Book Review | The Stranger in the Lifeboat, by Mitch Albom

Do you think God exists? If we called on God for help and God actually appeared, would you believe that the Almighty has actually appeared? In Mitch Albom’s novel published in 2023, a group of shipwrecked passengers in the lifeboat/raft pull a strange man from the sea. This stranger claims to be “the Lord” or God. This stranger says he can save all these shipwrecked people only if they all believe in him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In a raft after a deadly ship explosion, ten people struggle for survival at sea. Short on water, food and low on hope, they spot a man floating in the water after three days, whom they pull in.

“Thank the Lord we found you,” a passenger says.

“I am the Lord,” the man whispers.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For the first time in his work of fiction, Mitch Albom wonders what we would do if, after crying out for help from God, God actually appeared before us?

In The Stranger in the Lifeboat, Albom keeps us guessing until the end: Is this strange man really who he claims to be? What actually happened to cause the explosion? Are the survivors in heaven, or are they in hell? The story is narrated by Benji, one of the passengers, who recounts the events in a notebook that is discovered—a year later—when the empty life raft washes up on the island of Montserrat. It falls to the island’s chief inspector, Jarty LeFleur, a man battling his own demons, to solve the mystery of what really happened. 

A compelling novel, The Stranger in the Lifeboat suggests that answers to our prayers may be found where we least expect them. This novel explores the idea that prayers are heard, even if the answer is not what we may want, and encourages us to find faith in moments of total desperation. At the very end of the narrative, however, the little girl the group had been calling Alice reveals that it is she, in fact, who is the Lord — telling that the previous stranger had been an angel or messenger through whom she had spoken, much like Jesus.

Is sugar really "the" villain?

Every other day there are some post, article, or discussion that revolves around food. And one of the most talked about food item is, <drumroll>, SUGAR. Someone or the other is discussing the ill-effects of consuming sugar and how everyone MUST stop eating sugar. So, my question is - is sugar derived from sugarcane really that big an enemy for our health?

In today's times with so much of gender-equality, with both members of the family working in offices, OR young unmarried people going out to study after school, cooking is becoming a rarity (please don't get me wrong here - with both partners working and the want to live in a nuclear family people don't have time to cook). People mostly rely on restaurants OR on packaged food items OR on quick fix junk food OR on people who'll come and cook for them. Many young students who study in colleges, but live away from their home rely on inexpensive, processed junk food. There's a restaurant (even without naming the restaurant, all will know which restaurant I'm referring to here), whose ads will constantly tell the listeners that an entire meal of burger, fries, and cold drink will cost Rs. 99 only. Each of the burgers sold by this outlet used to have about 2.6 gms of sugar per serving in 1989; however, there has been a shocking increase to 10 gms of sugar per serving!!! (https://news.sky.com/story/shocking-rise-in-sugar-and-salt-in-mcdonalds-burgers-in-last-30-years-11287119)

These "added sugars" in these junk foods, sugary drinks, or cereals are really high and these contribute to various problems such as weight gain, diabetes, etc. and with no additional health benefits. Studies indicate that liquid carbohydrates such as sugar-sweetened beverages are less filling than solid food, causing people to continue to feel hungry after drinking them despite their high calories. These sugary drinks (even energy drinks such as Gatorade will fall under this category - when compared to the 34 grams of sugar in Gatorade and 37 grams of sugar in a cola) are coming under scrutiny for their contributions to the development of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and other chronic conditions. The average 20-ounce bottle of sugar-sweetened soda, lemonade, or iced tea contains about 65 grams of added sugar, often from high-fructose corn syrup. That’s the equivalent of 16 teaspoons of table sugar! Imagine that!!!!

Fact time: Eating too much high fructose corn syrup can lead to insulin resistance, obesity, Type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure.

Sugarcane-derived sugar, if eaten in small quantities everyday, is perfectly fine. A good rule of thumb is to avoid products that have a lot of added sugar, including skipping foods that list “sugar” as the first or second ingredient. The usual recommendation suggests a stricter added-sugar limit of no more than 100 calories per day (about 6 teaspoons or 24 grams) for most adult women and no more than 150 calories per day (about 9 teaspoons or 36 grams of sugar) for most men. For children ages 2-18 to less than 6 teaspoons or 24 grams per day.

As per National Institute of Nutrition, India -

"With increasing urbanization, energy-rich diets containing higher amount of fat and sugar, which also provide less dietary fibre and complex carbohydrates, are being frequently consumed, particularly by high income groups. In addition, the urban population is turning to be more sedentary with little physical activity. Consumption of alcohol, providing empty calories, and tobacco use is also common among them. Hence, prevalence of disorders like obesity, heart disease, hypertension (high blood pressure) diabetes and certain types of cancers is on the increase."

So no, sugarcane-derived sugar, if taken in small quantities, is just fine and NOT a villain. Most of the time, we are not consuming 6 teaspoons of sugarcane sugar in a day anyway it'll be mostly less than that. And if once in a while when there's a festival or a special occasion, do give in to your sweet cravings - though a smaller portion and chew it slowly. Few things to try are - have plain curd/yogurt AND drink water instead of carbonated, sugary drinks.

And be sweet to people - that adds to your beauty!

Amelia Island | Florida

Earlier this year, on my birthday... My son dearest, hubby dearest, and me had gone to Amelia Island, Florida for my birthday. The only thought was to celebrate my birthday in a different way and therefore, the trip to this beautiful island.

Amelia Island is the southernmost of Sea Islands on the east coast of the US. Fernandina Beach and Amelia City are both located on this island. These islands have been named after Princess Amelia, daughter of George II of Great Britain.

We drove from Atlanta, GA to Amelia Island. As per the map, it would take about 5 hrs 30 minutes; however, we were expecting we will reach in 6 or 6 hrs and 30 minutes. However, it took us about 7 hours to reach! With the 30-minute break we took and the traffic jam on the way. On reaching and after settling down, we went to Fernandina Beach. Very serene. My son was happy with the number of big sea shells he found! In fact, finding big sea shells on Fernandina Beach was one of the reasons of choosing Amelia over Destin (which has beautiful, clear water!).

Fernandina Beach in the evening about 7 pm

Apart from visiting the beach, we wanted to see Amelia Island Light, which is the oldest existing lighthouse in Florida. This lighthouse was built in 1838, and the brick tower was originally 50-feet tall. Later, a lantern was installed, making the height of the tower increased to 64 feet.
This is the first time I saw a lighthouse! We were expecting a tour of the lighthouse, as were some more people who came up till the lighthouse. Unfortunately, the lighthouse was closed - on a Saturday! No tours were scheduled. The only day the tours are scheduled are Wednesdays. How many tourists come on a Wednesday? It's neither near a Sunday nor a Saturday!

Amelia Island Lighthouse, with yes, Sourav standing in the front

In the downtown area, you'll find restaurants to suit your taste, a historic trolley ride, and an amazing fudge shop - Fantastic Fudge. It's a corner shop and you cannot miss it with the aroma of the fudge and many people bustling in and out of the shop.

Yes, that's me eating the tasty ice cream outside Fantastic Fudge

Till you are there, don't miss the beautiful sunrise!

And now the funniest bit. The resort where we stayed in, had the coffee maker in the bathroom. Drink coffee and do - the do. Or the other way round?
Enough said! ;)

Lasership

Hello all!

www.amazon.com or www.amazon.co.in

What does the above website mean to you? For me, it meant finding a plethora of products under one roof of amazon. I've been a member of Amazon Prime since December 2014 and it has the benefits of getting my packages under the 2-day shipping. I tried it in India and I tried it here in the US too. Most of my packages in the US come through UPS, which is a trusted name.

The latest package that was placed on June 23, 2015 was under Amazon Prime. I had to get it on June 25, 2015 by 8 PM. I found out the package was to be delivered through a company named 'Lasership' here. On tracking the package through the Website, it shows the package had to reach by June 25, 2015. I waited for another two days and then called the customer service on June 28. the package had to reach me, hopefully, by today that is June 30. The Lasership website has the following under the 'About Us' section -

"LaserShip makes deliveries happen faster for businesses and consumers. We’ve developed a unique east coast delivery network positioned to enhance the speed and flexibility of last mile delivery."

What unique delivery network are they talking about?

On exploring more, I found that there are many more people who have faced problems with Lasership delivery. There are videos put up on the Internet wherein the Lasership delivery guys throw the packages near the door from inside the car and leave - without even ringing the doorbell. Now I have doubts if I will even get my package for which I paid money!

Why has Amazon even tied up with Lasership?

Matsya (Fish) Avtar

After finishing his duties as a king, Satyavrata lived a quiet life with his wife on the banks of a river. Once, while bathing in the river, he came upon a little fish who could speak. "Save me from the big fish, O Mighty King, and I will save the world."

Feeling sorry for the fish who talked big, Satyavrata took it out of the river and gave it shelter in his earthen pot. The next day, the fish had grown in size and did not fit in the earthen pot. So, the fish had to be moved to a large urn. As the days passed, the fish kept growing in size. Satyavrata had to move it from the large urn to a pond, from the pond to a river, and from the river to the sea.

As the fish went across the sea, beyond the horizon, it told Satyavrata, "Soon the heavens will burst and torrential rains will flood the earth. The sea will rise and submerge the land. When this happens, collect the seed of every plant and a pair of every animal and wait for me on a boat with your wife."

Realizing it was no ordinary fish, but God Vishnu himself, Satyavrata did as he was told. Floods arrived and the great fish appeared before Satyavrata, bigger than before, with a horn on its head. Satyavrata tied the boat to the horn with Adi Sesha (who is the king of all serpent deities and one of the primal beings of creation. In the Puranas, Shesha is said to hold all the planets of the Universe on his hoods and to constantly sing the glories of the god Vishnu from all his mouths. He is sometimes referred to as Ananta Shesha which translates as endless-Shesha or as Adishesha which means the first Shesha. It is said that when Adishesa uncoils, time moves forward and creation takes place. When he coils back, the universe ceases to exist.) as the rope.
The fish then towed the boat through the great deluge to the only piece of dry land, the peak of Mount Mandara. There, Satyavrata and his wife waited for the waters to recede. With the seed of every plant and a pair of all animals, he would establish a new world. (Bhagwata Puran)

~courtesy Myth = Mithya by Devdutt Pattnaik

This story in Hinduism is similar to stories found in Christianity, Islam, and Ba'hai faiths. This is just a small example that all religions have the similar basics. Yes, there are tweaks made to suit own perspective. It's humans who have demarcated.

Let there be peace and no wars based on religion.

Book Review | Mirror City by Chitrita Banerji

Mirror City is a book that takes us to Bangladesh of 1970s has become independent and yet not completely independent from the internal problems that the country faced.

Mirror City revolves around the central character, Uma, her husband Iqbal, and their friends. Uma is an Indian Hindu Bengali, born and brought up in Calcutta married to Iqbal, who is a Bangladeshi Muslim Bengali. They met while studying in the US and finally getting married in the US itself. What goes through in their lives on returning to Bangladesh on various levels - political, emotional, physical, etc. - is what has formed this book. I'm not sure of the political upheavals Bangladesh faced during the 70s; however, I'm sure of the tension in the country on the assassination of a president (though never named in this book) must have been high.

Mirror City is a journey of Uma, as a child, student, wife, career woman, lover, and a friend. The disappointment of being called a foreigner, despite being married to a local, and a failing marriage leads to an affair (with a wealthy industrialist, Alim), which ends abruptly. Per me, a failing marriage cannot give license to have an affair,

The author, however, should have carved out the character of Iqbal more. I never got to know why he suddenly became a recluse. Yes, maybe was burdened by the fact that Uma was an Indian who left her country & family (never to talk to them) and settled with him in a newly formed Bangladesh. However, he is not shown to work on his failing marriage either.
I don't even know what happened to Nasreen and Maqbool either. There could have been a better closure to these characters.

At the end, I wonder who I should feel happy and/or sorry for - Uma, Iqbal, or Alim.

Many a times, authors draw references from their lives in the books they author. Chitrita Banerji was brought up in Kolkata, studied English in the US, and perhaps lived in Bangladesh (as per the acknowledgement in the book). She has been the author of some cook books in the past. The central character of Mirror City - Uma - was also brought up in Kolkata, studied English in the US, lived in Bangladesh (where she made some close friends), and was a good cook.

My rating: 3.75/5.

An easy read

'Or Forever Hold Your Peace'. When I read this title of the book, I wanted to know what it meant before I read the book. And I found it was very customary in Christian weddings that it is asked by all that speak now if anyone has a concern with the wedding or keep quiet forever.

This book is an easy read. It is a story about what happens in marriages - specially arranged ones. Since the wedding is about a Kerala Christian wedding, Donna has given details that I definitely did not know about a Christian wedding. The chapters are well-connected. In this story about a girl about to get married, it shows how difficult it can be when an arranged marriage is getting arranged. The unnecessary explanations given, specially by a girl, is painful.

Rating: 3/5.

Book review | Delhi Anything Goes by Anita Kumar

This book is about my Delhi, so I had to pick it up to read!

'Delhi Anything Goes' by Anita Kumar is about three friends - Zoya, Natasha, and Reema. These three friends grew up in Delhi in 1970s and 1980s and two move out of India to the US and the UK, leaving only one back in Delhi. The three friends reunite - in Delhi - as part of 25th wedding celebrations of the friend living in Delhi.

The friends who come to Delhi after a decade of staying away, find a vast change in the city. Not only in the landscape, but in people too. The difference in wealthy and poor is stark, and what's worse, the 'show-off'of wealth is almost sickening. The richer the people become, the display of international brands in terms of cars, purses, clothes is much higher.

What happened to displaying India? It seems a western lifestyle is getting displayed more than anything else.

However, with people getting richer in bank balances, they are equally poor in morals and ethics.

I have never liked any of the parties because I have never had any kind of addiction (neither alcohol, smoke, nor drugs) in my life - so, I never relate to these parties at all. For me, even the office parties meant hitting the dance floor and I could dance forever. I've not been to any 'high-society parties' so I couldn't tell whether what the author writes what happens in these parties is true or not. If it is true, then I am very happy to stay away from those parties.

Reading this, however, gives one-sided view about Delhi. Maybe Anita could have explored few other aspects too, such as the rich heritage that Delhi has over the centuries.

Rating: 2.5/5

Faction: Short Stories by 22 Film Personalities by Khalid Mohamed

Faction: Short Stories by 22 Film Personalities is a collection of stories by people from Indian film industry - be it actors or directors. These are stories from their lives that made an impact on them or stayed with them over time. As per the author, or edited by, as it is written, there were some stories that were excluded due to whatever reasons.

I personally liked 'A Calcutta Story' by the legendary actor Ashok Kumar; 'Disbelieve it or not' by the actor-turned-director Ashutosh Gowariker; and 'The Window' by the talented director Basu Chatterji. I liked these stories because these were experiences or some incident that happened with these film personalities. These experiences or stories were retold as stories. While reading these three stories I wanted to know what may happened next. Other film personalities shared some experiences that happened - one shared some interview that happened, another some postcards shared, and yet another the anxiety before the release of the first movie. So, there was no particular liking or disliking for those stories.

Rating: 2.75/5.

The Coca Cola Factory

Hey there!

Yesterday, we went to The Coca Cola Factory, which is located in Pemberton Place in downtown Atlanta. Actually, it was an impromptu visit. My son, Atulya, wanted to go to Georgia Aquarium to see the fishes, turtles, and crocodiles. We began from home around lunch time thinking we will reach the aquarium in 30 minutes. What actually should have taken not more than 30 minutes, it took us nearly 2 hours! And why? There was some soccer game in a stadium located next to the aquarium. We lost precious time. Nevertheless, we reached around 3:15 PM and we rushed inside the aquarium with Atulya. By the time it was 5 PM, the aquarium had to close down. We came out and while going towards the parking lot, Atulya wanted to touch the Christmas tree. While touching the tree, I saw that the aquarium and The Coca Cola Factory are interconnected. And since my husband had wanted to visit this place with us, I asked him if he wants to go. He was kind of upset - it's too late, it must have already closed down, leave it. And while he was saying all this, my attention was towards the ticket counter, which was at quite a distance, of The Coca Cola Factory. Seeing few visitors buying tickets, I ran towards the counter leaving my son and husband to follow me. And imagine what! I managed to buy the tickets - we were among the last few visitors to be admitted. (The saying, 'where there's will, there's a way', came true here).

Enough of all this. At the World of Coca‑Cola you can experience the fascinating story of the world’s most famous beverage brand. There is this vault, which supposedly contains the secret recipe to the beverage, there are so many artifacts related to Coca Cola, and much more. And if you are a fan of soft drinks - specially the Coca Cola products, you can tempt your taste buds with more than 100 beverages from around the globe.

The best part of the visit? My son enjoyed playing with the polar bear there - this was a person dressed as a polar bear. Atulya kept saying to the bear, "Hello bear". And loving him on his cheek.

And my husband being a fan of Coca Cola products, loved this place too!

Visit this place if you are visiting Atlanta sometime!

US - A land of opportunity?

Hello!

I was speaking to one of my friends back home and she said I should be happy that I am in the US, known to be the land of opportunity, specially for people of my age group. I have many work options, etc etc.

I started to read to find out the reasons the US termed as a land of opportunity. The one reason that came up the most important reason was that people are free to do what they want to do. In many other countries, people are bound by social boundaries and cannot do simple activities. Women cannot do a simple activity as drive and go out alone in some countries. In the US Declaration of Independence, it states all men are created equal. It was the American Dream to be in the US. However, the meaning of this American Dream has changed over the course of history. Historically the Dream originated in the mystique regarding frontier life. As the Royal Governor of Virginia noted in 1774, the Americans "for ever imagine the Lands further off are still better than those upon which they are already settled". He added that, "if they attained Paradise, they would move on if they heard of a better place farther west. 

This brings me to the question - is the US actually a land of opportunity in today's scenario? Quoting from the Internet,
"Blanden et al. report, "the idea of the US as 'the land of opportunity' persists; and clearly seems misplaced." According to these studies, "by international standards, the United States has an unusually low level of intergenerational mobility: our parents' income is highly predictive of our incomes as adults." Intergenerational mobility in the United States is lower than in France, Germany, Sweden, Canada, Finland, Norway and Denmark. Among high-income countries for which comparable estimates are available, only the United Kingdom had a lower rate of mobility than the United States." "This challenges the notion of America as the land of opportunity."[46][47][48] During a TED conference on the social ills associated with economic inequality, social researcher Richard G. Wilkinson said that, "if Americans want to live the American dream, they should go to Denmark."

I found a blog when I was searching for this topic - see if anyone wants to read it.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bill-ayres/america-the-land-of-oppor_1_b_5208374.html

What do you think? Is US a land of opportunity?

Play date

Hey!

I have been finding families who have toddlers or young children here in Alpharetta, GA. The main reason to do so is to find children of my son's age group with whom he can play. I did find few Indian families who are settled here and have kids who were born here & will be brought up here. There is one pretty American child who lives close by and we started to talk to her too. On initiating the talk of both children playing together, this child's mother suggested a 'play date' for both the kids. This got me to read about play dates for toddlers/young children.

A play date is a date & time set by parents for children to play. Apparently, it is very common here in the US in recent times because parents have a busy schedule, and media warnings about leaving children unattended. A play date is not to be confused with, say, an organized trip to the museum because that kind of a trip is more structured as opposed to a play date.

What happened to the good old times, when children simply went to a park and played with other children? No, you won't leave your toddler/young child unattended in these places; however these help children socialize and enjoy their free time instead of being boxed in the time frame of a play date.

What do you think? Is play date a cool idea?

Can you 'buy' happiness? - 5

(...contd...)

Give it Away

Okay, the final one to be happy is to give it away! Yes, you read it right. In a study, wherein some people were given a small amount of cash. Half of the group were asked to spend the money on others and the remaining half were asked to spend money on themselves. By the end of the day, these people were contacted again and the people who spend money on others were much happier than the people who spend money on themselves.

Spending money on others brings a sense of being content and happiness.

Go ahead, spread happiness!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This brings an end to this series. Lots of L.O.V.E.

Can you 'buy' happiness? - 4

(...cont'd)...

Make It a Treat

Sometimes, we are happier not only by delaying consumption, but also by reducing consumption. There was a study wherein chocolate lovers were asked to come to a lab on two occasions to eat chocolate, one week apart. During the intervening week, one group was told to abstain from eating chocolate; another group was sent home with a big bag of chocolate to eat; and the third group wasn't given any specific instructions. When the three groups returned after a week to taste chocolates again in the lab, the first group derived the most pleasure from eating chocolates. This simple, yet effective study proves that less consumption of existing things makes us happier.

I tried this at home myself. I gave myself a break of nearly 2 weeks between eating my favorite ice cream and chocolate. The effects were amazing! YUMMY!!

(...cont'd)

Can you 'buy' happiness? - 3

(...cont'd...)

Buy Now, Consume Later

Earlier, I said that buy experiences - that's 'what' you buy to be happy. However, what's also important is 'how' you bought what you wanted. With the advent of buying stuff and experiences on credit, the buy now pay later scheme, creates a serious dent in a person's happiness. My own experience holds true in this case - when I paid all the money upfront, I was guilt-free and much happier being debt-free. There was a time when my credit bill was higher than I had thought - I had this constant stress about paying it off as soon as possible.

Delaying payments bring stress; however, delaying consumption bring as much happiness. How? By enjoying the pleasure of anticipation. This is something I tried recently, that is before I could blog about it. It was as simple as first delaying buying my favorite bar of chocolate for two days and then keeping it in my refrigerator for a week before consuming it. Oh my God! It tasted far more better than buying and consuming the chocolate immediately.

So, go ahead. Try this too.

(...cont'd...)

Can you 'buy' happiness? - 2

(...contd.)

BUY TIME

A study by psychologist Daniel Kahneman shows that housework is the least enjoyable activities. So, what money can do in this case is to enable you to outsource these tasks to someone. Now, how you spend your free time will help you be happier than spending that cash in a mall. You need to think how a particular purchase will affect your daily life turns decisions about money into decisions about time. The bonus here will be that people start focusing on time rather than money and therefore, enabling them to spend time on happier activities.

(...contd.)

Can you 'buy' happiness? - 1

Hello there!

I was reading BBC Knowledge and came upon this article - 'How to buy happiness.' And my first thought was people cannot 'buy' happiness! Yes, there is this short-term 'happiness' when I buy something I like. I like a particular piece of clothing - I quickly buy it. I am happy for that moment. I like this gadget - I buy it. I am again happy for the moment. But then what? Then move on to buy another set of clothes, gadgets, shoes, etc. etc. etc. The list can be endless. 

As the saying goes, 'money can't buy happiness.' Studies reveal that relationship between money and happiness is weak. How much money a person makes, may not make you happy as much as what and how you decide to use the that money. A person may make only Rs. 120,000 per year (about Rs. 10,000 per month) and be very happy because of the way this made use of - than a person making Rs. 1,200,000 (about Rs. 100,000 per month).

In this five-part series, let's see whether you can buy happiness or no.

BUY EXPERIENCES
There have been studies in recent past suggesting that people spending money on new experiences rather than on things are much more happier in the longer run. Why is it so? If I think about it, things bought are easily comparable. A touch screen phone of company X is comparable with a touch screen phone of company Y. Anything that you can 'buy' in a mall is comparable. An experience that money buys is incomparable. The experience is always etched in the memory.

My examples. When I earned a lesser salary, I couldn't afford to buy much stuff. However, I could save enough to buy things needed. For example, my mother feels very hot during summers - we didn't have an air conditioner (AC). I could save up enough to buy an AC. The experience that followed & still does is far more happier for me than I could have imagined. Now with a higher income, I started searching for happiness in buying stuff from malls. A Hidesign wallet. A Fabindia kurta. An Anokhi skirt. However, I am still not happy as I should be after buying these from a mall. What still makes me happy or brings a smile on my face is - a white water rafting trip in Rishikesh (obviously I paid); a trip to Jaipur when I was in class 3 - incidentally my first trip by air (paid trip but very happy as first trip from school and I went by air - I got a window seat - how happy it was for me as a child of 9 years to see below from a plane!); the happiness to see the fresh snowfall after driving all the way (spending on petrol and hotel just for the experience of snowfall). These memories are still etched in the memory. Not some Hidesign wallet or a Fabindia kurta I bought 6 or 7 years back.

Go ahead. Buy experiences. Pay for these experiences, which you won't find in malls. I'm going to start again for sure. Buying experiences for sure. Will you?


(...contd.)

iPhone 4 | Minor bug | Fix-at-home

I've been an iPhone user since 2008 and now I cannot change to any other phone. It was iPhone 2g earlier and now I am using iPhone 4 for the past 7 months.

Few days back I dropped a few drops of water on my phone. I cleaned it; however, what I did not realize was that some water seeped into the cover I keep my phone in. It was after an hour did I realize what had happened due to water. I received a call and I found out that my phone had gone into headphone mode automatically! No matter what settings I tried changing, the phone wouldn't get back to the ringer mode.

While I was searching for an Apple service center where I could give my phone to be serviced, I found that this was a minor bug in iPhone 4 - the phone going in headphone mode. At times, without the phone getting in contact with water. There are few fixes you can try at home for this problem. You never know what works for you.

1- Remove the phone from any cover you've put it in. Dry the phone properly and then switch off the phone. Clean the headphone socket with a dry cloth. At times, there could a dust particle lodged inside the socked, which your phone may think of as headphones. Switch on the phone and check.

OR

2- Remove the phone from any cover you've put it in. Dry the phone properly and then switch off the phone. Suck air from the headphone socket a few times. Switch on the phone and check.

OR

3- Remove the phone from any cover you've put it in. Dry the phone properly and then switch off the phone. Next, take a zipouch (you know, the plastic bag that you can zip from one side) and fill it with raw rice. Put the phone (which you have switched off) inside the raw rice and close the bag. Ensure that the phone is totally covered with rice. Keep the phone like this for at least 24 hours. More, if the water damage is more than a few drops. Take out the phone after 24 hours & switch it on. VOILA! The phone is back to the ringer mode.

Well, I tried all three of the above methods. The third one worked for me.

More later.

L.O.V.E.

Tu jaanta hai main kaun hoon? (do you know who I am?)

Well yes, you guessed it right. This is one question that plagues many people. Wait - add another question, "Tu jaanta hai mera baap kaun hai? (Do you know who my father is?)" - this is when the father of a son/daughter is a person in power. My response to these people will be - don't you know who your father is?

In India, people have this tendency to be 'egoistic' rather than proud of what their parents achieved. Yes, it is great that their parent(s) achieved in their lifetime. And much appreciated. However, it is the achievement of the parent. Not the child. The father or mother was a governor. Or an IAS officer. Or the business tycoon. Or a beauty queen. Or someone in Indian politics. But, what have you done as a son or a daughter? Be proud of your own achievements; not of others.

L.O.V.E. 

Natural beauty - Are you listening Mr. Yadav?

Recently, I went to Delhi - yet again. I wanted to take my child to a park and what better place than South Delhi! This was his first visit to a park, which had flowers of multiple colors. This park is the 'Lake Park', also known as Sanjay Park, and it is located in Laxmibai Nagar. In this time of the year, flowers are blooming & the weather is neither too hot nor too cold. This park was named as Lake Park because it houses a small lake that has a beautiful small bridge running over it. Then there are ducks - at times left lose in the park. And flowers. Lots of flowers. Colorful flowers! You'll find squirrels nibbling away at tit bits, birds chirping. And on the opposite side of the entry to the park, after the boundary wall, are railway tracks where sometimes a goods train may pass now and then. Oh my! Is this a perfect place to spend evenings with family and friends!

My toddler enjoyed this visit so very much - even though it was a very short visit. He could show his displeasure and unwillingness to come back home - and without any words.

Look at the beauty!

Few days back, I was searching for parks near the place I live. You know, similar to Lake Park, where I can take my child during evenings or maybe for a picnic once in a while. The results that came up were - amusement and theme parks, IT parks, logix techno park, royale park (a hotel), Park Plaza (yet another hotel), software technology park, unveiling of a concrete park, so on and so forth. So basically, there are no parks for children here. What used to be parks meant for children to play, have been turned into concrete jungles of sandstone elephants and meaningless structures by Mayawati. She spent around 680 crores (allegedly) on converting a green park to a sandstone park, which is apparently closed for the public. So, my question is why? I didn't understand it then, I don't understand it now.

Can Akhilesh Yadav convert these parks back into green parks again? Are you listening Mr. Yadav?