Fantasies

Everyone loves fantasies.

Why? 

As the name itself suggests, it is an imagination unrestricted by realities. Without any boundaries. Where nothing is impossible. Where logic defying things are the norm of the day.

It takes us far far away from this real world, into an imaginary existence which we think would not be possible to realize in our living times.

Six years back, a friend introduced me to the wonderful world of Harry Potter. 

Harry Potter was already global phenomenon. 

J.K. Rowling had already published five best seller books in the Harry Potter Series. All over the world, these books had set the imagination on fire in people belonging to all age groups - kids to elders.

Needless to say, I too was instantly attracted to the magical world of witches and wizards, muggles and death eaters. 

The fondness developed for the series was so intense that the I managed to read the entire set of five books (those were the set which were published when I joined Harry potter club) within a span of a month. And that was after working for twelve hours a day.

This translated into an anticipated wait for the next two books of the series - including the final one. 

From guessing the names of the books to decoding what the names meant, (when only the name of the book was released a few months before the books itself hit the bookshelves), it was a wonderful journey.

The wait for the last two books was amazingly intense. By God's grace, the books were read within two days of its publishing. Thanks to the internet and PDF.

Such was the love for Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley. Such was the desire to know more about the Dark Lord. Such was the need to see and read the victory of good over evil. 

One thing that stood out about the Harry Potter series was the author's narration. The story line was astonishingly descriptive. The imagination was beyond comparison. From games to battles, from detesting relatives to loving friends and lovers, the story had everything. And this made it a best seller.

Moving on, the next fantasy story which caught my attention was - The Chronicles of Narnia.

This was a movie which I missed seeing. And this is a book which I am yet to read.

But I am so intrigued by the name, that every-time I visit a bookstore, I always decide that this is one book I should read. 

However, I have never managed to read this story till date. But certainly I hope that I get an oppurtunity to read this book. And transfer myself into another world of fantasies.

And finally, coming onto the rage of the day - the Twilight series.

Until recently, I was an outsider in the world of Twilight. My knowledge was limited to the name of the book's author and its the lead stars of the movie adaption of the book - Kirsten Stewart and Robert Pattinson.

I has also read a few articles - describing how a book meant for kids was becoming a huge attraction among middle-aged ladies.

This is not something new to fantasy stories. They have a habit of attracting one and all.

My mind started contemplating between two options - reading the book and  watching the movie. The first option was holding more weight.

But things took turn for the better recently, when a friend insisted that I would never ever be able to find time to read the book. It would have been foolish of me not to agree with her. And that's when I decided to check out the movies of the Twilight series.

Two nights - four hours. That's my knowledge of the series. But I am already a big fan of Twilight.

The story had more of a human interface than Harry Potter. But it is equally intriguing, if not better.

If Dracula made vampires a rage, Twilight has made them into a cult. 

If the movie "Wolf" made werewolves a furor, Twilight has made them into a fad.

The story showcases several important facets of life like - love among unlikely people to hatred among similar people.

The story is fast, the relationships are complex. The hatred is continuously brimming and the Love is never ending . Its a perfect mix of fantasy and romance. 

And in the age of reality shows, this fantasy series - with its wonderful storyline, realistic characters which you can identify with, smart and beautiful vampires you would like to associate with and love you would like to take and give, has become an instant hit.  

I have one more movie to go - to ensure that I am upto date. I hope that it is quick.

And thank God for bringing such wonderful writers into our world. Thanks to them, we can escape reality into the realms of fantasies.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Internet Needs

The internet, since its inception in 1969, has been a trend, an utility, which has influenced our life.

For some, like those in Africa, it is a privilege. And for others, like those in America, it is a necessity. 

The penetration of the internet has been steadily increasing. This is definitely for the good, as the vast amount of knowledge, and information, contributed by the internet, among other factors, would go onto improve the lifestyle of people.

If we consider the current internet statistics, as on 30th June 2010, Asia leads the continents in terms of absolute volume of internet penetration.

But if you consider relative percentages, in terms of the population of the respective continents, America leads the pack.

This goes onto show that the penetration of the internet in a particular continent is closely linked to the lifestyle of its people, to their wealth and abundance.

We strongly look forward to the day when each and every thinking individual in this world would have basic access to the internet. This would be the day when everyone would be considered as empowered and can have equal access to the information and opportunities created by the internet.

But then, why do we need the internet for?

This can be illustrated by Maslow's Hierarchy of Internet Needs.

So what does Maslow propose?

At the very base of the pyramid, stand the "Cats". He says that internet users come looking for funny pictures of cats. 

This may have been the case a few years back. But even today, searching for photographs and pictures is one of the primary usages of internet.

Next comes social networking. 

Man is a social animal. In the old age, meeting up socially was considered to be a norm for keeping in touch with acquaintances. 

In this fast forward age of the internet, networking socially is considered to be the order of the day. Needless to say, you have a host of social networking sites to assist you in this - including the current rage, Facebook.

Next comes something whose popularity need not even be mentioned. 

You can understand the mass of people looking for this information when you will find out that there are approximately 193 million results for this query in Google. 

And the results are bound to grow going ahead. Unless all people decide to practice celibacy.

People also look for answers for addressing their shortcomings on the internet. 

All of us have certain shortcomings. Self Introspection can provide answers to resolve them. But many a times, we have little faith in what our mind says to us. 

Thankfully, we have someone to answer of queries, and to resolve the intricate questions of our mind. It is the internet.

Next comes knowledge search.

People across all age groups, right from students, professionals, adolescents  come looking for something which will increase their knowledge base. 

This might help students do better in their studies, or help professionals do nicely at their jobs, or help adolescents to improve their lifestyle. This is one of the strongest benefits of the internet.

At the summit of Maslow's pyramid is Productivity.

Once the other lower level needs are satisfied, the man will aim for realization of this need - the need of self actualization.

Frankly, I did not understand how this need relates to the internet. Have to end this blog post on an incomplete note. :-( :-(.

But leaving things incomplete is not a good thing. So I need to make a resolve to complete this last part once I understand this better. And I strongly hope that it is soon.

Why Do We Love?

Love is a complex emotion.

Not that I have a Ph.D. in the science of Love to explain its fundamentals.

Every person can possess several traits.

But many a times, you would find yourself loving someone in spite of that individual lacking some or many of these traits.

This is usually easy to feel, but difficult to explain.

Until someone told this to me, recently.

We love not because but despite...

Need I say more??

Distracting Billboards

Any city across the world is dotted with billboards. Products consider them as simple ways of reaching their target audience.

In big cities, the billboards get bigger, more bolder and dashing. And sometimes distracting.

I came across two news articles last week, where such billboards - from London to Los Angeles - are set to distract drivers.

The first one is an advertisement for the shoe major - Reebok. The British supermodel - Kelly Brook - is posing in nothing but a pair of Reebok shoes.

Needless to say, the advertisement is bound to garner attention. But the sad fact is that drivers of vehicles - like the bicycle rider in the picture above - are  bound to get distracted from what they are supposed to do - drive!!.

The product is bound to get attention - courtesy Miss Brook, and see its sales sky rocketing. 

God forbid, if an unfortunate accident occurs, and is later attributed to this billboard, it would negatively impact the product. It can also have an damaging impact on future sales.

Previous research by Canadian scientists found that accident rates rise by up to 50% after advertising hoardings were erected at busy junctions, highlighting the dangers of roadside distractions.

But maybe its the short term benefits which make the products take up such sizzling and risky advertisements.

Moving to Los Angeles. 

The Israeli model, Bar Refaeli, is supposed to have shot an advertisement for the swim wear range Agua Bendita.

The pictures of the photo-shoot are out. The billboards are not yet in place.

But then, when these billboards will dot the LA skyline, they are bound to deflect the driver attention from their primary job - driving!! And result in bumper to bumper traffic jams.

At one end of the spectrum, you have the Government agencies banning usage of cellphones while driving.  Why? Because they are found to have distracting effects on the drivers.

But then why cant these same agencies ban these distracting advertisements dotting the skyline?

Well, the reason is that we live in a highly commercialized age.

Products invest huge bucks in their development. And to get back the money and make a decent profit, they need to sell. Advertisements are a must to make the people aware of the product. And such advertisements are considered to be a sure fire way of gaining the required attention.

Here is a look at some of such billboards which have had an distracting effect on the drivers across the world.

First one is a Megan Fox ad for Emporio Armani in LA.

Now, Armani is a brand which has a name and a reputation. But yet it had to rely on such sultry advertisements to sell. Was it needed?

Maybe, Yes. Maybe, No.

Next is an advertisement for a lingerie brand.

The brand probably decided to sell it's product with an attractive advertisement, but later realized that its advertisement could have some detrimental effects on the drivers.

They came up with a pair of attractive billboards.

Although the last billboard had a few words of caution, those words wouldn't have had the required impact. How can you keep your eyes on the road when the words of caution are on the billboard itself?

After all, have the number of smokers in the world reduced even though the tobacco companies have been displaying words of caution prominently on their products?

Well, you know the answer.

One thing is sure. Such advertisements are not going to stop. If you are a driver, beware of taking off your eyes from the road to have a look at the advertisements.

But maybe a stop at the red signal can be a good alternative to check out the attractive advertisements. But then, don't let these billboards distract your attention for long. After all, it is nothing but visual delight.

Environmental Fury

Over the past few months, one environmental flash point after another has garnered attention. And has shaken the world.

The attention isn't unwarranted. It has made an impact, usually bad to worse, on the people living in the region where it occurred.

It just goes onto show that we are living in extremely fragile environmental conditions.

The year 2010 started with a serious and damaging earthquake in the American nation of Haiti. The quake - measuring 7.0 on the Richter scale - struck Haiti on 12th January, 2010 - killing 230000 people. It injured another 300000 and left several thousand people homeless.

Haiti in itself is a very poor nation :-(. And this was a back breaking quake. It compounded the misery of her people. 

The situation hasn't changed 6 months down the line. In July 2010, CNN news anchors travelled to Port-au-Prince, the Haitian capital, only to report - "It looks like the quake just happened yesterday".

God save and help the Haitians.

Fast forward to Moscow, Russia. Circa Feb 2010.

Russia is a nation which is used to cold weather and snow.

But on 23rd Feb 2010, Moscow witnessed record snowfall -  approx. 67 centimeters or 25 inches in a single day. By some comparisons, it was twice the snowfall received by Washington D.C. this winter.

It beat the previous record - which was set 40 years earlier.

People just asked one question  - "Global Warming? Where is Global Warming?".

You would think, Russia is getting colder. Nope. That's not the case. You would have to rethink as you read further.

Shifting focus to United States of America, the richest nation in the world.

Some things are out of control of humans. But then you have some, like the BP oil spill, which are created by men.

On 20th April 2010, there was a spill from the sea floor oil gusher in a BP oil well in the Gulf of Mexico. It killed 11 people at that very moment and injured 17 others.

But it caused real destruction by spilling about 4.9 million barrels of oil. This was a major environmental disaster. It caused severe damage to marine and wild life. It destroyed the tourism and fishing industry.

You can sense the gravity of the disaster with this picture - taken by a NASA satellite.

Several endangered species living in the Gulf are considered to be at risk, even today.

It was just 20 days earlier that the oil spill was plugged, thereby avoiding further damage.

It's not that kind of disaster wherein you can clear off the damage easily. This is one which is bound to have a significant and detrimental  effect on the entire economy and lifestyle for years to come.

Going back to Moscow again.

It's July 2010. Just five months after the record shattering snowfall.

Can you imagine yourself sweating in cold Moscow??

Well, that was the case in July 2010 as a huge heat wave swept across the Russian capital.

The temperatures hovered across 35-40 degrees centigrade.

That is a complete 65 degree shift from the -25 degree centigrade temperature in winter, just a few months back. I think it is a very difficult thing to get adjusted to for the Muscovites.

This heat wave beat the previous record set 60 years back.

But this set of another crisis in terms of wild bush fires. The worst wildfires have resulted in the death of 52 people and has left several thousands of people homeless as entire villages becked with wooden homes burned down.

Air pollution has surged to five times the normal level. Smog has blanketed the Moscow skyline.

The wildfires have even threatened Russia military sites. The missiles have been moved to safe places. There is also a risk of the fire reactivating contamination in the area affected by the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.

Moving onto the Indian sub continent.

The monsoon season is in full swing in the Indian sub continent.

Pakistan has had to bear the fury of the monsoon with the floods. The worst floods in 80 years have killed 1600 people and have affected millions.

The destruction has been massive. With limited resources at the disposal of the Government to aid the people, the misery of her people has been compounded.

And on 6th August 2010, a cloudburst in Leh, India has resulted in death of 130 people. Another 600 people are considered to be missing and are feared to have been washed away.

The cloudburst resulted in heavy rains and flash floods. This has resulted in massive destruction of one of the most scenic places in India.

Hope our wonderful earth is spared of such environmental furies going ahead.

Perseverance

Racing to glory wouldn't always mean finishing first.

You can finish last, yet you can win the hearts of a a billion people.

Nothing exemplifies this better than this amazing video.

This is the story of Derek Redmond - a British athlete who was a hot favorite to win the marquee event of the 1992 Barcelona Olympics  - the 400 meters dash.

By a stroke of bad luck, he was injured when a victory, a place in the finals was in his sight - thereby dashing his hopes and the hopes of his family and his countrymen.

He tore his hamstring. But that did not break his spirit.

He lost the race. But he won the hearts of the people.

He finished last. But he gained attention like he was the winner. 

He represented several strong characteristics - perseverance, determination, tenacity - and these made him a victor.

Shakespeare once said - Perseverance... keeps honor bright:  to have done, is to hang quite out of fashion, like a rusty nail in monumental mockery.

Redmond must have had similar thoughts in his mind moments after that injury. 

To mark his name in the list of race finishers, to keep his honor bright,  to show to the world that determination can beat all adversities, to glorify the Olympic spirit - he conquered his pain, endured it long enough to finish the race. 

One quote says it all.

The Wall

Let me walk you through time.

Situation 1

You are somewhere in Central Asia. As a trader, you are following the Silk Route. It's early 19th century.

You meet a man as you stop for water. 

You ask, "Hey. Have you heard of the wall?"

He replies "Are you referring to the Great Wall of China?"

He points his hand towards the east and says "It's right there."

Situation 2

Fast forward to the 1970's.

You are in Central Europe at the height of Cold War and a few years after the end of the World War 2.

Walking the streets of Paris, you meet a man as you stop for water.

You ask, "Hey. Have you heard of the wall?"

He replies "Are you referring to the Berlin Wall?"

He points his hand towards Germany and says "It's right there." 

Situation 3

Fast forward to the 1990's.

You are in India at the height of the Cricket World Cup fever.

Walking on the streets of Mumbai, you meet a man as you stop for water.

You ask, "Hey. Have you heard of the wall?"

He replies, "Are you referring to Rahul "The Wall" Dravid?" 

He points his hand towards the billboard and says "He's right there." 

Situation 4

Time flies, and it is 2010.

Walking on the streets of Tokyo (it doesn't matter even if it is London, New Delhi, Moscow or New York), you meet a man as you stop for water.

You ask "Hey. Have you heard of the wall?"

He points his hand towards his cellphone and says "It's right there."

Shell shocked, you see a wall - without any bricks.

But I wouldn't offer any prizes for guessing it.

It is the Facebook Wall.

This is a short story of how the humble wall has transitioned from being a landmark, to being a barrier between two nations, to being superstar cricketer, and finally being a hottest trend on the internet!!

What next??