When we were working in Ashok Leyland Ltd , we visited one of our colleague Mr.Viswanathan. On that day his family was having the naming ceremony for the new born boy baby. Mr.Viswanathan was proud to announce the name of the baby as "Ashok". On hearing this, I told Viswanathan that eventhough, out of patriotism, he has named his son as "Ashok", his son is going to say "TATA" only,whenever he goes out. (TATA was the chief competitor for Ashok Leyland Ltd.) Everybody had a hearty laugh and this joke was remembered by my another colleague during his speech on my retirement function.
Unfortunately Mr.Viswanathan passed away about 10 years back. I always remember him and connect him to the above incident.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
A museum for underpants
A print of Margaret Thatcher wearing a skin coloured flower-patterned pair of women's underpants and a tri coloured Y fronted headwear belonging to French President Nicolas Sarkozy are part of the "Musee du Slip" or underpants museum,which opened in Brussels this month.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Man on the Moon- 40th Anniversary
It was the first time that earth bound man left his footprint on another celestial body-Moon on 21/7/1969. It is now time for celebrating the 40th anniversary of such great event. Some of the fast facts of Apollo 11 mission are:
1.Spacecrafts - Eagle Columbia
2. Launch - 16th July,1969, 13.32 Universal Time (UT) from Kennedy Space Centre.
3. Lunar Landing Site -Mare Tranquillitatis (sea of tranquillity)
4.First Stem on the Moon - 21st July,1969 (02:56 UT)
5. Lunar surface traversed -250 Meters
6. Take off from Moon- 21st July,1969 (17.54 UT)
7. Return to Earth - 24th July,1969 (16.50 UT)
8. Crew : Neil Armstrong-commander; Michael Collins-Command modle pilot; Edwin Aldrin -
Lunar module pilot.
1.Spacecrafts - Eagle Columbia
2. Launch - 16th July,1969, 13.32 Universal Time (UT) from Kennedy Space Centre.
3. Lunar Landing Site -Mare Tranquillitatis (sea of tranquillity)
4.First Stem on the Moon - 21st July,1969 (02:56 UT)
5. Lunar surface traversed -250 Meters
6. Take off from Moon- 21st July,1969 (17.54 UT)
7. Return to Earth - 24th July,1969 (16.50 UT)
8. Crew : Neil Armstrong-commander; Michael Collins-Command modle pilot; Edwin Aldrin -
Lunar module pilot.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Michael Jackson Inc
Jackson's " Thriller" was the biggest selling album of all time,with over 100 million copies sold worldwide till date.
The Guinness Book of World Records recognises his $890 million deal with Sony Music in 1989-1990 as the single biggest music deal of all time.
He also became the highest paid commercial spokesperson (another world record) , when Pepsi Cola paid him $12 million to do 4 TV commercials.
The Guinness Book of World Records recognises his $890 million deal with Sony Music in 1989-1990 as the single biggest music deal of all time.
He also became the highest paid commercial spokesperson (another world record) , when Pepsi Cola paid him $12 million to do 4 TV commercials.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
TENDULKAR RESTAURANT
While in Mumbai it is worthwhile to visit the Master Batsman Tendulkar's Restaurant. It is located nearer to Gateway of India at Narang House, First Floor,34,Chatrabati Shivaji Marg,Apollo Bunder,Mumbai 400038. It is a multi-cuisine restaurant serving Indian,European and Mediterranean dishes. They have separately smoking and non-smoking areas, as well as a service bar. The restaurant also houses a museum on Sachin Tendulkar that displays photos of the rare moments of his cricket, awards such as a bat gifted to him by Sir.Don Bradman, World Cup 2003 cricket memorabilia and his lucky orange socks. The restaurant is little bit stuffy.Worth visiting once.
Authentic Cuisine
Recently we have visited a authentic cuisine in Bangalore. It is called " South Indies"-South India in a bag. It provides the taste of the flavours of South India containing four States Tamilnadu,Karnataka,Kerala and Andhra Pradesh. Food is excellent. You can choose the soups,starters,maincourse,etc as per menu prescribed for each state. Murungai Elai soup, keerai vadai, kai kari stew,gongura pappu,parundu kuku sasime, elaneer payasam are some of the mouth watering dishes we had tasted there. Ambience,service and courtesy are good. They also take phone orders for serving at home. South Indies is located at 840 a,100 Feet Road,Indira Nagar,Bangalore-560038 (Phone 080-41636363). They also provide a small barani (bottle) containing pickles, as compliment(only during lunch). Worth visiting.
Ancient Taxes
Well, even in the ancient world Government went to great lengths to procure money from citizens. Some of them are :
Soul Tax-Henry VIII of England, his daughter Elizabeth I and Peter the Great of Russia taxed beards.William III of England imposed a tax on widows, while Charles II introduced tax on hearths. Henry I imposed a tax on people who didn't want to fight and die for England. Peter the great imposed a soul tax on all those who believed they had souls. Those who claimed they didn't have souls had to pay an equal amount as religious dissenter tax.
Hard Labour- In Egypt, the word for taxes meant "labour." Some 100,000 people are said to have laboured for 20 years on the great Pyramid or the tomb of Khufu. There was a rumour that the Pharaoh had sent his daughter into prostitution to finance the project. In addition to her fee,she reportedly charged each customer an extra block of stone, to be used for her own Pyramid. The Pyramid in question contains atleast 20000 blocks.
Bachelor Tax -History has many examples. Julius Caesar levied it in 18 BC. England imposed it in 1695. Peter the great used it in 1702; Benito Mussolini also imposed a bachelor tax on an unmarried man between 21 and 50, in 1924.
Urine Tax -Roman Emperor Vespasian imposed a tax on public urinals and the sale of urine for industrial purposes in order to raise revenue. When his son Titus questioned this, he held up a coin to the nose of Titus and said ," Money doesn't stink."
Breast Tax -Legend has it that in some kingdoms of ancient India, a breast tax was imposed on women belonging to disadvantaged sections of the society, with tax collectors measuring the breasts and levying tax accordingly. One woman is said to have cut off a breast and handed it to the collector rather than suffer this humiliation.
Funeral Tax -Bonnie Hourihan of New Brunswick,US was shattered when her 19 year old son committed suicide. But there was another shock for her-local laws required that she cough up 900 dollars for the funeral.
Pole Tax - Last year,Texas imposed a tax of 5 dollars on every customer visiting a strip club.Dubbed the pole tax, it was declared unconstitutional by a court within a few months. But the ongoing downturn has led to a rash of such proposals from other states. Georgia and New York are actively thinking of squeezing the bump and grind crowd,while Texas has filed an appeal.
Tattoo Tax -Anyone getting a tattoo, body piercing or even electrolysis treatment in Arkansas has to pay an additional 6% tax as the state included tattooing and body piercing in the list of services subject to sales taxes.
Taxing Pot -In February this year,San Francisco's Democrat assemblyman Tom Ammiano proposed a tax on marijuana use in California, in the same manner as alcohol. Cannabis is supposed to be California's biggest crop and Ammiano hopes to net huge revenue for the state which is on the brink of bankruptcy.
Sex Tax -Though prostitution is legal in Germany,Cologne levies a " sex tax" on prostitutes, strip shows and pornographic cinema. Under this tax, introduced in January,2004, a prostitute has to pay 150 euros a month to the city. Part-timers pay six euros for each day worked. The "sex tax" brings in over 1 million euro annually.
Head Tax for Chinese -In the early 20th century, Canada levied a head tax on every Chinese person entering the country to discourage the wave of immigration. New Zealand also imposed a similar tax. Both countries later apologised for the racist tax- New Zealand in 2002 and Canada in2006.
Ooops!
Soul Tax-Henry VIII of England, his daughter Elizabeth I and Peter the Great of Russia taxed beards.William III of England imposed a tax on widows, while Charles II introduced tax on hearths. Henry I imposed a tax on people who didn't want to fight and die for England. Peter the great imposed a soul tax on all those who believed they had souls. Those who claimed they didn't have souls had to pay an equal amount as religious dissenter tax.
Hard Labour- In Egypt, the word for taxes meant "labour." Some 100,000 people are said to have laboured for 20 years on the great Pyramid or the tomb of Khufu. There was a rumour that the Pharaoh had sent his daughter into prostitution to finance the project. In addition to her fee,she reportedly charged each customer an extra block of stone, to be used for her own Pyramid. The Pyramid in question contains atleast 20000 blocks.
Bachelor Tax -History has many examples. Julius Caesar levied it in 18 BC. England imposed it in 1695. Peter the great used it in 1702; Benito Mussolini also imposed a bachelor tax on an unmarried man between 21 and 50, in 1924.
Urine Tax -Roman Emperor Vespasian imposed a tax on public urinals and the sale of urine for industrial purposes in order to raise revenue. When his son Titus questioned this, he held up a coin to the nose of Titus and said ," Money doesn't stink."
Breast Tax -Legend has it that in some kingdoms of ancient India, a breast tax was imposed on women belonging to disadvantaged sections of the society, with tax collectors measuring the breasts and levying tax accordingly. One woman is said to have cut off a breast and handed it to the collector rather than suffer this humiliation.
Funeral Tax -Bonnie Hourihan of New Brunswick,US was shattered when her 19 year old son committed suicide. But there was another shock for her-local laws required that she cough up 900 dollars for the funeral.
Pole Tax - Last year,Texas imposed a tax of 5 dollars on every customer visiting a strip club.Dubbed the pole tax, it was declared unconstitutional by a court within a few months. But the ongoing downturn has led to a rash of such proposals from other states. Georgia and New York are actively thinking of squeezing the bump and grind crowd,while Texas has filed an appeal.
Tattoo Tax -Anyone getting a tattoo, body piercing or even electrolysis treatment in Arkansas has to pay an additional 6% tax as the state included tattooing and body piercing in the list of services subject to sales taxes.
Taxing Pot -In February this year,San Francisco's Democrat assemblyman Tom Ammiano proposed a tax on marijuana use in California, in the same manner as alcohol. Cannabis is supposed to be California's biggest crop and Ammiano hopes to net huge revenue for the state which is on the brink of bankruptcy.
Sex Tax -Though prostitution is legal in Germany,Cologne levies a " sex tax" on prostitutes, strip shows and pornographic cinema. Under this tax, introduced in January,2004, a prostitute has to pay 150 euros a month to the city. Part-timers pay six euros for each day worked. The "sex tax" brings in over 1 million euro annually.
Head Tax for Chinese -In the early 20th century, Canada levied a head tax on every Chinese person entering the country to discourage the wave of immigration. New Zealand also imposed a similar tax. Both countries later apologised for the racist tax- New Zealand in 2002 and Canada in2006.
Ooops!
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Modern dress
Weavers in Anakaputhur,20kms from Chennai, with help fom the National Research Centre for Banana, have extracted fibre from banana stem for making shirts. The shirt costs Rs450 and takes about one and a half day to make. Go cool in summer
Friday, May 8, 2009
Wow,crocodile!
We were on a sight seeing trip to Madurai,Tirunelveli,etc. While in Tirunelveli,we wanted to visit the Agasthiar Falls,for which we need to cross the Ambasamudram dam. We went there by motor boat. After finishing the bath at the falls,we were returning by motor boat. My son and daughter were playing with water. Suddenly there was a shout from somebody in the boat saying,"Crocodile! Crocodile!" A big crocodile had emerged from water within a distance of about 100 ft. We were all in great shock. Fortunately my son and daughter took their hands out of water immediately and all of us came to the center of the boat. Meanwhile the boatman increased the speed of the boat,thereby avoiding a mishap.
Master Bed Room
While constructing a factory near Bhandara (80 Kms from Nagpur),we were looking for a guest house to stay,for our executives while on deputation. Finally we located an house situated on the bank of a river. The house owner was showing all the rooms,explaining the key features. Finally he took us to the master bedroom and said," This is the master bedroom with river attached."
All of us had a hearty laugh.
All of us had a hearty laugh.
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