Thursday, January 31, 2008

Fit and Fine at 33 :)

Yes baby, I got my medical tests done and guess what, I am fit as a fiddle :)

Blood pressure 140/90 (yes, yes, I know it sounds a trifle high, but not when you understand that a year back, it used to be 165/110 and my life's only got more stressful!) Random blood sugar is 106 (normal < 160), Cholesterol is 152 (normal < 200), Hemoglobin 14.1 (normal between 13.5 and 17.5) and pulse 72 (just perfect for a male of my age!).

I do not really exercise, I sleep the wierdest possible hours, and eat a lot of crappy food outside. So what's the secret?

I don't know, but I'd like to believe it's a little bit of hope! ;)

Saturday, January 26, 2008

Quote for the Day

Live for nothing, die for something!

Sunday, January 20, 2008

India Win at Perth

India rose from the ashes like the Phoenix, putting behind the horrendous umpiring decisions at Sydney, racism allegations and a 3-match ban against Harbhajan, and a 0-2 scoreline, to beat the "invincible" Australians comprehensively in the third test at the WACA at Perth, stunning Ponting to admit his side hadn't been good enough for the young Indian team (whose three pacers are all younger than the youngest member in the Australian squad!).

India also ended Australia's 16 match unbeaten streak, just like India had done it earlier in Calcutta, stopping the Australians in their tracks from going on to set a new world record.

Some more interesting snippets...

This is Ponting's first defeat as skipper in Australia

Australia was undefeated at home for 25 tests all the way back from Dec 2003. The last time they lost at home was also to India in Adelaide

Autralia have lost only 17 tests in the last decade, and 7 of those have been to India

This was also the first time since 1999 that Australia lost a test within 4 days

And probably one of the few examples where India won without a significant contribution from Dada ;)

What Would You Do?

You and your best friend have gone sailing. It's been a beautiful week so far. Great weather, great fishing, great scenery.

Then the clouds darken, the wind grows fiercer by the hour.

You were sleeping when it happened, your best friend was on the deck. He should have radioed for help, but he didn't know how to! Your friend should have woken you up, but he let you sleep, thinking he could manage on his own. By the time you wake up, the sea is throwing the ship around - huge fifteen meter waves are threatening to swallow the ship.

YOu stumble onto the deck, pissed, frightened and upset. Upset at your friend for screwing up, for not knowing how to use the radio, for letting you sleep.

And as you stumble onto deck and try and regain control, a huge wave hits the deck, washing your friend off the side - your friend clutches the guardrail desperately, legs flailing below, desperate to hold on.

What do you do?

Teach him how to run the radio, scream at him for being stupid, or do you reach out and grab his hand and pull him to safety? You have 3 seconds to make that decision.

It's the difference between best friends, and people who can only aspire to be.

When the Going Gets Tough...

...the tough get going. You've heard that before. Here are some more...

...your best friend drops everything else to be with you, the others run away under the pretex of giving you "space"

...those who really believe in their dreams stick it out and emerge victorious, the others wake up and chase new dreams

...I behave stupidly

...and when it gets worse, I go shopping

Friday, January 18, 2008

Quote for the Day

The real art of conversation is not only to say the right thing at the right place but to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment. Dorothy Nevill.

Quote for the Day

The real art of conversation is not only to say the right thing at the right place but to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment.Dorothy Nevill.

Friday, January 11, 2008

Nurturing Relationships - Key Rules

1) Relationships are like partnerships - unilateral decisions, or worse, decisions taken for the other person without involving the other person in the decision making process, are a sure recipe for disaster
2) Talk, talk, talk - breakdown in communication is probably the single most and yet, most easily fixed, factor in troubled relationships
3) It should always be about "us" - never about "you" and "me"
4) The goal of any argument or fight should be the betterment of the relationship and a strengthening of the basics and the foundation of the relationship - never to prove a point
5) Ego has no place in intimate relationships
6) The only time you should use "I" is at the head of "I love you" or "I miss you". Any other use of "I" is probably a manifestation of rule 3 breaking down
7) Sorry should never be needed, and yet, is the easiest and simplest way to break the tension - a sorry should be an immediate and ultimate weapon against ego
8) Never doubt the basics - every time you doubt the basics, you are destroying the cornerstones of your relationship
9) Every small gesture adds to the strength - and most gestures take less than 15 seconds
10) It's all about the small gestures - a reassuring SMS goes a much longer way in strengthening a relationship, than a candle light dinner at a five star restaurant or a diamond

Tata's Nano

The Tatas, currently bidding for Ford's premier brands Jaguar and Land Rover, also unveiled their 1 lakh car - the Nano, in Delhi today! The world's cheapest car may look tiny, but has all the trappings that might make some of it's bigger cousins hide for cover.

The only question now is, where will all those cars be parked? I don't see that much more space left on the roads any more!

Thursday, January 10, 2008

What is it that Indians have?

Capital Suggestion
By Dr Farrukh Saleem
12/9/2007

Twenty-five thousand years ago, haplogroup R2 characterized by genetic marker M124 arose in southern Central Asia. Then began a major wave of human migration whereby members migrated southward to present-day India and Pakistan (Genographic Project by the National Geographic Society; http://www.nationalgeographiccom/). Indians and Pakistanis have the same ancestry and share the same DNA sequence.
Here's what is happening in India:

The two Ambani brothers can buy 100 percent of every company listed on the Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) and would still be left with $30 billion to spare. The four richest Indians can buy up all goods and services produced over a year by 169 million Pakistanis and still be left with $60 billion to spare. The four richest Indians are now richer than the forty richest Chinese.

In November, Bombay Stock Exchange's benchmark Sensex flirted with 20,000 points. As a consequence, Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries became a $100 billion company (the entire KSE is capitalized at $65 billion). Mukesh owns 48 percent of Reliance.

In November, comes Neeta's birthday. Neeta turned forty-four three weeks ago. Look what she got from her husband as her birthday present: A sixty-million dollar jet with a custom fitted master bedroom, bathroom with mood lighting, a sky bar, entertainment cabins, satellite television, wireless communication and a separate cabin with game consoles. Neeta is Mukesh Ambani's wife, and Mukesh is not India's richest but the second richest.

Mukesh is now building his new home, Residence Antillia (after a mythical, phantom island somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean). At a cost of $1 billion this would be the most expensive home on the face of the planet. At 173 meters tall Mukesh's new family residence, for a family of six, will be the equivalent of a 60-storeyed building. The first six floors are reserved for parking. The seventh floor is for car servicing and maintenance. The eighth floor houses a mini-theatre. Then there's a health club, a gym and a swimming pool. Two floors are reserved for Ambani family's guests. Four floors above the guest floors are family floors all with a superb view of the Arabian Sea. On top of everything are three helipads. A staff of 600 is expected to care for the family and their family home.

In 2004, India became the 3rd most attractive foreign direct investment destination. Pakistan wasn't even in the top 25 countries. In 2004, the United Nations, the representative body of 192 sovereign member states, had requested the Election Commission of India to assist the UN in the holding elections in Al Jumhuriyah al Iraqiyah and Dowlat-e Eslami-ye Afghanestan. Why the Election Commission of India and not the Election Commission of Pakistan? After all, Islamabad is closer to Kabul than is Delhi.

Imagine, 12 percent of all American scientists are of Indian origin; 38 percent of doctors in America are Indian; 36 percent of NASA scientists are Indians; 34 percent of Microsoft employees are Indians; and 28 percent of IBM employees are Indians.

For the record: Sabeer Bhatia created and founded Hotmail. Sun Microsystems was founded by Vinod Khosla. The Intel Pentium processor, that runs 90 percent of all computers, was fathered by Vinod Dham. Rajiv Gupta co-invented Hewlett Packard's E-speak project. Four out of ten Silicon Valley start-ups are run by Indians. Bollywood produces 800 movies per year and six Indian ladies have won Miss Universe/Miss World titles over the past 10 years.

For the record: Azim Premji, the richest Muslim entrepreneur on the face of the planet, was born in Bombay and now lives in Bangalore.India now has more than three dozen billionaires; Pakistan has none (not a single dollar billionaire).

The other amazing aspect is the rapid pace at which India is creating wealth. In 2002, Dhirubhai Ambani, Mukesh and Anil Ambani's father, left his two sons a fortune worth $2.8 billion. In 2007, their combined wealth stood at $94 billion. On 29 October 2007, as a result of the stock market rally and the appreciation of the Indian rupee, Mukesh became the richest person in the world, with net worth climbing to US$63.2 billion (Bill Gates, the richest American, stands at around $56 billion).
Indians and Pakistanis have the same Y-chromosome haplogroup. We have the same genetic sequence and the same genetic marker (namely: M124). We have the same DNA molecule, the same DNA sequence. Our culture, our traditions and our cuisine are all the same. We watch the same movies and sing the same songs. What is it that Indians have and we don't?

Indians elect their leaders.

(The writer is an Islamabad-based freelance columnist)

Saturday, January 05, 2008

New Zealand is Safe, Mate!

Believe it or not - New Zealand has no snakes, bears, aligators, wild cats or scorpions! It does have spiders, though none of them are dangerous!

In contrast, Australia seems to have the most dangerous and poisonous of all the world's creatures!

Friday, January 04, 2008

Three Lessons

Three key lessons I learnt from my uncle as a kid, lessons I never forgot, lessons that have had a profound impact on my life...

1) No alcohol, till at least you are forty
2) United we stand, divided we fall
3) Don't kill that ant - you gain nothing, but it loses it's only life

Amazing how simple one liners become the most important learnings in your life!