Sunday, May 30, 2010

My new pet!


All, meet 'Samrat' (The emperor), the latest addition to my family. I decided to adopt him as part of the 'Gou Bandhu' (Friend of the cow) program initiated by our Guru, Sri Raghaveshwara Bharati Swamiji of Ramachandrapura Math.

This gentle giant is more than 20 years old, stands over 6 ft at his shoulders and has horns that extend more than 4 ft! He is the pride of the Gou shaala. He is now leading a retired life at our ashram after a long career of pulling carts in Ahmedabad.

There are over 500 such cows that need our help. You can adopt a cow at a measly Rs.50 a day! Please contact me if you are interested.

Wednesday, May 05, 2010

Air Travel

I couldn't help but ask these questions to myself during my recent travel from JFK to namma BengaLuru:

1. Why do the airline staff at airport counters take their jobs so seriously? All they have to do is to check whether I have a valid passport and a valid ticket. Why do they have a supervisor walking around giving them instructions and looking all serious? Why do the staff have so many problems in doing this simple task? Do they have such a screwed up IT system? or are they exceptionally stupid?

2. The airlines charge me exorbitantly for every extra kilo of baggage. Why don't they pay me back if I carry less than the specified load?

3. Why should my carry on baggage be of the exact dimensions specified and be under 8 kilos? As long as I can lift my bag and load it in the storage area and as long as it fits, what is the airline's problem?

4. My laptop and cellphone seem to 'interfere' with the flight's navigation systems but surprisingly, the flights entertainment system which is strikingly similar to my laptop doesn't seem to affect the flight in any way.

5. Why aren't the three point safety belts installed on flights in place of the two point safety belts? The two point belts have been found lacking (even harmful in some cases) in automobiles and replaced with three point belts long ago. Are the airlines too cheap to get these belts replaced, but put on a show of caring for our safety?