Of balloons and explosions

At Walmart, I am looking for something in the party aisle and there is an old-woman-Walmart-employee also rearranging stuff in the same aisle.

Me: Excuse me... Hi! I was wondering if you have any balloon pumps?
She: Bombs?

Ah, so here's the deal. Inside the lady's head, I am a brown Indian... sorry, brown UNSHAVEN Indian - possibly a terr0ri$t, shopping for bombs in Walmart. And on top of that I am asking a Walmart employee to help me find some.

Damn racist woman.

Kya mara Camera!

Photo SHOOT!
It is with deep regret that I hereby announce that I have damaged my own camera - and it will cost $240 to repair it!
In an attempt to clean it, I ended up leaving lots of microfiber inside the image chamber, and thanks to static electricity, they wouldn't come off. Then I decided to go brute on it, and ended up scratching one of the screens and it all went downhill from there. :(
Anyway, I recalled my camera without having it repaired and I have decided to try to fix all of it myself. I hope I do something good at the end of it...
Here are a few pics I had taken during a trip to rural West Bengal... there are many more photos taken, but I will be putting them up on a separate post.

Oscar Movies

Watched two Oscar nominated movies today - Slumdog Millionaire and Frost/Nixon. They were both so brilliant that I do not know which one I liked better.

But I must add that Frank Langella did a stellar performance as President Nixon. His presence dwarfed everyone else in the movie.

Also, it's heartwarming that Rahman got his long overdue recognition in the international audience. Though a couple of his songs are simply fabulous in the movie, it's not his best work.

Hook, check, uppercut and checkmate

Chess boxing. No, really, it's a legit game! And has been around for 6 years now. Officially, i.e. There is a federation and all, with sponsors too!

Source: Forbes Traveller

Originally a figment of the imagination of French comic book creator Enki Bilal, chess boxing was probably intended to show that boxers can think. Or may be to show that chess players can fight. artist Iepe Rubingh decided to turn fiction to reality when he officially started this game. Twelve alternating rounds of 4 minute chess sessions and 2 minute boxing sessions. Winner defeats by knockout or checkmate.

I guess punching during the chess game is not allowed.

Also in the list of crazy sports are included Wife Carrying and Cheese Chasing. Yes, they are exactly what they sound like.

Making a difference

Earlier this week I was thinking that my research has some world wide impact on humanity - and I was feeling pretty good about my realization of "purpose for life". But then it soon plummeted into the depths of lackluster when I came across CNN's interview of Sejal Hathi, the protagonist of Girls Helping Girls.
Sejal Hathi started this foundation when she was 15 with a vision to unite all women in the world in the same universal view of self-respect and opportunity. Her foundation has reached far and wide to 5000 girls in countries of North America, Africa and Asia.
Sejal appeared in Nicole Lapin's Young People Who Rock - focusing on people under the age of 30 who are doing remarkable things.

Sejal is one among hundreds of people in the world who do a lot for the improvement of a billion others. I get inspired by such tales - and feel that the real happiness in life does lie in helping people who need help. Something tells me that if I ever start a social service organization - I will lose hope easily after seeing initial setbacks. On one hand, there are several success stories about non-profit organizations that have left more than a mark in the sand, and more than a noise in the wind. But there are many more that do not see the daylight of success. They are stumped by bureaucracy or by red-tape, by discouraging attitudes of people or by finances.
Which brings me to this. What is the success rate of such ventures of philanthropy? Is it high enough that more people will start doing it?