Bhopal gas: A lethal trade secret

Doctors in Bhopal on that December night in 1984, clueless and left to their own devices, administered drugs for cyanide poisoning, as victims who inhaled the gas poured in at Hamidia Hospital only to die by the hundreds. I recall, reporting in The Times of India, ‘ all nine cremation grounds in town were kept busy round the clock’...More...

Garbage talk

In villages, there is an old adage in Kannada “Thippe nodi hennu kodu”, which means, “Look at the garbage pile and give the daughter in marriage”. The garbage pile behind the house is an indicator of the family’s prosperity...... Many old areas in Mysore had a conservancy system to cater to the waste disposal, but development of the city has defeated the purpose. Garbage is now very inorganic and difficult to handle the volume generated. More....

With a Cherry on Top

Just the other day, after seeing off a guest at the Bus Station, i wondered for the nth. time why there's no train connectivity between Bangalore and Pondicherry .............

Pondicherry or Puducheri is a lovely destination for a weekend getaway. Perfect mix of the exotic and the familiar.

XMAS IN SINGAPORE

Its early Christmas for Singapore. They do all festive events on a grand scale here. Christmas season starts a month before the actual dates, bringing in an air of cheer all around. I have spent many Christmas's in different parts of the World but I must say Singapore goes overboard in decorations like no place else. All over this Country, during this entire month, one can find Christmas trees inside every mall, outside every mall, in other public areas and roads such as Orchard Road and coupled with fabulous lighting everywhere.

Once Upon An Indian Monsoon

We witness the silent play of light and shadow on the city from the Chamundi hills. Our legs, just as eager and young as the morning, beg to reach a higher altitude. With the burst of natural excitement, we break into a sprint, Cousin and I. In the disappearing gloom, we race towards the morning...More

I am back! (and gone)

Finally, done with the exams and back here, which effectively puts a full stop to all your hopes of me never returning to blogging! Don't despair, there is hope after-all, I have come back to inform that, henceforth, I will not be visiting this space very often!...continue reading

MGP Opposes Discriminatory Power Cuts in Karnataka

The state government has declared that there will be 12 hours of power cuts daily in rural areas, 4 hours in urban areas other than Bangalore and only one hour in Bangalore. Mysore GrahakaraParishat has filed a complaint before the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission stating that this discriminatory policy violates Article 14 of the Constitution of India... continue reading

A Tip To LPG Customers

For more than a decade, MGP has been forwarding complaints received from LPG consumers to the three major supply companies, IOC, HP and BP. But despite several serious complaints, not much action was taken against the erring LPG dealers. Therefore, we were heartened to see an advertisement from Hindustan Petroleum in the local papers last week announcing... read more

Mysore Genetically Engineered Food seminar report

Over 200 prominent concerned citizens of Mysore overwhelmingly said NO to Bt Brinjal, called for a GE-free Karnataka and demanded a nationwide referendum on permitting the introduction of GE crops pending which imposition of a moratorium on GE crops in the country. read more

Is Mysore Safe now ?

I went to the Leopolds Cafe later, I had always wanted to go to that place.. I was sitting by myself sipping beer and all I could see was bullet marks all over the place, from the walls, pillars, ceiling to the table cloth. Nothing seemed to have escaped the fury of that night.

Mysore Banyan Trees

The Banyan Tree has always been an interesting subject to look at, for its prop roots, its stories and its ability to give so much to both mankind and life. In Mysore there are some Banyan Trees with long history and some with none, because they are young. I went under some of them and took pictures.. Read a bit more....

On Thanksgiving Day, I Thank...

God, of course...and

I also thank...(in no particular order...)

1. My...MORE...

BBC debates gender equality

There was gender equality in its panel - three women and as many men. The BBC World Debate in New Delhi focused on the question whether gender equality is achievable in work place ? Consensus was, ‘ yes, but not anytime soon’. . .More. . .

The ultimate source for many!

The latest campaign in the name of terror is from Idea and one may have seen Junior Bachan urging the nation to talk for India.

Kunzum photo of the day: Ladakh

This image was taken at the Druk White Lotus School in Shey near Ladakh in the Himalayan state of Jammu and Kashmir in India. Click on the image for a larger view. You can view and order more such images at the Kunzum Gallery...

Amorphophallus titanum -largest flower of the Planet

Amorphophallus titanum, also called cadaverous flower has the pecularity of blooming only during three days every 40 years, a privilege that Mother Nature bestowed on this town in Veracruz . ....

The five pillars that MM Singh will uphold

While searching the net to know the significance of MM Singh’s visit to US, I landed on this particular page and the five pillars.

India Is "PHAK-PAI-YUL" For Tibetans

Anyways, just yesterday (21st November, 2009) X told me an interesting thing, which I want to share with my readers.

I had just casually asked him how the Tibetans perceive India. 

And what did he say?

He said that since ancient times Tibetans refer to India as - PHAK-PAI-YUL.

So what does that mean? More

Darjeeling Is In West Bengal

It is only after my latest such experience on 13th November 2009, where one colleague expressed surprise to know that Darjeeling is in West Bengal, that I decided to make this posting to inform everybody that Darjeeling is in West Bengal. More...

Time to introspect

The offices of a prominent News Channel was attacked and vandalized this week. Doesn't it make you think Mr. Managing Director of the Channel, that in your greed for TRP ratings, you made a molehill of a man into a mountain? So why are you surprised that the illusionary mountain dared to take on you now?

Hope this is a lesson to you and your kinsmen in the media, that for your good health exercising a lot of discretion while covering certain elements would be a good idea...more.

That Son Of An Itch

Winter's here. Most of us may not feel the cold - but I can assure you that the skin, the largest organ in the human body certainly does - in varying degrees.  It shows it by becoming dry. And the worst thingabout dry skin is that temptation to scratch. It is a vicious cycle, you know. It itches, you scratch. You scratch - and it itches!! Let's not even talk about how it looks, socially when you have to sneak a quick scratch in that embarrassing spot - instead, let's look at a few easy steps to relieve it. Of course, this is not medical advice and you'd do well to consult a qualified dermatologist if your problem is severe - but by and large, these precautions...More

Deluge: The floods of ’99

A few decades back if you asked an uneducated person in Kerala his age, the answer might have been that he was born two years after the flood, or something like that. Events were linked to the flood of ’99. For two generations, that was a reference point in time...

Terror Noose Channel!

With dedicated channels already for Sports, Music, Food etc., it won’t be surprising if a dedicated News Channel for Terror comes on the airways soon. A peek at the sample News…

This is the Terror Channel Hq , Here’s the Zero Hour Noose:

Devastation in the Nilgiris

Reports of people being buried under landfalls and houses that crumbled under the onslaught of continuous rain and wind and mud that came suddenly sliding down trickled in by word of mouth because power lines lay broken as trees crashed everywhere blocking off road access for many hours. We didn’t have access to radio and were spared the sights on TV news channels for a few days.

The Great Wall of Mumbai

Yesterday was incredible!
Yesterday I drove by the Tulsi Pipe Road from Mahim to Lower Parel and was blown away by the graffiti art on what has now been dubbed the Great Wall of Mumbai. It has totally transformed the dirty, drab wall along the Western Railway line until it is one of the most interesting, vibrantly colourful pieces of public property I've seen in a very long time.

The Music Teacher

He stood at the front gate, a short, tubby man, young but balding, his forehead liberally smeared with holy ash, a large red dot in the middle. He hesitated a little before sliding the bolt back and opening the gate. The barking of the resident dog sent him scampering outside, bolting the gate safely behind him.

“Who is it? What do you want?”
More

The Tiffin People

Now how do we tackle this delicate problem? It is not nice to not share food. But they had their tiffins too. Besides we felt that they were not realizing what they were doing. We tried everything to tackle our hunger problem. I bought extra food, but it was to no avail. One guy got up and went and sat at another table, but the guy and gal merely wandered to his table and helped themselves to the food. We went for lunch early, late, very late, but the duo was always onto us. It was an embarrassing situation and none of us knew what to do...more

The Lady At The Temple

It was during one of the pradakshinas I was taking around the Devarajaswamy Temple, Kanchipuram I came across this sight of an old lady filling lamps with ghee(Indian clarified butter). She was pouring ghee in to the lamps with so much of concentration and devotion, Read more here...

The transformation to Bharathanatyam

But it was destined that two aristocratic South Indian Brahmins would save the dance form, streamline it and make it into a pride of India...

"Peppermint Thatha"

I was cleaning up all the clutter on my desktop today, and I chanced upon this ancient folder, which I haden't opened in a while. Curious, I peeked in, and thousands of childhood memories rushed back to me. They were the stories and snippets I had penned three years ago, on the malfunctioning laptop back home. They were written without any specific intentions, before I even thought of creating a blog for myself,...More

The Harassments Of N-E Youths In Delhi – A Long Term Effort Is What We Need

The government (not only the Delhi or Central government, but all relevant government entities) must start educating the so-called mainstream Indians that the North-East people are not aliens from the Mars, but are our own brothers and sisters from a certain part of our motherland which is geographically just a little isolated from the rest of India (Or is it really isolated? I have been to so many places in North-East, and I do not think so). There should be an all round and continuous effort to allay misconceptions about the North-East region and its inhabitants. More...

RK Laxman, Meeting The Uncommon Man

As I write this post The Uncommon Man is in our city Mysore, The City where he grew up. And I had the opportunity of meeting this creative personality.India's greatest Cartoonist, Mr RK Laxman. I have always wanted to meet him but more so off late because I've been harbouring this idea of starting a Walk on Malgudi Days in Mysore

Photos: Flowers from a Chennai florist

The mysteries of the heart

Rajiv worked in the same department as I. He was a nice guy, who knew how to treat a college going girl…like a big brother. Anita badgered me to introduce her to Rajiv. I was scared. I regarded him like I would an elder brother and did not think it was respectful to be doing such a thing. But Anita was persistent. One day while we were having coffee at the Foodcourt, she came and sat down next to me. I introduced her to everyone at the table including Rajiv. I let out a sigh of relief. I did not have to do the intro now. During the course of the evening, Anita talked only to Rajiv getting monosyllabic replies. But she was undaunted. Pretty soon she had added him to her Orkut account. But Anita was just another pesky fly for Rajiv. He rarely replied to her scraps. He rarely replied to anyone’s scraps. When he was not working he was battling rock faces...more.

The road to terror

David Coleman Headley (until 2006 he was Daood Gilani) caught my eyes yet again this morning....

Why does Kavitha the wife of Hemant Takare need to file an application for the right to information for her husband’s missing vest? Has the nation forgotten this hero already?

25 YEARS OF INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL

This is my 100th post on "Blog-Capt. Anup Murthy". Not counting my other Blogs on Blogger. I was in India last two weeks and it hit me that this year is an Anniversary of sorts for me.

I remember what Singapore looked like back then, a small but very neat and clean place 25 years ago. It's spread out now but still neat. Read more...

Can we have our revered Judges back?

If there was a news over the last week (heard on TV too) that warmed my heart it was this:

Justice Dinakaran’s name withdrawn from list for SC appointment

What Do They Really Want?!

Each of the MLA in Karnataka should have his / her own Helicopter. Given the pathetic state of roads that have been reduced to in the last 60 years, it is better MLAs hop around in Helicopters than travel by road to speedily attend to flood / drought relief work...More...

The Perfect Head

"Hair by hair maks the carl bare", says an old Scottish proverb. The head of hair is homo sapiens' crowning glory. It is for this reason that even a little loss of hair on the crown or its whereabouts, makes the young man under it panic. Panic, because this 'thinning process' is famous for its ...Continue...

Photos: Dusk

Typesetting

Look at the way Nature/God has created us. Each species is divided into Type A and Type B. Type A and Type B are equipped to produce more Type A and Type B so that all the species on Earth reproduce and keep the natural cycle going.

But in the case of humans, if a Type A goes with the Type B of another Type A it becomes adultery. Because he is supposed to stick with his Type B and vice versa...more.

Revisiting Mysore schoolyard banyan

The banyan on the Baden Powell schoolyard has been so much a part of our landscape that most of us in Mysore pass by the green sprawl without pausing for look-see. Other towns brag about their banyans,hailing them as a living heritage.. . More...

Do some people think the Mallus are dumb?

Yesterday the by-elections to three Kerala State Assembly constituencies, Alleppey, Ernakulam and Kannur, were concluded peacefully.

So what is there to write about?

A strike of sorts - to get shorts stitched

Seldom do watch-repairers, goldsmiths or tailors keep up their ‘promises’ of delivery dates, much different from the EDD that gynaecologists are familiar with. So, it was no wonder when my tailor kept 'that reputation' up, esp. once, which led to a bizarre and memorable incident, much to the tailor’s surprise. Read on....

Promoting India Abroad As A Favoured Tourist Destination – Customized Marketing Is The Key

For example, when we are trying to promote India in Switzerland, then it is stupid to talk about the beautiful snow-clad mountains that we have, because that will understandably fail to woo the Swiss people. So we should tell them about precisely all those features that they do not have – the desert of Rajasthan, the golden bitches of Goa and Andaman & Nicobar Islands, etc. Similarly, while promoting India in Mauritius and Caribbean Islands it is meaningless to talk about the golden bitches of Goa and Andaman, but highlighting our mountains and jungles (with rich wildlife) will be a great idea. And again, trying to woo the people from countries like Kenya and Tanzania through our jungles and wildlife will be a foolish plan, but they can be enthused to visit our land by talking about the mountains and sea bitches (yes, these countries have beautiful Kilimanjaro, but they will always find visiting Himalayas a good idea). More....

Sports in the blood

Sports and talent also run in the blood. It is quite a unique and fortunate thing to be blessed with! Read More....

Where have the dragonflies gone?

There are so many amazing things happening around us in nature that we are not aware of. Take the case of dragonflies, the pretty but feeble looking insects...

A Divine Labour Ward

Gods were created by men. So say some. I have no quarrel with anyone claiming that or the contrary.
But it's always a privilege to get to watch "Gods" being created by men.
In Swamimalai.

Of mimic tweets, and proxy blogs

Techgirl’ who authored the short-lived ‘Tharoor Twitter’ (not to be confused for the real one maintained by the ‘cattle-class’ minister himself) was evidently on to something that had been tried out some five years back in the UK through blogs. Tim Ireland, a web marketing guy,sought to get elected representatives in Britain to interact online with their constituents...More...

A petty issue

Have you noticed how you're getting short-changed at the shops nowadays?
Every time I go to a provision store or a supermarket, I'm handed a bill which totals up to an amount that has been rounded off... almost always to the next highest 50 paisa denomination.
I get bills for xy Rupees twenty-eight paise or sixty-nine paise. I mean , come on! Is a proper change for such amounts even existent in our currency?

Aurora Surrealis?

Overhead, there were fluffy cirrus clouds, looking like tiny lambs. The quality of the light was such that you could sense the distance between the clouds and the sky beyond. Now that's a thought for All Souls Day.

Why not telecast veg.prices ?

It's a thought. They telecast gold/silver prices on daily news bulletins.Why can't they, vegetable prices? We don't buy gold everyday;we do, brinjal, beans, carrot or whatever. Prices of vegetables fluctuate...More...

Police & Astrology: Cowries tell the story

The police station in my native place in Kerala is in the news, but not for reasons connected with policing. It is astrology which has pushed the establishment into the headlines.

SMS and SMS

SMS and win or SMS and make another win.....

For the mobile providers and their partners in business the above was a very brilliant idea which continues to reap harvest after harvest.

Whether it is out of selfish interest or selfless interest, it has been proved beyond doubt that enough and more money can be amassed for a cause through SMS.

to read further

Photos: Queen of the night