Cold Play's Chris Martin Sexiest Vegetarian

PETA, People for the Ethical Treatmen t of Animals has just completed its annual survey of Sexiest Vegetarians, and have named Cold Play's Chris Martin to be sexiest male vegetarian alive!

Check out the PETA website for the list of sexy vegetarians and learn about how you can enjoy a good lifestyle even as a vegetarian.

Bombay Floods Update

Just heard from my brother, who told me that he had to sleep in the office for a night as there was no way of returning home.

Then, through variety of conveyence - bus, taxi, walking, wading through water, he reached back home after 5 hours. This journey normally takes about 20-40 minutes by car, so you can imagine the situation.

In Mumbai, there have been several land slides, and lights have been out for two days. Phone lines were cut for two days, and are just being restored. The water on the roads was very swift, almost like a river.

India last received similar rainfall (33 inches) in 1910 in the village of Cherapungi, which is considered the wettest region in the world. The rainfall in Bombay of 37.1 inches in 24 hrs is considered to be a world record!

Home minister of India announced that altogether over 600 people have died all over India due to heavy rains.

Today obviously the city of Bombay will not be up and running, but since the rains have stopped, a sense of normalcy is returning to the city.

Mumbai (Bombay) Drowns in Record Rains!

The picture hardly tells the story of the worst flooding in Mumbai, the business capital of India. My family informed me that my nephew had to be rescued by one of our family friends when his school bus got stranded in the flooded waters. My brother was unable to return from work because of high waters.

The Times of India reports that water level was so high in Dombivli where I grew up most of my life that you couldn't tell where the water ended and the railway platform began! The figures tell of the carnage caused by the waters:

37.5 inches of rainfall in 24 hours

118 dead in Mumbai

100 dead in Konkan region

10,000 troops deployed in and around Bombay

A week ago, my brother-in-law was telling me of the floods in Ahmedabad. Waters were as high as 5 feet in some areas. Now it seems to be Mumbai's turn.

Inkscape 0.42 Release Announced - Mac Version Included

Mac users can finally breath a sigh of relief that the popular program Inkscape has been released as a dmg package for installation on Macs. The version 0.42 is the most advanced version so far and boasts of several great features such as flowed text, Text selection, gradient tools etc. SVG compatibility is still not there, but try inkscape. It will surprise you with its versatility!

My biggest frustration with inkscape had been that while windows users had an installation package from long time back, installing it on Macs used to be only through Fink. Not any more. So I'm a happy camper!

Here is the link to the downloads section of inkscape website.

PM Singh Welcomed At The US Congress

PM Singh, originally uploaded by pavansut.

The picture is of the congressional record recording the speech given by Representative Rush Holt, from New Jersey, in honor of Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh's visit to United States. Prime Minister Singh was invited by the US Congress to address to the august body, and joins a long line of illustrious Prime Ministers of the largest democracy in the world, India, who have addressed the US Congress.

With this trip, the Indo-US relations have reached a high point based on cooperation against terrorism, technology cooperation, trade and public policy.

United States needs to continue to affirm its committment to Democracy by supporting Indian bid for inclusion in the UN Security council where India could cooperate with United States in moving forward the agenda of freedom and democracy.

Pavansut Hanuman in Kalleda Temple

Hanuman in Kalleda Temple, originally uploaded by Kalleda1.

Photo of Pavansut, The Rulind Deity of This Blog, by D. Ranjith of Kalleda Photo Project.

Pavansut is a very popular deity in India, revered for his devotion to Lord Ram and Sita, and known for his strength. Once, it is said, Pavansut was asked to go pick out a particular herb for Lord Ram when he fell sick. Not knowing what the herb looked like, Pavansut Hanuman uprooted the entire mountain and brought it back home. Such is his devotion and such is his strength.

You are not supposed to look

your not supposed to look, originally uploaded by gbSk.

Here is a beautiful picture of a tea pot brewing a hot cup of chai on the streets of India! Clearly, the view is reserved only for those with strong stomachs!

But don't worry ye of quesy stomachs, the tea is boiled over many times, so nothing can survive in it, especially if the chaiwallah adds any masala to it.

Here is a full photostream from gbSk who went to india to bathe in River Ganga, which cleanses all your mortal sins.

Lonely Jetty

Lonely Jetty, originally uploaded by pavansut.

On a rainy afternoon in Zurich, while I was waiting for a boat to take me around, the scene compelled me to snap this shot. As captured here, the scene makes you feel as though emptiness pervades Zurich. True, the jetty is empty, but Zurich is a bustling city and hardly empty. Yet this scene would have you belive otherwise.

Hot new recipie from Ity

Ity today taught me how to make a great Lasun (Garlic) chutney. Here is the recepie:

Garlic: 1 clump pressed
Green Coriander: 1 bunch finely chopped
Red chillie powder: 1 tea spoon
Coriander powder: 2 tea spoons
Turmeric: 1/2 tea spoon
Salt: to taste
Water: two tea spoons
Lemon: 1/2 tea spoon

Press the garlic cloves and add finely chopped coiander to it. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Use as dip with slices of bread.

Thats it! Simple, but delllllliiiicious!!