Lost drain found in Mumbai

Today's Mumbai Mirror had an article about a 100 year old lost storm water drain found in Mumbai. The 4 feet drain was found on Tulsi Pipe road in one of the flood prone areas and it was discovered after the slums along the road were cleared.

There are 2 pertinent points about this discovery.
1. The foresight and vision of the British
2. Apathy of the administration

The Britishers had a vision and built an intricate network of drainages around the city that can manage capacity even a 100 years ahead.

Our administration has absolutely no clue on managing the infrastructure and growth. I wonder how long this city can manage with so many towers mushrooming along the skyline of Mumbai.

This incident brings a quote to mind
"Human beings are like viruses. They multiply and destroy the very environment they live in"

BCCI fails to get sponsors for the Indian team

IBN live reported that BCCI fails to get sponsors for the Indian cricket team.

Is this the final nail in the coffin for Indian cricket!

Have Pawar, Dravid and Chappell succeeded in machinising a game that was so synonymous with flair and passion of players like Gundappa Vishwanath, Kapil, Azhar, Ganguly, Sehwag....

Street vendors attack Reliance farm fresh

Just read in The Telegraph, "Hundreds of street vendors armed with rods stormed three Reliance outlets today as fears of survival sparked the first attack on the company since its countrywide push into farm retail". This attack took place in Ranchi, capital of Jharkhand. The vendors had been protesting against the city’s four Reliance Fresh stores for the past fortnight, claiming that the chain was driving them out of business by selling vegetables at rates much lower than market prices. more

Also read that the Bengal Left government is vehemently opposed to Organised Retail in Bengal.

On the one hand, the Left govt takes the Central govt to task against rising prices. On the other hand, they are opposed to an organisation that is driving down the prices for the consumer's benefit.

The Left govt seems to be doing a Left, Right, Left.............

Bihar!

The word "Bihar" has it's origins in the sanskrit word "Vihara", meaning "Buddhist Monastery".

Nowhere close to a monastery today, is it!

Gandhari

Gandhari of Gandhara was the wife of Dhritarashtra and the mother of the Kauravas.

Gandhara used to be an empire in present day Afghanistan and Gandahar is probably present day Kandahar.

So, the Kauravas were half Afghani!

India beats Bangladesh

A lot of press has been given to India's one day series victory over Bangladesh in today's paper.

Has Indian cricket sunk to such depths that we have to rejoice a victory over Bangladesh?

Air travails - Id check

I had to take an Indian Airlines 6 am flight from Delhi to Mumbai. I arrived at the Airport at 5am and stood in a hand baggage only queue with approximately 20 people in front of me. Ideally I should have gotten my ticket in 20 minutes, but I reached the counter after a good 50 mins, just 10 mins before my flight.

Without looking up, the booking counter agent asks for my ticket and hammers away at his keyboard for a good 2 minutes. I wondered if he was retyping the entire contents of my ticket into his computer!! Then in a threatening tone he asks what flight am I booked on. I reply sayin 6 am.

He then asked for identification proof, I provide my credit card which has an outdated picture of me with a shock of hair on my head. (At present I have not a single strand of hair on my head). He again takes my card without looking at me even once.

Finally he hands me my ticket and my credit card! All this without even once looking at my face. I wonder what the ID check was all about..