Entries Tagged as ‘India’

June 4, 2008

Networking for labourers

Radha Prathi’s article Networking to grow for the 3rd June supplement of Deccan Herald is about an organization called LabourNet. She writes:
…Bangalore attracts masons, plumbers, electricians, carpenters and tile layers, among other labourers, from far and near. A random survey revealed that most members of the labour class did not have a social leg to [...]

June 2, 2008

Deccan Chronicle comes to Bangalore

The first issue of Deccan Chronicle (DC) was delivered to my doorstep (free of cost) along with a copy of the Deccan Herald, more than a week ago. On the first page, there was a box about DC’s entry into Bangalore which said something about how the newspaper wants to be No. 1, just like [...]

May 21, 2008

Bollywood does blogging

Exhibit A: Aamir Khan’s blog
Exhibit B: Big B’s blog
No, I do not plan to read the aforementioned blogs. This is only for the entertainment of my dear readers; all five of them.
And if you want more spice, read Bollywood’s blog wars.
This concludes your entertainment update.

April 30, 2008

Why are security deposits so high?

The security deposit in Bangalore for renting an apartment/house is 10-months’ rent. This is primarily to insure the owner against damage to the property, non-payment of rent, etc. In Paying Guest (PG) accommodation, you can get away with a two-month or three-month deposit, but for renting a place, you pay the full price.
I get that [...]

April 29, 2008

Refilling printer ink at Cartridge World

If you own a printer, you’ll know how expensive it is to buy new print cartridges. There are refilling centres which will refill cartridges for you but they sometimes use inferior quality ink and can either ruin the cartridge or worse the printer.
Enter Cartridge World, an international franchisee chain that specialises in the printing [...]

April 28, 2008

Indian student in the US commits suicide

From an article in The Journal News titled Immigrant’s life in ‘wonderland’ turns tragic (by Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy):
At 2:30 p.m. April 3, 27-year-old Ganesh Santhanakrishnan of Ossining drove a rental car to the middle of the Tappan Zee Bridge, activated the hazard lights, calmly walked up to the railing and plunged to his death [...]

April 23, 2008

Learn English in a day or two thousand

A few weeks ago, Outlook India had a cover story about English-teaching centres that are sprouting faster than pimples on a teenage boy’s face. You didn’t need to read the story to have noticed the number of ads that promise to teach English in two days or a week or two weeks. They’re everywhere and [...]

April 3, 2008

Where do you live when you’re old?

An interesting story titled When I’m sixty four on India Together, which deals with how the elderly are having to move into old age homes.
There are brown ones, black ones, and even grey ones. Teddy bears of all sizes and colours tucked in her bed, beside her pillow. “Have you met my babies? They [...]

April 2, 2008

Let’s have another bandh

It’s happening again.
You’ll get a holiday. Thousands of people will suffer for no fault of theirs. Businesses will lose money. Some property will probably be damaged. (Theatre owners have already probably lost money. You notice how the hooligans activists always strike at the non-multiplex theatres? Easier access because of lack of security? Probably.)
Some people, who [...]

March 31, 2008

Too many repeats spoil the ad

Lately, the Vodafone music ad featuring the song “Kabhi Kabhi” has been on every channel every other minute. It’s not just this ad that’s repeated frequently; it’s other ads as well, in what is the latest in a continuing, irksome pattern.
Ads are necessary for companies to plug their products–I get that. If you beam an [...]