Snowy Thoughts!!!

some places they always occupy a special place in your heart. Mountains being one such phenomena for me. I feel like being at myself. You Just need to close your eyes & feel the nature. Its the best creativity by the almighty. Mountains give you peace. The Silence in the hills is better than the orgasmic screams!!!

Unrealistic Philosophy!!!

10 years, come & gone, Commission reports gone in dust, Judges retired & perished but one thing which has't changed so far in Gujarat is its Chief Minister Narendra Modi. Some call him a Hindu Fanatic, For some he is their man of the moment, but still i don't appreciate this guy, although his governance no doubt is par excellence as compared to other states of India, but what happened in Gujarat 10 years back was a damn shameful act. An act of an eye for an eye. This was completely a murder of democracy in the name of communal-ism.  The way the cities of Gujarat were burning & the way with which this situation was handled by Gujarat Police creates a doubt in my mind.  The ones who tried to raise their voices against the government were either suspended from their jobs or were either tagged as being a backstabber. Still Confused with fiasco of Politics, Religion, Corruption etc etc.I personally feel people need to get above religions to build a nation.  

Undefined journey with Music in the Front Row!!!

As the moon sets & As the Sun Rises up,
As the the leaves open up to a new day,
The wind touches the drapes of the memories,
When the mountains were snowy & the river was flowing,
In a Direction where i can almost see you, I can almost feel you,







                                             A wonderful track when you want to feel the good times you spent in your past days. It brings a smile on your face. This is a band which will give you some inner peace. A pure creation by the gods of post rock them self.-Hammock

Old City, New memories!!!

As the sun sets I try to take myself out in the old city area of this great city called Ahmedabad which has its roots almost 600 years back when the Mughals built one of the Jama Mashjid out here & the city was famously known as 'Manchester of East" for the quality of textile material which India used to export to the West. Once upon a time, the city was home to some of the earliest Mills during the Raj Era out of which many have closed down now, Yet the city is balancing itself with the modern age & is hiding its cultural heritage in the chawls & havelis of the old city region. The old city has all the colors of Life filled with joy & it has its own share of sorrows when it comes to dealing with education, public sanitation etc etc.

So day before yesterday, I was just going through the old city regions like Teen Darwaza, Mirzapur, Raipur etc just to capture few moments on my camera & i realized what a great deal i was missing up in life. The people were warm and they were carrying a sense of pride with them due to the historical background of the city . Those were the lanes where the Mughal Army used to march, Those were the lanes where many of these people's ancestors gave sacrifices to protect the holy city. As i was moving from one street to another, suddenly a historical flashback jolted me deeply and I was able to visualize the whole pride of these people in front of my eyes. Over the times the lanes have broaden up( although if a spectator like me goes through them and if you call it a broaden lane, I am sure these people will get a heart attack if they ever get a chance to visit outside the walled city!!!). All the shops in a region were aligned in a particular fashion. I mean there were shops on both the ends of the roads. One thing which i observed was that in a particular lane, you will find a series of shops for a particular product for example i was just passing through a street  in relief road & suddenly i came to road on whose both sides there were atleast hundreds of cloth shops. Never before in my life i had seen so many cloth shops at a single stretch. I personally feel its a good trend that these people are following by having so many shops in a single stretch, It gives the customer some good options & variations and in the end the customer turns out to be the winner.

Still apart from shops there were the old mosques also which had many unique features like the jhoolta minarets, although i wasn't able to capture it due to orders from ASI ( Archaeological Survey of India). People say that these minarets can literally tremble. These minarets are part of the Mosque of Siddi Bashir. Even till today the master architects & Engineers can't find out the reasons why these minarets keep on Swaying. The view of these minarets from the main Railway station is class apart. From there i went to visit one of the oldest & most beautiful Mosques of India-The jama masjid, which was built by Sultan Ahmed Shah in the year 1423 is a fine example of blending of Islamic & Hindu Architecture. It has around 260 pillars which supports 15 domes of varying sizes. The eastern side of the Mosque contains the mausoleum of  Emperor Ahmed Shah also known as Roja, which was built by his son Mohammad Shah II as tribute. The Mosque contains the the tombs of three rulers of the shah dynasty:  There is a cupboard inside the Mosque which contain some relics of Mohammed. These are korans which are written on a deer skin which is a rarity in itself.

The Late night food stalls in the old city is something to look out for. The good food served with love is something which you don't  find much these days, when you are consuming the street food. My fav. among all these is the custard & anda bhurji which you get even till the wee hours of the day.people often come out with families & friends to hang out at these stalls just to relax and have some good time There is a communal harmony also there which you don't get to see in any other city, especially in a place like Ahmedabad its next to impossible which has witnessed one of India's deadliest riots in the recent times. I personally don't want to say adios to this great place, but now i guess its time to pack the bags. I am pretty sure I will come back again for some good time & will capture some more moments.

Another thought

Travelling in a rickety Bus in India brings out a lot of emotions in you. Firstly you start cursing yourself for missing the comfortable AC Coach & then if that was not enough you start blaming the government for being late and blah blah, but this trip of mine coming back to home after a long hectic week was something which i will cherish for at least few days. India is a place where you will find Romeo & Juliet travelling in the same bus as of you, You will get to hear some great stories of past experience from people who are left with very few days to live, Yet they wont mind sharing their experiences of failures with you.  You will also find some uncle who will be snorting like a pig and his snorts will confuse with thoughts, "Whether this guy is sleeping or is he trying to frighten the rest of the passengers". and if that was not enough suddenly a 2-3 year old kid will start screaming at the highest pitch level of his voice.. Still after all these imperfections in the system, You will always try to observe all these little incidents because somewhere down the line these are the things which complete you...perhaps that is what you call human behavior.

A Dream

Another year gone, with a inch of the past life,

Wish i had a gift to hold it upto the last night,

Its a wish to have the dream end with you, 

The sorrows are gone now, 

The wounds are healed now,

As the time passes i have filled now,

To understand the gravity of loosing you,

when i woke up in the memories of the last night,

It was the time when you kissed me,when you felt me,

when you left with me with dilemma felt with joy yet so hollow,

The journey

Suddenly Life has taken a U-turn. From being just an immature mama's boy i have become a bit mature, from being a college guy now i have become a professional & somewhere down the line I am still not getting accustomed to changes. Some of these changes are good, some are bad & some are worst. From the inside, i still at times feel like throwing the jars from the top floor, still feel like pushing the bell ring of my neighbor., but as you grow up the child in you gets lost somewhere. At times i feel like running away to the woods or the mountains, but to keep your belly balanced you have to keep going to office every fucking day. Mountains and Nature fascinate me, but when you are stuck up in a concrete jungle with a job which gives you a blow every morning at 9, then your dreams of roaming like a free bird need to take a backseat. 

Unfortunately i miss those days when i was in college. When inside the campus, i used to get depressed at that time. I had this feeling that i would never ever try to remember those days, except the few ones like drinking on the terrace  with the floyd music in the background and those idiotic talks regarding the placements, break ups and gossips. The late night CS & DOTA games just before the exams was a real stress buster. The bakchodis at the canteen for the poor quality of the food served and the discussions on politics like an intellectual, the late night maggi treats, The Birthday Bumps, The new crushes....I miss them all...The worst thing is the people with whom you were sharing everything for years except for your undergarment are now not visible. You just talk with them on phones or log in to facebook.

Those moments of preparing for the re-exams with Dutta and putting up your friend's attendance on the attendance sheet are now a matter of past, those great bakchodis with the dadas, taos and chachas at college were a real good time pass when we used to feel like the great debaters. it used to give us a sense of Pride. I wish those times we used to make the rings in the air in dixit's room with sutta trying to enact some facutly and viraj giving advises in his stupid gujju tone and our beloved Anand Bhai used to just pass his smile after entering the room and then suddenly the twin combo of reaper & the gizmo freak chandy entering the room.

I am pretty sure there still must be a tensed Dutta trying to figure out about his joining in A wing's Room no. 103. There might be a Dixit lying on his bed diagonally snorting topless in Room No. 106 with Porcupine Tree Music being played loudly enough to make the rest of the people awake and that fucker sleep. There must be a Sutta & a Sadu Chacha sitting under some tree getting high with the green poison and floyd. There must be a Chinu raping the opponents  in the new CS clan match. There must be a Gauma waiting for some one to light the cigg and the pakodi aam trying to hammer the late night discussions . There must be a Maggi Patel too playing the chords on his guitar and there must be a me in all these activities trying to observe these people, whom i can say the best ones i have met so far in this life. I so fucking wish those times come back or some one invents a time machine. I want to live those moments once again before i depart!!! Seriously i miss all these characters.

A Remembrance!!!

Howsoever i try to close my eyes ,
Your beautiful Smile Always Haunts me Up,
It would have been better if you would't have enlightened with your touch,
Those memories, Those Feelings, Those kisses Just haunt me more than anything else,
Life without you is like more than being just dead,
Its ok that you left me up, but the wounds are green & the memory is fresh,
I know you are dancing your ways, as the Germans do, but its Ok to move on with the Open wounds.

Just a Thought!!!

So its solace with music on a boring Sunday for now. A clear blue sky and a cup of coffee with your favorite music in the background is something which you don't expect much on a day like this when the whole world out there is treating it as a day to reunite with friends, family or the loved ones, I am simply sipping some coffee out here!!!.

Man i am just too young with the age but my acts are making me feel as if I have become a grandpa. The unrealistic material world is simply out of my league where people get solace by spending the weekend at a family mall buying the grocery items or checking out the apparels at some store which is offering some great sale discount of the session. 

Spending your hard earned money at the mall is something which i don't like it. i don't understand why are people so crazy about the malls. Okay, I understand that malls give you a lot of variety for the same product but spending so much it is bit stupidity. Well its just my thought. I am not against the malls, but rather than spending it on fancy mall i would love to spend my money with under the full moon on a beach & having a good food with the red wine in the jars and a live band. I don't know why people have become so unreal. I mean it feels bad to see the so called cool people checking out the stuffs at the malls. If you are so much enthusiastic to spend some money, get a Harley & a leather jacket along with some beer and hit the road. It will give you a feeling which would be better than the best sex you ever had. Get some life dude.

Incomplete!!!

Through my window i have been looking for the glowing moon under the wicked sky,
until the darkness came giving me a shiver of my past life,  i am a man with no desires,
Its just few wishes which i want to fulfill before i die, i want to live it once again,
i want to be a child again,i want to cry again and i want to scream again,

The Same Story

Sometime back i read an article about Hrithik Roshan quitting smoking after reading Alan Carr's Easy way to Stop Smoking book. What a dedicated guy he is. he quite smoking just after reading a book. I mean I am pretty happy that he has done it. Its good for his own health and also for his fans. Atleast he is doing something which most of the people cant even think of doing so just after reading a book. All during the day i read some or the other corporate report or some article, but all it makes me feel is to smoke some cigarettes.

I personally want to quit smoking since a long time. The count has come down from7-8 sticks a day to 2-3 sticks, even though i read more books,novels and reports than Hrithik Roshan. If you want to quit smoking its all in your head to give up. You Just need some great will power and a lot of patience.

i really feel pity for the quality of news which the Indian Media covrs these days. That report at one point of time made me felt as if i was reading someone's marketing report. Rather than publishing about the ways of stopping the smoking habits, the news seemed more about the highlighting the book and the celebrity quotient.

 Seems like the future of reporting in India is deteriorating day by day & hour by hour.

Oilspill: A Curse to the Environment

Over the years, our dependence on energy resources has resulted in vast upliftment of industrial and economic growth and this dependence of us has resulted in huge gap between demand and supply ratios. Our demands have increased tremendously but we have very limited resources to fulfil our supplies. Energy resources are basically divided into two groups: Renewable and Non renewable energy resources. Renewable energy resources are those sources from which we utilize energy for our growth without putting a strain on the environment. These are those natural resources which are easily available everywhere and it includes Solar energy, Water energy, Wind energy etc. Non renewable energy resources are those resources which have a limited availability  and these are the prime concerns when it comes to dealing with environment related problems like oil spills which is the focus of this article. Non renewable energy resources include the fossil fuels like coal, petrol etc. The major reason for using these sources for our energy demand is mainly because in most of the cases the energy source is a hydrocarbon compound which has a high calorific value.

An oil spill is a release of a  hydrocarbon into the environment due to human activity which may be due to machine error or may be due to negligence . it is one form of pollution which damages the environment particularly the marine or the aquatic environment. Oil spills include releases of crude oil from tankers, offshore platforms, drilling rigs and wells, as well as spills of refined petroleum products (such as gasoline, diesel) and their by-products, and heavier fuels used by large ships such as bunker fuel, or the spill of any oily white substance refuse or waste oil. Spills may take months or even years to clean up. The oil penetrates into the structure of the plumage of birds, reducing its insulating ability, thus making the birds more vulnerable to temperature fluctuations and much less buoyant in the water. It also impairs birds' flight abilities to forage and escape from predators. As they attempt to preen birds typically ingest oil that covers their feathers, causing kidney damage, altered liver function, and digestive tract irritation. This and the limited foraging ability quickly causes dehydration and metabolic imbalances. Hormonal balance alteration including changes in luteinizing protein can also result in some birds exposed to petroleum. Most birds affected by an oil spill die unless there is human intervention. Marine mammals exposed to oil spills are affected in similar ways as seabirds. Oil coats the fur of Sea otters and seals, reducing its insulation abilities and leading to body temperature fluctuations and hypothermia. Ingestion of the oil causes dehydration and impaired digestions. Because oil floats on top of water, less sunlight penetrates into the water, limiting the photosynthesis of marine plants and phytoplankton. This, as well as decreasing the fauna populations, affects the food chain in the ecosystem. There are three kinds of oil-consuming bacteria. Sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) and acid-producing bacteria are anaerobic, while general aerobic bacteria (GAB) are aerobic. These bacteria occur naturally and will act to remove oil from an ecosystem, and their biomass will tend to replace other populations in the food chain.

The most recent oil spill which occurred was the Gulf of Mexico spill which is also known as Deepwater horizon oil spill(named after the rig on which it took place) and is perhaps the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry. The spill resulted in loss of 11 lives and injuring 17 others who were at that time stationed on the Deep Water Horizon Rig which was owned by British Petroleum and was taken on lease from Transocean . The spill resulted from a sea floor oil gusher which resulted from an explosion which took place on the rig on 20^th April 2010 releasing about 205.8 million gallons of crude oil. It was estimated that around 60,000 barrels of crude oil was getting flowed in the sea continuously for almost three months and damamging the aquatic life as well as bringing a great loss to locals who were staying in the surrounding of the well. The spill continues to cause extensive damage to marine and wildlife habitats as well as the Gulf's fishing and tourism industries. In late November, 4,200 square miles of the Gulf were re-closed to shrimping after tar balls were found in shrimpers' nets.

The total amount of Louisiana shoreline impacted by oil grew from 287 in July to 320 miles in late November. he oil's spread was initially increased by strong southerly winds caused by an impending cold front.. The spill quickly approached the Delta National Wildlife Refuge andBreton National Wildlife Refuge. Researchers from University of Georgia have indicated that a substantial layer of oily sediment stretching for dozens of miles in all directions suggesting that a lot of oil did not evaporate or dissipate but may have settled to the seafloor. It describes seeing layers of oily material covering the bottom of the seafloor, in some places more than 2 inches thick atop normal sediments containing dead shrimp and other organisms.

This spill was the 'worst environmental disaster the US has faced'.Factors such as petroleum toxicity, oxygen depletion and the use of Corexit dispersant are thought to be the main causes of damage. Eight U.S.national parks are threatened. More than 400 species that live in the Gulf islands and marshlands are at risk, including the endangered Kemp's Ridley turtle, the Green Turtle, the Loggerhead Turtle, the Hawksbill Turtle, and the Leatherback Turtle. In the national refuges most at risk, about 34,000 birds have been counted, including gulls, pelicans, roseate spoonbills, egrets, terns, and blue herons. A comprehensive 2009 inventory of offshore Gulf species counted 15,700. The area of the oil spill includes 8,332 species, including more than 1,200 fish, 200 birds, 1,400 molluscs, 1,500 crustaceans, 4 sea turtles, and 29 marine mammals. Oceanographers have estimates that the crude gushing from the well contains approximately 40% methane, compared to about 5% found in typical oil deposits. Methane could potentially suffocate marine life and create dead zones where oxygen is depleted. Also many people  believe that the natural gas dissolving below the surface has the potential to reduce the Gulf oxygen levels and emit benzene and other toxic compounds. This oil spill has resulted in rapid genetic mutation of some species. Scientists have discovered two new breeds of   bottom-dwelling pancake batfish of the Halieutichthys genus, in the area affected by the oil spill. Scientists have found signs of an oil-and-dispersant mix under the shells of tiny blue crab larvae in the Gulf, indicating that the use of dispersants has broken up the oil into droplets small enough they can easily enter the food chain.

Since, the oil coming out from the well was containing high percentages of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons(PAH) which are believed to be very carcinogenic in nature and also very poisonous. Since PAH can easily enter the food chains through planktons or fishes, a recent study by an NGO suggested that the people residing in the area of accident are almost 40 times more prone to cancer and other diseases which can be introduced due to some or the other form of mutation. The area in which the spill occurred was known for its fishes quality, the spill resulted in huge decline of Tuna population in the area. Also, the blue crab and oyster harvesting saw a major fall in its cultivation. It is estimated that the fisheries industry had to bear $2.5 billion due to this accident. People along the Gulf Coast were getting very sick, with symptoms of dizziness, vomiting, nausea, headaches, and chest pains, not only from the first responders to the crisis, but residents living along the coast as well.

BP initially promised to compensate all those affected. Soon, after meeting with President Obama, BP executives agreed to create a $20 billion spill response fund. In the interim, BP posts its US assets worth $20 billion as bond. Cleanup and recovery from an oil spill is difficult and depends upon many factors, including the type of oil spilled, the temperature of the water (affecting evaporation and biodegradation), and the types of shorelines and beaches involved.

Use of Bioremediation i.e using microbes for cleaning purposes is one of the few technologies which is used for creating  physically bonds to both soluble and insoluble hydrocarbons. The bioremediation accelerator acts as a herding agent in water and on the surface, floating molecules to the surface of the water, including solubles such as phenols,forming gel-like agglomerations. Controlled burning can effectively reduce the amount of oil in water, if done properly. But it can only be done in low wind and can cause air pollution. Dispersants act as detergents, clustering around oil globules and allowing them to be carried away in the water. This improves the surface aesthetically, and mobilizes the oil. Smaller oil droplets, scattered by currents, may cause less harm and may degrade more easily. But the dispersed oil droplets infiltrate into deeper water and can lethally contaminate coral. Recent research indicates that some dispersants are toxic to corals. Use of vaccum and centrifuges can also be helpful in some cases.  Oil can be sucked up along with the water, and then a centrifuge can be used to separate the oil from the water - allowing a tanker to be filled with near pure oil. Usually, the water is returned to the sea, making the process more efficient, but allowing small amounts of oil to go back as well. This issue has hampered the use of centrifuges due to a United States regulation limiting the amount of oil in water returned to the sea.

The major reason for oil spill in most of the cases is either the accident of the oil carrying vessels or some accident like the deepwater horizon type occurs. Our energy demands have increased so tremendously that we always take everything for granted i.e using the carrying vessels during bad weathers etc. It does not only put the human life to danger; Along with it also put many other species  to the threat that we are creating for ourself. We should always remember that nature has given us tremendous resources for our civilisations  and in return what are we giving back to it. We are totally spoiling our ecology. We should always remember that this blue planet does not only belongs to us, It belongs to thousands of other species who reside here and we have got no rights to bring their life to danger.   

India to get its first solar desalination Plant

AHMEDABAD: Perry Mehta, only Gujarati awarded in theWhite House for entrepreneur skills last year, is setting up the country's first solar plant to desalinate sea water in Surat.

Mehta, founder of FutureNet - IT service provider and environment technology firm, is the only Gujarati-origin business person recognized as the 50 most outstanding Asian-American businessmen by US Asian American Chamber.

"This honour came to me as being a Gujarati and having stayed in Ahmedabad - a business capital of the state for 22 years has bestowed me with the rarest of entrepreneur spirits which always backed me for achieving higher business goals," said Detroit-based businessman Mehta, who was recently honoured by the US Small Business Administration (SBA) as Small Minority Business Person of the Year.

He was honoured with the title at the awards ceremony that took place in August last year at the White House, during Minority Economic Development Week (MED Week).

Mehta's firm, which he set up in 2003, was honoured by SBA as a recession-proof company and is recognized as the fastest growing top 10 companies in the US by Harvard Business School, Boston.

It is listed among the top 50 companies to watch for in Michigan. Mehta, who holds two US patents for environment technology of desalination, earned a bachelor of science in civil engineering from Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology (SVNIT) in Surat.

"As I respect the institute that gave me basic technological skills, today, I have come back to them with an offer of partnership in a business model.

In a joint venture, my firm, along with SVNIT's research and technological aid, is setting up country's first salt water desalination plant in Surat which would be operational by June this year. It will be set up at an investment of Rs 3.5 crore.

This small-size plant would desalinate one lakh litres of sea water daily and turn it into drinking water using solar energy."

Futurenet group was listed in 2008 among 5,000 fastest growing private companies in America. "After I set up the business in 2003, the firm was listed as best small business in Michigan in 2006," said Mehta.

"Consistent growth of more than 100% in revenue and employment generation for last five years earned us the best small minority business by SBA," said Mehta.

"My firm has been able to achieve this business target because as a Gujarati doing good business is in my genes.

http://www.eai.in/360/actionbar/news/3299

Team ka Sahara Khatam

So the other day i was reading an article about the plans of Sahara Group which is pulling out from the sponsorship of both Indian National Cricket Team and also from the group's ventures in IPL i.e from the Pune Warriors team. I read that Sahara was Paying around Rs. 3.5 Crores per Test Match, ODI and T20 game.  Sahara had a deal with BCCI to fund the team till 2013. The group has been sponsoring the team since last 11 years. 

After wasting so many years Mr. Subroto Roy has now got his senses back to the right place. He will be putting up the so called 'sponsorship" money for social cause now. Where was he when people were dying in the chilly Indian winters since last 11 years...Did he ever thought of distributing even a single blanket for it. Where was he hiding when despite knowing the fact that more than 15% of Indians are not even able to manage a whole day's meal. If he would have taken this decison of sponsoring the social responsibility 11 years ago i would have been mmore than happy then, but i find it all a big corporate fake attitude just to get the media glaze.