ఇదేనా ఆరోగ్య శ్రీ ...

కనీస, ప్రాథమిక ఆరోగ్య వసతులు కల్పించవలసిన ప్రభుత్వం నూటికి ఒక్క శాతం కూడా లేని జబ్బుల కోసం వందల కోట్లు ప్రైవేటు ఆసుపత్రులకు కట్టబెట్టడం ఇప్పటివరకు దారుణం. కాని ఈ కింది వార్త చూసాక అమానుషం అనిపిస్తుంది.

StoryOfStuff.com

This is an excellent story of stuff I have ever seen. Has a lot of information to learn about the environment and how we destroy it. A twenty minutes interesting presentation explaining how the life cycle of stuff is the highlight. Watch it here: www.storyofstuff.com

Quick links to with in the above site:

• [pdf] Fact sheet from the story of stuff
• Recommended Reading material
• People you can work with for a share cause
• and finally, the story of stuff blog

Blowing the "whistle"

It so happens to happen so... The new "intellectual" political party well known for blowing whistle at the corruption and lawlessness of the stereotyped political parties and their "neta"s is given "whistle" as its election symbol for its candidates contesting in the by-elections. It is not yet all surprising that the leader of the party Dr. Jaya Prakash Narayan has chosen to do his campaign through ads in the electronic media. I hope that he will succeed in his efforts to bring the very-much-needed change in the system of elections and state politics.

You can view the campaign ads on YouTube.

And other relevent information on

• LokSatta.Org
• LokSatta Blog
• Jaya Prakash Narayan's Blog
  

"ఏం వోళ్లెలా వుంది!"

(cartoon from sakshi news paper)

ఇందులేడు అందుకలడని సందేహము వలదు - ఎందెందు వెతికినా అందందే కలడు.

ఈ డైలాగ్ చూసి చూడగానే మన అందరికి భక్త ప్రహ్లాద సినిమా గుర్తుకొస్తుంది. అంత పాపులర్ డైలాగ్ అది. అందులో శ్రీమహావిష్ణువు ఉగ్రనరసింహ రూపుడై హిరణ్యకశపుడు చూపిన స్థంభంను చీల్చుకుని బయటకు వస్తాడు. ఆ తరువాత హిరణ్యకశపున్నిఎలా సంహరించింది మనందరికీ కళ్ళ ముందు సీన్ బై సీన్ రీల్ తిరిగినట్టు గుర్తే. ఇక అసలు విషయానికి వస్తే, అంత పాపులర్ డైలాగ్ని ఏదో ఒక సీన్ తో టై చేసి గుర్తుపెట్టుకోవడం ఆ డైలాగ్ కి అన్యాయం చేసినట్టే.

"ఇందులేడు అందుకలడని సందేహము వలదు - ఎందెందు వెతికినా అందందే కలడు". దైవత్వం నిండిన ఈ నేచుర్ ని అబ్యూస్ చేస్తూ మనం దేవున్ని వెతుక్కుంటు పెద్ద పెద్ద గుళ్ళకి వెళ్తున్నాము. ఇంటి చుట్టూ వున్న చెట్ట్లని నరికి ఏ సీ కొనుక్కుంటున్నాము. గ్రీన్ జోన్లని వెతికి పట్టుకుని మరీ డంప్ యార్డులుగా మార్చుతున్నాము. పారిశ్రామికాభివ్రుద్ది పేరుతో పంట పొలాలని లాక్కొని ప్రత్యేక ఆర్థిక మండల్లను పెట్టుకుంటున్నాము. మన ఇంట్లో అలంకరణకోసం జాతీయ జంతువు పులిని కూడా హాంఫట్ చేస్తున్నాం. వీటన్నిటికి మేముకాదు ప్రభుత్వముదీ బాద్యత అని మీరనొచ్చు. దానికి నేను "ప్రజలే ప్రభుత్వం" అని డైలాగ్ కొట్టను. ఒక ఎదురు ప్రశ్న వేస్తా - ఈ నేచుర్ ని కాపాడడానికి మనమేమిచేసాము? ప్రకృతిని కాపాడుకోండని దేవుడు చేసిన మందలింపే ఈ సునామి, కట్రినా, నర్గీస్ లేదా ఇంకేమైన ఉపద్రవాలు అని నా అభిప్రాయం.ఇదేమైనా న్యాయమా? అని దేవుడు మనల్ని అడగకముందే మనం బాద్యత కల మనుషులుగా, ఈ భూమిపైన తెలివైన కరుణగల జీవులుగా ప్రవర్తించుదాం. మనకీ, రేపటి తరాలకీ సుఖప్రదమైన లోకాన్ని అందిద్దాం.

Deja Vu

Have you ever wondered that you are being watched?
Have you ever felt that there is someone taking logs of each activity you do?
Have you ever had that insecure feeling when you looked for content that someone big in authority is peeking at your regular surfing/shopping habbits, personal preferences etc.?

Hey... I am not repeating the dialogues from The Matrix. I am asking you these questions. Because, if you felt so... if your answer to the above questions is YES with a big nod of your head, then you are not the only one to say so...

You used your plastic money to buy a favorite pizza dish, a regular brand of innerware or even your diet control pills and wondered about the co-incidence of finding ads in your monthly bill slip about another pizza restaurant opening in the neighoring street with exciting offers, or upto 70% off sales in a clothing store exclusively of your favorite brand or even more about a new weight management offered by a chinese spa expert with a free trail period? Well I should tell you these are no co-incidences. Even the simplest of daily news letters you receive from these online magazines include topics about items you had recently searched for on the Net. News pertaining to your car remodeling, favorite accessories that look and match your taste, news on free prints with exclusive on-the-net coupon you received just when you uploaded photos of your Singapore trip... all these does not qualify for being mere co-incidents.

My dear friends, as the technology evolves, the things considered personal are now public. Things that were once respected as privacy are invaded. So, be careful when you are giving out your personal information. Be it as simple as a Full Name or as big as a Credit Card number. We may end up in the little embarrassing situation as our dear friend below. Have fun.

[Pizza Hut Joke... This been out of fashion for years and now its back]

Operator : "Thank you for calling Pizza Hut . May I have your order?"

Customer: "Hello, can I order.."

Operator : "Can I have your multi purpose card number first, Sir?"

Customer: "It's eh..., hold on....6102049998-45-54610"

Operator : "OK... you're... Mr Sheehan and you're calling from 17 MeadowDrive. Your home number is 494 2366, your office 745 2302 and your mobile is 014 266 2566. Would you like to have the delivery made to 17 MeadowDrive?"

Customer: "Yes, how did you get all my phone numbers?"

Operator : "We are connected to the system Sir"

Customer: "May I order your Seafood Pizza..."

Operator : "That's not a good idea Sir"Customer: "How come?"

Operator : "According to your medical records, you have high blood pressure and even higher cholesterol level Sir"

Customer: "What?... What do you recommend then?"

Operator : "Try our Low Fat Soybean Yogurt Pizza.You'll like it"

Customer: "How do you know for sure?"

Operator : "You borrowed a bookentitled "Popular Soybean Yogurt Dishes" from the National Library last week Sir"

Customer: "OK I give up... Give me three family sized ones then, howmuch will that cost?"

Operator : "That should be enough for your family of 10, Sir. The total is $ 49.99"

Customer: "Can I pay by credit card?"

Operator : "I'm afraid you have to pay us cash, Sir. Your credit card is over the limit and you're owing your bank $3720.55 since October last year"

Operator : "That's not including the late payment charges on your housing loan Sir."

Customer: "I guess I have to run to the neighborhood ATM and withdraw Some cash before your guy arrives"

Operator : "You can't do that Sir. Based on the records, you've reached your daily limit on machine withdrawal today"

Customer: "Never mind just send the pizzas, I'll have the cash ready. How long is it gonna take anyway?"

Operator : "About 45 minutes Sir, but if you can't wait you can always come and collect it on your motorcycle..."

Customer: " What the..?"

Operator : "According to the details in system, you own a Harley,...registration number E1123..."

Customer: "@#%/$@&?#"

Operator : "Better watch your language Sir. Remember on 15th July 1987 You were convicted of using abusive language to a policeman..."

Customer:( Speechless)

Operator : "Is there anything else Sir?"

Customer: "Nothing... by the way... aren't you giving me that 3 free bottles of Pepsi as advertised?"

Operator : "We normally would Sir, but based on your records you're also diabetic....... " !!!!

Free-the-Left-Lane and No-Wrong-Side campaign



I wrote my experiences with traffic sense in Hyderabad in my SignInsane blog. You can view the post here.
Let us all follow the traffic rules and reach home safely.
In the above post, you can find the signs I have created for the free-the-left-lane and no-wrong-side campaign:

You can find a nice free-left-lane campaign information on TrafficInHyderabad.blogspot.com

Borra Caves

This is a name on the list for tourists visiting Andhra Pradesh, never to mention the neighboring Araku Valley. Formed naturally, these caves are enormous and scary. If you look up the ceiling, you tend to get this uneasy feeling of going into a huge pile of rubble that might collapse any moment. And yet, an easy head count of 100 a day visit the place, clap and shout inside the caves. It is said to have been in existence for ages - first discovered by a British geologist in eighteen hundreds. For extensive details, google for Borra Caves and feel lucky to see a Wiki page opening.
The APTDC has improved the place. It has a restaurant, waiting lounge and snacks shops for visitors comfort. Once inside the cave you can find pavements and stairs to go around the caves. There are certain places that are considered risky and are out-of-bounds for the tourists. However, like in any other place, you find daring tourists climbing the caves and venturing into risky zones. The caves stink of staleness caused by lack of sun-light and bat-droppings in certain places. Since the caves are located in a hill and rest of the area is a forest, you find it common to see a lot of monkeys. Do not feed them and do not tease them. However, you find yourself teased by them if you are carrying any food items. They allow cameras and camcorders inside the caves but they charge you for that (10 rupees for a still camera and 100 for a camcorder).
If you are returning to Vizag on road from Borra, you can stop-by for a snack at APTDC restaurant/cottages near Tyda railway station.