A course on child health leads Sunshine to research the dangers kids are exposed to. That research leads to this great post:

[...] Did you know that adjudicated delinquents (youngsters associated with crime) had increased levels of lead in their bones to blame apart from the socioeconomic and personal issues? Did you know that every time a child consumed a milk shake or a sandwich from these fast food joints, it was consuming dozens of chemicals and unwanted calories that way? What made it worse was the fact that these kids had no idea about what they were eating or drinking, and were solely dependent on the judgment of their parents for their well being. [...]

Barkha’s captive readership in HT/NDTV will read follow whatever she says faithfully and will possibly conclude ,errorenously, that bloggers in India are casteist bigots.And that is a real shame.
Barkha Dutt should either point to specific blogs(since she says that there are many of them,it might not be easy to locate one) or retract this damning indictment

Yeah, I am yet to come across any such blogs. The quote she has on her column is from a blog written by a CNN-IBN journalist hosted on the channel website. Needless to add, in the glorious tradition of Indian journalism, the said journalist has been quoted anonymously, Nice idea to take pot shots at bloggers when the real target is a rival channel.

Update: Catapult writes,

Perhaps Ms Barkha Dutt would do well to specifically say who are the ones she considers to be at fault. Like any blogger worth his/her salt it would be nice if she actually links to the posts of those she is critiquing. Otherwise such “hit and run” type of yellow Journalism where she makes a sweeping generalisation of such a vast and varied group of individuals simply doesn’t reflect well on her either as an ethical person or professionally as a journalist

Rahul has a freaky idea:

I have this in common with the RSS-parivar crowd: I favour Sanskrit education and mandatory reading of ancient epics. Because that may be the only way to counter the Hindu moral brigade.

The protesting Hindu right group – Hindu Janjagruti Samiti – is apparently peeved by this depiction of Lord Krishna and claim that “Gopis are symbolic of boundless devotion”. They are also angry that Lord Krishna is used to promote dating that the group considers a “social vice” and defines it as “obscene behavior indulged by young girls and boys under the pretext of meeting each other”. Now I wholly support their right to protest and express their displeasure at their interpretation of the advertisement as long as they do not indulge in physical harm or destruction of property. I understand they need to raise funds to keep their Samiti running and any publicity even if it paints you as Luddites stuck in the dark ages helps.

Krishna as dating guru? Well, the dude certainly knew a thing or two about dating. And I must add, he looks pretty cool in his shades.

Anita makes a trip to Sangam and Mekedattu.

Primalsoup slices and dices the game of Antakshari. Oh, the game that filled so many hours on trains, buses and such like. Much to the irritation of sleepy co-travelers.

But Antakshari is such a wonderful game isn’t it? From family get-togethers to Diwali parties to campus hostels in the middle of nowhere to mind numbingly boring weddings to Maine Pyar Kiya, everyone enjoys a good Antakshari.

One has played enough and more Antakshari growing up and much of my recollection of socialization with family, friends, neighbors and peer group in place of study/ work has some Antakshari associations. It used to be and continues to be such rowdy fun. In my opinion, the best part about Antakshari is the inherent democratic nature of the game.

A visit to Madras finds A Time To Reflect umm.. reflecting on Jasmine.

Surprisingly (for me), most of those involved in the larger units making garlands and dressy stuff for the hair are men. They stand together in little groups, silent as their hands fly, tying the flowers together with the thread, now inserting a red rose amidst the pure white jasmine, and then a dash of green to set off the milder tones.

PS – Lovely photographs!

Manoj Jacob documents a rather funny hop to being a CD – Creative Director.

The singer, a lady from Bangalore, was recording an album in 3 languages – Hindi, Kannada and English. Folk ballads identical in every aspect – tunes, arrangement, instruments used. Only the language changed from one album to the other.

They sounded fine in Hindi and Kannada, but when it came to English it sounded like a recipe for disaster. And to make matters worse, the lady, sweet as she was, had a thick South Indian accent. So when she sang ‘love’, I heard ‘lavu’. And when she went ‘heart’, it broke mine.

ரெக�கார�டிங� டெக�னாலஜியில� லெவல� காட�டி கலக�கி இர�க�கிறார�கள�. ஹெட�ஃபோன� மாட�டிக� கொண�ட� கேள�ங�கள� 3D படங�களைப� பார�ப�பத� போல� ப�த�மையான அன�பவமாய� இர�க�க�ம�. மிஸ� செய�யக� கூடாத பதிவ�.

தேசிகன� பதிந�திர�க�கிறார�.

 Deskian  has an audio clip where Binaural Recording technology has been used. Amazing experience for first time audience. Use your headphones not your computer speakers. Not to be missed.

Shankar looks back at the four years he spent at IIT-M as an undergrad. He covers many different angles, but here’s a bit about academics:

… It is true that IITs (and all engineering colleges for that matter) provide a one dimensional view of education, ie technology. A “full-fledged” engineer from my college will have completed just 12 of 180 credits in non-engineering subjects. This is a dismally low number. It is sad that people don’t realize this.