Tough job

A story about an Ambulance driver in Thane.

This 33-year-old ambulance driver has been following the same routine for the last 13 years - driving decapitated or badly mangled bodies found on the railway tracks as well as profusely bleeding but still-alive accident victims. What’s more, Dokre says he could have found a better paying job, but chose this one because he has an old debt to repay to the Thane railway station.

Twisted numbers

Numbers being forced to look like someone else by their mean owners. Such incidences are becoming quite common these days.

Google search suggestions

Here's a little comparison of search suggestions

Google's Marathi search suggestion for 'jig'

And Google's Gujarati suggestions for 'jign':

Keen observers must've noted the difference. સરસ છે?

Do expensive wines taste better?

Here's a very interesting post on cheap and expensive wines. To sum it up, the post confirms what I've believed all along.

Fancy people with lots of training can tell cheap wine from expensive ones but regular people cannot.

So I say guys, wine ko maro goli. Let the Old Monk flow at a regular shady-bar in the neighbourhood.
Some interesting information from the wiki entry on Old Monk:

Old monk continues to be the choice of most college going students in India as it is relatively very cheap. It is priced at 140 rs for a full, ie. 750 ml bottle, or roughly 3$. In the army too it continues to be popular, being even cheaper and rumour has it that there is a stronger version brewed for the army, though this is unconfirmed. It has a characteristically almost pungent, very strong taste which tends to linger long after the drink is consumed. Local varieties in different parts of India usually have subtle differences in the taste and colour. The drink is usually consumed with water or coke. A thriving market of fake Old Monk rum exists in Bangalore, India. But most even slightly frequent drinkers can often tell the difference.

Read it out LOUD

One more time. Get it?
Oh! there's also an important message from RTO Mumbai (E)
सुनो ड्राईवर भाई रखो इसका ध्यान जरूरत हो तो ही बजओ तुम हार्न।

Sports promotion styles

Or why cricket is more popular than hockey.

The BWHA story

As dark clouds of officialdom loom over Indian hockey, there are some who provide the silver lining.
Prasad: Funded a team of tribal girls with his PF
Sponsor trouble
The earlier financers didn’t oblige, nor Prasad’s efforts to rope in new sponsors worked. This meant Prasad had to withdraw money from his provident fund and send the team for the Shimla nationals in 1984.

And there's always the IPL

Equating IPL to a ‘reality show’, Vodafone marketing head Harit Nagpal said: “We invested in IPL anticipating such ratings. The format is such that it combines the largest reality show in this country backed by Bollywood entertainment.” Commenting on the sustainability of the event, Mr Nagpal said: “I’m sure people who have stakes in the game will do everything possible to make it work.”

Twisted numbers

2131 => राजे

Time our 'boys' take a shot at David Boon's record

From the wiki entry on David Boon:
Boon achieved much fame and notoriety for consuming 52 cans of beer on a flight from Sydney to London before the victorious 1989 Ashes tour that saw Australia regain the trophy after five years of English dominance;


52 cans of beer! Is there any one from the Indian squad who has the G-mein-D to get close?

Six-word motto

Readers of the Freakonomics Blog voted the following as the best six-word motto for the US:
Our Worst Critics Prefer to Stay

And a six-word motto for India:
Our Best Patriots Prefer to Leave