It is very unusual that I am writing about a beauty product :)
But I am so impressed with the outcome that I cannot stop myself.
If you are like me, you have a dry scalp and dandruff that causes a scratchy head.
I was at a local hair cuttery in Rockville, MD and at the end of a pleasant haircut, I dared the salonist - "do you have a solution to the scratchy head problem?". She asked - "do you find dandruff or do you have a dry scalp?" Excited by her accurate guess, "Yes!" I exclaimed. She went right to her rack and came back with a 1 liter bottle of Paul Mitchell TEA TREE shampoo. Well, here is the solution. Say goodbye to scratchy head. Use this shampoo. This will last an year, she said. Being skeptical if it would work for me personally, I picked a 8 oz small pack. Eager to try it out, I went straight to my shower - loaded my hands with this new shampoo, generated lather and applied gently all into my head. When I came out, my wife could instantly recognize the new scent all around me ;-) I am so impressed that I will go back to her for my next haircut and pick up the whole liter. How about you?
Monday, October 20, 2008
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Law and Media helped killer win
The world witnessed the worst ever university campus shooting at Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA on April 16th that killed atleast 33 precious gems that included faculty, students and killer himself. While there have been lot of speculation about the university's response, who? why? etc., unfortunately, as the outcome has it, none of it mattered. Its impossible to stop a man whoz made up his mind to take as many lives as possible along his own. Everything worked in the killer's favor before he did it and after he did it too.
First, the US law helped a mentally troubled man buy guns and ammunition in 2007, even though he was labelled "mentally ill" by a district court in 2005. Isn't it common sense, not to allow a mad man possess a life taking weapon? But US law sold him all he needed for 500 odd dollars.
Second, to make it worse, after the shooter had sensed victory by doing what he wanted to, the US Media helped him WIN even after his death. They published the shooter's video for all the youngsters / public to view and get mentally disturbed - thereby fulfilling the last evil scheme of the killer. THE MEDIA DID WHAT THE SHOOTER WANTED THEM TO DO... give him victory by publishing disturbing material online... for the world to follow... what a pity to our and all future generations :-(
I am depressed, disappointed, confused and appalled by the continued negligence of the Government/leaders in bringing about the desperately needed change in GUN LAWS... clearly... a mentally ill man doesn't deserve to possess guns/ammo.
I am also awestruck by the meanness of the media in "glorifying and infecting" harmful and evil designs of the satan... rather than using its public outreach power in a responsible, ethical manner. WHY ELSE ON EARTH DID MS/NBC have to release the entire video of the killer to help him WIN even after his death? just giving him what he wanted?
Unless the media and law changes are brought about positively, these heinous crimes will continue to inspire the "loner and mentally ill communities" who will rock the societies all through the world.
First, the US law helped a mentally troubled man buy guns and ammunition in 2007, even though he was labelled "mentally ill" by a district court in 2005. Isn't it common sense, not to allow a mad man possess a life taking weapon? But US law sold him all he needed for 500 odd dollars.
Second, to make it worse, after the shooter had sensed victory by doing what he wanted to, the US Media helped him WIN even after his death. They published the shooter's video for all the youngsters / public to view and get mentally disturbed - thereby fulfilling the last evil scheme of the killer. THE MEDIA DID WHAT THE SHOOTER WANTED THEM TO DO... give him victory by publishing disturbing material online... for the world to follow... what a pity to our and all future generations :-(
I am depressed, disappointed, confused and appalled by the continued negligence of the Government/leaders in bringing about the desperately needed change in GUN LAWS... clearly... a mentally ill man doesn't deserve to possess guns/ammo.
I am also awestruck by the meanness of the media in "glorifying and infecting" harmful and evil designs of the satan... rather than using its public outreach power in a responsible, ethical manner. WHY ELSE ON EARTH DID MS/NBC have to release the entire video of the killer to help him WIN even after his death? just giving him what he wanted?
Unless the media and law changes are brought about positively, these heinous crimes will continue to inspire the "loner and mentally ill communities" who will rock the societies all through the world.
Sunday, April 1, 2007
Is the grass green? sky blue? blood red?
have you thought of a weird possibility?
We all agree that the color of blood is red.
But how do you know that I see and perceive the color 'red' as you do?
i may be actually seeing the color of blood as you perceive the color of sky 'blue'.
but what you call blue, i call red and vice versa.
isn't that a possibility impossible to verify?
or for that matter, each one of us see the sky in different colors... but all agree that, that color is blue?
if this is true, we all blindly concur that the color of sky is blue, grass is green and blood is red, even if each of us sees a different color.
how do we actually tell each other that we all see the 'same color' (say blue) when we refer to sky?
We all agree that the color of blood is red.
But how do you know that I see and perceive the color 'red' as you do?
i may be actually seeing the color of blood as you perceive the color of sky 'blue'.
but what you call blue, i call red and vice versa.
isn't that a possibility impossible to verify?
or for that matter, each one of us see the sky in different colors... but all agree that, that color is blue?
if this is true, we all blindly concur that the color of sky is blue, grass is green and blood is red, even if each of us sees a different color.
how do we actually tell each other that we all see the 'same color' (say blue) when we refer to sky?
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
who am i?
all along, i introduced myself as 'son of my father', 'brother of my brothers', 'friend of a friend', some called me tall, some called me short, by all sorts of names, dark, fair, handsome, ugly, and zillion other things.
other times when people asked me who i was, i often gave my name, my nationality, my native place, my qualifications, and such. but who am i, really? how does one go about defining oneself?
spiritually, i am an infinitely small, subatomic element called 'soul' as defined by lord Krishna in bhagavad-gita. according to this definition, i am neither born nor am i ever gonna die, i am eternal. but still sometimes i fear of death. if i truly am a soul with no beginning and no end, what does my name refer to? my soul? or my body? if it is my body, what does it refer to when my body dies? my soul then? if so, why do people ignore the soul gracefully when the body is alive, but refer to it only when the body is gone?
confusing? haan? :)
my friends, i am talking about one of those billion things we all take for granted, many things that seem confusing and hence we gracefully ignore, pretend that we know, or even pretend as if these are unimportant questions.
once in a while, i find myself in a state of 'awakening', a realization of 'who i actually am' that i seem to have long forgotten, as if regaining sudden consciousness from an unconscious state, but forget in a giffy.
can someone truly answer the simplest question of all... who am i?
other times when people asked me who i was, i often gave my name, my nationality, my native place, my qualifications, and such. but who am i, really? how does one go about defining oneself?
spiritually, i am an infinitely small, subatomic element called 'soul' as defined by lord Krishna in bhagavad-gita. according to this definition, i am neither born nor am i ever gonna die, i am eternal. but still sometimes i fear of death. if i truly am a soul with no beginning and no end, what does my name refer to? my soul? or my body? if it is my body, what does it refer to when my body dies? my soul then? if so, why do people ignore the soul gracefully when the body is alive, but refer to it only when the body is gone?
confusing? haan? :)
my friends, i am talking about one of those billion things we all take for granted, many things that seem confusing and hence we gracefully ignore, pretend that we know, or even pretend as if these are unimportant questions.
once in a while, i find myself in a state of 'awakening', a realization of 'who i actually am' that i seem to have long forgotten, as if regaining sudden consciousness from an unconscious state, but forget in a giffy.
can someone truly answer the simplest question of all... who am i?
Sunday, March 25, 2007
betting on the indian knight
if you are an indian living and earning in the west, the question of whether to invest your hard earned bucks in your home country or in western market would have crossed your mind at some point. while i am not an expert in this matter, i thought of putting my recent learning on this subject here.
while the answer to this question is... 'it depends' on
your long term plans of settling in india versus usa
your marital, parental and mental status to estimate your risk tolerance
and many others, in almost all cases, investing in india is the best choice we can all make for ourselves for the good of self and of our home country.
here is why:
1. real estate in india has blown out of proportion in the last 3-5 years while the housing market in usa has been at an all time low... with plenty of houses in inventory but no takers, still showing no signs of recovery. those of your with big bucks, if you can invest in real estate in growing cities of india, thats best.
2. life insurance - we don't generally think of insurance as an investment, but rather as a protection scheme for our dependents. for those of us married and even expecting kids to arrive soon, life insurance is the best gift we can give our dependents.
this is one area where i find india far ahead of usa. innovative life insurance products offering has made it both an investment with guaranteed returns in addition to providing the safety net.
the best examples are the 'money back policy' where we get part of the insured amount at regular intervals of time and 'money plus policy' where we put in smaller amounts for say 3 years and get 5-6 times that amount after 20 years. there are various policies for children as well, and the money plus policy would do a world of good to your child by the time he/she is 20 years of age.
3. stock market / mutual funds - with appreciation in india being about 3 times more than that in usa which is at a mere 3-4%, here again india is a better choice. with the IT and BPO boom still on, a smart investor can hardly go wrong. with the iraq war goin wrong and usa govt creating a record deficit of 9 trillion dollars, its definitely not an attractive proposition when it comes to investments.
for people with less time and interest in researching stock market, mutual funds may be a better proposition. Advs of MFs over stocks are plenty... the major one being diversification of portfolio. we can also contribute *any* amount to this MF account on a regular basis and a MF expert will pool funds from various sources and invest in stocks with greatest promise. MF are more liquid in time of need with option to encash by end of day!
here again, indian MFs are consistently giving >15% return on investments last few years.
all in all, if you have got those extra cash, bet them on the indian horse if you wish... but definitely not the fatigued american horse.
while the answer to this question is... 'it depends' on
your long term plans of settling in india versus usa
your marital, parental and mental status to estimate your risk tolerance
and many others, in almost all cases, investing in india is the best choice we can all make for ourselves for the good of self and of our home country.
here is why:
1. real estate in india has blown out of proportion in the last 3-5 years while the housing market in usa has been at an all time low... with plenty of houses in inventory but no takers, still showing no signs of recovery. those of your with big bucks, if you can invest in real estate in growing cities of india, thats best.
2. life insurance - we don't generally think of insurance as an investment, but rather as a protection scheme for our dependents. for those of us married and even expecting kids to arrive soon, life insurance is the best gift we can give our dependents.
this is one area where i find india far ahead of usa. innovative life insurance products offering has made it both an investment with guaranteed returns in addition to providing the safety net.
the best examples are the 'money back policy' where we get part of the insured amount at regular intervals of time and 'money plus policy' where we put in smaller amounts for say 3 years and get 5-6 times that amount after 20 years. there are various policies for children as well, and the money plus policy would do a world of good to your child by the time he/she is 20 years of age.
3. stock market / mutual funds - with appreciation in india being about 3 times more than that in usa which is at a mere 3-4%, here again india is a better choice. with the IT and BPO boom still on, a smart investor can hardly go wrong. with the iraq war goin wrong and usa govt creating a record deficit of 9 trillion dollars, its definitely not an attractive proposition when it comes to investments.
for people with less time and interest in researching stock market, mutual funds may be a better proposition. Advs of MFs over stocks are plenty... the major one being diversification of portfolio. we can also contribute *any* amount to this MF account on a regular basis and a MF expert will pool funds from various sources and invest in stocks with greatest promise. MF are more liquid in time of need with option to encash by end of day!
here again, indian MFs are consistently giving >15% return on investments last few years.
all in all, if you have got those extra cash, bet them on the indian horse if you wish... but definitely not the fatigued american horse.
Saturday, March 24, 2007
11 Indian cricket idols desperately needed
india's favorite and richest sport has faced humiliation in the cricketing world's premier event, world cup 2007... checkout http://www.cricinfo.com.
i am one of those millions of disappointed fans of indian cricket in retrospection. it sounds extremely surprising that a country of > 1 billion people is unable to idenity and produce 11 cricketing masters to our team. if i have to number the reasons, there are plenty.
1. nepotism in our blood - from time immemorial, we indians are expected and sometimes even required to favor our kith, kin, friends, region, language, religion, etc. over talent and commitment. as long as the indian cricket selection committee doesn't make 'merit' as the one and only criterion for team selection, i am afraid, indian cricket is bound to disappoint millions.
2. lack of professionalism - is it possible to deliver each and every time you come on the field to play cricket? just look at australian and south african teams. they play like champions in any country and every time they play. doesn't matter whether the opposition is canada or india. whether the wicket is bouncy or flat. we indians are always depended on winning a toss, batting first, or one big player batting well, or the rain god and astrology to favor us to win against even the weaker teams like bangladesh.
3. team spirit - 11 cricketing 'individuals' won't necessarily make a winning team. what is required is for these 11 individuals to play as 'one unit' towards 'one goal' of winning for the country. this is tremendously lacking in our team. most players play to ensure a berth for themselves in the team.
what we need? it should be obvious from the above points that we truly need a
'meritorious professional passionate 11 cricketing masters playing together as a team'
how to get em? one possibility for bcci:
take a 2 step process 1. talent identification. 2. talent selection.
1. typically we have limited only to ranji trophy players and their performance to promote them to indian team. this is a problem coz not all talented players get to the ranji trophy levels due to nepotism. hence each year, it is important to conduct an extensive 'talent search' through out the country such as 'indian idol' for cricketing talent search. the talent search process should be transperent to public. this should aim to be a list of about 110 solid players. this can even be a tv program. of course, if we ask public to vote, they may again favor 'their own' over talent.
the details of how to organize this grand program needs to be thought out by bcci.
2. once we have a good pool of talented pool, we will need to organize them by ability... essentially, if we have 10 cricketers who can bat at number 1, we have 10 people to choose from for each of the 11 positions in cricket team. this will provide backup when we have virender sehwag out of form to be quickly replaced.
can a rich game like indian cricket afford to organize it this way or an improved version of it?
what do you say friends?
share your ideas about solutions to indian cricket here...
i am one of those millions of disappointed fans of indian cricket in retrospection. it sounds extremely surprising that a country of > 1 billion people is unable to idenity and produce 11 cricketing masters to our team. if i have to number the reasons, there are plenty.
1. nepotism in our blood - from time immemorial, we indians are expected and sometimes even required to favor our kith, kin, friends, region, language, religion, etc. over talent and commitment. as long as the indian cricket selection committee doesn't make 'merit' as the one and only criterion for team selection, i am afraid, indian cricket is bound to disappoint millions.
2. lack of professionalism - is it possible to deliver each and every time you come on the field to play cricket? just look at australian and south african teams. they play like champions in any country and every time they play. doesn't matter whether the opposition is canada or india. whether the wicket is bouncy or flat. we indians are always depended on winning a toss, batting first, or one big player batting well, or the rain god and astrology to favor us to win against even the weaker teams like bangladesh.
3. team spirit - 11 cricketing 'individuals' won't necessarily make a winning team. what is required is for these 11 individuals to play as 'one unit' towards 'one goal' of winning for the country. this is tremendously lacking in our team. most players play to ensure a berth for themselves in the team.
what we need? it should be obvious from the above points that we truly need a
'meritorious professional passionate 11 cricketing masters playing together as a team'
how to get em? one possibility for bcci:
take a 2 step process 1. talent identification. 2. talent selection.
1. typically we have limited only to ranji trophy players and their performance to promote them to indian team. this is a problem coz not all talented players get to the ranji trophy levels due to nepotism. hence each year, it is important to conduct an extensive 'talent search' through out the country such as 'indian idol' for cricketing talent search. the talent search process should be transperent to public. this should aim to be a list of about 110 solid players. this can even be a tv program. of course, if we ask public to vote, they may again favor 'their own' over talent.
the details of how to organize this grand program needs to be thought out by bcci.
2. once we have a good pool of talented pool, we will need to organize them by ability... essentially, if we have 10 cricketers who can bat at number 1, we have 10 people to choose from for each of the 11 positions in cricket team. this will provide backup when we have virender sehwag out of form to be quickly replaced.
can a rich game like indian cricket afford to organize it this way or an improved version of it?
what do you say friends?
share your ideas about solutions to indian cricket here...
Thursday, March 22, 2007
To blog or not to blog
my first blog is coming rather late. its partially due to procrastination and partially due to dilemma... to blog? or not to blog?
blogging on one hand fosters thinking, brings out the greater unexplored depths inside you, constantly keeps you activated, alive and moving. glorifies the freedom of expression defining no limits on imagination or vision. not the least, an opportunity to reflect upon the various perspectives on the same subject.
on the other hand, blogging can expose your inner world to your outer world. constant fear of being criticized by dissidents making you nervous at times. the fear of commitment on time to blogging can hold you back.
here i am... having inadvertently gone through all this... finally diving into the blogging world.
blogging on one hand fosters thinking, brings out the greater unexplored depths inside you, constantly keeps you activated, alive and moving. glorifies the freedom of expression defining no limits on imagination or vision. not the least, an opportunity to reflect upon the various perspectives on the same subject.
on the other hand, blogging can expose your inner world to your outer world. constant fear of being criticized by dissidents making you nervous at times. the fear of commitment on time to blogging can hold you back.
here i am... having inadvertently gone through all this... finally diving into the blogging world.
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