Friday, October 15, 2010

CHILE - Mine Rescue


It was amazing to see the 33 trapped miners being brought up, one by one, in a rescue capsule on live TV.



These men were trapped 2000 feet underground for 69 days in the San Jose mine near Copiapo, when a tunnel collapsed on 5/8/10.They spent 17 days in isolation, rationing meagre supplies till drillers located them on 22/8/10 and provided a lifeline to carry food, water and medicine.


It took another 52 days for engineers working round the clock to drill a shaft with space enough to bring them up one at a time in a specially designed capsule.





Chilean President Sebastian Pinera was on hand to ensure the workers got what they needed.











When the last miner came out on 13/10/10, there was a feeling that this was mankind’s greatest feat since Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

BANGALORE 2010 - The other side


On earlier visits, I had always gone to places on M.G. road or some nice place and left thinking this was one of the better places in the country. My last visit was in 2000. Ten years later, I visit again expecting a lot more since I have heard of the city being referred to as the ‘Silicon Valley of India’ and a ‘World Class City’.


























I visited an organization on Mysore Road and on the way back got down at the city market and walked around. It was not an impressive place.
















There were more people, more vehicles and a few flyovers. There were paintings on the walls of some of the sub-ways.















While I was taking a photo of the bus stand, a policeman approached me and told me it was prohibited and that I had to pay a fine. He was probably expecting a bribe. I gave him a stare and walked away.

























I went to the railway station to get a ticket and saw a large crowd near the counter. I stood in a long queue but within a few minutes, I was at the counter buying my ticket. Indian Railways provided quick service at the counter.






Saturday, October 2, 2010

WORDS I LIKE

Visitors always give pleasure, if not the arrival, the departure.

In the vastness of the Universe, man and his planet signify nothing.

Life is meaningless and futile – Francis Bacon (British Artist)

Give a man a fish and you’ll feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish and you’ll feed him for a lifetime.

Give a man a fish and you’ll feed him for a day. Give him a religion and he’ll starve to death praying for a fish.

Don’t rely too much on technology – Donald Trump

Victory has many fathers, defeat is an orphan – JFK

We are doing fine but we can do better – JFK

The measure of a man is how he cares for his children – Sydney Poitier

The rich focus on their assets, the poor focus on their income.

I can’t be impartial between the fire and the fireman – Winston Churchill

Who you are speaks so loudly, I can’t hear what you’re saying –Ralph Waldo Emerson

Don’t panic, under any circumstances.

Just because you have children, it doesn’t mean you are entitled to more of the resources of this world – Bill Maher

There is no honour in kicking someone when he is down.

You can kill a good man, but you can’t kill a good idea – Bobby Fisher on ‘Fisher Random Chess’

A smile can take you far, a smile and a gun can take you further – Al Capone

A man who cannot tolerate small ills can never accomplish great things – Chinese Proverb

It is not always the one who plays in the mud that gets dirty.

A drowning man clutches at a straw.

I know you are not as stupid as you look, nobody could be – Funny insult

I always have the last word. The last word is “Yes’ – Roger Moore on his successful marriage

The more you use your brain, the better it works.

When you kill a man, you take away all that he has got, all that he is ever going to be – Clint Eastwood in ‘Unforgiven’

Crime is a result of disorder. If a broken window is left unrepaired, people conclude nobody cares, soon more windows will be broken and anarchy spreads.

When you are down, you have no place to go but up.

When justice is not found in the courts of law, violence erupts on the streets – JFK

Birds of a feather, flock together.

The bigger they come the harder they fall.

We judge ourselves by what we feel capable of doing. While others judge us by what we have already done – Henry Wordsworth

Life is unfair – JFK

When they tell you to jump, you jump. You make me sick – About the army

Speak well of your neighbour or keep quiet – Don Bosco

You can judge a man by the company he keeps.

If you loose communication, you loose control.

Sometimes it is better not to have what you want, than to have what you don’t want.

Everybody thinks there is more to it than there really is and that somebody else is having all the fun – About sex

There can be progress only when there is change.

In the ultimate analysis, you are alone in this world – Indira Gandhi

Nothing worth having comes easy.

The dictators stashed away billions of dollars, taking their own immortality a bit too seriously.

Being a good human being is the most important thing in life – George Foreman

People’s lives can change dramatically within a short time, for better or worse.

Fish and guests stink after the third day.

Never buy something that you are not going to use.

The decisions you make, affects the life you lead.

If you see someone without a smile, give him one of yours.

For I could not stop for death, he kindly stopped for me – Emily Dickenson

You can do nothing to change the past, but you can work for a better future – Bill Clinton in Bosnia

A fool and his money are soon parted.

Three P’s to be careful of: Police, Press, and Politician.

Three rings of marriage: engagement ring, wedding ring and suffering.

In life all of us get the same amount of ice, the poor get it in winter, the rich get it in summer – Bat Masterson

A bad temper is a sign of inferiority.

He knows nothing and thinks he knows everything. That points clearly to a political career – George Bernard Shaw.

‘Let naught cover my grave but the green grass, for green grass suffices as a covering for the lowly’
- On tombstone of Princess Jahanara d/o Shahjahan and Mumtaz Mahal

If a man isn’t here, he is somewhere else – Ancient Japanese proverb

If you don’t change what you are doing, all of your tomorrows will look like yesterday.

Little girls are won with dolls, big ones with dollars.

The easiest way to make enemies is to make some changes – Woodrow Wilson

Evil prospers when good men stay silent.

It is not what you have, but who you have in life that matters.

The worth of money is not in its possession, but in its use.

A lifetime of happiness! No man alive could bear it; it would be hell on earth.
George Bernard Shaw

The fact that a believer is happier than a skeptic is no more to the point than the fact that a drunken man is happier than a sober one.
George Bernard Shaw

I've never had a problem with drugs.
I've had problems with the police - Keith Richards

Neither a borrower, nor a lender be – William Shakespeare

A government that robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul.
- George Bernard Shaw

Unnecessary possessions are unnecessary burdens.
If you have them, you have to take care of them.

Learn the wisdom of compromise, for it is better to bend a little than to break.

I can't drive in India. They don't stop at the red lights.
What is the red light for? Is it for your decoration? - Oprah Winfrey in India

And in the end, its not the years in your life that count.
It's the life in your years. - Abraham Lincoln

Other people are not here to live up to your expectations.

The talent for being happy is appreciating and liking what you have,
instead of what you don't have. - Woody Allen

If you are not failing every now and again,
its a sign you're not doing anything very innovative. - Woody Allen

Marriage is not a word, it is a sentence.

Age is an issue of mind over matter.If you don't mind it doesn't matter. - Mark Twain

Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt. - Mark Twain

Don't take life too seriously, you can't get out of it alive.

Friday, October 1, 2010

PSALM 23

The Lord is my shepherd;
I shall not want.

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:
he leadeth me beside the still waters.

He restoreth my soul:
he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil: for thou art with me;
thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:
thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life:
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

-- David