More is Less- for all of us

Report: U.S. Cars Responsible For Nearly Half of World’s Greenhouse Gases
A new report by Environmental Defense has determined that American cars and pickup trucks are responsible for nearly half of the greenhouse gases emitted by automobiles globally although they comprise only 30 percent of the world’s cars. The study found that cars in the U.S. are driven more miles, face lower fuel economy standards and use fuel with more carbon than many of those driven in other countries.

Download report

Global Warming on the Road [PDF] »

Fact sheet [PDF] »

Press release »

So while the West looks the other way and keeps blaming India and China for the increase in oil prices and green house gases, the truth still manages to trickle out into the open. Larger cars, SUVs and trucks are the pride possesions of the richer nations. While a tiny population continues to love these joy rides, the rest of this world pays for it! Do your part before it is too late!

Taraana Playlist: June 28, 2006

Note: We will resume our podcast from next week. If you can help with podcasting please contact me. We want to start streaming the music directly from this blog. Technically, we know what needs to be done. We are looking for someone to donate about 1-2hrs of time to get this rolling. Can you?

Now for our playlist:

Devotion:: Krishna Das, Sultan Khan:: A drop of the Ocean
Namah Shivaya:: Krishna Das:: Live on Earth
(Find out about Krishna Das by visiting Featured Artists section in the menu)

Jism Dhamakta:: Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
O Sukumari:: Shankar Mahadevan:: Aniyan

Badi Dilchaspi Hai:: KK & Arya:: 36 China Town
Falak Dekhoon:: Sonu Nigam:: Garam Masala

Main Hoon Woh Aasman:: Alka Yagnik, Rafaqat Ali Khan:: Krrish
Koi Tumsa Nahin:: Shreya Ghoshal, Sonu NIgam:: Krrish
(Read about Krrish in the June 21st blog)

Mere Haath Mein:: Sonu NIgam, Sunidhi Chauhan, Aamir Khan, Kajol:: Fanaa
Chand Sifarish:: Shaan, Kailash Kher:: Fanaa
(Search for Fanaa on this blog)

Jana Gana Mana:: AR Rahman, Karthik:: Aayitha Ezhuthu (Listener requested)
Rasiya:: Bonnie Chakraborty, Richa Sharma:: Mangal Pandey- The Rising

Kal Ho Na Ho:: Sonu Nigam:: Kal Ho Na Ho

Airtel Video

Just came across this again, and thought it was worth a re-visit:

Also archived on Google videos: Airtel ads

Taraana Podcast

Clefty, my partner in 'music' on Taraana has created the first podcast version of Taraana. This is from our last evening's edition of Taraana. Enjoy the show by following the directions below. Your suggestions are welcome.

Directions to access the podcast using iTunes (download free from here).

• On opening iTunes, click on "Advanced" on top.
• Choose the option "Subscribe to Pod cast..."
• You will be asked for a URL. Type in (copy-paste) http://www2.cdlr.tamu.edu/anand/radio/taraana/taraana.xml and hit the OK button.
• iTunes will now go into action and on the left hand corner, you will see an orange color animation. This means that iTunes is contacting my pod cast server and accessing the files. This might take a little bit of time, depending on how fast your internet connection is.
• You should now see an item entitled "Taraana", inside the Pod casts section of your iTunes.
• To the left of the name "Taraana", you will see a small gray colored triangle. Click on this triangle.
• You should now be able to see the entire directory i.e. all the 6 files that make the pod cast. Clicking on the "Get" button corresponding to any of these files, will download that particular file to your computer and you can listen to it whenever you want by hitting the Play button on the iTunes player.
• The files are according to the date on which they were recorded. Also, in the description you should see the files numbered as Part 1, Part 2, and so on. This is so that you know in what order to listen to them.
  
• To re-arrange the files in order you may click once on the 'Release Date' column.
• Please excuse the break in between the files as they were necessary to maintain the sound quality of the podcast, as well as enable listeners with dial-ups to download comfortably.
  

Enjoy the music!

Taraana Playlist: June 21st, 2006

Check back for the first podcast of Taraana right here in a few hours!!

June 25th is Bollywood composer Madan Mohan Kohli's [Link] birthday. We dedicated tonight's show to him, and for the first half we played his compositions. Here they are:

1. Kaun Aaya Mere Man:: Manna Dey::Dekh Kabira Roye
2. Aap Ke Pehloo Mein Aakar:: Mohd. Rafi:: Mera Saaya
3. Zaroorat Hai Zaroorat Hai:: Kishore Kumar:: Man Mauji

4. Yeh Duniya Yeh Mehfil:: Mohd. Rafi:: Heer Ranjha
5. Teri Ankhon Ke Siva:: Mohd. Rafi:: Chirag
6. Lag Ja Gale:: Lata Mangeshkar:: Woh Kaun Thi

7. Kyon Hawa:: Lata Mangeshkar, Sonu Nigam:: Veer Zaara
8. Do Pal:: Lata Mangeshkar, Sonu Nigam:: Veer Zaara
9. Yeh Hum Aa Gaye Hain Kahan:: Lata Mangeshkar, Udit Narayan:: Veer Zaara

The rest of the playlist for tonight was in the following order:

10. Chinna Chinna Aasai:: Minmini:: Roja
11. Zara Zara:: Bombay Jayshri:: Rehna Hai Tere Dil Mein
12. Aami Ek Jajabar:: Bhupen Hazarika

13. Mettu Podu:: S P Balasubramanium:: Duet
14. Pehla Nasha:: Udit Narayan, Sadhna Sargam:: Jo Jeeta Woh Sargam
15. Kajra Re:: :: Bubli Aur Bunty

16. Girl Friend:: Boys
17. Sapnon Mein Milti Hai:: Asha Bhosle:: Satya
18. Salaam Namaste:: Kunal Ganjawala:: Salaam Namaste

Rrrrrrrrrring to go ...

Krrish is short for Krishna (no idea if that extra 'R' is meant to give him that extra whiz). That's also the name of the latest Bollywood release after Fanaa, starring Hrithik Roshan and Priyanka Chopra. Krrish is born with un-natural powers much like the famous Superman.

Except, our Bollywood superhero does not have a logo stencilled across his chest like the Superman, even though it beats the Hollywood blockbuster by a week when it comes to the release date. Watch for it this Friday! Rakesh Roshan is getting creative again- but if we can forgive him for 'Koi Mil Gaya', I guess he's taken up the reins to explore some fresh avenues for Bollywood. Krrish is his latest venture in that direction featuring his favourite hero- his own son Hrithik Roshan.

Seasoned Hollywood special effects experts Marc Kolbe [Link] and Craig Mumma [Link](Independence Day, Godzilla, Deep Blue Sea etc.) have lent their talents in collaboration with EFX and Prasad Film Labs. The $10 million and professional treatment show in the quality of this film, but what will sell it finally is a quality story. But of course the Roshans can rely on the junta because if they made Jadoo ... oops Koi Mil Gaya a blockbuster, they can make Krrish a mega blockbuster! Visit the official website [Link].

Bollywood launches its superhero. BBC online [Link].

Unfair to Men writes India Uncut. [Link]

Superman Returns offical site [Link].

Another TIME story

This last issue of TIME Magazine is not to be missed. Some well written and interesting facts about one of the fastest growing economies of the new World. It makes one proud to be an Indian, but should also be an awakening for the ones that haven't noticed the signals so far. The Cover story. [Link]

I wonder what will be the structure of our democracies in a few decades from now? If the politicians keep doing what they are best at (some got it back solid today! [see end of this post]), and the rest of India keeps moving at the pace its going- what's going to fill up that divide?

Back to the TIME mag, there's a very interesting piece of article titled 'Hooray for Bollywood' by Mira Nair. Here's a scoop:

We were gypsies, Sooni and I. Two sisters in saris surrounded by tuxedoed strangers. But instead of taking our Banjara bullock cart to the nearest water hole, we were in a limo en route to the Oscars, where our first film, Salaam Bombay!, was nominated as Best Foreign Language Film. Read the complete piece [Link].

And now ...
Meerut, India: Protesting Trash Collectors in India Fill Streets With Garbage
And in India, trash collectors in the city of Meerut are staging mass protests in an attempt to gain permanent jobs with benefits. The trash collectors have begun dumping garbage in the city’s streets and pelting the homes of government officials with filth.

The rebirth of Comics?

Home-grown mythologies going global? One may say so, and this probably is a good thing too. If Sir Branson looks beyond the cash register and treats this with care and understanding- this will be a great service in de-mystifing the East in the eyes of the West. This will probably herald one of the biggest showcase of the centuries of cultural development, philosophy, epics, myths, legends, history, etc, that have been the backbone of the Eastern civilizations. Hopefully the deep cultural roots and the underlying tender issues will be handled with sensitivity and respect.

The important thing is to still convey the same simple message only garbed in more contemporary graphics. Meanwhile, this will be a giant positive leap for one of the most popular media of today which has been riding on the backs of the popularity of Manga and Anime for sometime now.

Now for the background if you haven't heard about it already:

VIRGIN EXPANDS ENTERTAINMENT INITIATIVES WITH THE FORMATION OF 'VIRGIN COMICS' AND 'VIRGIN ANIMATION'

New York, NY - Sir Richard Branson and Virgin Books Limited today announced a new entertainment partnership with world-renowned author Deepak Chopra, acclaimed filmmaker Shekhar Kapur and South Asia's leading publisher of comic magazines, Gotham Entertainment Group LLC. The partnership will launch two new Virgin branded companies, Virgin Comics LLC, based in NYC and Virgin Animation Private Limited, based in Bangalore, India, focused on creating original comic books and character properties for a global audience. Read more [Link].

Savor your eyes further [Link].

A reader and fellow blogger has recently written this [Link].

What's weird about this picture?

A Brazilian flag right in the center of a Calcutta market! As I am taking a break from my blogging ... you still have entertainment all around you! Read this story.

Apocalypse Now!

Today is the sixth day of the sixth month of 2006. So whether you write it in the European style or in the American format, you end up with 06/06/06. That's the ominous 6-6-6: the legendary mark of the Antichrist or the coming of the Apocalypse.

14 hours:13 mins:50 secs down, and less than 10 hours left on this day. Will we all perish or be saved in the nick of time [Link]? While you wait for 'something' to happen why don't you check out a number or two by Iron Maiden or Viking Skull? Or watch the 'Omen', Rosemary's Baby or the original Ringu? Yet another day to celebrate .. oops maybe commemorate, or just observe. The lure of doomsday and apocalypse has ensnared many to take their own and the lives of others over the years. What is it that drives people to believe in things such as this? Is it ignorance, false knowledge or too much knowledge?

For those who do believe that world is about to end- why did you wait till the 11th hour to start your prayers? Do you think we have enough time before those prayers will be heard? Man we are so doomed! According to latest reports- sadly scores of innocent people have just been killed in a bomb blast in Iraq, and unfortunately about a dozen or so just perished in Darfur, and oh, did I mention that some ill-informed gun-trotting school kids just happened to take their lives somewhere in the mid-west?

But for the lucky few who make it through the day, a percentage of them will possibly make big bucks at the expense of a gullible crowd that is too easily entertained.

Thank you!

Thanks to all the frequest visitors, readers and contributers to this blog! We have had more than 160 posts so far and over 5200 hits so far!

Keep em' coming!

- RR

STOP AIDS!!

No other disease has as devastating social and psychological implications for the mankind as AIDS!

That's what a banner at an AIDS awareness camp in India reads. India is suddenly in the spotlight- 'India has most people with HIV'. A wakeup call for the government and all of us. We have overtaken even the poorest of nations for this dubious record as we run behind other lucrative economic successes. What do we do with all the wealth and resources if we can't invest them in the right areas? India has a wonderful pharmaceutical industry- what are they doing? India has cutting edge technology and unparalled brain power- where's that going?

40 million lives across the developing nations are at stake! And not just adults- but millions of small children! What can we do?

The UN report just out, paints a sad picture. You can access the full report here.

I appeal to all of you to take control of the situation- we can no longer wait for someone else to clean up the mess. Let's start a revolution!
I appeal to humanitarian organizations and NGOs [Link] currently working in India and other poor countries to do everything in their power to address this grave public health crisis. A country of billion people can definitely help a few million!

Also, let's have an 'AIDS-donation-box' on our desks from today. Take any box and plaster it with news and visuals that spread the word. And at the end of this year donate the money to an organization of your choice that could help the AIDS victims.

Get creative and help save human lives!

Rulers of the nation, as you fuss and fight,
over who owns the soil, and who, has the right
to design, build, sell and store and fire
all the bombs and guns to defend your holy empire
there are children hungry, children sick and dying
there are mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers crying... - Sara Thomsen

picture courtesy BBC.com

Reservations in IITs?

-from an unknown creative source.

Asha Bhosle on NPR- World Cafe

World Cafe, May 17, 2006 · One of the most-recorded artists in the world, Asha Bhosle's career began over 60 years ago in 1943. She has done playback singing for nearly every famous actress in close to 1,000 Bollywood movies, and has sung in many different languages including English, Russian and several sub-continent dialects.

Her latest album, Love Supreme (released in March 2006) is comprised of ghazals, a 10th-century Persian poetic form that translates to "speaking with women" in Arabic. This poetic form is popularly set to music in India and Pakistan.

Check out the audio here.