This is one of the reasons where small businesses can beat the big players. Small businesses have the flexibility to make the customers happy. In India, customer service of the big companies are far from satisfactory, which makes me believe that one small good company with excellent customer service can be an instant hit.

I am really disappointed with the lame “matter of policy” excuse. Someone bring on something good! If not, I will.

The religious intolerance that Kerala has witnessed in the recent past has reached the height of its glory. Until a couple of years back like most other people (many of them who even to date) even I thought Kerala is symbol of communal harmony. Malabar occupied by Muslims – who have been here for almost a thousand years; central Kerala occupied by Christians and Hindus scattered all over the state – was the perfect symbol of unity in diversity. What a great ambiance for humans to prosper – only if the above line were true. The recent hand chopping incident of a professor in Newman College, Thodupuzha and the many other shocking news that is still coming out, cannot be classified as incidents. Politicians or religious leaders who classify these repeated atrocities as incidents are merely trying to fool the people. If you close your eyes and believe there is no light in the world, there is nothing much that anyone can do to help you. There have been clear cut evidences in the past (young Kerala Muslims who were arrested from Kashmir,  their indulgence in bomb blasts across the country, terrorist camp in Aluva etc.) that a vast majority in the so called minority Muslims in Kerala want to convert Kerala into an Islamic Republic of Kerala – it was often dismissed by both the media and politicians as a conspiracy by Hindutva-vadis (supporters of Hinduism, who according to the media wants only Hindus to stay on this land). When the High Court of Kerala asked the government to investigate the truth behind love jihad it was dismissed by the minority groups as Hindutva agenda supported by Justice Shankaran. I have personally seen posters stuck by Solidarity, SIO and similar organisations claiming that Justice Shankaran is an agent of the RSS and the society should isolate him. Unfortunately for them, recently the chief minister of the state said publicly that there is a huge section of Muslims who want to convert Kerala into an Islam majority state in the next 20 years. There have been shocking reports of Taliban courts operating inside the state. Shocking to the ordinary citizen. For them it was only Shiv Sena, Bajrang Dal and the RSS that were communal, Muslims and Christians are merely fighting for their survival. But all of a sudden things have changed. Shocking indeed. What is noteworthy is that this statement has been made by a veteran, well-respected comrade V.S. Achuthanandan and not by any member of the communal BJP or the intolerant RSS. Not surprisingly, Congress spent no time in playing the communal card. According to them the Chief Minister is trying to create a disharmony within a harmonious and prosperous state. Despite terrorists being arrested, despite hands being chopped off,  despite a teacher brutally murdered in front of school children, despite a professor beaten to death in front of police, despite books being burnt in the name of religion – everything in the state is perfect.  Just because the Left Democratic Front has an honest human as the Chief Minister doesn’t mean they are any good either. It was the same Left that teamed up with Abdul Nasser Madani in the Lok Sabha elections. Similarly the NDF/Popular Front of India was a part of the Congress led UDF. They have time and again proven that there is no point in hoping one of them will take charge and save God’s Own Country from communal powers. Who are we kidding? Why do politicians fear to call a spade a spade? Swami Vivekananda described Kerala as a lunatic asylum. Many people including me wondered how could such a noble person make such a rash statement. Maybe he foresaw all that is happening now.

I pity those people who don’t miss out any opportunity to get public sympathy by whining, My name is Khan, I am not a terrorist.  Do they expect every Khan to be a terrorist? Self pity is a sign of spinelessness and worse than suicide. Instead of whining how inferior they are and why they need reservations, why not condemn these attacks? Why not hold freedom marches against these radical elements within their own community and really prove that Islam is a religion of peace? I was shocked by the kind of intolerance that many believers of the only truth show. For them religion is bigger than the country and human life. Like someone said, bottled water and religion are the biggest curses mankind has ever seen. If we don’t do it now it will be the future generations that will have to suffer for our inaction. It is time to rethink.

Those of you who think this post is because of my highly biased religious/political views and classify me as another fanatic Hindu are welcome to do so. You have the right to be ignorant. Those who believe I am spreading poison through words will be classified as moron. Like how I condemn and criticise Muslim terrorists I totally condemn terrorists who are Hindus, the LTTE and similar organisations who believe in violence. Despite the fact that he is a Muslim, for me A.P.J Abdul Kalam was India’s best President.  I come from a culture that has taught me to respect all religions equally. I come from a culture that believes there are multiple paths to reach the ultimate. I come from a culture that prays for the betterment of humanity – Loka Samastha Sukhino Bhavanthu – Om Shanti Shanti Shanti. ॐ

1. 7 Reasons Why Meat is Bad for the Environment
2. McDonald’s Trying to Go Green
3. Eating meat is bad for you
4. Why Veg? (the one I like the most)

If you have a relatively strong heart, watch this video as well. Meet your Meat!

Stay hungry, Stay foolish!

“Author, peace-keeper, refugee worker, human rights activist and now is the member of the Indian Parliament from the Thiruvananthapuram constituency in Kerala, Shashi Tharoor straddles several worlds of experience.”

But after the IPL controversy, Tharoor had to accept he is new to Indian politics and is not experienced enough. Malayalis world over are desperately supporting Tharoor and strongly criticising Gujju businessmen and a particular North Indian lobby for his resignation. Fact: Gujju businessmen, Lalit Modi included, are out there as businessmen. They might be stashing crores of illegal money. But, Tharoor is an elected representative and has no right to criticise or speculate unless he has solid proof against them. When people criticise Lalit Modi for trying to take the franchisee back to North India, little do they realise that the Kerala IPL team is/was owned by Gujju businessmen and not by Mamotty or Mohanlal. Infact, there are very few Malayali businessmen who are stake holders. Whoever owns it, let the businessmen fight it out by pumping in money. Why should an elected representative interfere? Tharoor claims he is the mentor of the team. Honestly, why would an external affairs minister want to be the mentor of a cricket team? Love for sports seems to be a reasonable answer. But, if that be the case, he should be showing the same interest to promote the National Games to be held in Thiruvananthapuram. Unfortunately, from the news reports I have read recently, the organising committee is struggling hard to find venues to conduct the games, leave alone accomodation of the players, transportation etc. Apparently, the IPL team cost approximately 1300 crores. If he could bring in at least 10% of that money for the National Games, we would still get better grounds and infrastructure for sports which the IPL team promised (assuming that Kochi would be the home ground). I agree IPL has a much bigger audience and promotes the little known God’s Own Country’s branding. Truth be told, cricket is not what attracts people to Kerala. Kerala is pretty famous for its beaches and ayurveda world over, but very little has been done to promote ayurveda. Most of the people who do business in that industry are private companies and the government has very little or no ayurvedic resorts. So why would anyone want to create a new product by spending hundreds of crores and market it when they already have a high demand, low supply product?

Secondly, the business/investment opportunities IPL has is huge and Tharoor wanted to capitalise on it because it is a dream of the youth in Kerala. But any sensible, intelligent human being will be more interested to bring in MNCs to the state to provide jobs for youth which in turn will boost the dilapidated economy of the state. It was not long back that many major companies like BMW, Tecom left the state because they didn’t find the place investor friendly. I am sure Tharoor, being a good diplomat and having served the UN for more than two decades knows this. Though there are certain matters related to state government, as a minister of external affairs, Tharoor could have easily wooed many of these MNCs. Not only would hundreds of thousands of youth get jobs, but the government would be minting money from taxes alone.

Thirdly, it is extremely difficult to believe that Tharoor who lost the post of UN Secretary General by a whisker could only become a junior minister in Manmohan’s cabinet. The same Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh who wanted him to be the Secretary General of UN, found him misfit to be a normal minister, leave alone Prime Minister. Come on, they wanted him to be a world leader and when it came to India he cannot even handle things related to a single ministry? And what is more surprising is that Tharoor gladly accepted the post. I doubt if  any self respecting individual might do that. It might be his personal choice, but to justify it by telling he wants to serve the country is a cheap and blown up trick.There are infinite ways in which people contribute to the country without being a politician. Again, it can be a personal choice – so let us not go too deep into that.

Finally, it is extremely shocking that none of the Kerala MPs nor the Kerala Congress ministers supported him. Come on, if the IPL team is supposed to bring prosperity to the state which leader would want to isolate himself from that? I still remember how the INC leaders said indirectly hinted that they are responsible for India winning the 20-20 world cup and the good show at Oscars. Even an opposition leader would be glad to attach his name to the people responsible for bringing something that does a lot of good to the state. Now, don’t tell me that every single one of the leaders in our state are retarded and cannot digest this simple fact.

All this is what a normal 20 year old college drop out kid could gather from these issues. There might be a lot more hidden stuff. But what I tend to believe is that Tharoor was merely seeking publicity. He never got publicity when he was in the UN. But he definitely got a lot of publicity with his tweets (cattle class, 5 star accomodation etc.) and even became the most followed Indian on Twitter. He might have even dreamt of sitting in Jawaharlal Nehru stadium alongside Bollywood stars and business tycoons  like Mallya to cheer his team. But unfortunately, he forgot that the people sent him there for a bigger purpose. If Tharoor had served some delicious food before the IPL dessert I would have taken it any day. But sadly, he has failed to achieve a lot as a politician. He, like other politicians, failed to deliver what he promised. The average citizens who voted him to power are left open mouthed, wondering when the controversy man will really deliver his promises.

I have not gone into any of his affairs related to Sunanda. I believe it is his personal matter and I don’t get turned on by creating or promoting scandals.

Feel free to voice your opinion and I will gladly accept any comment. Stay hungry, stay foolish!

You will need:

1. 4-5 cherries (the red sweet ones)
2. 1.5 cups of chilled milk
3. 2 scoops of strawberry ice cream
4. 2 tablespoons of sugar / honey

Remove the seeds from the cherry and mix with milk in a blender. Add sugar and blend again until the cherries are no longer in chunks. Pour into a big glass and add two scoops of ice cream. If you like, you can add sliced pieces of cherry for taste (and decoration).

This is extremely yummy and super filling. Will definitely beat the summer heat (for a few hours)

Stay hungry, stay foolish.

The government is quick enough to deploy 10,000 policemen to save the young and dynamic leader who is working hard to derail the tigers and win back Mumbai. But there is an astounding silence when it comes to Kashmir. The same government considers 1 week as not enough time to pull resources together to fight a handful of terrorists responsible for 26/11 attacks.

A movie release being blown out of proportion, a terror threat not making it into any news channel. Not once, not twice, but consistently!

They repeatedly create rifts between castes and communities through reservations and giving promises about separate states. They show us all crap so that we keep our minds busy and don’t dare to think. They were busy derailing the Shiv Senaks, when the jihadis were busy planning their attacks. Read it all together. This cannot be coincidence.  Abhishek Aiswarya wedding, Aarushi murder case – there are numerous examples for outrageous reporting. Maybe each of them have a story to say.

Attached is the link for the ONLY report about the threat.

The sad thing is that good people like you and me don’t do anything about it. We know all this is pathetic,  but all that we do is rant about it and then go to sleep. Time to rethink.

Life is good. Keep smiling. Stay hungry. Stay foolish.

Setup Spam Karma 2 (Dave has written an in-depth tutorial about installing SK2) and it is pretty simple to work with. One of the major drawbacks that I find in Spam Karma is that you cannot moderate comments. So install SK2 Moderate Plugin which can be downloaded here. You need to upload the ’sk2_pjw_moderate_plugin.php’ file to ‘wp-admin/plugins/SK2/’ Once that is done go to SK2 admin panel (from your Wordpress dashboard) and set ‘Moderate’ to Enabled. (See screenshot)

This will make sure you will need to approve every comment before it appears on the blog/site. Make sure that you set “Captcha Check” to Disabled. In certain cases however, inspite of all this being done a few comments might slip through and appear on the blog without your approval. To avoid that go to ’show advanced settings’ and in Anubis, play around with values (see screenshot) until it matches your site. Be careful while doing this.

There you go. This is best spam fighting combination I have managed to configure and works neat as well. The value in Anubis plugin is the key thing that makes sure the comments will be moderated before being displayed. Thought of writing a post about this because I couldn’t find many posts on how to do it anywhere.

Keep smiling and stay hungry!

One area where Docomo has beaten Vodafone is in Social Media Marketing (Twitter, Facebook and I hate to say this, Orkut) All wannabe Social Media Marketing experts and the self proclaimed SMM experts should really start rethinking if they know anything about SMM. It isn’t about screaming that you are the best. It is more of interacting and involving with your customers. Docomo Facebook fan page already has over 25,000 fans – which is a reasonable number. They are even kicking the ass of competitors with “a geek thing” contest.

And I keep wondering, who is doing the branding and SMM for Docomo?

Stay hungry. Stay foolish.

This October 16 to 19. In all schools and (almost all) colleges in India.

Don’t be a spectator. Stand up. Take action.