Life 'Down Under' in the Land of Oz -part 2
2007-06-20 16:00:41
Life 'Down Under' in the Land of Oz
Australia is so laid-back, esp. Melbourne and friendly. No historical culture to flaunt other than the done-to-death aboriginal culture. All hype and it sells and how! Tourism rules! Be it hot-air balloon rides, a disappointing, dull and drab Great Barrier Reef, a never-ending drive along the great ocean road to see the 12 Apostles, dolphin feeding, ATV drives/rides, helicopter rides, et al.and of course bungee-jumping. Tourism in Australia is more 'activities-based' and known for its beaches.
The Chinese have overtaken the Land of Oz - everything is made in China and sold by Chinese.
"Pallazo Versace" in Gold Coast, the only Versace hotel in the world [Dubai is next] was an awesome find. Rooms start at a reasonable $455 a night and condos go for $1300 a night. Blue mountains, freezing at 3C has a mainly conservative, family oriented population. No body drinks 'fosters' beer down under - didn't even see it on sale.
A
Life 'Down Under' in the Land of Oz
2007-06-20 15:57:39
Life 'Down Under' in the Land of Oz
Having just spent 15 days traveling the Land of Oz namely Gold Coast, Tangalooma, Brisbane, Cairns, Sydney, Blue Mountains and Melbourne, here are a few of my observations of life - Down Under - from an outsider's / Indian perspective.
"Snatch n grab flights" - a Qantas airhostess was overheard apologizing to some fellow-Aussies for the inconvenience caused to them by giving them seats behind us Indian passengers on a "snatch and grab flight" - a term used for a flight full of Indian passengers. It did hurt to be considered thus but the definition in itself is self-explanatory.
On domestic flights you have to buy the beer ($5) or wine ($6). The airhostess was much surprised and repeatedly confirmed with the South Indian gentleman seating ahead of me whether he was willingly to pay $5 for a can of beer.
I did not come across or saw a single policeman during the entire visit - not even the traffic police!
Sydney is so "New Yor
BASIC ELEMENTRY EDUCATION FR GIRLS..
2007-06-20 08:27:27
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I AM WRITING ALL THIS INFO HERE,INSPIRED BY SHOBHA'S BLOG HERE ON IBIBO..U CAN CHECK OUT THAT HERE...I N I T I A T I V E S Since independence, the central and state governments have been expanding the provision of primary formal and non-formal education to realise the goal of Universilisation of Elementary Education (UEE). The challenge now is to sustain and deepen current reforms in education and encourage local planning and management of strategies for expanding and improving primary education. With a view to cushioning the impact of rising costs of text books and exercise books, the government has exempted writing and printing paper supplied to all State Text Book Corporations from excise duty. It is expected that this would make school text books more affordable for students from weaker sections of society. Removal of systemic deficiencies in the implementation of UEE and forging ahead necessitates the creation of informed public opinion and a facilitative enviro
my scandinavian sonata part 10
2007-06-20 07:47:39
Soon afterwards, we were taken on a city sightseeing tour with a local guide. We took in the City Hall, Parliament House, Presidential Palace, the monumental Railway Station and the modernistic Rock church which was carved out of an underground war bunker. We were also taken to see the Sibelius monument, which consisted of steel pipes and resembled a huge organ. If one stuck one's head in one of the pipes and yelled, it produced a sort of tune. The monument is located in the middle of a beautiful lake in a lovely wooded area, where we took advantage of the good sunny weather and enjoyed an idyllic walk.
Compared to Stockholm, Helsinki is a somewhat drab and stark city despite its many monumental public buildings. One of its main squares containing the cathedral and palace is modeled on St. Petersburg in Russia. There is even an impressive statue of Tsar Alexander II of Russia. In fact, this particular location has mimicked Russia in many of Hollywood's spy movies. Finlan
my scandinavian sonata -part 9
2007-06-20 07:46:18
We visited the Coin Museum, which contains coins and currency notes, old and new, from every country in the world. Next we went to the Armoury Museum, part of the royal palace, which was had an amazing collection of suits of armour, royal costumes and the carriages used by the Royal Family of Sweden.
Next stop was the National Art Museum which houses an impressive collection of Rembrandt, Rubens, Boucher, Renoir, Degas and Gauguin. Trying to act as if we belonged there, we strolled into the opulent lobby of the Grand Hotel, where the Nobel prizewinners are put up every year.
Another highlight was a visit to the Vasa museum. Built in 1628, the Vasa was the biggest wooden warship of its time. Unfortunately, within minutes of being launched by the Swedish monarch, it sank in Stockholm harbour. There it lay for over three hundred years until it was raised from the waters, remarkably intact. It is now housed in an enormous building. Seeing this old world behemoth up close is so ove
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2007-06-20 07:42:33
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2007-06-20 07:42:25
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2007-06-20 07:42:17
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2007-06-20 07:42:11
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2007-06-20 07:42:02
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Where Jesus drives a porsche
2007-06-23 12:54:57
It is a known fact that in many parts of the world – America’s Bible belt being a probable exception – church attendance is steadily declining. In the non-Catholic countries of Western Europe, the only time most folks go to a church is for a wedding or a funeral. Apparently, the classical Christian strictures like ‘the meek shall inherit the earth’; and those extolling the virtues of poverty, aren’t cutting much ice these days. In today’s highly competitive world, most people believe that being meek gets you nowhere fast – and poverty just sucks.Now a preacher in the black township of Soweto, in South Africa, is employing a novel approach to get his flock back in. This preacher belongs to the new Soweto branch of Brazil's huge Pentecostal-style Universal Church of the Kingdom of God (UCKG). He realizes that a majority of his congregation are poor; and do not see any percentage in it. So he’s preaching a new gospel; one of prosperit
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2007-06-23 12:52:03
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2007-06-23 12:51:56
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2007-06-23 12:51:49
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2007-06-23 12:51:43
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2007-06-23 12:51:38
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2007-06-23 12:51:32
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2007-06-23 12:51:26
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2007-06-23 12:51:21
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2007-06-23 12:51:11
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my poses..lol
2007-06-27 15:47:31
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HI DEAR SHASHWAT- A TRIBUTE!
2007-06-27 10:34:27
I would rather be able to appreciate things I can not have than to have things I am not able to appreciateIf you wish your merit to be known, acknowledge that of other people If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough. Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom &nb
bus ek nazar!
2007-06-27 09:54:58
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Forever Friends you'r my friend and that is true, but the gift was given from me to you. we went thru moments that were good and bad, even moments that were happy and sad. you suported me when i was in tears, we stuck together when we were in fear, its really sad that it had to be this way, but it has reached its very last day. miles away cant keep us apart, 'cause you'll always be in my heart.
Last night we had a family movie
2007-06-27 09:21:45
Last night we had a family movie
night not unlike many other nights. The kids love to sit in the dark and pretend they are in a movie theater. Some nights we have popcorn, which we allow in the family room on special occasions like these. It is a way for our family to have some together time. Last night's selection of a movie was a Disney movie called Bridge to Terabithia. This movie was quite different from what Mrs. G and I had expected, but we knew it to be a family film. I do recommend the film to those with kids, but it does have its moments of scary parts and some sadness. The sadness is the reason for this post. Genuine Boy is generally all boy and I tend to rib him some of the time about his whining and crying, but he truly has a heart of gold. The other day we were cleaning in the house and he came in and was sobbing. I thought he may have been hurt, and he was but not physically. He had a spell where he remembered his friend Ben next door that died. I sat with him while he
BCCI are the champions again
2007-06-27 08:00:40
One has to hand it to the BCCI. They never get their priorities mixed up. They may have got egg on their faces over the recent foreign coach fiasco, but their focus remains on the primary goal - which is to generate the maximum possible income for themselves and the Indian team.
The disastrous performance of the Indian cricket team at the recently concluded World Cup was a matter of shame and disgust for the country but, more importantly for the BCCI, it was a financial disaster. Not only did the advertising revenue dry up; suddenly multi-crore contracts for broadcasting rights could not be taken for granted. The Board members were hurting where it hurt the most - in their wallets. Something had to be done - and fast.
The solution was obvious. The losers had to be again perceived at winners. Which meant that matches against the good teams like Australia and South Africa had to be put on the back burner. For the present, the competition had to be b
I had posted an article titled 'Avert Migration to
2007-06-27 07:57:51
part -2 contd..
For decades, governments around the world simply abdicated responsibility for this massive urban influx. One result is that most of the world's slum dwellers--a billion people--remain cut off from the legal economy, working outside the tax system and with only tenuous rights to the land on which they live. Into this vacuum of power have stepped all sorts of organic movements. Some are potentially positive: Pentecostalism is on the rise in slums, according to Davis, and Indian slums have spawned influential groups that fight for squatters' rights. But for every benign community organization that rises to power in a slum, so does a criminal gang or a militant movement like Hamas.
Western security experts rightly fear failed states; in the future, they will have to worry about failed cities. Mega-cities, of 10 million or more, are on the rise across Asia, while cities like Dhaka, Jakarta, Lagos and Delhi will cross the 20 million threshold by 2020. Planning and bu
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I had posted an article titled 'Avert Migration to
2007-06-27 07:57:16
I had posted an article titled 'Avert Migration
to Mega Cities' on 22-02-2007. And when this week I came across an article titled 'Two Billion Slum Dwellers' by the famous international writer Elisabeth Eaves in TOI, I thought it may be in order to share some of the salient features of this article with my friends. So here are these extracts:
This year, the world will pass a milestone so profoundly significant that 2007 will become a touchstone for future historians. For the first time, more people will be living in cities than in the country.
By 2030, an estimated 5 billion of the world's 8.1 billion people will live in cities. About 2 billion of them will live in slums, primarily in Africa and Asia, lacking access to clean drinking water and working toilets, surrounded by desperation and crime.
After all, nearly all of the residents (in the city slums) are there by choice (many, in fact, pay some sort of rent), so they themselves think they are better off. The vast maj
Here are the dialogues from the movie "Shall We..
2007-06-27 07:55:58
Here are the dialogues from the movie
"Shall We Dance" where Richerd Gere's wife Susan Sarandon explains her take on marriage.
"Because we need a witness to our lives. There are a billion people on the planet. What does any one life mean? In Marriage you promise to care about everything- the good things, the bad things, the terrible and damn things; all the time, all of it everyday. You are saying that your life will not go unnoticed because I'll notice it. Your life will not go unwitnessed, because I'll be your witness."
Very touching and meaningful! Marriage gives a meaning, a purpose and a support to your life!
hello india
2007-06-27 07:54:54
Its unbroken electoral success since then has rested mainly on grateful support from the rural poor. But the reality of its dominance is in fact more subtle than this, for over time, the Left Front has succeeded, largely through the entrepreneurial activities of its local operatives, in becoming more of an 'all class' party. The main Communist Party representative in the villages has been a Party worker for over twenty-five years, and is now also president of the farmers' union (covering 20 villages). He is known to all as 'Comrade'. Well built and fit, he nonetheless carries a little more fat than the average farmer, and his complexion is a shade lighter than those who toil in the sun each day. He dresses like everyone else, but his lungi is always less faded and frayed, he is rarely bare feet and wears a gold chain. He is one of them, but unmistakably marked out as someone different and important.
The Comrade's primary responsibility is to deliver electoral victory to
How then, do we reconcile India's profound and met
2007-06-27 07:54:26
How then, do we reconcile India
's profound and metaphysical hierarchy, with its enthusiasm for the supposed equality of democracy? Why did Homo Hierarchicus embrace the Homo Aequalis of one-man one vote? Put more bluntly, why do the great mass of people whose lives in fact improve very little from election to election continue to think of it as important events which demand their participation? Why does their faith in their votes continue despite the continued subjection of the vast rural poor's interests to those of the minority urbanites?
These seem to me rather compelling anthropological questions. But they are also rather grand and diffuse. In 1977, following Mrs Gandhi's Emergency, the Left Front (a coalition of thirteen Communist parties) won the state election, and embarked on far reaching land reforms in years that followed. Henceforth, any sharecropper, bargadar, who had worked an area of land for a landlord for more than three years could register his interest in i
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