Mobile post..from my nokia 6233 9:36 AM

..Am bored sitting idle on my bed, the neighbor's dog is barking its ass out and a not so cool movie is being shown on doordarshan..OK, before you google it out, let me tell you doordarshan is India's national channel. And before you ask why haven't we as yet taken TATA Sky / BIG TV or any other digital satellite TV, then am still to figure it out myself.. [read : i don't have MONEY $$]. I think i inherit some [read: most] of the traits of a gujju, and otherwise a gujrati i am, though i spent major part of my life in the state of booze & beaches of goa. Sometimes i feel proud of being one Gujju!!!. Well even dhirubhai was a gujju!!

This post is especially dedicated to a dear friend hasan who is the reason why i can post online.. It was he who got me this gprs plan activated. So thanks dude. How did i get this done from him is a long long story.. (can't post it here)

ok am just tired of typing all this crap on my mobile. So shutting it down here.
Surprised that i have used a cellphone keypad to type such a long
gibberish post?? Well, don't be..!! (I may be a little slow on the keyboard but on my cell phone am the best...)

PS : I am looking for some great apps for my cell phone. So any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks

Social Networking 4:09 AM

Orkut Just changed its L00ks. I learned about it on twitter. To get a glimpse of what it changed to , you have to get invited , and so i requested a friend on twitter to invite me. Well the new orkut does'nt look so good. That's my perspective.

ORKUT :
It is a very famous social networking site in India. I know most of my friends spend most of their time on this network. Mostly preferred in orkut was scraps. There was a lot of exchange of scraps in orkut with "Hi" and then a reply to it and then would continue what would i call a scrap chat. In the meantime orkut also incorporated the status update. However there is no comment system form the status update in orkut.

FACEBOOK :
Facebook is said to be the number one social networking site. You would usually find people updating their status and then replying to other's status. Or working out some quiz like "who is your soul mate?" Or "When you will die?" or something like that. You don't have to be super intelligent to know that this are just simple, funny, never-true , time pass / time waster , vague , stupid quiz. But on contrary you will not be surprised to know the huge number of people taking them.

Why do people take such quiz?
Actually it may depend on every individual. But talking to some friends this is what i found out.
1) The obvious one is , to take a break and chill out doing some stupid quiz.
2) It is fun to read the results of the quiz. For eg , your soul mate is in Chicago, Or you will die when in sleep.
3) The comment system after every quiz is what is more fun. You take a quiz, get some stupid result and then a conversation over the same topic with your friends through the comment system is more fun. There is lot of Lo Ling, small funny comments and replies.

Facebook is famous for its small applications or games. You will find most of the time people poking their friends or throwing pastries and sharing virtual beers. There is really no great significance over this but facebook users enjoy poking.

TWITTER :
Twitter is a micro blogging site. You get a maximum of 140 chars to say what you are doing right now? This is also the most widely used network. Twitter is mostly a good source of sharing information.

WHY SOCIAL NETWORK IS GOOD?
1)Apart from the fact that it is a way to interact with friends and family members, it is also a medium where you can make new friends. The latter part may not be true and most of the time users reject friendship request from unknown person.

2)You can keep in touch with your friends, share photographs, share music taste. Most important and most enjoyed by many users is the status update. You learn about your friends status, read about the comments and replies.

WHY SOCIAL NETWORK IS BAD?
1) Sometimes it can be a time waster and eat up hell lot of your time. If you are a perfect human being (read : God) and know how to manage time (You have a time table and you strictly follow it), then may be this point is not valid for you.

2) Your status update and various other updates may sometimes put you in trouble. The comments can only be read , however there is no emotions visible. A simple joke over someone may sometimes prove a heart breaking liner for that person. So you have to be extra cautious when you share your thoughts.

3) You wish to skip a meet up with someone and so the best excuse would be a flu / fever or a headache. Successful in making the excuse? well then make sure you do not boast about your date or a booze party or a chill nigh tout on your status. This may harm your relation with the person you just skipped a meet over booze.

4) Your status update and your activities are visible to all in your friend list. Now make sure you do not have your mom or dad or a family member in your friend list when your update about a "blasting booze party".

WHICH SOCIAL NETWORK TO USE?
Ask me and i would rate twitter on top. A simple 140 char rule and you are done. You can also share your photographs on twitter. Over twitter you would get a lot of your queries solved. Ask a question and someone who has a answer will definately reply. Or perhaps a RT (Re-Tweet) would help spread your message. If you have a gprs enabled device and a twitter app for your phone then you can tweet on the go. Traveling in Bus or in the local Train of mumbai tweet about it and enjoy. Twitter is a Simple and efficient way of sharing information, and i think the most preferred.

P.S : Orkut sucks...!! And am off to Delete my account. More about it in the next post. ;p

IDLI'S ORCHID and WILL POWER 3:58 AM

Kamat is a well known restaurant in INDIA. You would find a Kamat in almost every city of this country. Well know for its south indian food, kamat has indeed got its name high on the list where food industry is concerned. Some days back i got my hands over this wonderful book, "idlis orchid and will power" written by vithal venkatesh kamat.

Vithal venkatesh kamat is indeed the man behind the success of almost 400 Hotels in India and many more outside india. Here in this book he shares his experiances , his very thought provoking success secrets and many more. If you are looking for Inspiration , get a copy of this book.
The family had a small restuarant in mumbai and the father was a workoholic. Looking at his father work day and night , vithal too inherited the qualities but had something more in him. In this book Mr vithal kamat shares his every small incident from his childhood to building the best eco friendly hotel "orchid".

The best part of the book i enjoyed was the interview Mr vithal kamat answered. He had no need to look for a job as he had a hotel he could work for. But vithal had a desire to know what is market value was. So he went to answer an interview.

Interviewer : "hello, Should i ask you 4 easy questions or 1 difficult question" ?
Vithal : "Ask me the most difficult question"
Interviewer : "OK , what came first , the HEN or the EGG??"
Without any hasitation or delay
Vithal : "The EGG"
Interviewer : "what makes you so sure that the egg came first? "
Vithal : "This is your second question"

The interviewer had a smile on his face and vithal was selected for the job. However Vithal refused the job and appologised for the time of the interviewer and asked what salary he would earn for the job. 50,000 INR per year was the answer and then vithal realised what his net worth in the market was.
This book also speaks about how he was cheated by his brother and was left with no property, other then his half build hotel orchid and a 100 CR debt. But the will power of Vithal venkatesh kamat made him survive this situation and become the owner of a well know hotle "THE ORCHID". The orchid has won more then 30 awards for being the best eco friedly hotel in the entire world.

P.S : Nowadays i am more addicted to books and try to read more. I might as well have a separate section for the books i have already read and what i am presently reading.
Regards,
idrish laxmidhar

TELL ME YOUR DREAMS 3:41 AM

It was awesomely cool and well written. Loved every page of it. Yes , for all those who know about sidney sheldon will know from the title itself what i am posting here about. For the unfortunate people, "Tell me your Dreams" is one of the classic piece by the most famous novel writer SIDNEY SHELDON. Go read it, I bet you will not regret...



I love reading and when i got my hands over this book i could not wait to start with it. Before i could actually sit with it, i took a little time out to read the synopsis of the book at the back page and found it very interesting. This was 4 days back.
Spending 2 hours at night every day , i managed to finish the novel and i must confess , it is the best read i ever had. Well the other Sidney sheldon novels are equally interesting and make sure you are glued to your chair, but this one had something extra.

"TELL ME YOUR DREAMS" is about a 29 yr old simple women named Ashely petterson who is suffering from MPD. Ok , before you start googling for MPD , it is a short form for "Multiple Personality Disorder".

What is MPD?
As the name suggest it is a disorder where in there exist multiple personalities within the same body. For instance , a person who is shy and reserved in his normal life may inhabit a strong dominant person within him at other time, and a calm cool person another time, without the host's knowledge.
Similar is the issue with Ashely petterson. She hosts , Alette peters and Toni , two other women within her which come up with complete different personalities. Ashely is a simple , reserved and a loner. Alette is full of negative thoughts , born in Rome , and is a artist ,whereas Toni is more of outgoing , singer party animal.
Ashely isn't aware about other two alter she inhibits. She however always has a fear that she is being stalked. As her life moves on, with a great job in a computer company as a designer , suddenly out of no where she is caught up in a problem and charged for murder , she says she never commited.

Yes before you jump to any conclusions , it was her alter toni who comited the murders. She killed people and castrated them.
Her father who happens to be a famous surgeon , has a full faith on her daughter and thinks that she is innocent. He approaches criminal lawyer whom he had helped years back save his mother.
David singer , was a criminal lawyer at first , but is now a company lawyer for a famous firm and about to get a partnership in the same. But now he is forced to take up ashely's case.

The author has very well narrated the life of david and how he tries his hard to make sure that his client ashely is acquitted. Then follows court sessions and at the end the jury is convinced that ashely is convicted for deleberately murdering and castrating people.

IS ASHELY ACQUITTED OR CONVICTED BY THE JUDGE?
Ok i will not be a spoil sport here and give out the main plot. But before you close the browser and hurry to a book store to buy your copy , here is some questions you need to find the answer for..
Is she acquitted by the judge even after she is charged with cold blooded murders?
If not, then how does David singer help her prove innocent?
How does ashely suffer from MPD?
what is the reason she is a host to "toni - a aggresive and short tempered" , and "allette - a italian shy and negative thinker"?
There are some people ashely did not even know. Since she had no motive , why would she kill them. ?
Is MPD curable ? If yes how does she get herself treated for it.

My Verdict.
Out of 5 i would rate it 4.
The author has nicely put all the three characters and beautifully narrated their lives.

RAMAZAN - The Month Of Fasting 2:20 AM

Yes , the holy month of ramazan begins. It is a very auspicious month , where people pray , fast and ultimately at the end of the month enjoy EID. Fasting provides spiritual peace and also there is more of scientific significance of it. As per my knowledge , every religion has some or the other day where they carry out the fast.

For the month of Ramazan we usually have these timings. Have breakfast before 4.30AM and and then at around 6.00AM during the sunrise the first prayers or namaaz as we call it. The afternoon prayers are at about 1.05 PM and the evening prayers start at 6.50PM. After the evening prayers is the time to release the fast with little pinch of salt and water. All this followed by dinner at night. Also since this being the holy month , many make sure that they read the quran and finish it as many times as possible.

This post isn't actually all about Ramazan and its teachings. This post is more about the educational / scientific aspect of the Fasting during the month of the Ramazan. Oh and actually whatever follows now in this post , is actually a direct copy + paste of a beautiful email which speaks about Fasting. The email explains about fasting so beuatifully , that i took the previliegde to copy it here.

In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

Educational Aspects of Fasting
There are many aspects in fasting as it has many material and spiritual effects on mankind, but perhaps the most important effect is the “moral aspect”‌ and “educational philosophy”‌.
One who fasts should prevent eating and drinking despite hunger and thirst in addition to control lustful desires. One has to prove that he is different from the animals and he is not chained by food and other worldly things; and that he can control his desires and rule his lust.

Thus, one of the most important benefits of fasting is that one’s soul softens, strengths determination, balances natural desires and most importantly the spiritual and moral outcome. The example of mankind who has access to any kind of food and drinks and can demand so whenever needed, is like the tree that has been protected with walls of a garden from winds and storms and given adequate water from any drought. Obviously such tree wills not standing any change to environment and inclement weather condition as it has never had such conditions; and it wills eventual die. On the contrary, the tree that grows on the rock s of a mountain or in the middle of a desert learns to cope that environment from early days and grows with certain rough conditions.

Fasting does the same thing with body and soul of mankind. With temporary limitations the body as well as the mind learns to be strong and manage the needs; and when desires are under control, then the soul will enlighten and spiritually improve. Further, fasting will ascend humans from the world of animals to the world of angels; the sentence “that you may learn self-restraints”‌ in verse 183 of al-Baqara (The Cow) points this very fact after commanding the faithful to fast.
Prophet Muhammad (PBUH&HP) says in a famous narration: “Fasting is a shield against the fire of Hell.”‌ (1)And in Nahj al-Balaghah, when Amir al-Mu’minin (PBUH) explains the philosophy of worships, he describes fasting in this manner: “Allah (SWT) has commanded fasting to be in religion to develop purity in people.”‌ (2)

And in another narration Amir al-Mu’minin (PBUH) asked Prophet Muhammad (PBUH&HP):
“How can we make Satan distant from us?”‌
The Great Prophet (PBUH&HP) replied:
“Fasting makes Satan’s face black [from panic]
charity for Allah (SWT) breaks his back;
loving for the sake of Allah (SWT) and consistent good deed will cut off his continuity
and repenting cuts the vein of his heart.”‌ (3)

Moreover, the month of Ramadan has been chosen for fasting because this month has is the most important month. Allah (SWT) explains the reason for importance of this holy month in verse 185 of al-Baqara (The Cow) as the month in which the Holy Quran was revealed; this book is the ultimate guidance (Furqaan) for mankind which means it distinguishes the correct act from incorrect in his life time and ensures salvation of mankind. There are many narrations that other holy books such as Torah, Gospel, Psalms and the Holy Quran have been revealed in this holy month.

Therefore, the holy month of Ramadan has always been the time of descent for holy books and it has always been a month of education and growth. Because there cannot be any education without proper guidance. Hence, the educational aspect of fasting should be followed with deep understanding and divine guidance so that the body and soul of mankind can wash away the dirt of sin.

Indeed we would be at grave loss if we allow this golden opportunity to flee out of our hands without beautifying our souls in the pure month of Ramadan. Now that we are in the beginning of the path, let us beware.