Click on photo to enlarge.
All the newspapers yesterday carried news about the new car called Nano, manufactured by a company called TATA. All the TV channels are talking about this car. It is priced at USD 2500 (plus taxes). In the newspaper headline you see the words "Rs 1-lakh" - "lakh/lac" is one hundred thousand. This is supposed to be the cheapest car in the world. There is a mood of exuberance everywhere. But there are also concerns about how this and other similar small cars will add to the already chaotic traffic in India.
Did you like the play on words - "Nano second to none"? (nanosecond & second to none)
The Tata Group is the largest Indian business group and recently Ford has agreed to sell Jaguar and Land Rover to Tata. Coming up with the Nano, and buying the premium British brands, Tata has caused Indians to be proud. The Tatas are a wealthy Parsi family who have contributed through many industries to the growth of India for the last 100 years and have been at the forefront of giving back to the society long before CSR (corporate social responsibility) became a buzzword in India.
The car has a 634-cc two-stroke aluminum engine which generates 33 bhp and is supposed to give 20-22 Kmpl or about 50 mpg. This ad was seen in many newspapers. Click on the photo to get a better idea of how the car looks.
"To dream anything that you want to dream. That's the beauty of the human mind. To do anything that you want to do. That's the strength of the human will. To trust yourself to test your limits. That is the courage to succeed." -Bernard Edmonds
"There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why. I dream of things that never were, and ask why not?" -Robert F Kennedy
"To laugh often and much;
To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children;
To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends;
To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others;
To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition;
To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.
This is to have succeeded." -inaccurately attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson
Click on photo to enlarge.
All the newspapers yesterday carried news about the new car called Nano, manufactured by a company called TATA. All the TV channels are talking about this car. It is priced at USD 2500 (plus taxes). In the newspaper headline you see the words "Rs 1-lakh" - "lakh/lac" is one hundred thousand. This is supposed to be the cheapest car in the world. There is a mood of exuberance everywhere. But there are also concerns about how this and other similar small cars will add to the already chaotic traffic in India.
Did you like the play on words - "Nano second to none"? (nanosecond & second to none)
The Tata Group is the largest Indian business group and recently Ford has agreed to sell Jaguar and Land Rover to Tata. Coming up with the Nano, and buying the premium British brands, Tata has caused Indians to be proud. The Tatas are a wealthy Parsi family who have contributed through many industries to the growth of India for the last 100 years and have been at the forefront of giving back to the society long before CSR (corporate social responsibility) became a buzzword in India.
The car has a 634-cc two-stroke aluminum engine which generates 33 bhp and is supposed to give 20-22 Kmpl or about 50 mpg. This ad was seen in many newspapers. Click on the photo to get a better idea of how the car looks.
"To dream anything that you want to dream. That's the beauty of the human mind. To do anything that you want to do. That's the strength of the human will. To trust yourself to test your limits. That is the courage to succeed." -Bernard Edmonds
"There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why. I dream of things that never were, and ask why not?" -Robert F Kennedy
"To laugh often and much;
To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children;
To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends;
To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others;
To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition;
To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.
This is to have succeeded." -inaccurately attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson
Click on photo to enlarge.
All the newspapers yesterday carried news about the new car called Nano, manufactured by a company called TATA. All the TV channels are talking about this car. It is priced at USD 2500 (plus taxes). In the newspaper headline you see the words "Rs 1-lakh" - "lakh/lac" is one hundred thousand. This is supposed to be the cheapest car in the world. There is a mood of exuberance everywhere. But there are also concerns about how this and other similar small cars will add to the already chaotic traffic in India.
Did you like the play on words - "Nano second to none"? (nanosecond & second to none)
The Tata Group is the largest Indian business group and recently Ford has agreed to sell Jaguar and Land Rover to Tata. Coming up with the Nano, and buying the premium British brands, Tata has caused Indians to be proud. The Tatas are a wealthy Parsi family who have contributed through many industries to the growth of India for the last 100 years and have been at the forefront of giving back to the society long before CSR (corporate social responsibility) became a buzzword in India.
The car has a 634-cc two-stroke aluminum engine which generates 33 bhp and is supposed to give 20-22 Kmpl or about 50 mpg. This ad was seen in many newspapers. Click on the photo to get a better idea of how the car looks.
"To dream anything that you want to dream. That's the beauty of the human mind. To do anything that you want to do. That's the strength of the human will. To trust yourself to test your limits. That is the courage to succeed." -Bernard Edmonds
"There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why. I dream of things that never were, and ask why not?" -Robert F Kennedy
"To laugh often and much;
To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children;
To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends;
To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others;
To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition;
To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.
This is to have succeeded." -inaccurately attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson
Two women bring a calf door to door to get food for the calf or alms in the name of the cow. They are shouting "gou mata, gou mata". (See explanation of words below.)
Feeding the cow is considered a good thing to do. The cow has been considered sacred in India for a very long time. There are several reasons for this. In the olden days, and to some extent even today, people were dependent on the cow (like we depend on our mothers when we are young), especially in the rural areas. Cow milk is said to have medicinal properties, and so does the clarified butter (ghee) from cow milk, although vegans do not agree with it. Cow urine is also used/recommended in traiditional Indian medicine (Ayurveda). Cow dung has been used in the rural areas as fuel after drying it in the sun, or to produce biogas. Since it has insect repellant properties, it is used to line the floor and walls of rural dwellings, which usually have mud floor and mud walls. Since the cow provided all these things, it was considered sacred. I have heard that meat shops operated by Hindus do not carry beef, whereas those operated by Muslims do. Although many Indians are switching to a non-vegetarian diet in India, fast food shops such as McDonalds's do not carry beef in their menu. For that matter there are no pork products in McDonald's either because Muslims don't eat pork. Traditionally most Indians have been vegetarians, and some eat meat occasionally. But that is changing fast here and abroad. As many Indians go abroad, they eat meat there for the first time. They justify this to their family (if at all they tell them) that it is "necessary" to survive there. This, we all know is "bull" because many Indians, and an ever increasing number of Westerners do live on a vegetarian, even vegan diet. :) (Incidentally, it is the same explanation given for taking up drinking. That it is so cold abroad that it is necessary to drink alcohol. :)) I find it interesting to see that people can selectively eat whatever meat they eat and in their minds justify that, and at the same time look at others with horror/disgust/disbelief because they are eating some other kind of meat. What I mean here is that most Indians who eat meat here can't imagine eating beef (but think nothing of eating lamb or chicken, and now emu), and most Westerners who eat meat cannot imagine eating a dog or a horse. The same goes for eating or not eating certain parts of the animal. In this regard I think the Chinese and some South East Asian cultures are more practical and don't have a holier-than-thou attitude. The Chinese eat all parts of the cow and the bull including the ears, the tongue, the tail, the internal organs, the reproductive organs, and even the eyes.
Interestingly, now many experts believe that cows are causing global warming.
The Sanskrit word for "cow" is "gou". Do you notice the phonetic similarity? There are many words in English that have an Indo-European origin. In India, some people refer to the cow as "gou mata". The word "mata" (mah-tah) means "mother". The Sanskrit word is "matr", another word with phonetic similarity to the German word "mutter" and the English "mother/maternal/maternity" and the Spanish word "madre".
"Don't have a cow, man!" -Bart Simpson
"Who was the first guy who looked at a cow and said, 'I think that I'll drink whatever comes out of those things when I squeeze them' ?" -Calvin and Hobbes
"Do you know why they call it 'PMS'? Because 'Mad Cow Disease' was already taken." -Unknown
"Science is not a sacred cow. Science is a horse. Don't worship it. Feed it." -Aubrey Eben
Two women bring a calf door to door to get food for the calf or alms in the name of the cow. They are shouting "gou mata, gou mata". (See explanation of words below.)
Feeding the cow is considered a good thing to do. The cow has been considered sacred in India for a very long time. There are several reasons for this. In the olden days, and to some extent even today, people were dependent on the cow (like we depend on our mothers when we are young), especially in the rural areas. Cow milk is said to have medicinal properties, and so does the clarified butter (ghee) from cow milk, although vegans do not agree with it. Cow urine is also used/recommended in traiditional Indian medicine (Ayurveda). Cow dung has been used in the rural areas as fuel after drying it in the sun, or to produce biogas. Since it has insect repellant properties, it is used to line the floor and walls of rural dwellings, which usually have mud floor and mud walls. Since the cow provided all these things, it was considered sacred. I have heard that meat shops operated by Hindus do not carry beef, whereas those operated by Muslims do. Although many Indians are switching to a non-vegetarian diet in India, fast food shops such as McDonalds's do not carry beef in their menu. For that matter there are no pork products in McDonald's either because Muslims don't eat pork. Traditionally most Indians have been vegetarians, and some eat meat occasionally. But that is changing fast here and abroad. As many Indians go abroad, they eat meat there for the first time. They justify this to their family (if at all they tell them) that it is "necessary" to survive there. This, we all know is "bull" because many Indians, and an ever increasing number of Westerners do live on a vegetarian, even vegan diet. :) (Incidentally, it is the same explanation given for taking up drinking. That it is so cold abroad that it is necessary to drink alcohol. :)) I find it interesting to see that people can selectively eat whatever meat they eat and in their minds justify that, and at the same time look at others with horror/disgust/disbelief because they are eating some other kind of meat. What I mean here is that most Indians who eat meat here can't imagine eating beef (but think nothing of eating lamb or chicken, and now emu), and most Westerners who eat meat cannot imagine eating a dog or a horse. The same goes for eating or not eating certain parts of the animal. In this regard I think the Chinese and some South East Asian cultures are more practical and don't have a holier-than-thou attitude. The Chinese eat all parts of the cow and the bull including the ears, the tongue, the tail, the internal organs, the reproductive organs, and even the eyes.
Interestingly, now many experts believe that cows are causing global warming.
The Sanskrit word for "cow" is "gou". Do you notice the phonetic similarity? There are many words in English that have an Indo-European origin. In India, some people refer to the cow as "gou mata". The word "mata" (mah-tah) means "mother". The Sanskrit word is "matr", another word with phonetic similarity to the German word "mutter" and the English "mother/maternal/maternity" and the Spanish word "madre".
"Don't have a cow, man!" -Bart Simpson
"Who was the first guy who looked at a cow and said, 'I think that I'll drink whatever comes out of those things when I squeeze them' ?" -Calvin and Hobbes
"Do you know why they call it 'PMS'? Because 'Mad Cow Disease' was already taken." -Unknown
"Science is not a sacred cow. Science is a horse. Don't worship it. Feed it." -Aubrey Eben
Two women bring a calf door to door to get food for the calf or alms in the name of the cow. They are shouting "gou mata, gou mata". (See explanation of words below.)
Feeding the cow is considered a good thing to do. The cow has been considered sacred in India for a very long time. There are several reasons for this. In the olden days, and to some extent even today, people were dependent on the cow (like we depend on our mothers when we are young), especially in the rural areas. Cow milk is said to have medicinal properties, and so does the clarified butter (ghee) from cow milk, although vegans do not agree with it. Cow urine is also used/recommended in traiditional Indian medicine (Ayurveda). Cow dung has been used in the rural areas as fuel after drying it in the sun, or to produce biogas. Since it has insect repellant properties, it is used to line the floor and walls of rural dwellings, which usually have mud floor and mud walls. Since the cow provided all these things, it was considered sacred. I have heard that meat shops operated by Hindus do not carry beef, whereas those operated by Muslims do. Although many Indians are switching to a non-vegetarian diet in India, fast food shops such as McDonalds's do not carry beef in their menu. For that matter there are no pork products in McDonald's either because Muslims don't eat pork. Traditionally most Indians have been vegetarians, and some eat meat occasionally. But that is changing fast here and abroad. As many Indians go abroad, they eat meat there for the first time. They justify this to their family (if at all they tell them) that it is "necessary" to survive there. This, we all know is "bull" because many Indians, and an ever increasing number of Westerners do live on a vegetarian, even vegan diet. :) (Incidentally, it is the same explanation given for taking up drinking. That it is so cold abroad that it is necessary to drink alcohol. :)) I find it interesting to see that people can selectively eat whatever meat they eat and in their minds justify that, and at the same time look at others with horror/disgust/disbelief because they are eating some other kind of meat. What I mean here is that most Indians who eat meat here can't imagine eating beef (but think nothing of eating lamb or chicken, and now emu), and most Westerners who eat meat cannot imagine eating a dog or a horse. The same goes for eating or not eating certain parts of the animal. In this regard I think the Chinese and some South East Asian cultures are more practical and don't have a holier-than-thou attitude. The Chinese eat all parts of the cow and the bull including the ears, the tongue, the tail, the internal organs, the reproductive organs, and even the eyes.
Interestingly, now many experts believe that cows are causing global warming.
The Sanskrit word for "cow" is "gou". Do you notice the phonetic similarity? There are many words in English that have an Indo-European origin. In India, some people refer to the cow as "gou mata". The word "mata" (mah-tah) means "mother". The Sanskrit word is "matr", another word with phonetic similarity to the German word "mutter" and the English "mother/maternal/maternity" and the Spanish word "madre".
"Don't have a cow, man!" -Bart Simpson
"Who was the first guy who looked at a cow and said, 'I think that I'll drink whatever comes out of those things when I squeeze them' ?" -Calvin and Hobbes
"Do you know why they call it 'PMS'? Because 'Mad Cow Disease' was already taken." -Unknown
"Science is not a sacred cow. Science is a horse. Don't worship it. Feed it." -Aubrey Eben
A Deccan Chronicle PhotoTibetan Buddhist monks pray at the Lumbini Park laserium at its reopening ceremony. The laserium was closed for four months following twin bomb blasts in Hyderabad in August 2007. The laserium shows the history of Hyderabad with lasers on a water screen.
Lumbini is the name of the place where the Buddha was born, and it is in present-day Nepal. The monks above are wearing yellow hats. The Dalai Lama, who is the spiritual and temporal head of the Tibetan people, belongs to the Yellow Hat Sect, called Gelugpa in Tibetan. Tibetan Buddhism consists of Red Hat and Yellow Hat schools, not to be confused with the red hat and yellow hat in the six de Bono hats. :) For Red Hat Linux enthusiasts, a while ago linux.com had published a April 1 piece called "Dalai Lama announced Yellow Hat Linux." :)
After the Chinese invaded and annexed Tibet, they forced the Tibetans to change their society, and the Dalai Lama was forced to flee to India. (This is depicted in the movie Kundun, for which director Martin Scorcese and writer Melissa Mathison were banned by the Chinese Government from ever entering China.) The Dalai Lama set up a government-in-exile in Dharamsala in the North Indian state of Himachal Pradesh. (Richard Gere is a frequent visitor to Dharamsala.) Even to this day, Tibetan refugees continue to enter India. Many Tibetan refugees also live in Tibetan settlements in South India. The thing that strikes me most is how joyous and ever-smiling the Tibetan people are in spite of the hardships!! It is indeed ironic and sad that a democracy like India no longer allows anti-Chinese demonstration by Tibetans when Chinese dignitaries visit!!
"There's a certain Buddhistic calm that comes from having money in the bank." -Tom Robbins
"The Dalai Lama visited the White House and told the President that he could teach him to find a higher state of consciousness. Then after talking to Bush for a few minutes, he said, "You know what? Let's just grab lunch." " -Bill Maher
"If you have fear of pain or suffering, you should examine whether there is anything you can do about it. If you can, there is no need to worry about it; if you cannot do anything, then there is also no need to worry." -Dalai Lama
Click on photo to enlarge.
The Tata Group is the largest Indian business group and recently Ford has agreed to sell Jaguar and Land Rover to Tata. Coming up with the Nano, and buying the premium British brands, Tata has caused Indians to be proud. The Tatas are a wealthy Parsi family who have contributed through many industries to the growth of India for the last 100 years and have been at the forefront of giving back to the society long before CSR (corporate social responsibility) became a buzzword in India.
