No more Idlis and Dosais on Indian Railways

If you are the kind who doesn't like Noodles, vegetable burgers or pakoras, then you may have to go hungry on Indian Railways. The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited is planning to do away with South Indian way and bring an uniformity in their catering services on our rail networks. According to the NDTV report,

As per the plan only 21 approved food items will be served on trains - a move that south Indian rail passengers feel is in bad taste.The IRCTC has decided to remove the south Indian delicacies from the menu, initially on a pilot basis for three months. The order has left a sour taste in several mouths.

There are bloggers who have expressed their "distaste" over this issue. Let the Indian Railways go ahead with scrapping the South Indian items from their menu. Anyway, the food offered on the trains is nothing to crave about. We will always have the same items on the platforms and they taste better too.

I still remember my Pilani Days when we used to make the bi-annual trip on the Tamil Nadu Express from Chennai to Delhi. We used to served a meal which consists of miniature pooris, the sizes of which indicate that they were probably made from the leftover dough of proper sized pooris. These pooris were very fascinating for the Bitsians with the "scientific" bent of mind, for their extraordinary elastic properties (It required the effort of two people to tear a poori in two) and they have even gone to the extent of questioning the on-board cooks for the ingredients in them which gave them this magical ductility.

Back to the issue of Dosais. Many people, particularly the north indians, refer to the dosai as dosa. Ok, a little misspelling might not hurt, but this destroys the essence of this particular food item being named as dosai. Here is a way to make it easier for the northies to remember the name as dosai. When the dough is poured on the hot pan, you are supposed to hear a "saiiiii" sound made by the contact of the room-temperature dough with the hot tawa. If you had been to a bad South Indian restaurant (easy to find in Delhi), you would notice that the dosai is crispy on one side and "doughy" on the other. This is because the chef didn't turn the dosai around on the pan. If he had done this, there would be another "saiiii" sound made by the other side of the dosai. So, there should be two "saiiii" sounds for a good dosai. Two in hindi is "Do". Put them together and you get Dosai! Easy, isn't it ? As scientists say, never mug-up the end result, always remember the logic behind the result and you shall always be successful in getting the solution.

Lets hope that the IRCTC doesn't ban the South Indian food items from the platforms too, for no one is definitely going to touch the burgers or the pakodas when you have hot and fresh idlis and dosais available.

Technorati Tags: Idly Dosa Idli dosai Indian Railways

Sri Lanka beat New Zealand to reach ICC cricket world cup final

With an excellent century by the captain Mahela Jayawardene, Sri Lanka cruised to a 81 run victory in their semi-final clash against New Zealand, thus booking themselves a place in this Sunday's world cup final clash.

Yesterday's century by Jayawardene was not only an important captain's knock, but an example of how a batsman should pace his innings. When i reached home and switched on the TV, i saw that he had scored 39 runs of 60 balls. The situation didn't look so good then, though they had a run-rate of around 4.5. But, as the innings progressed, jayawardane's strike rate slowly increased to almost run-a-ball and before the New Zealander's could realise it, he had ensured that Sri Lanka would get to a good total by partnering more than 100 runs in the last 10 overs.

The first few overs of the New Zeland innings were entertaining to watch with the control of vaas and the unplayable swinging deliveries of Lasith Malinga. Everyone was having a smile, including the batsmen, who were moving their bats in all possible directions in an attempt to make contact with the ball, only to find out that it had long reached the wicketkeeper!

Every match in the world cup seems to have a negative fallout. After this match, Stephen Fleming, one of the most successful captains in present day cricket, announced that he is stepping down as the one-day captain of New Zealand. He had shown to the cricketing world that even without superstars in your side, smart cricket can win you matches.

Srilankans have more than 3 days off to prepare for their title clash against the winners of South Africa and Australia, which in all probability, going by their current indomitable form, is Australia!

Some images from the match:

Technorati Tags: ICC cricket World Cup Sri Lanka New Zealand Lasith Malinga Mahela Jayawardene Stephen Fleming cricket

50,000 hits in 3 days

Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai got married. Yes, many say that they look good together as a couple. Many from the bollywood fraternity are happy for them, while many like some of the khans are not so happy. But, one thing is for sure. I am extremely happy that they got married. Their marriage is the best thing to happen for this blog in its life of 1.5 years.

Around 6 months back, Surya and Jyothika got married and this blog got a new lease of life because of that. Now, Ash and Abhishek get married and things go through the roof for my site. Now, I am convinced, beyond doubt, that entertainment, bollywood, kollywood sells. Someone said, "Only sex and Shah Rukh Khan sell". Nope, you are wrong. Even though Shah Rukh Khan was out of the picture at this wedding, the "sales" were amazing.

My website usually receives around a 1000 hits per day. If it crossed 1000 in a day, I feel extremely happy. Imagine the situation then, when it touched 33000 hits on April 20, the day that Abhishek and Aishwarya got married!

This week, my web counters, sitemeter and statcounter must have been working overtime to track the hits! I am close to 60,000 hits for this week.

And to the few (can be counted with the fingers on one hand) regular visitors to my blog, this doesn't mean that my website shall become an entertainment blog and cater to news items like the divorce of Saif Ali khan, the romancing of Salman Khan and Kaif and the like. True to the title of my site, i shall ramble upon whatever interesting things i encounter upon and also on the regular stuff like photography and puzzles (A new "hunt" is to be released very soon).

Thanks again to Aishwarya and Abhishek for getting married and thanks to all the millions eager to find out details on their marriage!

Technorati Tags: Abhishek bachchan wedding Aishwarya rai wedding abhishek aishwarya engagement hits website blog statcounter sitemeter web counter

Aishwarya Rai Abhishek Bachchan Marriage on April 20

The whole media is going crazy over the upcoming Aishwarya Abhishek wedding and their fans are not to be left behind, doing crazy things just to get a glimpse of the couple. Judging by the hits i get for the post on the engagement pictures of aishwarya and abhishek, i presume that the only keywords on google originating from India in the past few days must have been a combination of aishwarya, abhishek and wedding! Of course, Shilpa Shetty too has been trying her level best to hog the limelight by getting kissed by hollywood superstars.

To not disappoint the internet fans, I am posting below some more pictures of the couple.

It ir rumoured that the building below is going to be abhishek's and aishwarya's new home after their wedding.

Lets hope the media manages to capture images of their wedding so that i can post it here :-) Enjoy!!!

Technorati Tags: abhishek bachchan aishwarya rai abhishek bachchan aishwarya rai wedding marriage bollywood

The Richard Gere Shilpa Shetty Kiss

Ok, it was not just one kiss but many kisses. But, does it really matter? It seems to, at least for some insane fans and some equally insane Shiv Sainiks. All you shiv sainiks and bajrang dal, go to hell! These are people with absolutely nothing at the top. They are die-hard fans of Shilpa Shetty and so, they have the right to feel that each and every one of them owns Shilpa and no one else can touch her!

How can Richard Gere kiss Shilpa Shetty in public and do something detrimental to our Indian culture? The actress can smooch her way to success in movies, but that's ok. Those are movies and not real life. But, the same gang of lunatics go up in arms if a movie like fire is made. Cmon, that is also a movie!

Let me give you a piece of advice. Don't burn effigies of Shilpa or Richard Gere. Burn yourself, attempt self-immolation. At least India would have few lesser lunatics around!

Technorati Tags: shilpa shetty Richard gere shilpa shetty Richard gere kiss Shiv sainik

Video of Greek Cruise Ship Sea Diamond Sinking at Santorini

Though all news reports mention this cruise ship as a Greek one, it is actually owned by the Greek-Cypriot company Louis Cruise lines operating out of Limassol, Cyprus. In fact, i have been on a cruise to Egypt on one of their cruise ships and the experience was great. It is unfortunate that such an incident had to happen and am worried as to its impact on this company's operations in Cyprus.

I found some videos of its sinking online and have shared the links below.

• Caught On Tape: Greek Cruise Ship Sinks - KNBC. Captures also the last minutes, as the ship just goes below the surface, much like a titanic video!
• Video on youtube
• Another video on youtube

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Technorati Tags: santorini Louis+Cruise+lines Sea+Diamond Cruise+Ships+sinks+at+Santorini

Driving in India

Driving in chennai was never a problem for me. This is where i had learnt driving and once you can drive here, no other road, anywhere in the world can be a challenge for you. Yesterday, i took out our car in an attempt to prove that i was not NRIsed like others and can still manage to drive around in Chennai traffic.

The start itself proved to be embarrassing, as i tried to shift to reverse gear with my right foot firmly planted on the brake pedal. I couldn't engage the gear. I complained to myself that the car might have a problem and that i had to have the gear box checked. A little later, after almost breaking the gear shaft, i realised that this was not an automatic-shift car and that my left foot, which was comfortably sleeping in a corner, had to be used on the clutch pedal. I looked around and luckily didn't find anyone staring at my inability to take the car out of our parking space.

After few minutes of hardship, i managed to leave our colony and entered the big bad outside world. I realised that i was diligently following the unwritten laws of NRI driving in Chennai, the moment i faced a T-junction and was dutifully waiting for an opportunity for the traffic to clear up so that i could enter the road. A long line of vehicles was building up behind me and it was only a wait of few minutes that infuriated the person behind me and he started composing threatening tunes on his car-horn. Why don't people understand that it takes few hours of driving around for us to become accustomed to the intricacies of the chaos here!

Technorati Tags: driving+in+india chennai+traffic+jams

Short Vacation in Chennai

I am here in Chennai on a very short one week vacation. We have our Easter holidays during this week and this was a good opportunity to take a break from the monotony of work. Two years back, we had been to London during the Easter break, last year we went to Dubai. This time, we couldn't finalise on any destination and hence we decided to head to home, sweet home. Since it is a short vacation, we are not embarking on the usual pilgrimage tours which happen in India.

Few things that i love about being in Chennai:

• Going around in an auto. Such a trip would be a realisation for any individual in terms of the the laws of physics. The western world talks about packing as many silicon chips as possible into a very small area. If they come to chennai, they would probably get more ideas from the way we pack as many vehicles as possible in the narrowest of lanes.
• Aavin Flavoured Milk and Pocket More (It is actually a buttermilk packet, but for the shopkeepers to understand, you would have to pronounce it as "pocket more"). Throw away the Pepsis and the cokes, there is nothing better to quench your thirst than these two!
• Sweat! Yes, sweat feels great, especially after gruelling sessions of non-stop badminton. Wish we had badminton courts back in Cyprus too.
• Composing Music on the car horn. Back in Cyprus, you horn only to convey your displeasure at other drivers, but here in Chennai, you have the liberty to horn even where there is no other vehicle or human being in sight. Of course, you have to warn the oncoming stray dog to stay away from your path. So, i always tend to "try" to play the tune of the latest song i have heard on the horn. Musical bliss!
• Saravana Bhavan. Agreed that it has become costly recently to the extent that Ganesh calls it Saravena Bhavan, but it still is the hallmark for quality vegetarian food in Chennai. There is nothing that can match the taste of Saravana Bhavan's tiffin items!
• Home-made Murungakkai Sambhar. My mom has been unfailingly making Murungakkai Sambhar on the first day of every trip i make to chennai. Unfortunately, drumsticks are something unheard of, in Cyprus.

Technorati Tags: chennai+vacation going+to+india

View from my window photo contest

This is my entry for the "View from my window" photo contest at Fuelmyblog. This was taken from the flight minutes before landing at Heathrow. I couldn't have expected a better beginning to my vacation in London. The six days we spent in London was probably my best "photographically". More pictures from the London trip can be seen the London Photo Gallery.

Technorati Tags: fuelmyblog photo contest tower bridge london

An Intriguing Puzzle : Infinite Loop

In the front of the building:


In the back of the building:

Since i was not smart enough to solve this puzzle, i couldn't find a way to enter my office and hence had to take the day off!!

Indian Team Manager to back Chappell's asses

so says NDTV's sports section.

Technorati Tags : greg chappell Indian cricket team ICC world cup

Split Wide Open

Yes, this might sound like Britney Spears' act or any other celebrity trying to emulate Britney Spears in order to grab the front page, but this is not so. This is the sorry state of Indian Cricket today.

With the Indian Cricket League being announced today by the Essar Group and the BCCI immediately putting it down, a big clash of the titans is in store for Indian Cricket and in all probability, only Indian Cricket will be the loser.

Probably for the first time, Sachin speaks out defending himself against the comments of Greg Chappell. In his interview to Times of India (TOI) he says:

"I have given my heart and my soul for 17 years. No coach had mentioned even in passing that my attitude was not correct. Cricket has been my life for all these years and will always be. Again, it's not that we are defending ourselves. We do realise that we played badly and, as a team, we take full responsibility for that.But what hurt us most is that the coach has questioned our attitude."

This was in response to the coach Greg Chappell's accusations that the senior team members often teamed up against his and Dravid's decisions. Milind Rege, former Ranji Captain says that:

It is completely out of control. Indian Cricket is in a mess right now and unless and until the BCCI come strongly with decisions that are for the players to accept, for the selectors to accept, for those who control cricket to accept, Indian Cricket is going to head for serious trouble.

Definitely not a good direction to head in, for Indian Cricket. Ok, they lost to Bangladesh and were kicked out of the world cup. Lets just forget it as just another match and move on. The way the politicians and the media are hyping this issue, it looks like Indian cricket will take a u-turn and head Zimbabwe's way, into oblivion. Please, let it not happen like that!

Technorati Tags: Indian Cricket team ICC World Cup loss

Indian Cricket League to be formed

Yesterday, Essel group chairman Subhash Chandra announced the formation of a cricket league. This would be called the Indian Cricket League, comprising a total of six teams, with each team consisting of upto four international players. This league also plans to setup cricketing academies throughout India and create a talent pool for India Cricket.
But, how far will this venture be a success is anyone's guess with the BCCI already slamming this idea and pronouncing it an unfruitful venture. Everyone wants a share of the lucrative Indian cricket scene and it is obvious that groups are unwilling to co-operate for cricket's sake!

It is rumoured that some big names in Indian and international cricket have already been signed on for this league. Lets hope that this turns to be like the English county matches and we get more people to watch these matches than the usual entourage of friends and family who are the only ones to turn up at Ranji matches.

Technorati Tags: Subhash Chandra Indian Cricket League BCCI

Newbie's guide to increasing blog traffic

So, you have started a blog. You have been blogging on your blog for quite some time now and the only one who reads it (apart from you) is your spouse or your sibling who you force to. But, that is not why you started blogging for. You wanted to reach out to the world through your words and wanted to exchange ideas, thoughts with the blogging community. But, no one seems to be noticing your blog. Here are a few tips to help you get through.

This guide is based on my own experiences with maintaining this site. I have been having my site for a little more than a year now. Initially, i used to be happy when my statcounter hit went into double digits. My site is in a much better position now. This is not a copy-paste work, but an attempt to jot down the various measures i took which i felt contributed to increase in traffic to my blog.

This is not a guide on

• How to make money through blogging
• How to increase search rankings of your blog/site (yes, indirectly to reach people, you have to do this)
• How to implement SEO techniques on your blog
• How to increase your site's google Page rank

If you are interested in any of the above, search on google and you will find hundreds of sites. This is a guide to increase readership for your blog, in all the legal, ethical ways possible. So here goes:

• Original Content: Readers need content. So, the foremost thing to do is to have good content on your blog. The definition of "good" varies. We are not looking at writing content just to bring in readers. So, what is good content? Content about which, you are passionate to write about, content which interests you enough to write about. I once started a blog on reviews of the latest mobile devices, but it didn't go anywhere, as i realised that i was just doing copy-paste work and not really interested in writing about it. You can write about technology, politics, entertainment, sports or anything else you like, but write original content. Copy-paste content might get you some initial traffic, but rest assured that they won't come back. Original opinions, be it controversial or neutral are appreciated by the blogging world.
• Frequency of posts: Posting entries on your blog shouldn't happen once in a blue moon. Neither should it happen dozens of times in a day. Don't neglect your blog. If a visitor comes two or three times to your blog over a span of a week and doesn't find any updates, he will most likely de-favourite it. Don't get over-enthusiastic and spend your entire day on the blog. Readers should not get lost amongst too many things you write. Write often, write original content and you should steadily, but surely see your readership base grow.
• Submit to search engines: Go to google, yahoo or major search engines and blog directories and submit your blog. This doesn't guarantee inclusion, but there is nothing in doing it if there is such an option in the search engines. The link for submitting your blog to google is this and to yahoo is this.
• Implement technorati Tags: This is probably the best thing i have done. Register your site with technorati and for each of your posts, add a section with the related technorati tags. Many readers prefer to read content of their liking ( a particular topic or a news item) by searching on technorati and then going to the returned links. I use the Technorati Tag generator at Fintan's, which is simple and easy to use. The advantage of this technique is that the same tags are used by many other sites like icerocket which can get you more readers.
• Talk about your blog to friends: I do this shamelessly, of course to the closer circle of friends. If we attend a party, i put the pictures up on my blog and share the link with my friends. I do this rather than sharing photos on my PC.
• Add your blog link in your email signature: I don't do this, because i use my official email id for practically all my communication and it wouldn't be right to do this on my official id. If you have a gmail id or any other, put the link in your signature. But, a word of caution. I have seen people writing to huge mailing groups with their blog links prominently in a bigger font. Yes, if you are genuinely writing to the group on a related topic, this is fine, otherwise don't do this and get classified as a spammer.
• Visit other blogs and leave your comments: No, not comments like "Nice blog, visit mine" or "Do find time to visit my blog". Yes, if you do that on a very popular blog, you might get at least a few clicks to your blog, provided that the blog owner doesn't remove your comment. Visit blogs, leave meaningful, related comments to topics which you have an opinion about. Don't flood anyone's blog with your comments. That is an obvious sign of a spammer.
• Implement a counter on your site. I use sitemeter and statcounter. Doing this will give you an indication of your most popular posts. It also will give you the "search strings" using which people land up on your site.
• Customise your blog template such that the page title of the individual post pages have the title of the post in them and not just your blog's name. Also, make your post title link to this page.
• Link to other people whose blog belongs to the same domain as yours. If your blog is good enough, some of them might link back to you, thus getting you some visitors.
• If you write on something specific, look for wikipedia pages on the same topic and add your blog to the external links section. If your blog is not good enough, the link will be removed by the moderators. I maintain a page which has lot of quizzing links and i get lot of visitors from the page for Quizzing in India.

This is not an exhaustive list, but a few things which i felt might make the difference to a blog. Hope this helps. Feel free to add more.

Technorati Tags: Increase traffic to blog new to blogging blogging basics How to start a blog