To all late sitters

This is a fwd....i should be the last person sending this out...but what theheck..read it.......!!!!

An interesting article on people, who stay back in the office after workinghours

It's half past 8 in the office but the lights are still on..PCs still running, coffee machines still buzzing..and whose at work..Most of them?? Take a closer look.. All or most specimens are 20-something male/female species of the human race..look closer..again all or most of them are bachelors..and why are they sitting late? Working hard? No way!! Any guesses?? lets ask one of them..Here's what she says.."Arey yaar, whatz here do after goin home..idhar to net hein, AC hein, phone hein, khaana hein, coffee hein.. to jam ke khaao, jam ke piyo(burps), jam se chatting/phone karo aur thak jaane par ghar jaao...aur boss bhi kush that I am workinglate...(burps) aur khaane ka paisa bhi bachtaa hein."

This is the scene in most companies and offices. Bachelors "time-passing" during late hours in the office just bcoz they say they've nothing else to do..Now what r the consequences.. read on..."working"(for the record only) late hours soon becomes part of the company culture. With bosses more than eager to provide support to those "working" late in the form of taxi vouchers, food vouchers and of course good feedback,(oh, he's a hardworker..goes home only to change..!!) they arent helping things too..To hell with bosses who dont understand the difference between "sitting" late
and "working" late!! Very soon, the managers start expecting all employees to put in extra working hours.

My dear Bachelor bhaais let me tell you, life changes when u get married and start having a family..office is no longer a prioroty, family is..and thats when the problem starts.bcoz u start having commitments at home too. For your boss, the earlier "hardworking" guy suddenly seems to become a "early leaver" even if u leave an hour after regular time..after doing the same amount of work, People leaving on time after doing their tasks for the day are labelled as work-shirkers..Girls who thankfully always leave on time are labelled as "not up to it". All the while, the bachelors pat their own backs and carry on "working" not realising that they r spoiling the work culture at their own place and never realise that they wuld have toregret at one point of time.

So bhaai log, what's the moral of the story.?? Very clear, LEAVE ON TIME!!

Never put in extra time unless really needed. Dont stay back un-necessarily and spoil your company work culture which will in turn cause inconvenience to you and your colleagues. There are hundred other things to do in the evening.. Learn music..Learn a foreign language..Try go-karting... Get a girl friend, take her around town. And for heaven's sake net cafe rates have dropped to an all-time low(plus, no fire-walls) and try cooking for a change. Take a tip from the Smirnoff ad: "Life's calling, where are you??"

Cool! 

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March 15, 2005 

PARSIS, MOST LOVABLE & PEACE LOVING PEOPLE

This article from Nitin Morani....on his blogger.

A few Words about Parsis, most lovable & peace-loving people

The first Parsis I knew were statues. There were scores of them, all over Bombay (now Mumbai), most of them wearing glasses: Dadabhoy Naoroji, Pherozeshah Mehta, Jamshedji Tata, Cowasjee Jehangir, Bomanji Petit, the Khada (standing) Parsi at Byculla Bridge.

Later, I met other Parsis, at the Central Bank, Cusrow Baug, Rustom Baug, Albless Baug, Cama Baug, Godrej Company (find me a Parsi house and I will show you a Godrej steel cupboard in it), Colaba Agiary, BombayHouse, piano recitals by Austrian pianists at the NCPA, Ripon Club.

Most of the Parsis I know are Bombay Parsis, the older ones born at Dr. Temulji's lying-in hospital for Parsi ladies, the younger ones delivered by Dr. Rusi Soonawala (Aapro Rusi). But there are also Delhi Parsis, Calcutta Parsis, Udwada Parsis, Toronto Parsis, one or two Mhow Parsis,Karachi Avaris, Minwallas, Sethna, etc.

They are spread all over the world.

Whoever says that the Parsis are a dying community does not know what they are talking about.

The Delhi Parsis are mainly Bombay Parsis now settled in Delhi, such as Soli Sorabjee and Fali Nariman. The Bombay Parsis themselves may be divided into further categories. There are Colaba Parsis, Tardeo Parsis and Dadar Parsi Colony Parsis. The Colaba Parsis work in advertising agencies, act in Hosi Vasunia's (now with The Indian Express Newspapers)plays and have relations in Toronto.

The Tardeo Parsis would like to be Colaba Parsis. The Dadar Parsi Colony Parsis are Dadar Parsi Colony Parsis. Their language is Gujarati, with a generous mixture of English or English with a generous mixture ofGujarati.

Some people say that they borrowed the language from the Gujaratis, others that the Gujaratis learnt it from them. I have not resolved thatpoint yet.

But the Parsis have certain Gujarati words that are exclusive to their language. Putting aside the abuse words, I refer you to 'faregaat'. It is what a Parsi does when he returns home after a hard day at the office. He has a wash (Godrej or Tata soap), removes his clothes, and gets into a 'sadra' and 'lengha' and settles down in the easy chair with his legs stretched along its extended arms, sipping phudina tea. That is being 'faregaat', changing into sadra - lengha and relaxing. Say the words slowly and gently extend it: 'fare-gaaat'. There are several other such words and phrases: kit-pit bandh ker, dahi na kar, doodh pau. Doodh pau is a somewhat goody-goody person, a bit of a sissy. I invite the members of the community to add to my collection. That takes care ofthe language, though most of them use English.

They are very fond of things English and particularly the English royalty, though that does not mean I am questioning their loyalty one bit. On that score they are unimpeachable. When I first visited London, a Parsi friend took me to see Buckingham Palace - from outside naturally, in those days they did not issue tickets to wander around the palace. We stood at the gates, he pointed at the palace, and said,"Aapri rani no mehel."

A lot of things are 'aapri' or 'aapro' or 'aapru'.

For instance:

Apro Zubin Mehta, kevoo majehnu conduct karech.
Aapro Sam Maneckshaw.
Aapro Nani (Palkhivala), bahuj intelligent and bholo che.
Aapri Bachi Karkaria, soo lakhech, soo lakhech.
Aapro Dorabjee of Dorabjee's of Pune
Aapra Oliaji of Duke's Hotel, Devka
Aapri Princess Street ni Parsi Dairy Farm, bilkul pani nahi doodh ma, bilkul nahi.
Aapro Cyrus Broacha, ketlo comic che.
Aapro Adu (the late and lamented Adi Marzban).
Aapro Rusy (Karanjia), ehni toe soo pen.
Aapru Taj te Taj, choro Oberoi.

Every Parsi takes a proprietary interest in the Taj, in Baliwalla & Homi, Bombay's opticians since time began, and Air India when JRD Tatawas the chairman.

Even Rajiv Gandhi was aapro from his father's side. Aapro Rajiv aaje hote toe he would have ,,,,, (add your thought here)

On Parsi New Year, one of the 3 or 4 New Years they have in a year, in the morning, a couple of Nankhatai Bands will come over from Pydhonie to Cusrow Baug and with a great flurry play Sare Jehan Se Acha and Colonel Boogie's March in front of whichever flat (apartment) pays them. There will be prayers at the two major fire-temples at Dhobi Talao and vermicelli, Sev-kheer, and sweet curd with rose petals, marghi na farchaand dhan dal and kolmi patia at home.

And there will be drinks, the Parsi pegs. A Parsi peg is the largest peg in the world!

You may measure it by your palm - it extends over 5 fingers. The Patiala peg is also 5 fingers, but in the Patiala peg the fingers are heldtogether, in the Parsi peg they are spread out.

Chalo, Saheb, salamati lev.

a Hole in the ground...seen from the sky !!

This is a picture of our site taken from the 86th floor of the empire state building. The hole in the ground is approximately 70 feet deep !!!! The hole is just about 1/3 rd of the site……it’s a big hole in the ground for now !!! but not for long….its happening !!!!

a Hole in the ground...seen from the up close !!

10x10 / 100 Words and Pictures that Define the Time

This is another excellent news link.

A very unique graphic layout and the link title says it all.

http://www.tenbyten.org/10x10.html

News Map

An excellent site aggregating news.

It reminds me of bulletin boards put up in schools and colleges and i like the interface of different font sizes.

Check it out here

The American Witness

OP-ED COLUMNIST

By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF

Published: March 2, 2005

American soldiers are trained to shoot at the enemy. They're prepared to be shot at. But what young men like Brian Steidle are not equipped for is witnessing a genocide but being unable to protect the civilians pleading for help.

If President Bush wants to figure out whether the U.S. should stand more firmly against the genocide in Darfur, I suggest that he invite Mr. Steidle to the White House to give a briefing. Mr. Steidle, a 28-year-old former Marine captain, was one of just three American military advisers for the African Union monitoring team in Darfur - and he is bursting with frustration.

"Every single day you go out to see another burned village, and more dead bodies," he said. "And the children - you see 6-month-old babies that have been shot, and 3-year-old kids with their faces smashed in with rifle butts. And you just have to stand there and write your reports."

While journalists and aid workers are sharply limited in their movements in Darfur, Mr. Steidle and the monitors traveled around by truck and helicopter to investigate massacres by the Sudanese government and the janjaweed militia it sponsors. They have sometimes been shot at, and once his group was held hostage, but they have persisted and become witnesses to systematic crimes against humanity.

So is it really genocide?

"I have no doubt about that," Mr. Steidle said. "It's a systematic cleansing of peoples by the Arab chiefs there. And when you talk to them, that's what they tell you. They're very blunt about it. One day we met a janjaweed leader and he said, 'Unless you get back four camels that were stolen in 2003, then we're going to go to these four villages and burn the villages, rape the women, kill everyone.' And they did."

The African Union doesn't have the troops, firepower or mandate to actually stop the slaughter, just to monitor it. Mr. Steidle said his single most frustrating moment came in December when the Sudanese government and the janjaweed attacked the village of Labado, which had 25,000 inhabitants. Mr. Steidle and his unit flew to the area in helicopters, but a Sudanese general refused to let them enter the village - and also refused to stop the attack.

"It was extremely frustrating - seeing the village burn, hearing gunshots, not being able to do anything," Mr. Steidle said. "The entire village is now gone. It's a big black spot on the earth."

When Sudan's government is preparing to send bombers or helicopter gunships to attack an African village, it shuts down the cellphone system so no one can send out warnings. Thus the international monitors know when a massacre is about to unfold. But there's usually nothing they can do.

The West, led by the Bush administration, is providing food and medical care that is keeping hundreds of thousands of people alive. But we're managing the genocide, not halting it.

"The world is failing Darfur," said Jan Egeland, the U.N. under secretary general for humanitarian affairs. "We're only playing the humanitarian card, and we're just witnessing the massacres."

President Bush is pushing for sanctions, but European countries like France are disgracefully cool to the idea - and China is downright hostile, playing the same supportive role for the Darfur genocide that it did for the Khmer Rouge genocide.

Mr. Steidle has just quit his job with the African Union, but he plans to continue working in Darfur to do his part to stand up to the killers. Most of us don't have to go to that extreme of risking our lives in Darfur - we just need to get off the fence and push our government off, too.

At one level, I blame President Bush - and, even more, the leaders of European, Arab and African nations - for their passivity. But if our leaders are acquiescing in genocide, that's because we citizens are passive, too. If American voters cared about Darfur's genocide as much as about, say, the Michael Jackson trial, then our political system would respond. One useful step would be the passage of the Darfur Accountability Act, to be introduced today by Senators Jon Corzine and Sam Brownback. The legislation calls for such desperately needed actions as expanding the African Union force and establishing a military no-fly zone to stop Sudan from bombing civilians.

As Martin Luther King Jr. put it: "Man's inhumanity to man is not only perpetrated by the vitriolic actions of those who are bad. It is also perpetrated by the vitiating inaction of those who are good."

E-mail: nicholas@nytimes.com

B L A C K

We saw the movie BLACK on the weekend. Watching a hindi movie for me in Manhattan is a very rare occurance. The experience this time was much better than the last one two years ago watching Devdas.

The movie has a very compelling storyline and i think the director tries his very best to walk the fine line between an art movie and a commercial blockbuster.

Rani Mukherjee should surely get an "Oscar" or a "Filmfare" for her performance. Amitabh also played his part very well, but this was surely not his best or greatest performance.

Am sure this movie will create a lot of awareness for the blind and deaf of this world and this awareness will lead to more social involvement both in terms of time and money.

Parsis don't want to join world body

March 1, 2005

Bardoli: The Bombay Parsee Punchayet (BPP) wants to join an organisation called the International Zoroastrian Organisation, largely promoted by diaspora in North America, which is liberal about accepting non-Parsis to Zoroastrianism.

But thousands in the community who protested in Gujarat on Sunday say the community’s vast religious properties could be in danger of being taken over by converts from outside India.

Over a thousand Parsis gathered in the small town of Bardoli in South Gujarat on Sunday to protest against plans by the BPP and other community organisations to join a proposed world body of Zoroastrians, which is liberal about accepting converts.

They passed a resolution opposing the move.

But the BPP, the largest representative organisation of Parsis, said the resolution carried no weight because those gathered at Bardoli represented the minority opinion in the community.

The BPP wants to join the International Zoroastrian Organisation, but the organisation is yet to be formally registered.

However, opponents of the world body are worried about the prospect of the BPP joining a body that will also include organisations like FEZANA (Federation of Zoroastrian Anjumans of North America) that allow converts to become its members.

Lately, the religion has gained converts in Latin America and East Europe. Orthodox community members feel that the converts would swamp the tiny community numbering just over a lakh.

They fear that the community’s vast religious properties could be in danger of being taken over by non-Parsi converts from outside India.

The trustees in the BPP feel that the world body will represent Zoroastrian political and economical interests.

The body will bring under one wing, representative organisations like BPP in India and associations in Iran, America and elsewhere. The constituents will have voting rights in the world body.

“FEZANA has made converted Zoroastrians its members. They are trying to impose this practice here. They want to legitimise the practice here,” says Khojeste Mistree, a Zoroastrian scholar.

The only person in the crowd who opposed the resolution did not want to be named, because he thought he would attract the hostility of those in favour of the resolution.

He said that he was not worried about the world body controlling trust properties in India.

“Those who spoke at the meeting are not presenting the facts properly.

Every trust or agiary in India has individual trust deeds that have strict rules about who could be the beneficiaries. It will not be easy for outsiders to just come and claim rights to the trusts and agiaries,” he said.