Kalu Varti in Riga - there is reason why it is so popular

Yesterday , we visited Kalku Varti (Latvian for Limestone Gate), Restaurant in the historical of Old Town of Riga.This restaurant  is very famous(and expensive) in old time for it's varying and delicious gourmet meal along with traditional latvian dishes.I ordered a bottle of red wine Châteauneuf-du-Pape( as I wanted to have it again) which was quite appreciated by fellow partners.I also tasted some other wines but I think my choice was better enough :). We enjoyed diverse nordic+asian company of each other and wines.Later for main course,My dinner partners made quite adventurous choices but I ordered roasted duck breast with parsley root puree, pearl barley, and carrot sauce and was fully satisfied with my choice.The most surprising part of the dinner was desserts. Every desert we ordered has some kind of speciality as most of them are with exotic berries.but I ordered the dessert of the day 'the tower' which was unique in itself as it has the artistic shape of 1 feet effil tower(kind of) made of sugar( they dipped the warm sugar tower in freezing cold water to have that special shape. It was not possible to eat even 20% of tower so we just enjoyed its cream and few bites of tower.....but al together it was fantastic evening at kalku varti..............Paldias


Link to kalku varti website : www.kalkuvarti.lv

Dhooni should not do this again

I read today dhooni complaining/commenting about Sreesanth's temperament and saying "...the Irritate opposition, not your own team...". I read his full interview and so I can say that , I did not expect this to come from the captain of Indian cricket team and if anybody wants to know why I think so ..please read following points :
1. As a leader of the team he should never talk/discuss about the Sreesnath temperament in public.
2. He should not publicly criticize behaviour of his team member in front of media and if there is any concern then he must discuss it with Sreesanth only not with press/media.
3. A Leader must make sure that he talks positive and always ready for improvements/ betterments.
4. Leaders who criticize their team members in public lose respect from the whole team.
5. Dhoni has shown in the past as well that he does not like Sreesanth. When he had chance of selecting 15 players for WC-2011, he did not select the Sreesanth and instead selected Praveen kumar.He also showed his feelings about sreesnath in Durban as well - "I think it's important to keep him under control. It's good for him, for us, for the opponents, for the umpires, for the board and for the spectators,".
6. Leaders should always try to encourage team for positive things and try to avoid the negative.

PS : It does not mean that I am favouring Sreesnath for his short temper.I fully agree that he must improve his habit and must not be personal on any level.

"Free our collector"...patriatic words

"Free our collector"...This is the goodwill sentence painted on the banners by the local schools marching on the streets of Malkangiri,Orissa. Objective of this sentence is to peruse the Maoists and pressurize them to release the Malkangiri district collector R. Vineel Krishna.Krishna has been abducted by maoists while he was visiting remote are of his district.

Mr. Krishna(IIT Madras Alumnus and IAS-2005) has been doing what a real public servant should do. Some of the key things:
- Riding on bikes,boats to meet the native people on daily basis.
- Not having heavy security and police for the sake of VIP stature.
- Staying out of local politics and focus on development issues.
- Trying to improve government outreach and services in the most alienated pockets(the best way to tackle the maoist problem).

To show the sympathy to Mr. Krishna , local shops, banks, schools were closed, and the streets were empty. Not only this people organized a meeting at the public ground to display show of support for him.People,NGO and district administration all are vouching for him in one single tune.

Medalistic statements :
1. "He was both clean and hard working," said Madhusudhan Panda, a grocery store owner. "Why else would everybody voluntarily down shutters?"
2. "Go visit those areas and talk to the people. They will tell you about the good work he has done. That is why I am hopeful the collector will return safely soon," said Balwant Singh, project director of the district rural development agency.

Hats off to the to this young lad.He showed that if top level officers are honest and considerate then people at large will appreciate him and adore him. I am very sure maoists-who are our own people will release him ASAP and let him serve the local people to the best of his capacity and prove the India again that if we want we can get over al odds.

Indian's Heart needs more Valentine Days

As today is valentine day..it is justified to be concerned about the heart.As Indian I think we need more such days when people think about the heart not just to impress someone's heart but to save someone's heart as well.....BUT WHY ?

Answer is : The Indian heart, due to a faulty genetic makeup, is more prone to heart diseases than an African or a Caucasian one. Worse, several studies have revealed that Indians are likely to suffer heart attacks a decade earlier than other ethnicities. Factors such as urbanisation, the rapid Westernisation of the traditional diet and stress worsen the weak-heart syndrome.

Want stats to understand the seriousness, please read following :

Population : 1 billion+
No. 1 Killer disease : Heart disease

Cardiologist : 4000

Cardiac surgeons : 1200
Desired ratio : 50 cardiologists per million

( PS : India lacks authentic data on the causes of deaths. )
Stars :
Dr Naresh Trehan,Dr Devi Shetty,Ramakant Panda etc....

So, heart disease is not an emerging problem anymore. It has already emerged as a ma
jor cause of death in rural areas.Awareness about the first aid is not there in common people or if they are aware then means are not there to get the first aid within the time period*.

*
1. Treatment is most effective when started within 1 hour of the beginning of symptoms.
2. Next 15-30 minutes are most crucial after an heart-attack.

So what is needed :
1. Special laws which forces to have a cardiac unit in every nursing home with 24x7 trained staff and complusery ambulance facility.
2. Door to door Heart disease awareness programs and prevention plan.
3. Special cardiac care departments in each general hospitals.
4. Free ECG checkups at all the nursing homes and clinics.

Kiwifruit is a Vitamin Bomb !!

Kiwifruit is a Vitamin Bomb !!

A lot of people think that kiwi is not good food because it does not taste good in start.But few of them know that it is one of the great gift from nature which can give us a lot vitamins.I did some goggling and found out the following :


Eat 1 kiwifruit because One kiwifruit contains:

  • Vitamin C ( = 2 oranges = 250 mg ) … stimulates the capacity for work , actively participates in the metabolism.
  • A lot of magnesium( source of iron ) ………………… provides a healthy heart function
  • vitamins A, D, Е, В2, В3, В6, a lot of potassium
  • Actinidine, which improves the protein digestion
  • cellulose, which, as is well known, helps in excess cholesterol excretion and digestion normalization.

Advantage :

  • Reduce the risk of oncological and cardiovascular diseases, such as coronary insufficiency and hypertension.
  • very healthy for the face skin so widely used in cosmetics, in various masks and creams.
  • Antioxidants found in kiwifruit are absorbed by the body most effectively than those from other antioxidant-rich fruits( US study )

* Kiwifruits shouldn’t be eaten too long after cutting and if possible , eat it with brushed peel

Sourav Ganguly deserves a more respect from us...

I read the news that some media news rumours that Sourag Ganguly- flamboyant Indian cricketing legend has decided to quit all forms of cricket.Later it was cleared by himself that this is not the case. As a humble Bengali moshay style , he disappointedly mentioned :

"I had the runs. Players of my age, Gilchrist, Dravid and Laxman are still actively involved. I haven't been able to put the finger on the button why I was left out. Cricketing logic and past form suggests I should have been picked. There are several reasons I could have been dropped, but not for cricket."

"If I don't get to play IPL I will not be participating in any form of domestic cricket,"

Personal rapport is not useful in business : Considering the following :
- KKR : Nobody denies that KKR is best place for Sourav because he is the true BENGALI and very few IPL players have been as closely associated with the city they played for as him. In my opinion Kolkatta loves him more passionately than Mumbai loves Tendulkar(sorry whole India loves SACH ...I know).Everybody says that GANULAY is Bengal tiger........The Knight Riders(SRK) has never shown any miserliness when it comes to money-spending. So why SRK left Sourav(bother/pal)...was it because of his base price of just 400,000 dollars(1.82 crore Rs.). Question - Is 1.82 crore is big money for SRK ?
- Sahara, Pune Warriors - This is new franchise(and Sourav has had a long relationship with its owners ) and could have benefited from Sourav's talent but they left Sourav as well.
- In IPL-2010, Sourav played 14 matches and made 493 runs (avg. 37.92) and was the 5th best scorer in IPL-3. SO performance is not the issue here.Not only this he was one of top 10 scorers in IPL-1.He has more IPL man of the match awards than any other rejected player.

Looking at the above, Yes- Sourav you are absolutely correct....99.9% cricket frenzy indians believe the same and have full faith in your skills but you know what now cricket specially IPL is not just cricket but a business where people are not there for fun,enjoyment and sports but wish to earn money and that seems only reason behind your exclusion...NOTHING ELSE.

IPL can sustain omitting of
Sanath Jayasuriya, Brian Lara, Chris Gayle but Sourav Ganguly is certainly desired a place in IPL(INDIA). An Indian , would love to see you contributing to Indian cricket in any form be it player,captain, coach or office bearer of BCCI/IPL or CAB.

Humbled Interview

I read the following interview of a good human being and impressed with his responses and understanding. No points for guessing who is he ?......Some excerpts

  • ..I think it's a very foolish thing to look back at your life and have regrets for anything that you do. You should tell yourself that at that time, for that place, I did the best with what my instincts provided me. Now you're wiser. As long as you can attach a reason to your failure, you'll learn, you'll grow wiser. But if you just sit and keep saying, 'arre yaar what did I do,' it's pointless. You have to ask yourself, what is the one thing I can learn from this experience which is a 'failure' in other people's minds? If you can do that, it no longer is a failure. It turns into feedback, and you will grow with it. So eventually, there are no failures. 
  • ...I feel it's my responsibility to demonstrate that you should never counter an attack with more attack.That's the essential path to peace. I want to feel good about myself, and so, what I do is, I type back - 'Well, I try, and now I will try harder; thank you for your feedback.' And I feel good about myself. And he relaxes, nothing has hit his ego, and so he's not going to attack any more. I have brought about peace in this war - even if it is the micro level........
  • ..I think you have to be the most foolish person, and the weakest person, to get into a fight. The only time you have to raise your hand is if there is injustice being done in the present, right there, where I am. If a lady has been wronged, then I will raise my hand. There is no other situation where you need to raise your hand.....
  • ...I have gone through a battery since I was five or six years old. I used to come home from school and weep through the evening, weep through the homework, because I didn't want to go to school the next day. I didn't want to go through the torment of being the guy who is laughed at all the time. I had nothing working for me. Even the fact that I was a hero's son worked against me, because of the sort of school that I was in. It was looked upon as something a little cheap.Now, when I join the dots, I see that I had to go through all that to be what I am, to reach where I am today. The hammer that moulds the stone hurts, but it shapes you into something beautiful......
  • ..........there was a particular situation in London. It was just after we'd got married, and we were walking down Leicester Square, and there were some badly behaved boys who were obviously high on something. One of them passed by her and gave her a nudge and then abused her, called her, umm, a b**ch. And instantly, she wanted to attack back, and she was physically inferior, so that infuriated her even more. She wanted me to strike back. But my perspective was different. I consider myself the peaceful warrior. If the guys hadn't passed by so quickly, I would probably have walked up to the boy and spoken to him, and made him feel good about himself so he wouldn't need to attack someone like this again.
  • People are carrying their own frustrations inside and they are looking for scapegoats to vent out, to get a chance to hit out, to release their own frustrations. He doesn't even know her, I've got nothing to do with him. He calling my wife that doesn't make her a b**ch, and that's the truth. If he'd passed me by and said, 'Hrithik Roshan, you don't have a right arm,' what would I say? People will either say the truth, or a lie. He will say, 'You have a right arm'; yes, I have a right arm, I'll keep walking. Or he will say, 'You don't have a right arm'; he's wrong, he's lying, and I'll keep walking. Same thing - he calls my wife a b**ch, I know she's not, I walk on. I don't need to go and bust his face, that would make me one of them. I'm above all that. I would feel defeated. I didn't give that guy what he wanted; he wanted to get into a fight, and I didn't give him that chance............
  • ...I have a good understanding of how important money is. And now that I have children, I want to gather as much of it as I can, yes. But I know what it means. Money is a means to an end. For me, it is also a means to help people. I can never say no to anyone, and if I am in a position to help, I help. I have seen my father struggle for 20 years. I know what it is like to have no money at all. I have slept for four nights on the floor in a house with no furniture and not even a fan, and I remember crying to my mother that I couldn't sleep without a fan.I must have been about nine. We were thrown out of our building because we couldn't pay the rent. And then for about six months, we lived at my nani's house. My father was too embarrassed to live there, and so he stayed with a friend. And as soon as he got some money, he got this place, and he just had to get us into our own place. So, for the first four nights, I slept on the floor with my family in a house without any furniture and without fans. Those are the memories that keep me grounded. .....
  • ..........I think the poison of our world are the fairy tales that are taught to our children. There is not one fairy tale that speaks of how beautiful real life is, where there is no happy ending. It's just a journey filled with sadness, happiness - it's all there - and you have to live that and know that that's your fairy tale, how you're going to overcome every little obstacle and how it'll never end. The End is something that is a poison; the Prince Charming comes, he and the girl fall in love, The End. The End is something that never happens in real life. Even in death, there is no The End. How do you know if that's the end? You don't, really.
  • I personally have built a fairy tale for my children which I narrate at their bedtime. It is on a character called the Blue Light Kid. He is as old as my sons, who are three and five. I talk about all the things that my sons go through. My son came last in a race, and so I created a chapter on that, about how the Blue Light Kid came last in a race. He was in his room and a Blue Light appeared and spoke to him; he asked why he came last, though he worked hard, and the Blue Light told him that he didn't work hard enough. So he works really hard for the next race, and he again comes last, and gets really angry and says to the Blue Light that it's not fair because he worked really hard. And the Blue Light says, 'As I said, you didn't work hard enough.'. I have these chapters and talk to them about things like losing toys. I tell them that you will get excited about your toys and at some point you will also lose interest in many of them. I talk about these little things; hopefully it'll continue till I can compile it all and release it as a real life fairy tale about this Blue Light Kid.After all, fairy tales are about a world of fantasy, but none of us live in such a world.  
If you have guessed the Guy...please let me know...Thanks

Why Scandinavian Lemmings are being referenced in India ?

Yesterday I was reading the Blog of Sri. L.K.Advani where he mentioned that '....there is a rodent in Scandinavian countries known as “lemming” about which it is said that this species is unique: for no explicable reason, these ‘lemmings’ commit mass suicide.....'.
Not only this but Last week, the Hindu correspondents, P. Sainath, articled “The lurch of the Lemmings”( about the 2G, Radia, illicit funds, and a stubborn CVC, the U.P.A. Government’s scams in general).

So what is this Lemming suicide ?
I read the wiki and found that fact is - lemmins do not suicide but their
lemming suicide is a frequently used metaphor in reference to people who go along unquestioningly with popular opinion, with potentially dangerous or fatal consequences. So Mr. Advani was not describing the fact but metaphor.

So as per these people Scams are
multiplying faster than Lemmings and U.P.A. Government is in suicidal mood !!!

Serving the Nation - Chaitanya Gurukul Public School

I am very much touched with the feeling and efforts of Mr. Chandrakant Singh(36 years). He has proved that if somebody wants to serve the nation with heart, then means come automatically. The way he setup the Chaitanya Gurukul Public School( Gopalganj,Bihar) shows the zeal and patriotic spirit. He faced all the problems that a NRI typically think before starting anything in India. But his planning,vision and methodology showed that 'There is will there is way'....Great work by a REAL HERO.

Following are some points that seem to be important here :
1. Many times one or the other event force the INDIANS to do something but later they are stopped by one or the other things....but very few do................A role of mentor/guide(here Dr. Srinivasan Suryanarayan - Dean,IIT) plays an important role in such initiatives. And not
but not least -> Age does not matter...He is just 36.
2. Planning is important for any project - Here
Mr. Dean, suggested him to make a plan for revenue-generating, self-sustaining model instead of taking the charity route.This plan was sent to 3000 engineers but only 8 accepted.
Project : Establishment of Educational Institution as-Model School from class 1 to 12, Degree Engineering College and Research and Development at Chamanpura, Gopalganj
Investment(In Crores Rs.) : 30 ( as submitted to State Investment Promotion Board,Bihar)
Challenge : Project is located in a place "where there is no electric pole forget about electricity"
Response : 5000 students came for 500 seats(admission)
Phase-1 : in 2 years,CGT Public School started with investment of just 2 crore.
3. Money Matters : Even if we talk to NRIs Money is big issue...so project had/has some of the following investment points :
- This money invested by others will go as fixed deposit in SBI Bank.
- This money will not be used but we need to show the gov that they have FD on the name of trust. That was the reason they were taking loan from individual investors than bank.
- FD paper will be with investors and money will be locked for Minimum 1 year. At the end of the maturity investors get FD rate + 2% (for investment below 10 lacs) . For investment of 10 lacs or more they get FD rate + 3%.
3. Quality Control : use of technology in maintaining service/process quality. Examples:
- Use of latest technology through Skype, video conferencing and Internet.
- Apart from regular inhouse teachers,
8 of Singh's associates, sitting in various corners of the world, have joined hands to teach children right from Class I to Class VII, through video-conferencing.

Best of luck to Mr.
Chandrakant Singh and all others involved in such nationalistic cause.

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