Google glitch affects Gmail

Are you one of those people who save your important data in gmail inbox? I am for sure one of them. The news that a bug in Google seems to have wiped out 1,50,000 gmail accounts came as a rude awakening to me. The affected users are able to see a welcome message just like they have opened a new account. All mails, chat logs and attachments are said to have been lost. Google claims it is just 0.08% of users, the number is still huge considering the number of Gmail users. Google engineers are still working on recovering the data.

Nobody is immune to disasters not even Google. While I haven’t been able to check out if I am one of them as there is no gmail access in office, I am wondering what do I do if I am one of them. At least for the unaffected ones here is a saviour. You can back up your mails to the hard disk to avoid such a mishap

Phenomenal Woman – Maya Angelou

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.
I’m not cute or built to suit a fashion model’s size
But when I start to tell them,
They think I’m telling lies.
I say,
It’s in the reach of my arms
The span of my hips,
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.
I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.

I walk into a room
Just as cool as you please,
And to a man,
The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees.
Then they swarm around me,
A hive of honey bees.
I say,
It’s the fire in my eyes,
And the flash of my teeth,
The swing in my waist,
And the joy in my feet.
I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.

Men themselves have wondered
What they see in me.
They try so much
But they can’t touch
My inner mystery.
When I try to show them
They say they still can’t see.
I say,
It’s in the arch of my back,
The sun of my smile,
The ride of my breasts,
The grace of my style.
I’m a woman

Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.

Now you understand
Just why my head’s not bowed.
I don’t shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud.
When you see me passing
It ought to make you proud.
I say,
It’s in the click of my heels,
The bend of my hair,
the palm of my hand,
The need of my care,
‘Cause I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.

- Maya Angelou

Dilbert on Managing

 

Managing-Dilbert

Does this ring a bell???

 

Uncle Pai’s sad demise

Uncle Pai is ‘Amar’ along with his Amar Chitra Katha series. Some mortals are indeed immortals.

Thought of writing a post for Uncle Pai, the creator of Amar Chitra Katha. But just found this post with a collection of what people have to say abt him, which is more than what I could say. Sharing it with all of you.

F for Fairy Tales

Cinderella

Cinderella, Rapunzel, Snow White, Lochinvar, Alladin are few of the characters that we grew up with. Fairy tales, fables and folk-lore are store houses of imagination and creativity and moral values. Fairy tales are not just bedtime stories for kids, they are in fact the carriers of culture. They are a source of inspiration. They set the values, expectations and the moral right and wrong. They have a deep impact on us during our formative years. The have a big role in shaping us into who we are, our attitudes and beliefs.

I happened to attend a session by Laura Liswood this week and found a new perspective on the fairy tales. She categorizes the fairy tales in two categories

• Hero’s Journey - The hero has to slay a dragon, save the kingdom,…., overcome great odds in spite of a powerful enemy and in return when he comes back he gets a part of the gold, keys to the kingdom or the fair maidens hand in marriage. Most Hollywood and almost all Bollywood movies use this theme. I am sure you will come up with n number of examples for this. These are the ones preferred from a leadership perspective since they inspire and teach you perseverance, fighting against odds and the like

• “Rescue Me” Story – Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel. In all these stories it is the beautiful maiden who is in trouble (evil step mother, evil step sisters….) and rescued later by her prince charming.

Turns out these fables also set perceptions of gender appropriate behavior within society apart from other morals. This shows how girls are acted upon rather than active. Beauty seems to be the key factor for girls as opposed to boys where power, strength, and wit are the key factors.The rescuer or hero is always the white Knight.To be found by your prince charming/getting married to your prince is the only way to salvation for a girl. Beauty and ghar ka kaam kaaj(household work) seem to the defining factors.

These stories reinforce the gender stereotypes and it conditions children to think of the world thus.This way we are giving a very subtle message to the children on the accepted behavior for one self and also what to expect from others. One may say that these had been written long time ago. Nevertheless they still have a profound impact on the young minds.

I guess we need some new fairy tales for the modern times. Time to let go of a few Cinderellas and find new ones.

Link for ABC Wednesday here

Saat Khoon Maaf -Movie Review

 

7_khoon_maaf

Saat Khoon Maaf is a Vishal Bharadwaj movie based on Ruskin Bond’s “Susanna’s Seven Husbands” . A dark-comedy about Susanna and how she kills her seven husbands. The beautiful, confident and zesty Susanne loses Mom and Dad early in life and hence their love. Later she is married to Maj. Rodrigues, her Dad’s choice. The perfect Indian husband boring, possessive, insecure. Her search for true love starts there and never ends. In the first half of the movie you sympathize with Susanna  for her choice of husbands but in the second half her irritability reaches a new high. Each of the husbands seem to have a despicable  flaw that she seems to grow weary of and decides to put an end to it. Some of the dialogues are worth remembering like “Miss Saheb apna Raasta nahi badlti, kutto ka khopdi udati hai”. In one of the scene during their wedding vows when they say “Till death do us apart” and you can’t help notice the wickedness.

 

Though you know what is going to happen next it still keeps you glued. The performances are all power-packed. Piggy Chops is all set to become the next Madhuri of the industry. Her acting and make up are both worth a mention. Neil’s character is damn convincing too. “Darling” – song is definitely the most beautiful part of the movie.  The music is good too. Only I would have preferred the ending presented in a better way. I know most people found the moving boring but I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. Dark is the new flavor of the season. Finally, one hindi movie I could write nice things about. Experimentation is a good thing not every experiment has to be huge success.

E for Epitaph

Kohima_Epitaph

This is the famous epitaph on one of the war memorials in Kohima, the capital of Nagaland, India.

The epitaph says

“When You Go Home, Tell Them Of Us And Say,
For Their Tomorrow, We Gave Our Today”

The Kohima 2nd Division Memorial is maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission on behalf of the 2nd Infantry Division. The memorial remembers the Allied dead who repulsed the Japanese 15th Army, a force of 100,000 men, who had invaded India in March 1944 in Operation U-Go. Kohima was a vital to control of the area and in fierce fighting the Japanese finally withdrew from the area in June of that year.

According to the Burma Star Association the words were used for the Kohima Memorial as a suggestion by Major John Etty-Leal, the GSO II of the 2nd Division.

This is thought to have been inspired by the Greek lyric poet Simonides of Ceos (556-468 BC) who wrote after the Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC:

“Go tell the Spartans, thou that passest by,
That faithful to their precepts here we lie.”

Link for ABC Wednesday

The New Aristocrats

Just read this article from The Economist. The story of the New Aristocrats, of the new age elites. Quite thoughtful on the shift in  power centres and the way the Baton is being passed on.

D for Directions

 

Photo Courtesy: Rohit Chaudhari

Idhar chala main udhar chala. Jaane kahan main kidhar chala….

Be a part of the ABC Wednesday here

C for College

KLES Engineering College

This photo is of my Alma Mater. KLES Engineering College, Belgaum in Karnataka, India. Those were the days… Spent some of the best days of my life here.

Link for participating in ABC Wednesday