Saw this much publicised movie yesterday. Hated it to the core. Wish I had not seen the movie at all. Had to work hard to avoid going out of the movie hall so that I can at least see a good end to the story. They should ban people from making movies of this kind.
The valley is hopelessly beautiful. But they built 4 dams to the river in a distance of around 30kms. The first of the 4 was built much before independence and the last of them was commissioned only last year. I saw them cutting down a huge amount trees in the vally and outside. The complete submerged area was full of forest in the valley and not one person had to be rehabilitated. It is a shame someone came up with an idea to build a dam here.
Been to this place a couple of days back. There was hardly any water at the falls despite this being rainy season. It has been second consecutive year that there hasn't been much rain in this area. It was very foggy the day I went there, usual in this part during the rainy days. Sometimes you could see the waterfall and sometimes, all that is there is white wall of fog.
Remembered these incidents when someone asked if I am interested in getting a credit card. It is about how Citibank played the credit card game with me.
It was around 2 year ago I guess. I had moved up in my financial status from a monthly four figure to five figures and thought it is time to reward myself with a creditcard. Having got a savings account with Citibank, and with their (then)good network in Bangalore, they were my natural choice and applied for a card with them. I assumed they will be only glad to have an application from me. But it was a surprise when I received a letter from them 3 weeks down the line saying that my application was rejected. Having been rejected, I decided to knock some other door and got my card from StanChart without any hassles.
Must be a year or so after that when one day, I found a citibank credit card in my snail mail. I was surprised, I had not applied for one. When I opened it, I found that it was a pre-approved card for an 'eligible customer'. And well, it came with strings, real thick and strong strings. On accepting the card, I would also be giving powers to citibank to move my money from my savings account to pay my card bills!! Naturally, I threw away the card. Neither did I want to succumb to such a ridiculous agreement not did I want to get another card that does not come free. That story ended there, but a couple of months back, when I was leaving abroad, I decided that it is time I have another credit card, just to be safe. I did not have enough time in hand, I needed a card within 10 days. Not wanting to approach citibank, I called up all possible credit card providers, like Amex, StanChart, HSBC and more. But the earliest I could get hold of another card was in 3 weeks and that would be too late for me. So, with no way out, I called citibank again. There was some hope here, they offered to get me a card in 7 business days, which meant 9 days. I would still get it a day before I leave and I was glad. So there I applied for a citicard and this time I was forced to sign the same ridiculous agreement. This time, I meekly surrendered, the need being mine.
9 days were over and there was no sign of the card arriving. I had to leave the next day. So I called citibank people and demanded for the status. The telephone operator fiddled for sometime with her computer and then told me they don't have any application from me!! I was shocked, and pleaded to check again. The response was the same. I wanted to shout at her but it was no fault of that poor call center lady, so I just put down the phone and cursed my fate. I had go without a second card.
The story continued again after I came back to Bangalore. One fine day, I had a representative from citibank coming to me and telling me that citibank has decided to give me a card. This time again, I had become the chooser and they had become the solicitors. Indeed, with all the past memories, I refused to meet this person and he had to go away.
These days, each time I go to citibank ATM to draw money, I see some one or the other sales person from them trying to sell something - like some insurance policy or credit card! But having decided never to do business with the bank unless I have to(like being forced to maintain my salary account there), I excuse from them even before they start their long and boring speech.
My friend Mandar mailed me this editorial in times of India online edition about the finals match against England. I can't believe how sick a person the writer of this article is. Here is an excerpt from the article:
"When man-of-the-match Mohammad Kaif and Zaheer Khan — Hindutva brigade, please note — scampered a quick two, they gave India its first tournament victory since July 1998. "
I don't have to really say much about how stupid these lines are or how dirty this person would be to write something like this. Why should anyone bring in a Hindutva brigade into a nice and memorable cricket match? I have not come across a single person so far who was bothered about the religious background of these players, except this writer. And it is because of people like this writer who write meaningless stuff that a separatist feeling comes in the minds of people.
They say Santa Cruz beach is one of the best in US. I am not sure, if you ask me I would say the place sucks! First thing, the sea waters in California are very cold and you can't get into water unless you are crazy(a few people do get into water and they are indeed crazy). That puts off half the fun of a beach. And on a weekend, this beach is so crowded that they put the crowds in our public transports to shame. To add to that, they have built a long amusement park along the beach which misrably fails to be of any amusement. If you ever go to California, don't put Santa Cruz in the list of places to visit, no matter what anyone tells you.
Trams in San Francisco are more than 100 years old. Now, they have only remained a tourist attraction than a public transport system. The funniest things to see on the roads of the city are buses that run on electricity. Funny because they look like any normal bus but they draw power from power lines similar to electric trains, These power lines are seen everywhere in the city area and makes the downtown look like a mess. Unfortunately I don't have a picture of these buses.
It has been a while they have been falling. The first one to go was Enron and it made it big. Following were a series of restatement of earnings by a large number of corporates. To add to that were misusing and redirection of funds by the administration of companies - money from Adelphia communications was eaten by the owning family and forcing it towards bankruptcy. Worldcom is dying, with loads of debt and no money in hand. Xerox has admitted to its major wrongdoings in accounting. Then there were bad acccounting practices from a good number of companies including Microsoft(understated earnings in the past), Tyco and a lot more that were actually brushed away by media and investors who were desperate for some good news from the corporations. Nasdaq is down to 1300 levels which is less than a third of year 2000 levels.... Enron debacle was probably the biggest, and for good they took their accountants(Anderson) along when they were going down. Wonder how long this is likely to continue... Who is the next one in line? How about Vivendi Universal?
Mirror lake is aptly named for reasons apparent. Having been surrounded by mountains in all directions, usually there is no wind at the lake area. So the water surface is very calm all the time and a very clear water gives beautiful reflection of the mountains around
