Big Business has always had a reputation for taking the common man for a ride. For instance I have been using Axe Deodorant for years now and EXCUSE ME BUT WHERE ARE THE WOMEN IN SKIMPY CLOTHES FOLLOWING ME AROUND GRADUALLY SHEDDING CLOTHES IN THE PROCESS AND GETTING ALL WORKED UP IF YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN? HUH? HUH?

Leonard, in a short post, rants about a topic that was almost taboo for me during my engineering college days. That’s right, soap.

What do you think you have in your toilets at home that you use to have a bath? Check again, is it really soap? Does it have the word ‘soap’ written on the wrapper? Do a small exercise, walk into a supermarket and pick up every single bar that you think is soap and count on how many brands you are able to find the word ‘soap’ written.

A very relevant post inspite of the wanton use of the word ‘exercise’ in it.

N interviews Gita Aravamudan, author of Disappearing Daughters: The Tragedy of Female Foeticide.

“Media can play a very proactive role. The more this problem is emphasized and exposed, the more people will be aware of it. It has to be a multi-pronged attack from the print media, television and cinema. Cinema has a very strong impact on society. If only cinema and television could address this issue and talk about the value of the girl child! What we need is a popular attack. Academics and intellectuals are aware of it and many papers have been written about it but all this has had no impact. The thrust has to come from somewhere else. It has to come in a language that people can understand.”

Indicast celebrate their silver jubilee episode. Listen to Aditya and Abhishek sharing vignettes from their recent jaunt to Himachal Pradesh.

With the ever increasing influence of the internet in our lives it is but natural that we soon lose the pleasure of true social interaction. Email, IM and Blogging means we no longer need to meet people in person to socialize and spend quality time with.

But Orkut is beginning to change all that. Wanderlust has a funny little post about how this product from the Google stable is changing the way we meet people, interact with them and then block them forever when we find that they are pathetic psychopaths.

In early April 2007, the number of users having an Orkut profile was over 49 million, majority of whom hail from Brazil and India- two visionary countries who are contemplating laws which would soon make it a criminal offence for its citizens to not have an orkut account.

What I like about Wanderlust’s blog is not just the humour but also the pen-name that sounds like a warm and welcoming inn somewhere in Amsterdam.

There is a popular misconception that every malayali out there knows most other malayalis. This is totally erroneous and completely uncalled. In fact every mallu knows EVERY OTHER mallu.

Dont believe me? Then read this hilarious episode courtesy Silverine’s blog:

Ungle: What is your father’s name?
M: *tells the name*
Ungle to aundy: Idhu nammude Mathiachande alian aano? (isn’t this our Mathew’s brother in law?)
Aundy: aayirkaam! (maybe)
Ungle: Are you Mathew Padamadan’s nephew?
M: Never heard of him

Mallus are born with Orkut built in.

Varun’s brother won a bar-tending competition with his innovative creation, Footprint, inspired by the news of the Corus takeover by Tata Steel. Check out the recipe, very cool!

The garnish we used was the best part of the concept. Half Lime scooped off everything inside and turned inside out. It would have a little bit of rum inside which would be flamed and placed on top of the cocktail with soft hands so that it floats (u should use a considerable amount of crushed ice probably fill the glass with crushed ice). While presenting u push the lime in so that the rum floats on top and give the cocktail a very good color. This would represent that previously Indian companies were in a shell, were only ‘Indian’ in nature, now they are spreading and becoming more global through JVs and takeovers.

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Who wouldn’t want to watch a movie with a title like this? I know I would! Shripriya reviews Manish Acharya’s new movie Loins of Punjab and declares it is ”freaking hilarious”.

Loins of Punjab Presents (let’s just call it Loins for fun) is about a bunch of random characters who are thrown together over a weekend in New Jersey as they compete for the title of Desi Idol.

Who are these people? Well, there is the rich-bitch socialite, Mrs. Rrita Kapoor (Shabana Azmi) who is desperate to win, but even more desperate to show up her socialite competitor, Bubbles Sabharwal.

Ajay Naidu is Turbanotorious BDG, a quintessential angry young man who also happens to be a gay bhangra rapper. Oh and his partner in his act is also his life partner – an African-American-bhangra-rapping sidekick

Reality Check asks,

What if the Gurjars demands are actually just ? What if data had been collected and it showed that they were indeed pushed out by inclusion of other powerful communities in the OBC list ?

Worse still, what if there exists hundreds of other smaller communities who do not have the numbers to stage a protest of this scale ? Is it their fate to sell pots and clay statues beside highways and living like nomads in tents ?

A mother who already has six girls and wants no more children. A family which won’t stop till she fulfills their desire for a son. Should this woman be allowed to know the sex of her unborn child? Chandni raises a difficult question,

Ideally, I know I would just ask her to stop having more babies, they have enough. But that is a choice she cannot make. If she refuses, then she faces the wrath of her husband and MIL who are right now kind to her and treat her well. Even after 6 daughters, she feels lucky. ( That’s how she put it) Because she has seen other women and what they end up going through in a similar situation.