Back!

Wow! My last post was in April!!! So much for my resolution to blog at least few posts every month. What I have been up to is a lot though. For one I managed to create and produce a totally perfect baby girl in May this year :) This was followed by a measly seven weeks of maternity leave, plus eight weeks of annual leave. For anyone who thinks maternity leave as a 'vacation', I will have many choice words. I am tired of people who ask me how my vacation has been. My idea of a vacation is not having to push a full term baby out and then spending sleepless days and nights taking care. Breastfeeding woes will be a totally different post altogether! Initial days of euphoria, followed by bouts of depression later, things got back to normal. Well almost. Now that I had a little person to think of constantly, to worry about if she is hungry, wet, sleepy, or just bored, life was not as easy. But then things started falling in place, thanks to my adorable mom's help. Meanwhile I also got a full time maid and hence things were definitely looking better. Then mom left! Then the date I was planning to resume work arrived. Thanks to planning, planning and more planning, things were quite smooth. Now it is a month and a half since I started working and my angel is four months old! Been meaning to get back to blogging forever and finally did it today! This post is just to say hi, if at all I have any readers left. If you have been wondering thats where I have been. At least this is my excuse ;)

More dogfighting news

More great news here regarding dogfihgting discovered in the Phillippines
http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/pit-bulls-philippine-dog-fights-euthanized-16067234
This time the animal welfare society decided to euthnize the poor animals rather than trying to adopt them out. A wise decision to end the poor animals sufferings if thats how mean people are! Animals do not deserve to suffer like this ever.

What kind of morons get their pleasure out of seeing animals fight in a ring or even viewing them online? What is their upbringing? I should really do some research on this and maybe get myself a doctorate based on this mental sickness!
May the dear dogs RIP and never have to suffer again.

World house sparrow day!

Today March 20th, is observed as World House Sparrow Day http://www.thehindu.com/life-and-style/kids/article3006413.ece
How nice it was to grow up with sparrows in our childhood along with so many other birds. We should all do our small bit in saving these beautiful, important creatures around our house and keep them from becoming extinct in the ecosystem.
Amazingly we have plenty of them in Doha, in spite of the crazy weather variations. My morning routine begins with a cup full of rice for them :)

In the News- 30-01-2012

In the news today……….
Remember the Taliban office in Qatar holding talks with the US government? Here is some follow-up:
http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/Americas/US-Taliban-prisoner-release-talks-fail-report/Article1-804033.aspx
No matter what the outcome, I will always remember this as the time when the US negotiated with terrorists, in spite of their famous one liner “The US does not negotiate with terrorists”

On a different note, loved the new ad of The Hindu newspaper, hitting back at the Times of India with the catch phrase “Stay ahead of the Times”.
http://www.bestmediainfo.com/2012/01/the-hindu-hits-back-at-toi-with-its-new-campaign/
It is most definitely true that Times of India feeds its readers with a lot of crap and sensationalized news; finally the Hindu has stood up and made a great come back ad for it. From the point of view of ad film making in which I am involved to a certain extent, this ad is really good in making people think of what is more important- pulp fiction or actual current affairs.

Finally at least one article exploring few aspects of the baby deaths in West Bengal, India:
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/lack-of-facilities-behind-crib-deaths-in-malda/225552-3.html
Of course this article does not explore completely the cause of the deaths, but at least talks about the social issue of child marriages prevalent in this region. So far all articles reported only justification from politicians saying it was not their fault, but the other party’s’. This also came from hospital inspection authorized team lead, much to the dismay of many Indians. An inspection team is sent to explore the conditions and report problems causing this widespread problem in the state, not to publicize your personal political preference/opinion.

Also loved some of these articles and the comments section of these articles in the ‘Opinions’ section of The Hindu, exploring policies of Norway’s Child Protection Services (CPS). The first article, written by, I assume a Norway national is an eye-opener:
http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/article2842917.ece
http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/letters/article2842992.ece
http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/letters/article2837613.ece

In the news!

Inspiring articles in the newspaper today:
http://www.thehindu.com/life-and-style/society/article2798677.ece
And here we all are claiming we don't have enough time!

http://www.thehindu.com/life-and-style/money-and-careers/article2795884.ece

Taliban office in my locality!

Have you heard? The Taliban, who in my opinion and understanding are a terrorist organization, are opening an office in Qatar for talks with the US!
http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/printArticle.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=479278&version=1&template_id=57&parent_id=56
I didn't know that organization such as this could

1. Open an office


2. Open an office in another country


3. Open an office to negotiate with another country's government!

Whatever happened to the famous US dialogue that they will never negotiate with terrorists? We have been tortured on any travel around the world in the name of security for the last decade or more due to this organization and today they are opening an office.

Icing on the cake- this office is going to be in Qatar where I happen to live! The safe feeling is priceless. Happy New Year everybody!

Idli

New rescue this month....meet Idli*! Aptly named so by V, due to this peeping Idli face (pic 2) from the hedges, panting after dashing and running around during morning play. She is a beautiful little kitten that we brought home from outside a shopping complex in the city. She is living with us as an outdoor cat, due to the two dogs at home, but with full meals facilities and daily playtime. Pic 3 is of the poor little dog with the welcome sign, which has never managed to stand as it is supposed to for few minutes ever since Idli arrived! It is her little toy :)

We keep the soil beds moist at all times to keep it bearably cool for her in the heat of summer. She has managed remarkably well and we are having loads of fun with her :)

* Idli is a popular south Indian dish like rice cakes mainly had for breakfast with some gravy or chutneys.

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