Clicks and writes

Asianet TV Munch Star Singer Junior Winner 2011 – who is the real winner?

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Asianet TV Munch Star Singer Junior Winner 2011 –  who is the real winner?

I consider myself as very lucky to have watched the final of Asianet TV Munch Star Singer Junior Winner 2011 yesterday, 14th August 2011, which turned out to be a REALity show in REAL.
What made the final interesting to me and blessed is the speech by Mr. Jagathy Srikumar. He was opportunistic and at his witty and pointed best to hit at several facts and factors involved in the reality show scenario happening these days.
The way he talked may be found unacceptable to many, but facts are facts. Even, the person he attacked on stage openly, the talented Ranjini Haridas, acknowledged herself, “yes I asked for it” at the end of his speech.
But, what made more real in this reality show of its kind making it extremely special was the appeal by the winner Adarsh, to have his father united with his mother, who both living separate currently. The union of both of them were more important for this boy than the 50 lakhs worth of flat he just received!.  Children are precious and those who are involved in such painful parting only will realize the pain involved. His appeal was made such in a way that it left several questions towards children of his status and those who were involved and tried or not to create a similar situation.
It also proved that we should never judge people by appearance as well as never judge or humiliate any contestant by mocking him / her.
Jagathi Srikumar was opportunistic and open to say the real truth. Congratulations to you sir and for talking the facts boldly and openly. Oru aana madham pottan thayyarayittulla oru avastha thankalil avide akshamanaayi irikkumbol kandirunnu. athu ingane aanu pottuka ennu maathram arinjilla. Actually, Jagathy Sirkumar should have been the one to give the winners prize. Jayaram and Jagathi were sitting next to next as if they were not known to each other.
May god bless all the talented artists who participated in the show, who aim for such prizes in the future. Who is the winner here? – Adarsh, other contestants, Jagathy (who took opportunity to vent his feelings), Ranjini Haridas (who took it in a sportive way and carried over – hope she innovate her style and come out with more better presentation techniques)?
Hope Ranjini Haridas now learn it in the right sense and Nazrin do not get carried away learning from her. Whether the speech was required or not required is not the question here? End of the day it was an eye opener to many. It became a real REALITY SHOW, with the appeal from Adarsh to his father to unite. The pain of a child of 16 years even after winning a 50 lakhs worth flat – he is longing for his parental union and love. Blessings and regards to all those contestants – You all are winners.

Ramesh Menon
15.08.2011

This entry was posted in Clicks and writes, TQM.

Independence day thoughts and wishes of a non-resident indian

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Dear Friends,
A sincere wish to all of you on this happy day.
While we celebrate Independence Day festivities in our own small way at our community, how much more we can contribute as a community to the society around is the question in my mind.
In my own small way, I have been pursuing two items with interest with various government authorities and append them below here for your reading, information and further support:

Pedestrian overbridge at Kadugodi Railway / Bus Station area
This is an item for all those who use the railway and bus stations. I had noticed it during my visits and Bala Sirs email prompted me to post it with relevance in Praja.in and highlight it to the authorities concerned, including the Councillor and Railway authorities. They are now aware of the situation, but as you may know it is a bigger problems, and several hands have to be united to take it further. South Western Railway have come back saying that crossing the railway track is a trespassing activity, however, including their own staff have to use this option for easy access. Otherwise, they have to take the road bridge and a longer route of almost 2-3 kms to reach the station or the medical / shopping /educational facilities around in our side.
http://praja.in/en/blog/ramesh-menon/2011/07/07/need-pedestrian-overbridge-kadugodi-railway-bus-station-area
If anyone of you concur the need for an over bridge in that area, please do post your comments and words of support, as I have highlighted the above post and link to various authorities, social activists and press, who will take it up further in the coming days. Need your support and helping hands in this.
A Star on the Road Programme
We have been seeing numerous auto stations coming up in our area recently.
In April 2011, during my visit, I developed a medical emergency on the way to KR Puram in an auto and was helped, supported and assisted throughout by the driver, whom I hired from in front of our gate. I met him previous day, and finding his driving and conduct good, I had taken down his number and contact and had called him that morning to go to KR Puram. He was there throughout the time till I became OK, with me and my wife, and till the time other friends came with emergency support. I was impressed with his responsible act and conduct during the time of an emergency.
I took this up with Bangalore City Traffic Police, with whom I had been communicating on various traffic related issues. The thought of identifying and honouring him and similar public servants came up and I suggested to have a programme named “A Star On The Road”. 
In the process we had several communications, verifications going back and forth, considering the main scenario that in Bangalore, an auto can be driven by several persons and if an auto was driven by a good driver and it is given a honour, that same night, it could be driven by someone who is dangerous and can indulge in a dangerous activity. So, discussions on pros and cons of this citation were taking place till this time.

I am happy to inform you all that Bangalore City Police have come back today that they will consider this suggestion and programme further and will consider him and other such drivers, acts for this rewarding programme, which will be launched shortly.  It is also intended to cover several road safety aspects and values. I hope this programme will bring positive vibes into driving habits happening in our city.

The first one to benefit will be the auto guy from our area, whose conduct has been checked and verified by them already.

I believe, I am never away from my community at any point of time.

Due regards to all of you and do spare a few minutes for our community for collective benefits for all of us as individuals and as a society.

Jai Hind.
Ramesh Menon
15.08.2011

This entry was posted in Clicks and writes, HSE, Kadugodi Whitefield Pedestrian Overbridge, TQM.

Ticking Clock – Short Take – Gulf Today – 04.06.2011

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Ticking Clock – Short Take – Gulf Today – 04.06.2011

Ticking clock

The other day I was watching a football match. The digital clock was flashing the time left for a crucial match, which was extended due to scores level till the full time.

Suddenly a thought came to my mind, how these players control their emotions and play out those final few minutes. The ticking clock was also visible to them as well as the viewers from all over the world. There was no display of panic or show of unwanted aggression. I wish some of our cricket players watch these matches and learn a trick or two for preserving the stamina and controlling it for a final go at their goal.

We come across several situations in life similar to this scenario where we are left with the final few moments of tackling a critical action and helpless to react not knowing what to do ahead. This brings us to the summarisation that follows and criticism in plenty as an aftermath of such a decisive event.

All of us are good at commenting what should have and not have done when it was happening in real. The advent of electronic media has opened up unlimited opportunities to observe and develop our skills and thinking pattern.

But, going out there and performing is a different ball game. Imagine the mindset of a player at that particular situation with the external heat, the match tempo and the target requirements. His mind has to be focused on his ultimate goal, i.e. the victory of his team.

For this he has to have a concentrated effort to break his goal into short-term and long-term goals. First set of short-term goals will be to settle down and get the feel of the ground and blend him to the tempo going on. Then work towards the larger goal of winning the game for his team. It is here his knowledge and perseverance to stay on without wasting energy for expressing unwanted emotion. This is where he wins his battle over the micro-seconds in case of a football match or the reducing no of balls to no of runs required target.

I listened to another captain who lost the other day and said, “In some matches, we win, but today we got an opportunity to learn.”

Isn’t it a good way to look at the future at all times.

Ramesh Menon

To read it in original, please visit GULF TODAY online.

This entry was posted in Clicks and writes, Gulf Today, Letters to the editor, Mind Speaks, Opinion 2011.

Birds – back home after a day’s work – Khaleej Times Readers Picture Dt. 28.05.2011

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Birds – back home after a day’s work – Khaleej Times Readers Picture Dt. 28.05.2011

I am a Passionate Photographer and observe always for any precious moments I could capture in my camera. This is one such precious click, captured and thought I should definitely share with a wider audience and here it is in Khaleej Times readers picture section.
If you have a photo to share, do send it openspace@khaleejtimes.com

This entry was posted in Clicks and writes, Khaleej Times, Letters to the editor, Opinion 2011, Photo Speaks.

Wired thoughts – Short Take – Gulf Today – Dt. 28.05.2011

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Wired thoughts – Short Take – Gulf Today – Dt. 28.05.2011

I use Face Book for communicating with my friends and also to share photographs and articles. This online facility has given me many friends, some of whom have become very close.

However, at times I get scared by the pace at which these things grow in the modern world and man become e-slaves of them. Interesting is it to see updates now and then from friends with the comment, updated from my Iphone, from my BlackBerry, IPad etc. I smile seeing them, here goes one more wicket down to the magic of e-life. I also smile when I see people suggesting to create a FB account for their pets.

We are indeed in a fast paced world. This was proved in a different way the other day.

One of my colleagues had a baby boy. He and his wife are employed and within a week’s time of delivery, his wife had to go for an important project meeting abroad.

With no other alternative, he had to feed the baby using bottles.

My friend tells me now that his wife is back from work, but his baby refuses to be breast-fed.

I am closely following this child now and curious to know when he gets his hands on to the electronic world.

Ramesh Menon

To read it in original, please visit GULF TODAY online.

This entry was posted in Clicks and writes, Gulf Today, Letters to the editor, Opinion 2011, Short Take.

Property plans lack credibility – The National Dt. 20.05.2011

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Property plans lack credibility

Some property exhibitions held in the UAE by foreign developers lack credibility. They typically promise completion within four years and buyers will be asked to start paying for their property.

However, some buyers from the UAE have been cheated with no delivery on time or of the promised quality. In some cases, the property does not even belong to the builder. For that reason, UAE authorities should come up with measures to monitor property exhibitions.

Developers or their representatives who participate should be required to submit necessary documents and a letter of reassurance, which should be approved by authorities. These guarantees should be provided to prospective buyers at the location of the exhibition.

I hope such regulations will help avoid fraud in the property sector which has affected many customers from the UAE.

RM, Abu Dhabi

To read it in original, please visit THE NATIONAL online.

This entry was posted in Clicks and writes, Letters to the editor, Opinion 2011, The National.

The art of letter writing – Friday Magazine Dt. 20.05.2011

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This entry was posted in Clicks and writes, Gulf News, Letters to the editor, Opinion 2011.

Tall and short – Short Take – Gulf Today Dt. 14.05.2011

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Short Take – Tall and short – Gulf Today Dt. 14.05.2011

We come across several people on the road and business and pass through several interactions. Many of them pass away from our mind quickly. But, a few of them remain within us. It is one such chance listening to an interesting conversation that lead to the creation of this news item.

It was Ramadan time with short working hours and as usual all the bank counters were busy with customers.

I was standing in the line at one such counter and in front of me was a tall person. He was about 6ft 4” or more. And at the other side of the counter was a Philippino Teller, comparatively short with a height of approximately 5 ft.

Due to some reason, he was slow and added to it the computer system was responding slow too. May be, in order to ease the restlessness of the customer in front due to all the delay, the Teller opened up a casual conversation with the tall customer telling him that he envied his height and always wanted to be a tall person.

Answering him with a smile, the tall man replied: “It is the other way for me. I wanted to be shorter than what I am and really helpless about it each time.”

His answer once again created a spark of thoughts for me to work on a new subject. Walking tall and short in life!

What do we really assume by saying a person is tall or short? How many times we stand tall and short in our life?

Ramesh Menon

This entry was posted in Clicks and writes, Gulf Today, Letters to the editor, Opinion 2011, Short Take.

Indian Juice

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Indian Juice

An innovating marketing by a Fresh Fruit Juice stall in Hamdan Street.

This entry was posted in Clicks and writes, Exploring Abu Dhabi, Photo Speaks.

Turn it off

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Turn it off

If everyone in the UAE turned off just one light for one hour a day, we’d stop 700 tonnes of CO2 from going into the atmosphere every year. That’s the same as taking 400 cars off the road.

A public awareness campaign conducted by Environment Agency Abu Dhabi – display at Abu Dhabi Mall.

This entry was posted in Clicks and writes, Exploring Abu Dhabi, HSE.