If you are of Indian origin, chances are that you have heard the song above, probably sung it at one point or other in your life. It was a translation done by Girija Kumar Mathur

We used to sing the English version of this song in school, the real song “We Shall Overcome”  is in English which had become the Anthem of the African-American Civil Rights Movement.

Standing at the Berlin HB station, we were singing this song, and then the reality struck(akin to the light bulb being lit). The song is probably a reflection of the prepetual state of affairs in India…it talks about overcoming the odds someday, it doesn’t mention when…not today, not tomorrow but someday.

Isn’t that the real Indian way? Infrastructure projects going on forever, to be completed someday? Lokpal Bill in process for over 30 years, will be passed someday? India will be corruption free someday…Indians will be empowered someday…

Maybe it gives us hope to not give up…but it also makes the time period abstract…

What are your views?

Its strange, life seems much more balanced, comfortable and easier here…its simply a perfect place to be. Yet, I am counting days to return, to an imperfect country where I’d start cribbing the moment I reach and start comparing it with good ol’ Geneva.

Why? Simple. Its the place I call home, its not perfect…its far from perfect but it still is home. Its the place where most memories and moments of my life have been, its the place where things can change, there is an opportunity to improve and make it perfect. There is so much to do.

Yes, i have met too many Indians living outside India and cursing it. I do not like it, I respect their decision to move out but with the same decision they forfeit their right to be critical of the place. If you cannot be a part of the journey you have no right to talk of its destination.

I know I’d go back home and crib…but its home, imperfect home.

Installing/Upgrading Nokia Ovi Maps on my Nokia 5230, and then downloading India Maps data on it was not an easy job. This deserves a DIY post.

I believe this installation process would atleast help Nokia 5230, 5530, 5800 XpressMusic users, maybe others too.

Before we begin, the pre-requisites for this are:

• Microsoft .NET 3.0 framework or higher must be installed on your computer
• Nokia PC Suite must be installed
• Data Cable (needless to say here, but you’d need that) for your Nokia model

A lot of readers would tell me that the process I mention below is longer, and I could have done the updates via the Nokia Ovi Suite instead (which I did try to do, but the India map data would never download properly, even after 5-6 attempts).

So here’s are the two applications you need to download, and everything shall be fine:

• Nokia Maps Updater – Download this to install latest version of Nokia Maps on your phone
• Nokia Maps Loader – This one is critical to download the Map data for your country on your Nokia phone (the advantage is that you’d use less of your data bandwidth while using GPS now, as the map data would already be on your phone)

Once you are done installing the above applications, do this:

• Run Nokia Maps Updater, connect your phone to the computer, download the latest version of Ovi Maps. Let it sync and install on your phone.
• Keep the phone connected, now Run Nokia Maps Loader, Select your country and click on download maps. It’ll download map data from the web onto your computer and then sync it up on your phone.

Only disadvantage is that your phone needs to be connected all the time, and it screws up when you get a call in between the updates! Hope this posting is of help.

Tiger! Tiger! burning bright,
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?

As an Indian I am quick to write off a myriad different things about my country,  saying that it won’t work. Today I am writing off our national animal – The Tiger (not to be confused with a certain Tiger woods, who has been a real tiger in bed of late!).

With just 1411 of these wild beasts left alive in India (out of the only 3500 left alive around the globe), this may just be the end of the Tiger. Project Tiger was launched back in 1973 in order to conserve these animals; the numbers increased from 1827 to around 3500 in the 90s. However, the number dwindled to 1411 in the last decade.

Save Our Tigers is a campaign to raise awareness and concern about the state of the national animal. Do visit the website and make your pledge.

Honestly I don’t know whether my blogging about tigers could make a difference; for its just a form of opinionated inaction”

The past few weeks have resulted in atleast 3 incidents of shoe throwing at various politicians across the country on issues ranging from corruption, communism to just plain anger. While this trend has resulted in some politicians signing out of the election nominations to restriction on wearing shoes in press conferences.

On the other front certain places have also witnessed public turning violently against the certain candidates holding rallies during their campaigns. Is the the beginning of regular Indians showing their exasperation against lack of governance and utter apathy of the sitting MPs who failed to deliver the goods? Is this the end of us being mere sitting ducks?

By the way, are you voting this year? I am.

Finally, the idea has transformed into an online platform called Donate Your PC or DYPCas we call it. At DYPC you can put up your old PCs or accessories for donation to NGOs/Schools identified and verified by us. This ensures that your computers reach the right people with a real need, moreover, the donation would be local within your city so you can always check on the use of your beloved PC later on.

The benefits of donating your old PC are helping for the cause of education and reducing the environmental impact of e-waste.

Currently we offer this service in Pune, Hyderabad and Bangalore. If any one of you are interested in donating PCs or accessories, Volunteering or know a School/NGO which may need a PC please visit our website http://www.donateyourpc.in

And yes, pleeeease spread the word. Change your IM status to the website URL for a week.

As India starts its countdown for its moon mission ‘Chandrayaan-I‘ I can’t help remember the song “Chhodo kal ki baaten, kal ki baat purani” from the film “Hum Hindustani” released in 1960.

Chandryaan, which comes from the Hindi words Chandra meaning the “moon” and yaan meaning “vehicle” is to be launched on Wednesday, 22nd October at 0050 GMT from Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota.

The flight to the moon shall take 5 days, with the objective of creating a 3D atlas of near and far side of the moon. It shall also do chemical and mineralogical mapping of the surface for different minerals and metals.

Its imagery is also expected to be used by NASA for setting up their Moonbase in future. Built at a cost of US$76 million, the mission includes five ISRO payloads and six payloads from other international space agencies such as NASA and ESA, and the Bulgarian Aerospace Agency.

Click herefor the 3D model of Chandrayaan.

Wednesday would be a day for us to be proud of ISRO, it shall also be the day when we shall be witnessing an story worth telling for years to come.

Naya daur likhenge milkar nayi kahani…

I hail from Lucknow, the constantinople of India. A city of 3 million people; with its historical beginning said to be by Lord Laxman, and the original name being Lakshman tila(stone). Over the ages the name changed to Lakhnau, and later to Lucknow by the British.

The other Lucknow found on Google was the Lucknow estate in Moultonborough, New Hampshire, Canada. This estate was started in 1914, with its beautiful surroundings over 4200 acres of forest.

Another Lucknow is a town in New South Wales, Australia. It is a historic gold mining village, the second place in Australia where gold was first discovered. The village was established in 1838, the naming does have an interesting connection. The settlement was named ‘Lucknow’ in 1863. Some say this was a reference to the good fortune the town proffered (i.e., luck now) while others claim it was named by the mine bookkeeper after the siege at Lucknow in India in which he may have been wounded.

The last Lucknow in my search is in Lee County, South Carolina. Lucknow is a small settlement in Lee County which was the terminal of a logging railroad that began at Atkins. A large saw mill was once located near Lucknow to cut the virgin long-leaf timber in that area. The railroad was partially completed by Captain Atkins but was later sold to Bridges and
McKeithern of Darlington. The name Lucknow is reportedly attributed to one of the firm’s members who exclaimed, “We are in luck now,” when he looked at the stand of virgin timber.

Cool, ain’t it. It shall be fun to visit these places!