Hi, friends! If you all remember, it was during the month of September 2009 that my dear blogger friend, Paritosh had conferred the coveted Superior Scribbler Award on me. It was a prized recognition for an Islander like me from the rarely noticed far-flung Islands of Andaman & Nicobar and I have, hence, relished it to the maximum. After all, it’s not for nothing that the Great Mother Teresa said, “There is more hunger for love and appreciation in this world than for bread.”
That apart from making me gratefully ecstatic had left me with the crucial responsibility of passing it on to the next Five deserving bloggers, as per the rules of the Award. It was not an easy task as not only did I have the responsibility to confer the cherished recognition on the deserving candidates but also to ensure that the honor and glory of the Superior Scribbler Award is also upheld in the process.
Here are the Rules of the Award:
1. Each Superior Scribbler must in turn pass The Award on to five most deserving blog friends. Check.
2. Each Superior Scribbler must link to the author and the name of the blog from whom he/she has received The Award. Check.
3. Each Superior Scribbler must display The Award on his/her blog and link to the original post at The Scholastic Scribewhich explains The Award. Check.
4. Each blogger who wins The Superior Scribbler Award must visit the original post at The Scholastic Scribe and add his/her name to the Mr. Linky List. That way, we'll be able to keep up-to-date on everyone who wins This Prestigious Honor. Check.
5. Each Superior Scribbler must post these rules to his/her blog. Check.
Now, finally, after a long scrupulous scrutiny of the blogs that I’ve been following, I’m ready with my list of the deserving blogger friends.
1. Neha Gandhi- For being so real and suave in presenting her posts throughout her vivacious blog – BREATHE and artistically believing that “breathing and expressing” go hand in hand, which is so very true about being an adorable blogger. She has fared so well in “inhaling and exhaling a lot of thoughts, love, gratitude & information”. Hence, I would relish passing on the Superior Scribbler Award to Neha Gandhi.
2. Arul Kumaran - An upbeat and promising young & enterprising management professional & blogger who excels in illustrating the multifarious intricacies of Human Resource and Marketing Management. Some surprisingly astute tips & tricks of the trade which make his rich blog – MBA Bazzar a fantastic source of knowledge and information for anyone from any walk of life. Hence, I pretty contentedly pass on the Superior Scribbler Award to Arul Kumaran.
3. Nupur - For making the RANDOMNESS of life such an enticingly addictive subject to read with some genuinely heartwarming real-life episodes presented in a classy manner which makes it a very human blog. Well, no surprises – Nupur is the next Superior Scribbler for me.
4. Sauvik Chakraverti - Finally, there’s someone who firmly talks about some genuine solutions and not barely problems. “Tribals have benefited the least from the Indian state and its development policies. Worse still, their lands and livelihoods have been ruthlessly destroyed over time.” This is just the pick of the basket from the ANTIDOTE (“Libertarian Opinion from Indyeah”) wherein a daringly eloquent Sauvik Chakraverti, who is a seasoned author and journalist, blogs with a sense of carefree gumption and spontaneous concern about the multifarious burning issues that the largest democracy in the world is constantly faced with. To me, he is undoubtedly a Superior Scribbler.
5. Pankaj Sekhsaria - And last but no way the least, writer, photographer and freelance journalist, Pankaj Sekhsaria, author of 'Troubled Islands’ - Writings on the indigenous peoples and environment of the Andaman & Nicobar Islands, is nobody short of a real Samaritan who has been blogging his heart out with utmost passion ATCROSSROADS for the past couple of years about the issues and concerns of the vital territory of the Andaman & Nicobar Islands. A factual source of inspiration to me and many others, Pankaj Sekhsaria is a truly deserving Superior Scribbler.
“The Marathi-Manus quibbles about being deprived of several things - admissions to reputed colleges, job opportunities or a vacant seat in a crowded bus. But there are reasons and far neglected root causes to all of these problems he is facing since years… Our constitution gives every Indian equal right to mobilize and explore newer dimensions of life, work and opportunities. He can be the next Ambani, a CEO of a multinational organization, a space researcher or a lead vocalist of a death metal band, the world is an open space of opportunities. But that's possible only when he manifests the true meaning of 'Marathi-Manus Jaga Ho' - wake up!”
Hi, friends! This is an excerpt from a pretty thought-provoking article – Marathi Manus, Lead or Misled?, written by my good blogger friend, Neeraj Shinde in his blog - the Neeraj Norms...., that I read a couple of days ago and was overwhelmed.
The ground-breaking article has been adjudged as Blogadda’s “Spicy Saturday Picks” for the last week.Blogadda says – “This post is a must read for all of us so that none of us get into regionalism. It is important for all of us to realize that we are ‘Indians’ first and then comes our States, where we live. Neeraj has this post with a very strong and relevant message. Neeraj, it’s applaudable for someone to raise and write about it.”
And I feelcompelled to share my comment that I posted on his blog about the article, with you all here as I fervently believe that the article deserves to be circulated to the maximum possible since this is a highly sensitive and significant issue of national interest and the article does optimum justice to it.
My comment:Nice expression of the status quo in Maharashtra, Neeraj!
It's not the awesome leadership of Raj Thakerey, it's the awe and hatred inspiring hooliganism of his under-developed psyche that has made what he is, out of him today.
All thanks to his diseased weaknesses, he now stands head and shoulders with the likes of the indifferent and inhuman underworld dons. If he, at all, had the true strength and integrity required for being a decent leader of the masses, things would have been different, today, and he would have won hearts all over the country.
What can an ungrateful pervert of a son do for his own mother, when he can't value his very roots and doesn't care for his grandma?
He needs to be told that we, here, in the far-flung Andaman & Nicobar Islands have named the PortBlairAirport after Vinayak Damodar Savarkar (Veer Savarkar) who was a Maharashtrian and not an Andamani. He didn't stay back in the Andamans after the Indian Independence. But, nevertheless, there's no prejudice anywhere in anybody's mind about the designation of the Airport.
"Sarva dharma sambhav" and "Vasudhaiiva Kutumbakam" are the peerless values and ideologies that have made the entire world proud of India.
I reckon the Maharashtra government needs to forcefully implement adult education in a bid to educate the pathetically ignorant so-called self-proclaimed leaders like Raj Thakerey.
Roshmi Sinha says: "When there is any act of terror or any strike on our nation by any foreign power, these same "outsiders" are the ones who defend the motherland. The so-called "sons of the soil" are found "cowering in a deeply dug rat hole" having perhaps wet themselves..."
I am referring to the proponent of the 'MM theory' and his ilk elsewhere in this country...
Bangalore too has that breed of 'worthies'. Just check how many from this part of the country join the army/navy/air force/commando teams...
Who are the ones protecting the vast coastland, our skies and our lands... from external threats...??? The vast majority of them, that is. Staying away from home and hearth for days on end… If these folks/states start developing this 'MM theory' (albeit with suitable customization) what would be the scenario...??? I shudder to think.”
1. INDIA is theworld's largest, oldest, continuous civilization.
2. Indianever invaded any countryin her last 10000 years of history.
3. India is the world's largest democracy.
4.Varanasi, also known as Benares, was called "the ancient city" when Lord Buddha visited it in 500 BCE and is the oldest, continuously inhabited city in the world today.
5. India invented theNumber System. Zerowas invented byAryabhatta.
6. The World's first university was established in Takshashila in 700BC. More than 10,500 students from all over the world studied more than 60 subjects. The University ofNalanda built in the 4th century BC was one of the greatest achievements of ancient India in the field of education.
7.Sanskritis the mother of all the European languages. Sanskrit is the most suitable language for computer software - a report in Forbes magazine, July 1987.
8. Ayurvedais the earliest school of medicine known to humans.
9. Charaka, the father of medicine consolidated Ayurveda 2500 years ago. Today Ayurveda is fast regaining its rightful place in our civilization.
10. Although modern images of India often show poverty and lack of development, Indiawas the richest country on earth until the time of British invasion in the early 17th Century. Christopher Columbus was attracted by India's wealth.
11. The art of Navigation was born in the river Sindhu 6000 years ago. The very word Navigation is derived from the Sanskrit word,‘Navgatih’. The word ‘Navy’ is also derived from the Sanskrit word,'Nou'.
12.Bhaskaracharyacalculated the time taken by the earth to orbit the sun hundreds of years before the astronomer Smart. Time taken by earth to orbit the sun: (5th century) 365.258756484 days.
13. The value of ‘pi’ was first calculated by Budhayana, and he explained the concept of what is known as the Pythagorean Theorem. He discovered this in the 6th century long before the European mathematicians.
14.Algebra, trigonometry and calculuscame from India. Quadratic equations were by Sridharacharya in the 11th century. The largest numbers the Greeks and the Romans used were 106 whereas Hindus used numbers as big as 10**53(10 to the power of 53) with specific names as early as 5000 BCE during the Vedic period. Even today, the largest used number is Tera 10**12(10 to the power of 12).
15.IEEE(Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) has proved what has been a century old suspicion in the world scientific community that the pioneer of wireless communication was Sir Jagdish Chandra Bose and not Marconi.
16. The earliest reservoir and dam for irrigation was built in Saurashtra.
According to Saka King Rudradaman - I of 150 BCE, a beautiful lake called Sudarshana was constructed on the hills of Raivataka during Chandragupta Maurya's time.
17.Chess(Shataranja or AshtaPada) was invented in India.
18.Sushrutais the father of surgery. 2600 years ago, he and health scientists of his time conducted complicated surgeries like cesareans, cataract, artificial limbs, fractures, urinary stones and even plastic surgery and brain surgery. Usage of anesthesia was well known in ancient India. Over 125 surgical equipments were used. Deep knowledge of anatomy, physiology, etiology, embryology, digestion, metabolism, genetics and immunity is also found in many texts.
19. When many cultures were only nomadic forest dwellers over 5000 years ago, Indians established theHarappan culture in the SindhuValley(IndusValley Civilization).
20. The four religions born in India, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism are followed by 25% of the world's population.
21. The place value system, the decimal system was developed in India in 100 BC.
22. India is one of the few countries in the World, which gained independence without violence.
23. India has the second largest pool of Scientists and Engineers in the World.
24. India is the largest English speaking nation in the world.
25. India is the only country other than US and Japan, to have built a super computer indigenously.
Famous Quotes on India (by non-Indians)
Albert Einsteinsaid: “We owe a lot to the Indians, who taught us how to count, without which no worthwhile scientific discovery could have been made.”
Mark Twainsaid: “Indiais the cradle of the human race, the birthplace of human speech, the mother of history, the grandmother of legend, and the great grand mother of tradition. Our most valuable and most instructive materials in the history of man are treasured up in India only.”
French scholar Romaine Rollandsaid: “If there is one place on the face of earth where all the dreams of living men have found a home from the very earliest days when man began the dream of existence, it is India.”
Hu Shih, former Ambassador of China to USAsaid: “India conquered and dominated China culturally for 20 centuries without ever having to send a single soldier across her border.”
Facts to Make Every Indian Proud
Q.Who is the co-founder of Sun Microsystems? A. Vinod Khosla.
Q.Who is the creator of Pentium chip (needs no introduction as 90% of today's computers run on it)? A. Vinod Dahm.
Q.Who is the seventh richest man in the world? A. According to the latest report on Forbes.com, it isMukesh Ambani,who is the Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries Limited, India's largest private sector company.
Mukesh Ambani
The eighth richest man in the world is Lakshmi Mittalwho heads the world’s largest steel company,‘ArcelorMittal’.
Lakshmi Mittal
Q.Who is the founder and creator of Hotmail (Hotmail is world's No.1 web based email program)? A. Sabeer Bhatia.
Q.Who is the pioneer of digital technology including HDTV and MPEG4and is the creatorof program languages such as C, C++, and UNIX to name a few)? A. Arun Netravalli.He has been the President of Bell Laboratories and Chief Scientist for Lucent Technologies.
Arun Netravalli
Q.Who is the Director of Hewlett Packard? A.Rajiv L. Gupta. He was also the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Rohm and Haas Company, a worldwide producer of specialty materials, from October 1999 to April 2009.
Rajiv L Gupta
Q. Who is the greatest batsman in the history of cricket?
A. Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar. No one walks out to bat taking the hopes of a billion people to score a century every game and still scores 12000 runs in tests and almost17000 runs in one days and more than 40 centuries in both forms of the game. Not to forget he peaked in his career when India had one of their weakest teams.
Sachin Tendulkar
38% of doctors in USA are Indians.
12% scientists in USA are Indians.
36% of NASA scientists are Indians.
34% of Microsoft employees are Indians.
28% of IBM employees are Indians.
17% of INTEL scientists are Indians.
13% of XEROX employees are Indians.
Indians are the wealthiest among all ethnic groups in America, even faring better than the whites and the natives. There are 3.22 millions of Indians in the USA (1.5% of population).
All of the above is just the tip of the iceberg, the list could be endless. But…if we don’t see even a glimpse of that great India in the India that we see today, it clearly means that we are not working up to our potential; and that if we do, we could once again be an ever shining and inspiring country setting a bright path for the rest of the world to follow. I hope you enjoyed it and would pledge to work towards the welfare of INDIA.
“Proud to be an Indian”
JAI HIND
(I took this off some forwarded mail and hence don't know who the author of this original document is ... and if the author comes across this... Jai Hind! )
Hi, chums! In November 1991, a Crocodile Bank researcher Ms. Manjula Tiwariembarked on a six-month survey of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The study and survey was a pilot project to accumulate baseline data for initiating a longer term (five year) study program for the conservation and management of Sea Turtles that use these islands for nesting. The project was supported by the non-profit, Madras Crocodile Bank.
Here’s sharing with you all a fascinating first-hand chronicle of the experiences that Manjula narrates onseaturtle.org…
“As the ship pulled into the port at CampbellBay, on theGreat Nicobar Island on the fourth evening of the journey, I sat up on deck watching the large crowd on the dock. An overwhelming sense of loneliness filled me - I didn’t know a single face in the crowd, no one was expecting me, I had no idea where I would spend the night, or how I would survey the southern group of Islands in the Nicobars… But I underestimated the people of the islands…I found friends, and surrogate family that worried every time I left CampbellBay on another survey, and I found Ratnam, my very first field assistant.
Ratnam – the field assistant holding a sea turtle in his hands
Ratnam agreed to help me survey the beaches for any amount of money that I thought was suitable for his help - he didn’t really seem to care about how much he would get paid. He was not a local tribal. He originated from the Indian mainland. Apparently, he had wanted to attend school, but his father had insisted he work in the fields belonging to the family. So, the angry Ratnam caught the first ship leaving the mainland coast and ended up in the Nicobars! I couldn’t have found a better assistant - he knew the islands and he knew many of the Nicobarese who lived along the coast, making it very easy to find floor space in some Nicobari hut to cook and sleep every evening.
I would describe Ratnam as “petite” but very strong. He called me “Madam” from the beginning and insisted on carrying my backpack even when we waded across deep creeks and most of him was underwater - I remember seeing just the top of his head and two arms straight up in the air holding my backpack above the water as he crossed the creek ahead of me. Even though we lived in very primitive conditions during these surveys, he always insisted on giving me the best of what was available.
One night, our only choices for sleeping were the forest floor and a 50-cm wide plank about 2 m off the ground. “Madam” was graciously offered the plank while Ratnam slept below. I got little sleep not because I had to lie still and flat on my back all night, but because I worried I might roll over and fall from 2 m on my kind and “petite” field assistant who slept below…
I have no idea where he is now, but I always remember him fondly…
Prologue: I had read somewhere that many early travelers avoided the Andaman and Nicobar Islands because they believed the inhabitants were cannibals. Surely, I said to myself as I hurriedly packed to catch the ship leaving for the Islands, this is an outdated view…
I had been told to hire Pau Aong, a Karen (tribe of Burmese origin) and a fine boatman, who would help survey the many islands of the Andaman archipelago. It was a long bus-boat-bus trip from Port Blair to his settlement in the North Andaman. Soon the bus arrived at the start of the Jarawa reserve - one of the very primitive tribes in the Andamans feared for their hostility. Two armed policemen boarded the bus and we were asked to shut our windows because the Jarawasmay throw spears at us. The Jarawa reserve is sandwiched between two modern towns and locals in the bus told me stories about how the Jarawas had recently dragged someone off into the forest and probably eaten him.
Apparently, the Jarawas occasionally wandered into town and abducted people - the locals suspected that these abducted people were eaten because they were never seen again. After these extraordinary stories, I eagerly looked out of the bus, hoping to catch a glimpse of these people, but no such luck.... others have had more interesting encounters, and issues associated with the tribe continue…
Moving south from the Andamans to survey beaches in the Nicobararchipelago, I often stayed the night at some Nicobari tribal hut on the beach. This provided an opportunity to learn about the lives and world of this peaceful, coastal-dwelling tribe. One time after walking all day on the beach, we arrived at a little Nicobarese tribal village towards early evening. Immediately we were invited into one of the huts and offered hot, refreshing tea.
A lot of people were sitting around the hut looking very glum. On inquiring why everyone was so uncharacteristically gloomy, I was informed that earlier that morning, a boat with strangers had stopped at their beach and one of the village men had accompanied them to a settlement further down the coast. He had still not returned and everyone was very anxious. I was surprised that they had let him go with strangers because in my experience, the Nicobarese would often abandon their huts and run off into the forest when an unknown boat arrived at any of these small, remote, coastal villages.
Finally, as the gloom deepened, one of his despairing relatives asked me in great earnestness, "Do you think the men in the boat have eaten him?" (We later encountered the missing man at another village quite alive and intact. He was just enjoying a few extra days away from home…)
Certainly, this was a very different world from the one I had grown up in...”
Diwali is a unique confluence of happiness, bliss & prosperity. May the festival of lights be the harbinger of joy and prosperity to all my friends and well-wishers the world over!
As the holy occasion of Diwali is here and the atmosphere is filled with the spirit of mirth and love, here's hoping this festival of lights brings your way, bright sparkles of contentment, that stay with you through the days ahead.
The Diwali firework safety message is part of the firework safety campaign launched by the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR), aimed at reducing the number of firework accidents at this time of the year.
"Take more responsibility with fireworks, they are more dangerous than you think and could severely injure children or yourself."
"Even if you think you know how to handle fireworks, failing to follow the
Firework Code properly, puts you and your loved ones in danger.
"Each of us has a responsibility to take the right precautions with fireworks so we can all enjoy them safely this year."
Don’t stand too close to the fireworks while lighting them!
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Business, Friends, Music, Theatre, anything novel, constructive and creative that helps bring smiles on peoples' faces and in their lives. I love to listen to Ghazals; am almost crazy about them. Love,peace, togetherness and success is what I am, always, on the hunt for. "BIG B"- Amitabh Bachchan is one of the biggest ideals in my life. Human psychology and philosophy are my intellectual interests.
Sports:
INDIAN CRICKET TEAM.
Music:
GHAZALS, Ghulam Ali, Jagjit Singh, Pankaj Udhas, Md. Rafi, Kishore Kumar & the one & only- Michael Jackson. PLUS- Enrique Iglesias, J-Lo, and Shakira (Wooow...)
Movies:
ENGLISH: Pearl Harbour, Tomorrow never dies, Die hard, Speed-1&2, Under Siege-1&2, Basic Instincts and The Anaconda.
HINDI: Any "BIG B", Maine pyaar kiya, QSQT, DDLJ, Baiju Baawra, Jo jeeta, wohi Sikander, Lagaan, Hey Raam, Aks, and Chupke-chupke etc.
TV:
Oprah, News, Reality shows, Music shows, KBC etc. I hate Hindi soap operas (serials). I love Cricket shows and live telecast of matches.
Books:
The Ramayana, The Mahabharata and The Shrimad Bhagwat Geeta.
Heroes/Idols:
Swami Vivekanada, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, Mahatma Gandhi, Veer Savarkar, Atal Behari Vajpayee, Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam, Lakshmi Niwas Mittal, Narayana Murthy, Bill Gates, Baba Ramdev, "BIG B" and Sachin Tendulkar.
