Where do you go?

I dedicate this post to the two great Economists Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner for their commending book "Freakonomics". And now,I follow suit and do some analysis about "Where do they go?" when everyone roams around in the streets!!
Assuming there are 950 women for every 1000 man in India, if we go out to shopping, theatre, jogging, beach etc, we would go crazy! Are there 950 women for every 1000 men or are there only 200 - 300 women per 1000 men?
Ok, Let me exclude around 250 women for they have to manage households. And then what about the remaining 600 - 700 women?
When I roam in streets, I find 3/4ths more men than women. When I go to cinemas, I find 1/2 more men as women. Seriously, Where do they do? I wish I could sing "Where do you, where do you, where do you go, Oh my lovely."
I blame the TV channels which get women glued on to seats, at least more than men! SUN Music's constant blabbers, Jassis and Ghar Ghar ki Kahanis, Sun's own Metti Oli, Manaivi bla bla get women glued to their seats and that may be a reason they don't roam out much in the streets! I can see some feminists crying on top of their voice that "Our cities are very unsafe for women to roam around" which I accept to a certain extent! But, that is not a reason to sit inside our homes and watch the idiot gadget. Come out, show your strength, nobody will dare to tease you!!

Coorg and beyond...

I terribly needed that break!

A Weekend@Coorg was something that I was looking forward to, for a pretty long time, since I have heard many a times about the pristine hills, coffee estates and kodagu food and yes, my expectations were very much exceeded!!

Let me try to do some justice to my travel writing skills, if I have any [:)]

Hit the road from Bangalore to Madikeri (Capital of Coorg!) via Mysore on a friday night. I was very much excited since it was a trip after a very long time. So, We spent the night al together in vetti mokkai [useless talks] and ended up sleepless at Madikeri early in the morning at 5 AM! That earlier night, I was sleepless a whole night for the first time in my life [:) pat pat ]

Our stay was arranged in a guest house amidst thousands of acres of coffee plantations, an utopian house which we often dream of. There was an anthurium too from which they send flowers for decoration to as far as Bangalore, every day!
Our guest house (isn't that out of worldish?)


The cook there brewed us some fresh coffee "degree kapi eh?" which took us to the extent of slapping "Intoxicant" label on that coffee, for it had us all get addicted to it!!! After having a taste of "fresh-from-ground" we decided to take a stroll in the plantation, to rejuvenate our souls!


Nature, I bow down to thee!! - That is all I can say.. Flowers waiting to bloom as soon as they see some sunlight, woodpeckers pecking on trees making loud sounds (which couldn't be caught on any sound recorders that we had, such a peculiar sound!!), Very colourful flowers, so many insects, reptiles living in harmony with one another!!
Coffee flowers smelt eggjactly like Jasmine and thanks to the time we went for stroll, flowers just bloomed and we could see flowers with coffee bean. Probably this bean colour is what is kaapi color!


It was time for Sun to come out of the closet and that was evident by the activities in the flora and fauna. Chirping birds and blooming flowers welcomed him, The Lord Indra! A perfect instance for performing Surya Namaskar to honour Sun's rays falling on us:


The trails here literally lead to nowhere. But, forests rangers who have well mastered the routes, guide people around. The Anthurium is well-protected by tents to shield it from direct sun-light but still filtered light falls in, to guide in proper growth of the plants. World renowned Bangalore rose, may not after all be Bangalore, but Coorg Rose!!

Another variety of a mesmerising flower here:


The day that followed was spent in more realisations and mokkai talks. More in my following posts with more scintillating pics!

Athiti Dhevo Bhava

The ad for "Incredible India" pops up in pan-Asia/International channels like BBC, Travel & Living etc. many a times during the day. And, it first evoked some very positive emotions with some images of the "melting pot of culture and civilisation", yes I am referring to our motherland! Well clad women dance to the tunes of a fusion music, some performing Kathak, Manipuri, Bharathanatyam and the ad ends with a vocal artist singing "Athithi Dhevo Bhava" and an yogi performing a complex yogic art in screen.


Yes, We again get our priorities wrong! We showcase multitude of our cultures on screen, juxtaposed with a well-composed song, and a foreign tourist who see this ad goes overwhelmingly gaga over India and books his/her tickets, and finally lands up in a mess called Delhi or Mumbai Airport! Not to mention the harassment they would have to face at various tourist places. Digression.... Duh, Duh!

The same channels also show ads of HongKong Tourism, Singapore Tourism, Qatar Airways, Dubai International Financial centre and I am seriously awed at the way those ads are streamlined! There is clear focus (Qatar focuses on its five star service, while HongKong showcases some of its very famous tourist places with flamboyant graphics..) while we Indians show our multitude of cultures and forget to pass on the real message "We welcome you and please see these places". There is no clear message as to what you could see when you come over (I wouldn't just come in to see well-clad women dancing for a few hours.. I need more!!). HongKong ad scores millions better than an Incredible India!
Not that Indian ads suck. We have seen wonderful ads being made here. AirTel's ads, Hutch ads, Cadbury's are amazing! Again, the authorities get the priorities wrong! They belive in handing over projects to bidders who cost the exchequer minimum, but they forget that lesser the cost, lower the quality. My solution - Pool in the fund to a separate autonomous body which should take care of such promotional activities in a professional manner.
And, TN politics suck big time! There is clearly a war between DMK and AIADMK and both are trying to woo other regional parties into their alliance. MDMK, which was all along staunchly against AIADMK has now planned to join AIADMK!!! It happens only in TN in particular, and India in general!!!!!