8a6K4sn4cNGgn_z2JzxYJe6hO-E4jQOCmdjv1Nfz039XIE7rU8VAh5M13pUeTAk-RjhJ0n7XW5wLJDpwbpQmhl6wSL9U/s1600/Consultant+Speak+%236.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyI27FSMBS4CVIrQzAfvXFtd1rIfd60r86dhc8HJzZo6HwICTe8a6K4sn4cNGgn_z2JzxYJe6hO-E4jQOCmdjv1Nfz039XIE7rU8VAh5M13pUeTAk-RjhJ0n7XW5wLJDpwbpQmhl6wSL9U/s1600/Consultant+Speak+%236.jpg" height="448" width="640" /></a></div>
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Aashish Soodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01008682342586125061noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7145287646192944638.post-47075745839499148232014-06-13T11:17:00.004+05:302014-06-13T11:17:56.350+05:30Consultant Speak #5<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7CZPW2Y4al3ouNGkQW8zqqMOb17Iq-wDBYL9QQ7HGoRlcM0ycC2eQAeNkSCjaXJri0HbeI2nyTNAIVZj7H8s_4nF4FqQ1fDlWCYdLSRO9vie_go-xvue0micgk789BvYa_BX2BNzwSeBp/s1600/Consultant+Speak+%235.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7CZPW2Y4al3ouNGkQW8zqqMOb17Iq-wDBYL9QQ7HGoRlcM0ycC2eQAeNkSCjaXJri0HbeI2nyTNAIVZj7H8s_4nF4FqQ1fDlWCYdLSRO9vie_go-xvue0micgk789BvYa_BX2BNzwSeBp/s1600/Consultant+Speak+%235.jpg" height="450" width="640" /></a></div>
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Aashish Soodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01008682342586125061noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7145287646192944638.post-58181522939099548472014-06-13T11:14:00.002+05:302014-06-13T11:14:30.542+05:30Consultant Speak #4<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8Nd_ziwYCUCCC5fmLJjO8vfQpsV2p1effFlapXCrytlV6wMo82HwhJoxWKmgnAt12lSyTvH-yI_WCBzpSQyHihyphenhyphenpUm01Oj3lY1kzzXjYn164IL8BZPcYkEXjQBP1Np8u2h_Z87AgwVOjf/s1600/Consultant+Speak+%234.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8Nd_ziwYCUCCC5fmLJjO8vfQpsV2p1effFlapXCrytlV6wMo82HwhJoxWKmgnAt12lSyTvH-yI_WCBzpSQyHihyphenhyphenpUm01Oj3lY1kzzXjYn164IL8BZPcYkEXjQBP1Np8u2h_Z87AgwVOjf/s1600/Consultant+Speak+%234.jpg" height="448" width="640" /></a></div>
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Aashish Soodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01008682342586125061noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7145287646192944638.post-50878963530556885232014-06-13T11:11:00.000+05:302014-06-13T11:11:17.806+05:30Consultant Speak #3<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlw_g6R44Qa7I00RpQDYQq47GIC7T_iH3-bJjjMQBSfyWv1rJdnqMtu6taukZelFw3zTYxzVtdGf_rQr-fS_7at8T3f9c2vFRN0Oov3j1b5S7tP3Mss9gVsv88r6dHaKejlAGCqeg9atOt/s1600/Consultant+Speak+%233.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlw_g6R44Qa7I00RpQDYQq47GIC7T_iH3-bJjjMQBSfyWv1rJdnqMtu6taukZelFw3zTYxzVtdGf_rQr-fS_7at8T3f9c2vFRN0Oov3j1b5S7tP3Mss9gVsv88r6dHaKejlAGCqeg9atOt/s1600/Consultant+Speak+%233.jpg" height="448" width="640" /></a></div>
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Aashish Soodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01008682342586125061noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7145287646192944638.post-92008508040364234792014-06-13T11:06:00.000+05:302014-06-13T11:06:06.031+05:30Consultant Speak #2<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGMaFF3Z9c6XolP2z0U4ujohIFsj2RRHsJYL5EMqSeV2nRo6y0DAu0f4PUeaKrOZVTDACTud5tLT8dl5Sn2u457Zhu2xu4wYgWQmy17jm2_wQofiF5GUbXTbg29_RxtArN_XHmwywhTwJD/s1600/Consultant+Speak+%232.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGMaFF3Z9c6XolP2z0U4ujohIFsj2RRHsJYL5EMqSeV2nRo6y0DAu0f4PUeaKrOZVTDACTud5tLT8dl5Sn2u457Zhu2xu4wYgWQmy17jm2_wQofiF5GUbXTbg29_RxtArN_XHmwywhTwJD/s1600/Consultant+Speak+%232.jpg" height="454" width="640" /></a></div>
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Aashish Soodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01008682342586125061noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7145287646192944638.post-34043911689504518072014-06-13T10:53:00.000+05:302014-06-13T10:55:25.485+05:30Consultant Speak #1<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaraYL4H_-EIJZArPs5A5q56KF3hn27Z864eJUjkoZhU2DCgjMrD2VG-nWbNVzgR4UzKgRquvwmWyBgfDOUpCara13KEH8PdUMFoWimJlX0kpa7ueHtD1qm03yv4M7-6GiPW5hQL9zIzwK/s1600/Consultant+Speak+%231.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaraYL4H_-EIJZArPs5A5q56KF3hn27Z864eJUjkoZhU2DCgjMrD2VG-nWbNVzgR4UzKgRquvwmWyBgfDOUpCara13KEH8PdUMFoWimJlX0kpa7ueHtD1qm03yv4M7-6GiPW5hQL9zIzwK/s1600/Consultant+Speak+%231.jpg" height="428" width="640" /></a></div>
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Aashish Soodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01008682342586125061noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7145287646192944638.post-56364937931486215932013-10-28T15:52:00.001+05:302013-10-28T15:53:33.396+05:30The Cove...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Thought provoking!</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://www.takepart.com/cove"><img alt="Infographic: The Cove Campaign is Working" border="0" height="900" src="http://www.takepart.com/sites/default/files/12.08.17_Takepart_EndDolphinSlaughterFINAL_1.png" width="1000" /></a><br />
Via: <a href="http://www.takepart.com/">TakePart.com</a></div>
Aashish Soodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01008682342586125061noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7145287646192944638.post-52542940846473630102013-09-02T10:07:00.003+05:302013-09-05T17:35:33.219+05:30Sweet and sour!!!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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This post has been published by me as a part of the <b>Blog-a-Ton 41</b>; the forty-first edition of the online marathon of Bloggers; where we decide and we write. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following <a href="http://blogaton.in/"><b>Blog-a-Ton</b></a>. The theme for the month is "SWEET AND SOUR"
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">“All the world's a stage,And all the men and women merely players;They have their exits and their entrances,And one man in his time plays many parts...”</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Suhana got off the Rithala – Dilshad Garden metro line at the Kashmiri gate metro station. Yesterday had been a tiring day for her with late night meeting and a late night visit from distant relatives. Absorbed in her thoughts, as she proceeded towards escalator she noticed an old woman standing by; yet undecided between waiting for an overcrowded lift, long staircase or trying to go through the escalator. She went to the lady, held her hand and supported her in getting on and off the escalator. As the lady got off, she said “Thanks for the help! You are such a sweet dearie.”</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">As she boarded the Gurgaon line for office, she knew she wasn’t going to get any seat. As she navigated through the wave of sea that the Delhi metro had become off late; she noticed a women reserved seat with no women nearby to occupy it. But as she reached it, two young guys hurriedly sat on it. Tired as she was, she told them to read the sign above and vacate the seat. As they reluctantly got off, she heard them say “What has gotten into her? Must have sucked a lemon to be in such a sour mood!”</span></span></div>
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The <b>fellow Blog-a-Tonics</b> who took part in this Blog-a-Ton and links to their respective <b>posts</b> can be checked <a href="http://www.blogaton.in/2013/09/blogaton41.html"><b>here</b></a>. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following <b><a href="http://blogaton.in/">Blog-a-Ton</a></b>. Participation Count: XX </blockquote>
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Aashish Soodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01008682342586125061noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7145287646192944638.post-71308898472688000882013-08-27T10:10:00.000+05:302013-08-27T10:10:42.877+05:30Second chance<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Mark’s sleep was broken by a sudden sound of a truck back firing. Looking at his alarm clock, he saw that it was 4’O clock. Finally the day was here. Today was the day, 23rd Aug, that his review committee was scheduled to meet. And then his eye fell on the papers that he was supposed to have graded two days ago. He grumbled about the time, or rather lack of it, and went back to sleep.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">As he slept off, he began to have an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach about the day ahead. His first taste of the day began when his alarm clock did not ring off and led him to oversleep till 7 AM. With the result that he was now running late by an hour compared to his original schedule. And that too on the day that his review committee was set to meet at 10 in the morning, in the campus and he was to finally get his long awaited chance of explaining to the committee why he should get a grant to conduct research on the “Economic Opportunity and Losses of the Global Warming”. He did not need this to happen. Not today, he didn’t. Not to forget the evening dinner that he had been planning with Sarah for so long. After a ton of procrastination, today was the day when they were finally going to get together for a lovely evening and it would not go well with Sarah if he did anything to jeopardize that.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">He quickly washed himself and shaved. He took a quick look at his appearance and dashed off to the campus lest he should miss his 8’O clock bus from the pickup point two blocks away; reminding himself to take his blood pressure medicine with a quick bite in the institute cafeteria.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">As luck would have it, he reached the pickup point at fifteen minutes past and missed the bus. Now he would have to board a taxi from the other end of the block and that would mean a delay of another half an hour. “Bother!” exclaimed Mark.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Not left with any other option, he walked to the other end of the block and hailed a passing cab. Sitting in the cab, he started to feel the beginnings of a headache. “I will have the medicine first thing I reach campus” resolved Mark.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">By the time he reached the campus, it was already 9:30. Still left with around thirty minutes before his encounter with the committee, he went to the cafeteria to order his favorite ham on rye and a cappuccino. He was just about to dig in when a he heard someone calling his name from the hallway. Michael, his friend came frantically running to him. “What the bollocks are you doing here? And why is your phone switched off? The committee decided to meet at 9 and I was desperately trying to call you but to no avail”. Post-poning any further questions, Mark abandoned the thought of the sandwich and ran to the committee room to meet the ‘vultures’ as the committee was popularly known as.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">As he entered the committee room at 9:50; he noticed two things: First, if the expressions of the members were anything to go by, his grant appeal was as good as turned down; and Second, he had left his preparatory material in the cafeteria itself. Deciding to brave the five member committee as it is, as going back for the material would have been a certain suicide; Mark walked to the center stage. “I apologize to keep you all waiting but due to an unfortunate combination of a faulty alarm clock, unpaid mobile bills and not being aware of the change in timings has led to such unfortunate delay. I fully…” Mark was stopped in the mid sentence on the vulture on the extreme left. “Where is you preparatory material and where are our copies? How are we supposed to follow what you are saying?” asked she; and the meeting progressively worsened with each passing minute.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">When Mark came out of the room after the torture of full sixty minutes, he felt as if the day could not get any worse. He came out only to find a clerk waiting with a note from the Dean to meet him immediately. Rubbings his temples to relieve what was now turning out to be a full blown headache; he trudged towards the Dean’s office, still having his ham on rye sandwich in mind.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Dean: “You missed yet another class today!” started the dean without any obligatory niceties.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Mark: “I am sorry sir that this happened today but it was not a fault of mine. First my alarm clock didn’t work and then the missed bus and irate vultures… I mean the committee. I do sincerely apologize and promise that this wouldn’t happen in future.”</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">D: “Have you graded the papers that I gave you?”</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">M: “Umm… no sir but I was planning to do them today after going back.”</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">D: “So let me promise that there would not be a next time as from today, for the next six months, I am putting you on probation. If your performance does not improve in the next six months, we have to let you go. Please hand me the graded papers before the end of day today”</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> The rest of the day passed in a flurry of activities. In the evening, Mark began to evaluate the papers to be handed over to the Dean. At six, Mark was just finishing up grading the papers and planning to get busy in preparing a session plan for the next day and did not realize the time when he was jolted by incoming call from his girlfriend Sarah. This reminded him that at that time they were supposed to be at the 6’O clock show at the mall.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Sarah: “Where are you?” said an icy cold voice from the other end.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Mark: “Got a bit occupied in course planning. You wouldn’t believe the day I had, if I tell you.”</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">S: “Worse than standing in a queue outside a theater, dressed in white dress and waiting for someone who had been promising to watch the movie for over a month now?”</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">M: “Umm… different worse?” ventured Mark.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">S: “Hmm… We need to talk about us and what you need to do if you want ‘US’ to work out!” And she cut off the phone.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"> The throbbing headache, lack of medicine combined with the exhaustion and stress of the day began to take a toll on Mark and he fell asleep on the table itself.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">BAM! The noise of a truck back firing woke Mark. It was a moment before he realized that he was in his bed and not in his classroom. The dial on alarm clock declared 4 AM on 23rd Aug.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Wondering if it all was a dream because if it was a dream, it felt very real; his eyes fell on the papers he was supposed to have graded two days ago. He decided to let go of the sleep and began evaluating the papers!</span></span></div>
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Aashish Soodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01008682342586125061noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7145287646192944638.post-67427908079354480682013-07-12T10:08:00.000+05:302013-08-07T15:40:04.261+05:30Zambia travelogues<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Getting the Zambia diaries out has taken longer than I expected, thanks to the continuous barrage of work that I was submerged in. During the closing phase of my project in Zambia, we were under so much work that I had actually begun to wonder if there would be anything at all to write in them. Fortunately, we got a breather in early march to go to the couple of relatively famous places in Zambia and an opportunity for me to flaunt them here. I will also try to highlight key points of a trip that we took to Lusaka, capital city of Zambia, in December. I will highlight the top places that we went, some of the activities that I will recommend and other such general stuff.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">So without further ado, here we go…</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1AR2LuMm4Nz2OZU-4uc_LzapA0TDcq4_jfwInPIncNm3AYvHZL_ZSQDhtyGv2JDQT4ShBCe5dd-K0BWgpmqRFRk-0WoQwlrDDdML8eo-qK_3AGk9daxij4RSCYKVHNQlnOZChOUmdDeDJ/s1600/Victoria+falls+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="197" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1AR2LuMm4Nz2OZU-4uc_LzapA0TDcq4_jfwInPIncNm3AYvHZL_ZSQDhtyGv2JDQT4ShBCe5dd-K0BWgpmqRFRk-0WoQwlrDDdML8eo-qK_3AGk9daxij4RSCYKVHNQlnOZChOUmdDeDJ/s200/Victoria+falls+3.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgY0EbBP21bXhXPFLCAXwyoh23kIBBzOzBwQj6BaszIK11Y5aZ9PlfdgGZTXsVc2OsPh4X787syW5uLJ9Z_mhymaMouJZrlUh0u-uj3D6YFRnd0VF-PV_m4MU958sNBBm2Olkjs1J1IfOi/s1600/Victoria+falls+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgY0EbBP21bXhXPFLCAXwyoh23kIBBzOzBwQj6BaszIK11Y5aZ9PlfdgGZTXsVc2OsPh4X787syW5uLJ9Z_mhymaMouJZrlUh0u-uj3D6YFRnd0VF-PV_m4MU958sNBBm2Olkjs1J1IfOi/s200/Victoria+falls+2.JPG" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Victoria Falls</b>: The biggest attraction of Zambia; 1.7 km long falls at the peak season are a sight second to none. It was an exhilarating feeling to be so close to a thunderous waterfall, so loud that you can’t hear yourself even think. We were so excited to be at the site that we actually went again the next day so that we could enjoy it once more. We almost walked with the flowing water till the point it became the fall. </span></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9QzNfjV90RbJnIssrNUBF3g2RK9gGTRuvmaIRtQGVr_jQCjZ4WE-GvXeD035BkIcGMO-cjiDEq8zV5kVFA5biB_6lFNWeG0qXqE-9g6bFIhCmBx5NUkhSafaLbxBpu5o_h6yQZNo7rWPh/s1600/Victoria+falls+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9QzNfjV90RbJnIssrNUBF3g2RK9gGTRuvmaIRtQGVr_jQCjZ4WE-GvXeD035BkIcGMO-cjiDEq8zV5kVFA5biB_6lFNWeG0qXqE-9g6bFIhCmBx5NUkhSafaLbxBpu5o_h6yQZNo7rWPh/s200/Victoria+falls+1.JPG" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Then there is a point called “Knife Bridge” where the falling water just flows underneath the bridge with the water droplets from this falling water getting caught in an upward draft and then falling like a rain. So, it would seem that the point was in a state of perpetual rainfall. So much so that despite wearing a raincoat, we were soaked to the inners. But the joy of standing defiant at that point is indescribable. In fact, after so many words, I still feel that I haven’t been able to do a justice to the wondrous nature of the falls.</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwRP-PITxC_ppFzS8wdMwBlrcJ-ZhxN2rjrsXRp6iHFRuFN5Eg64QzFk6Mf1TvHiKSRr0otJUe-mJCGDL8vFzRZMx5B-zjlUyUyXRGgDsxXPBKUKsvnrQDQtKvbp4AbdFWvo2_f2H5ruQ8/s1600/Lion+walk+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwRP-PITxC_ppFzS8wdMwBlrcJ-ZhxN2rjrsXRp6iHFRuFN5Eg64QzFk6Mf1TvHiKSRr0otJUe-mJCGDL8vFzRZMx5B-zjlUyUyXRGgDsxXPBKUKsvnrQDQtKvbp4AbdFWvo2_f2H5ruQ8/s200/Lion+walk+2.JPG" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM7d37QBZTqxMezpY9GU9YEMqCEWuLAG7hOXhkthpNx6vAQ5BeaCYxSAYLaDfpNdAZk1Pl0DCEzzy8goh7Se9-_iMCjC6HrjLmZ0qo9Re2dcEj7HyLb0uM0Pmz6yxC7z17tgN9J3QwT-sx/s1600/Lion+walk+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM7d37QBZTqxMezpY9GU9YEMqCEWuLAG7hOXhkthpNx6vAQ5BeaCYxSAYLaDfpNdAZk1Pl0DCEzzy8goh7Se9-_iMCjC6HrjLmZ0qo9Re2dcEj7HyLb0uM0Pmz6yxC7z17tgN9J3QwT-sx/s200/Lion+walk+1.JPG" width="112" /></a><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Lion walk</b>: By and far the biggest attraction to me. I love interacting with animals in a way most people would consider maniacal. While in the farm, we got a chance to hold, pat and otherwise interact with three leopards, two lionesses and one lion. And trust me! I milked the most out of it. And the thrill!!! Absolutely incomparable.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZN-FIxIaWwzfkOziafR6SLl4FVylYDlNQyWJbmt-1IC-cMGGgIYPdBhSfzSHokaANZ4dMZPRM03GWG4m5Lenk1mjhOjvLiKH3uXm0ACGaaugZMIvQCfy5ZtK31IDnKQVr-PuepyWccOnN/s1600/Elephant+ride.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZN-FIxIaWwzfkOziafR6SLl4FVylYDlNQyWJbmt-1IC-cMGGgIYPdBhSfzSHokaANZ4dMZPRM03GWG4m5Lenk1mjhOjvLiKH3uXm0ACGaaugZMIvQCfy5ZtK31IDnKQVr-PuepyWccOnN/s200/Elephant+ride.JPG" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Elephant ride</b>: We actually began our day with this ride. An hour long ride on an elephant across wild forest was a great experience. But an even better feeling was feeding them at the end of the trip and getting them to salute you. :) </span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLUlV9tlOnD-lPJYJGuduD9EXyCs82o6pnoEN304ToZEB8eIMJaPJTdTnIrM4SD2bZ7Gaq9kx88kWfpOfFSnPlNyFq5efefcn1fdZ7hl5862__pN69scldGITCgQ0w_2NGh7sfr5EMHamR/s1600/Microlight+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLUlV9tlOnD-lPJYJGuduD9EXyCs82o6pnoEN304ToZEB8eIMJaPJTdTnIrM4SD2bZ7Gaq9kx88kWfpOfFSnPlNyFq5efefcn1fdZ7hl5862__pN69scldGITCgQ0w_2NGh7sfr5EMHamR/s200/Microlight+1.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Microlight</b>: 15 minutes of open single seater plane, flying over the Victoria Falls and Zimbabwe with nothing to secure you to your seat than a flimsy seat belt. It couldn’t get any better than that. Actually there was another option to fly – through a helicopter but our group unanimously decided to go for the former option and have loads more fun. Like everything, a bit steep on price at around 9000 rs. (150 USD) but worth every cent of it!</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZMu9x50v9m2wKJtnwgpi5e4mkncbyl6xsDY8cfMAMWx3UQBbZyYkxQ9rNULQpTEg0U_Eu3KaTvwo2BWwFe7iRbOKgldwJRhoU5TqspUdhDvKRDJT5KzMs-5Q2WkLzUF6CUFRGoB0Kb-df/s1600/Kalimba+Reptile+farm+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZMu9x50v9m2wKJtnwgpi5e4mkncbyl6xsDY8cfMAMWx3UQBbZyYkxQ9rNULQpTEg0U_Eu3KaTvwo2BWwFe7iRbOKgldwJRhoU5TqspUdhDvKRDJT5KzMs-5Q2WkLzUF6CUFRGoB0Kb-df/s200/Kalimba+Reptile+farm+1.JPG" width="112" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpV3h741WL0JNMiPgbeODpoo4Gw5_FlRCApdKQf0NQz0A89_LTXoVWrUm1p8pFV9LZ2WO0edx3BlReC3-9TLyaHwX7lhRgmpiUOAm-gGIjf3ZIsBkBnHwZMRqBzpVP9DKChB7d56gThCgE/s1600/Kalimba+Reptile+farm+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpV3h741WL0JNMiPgbeODpoo4Gw5_FlRCApdKQf0NQz0A89_LTXoVWrUm1p8pFV9LZ2WO0edx3BlReC3-9TLyaHwX7lhRgmpiUOAm-gGIjf3ZIsBkBnHwZMRqBzpVP9DKChB7d56gThCgE/s200/Kalimba+Reptile+farm+2.JPG" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Kalimba Reptile Park</b>: On of my desire for a long time had been to hold a snake in my hands. Once, some 4 years back when I was in Orissa/India, I got a chance to almost hold a snake in my hands. So when I got a chance to hold a python in Kalimba Reptile Park, my joy knew no bounds. The park had a ton of crocodiles (largest of which they claimed was around 5 meters), several pythons and many other species of snakes. </span></span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX_HYJxr3Z2y1OBcb4B6bQbjFvix3lIk4AwM0CR7dZrtz9XnIKx4Z7lZ3eU5fYUav4CgOnuw1MURo7ohjk4N9vSd8SEuD0mvROGoFRJ7SdrEr8PJBpRXw8s-JgWJ1IcHjCiFjyxzDFn2ZG/s1600/Kalimba+Reptile+farm+3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX_HYJxr3Z2y1OBcb4B6bQbjFvix3lIk4AwM0CR7dZrtz9XnIKx4Z7lZ3eU5fYUav4CgOnuw1MURo7ohjk4N9vSd8SEuD0mvROGoFRJ7SdrEr8PJBpRXw8s-JgWJ1IcHjCiFjyxzDFn2ZG/s200/Kalimba+Reptile+farm+3.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I had a wondrous opportunity to hold a python the way you only see in movies but never get to do in reality and a smaller domestic brown snake. The smaller snake was so cute and pliable that I almost bought one for home. ALMOST because then I remembered that I will be disowned by my folks if they even realized that I was thinking about such a thing.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj_1FOwtP3sKXP0z5dQseafDtDxip6UECWRQMCvTy6VgfUa135-BajBJ4I02SqixeAeIgpaQ1vrpDWijY3I699JYKYAGdbyef1_WRXyJuvuFBLuHZ5DAlvTAR_O5EsJ06AsrROS8VMR0nD/s1600/Chminuka+Safari+Lodge+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj_1FOwtP3sKXP0z5dQseafDtDxip6UECWRQMCvTy6VgfUa135-BajBJ4I02SqixeAeIgpaQ1vrpDWijY3I699JYKYAGdbyef1_WRXyJuvuFBLuHZ5DAlvTAR_O5EsJ06AsrROS8VMR0nD/s200/Chminuka+Safari+Lodge+1.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPdiRmz5gT3IrAkU8kxCPbcFjllQ9-j8ebzFjX4MYj_VqeNdBtETDtbxyOHWJWnwL226ozqpYejj_PXX9bOyt4o_PLyQ4kQ1-n2XQ_Fj8AfeMKMFqO-wug00U66Mw0ijD_0XY6vPtRosdH/s1600/Chminuka+Safari+Lodge+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPdiRmz5gT3IrAkU8kxCPbcFjllQ9-j8ebzFjX4MYj_VqeNdBtETDtbxyOHWJWnwL226ozqpYejj_PXX9bOyt4o_PLyQ4kQ1-n2XQ_Fj8AfeMKMFqO-wug00U66Mw0ijD_0XY6vPtRosdH/s200/Chminuka+Safari+Lodge+2.JPG" width="150" /></a><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Chaminuka Game Reserve, Protea Safari lodge</b>: If you go to Zambia and have a couple of days of spare time, I would strongly suggest that instead of staying in a hotel and then going for a safari ride; you book yourself into one of these two places. These are safari lodges which are situated in the middle of a safari range. This way, you get to have a night time experience of staying in the safari as well several side trips reserved for booked guests such as cheese tasting etc. Not to mention the surreal night time feel of the jungle, while you sip tea in a wooden terrace overlooking a lake where the animals are drinking water. I hope you get the idea!!!</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrKPpaojayoJoiC291C7jv5vgfoUDAeFls8D0ur0o_gj-xP5_Ru_WJPsMnpr0xXcSCRtW1vuSIj3B37zDi3_y6sExdwx3n_M_ElXryZFmsDs3ibDduq5GdVVKS32B9fJsIQame1M9V5HAU/s1600/Bungee+jumping.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrKPpaojayoJoiC291C7jv5vgfoUDAeFls8D0ur0o_gj-xP5_Ru_WJPsMnpr0xXcSCRtW1vuSIj3B37zDi3_y6sExdwx3n_M_ElXryZFmsDs3ibDduq5GdVVKS32B9fJsIQame1M9V5HAU/s200/Bungee+jumping.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Bungee jumping combo</b>: This particular bungee jumping had 3 options – ‘Famous 111m Bungee Jump’, Bridge Swing & Bridge Slide. With a perpetual fear of dying in a high speed crash with something, I did not participate in this activity. My 3 friends, however, did and I could see how much they enjoyed it.</span> </span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPVZrmLWymC8ni44eVTAZ0i0m8wiPfjrTYIjdhdTfNaEVGLDMjxdIRdnXCtkaJ1bC8GeT2AV7DjydZXqmrsB0pa-Znw8bXmspGXPmkuZXAZizfqbhQpMWXtUbtnXfDnlGTJLeLAi-GdKlX/s1600/Bungee+jumping+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPVZrmLWymC8ni44eVTAZ0i0m8wiPfjrTYIjdhdTfNaEVGLDMjxdIRdnXCtkaJ1bC8GeT2AV7DjydZXqmrsB0pa-Znw8bXmspGXPmkuZXAZizfqbhQpMWXtUbtnXfDnlGTJLeLAi-GdKlX/s200/Bungee+jumping+2.JPG" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">At around 12k rs (USD 200), it was a bit steep but worth every rupee in the adrenaline and excitement it helps generate.</span> </span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">And even better part of this was that this was done on a bridge after the falls. Hence there were sufficient water vapors in the air to cause beautiful rainbows with the right amount of sun. And I made my best effort to capture some of that.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje0nvEmvBbdbkED8QRcFEBQl4N7oTT2Dtzc9A6ASVytowuZ4hk7hn9FHuVCIlg4g1QrZcoIKNbRXlDGx6YsCMJwnNQUFCfMavgivNnHJTY2peaOVesfTpobAsv5fmZYvU2pQTr3H04q7FN/s1600/Zambia+artifacts+0.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje0nvEmvBbdbkED8QRcFEBQl4N7oTT2Dtzc9A6ASVytowuZ4hk7hn9FHuVCIlg4g1QrZcoIKNbRXlDGx6YsCMJwnNQUFCfMavgivNnHJTY2peaOVesfTpobAsv5fmZYvU2pQTr3H04q7FN/s200/Zambia+artifacts+0.JPG" width="150" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1kpAbfFdF9jS1HgJDsWTfaDEM0nxfBqIX1SvTS_nvV3cKireDHXaiOiyFwdZwZ40xVxaYKXyS-itzFFA2K7ULstxnYhnm-lTV6ybAoVuvShbZDOK2aQosLbIV4KOdHzv7zcHdYuH7EEn4/s1600/Zambia+artifacts+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1kpAbfFdF9jS1HgJDsWTfaDEM0nxfBqIX1SvTS_nvV3cKireDHXaiOiyFwdZwZ40xVxaYKXyS-itzFFA2K7ULstxnYhnm-lTV6ybAoVuvShbZDOK2aQosLbIV4KOdHzv7zcHdYuH7EEn4/s200/Zambia+artifacts+3.jpg" width="150" /></a> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Artifact shopping</b>: Zambia has a lot of copper mines. So, one of the artifacts that you can look for are paintings etched, carved on copper plates and sheets. Like all the African nations, there are a lot of neat handicraft items which can be picked from the flea markets such as Wooden figurines, Carved chess sets, Cloth and Papyrus paintings, Tribal masks, Seed paintings etc. </span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkX7PgDyj29Jn6VEdXIsyW3ct3i1gW7XFPnBfIwYLg98H7HisOFF_lkCz2MvPrCLFpD-gcW-O6p03m35_UFRW8PyPIIRMWw87OUbICPCakvDVb0Wrmlb2mENbkZKXzZ9o2YlehW2yrLo_u/s1600/Zambia+artifacts+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkX7PgDyj29Jn6VEdXIsyW3ct3i1gW7XFPnBfIwYLg98H7HisOFF_lkCz2MvPrCLFpD-gcW-O6p03m35_UFRW8PyPIIRMWw87OUbICPCakvDVb0Wrmlb2mENbkZKXzZ9o2YlehW2yrLo_u/s200/Zambia+artifacts+1.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWfM1LZiN1GFolpnXZn9n7iD97FLUAJyALMIM25cvQrHS1-3x2QMftpgYhpVvMbn1e4p1t6duyg-dbUlfBysr-4mtOdUdGCXFSfx4r02KRGmLYUPofcjackm-MJCGMAJIkP2xzgtoKbRkv/s1600/Zambia+artifacts+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWfM1LZiN1GFolpnXZn9n7iD97FLUAJyALMIM25cvQrHS1-3x2QMftpgYhpVvMbn1e4p1t6duyg-dbUlfBysr-4mtOdUdGCXFSfx4r02KRGmLYUPofcjackm-MJCGMAJIkP2xzgtoKbRkv/s200/Zambia+artifacts+2.jpg" width="150" /></a><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Being a numismatic, I always cherish a chance to collect coins of the country. With the coins being reintroduced in circulation after couple of years, the older coinage was hard to find. But fortunately, I was able to amass a complete set of Zambia coins. Not only that, I was able to assemble a complete set of Zimbabwe coins as well. And that was a difficult treat as the coins have not been in circulation there for some with current currency reaching up to the denomination of 5 trillion Zimbabwe. In fact, I saw 1 trillion and 5 trillion Zimbabwe notes.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Sunset cruise</b>: To be very honest, this is one thing which I would suggest you skip. But that’s my view. I feel like spending half a day just to watch a sunset is a sheer waste of time; and time which could be wonderfully utilized elsewhere such as going to the falls once more or even one more trip to the safari lodges.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCsV6yKI_ybVuXdN-1aNwyzHDtQDxvaeKxeYymFUY6UMuc1A61OsIyoabOq-7oyL3ul-zt0cnGvPIX82ZsIZXGaZEdaazHf1nwkzzgImtTwSv0P1fO24-bUzQv8Od3WP5ZCFL2Gi2UpoO1/s1600/Zimbabwe+border.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCsV6yKI_ybVuXdN-1aNwyzHDtQDxvaeKxeYymFUY6UMuc1A61OsIyoabOq-7oyL3ul-zt0cnGvPIX82ZsIZXGaZEdaazHf1nwkzzgImtTwSv0P1fO24-bUzQv8Od3WP5ZCFL2Gi2UpoO1/s200/Zimbabwe+border.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Several adjoining African countries</b>: Zambia shares its border with several other countries like Zimbabwe, Congo etc. It is often a tourist thing to do to take a short trip to the border and crossover a 2-3 hr jaunt across the border. And in the process, if you get couple of good deals on the way; who is complaining, right?</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Hope that the descriptions and the sights might have convinced some of you to take the trip at the next possible opportunity. And trust me; you would not end up regretting it.</span></span></div>
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Aashish Soodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01008682342586125061noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7145287646192944638.post-20097111085945210102013-05-17T16:49:00.000+05:302013-05-17T16:49:04.105+05:30Rape - Defense with everyday items<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTOvkE2ZZRg6nY9JVuxDDML0hgPtJF3i4aLrOGHS9d0QgMyCJiJz8yAwNT4au_2VPgdm8qa0oV-of1maeIKq-uiZlssktuiI5kQsmnSPvlDHSoQpG05x1TIzqXIcTGlviNMeLoj0oul6QB/s1600/STS+woman+image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTOvkE2ZZRg6nY9JVuxDDML0hgPtJF3i4aLrOGHS9d0QgMyCJiJz8yAwNT4au_2VPgdm8qa0oV-of1maeIKq-uiZlssktuiI5kQsmnSPvlDHSoQpG05x1TIzqXIcTGlviNMeLoj0oul6QB/s200/STS+woman+image.jpg" width="195" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I know that with the recent increase in rape cases in Delhi, there has been a lot of mails circulating around on what to do and what not to do when you are fearing that you might get raped. Towards the end of this post, I will add a link to some of these compilations.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">So I thought let me put my 2 cents also out there as I am a believer of 'You play with the hand you are dealt with'. But then again, who said you shouldn’t play with a little preparation. Hence, some quick tips on what might help you in those crucial moments.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj04PPp_rf_3SmT94LmN-xxBMIuW1YxydAQATKaVmoIcWpYJ4iLQOFbgm3YKCe28wh6QjuiB-pjMFykZJGL5A34-B9nEd-2-MfCmmLFxVYO15BFvipcrpeeoNSAVqtr1wnKnvE4ojEjy99V/s1600/womens-self-defense.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj04PPp_rf_3SmT94LmN-xxBMIuW1YxydAQATKaVmoIcWpYJ4iLQOFbgm3YKCe28wh6QjuiB-pjMFykZJGL5A34-B9nEd-2-MfCmmLFxVYO15BFvipcrpeeoNSAVqtr1wnKnvE4ojEjy99V/s200/womens-self-defense.jpg" width="196" /></a><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Kick them hard</b> – Though it physically pains me to even write this imagining the pain it might inflict on the man, it needs to be said. Any man has two sensitive areas – One of course is the groin area and the other is the exposed throat. At the moment that any person decides to do such a thing, he stops becoming a person but turns into a monster. And you shouldn’t feel anything in kicking a monster. So... when a guy approaches you with that intention; don’t hesitate to kick / punch him in his sensitive areas as that would give you ample time to run away. Kick that ^%*&^*(& so hard that he can’t get it up ever again. Remember "SING" – Solar Plexus-Instep-Nose-Groin. Elbow in solar plexus; stomp on foot as hard as you can; jam the palm of your hand into their nose in an upward motion; and then finish with a knee to the groin. Follow the picture.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Use thy keys to lock the hell </b>– Every one of us has one another set of keys on us when we go out. Those keys could be your offense weapon. Hold the key ring in such a way that the shaft of keys protrude from between your fingers and hold them tight. This gives you a powerful offensive weapon with which you can draw blood from the enemy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Pain killer or pain inflicter </b>– I know that in places like US etc., you have things like pepper spray and stun gun. But they are not available (or readily available for pepper spray) in India yet. And the US vendors are not willing to ship to India because the policy is a little bit ambiguous. Trust me! I have tried. So you do the next best thing. Use something which causes unbelievable amount of pain and is easily available in the market. My money is on something like relispray or Volini etc. Keep a can unwrapped and ready to be used in your handbag. That fluid can give you excruciating pain when it gets in your eyes. I have felt it. Not that anyone sprayed me… It’s just that I poked my finger in my eye after spraying my back. And god awful it was!!!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Be smart</b> – Nowadays, most of us have smartphones. Use the smartphone to download apps which make loud noises. Even if you don’t own one such phone, there are several gadgets available in market which look like a pair of magnets but create such a loud ruckus when they are separated. So all you have got to do is to separate them at the time when you need. True that their original purpose was to inform when a window is being opened to prevent burglary, they would serve our purpose rather well… won’t they?</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Please fasten your belt</b> – With the modern day outfit, comes a unique accessory called the belt. In dire situations, remove your belt and hold it with the buckle side away from you. You use this belt as a whip to hit anybody who comes near you. The steel buckle, and the power of centripetal force, will provide it with enough hit power to seriously injure someone.
For traditional clothes wearing women, you can use you dupatta / stole for the same purpose. Use some heavy object like a sandal or that glass perfume bottle that you are carrying in our handbag or the handbag itself. Double over your dupatta and tie / place it in the middle and you can use it to the same effect as the belt.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Even more important than these things is your psychological defense. Just because you are in that situation doesn’t mean that you have to break down and start crying. It is not a Shakti Kapoor movie. Be mentally alert for everything. Be aggressive. Be loud. And don’t give up. Never give up. They are more likely to feel confident if you are meek, mute and submissive. Fight, fight dirty, kick (repeatedly), bite, and scratch. Do anything and everything which comes to your mind but DO NOT GIVE UP. Give it everything you have. Cry hoarse with your voice. Scream, yell and draw attention to yourself; BUT DO NOT GIVE UP.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">But most of all, hope that this post was written in vain and I pray and nobody ever gets to use any of this in real life.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Some other links:
http://www.wikihow.com/Prevent-a-Potential-Rape</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">http://www.cosmopolitan.com/advice/tips/how-serial-rapists-target-victims
http://makeachange1.wordpress.com/2012/12/20/self-protection%EF%B8%B1self-defence/</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Image Courtesy: Google Images</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">PS: I know I have not been regular here but life has been very much hectic off late. Will do better from now on.</span></div>
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Aashish Soodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01008682342586125061noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7145287646192944638.post-17322379853732505622012-12-20T19:25:00.001+05:302012-12-20T19:25:13.234+05:30Zambia diary – Part 1<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: small;">So… this time around, I had the chance of visiting Zambia on an extended project. People kept on asking about my connection with Africa. And I didn’t know what to answer.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Anyhow, this time, I was headed towards the commercial capital of Zambia, Chingola for a copper mining project.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3xRaJGDCj7B4egmdpWzAb1Gca3wSO7jmbV-V71qXXU7A90IfbEBhboSoJLGd9DdMZFedkppewQmMEIgthOEaXcRK9g3h6MfSg5NJ2iHbRrtUQrIfzs5HzlS6WlMCcOZ9nyLxZYwytHfEe/s1600/20120903_123215.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3xRaJGDCj7B4egmdpWzAb1Gca3wSO7jmbV-V71qXXU7A90IfbEBhboSoJLGd9DdMZFedkppewQmMEIgthOEaXcRK9g3h6MfSg5NJ2iHbRrtUQrIfzs5HzlS6WlMCcOZ9nyLxZYwytHfEe/s200/20120903_123215.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: small;">I was going to this project with my colleague, Sandeep though South African Airways. Unfortunately due to our travel team, we had to follow different routes. So we had a common route From Delhi – Mumbai – Johannesburg. From Jo’burg, my flight was directly to Ndola airport; whereas my colleague had to go to Lusaka and then follow another flight to Ndola.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbXRAjihVZrv6Gzebez4xmmJkTWOIA-dlGbO-N0m5-E_jU3X8LdUV1R5iSQQ7H3fAsE6y5Bjnbkn2Ka4E1QXdyPhKmaVCzTij0lSuNJdT6TNSbrwS6_L5LYCIDMGY2LculQ6SpPi4fheJ2/s1600/Lusaka+airport.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="149" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbXRAjihVZrv6Gzebez4xmmJkTWOIA-dlGbO-N0m5-E_jU3X8LdUV1R5iSQQ7H3fAsE6y5Bjnbkn2Ka4E1QXdyPhKmaVCzTij0lSuNJdT6TNSbrwS6_L5LYCIDMGY2LculQ6SpPi4fheJ2/s200/Lusaka+airport.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">The capital city of Zambia is Lusaka. Chingola is about hundred minutes’ drive from Ndola airport which in itself is about an hour flight from Lusaka via those teeny tiny 30 odd seater charter planes, of the utmost dubious quality; which convulse every time winds even displays the slightest signs of a movement.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">So anyhow, I got off at the Ndola airport. And I swear to god that the closets of a two timer illegal immigrant in any country would still be bigger than the “Arrival Hall”. The “Arrival Hall” had the passport stamping, baggage, security check and visitor lounge – All in a 3000 sq. ft. area. I started having my share of doubts about the country.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">The journey was still not complete as I still had an hour and a half journey with my cabbie for the day, ‘Cox’. Fortunately for me, Cox turned out to be a jovial fellow with a vocabulary of 4 – 5 hindi words, seeing as a lot of Indians were working in the company where I was heading to.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0FoqPgsy6C379n6tE6EaKZw2fz5qyGweuxcFOCWvvzl2t7k319n4aHtPsUGGhxAtzk6LumCiRYDuarIGAfpCpjazAdg3brBsVzwzSXxb2WyN8i28nT6rM4oChRK97WQqs30cz8aLJkThk/s1600/MTN.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0FoqPgsy6C379n6tE6EaKZw2fz5qyGweuxcFOCWvvzl2t7k319n4aHtPsUGGhxAtzk6LumCiRYDuarIGAfpCpjazAdg3brBsVzwzSXxb2WyN8i28nT6rM4oChRK97WQqs30cz8aLJkThk/s1600/MTN.jpg" /></a><span style="font-size: small;">Cox assisted me in withdrawing a cool million from my account (Did I just see your jaw drop? Don’t! A million Kwacha is like ten thousand rupees); get a decent vegetarian lunch and a nice SIM card for my phone. My priority was of course to get a SIM card at the earliest, seeing that I wanted to call home before anything else. And I was surprised to see that there was no need for an ID proof. So I got my SIM card and it was “happy calling home” time for me.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Now… did you read that Cox help me get a decent vegetarian food? Not only was it vegetarian, but Indian food. Imagine my surprise when the guy took me to a restaurant which had “Kadi Pakora” and “Sabji Haandi”. I was just not expecting THIS, in Zambia of all places; and that too in a town which is a 100 minutes’ drive from the nearest airport, an hour’s flight further away from the capital city.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIFcqbafHdY6L8XVr4a-QhhQqUNHwiJHTsV4kKH_3xq1y6PqH-T6zPgb5I7cW4SRe_eW041eOSfVzva2snXc4j5r2kJ2CbPso93dl-W07IfpVaiYxpBiH_LtAAYLltzeFjBRbgm-XGsK_C/s1600/20121208_121419.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIFcqbafHdY6L8XVr4a-QhhQqUNHwiJHTsV4kKH_3xq1y6PqH-T6zPgb5I7cW4SRe_eW041eOSfVzva2snXc4j5r2kJ2CbPso93dl-W07IfpVaiYxpBiH_LtAAYLltzeFjBRbgm-XGsK_C/s200/20121208_121419.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtdekoZfs66HwZ0IBLH4pjLsdZGer5dWwUnLQ6InZ9YpEkP5wbe2vGPP1IEC2lAJ0bDio_qxWNDrOrPOXqCnHYytBySj7_8Vx37iHn8WFaVw3rCISmoBrIx97xMfDpIisUB9lWUqoKkWRe/s1600/20121208_121446.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtdekoZfs66HwZ0IBLH4pjLsdZGer5dWwUnLQ6InZ9YpEkP5wbe2vGPP1IEC2lAJ0bDio_qxWNDrOrPOXqCnHYytBySj7_8Vx37iHn8WFaVw3rCISmoBrIx97xMfDpIisUB9lWUqoKkWRe/s200/20121208_121446.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: small;">The journey from the airport to the flats was uneventful. Like most of the Africa, the drive consisted of going via a “highway”, a two lane two way road. The sides of the roads were majorly devoid of any population of any kind, dotted intermittently with people selling local art, grocery or sofa sets. YES! You read it correctly… sofa sets. I found it equally perplexing but that’s the truth. On and off, there would be spots where sets of sofas would be placed for sale. Other than that, most of the road side was lined with scraggy bushes, wide fields and tall trees.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjpkA42oXcXWlK2dcfJXsNSibTG1VWMJQip8DqqAtyXJR2tfWL04b6AbROhe0PrOrJknWg72OIdtZcvsRx1P8rVULfJ4B9W-d-IqjTTObJ94nVgtMc68mzOmKzODOQQ47VLHskaeCM6DIA/s1600/20121020_072831.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjpkA42oXcXWlK2dcfJXsNSibTG1VWMJQip8DqqAtyXJR2tfWL04b6AbROhe0PrOrJknWg72OIdtZcvsRx1P8rVULfJ4B9W-d-IqjTTObJ94nVgtMc68mzOmKzODOQQ47VLHskaeCM6DIA/s200/20121020_072831.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;">With the lunch packed, I went with Cox to the company flats in Chingola. I had been allotted a bachelor accommodation for the next fifteen days. I went into the flat, unpacked and checked out the facilities. The flat was a modest enough accommodation with a front lobby, a bed room with TV and AC and refrigerator and decent amenities. I decided to lie down while I waited for my colleague to arrive, as I had no means of communication with him because of him not being able to get a local number by then. That was at 5 PM. And I didn’t realize how and when I fell asleep – Fully dressed, with my legs hanging off the bed and still wearing glasses. I woke up with a start when I heard loud knocking on the window and somebody calling my name. Still groggy from the travel, it took me a minute to realize that it wasn’t a dream but somebody actually calling me out. I woke and opened the drapes to seen my colleagues frantically trying to get me to wake up in time for dinner. That was at 9 PM.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Since I had Sandeep’s room keys with me, even he couldn’t go to his room and was parked temporarily with the colleagues who were here before us and were now to begin the handover to us.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbXRAjihVZrv6Gzebez4xmmJkTWOIA-dlGbO-N0m5-E_jU3X8LdUV1R5iSQQ7H3fAsE6y5Bjnbkn2Ka4E1QXdyPhKmaVCzTij0lSuNJdT6TNSbrwS6_L5LYCIDMGY2LculQ6SpPi4fheJ2/s1600/Lusaka+airport.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPjKNK09Akfw0FuPQ97s2Kk32rhMBHAJj2vsVWTxeaYX-tPuIteghgJOhtIAvkggYuwnBO-yVzpZdnqRnNAfukDrhTP236akiOcQz6jMHTZtpZW5rsQdyi8Y16v1Q0f_TtLzjy6qrACUnb/s1600/20120928_124225.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPjKNK09Akfw0FuPQ97s2Kk32rhMBHAJj2vsVWTxeaYX-tPuIteghgJOhtIAvkggYuwnBO-yVzpZdnqRnNAfukDrhTP236akiOcQz6jMHTZtpZW5rsQdyi8Y16v1Q0f_TtLzjy6qrACUnb/s200/20120928_124225.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: small;">So the four of us went to the company canteen in the flats; had a nice dinner and then went to their flat – a two bed room, hall and kitchen setup. We chatted for some time, caught up with each other, and shared our tales of the journey while they told different tales from the project. We took our leave at around midnight for our respective rooms and crashed on the bed for, what I anticipated to be, a sound sleep.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Thus ended the first day in Zambia; with us looking forward to the joining formalities the next day, ID creation and gate pass access etc.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">More in the next one!!!</span></div>
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Aashish Soodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01008682342586125061noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7145287646192944638.post-79572193798135964672012-08-24T10:34:00.001+05:302012-08-24T10:37:01.033+05:30The forbidden love<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: small;">We all know of stories how people from different background fall in love heads over heel with each other and have to fight their family tooth and nail for this love. We know a friend or a friend’s friend who had suffered the exact same story. Some end up being together for the eternity (dead or alive) and for some it remains yet another story which never came to fruition. But how many of us know of grandfathers and grandmothers with such stories?</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">What really instigated me to write this story is about that the fact that we all talk about love marriages and people falling in love heads over heel like it is a recent concept. But it is not. It must not be. I am sure people would have been falling in love with each other all the time even when arranged marriages were a dictum and love marriages a heresy. And when you hear of a sixty year old recounting her falling in love, not just love but forbidden love, and marrying the man of her dreams… It is sure to be of interest to everyone.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Well this story is about such a couple who fought everyone (well not literally! This isn’t Pardes) for their love… and ended up being together.
This is a post for <a href="http://www.indiblogger.in/getpublished">Get Published</a> contest at <a href="http://www.indiblogger.in/">Indiblogger</a>. An initiative between Indiblogger and HarperCollins</span></div>
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Aashish Soodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01008682342586125061noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7145287646192944638.post-24378992755316137882012-08-22T16:50:00.000+05:302012-08-22T16:59:12.569+05:30Tangy Italian red pasta<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: small;">Serves 4</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Ingredients for pasta sauce</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">4-5 cloves garlic</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">3 Green chillies, finely chopped</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">50 grams Amul butter</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">50 ml Del monte olive oil</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">100 gms finely diced green and yellow capsicum</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">250 gms finely chopped red onion</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">100 gms Del monte corn</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">100 gms Baby corn</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">100 gms diced mushrooms</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">200 ml tomato puree</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">1 can tomatoes</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">100 gms cream cheese</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">1 teaspoon thyme</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">2 teaspoon Oregano</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">2 tablespoon Del monte Arrabbiata Pasta sauce</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Salt to taste</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"> <b>Ingredients for garlic bread</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">2 cloves of garlic, finely crushed</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">50 gms Amul butter</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Bread</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Ingredients for pasta</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">300 gms of Del monte pasta of your choice</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Preparing the sauce</b></span></div>
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<li><span style="font-size: small;">Pour olive oil in the pan</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Add onion to the hot oil</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">After about 2 mins of cooking; add capsicum, green chillies and mushrooms to the onion</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">After 5 mins of cooking, add puree and canned tomatoes and break them roughly with ladle</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Add pasta sauce, thyme and teaspoon of oregano to the mix. Let it simmer for 10 mins</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Once the mix is cooked; add cheese, corn and baby corn to the mixture</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Add salt to taste</span></li>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Preparing garlic bread</b></span></div>
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<li><span style="font-size: small;">Add garlic paste to the butter</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Slice the loaf diagonally</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Coat the butter-garlic mix on two sides of loaf</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Heat the loaf on the pan till golden brown</span></li>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Preparing the pasta</b></span></div>
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<li><span style="font-size: small;">I prefer to use elbow macaroni. Though the recipe works equally well for all varieties be it penne, spaghetti, fusilli, fettuccini etc. No layered pasta though</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Pasta takes approx. 15 mins on a boiling water to reach al-dente stage</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">You can judge when the pasta is done by taking out a piece and biting on it. If it feels firm and soft at the same time and doesn’t taste raw or floury when chewed, it is done</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Add boiled pasta to the simmering mixture and let it cook for about five minutes</span></li>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFdGGR8MKRhH2-QryNrheptd1cNhAzp5Hp16QZjJt5qx8XJD0YWFbZFF6YEpC28ar2h-bHoNIUYqWSh73oYhH8Ane4pR1UIgDosZiQLAN2rPljrdQgceZJSnTe0G1JAUghPFFLHnVWDS9E/s1600/Tangy+Italian+red+pasta.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFdGGR8MKRhH2-QryNrheptd1cNhAzp5Hp16QZjJt5qx8XJD0YWFbZFF6YEpC28ar2h-bHoNIUYqWSh73oYhH8Ane4pR1UIgDosZiQLAN2rPljrdQgceZJSnTe0G1JAUghPFFLHnVWDS9E/s200/Tangy+Italian+red+pasta.JPG" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Serving</b></span></div>
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<li><span style="font-size: small;">Place the pasta in the center of a bowl</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Sprinkle oregano and place garlic bread on side</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Serve piping hot</span></li>
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<li><span style="font-size: small;">Time the pasta so that it is taken off the stove just as the sauce is prepared so that you can strain it straight into the pot. Makes the infusion of flavors much more easier</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">If you have to keep the pasta strained for some time… make sure you cool it as soon as it is taken off the heat so that the pasta doesn’t get overcooked in its own heat</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Add the cream cheese towards the end so that it provides a creamy smoothness to the pasta but doesn’t get cooked too much</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Make sure the ingredients are not cooked too much or else they won’t stand out in the pasta</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">I personally don’t like olives. But if you don’t mind them, you can put some 6-7 pieces of coarsely chopped pitted Del Monte black olives when adding cheese to the mix</span></li>
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<span style="font-size: small;">This is a post for <a href="http://www.facebook.com/worldfoody">Del Monte Blogger Recipe Carnival</a> contest at <a href="http://www.indiblogger.in/">Indiblogger</a> - An initiative between Indiblogger and Del Monte</span></div>
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Aashish Soodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01008682342586125061noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7145287646192944638.post-21838909178931459862012-07-12T20:56:00.002+05:302012-08-08T12:55:58.292+05:30Why India should be a must visit destination for all<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: small;">Sometime back I was talking to a South African colleague of mine about Indian culture etc. when he suddenly said to me “So Aashish! Sell me India. Why should I visit India?” I was asked the same thing when dining with her very lovely wife, Veronica. I did the same on a team dinner when I tried to talk a couple of colleagues into coming to India, while being surrounded by a number of SA settled third generation Indians.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I tried to tell them about the great cultural diversity in our land, the myriad variety of foods that we eat, the in-numerous dress languages that we have, literally millions of gods and goddesses that we look (literally) up to, a melee of cultural values living with boardroom antics.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">And they seem to have been sold on that. But then I thought, am I really doing a justice to the INCREDIBLENESS THAT IN INDIA (yes in ALL CAPS!!!).</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">So I ran a search on the net via the Google dev (god) to search why indeed should anyone visit India. Surprisingly, while there was a lot of material on what to visit while visiting India, there wasn’t even a single post on WHY should they be visiting India in the first place?</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Having failed in my attempt, I decided to make an effort at penning down a post which might act as a ready reckoner for anyone who is planning to maybe visit India. Maybe I can help tip the scales. Who knows???</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">So here you go Brian… My top reasons why I feel that India is a must visit for any person (though I myself cannot claim to have seen it all)</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9epmX8ETaihPUJ98yRMuFT3vcsukWiNGadzPMxd2SlGRYE5V4wQtU_mDCJoMVKClXptwGFF2wmSQCb5ljpZojYAb3AhgZYBIbpM2MvgW7XPqMA01bpNYU36HV2SMN1Aa6RYxD5X8LQ8ti/s1600/Indian+Monuments.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9epmX8ETaihPUJ98yRMuFT3vcsukWiNGadzPMxd2SlGRYE5V4wQtU_mDCJoMVKClXptwGFF2wmSQCb5ljpZojYAb3AhgZYBIbpM2MvgW7XPqMA01bpNYU36HV2SMN1Aa6RYxD5X8LQ8ti/s200/Indian+Monuments.jpg" width="186" /></a><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Monuments </b>– India has a number of monuments that are a must visit for everyone. Not all of them are historical though. I am sure all would have heard about Taj Mahal (after all it figures in the list of wonders of world). India has myriad such historical monuments such as the Red Fort, Qutub Minar, Ashok Stambh etc. In addition to such monuments, we have a lot many of religious places such as Jama Masjid,Delhi; Golden Temple, Amritsar; Jagannath Puri Temple, Orissa; Akshardham Temple, Delhi and Gujarat. We have a wide variety of forts and palace such as Old Fort,Delhi ; Red Fort,Agra; Hawa Mahal,Jaipur; Jal Mahal,Jaipur; Gingee Fort,Tamil Nadu and what not.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxUrQiAgTZxVg0QJe-CqYu076At7_mIEzv-MHYGxRseAvZ9GAn0iPVfA8YVOK4z9rOmQpyMjxGOqZa-y2f-MCsfibz4f9GQENCvUtoBsty3svJKDLcXuJ7TDRQMZFUrKipU2dPGyZVEJRv/s1600/india-cultural_286155914_std.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxUrQiAgTZxVg0QJe-CqYu076At7_mIEzv-MHYGxRseAvZ9GAn0iPVfA8YVOK4z9rOmQpyMjxGOqZa-y2f-MCsfibz4f9GQENCvUtoBsty3svJKDLcXuJ7TDRQMZFUrKipU2dPGyZVEJRv/s200/india-cultural_286155914_std.jpg" width="181" /></a><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Culture </b>– In India, we love talking about our cultural heritage, our legacy etc… but what exactly does all that encompass? The cultural traits, the way we dress, the way we talk and sing, the way we behave among family and friends changes every so often. </span><span style="font-size: small;">In music we have Hindustani Gharana music, Carnatic Music, Ghazals and Folk Music. In textile we have Chikankari, Kanjeevaram Saree, Zardozi and the like. </span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioeadZxq0wQHy5BRP4V3Qpe4vnJEbTEbM-jrVxfNNA6zB8vY5IptqwnUa5STny8mL_2YI7AkAjufsh_Tfi7MpK6hqeDxK24pcsHHR1VS2UgimH0z9tlPpiQd7CzZSLs4rOV95s9JS5A8WY/s1600/Hindu-God-Goddess_wallpaper.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioeadZxq0wQHy5BRP4V3Qpe4vnJEbTEbM-jrVxfNNA6zB8vY5IptqwnUa5STny8mL_2YI7AkAjufsh_Tfi7MpK6hqeDxK24pcsHHR1VS2UgimH0z9tlPpiQd7CzZSLs4rOV95s9JS5A8WY/s200/Hindu-God-Goddess_wallpaper.jpg" width="147" /></a><span style="font-size: small;">We have several dance forms such as Bharatnatyam, Kathak, Kathakali, Kuchipudi, Manipuri, Mohiniattam, Odissi, not to mention Punjabi Bhangra and what not! Did you know that India has millions of gods and goddesses. Hinduism itself has around 330 million deities.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Food </b>– When you hear people swear by Indian food; it’s not an exaggeration. Visiting India is a culinary delight for vegetarians and an eye opener for meat lovers. I am often asked why I don’t eat non-veg and I simply reply “because I don’t need to with so much vegetarian variety”. </span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtt5o7JIrNQiUMowmI5oEnaAcECbBG_Ra-ffWKDgyKnne8R95v24UKUNMknnDnSvKnP_G25OkJR8j20N7kL2TQZFw_lJPYVAbT7iWC54sZaMqdE3kC9KOl2syPLfBoC0ddSv-qlmO3SnqM/s1600/Indian+Food.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="173" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtt5o7JIrNQiUMowmI5oEnaAcECbBG_Ra-ffWKDgyKnne8R95v24UKUNMknnDnSvKnP_G25OkJR8j20N7kL2TQZFw_lJPYVAbT7iWC54sZaMqdE3kC9KOl2syPLfBoC0ddSv-qlmO3SnqM/s200/Indian+Food.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: small;">That’s not to say that we don’t have sufficient craving for chicken or fish. And the best food in India is the one that is sold on the myriad roadside stalls, and not within the four square walls of a fancy restaurant. On one hand we have a gazillion variety of sweet meats whereas on the other hand we have a range of spicy, taste bud tickling offerings. And worldwide, chicken tikka and tandoori chicken are the words which are just about to get added to the oxford dictionary.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN57aTjN-r4x3Gr3kNpCwyqoa-UOS25K1YyEqfiY8i52pZfbQQeZK36KcaNrEH7zRBAW58Mwpj1nYQH4flGP45avxJAg-Io7TGqQS1x0pAhivkA5Gm-h7tHUqMuym-anPkRQwcrBna0aMr/s1600/777-250x250.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN57aTjN-r4x3Gr3kNpCwyqoa-UOS25K1YyEqfiY8i52pZfbQQeZK36KcaNrEH7zRBAW58Mwpj1nYQH4flGP45avxJAg-Io7TGqQS1x0pAhivkA5Gm-h7tHUqMuym-anPkRQwcrBna0aMr/s200/777-250x250.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Language </b>– In the land of one billion people, not only do we have dozens of language, we have several dialects within those languages as well. And not like English the Texas way vis-à-vis English the London way. No Sir! We have languages which a person from other territory might not recognize. The languages are as different from each other as apples from orange. Did you know that at resent we have 22 official languages and 398 living languages in India. Unlike other countries, we don’t have a singular language (ofcourse Hindi and English are our two primary languages to communicate in when we go to a different zone of the country). So when somebody asks me to speak in Indian, I am often stumped as there is no language called “Indian”.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Variety of people</b> – Being in a place like India is as much of an experience as having visited tens of country because the people are simply so different from each other. And yet, despite all this diversity, they still manage to live in a harmony with each other.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">While on one hand we have the boasty, garrulous people from Punjab who believe that showing off is the way to communicate with people; on the other hand we have the passive aggressive folks from South India who believe in simple living high thinking. On one hand we have the Bengal folks talking about communist way of life, while we have the shrewd business minded people of Gujarat where even a five year old has a business of his/her own. “Adda” (useless chitchat between friends) of one place becomes “bakar” in another and “gupshup” in yet another. “bhai” (brother) of one place undergoes a range of transformation from “bhaiyya” to “dada” to “virji” to “cheta”. Such is the wide variety that we have!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFIqOP5hTxnIdP6kOo6h7ClbUejz-E5T55qXEMD9rBF3dXqUejF2LjGR-Pg9-jb0fF2jbsBx4VG0FQUvyfdMQyPPVkhg-M8goen2imDexeEoN7ZL_WZ2MPhJQu__XfGf-tVteLe2RK9D8O/s1600/Delhi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFIqOP5hTxnIdP6kOo6h7ClbUejz-E5T55qXEMD9rBF3dXqUejF2LjGR-Pg9-jb0fF2jbsBx4VG0FQUvyfdMQyPPVkhg-M8goen2imDexeEoN7ZL_WZ2MPhJQu__XfGf-tVteLe2RK9D8O/s200/Delhi.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Delhi </b>– I am including this point specifically because of the fact that I am a bit partial towards my city.... and the fact that it is indeed awesome!!! For those of you who feel that “Slumdog Millionaire” was a reflection on how India is, or are still stuck in India as being the land of snake charmers; a visit to Delhi, the mecca of modern India is a must visit. Being in Delhi is no less than being in the heart of New York or Beijing or Tokyo. You have all the major MNCs of the world with facilities that may surpass even the best of the best.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Natural beauty</b> – The natural beauty of India is at par its global counterparts.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUVKMj1okM-_JScN5X08wyxSg6V3IGqRCFw9Nau-1rEFcx5GAK2wROLrX2RF6_NA_RMIBMU554WOs6zK4hMWdgTW-gkVEwk4c_98qAdWrbw2yb0lscD1ahNdKwOKYukBslsHSUL82Q-dL1/s1600/nageen_lake.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUVKMj1okM-_JScN5X08wyxSg6V3IGqRCFw9Nau-1rEFcx5GAK2wROLrX2RF6_NA_RMIBMU554WOs6zK4hMWdgTW-gkVEwk4c_98qAdWrbw2yb0lscD1ahNdKwOKYukBslsHSUL82Q-dL1/s200/nageen_lake.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZdq8rzoGSvOAWQqIw-CkZTnDy5oFCVu8ia1A4srF8d3OuETCd8CDWlJE9PFIwQzGmyqyh0oizHEBwUOPlcTNFg_FFEb9veU0TKFDmwGdVlY2UR4jdRY4FMTOFl4fYObqLS-kzuE8BSCnb/s1600/Kerala_backwater_scene.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZdq8rzoGSvOAWQqIw-CkZTnDy5oFCVu8ia1A4srF8d3OuETCd8CDWlJE9PFIwQzGmyqyh0oizHEBwUOPlcTNFg_FFEb9veU0TKFDmwGdVlY2UR4jdRY4FMTOFl4fYObqLS-kzuE8BSCnb/s200/Kerala_backwater_scene.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: small;">In the northern part of the country we have the valleys of Kashmir dubbed as ‘the Paradise on earth’, for its beautiful valleys, lakes, rivers, peaks and its people and for which Jahangir once said “Its pleasure meadows and enchanting cascades are beyond all description. These are running streams and fountains beyond count. Wherever, the eye reaches, there are vendure and running water. The red rose, the violet and narcissus grow of themselves in the field”. In the south, we have the serene backwaters of Kerala and its majestic beauty which are guaranteed to sooth even the most turbulent of hearts.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Spiritual enthusiasts abode</b> – I feel like the word “spiritual tourism” has been defined with India in mind.</span><span style="font-size: small;">Off lately, the spiritual tourism industry seen a
tremendous growth especially after the popularization of yoga and
traditional Indian remedies and medicines in the western culture. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4a2tD7B78jlZdUdRpinxzWhYAytJJvdF-H_DDB1EHDH3oLsGFsQWWT_vKWT-xgVOcgs6RkUenlAgBEEz9eUHkk5oMehTR-zgg3EiQegLOLUNmuEbrAS2H3cYV_Gq9lO2Qnb_oRUhD1zxu/s1600/how_do_you_define_spirituality.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="159" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4a2tD7B78jlZdUdRpinxzWhYAytJJvdF-H_DDB1EHDH3oLsGFsQWWT_vKWT-xgVOcgs6RkUenlAgBEEz9eUHkk5oMehTR-zgg3EiQegLOLUNmuEbrAS2H3cYV_Gq9lO2Qnb_oRUhD1zxu/s200/how_do_you_define_spirituality.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">India offers something for every religion from Hindu to Muslim, from Sikh to Christian to Buddhist. Places like Varanasi, Haridwar, Golden temple are the ideal destination for spiritual seekers. Four “dhams” and nine “devi” of Himachal are a must see for everyone. Ancient Indian scriptures quote such cures and remedies and solutions which are increasingly finding their way in the modern lives now that people are trying to live more in tune with nature. Several western countries have tried and failed at getting patents over traditional use items in India such as turmeric for its medicinal property, Basmati rice etc.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Well that was my 2 cents on this topic. In no way that I believe that I have done justice to the wonder that is India as this is but a mere glimpse of what India has to offer to all. Do let me know as to what you think of this meager attempt to mine to summarize India. All bouquets and brickbats are welcome!!!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Some interesting links here:</span></div>
<ol style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://goindia.about.com/od/topdestinations/tp/10-Must-See-India-Destinations.htm">10 Must See India Destination</a> </span></li>
<li><a href="http://www.mustvisitindia.com/"><span style="font-size: small;"></span></a><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://draft.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7145287646192944638">Must Visit India</a> </span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.vagabondish.com/must-see-places-india/">10 Must-See Places in India</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://mahal.ezinemark.com/tourism-in-india-must-visits-7d33cbc3b820.html">Tourism in India – Must Visits</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.indiaplaces.com/india-famous-monuments.html">India's Famous Monuments</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_India">Languages of India</a></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">I<a href="http://www.mapsofindia.com/culture/indian-languages.html">ndian Languages Map</a></span></li>
<li><a href="http://www.lostgirlsworld.com/2011/04/reasons-to-visit-india/"><span style="font-size: small;">20 Reasons Why You Should Visit India</span></a></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://travel.mapsofindia.com/why-visit-india.html">Why to Visit India</a> </span></li>
</ol>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Images courtesy: culturextourism.com, voiceculture.org, allhindugodgoddess.blogspot.com, inventindia.in, wikimedia.org, travel.kashmironline.net, indialine.com, indiamart.com, indianetzone.com, lonelyplanet.com, flickr.com, blog.mapsofindia.com, blog.knowledge-must.com, indianfoodforever.com, southindianfoods.in, restaurantsinnoida.com, weirdasianews.com, go4indya.blogspot.com, bharatonline.com, rahuleink.wordpress.com, thehindu.com, instablogs.com, connaught-place.com</span></div>
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Aashish Soodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01008682342586125061noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7145287646192944638.post-73019028040464955702012-02-28T11:35:00.001+05:302012-02-28T11:35:46.473+05:30Book Review: Revolution 2020<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4Dml1FR3Nd6UISOxIgyFIX1cYaImVP_UV0Ys_BsDPl-NClQnsMbWZ1hodaGKV9EbClXzQ3Y_8gxqV3vqQfqr45DxfWEpNt6FTSHJX2sGzlImg39TVhmO1MWFJWlk2-9qQ8KwWmDVeZVKN/s1600/revolution-2020-by-chetan-bhagat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4Dml1FR3Nd6UISOxIgyFIX1cYaImVP_UV0Ys_BsDPl-NClQnsMbWZ1hodaGKV9EbClXzQ3Y_8gxqV3vqQfqr45DxfWEpNt6FTSHJX2sGzlImg39TVhmO1MWFJWlk2-9qQ8KwWmDVeZVKN/s200/revolution-2020-by-chetan-bhagat.jpg" width="147" /></a><span style="font-size: small;">When I start reading any book written in the Chetan Bhagat genre, I always maintain a low expectation level. YES that is what I term as the new breed of “writing” by authors passed out of good (or even not so good) colleges; who are intent on inflicting their version of the love story they had on the unsuspecting public in general. Needless to say, I followed the same with R2020 (That’s right… they have a acronym already and widely used in the book itself). I wasn’t disappointed. The book exactly matched the low expectations I had set for it; and in fact was a couple of nanometers above the lowest bar I could set.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Like all of the previous books, this books also begins in the present and ends in the present with the 95% of the 296 pages in past. This is a story about 3 friends Gopal, Raghav and Aarti. And their love triangle. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">The story is set in the backdrop of engineering entrance exams in Varanasi. Gopal is poor, Raghav is middle class and Aarti is from a well-off (army! Nothing less) background. Gopal and Ragahv are preparing for engineering entrance exams and Aarti is their classmate.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">To cut the story short – Gopal loves Aarti and doesn’t hesitate to tell her so. Aarti loves Gopal as “A friend” (sic!) and probably has a secret crush on Raghav and later confesses it to him. Raghav in turn also begins to love Aarti but has already set his priorities, none of which feature Aarti. Aarti then cheats on Raghav with Gopal. But a self introspection leads Gopal on a guilt trip and he arranges a charade so that Aarti thinks he is cheating on her and goes back to Raghav. Simple… isn’t it?</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Add to the ongoing masala of corruption, private players in education and the Coaching Center phenomenon that the nation is already gripped in; and you got yourself a potboiler.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Tons of material has already been written about the pedestrian form of language that Chetan uses, so I won’t delve on it. However, on reading it, I kept on getting the feeling that the book has been written with the ultimate objective of getting someone to bring it to the big screen. So it is more of a screenplay than a work of literature.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: small;">Pros:</span></b></div>
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<li><span style="font-size: small;">Thankfully, the story was a slightly bit more interesting than some of the other “books” out there.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">Fast paced</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">All the ingredients of a pot boiler are there – Love, Sex, Revenge, Corruption (A new one these days)</span></li>
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<span style="font-size: small;"> </span><b><span style="font-size: small;">Cons:</span></b></div>
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<li><span style="font-size: small;">Incidentally, some of the dialogues sound well when said in Hindi but turn absolutely ridiculous when translated verbatim to English.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">One thing I really hated was the “<i>Chetan sir, one drink? I can tell people I had a drink with ‘the’ Chetan Bhagat</i>” bit. Talk about narcissism.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: small;">I didn’t like the three characters: Gopal was an insecure miser who always kept on comparing himself to Raghav; Raghav was an insanely naïve writer who wouldn’t take a hint even if it danced naked in the from of his eyes; and Aarti who had the looks but ditched Gopal for Raghav when the former couldn’t clear entrance exams and came back to him when he became the director.</span></li>
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<span style="font-size: small;">All the grammatical oddities apart, this is a book which I will place as below ‘2 States’ and ‘5 Point’ but above ‘One Night’ and way way way above ‘3 Mistakes’. Incidentally, a series or One, Two, Three, Four and Five.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">I will give the book a rating of 3/5. A book you can read for one time but would be better if you borrow it from someone so that if you don’t like it, you don’t feel like having been cheated out of 140 bucks.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Image Courtesy: http://www.chetanbhagat.com/books/revolution-2020/</span></div>
</div>Aashish Soodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01008682342586125061noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7145287646192944638.post-10430526617663173232012-02-22T17:19:00.000+05:302012-02-28T12:04:55.628+05:30Johannesburg Diary 2 - Stereotypes in a casino<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNT7HN3l20tJN1mhVeIYpDeb7gtaLkDKPOVa8WcmeWyEkPODFeBZzr7gCAJzN0yrUVMq6pcUoVGx7MCEcKEy_trpWYzUL9Q0m-UUDi8JWrO3dcX9EjQcZmYrdWQvu3hyphenhyphenGvcbTi_hqMcJDO/s1600/Monte+Casino.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNT7HN3l20tJN1mhVeIYpDeb7gtaLkDKPOVa8WcmeWyEkPODFeBZzr7gCAJzN0yrUVMq6pcUoVGx7MCEcKEy_trpWYzUL9Q0m-UUDi8JWrO3dcX9EjQcZmYrdWQvu3hyphenhyphenGvcbTi_hqMcJDO/s200/Monte+Casino.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">In my trip to South Africa, I had the chance of visiting several casinos. Before you make any assumptions, let me clarify that we visited casinos due to the fact that A) It was a novelty to us; B) Every nook and cranny had it; and C) In a place which practically closes down at dusk, casinos seemed to be the only mode of “entertainment”.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGghHoqG6aRtbcL9Tqcjtt6zGQ1DgluNGGZtOhd-B5UD8qkPRP0-_YwkL-O2WeaPP1_WdgbyFVzt-MR5tB2af3T8OsQ9lUWfEnR4CWd7mPMaa62Wza6g-mah5KR46Rv7zB1zUdoJIzrlyg/s1600/Suncoast+Casino.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGghHoqG6aRtbcL9Tqcjtt6zGQ1DgluNGGZtOhd-B5UD8qkPRP0-_YwkL-O2WeaPP1_WdgbyFVzt-MR5tB2af3T8OsQ9lUWfEnR4CWd7mPMaa62Wza6g-mah5KR46Rv7zB1zUdoJIzrlyg/s200/Suncoast+Casino.JPG" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: small;">And that’s not all; the casinos that I went to had spas, four star restaurants of all cuisines, cinema halls, swimming pools and various other attractions for the entire family. So even if you don’t want to play in the casinos, there would gazillion other things that you just might find equally interesting. How about that Prada bag that you were ogling at? Why not a game of golf? Maybe even catch a movie!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj59IC5ImLd5bWjNOmRv60Kj7zX8chj9E3D9gR18KF6q0zZFTMVjGYLRpYDf9Kji27QMTltItDRbNjIGUjYD_UYIh0wSY08XavThlaHWBeU21FOIjsjcbnABn49Mrf7ZMadKZbAd5EwUQSk/s1600/Numbers+on+a+roulette+wheel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="131" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj59IC5ImLd5bWjNOmRv60Kj7zX8chj9E3D9gR18KF6q0zZFTMVjGYLRpYDf9Kji27QMTltItDRbNjIGUjYD_UYIh0wSY08XavThlaHWBeU21FOIjsjcbnABn49Mrf7ZMadKZbAd5EwUQSk/s200/Numbers+on+a+roulette+wheel.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: small;">But what takes the cake is the Casino itself. The moment you walk in to a casino, you are welcome by a variety of sounds ranging from ding-ding-ding and ding-dong-ding of the slot machines to the “biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiig win” of a person winning something on machine; to kachink </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7WCB6eulxbfdORyWhbQcOq62VvEGoDTWmLVq-6s9Iv2bXUSi7dFqrqwgP7-jrw3m_Q6Cph6XwKKNhxE7eS7ruuVhsxGH6t4f3zdyOEpqHV9gWXqP2m8FEUjdW8-bzm_M6ZQedxyKzfrTM/s1600/Slot+machine+-+777+-+Casino+always+wins.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="163" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7WCB6eulxbfdORyWhbQcOq62VvEGoDTWmLVq-6s9Iv2bXUSi7dFqrqwgP7-jrw3m_Q6Cph6XwKKNhxE7eS7ruuVhsxGH6t4f3zdyOEpqHV9gWXqP2m8FEUjdW8-bzm_M6ZQedxyKzfrTM/s200/Slot+machine+-+777+-+Casino+always+wins.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: small;">sound when pulling the lever of a slot machine to the dealer saying “No more bets please”. There is melee of people roaming around playing on slot machines and roulette tables and poker and what not. Even if you don’t like being in a casino, the very presence of so much human emotions around makes it kind of an infectious thing to be. To see people win and lose; smile and cry.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglU8mvGG-R7GLweI56TYdddFU3GFBwlalUb-tSPC5wJ9kgML35iQewiLt7xqSQjQAkWosfYmWFwFSVENlEfs0nQPSw4MB7APk-4E1BzUpbQ2LQVCWs38OAjFHzpBqDfMErofOwMgEXMO5T/s1600/Poker+table.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="166" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglU8mvGG-R7GLweI56TYdddFU3GFBwlalUb-tSPC5wJ9kgML35iQewiLt7xqSQjQAkWosfYmWFwFSVENlEfs0nQPSw4MB7APk-4E1BzUpbQ2LQVCWs38OAjFHzpBqDfMErofOwMgEXMO5T/s200/Poker+table.png" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">And being in that atmosphere did give a lot of insight into an environment which I was entirely unfamiliar with. It gave me a lot of “masala” and a good understanding of the human behavior in such an environment.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">So without further ado… here we go!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>The thinker: </b>A very rare variety, this person would look at the roulette table, calculate the probability of a number appearing on the basis of its position on the spinning wheel, numbers gone by and number of times that number has appeared previously. A slight variation in this is that frail, elderly gentleman that you see standing behind you who has a neatly ruled sheet with him on which he scribbles god-knows-what and wins bet after bet.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>The aggressive bet(ter): </b>This person is now so habituated to the games and the betting and all that the small wins (or most likely the losses) do not faze him at all. So, in roulette table where everyone would be betting 10 each on the multiple numbers inside, this person would put up 500 on any random number. They are hooked to playing for the sake of it and not for the wins or losses. They often overlap with “The Hopper” (See below).</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>The passive bet(ter): </b>He likes to just sit around in the casinos and would much rather observe others playing the game than involve themselves in it. Off and on they might play a game but only when they feel like the odds are in their favor of winning. Their overall sum involved too doesn’t go to a high level.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>The Hopper: </b>You can easily guess by the name that this one hops. Well.. not physically like a grasshopper but hops between the table from one table to the other table. Putting a tener on one and collecting 100 from the second table while losing some at the third. A distinguishing feature of people in this category is that they are rarely anxious or flustered. Those who prefer to venture into the tedious waters of “hopper”ism are amongst the most calm and collected individuals; regardless of their winning or losing in the game. An anxious hopper is a losing hopper and, thus, a rarity.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>The anxious one: </b>In contrast to the hopper covered above, this genre of casino players is anxious to the extreme. And their anxiousness has got nothing to do with their winning or losing. They get anxious just by playing and even more so when they are not. And it is at this point that they are bound to get irritated at each and every incident happening around them. At one table, there was an old gentleman who somehow had developed the belief me being in his proximity was somehow, in a twisted way, leading him to lose. So whenever I would approach the table, his face would be nothing short of that mask you see in Scream. At one time, he actually said “Shit! You are back!!!”</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>The one with ATM card:</b> This is what the Casinos live for. These people are the bread and butter for Casino industry. These are the boon that every casino ever hopes for. At the very outset, let me warn you. It is ALWAYS foolish to take your card(s) to the casino. Not because somebody might rob but because you yourself might rob yourself of all the money that you have by repeated betting. So essentially what these people do is that they keep on betting, low or high, on the games. As soon as they run out of money in their wallet; and in their shoes; and in their secret pocket inside their trousers; and god-only-knows-what-places; they run off to the ATM to get fresh money to bet! A point to note here is that GENERALLY these are also the people who rake in big moolahs. It is a different thing altogether that they might have lost twice that amount already before winning some.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>The guesser: </b>Frankly I found this category of the people to be the most fun to be around. Now this category has two further sub-genres: Mr Theory and Mr. New-game-each-day. Mr. Theory would keep on formulating one theory after the other to explain the outcome of a game so that one might have a winning combination… eventually. Some of the theories I hear were “66% Theory”, “2nd dozen Theory” and “Odds make me even Theory”. Needless to say that, while successful at times, these were theories nonetheless as otherwise Casinos would have gone bankrupt long time back and as we all know that doesn’t happen… except perhaps in some random casino heist Hollywood movie. Mr. New-game-each-day is a very fickle character. He likes to hop from one slot to another; from one game to the other; from one strategy a day to some other the next day. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>The I-Couldn’t-Care-Less-About-Casino-But-I-Will-Bet-Anyways: </b>The compulsive gambler. There is always one in a casino. In a day, they will easily spend a hundred times any normal person, forget where they bet and their winning be given to them by a random casino staff who happened to spot them somewhere. They are often the high rollers with swanky shades and a drink in one hand.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>The one at home: </b>And then there is a peculiar variety of casino goers who have a unique attraction for the casino. The ones that you see as frequently as 5’O clock in the morning as midnight. These are the ones which practically, in some cases inside their car parked overnight at casino, live in the casino itself. They are the ones which may not even be a high spender. They however sustain the casino in a small, every day way. They keep on playing different slot machines and tables; making multiple small bets throughout the day; winning some and then losing some. The casinos, on their part, sustain them by providing an odd meal and drink to them on the tables so that continue to play their games. Kind of a symbiotic relationship!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Sometimes the sight and sound that you will be greeted with, when entering a casino, might be overwhelming. But worry not! I am sure you will enjoy yourself!!!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9Kn2fqy_tI5ILhF3LGAfw9BwpBjjwj0PlBi7mRMqoSF7tGh0uswC70ouZeF8GkszKDl_N3DhQ-IRddOh9zjVkvkrtOk4oqGlsMcwxZ4nRawEPn0G0Gv0DPKSif5oKJ-p8WOPrZzU2q2tQ/s1600/Winners+know+when+to+stop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="140" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9Kn2fqy_tI5ILhF3LGAfw9BwpBjjwj0PlBi7mRMqoSF7tGh0uswC70ouZeF8GkszKDl_N3DhQ-IRddOh9zjVkvkrtOk4oqGlsMcwxZ4nRawEPn0G0Gv0DPKSif5oKJ-p8WOPrZzU2q2tQ/s200/Winners+know+when+to+stop.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-size: small;">PS: One phrase displayed prominently in all the casinos was “Winners know when to stop” (Read more <a href="http://www.responsiblegambling.co.za/">here</a>). I always felt it should have been “Losers should know when to quit”. :D</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">PPS: One word of advice to anyone planning to go visit a Casino. SOMEONE has to lose in order for someone else to win. Because there is now way that the casino is losing, since the odds always favor casino.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">PPPS: I will try and get some images for each of the stereotypes. Just feels like it will add a lot of zing to the content. Feel free to comment in case you know where I can find some. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Disclaimer: This is a collection of various observations that I made across my trips. This is in no way a reflection on anyone and any resemblance to real people or events is purely coincidental. Read the earlier post on Johannesburg <a href="http://aashishsood.blogspot.com/2011/10/johannesburg-diary-1.html">here</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Images Courtesy: bartonsclub93.com, diamondcasinosavannah.com, grassodefense.com, eurocasino888.n, onlinecasinomasters.com, visualeditors.com</span><br />
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<b style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">This is an entry for the "Around the World with Expedia" blogging contest with <a href="http://www.expedia.co.in/">Expedia</a> and <a href="http://www.indiblogger.in/topic.php?topic=51">Indiblogger</a>. If you like it please vote for me <a href="http://www.indiblogger.in/indipost.php?post=117289">here</a></b><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div>
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</div>Aashish Soodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01008682342586125061noreply@blogger.com6