TED India Talks: Harsha Bhogle - The rise of cricket, the rise of India

The tale of a major global cultural phenomenon: Cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle describes the spectacular arrival of fast-paced 20-20 cricket as it parallels the rise of modern India. He traces the game from its sleepy English roots to the current world of celebrity owners and million-dollar player contracts.

About Harsha Bhogle

Harsha Bhogle can talk about the business side of cricket, the technicalities of play and the psychology of the players with equal authority.

IIM-A alum and former Rediffusion ad man Harsha Bhogle has been called “the voice of Indian cricket” -- he's India's premier cricket commentator and columnist. Beloved for his insightful patter, he writes a weekly cricket column for Indian Express and interviews top cricketers on ESPNStar's Harsha UnPlugged.
He's been the front man for ESPNStar cricket telecasts from the day they launched in India. Now he has taken to the corporate lecture circuit with his wife and business partner, Anita, applying the wisdom of the game to help companies develop compelling business strategies.
"When Harsha Bhogle begins to talk, you cannot but sit and listen."
K. Pradeep, The Hindu

Here is the Video:

TED India Talks: Shukla Bose - Teaching one child at a time

Educating the poor is more than just a numbers game, says Shukla Bose. She tells the story of her groundbreaking Parikrma Humanity Foundation, which brings hope to India's slums by looking past the daunting statistics and focusing on treating each child as an individual.

About Shukla Bose:

Shukla Bose is the founder and head of the Parikrma Humanity Foundation, a nonprofit that runs four extraordinary schools for poor children.

The word "Parikrma" implies a full revolution, a complete path around -- and Shukla Bose's Parikrma Humanity Foundation offers literally that to kids in poor urban areas around Bangalore. Parikrma's four Schools of Hope teach the full, standard Indian curriculum to children who might not otherwise see the inside of a classroom, with impressive results. Equally important, the schools build an "end-to-end" environment that supports learning -- offering lunch every day, health-care and family support. Beyond these schools, Parikrma has inaugurated several afterschool programs and has plans for setting up a central teacher-training hub.

Bose left behind a corporate career in 1992 to found Parikrma with a small group of friends. The nonprofit holds itself to formal business goals and strict accountability, and has developed some clever fundraising and marketing campaigns. As Bose puts it, the goal of Parikrma is to help build a better India by tapping its greatest strength: the vitality and potential of its people.

"Education of children is at the core of our aim to transform poor communities into self-sustaining, contributing communities. "
Shukla Bose

Here is the video:

TED India Talks: Kartick Satyanarayan- How we rescued the "dancing" bears

Traditionally, the Kalandar community of India has survived by capturing sloth bear cubs and training them to "dance" through extreme cruelty. Kartick Satyanarayan has been able to put an end to this centuries-old practice, and in so doing discovered a lesson of wider significance: make the practitioners part of the solution.

Kartick Satyanran works tirelessly to save India’s wild animals from illegal captivity and poaching -- most notably rescuing hundreds of “dancing” bears.

Known by many in India as the “Bear Man,” Kartick Satyanaran is the co-founder of Wildlife SOS -- a non-profit wildlife conservation organization famous for its campaign to rescue every “dancing” bear in the country. For many years, “dancing” sloth bears were the only livelihood of the Kalandar community, but the practice involves extreme cruelty by modern standards, endangers the bear population and is illegal today. He began the organization with his aunt and fellow animal rights champion Geeta Seshamani in 1995, and since then they have rescued over 550 bears.

Satyanaran began rescuing animals as a child, with a particular tendency to rescue snakes. Although he majored in business management in college, he returned to his early love of animal as a field assistant tracking tigers for the Wildlife Conservation Society. Now, through Wildlife SOS, he runs rescue and rehabilitation centers for India’s sloth bears, elephants, leopards and more, as well as several conservation and forest watch projects.

"Although we are proud of the life we can offer our rescued bears, in the sanctuary, we would prefer that there would not be a need for these sanctuaries and the bears could live unharmed in the wild."
Kartick Satyanarayan

Here is the video:

TED India Talks: Kiran Bir Sethi teaches kids to take charge

Kiran Bir Sethi shows how her groundbreaking Riverside School in India teaches kids life's most valuable lesson: "I can." Watch her students take local issues into their own hands, lead other young people, even educate their parents.

About Kiran Sethi

The founder of the Riverside School in Ahmedabad, Kiran Sethi has launched an initiative to make our cities more child-friendly.

Kiran Bir Sethi's early training as a designer is clear in her work as an educator -- she looks beyond what exists, to ask, "could we do this a better way?" In 2001, she founded the Riverside School in Ahmedabad, designing the primary school's curriculum (and its building) from the ground up. Based around six "Beacons of Learning," the school's lesson plan focuses on creating curious, competent future citizens. The school now enrolls almost 300 children and has franchised its curriculum widely.

Sethi's latest project, inspired by dialogue with the children of Riverside, is called AProCh -- which stands for "A Protagonist in every Child." Fighting the stereotype of modern kids as rude and delinquent, AProCh looks for ways to engage Ahmedabad's children in modern city life, and to revamp our cities to make room for kids to learn, both actively and by example.

"It is possible to organize cities to teach usefulness, social responsibility, ecological skill, the values of good work, and the higher possibilities of adulthood."
-aproch.org

Here is the Video:

Child worker in lucknow beaten for four hours

For four hours, he was whipped with a leather belt. Then the eight-year-old's employer rubbed salt into the child's wounds.

This was Mohit's punishment after 700 rupees went missing from his boss' juice stand in Lucknow. When people in the neighbourhood saw Mohit lying injured on the road, they grabbed his employer and handed him to the police.

The employer, Raju, has been arrested and faces up to seven years in prison if he is convicted for criminal intimidation. That is what Mohit hopes for. "I want the police to punish him so that he never repeats this kind of behaviour with any other boy."

Employing children as workers in dhabas and stalls like Raju's is illegal. Raju has also been charged with violating child labour laws. The police have no explanation for why Mohit was not spotted working at the stall and rescued much earlier.

Mohit arrived in Lucknow seven months ago with a friend from his village of Baharaich in North Eastern Uttar Pradesh. He was hired immediately by Raju to peel fruit at his stall. Mohit was allowed to sleep at the juice stall.

The police plan to send Mohit home, but Mohit aspires to a more normal childhood after his traumatic experience. "I want to study ... if possible in Lucknow," he requests.

Here is the video:




Source: NDTV.com, December 24, 2009

TED India Talks: Shashi Tharoor - Why India is becoming the "soft" power

India is fast becoming a superpower, says Shashi Tharoor -- not just through trade and politics, but through "soft" power, its ability to share its culture with the world through food, music, technology, Bollywood. He argues that in the long run it's not the size of the army that matters as much as a country's ability to influence the world's hearts and minds.

About Shashi Tharoor

Author and activist Shashi Tharoor is a member of Parliament and the Indian minister of state for external affairs.

In May 2009, Shashi Tharoor was elected to Parliament, representing the Thiruvananthapuram constituency in Kerala. As a minister for external affairs, he's charged with helping India engage with the world -- taking meetings around the globe, and ensuring that Indian citizens know how their country is connecting with the rapidly internationalizing world. (His mission also includes improving the operation of local passport offices.)

Before entering politics, Tharoor spent almost three decades with the UN as a refugee worker and peace-keeper, working as a senior adviser to the Secretary-General. Meanwhile, he maintained a parallel career as a writer, producing three novels, a biography of Nehru and several collections of essays on literature and global affairs (plus hundreds of articles for magazines and journals). He was the UN Under-Secretary General for Communications and Public Information under Kofi Annan, and was India's candidate in 2006 for the post of Secretary-General. He left the UN in 2007.

"Mr. Tharoor has brought a breath of fresh air into the Indian political scene."
goodnewz.in

Here is the Video:

TED India Talks: Shaffi Mather- A new way to fight corruption

Shaffi Mather explains why he left his first career to become a social entrepreneur, providing life-saving transportation with his company 1298 for Ambulance. Now, he has a new idea and plans to begin a company to fight the booming business of corruption in public service, eliminating it one bribe at a time.

About Shaffi Mather:

Shaffi Mather is the founder of 1298 for Ambulance, Education Access for All, and co-promoter of Moksha-Yug Access. He was a successful young entrepreneur, who brought a family-run real estate business to the forefront of the local market before moving on to take major positions at two of India’s largest communication corporations -- Essel Group and Reliance Industries. However, after a perilous ride to the hospital with his mother he was forced to confront India’s need for a dependable ambulance service. He left his career at Reliance and founded 1298 for Ambulance, a for-profit service with a sliding scale payment system that has revolutionized medical transport in Mumbai and Kerala.

Today, Mather is also a co-founder of Moksha-Yug Access, a microfinance instiution that operates in rural India, and The Education Initiative, which is involved in e-learning and in creating schools across India. In addition, Mather is a lawyer focusing on litigation in public interest -- battling for transparency in governance and use of public funds, human rights, civil rights and primacy of constitution. He is a TEDIndia Fellow.

Here is the Video:

Ruchika Molesting Case: Accused get away with only 6 months jail

This is what influential people does in India. The accused get punishment after almost 20 years that too just six month jail and 1000 rupees fine. This is after the girl who has been molested went on to commit suicide after the harassment which she went through. This is the example in misuse of official power by a police officer who used his influence and contacts to escape punishment for nearly two decades for his crime.
This is how safe our girls are in India. And we say it is a democratic country. Bull Shit..

Read On..

Outrage is growing in India over a six-month jail sentence handed out to a former senior police officer convicted for molesting a 14-year-old girl.
Ruchika Girhotra complained in 1990 that she was assaulted by SPS Rathore.
After Mr Rathore used his influence to harass the Girhotra family, Ruchika committed suicide three years later.

Earlier this week, a court found Mr Rathore guilty, but Ruchika's family and activists say he has got away with a "very light punishment".
Mr Rathore sentenced in jail for six months and ordered to pay a fine of 1,000 rupees ($20).
He is currently on bail and has said he would appeal against the order.

"This six-month punishment is not enough, it has hurt us, what kind of justice is this?" Ruchika's father Subhas Chander Girhotra asked reporters in the northern Indian city of Chandigarh on Thursday.
"We want exemplary punishment for him so that Indian children can be safe in future. My daughter is dead, but at least no other girl should meet the same fate," he said, sobbing.
"All these years, we have stayed underground due to harassment. We would got knocks in the middle of the night. He was the director general of police - who could we turn to for help?
"We are still living in fear."

Television footage, showing a laughing and unrepentant Mr Rathore following the court order, has angered many civil rights groups.
Campaigners say he should be tried for "abetment of suicide" which carries a much longer jail sentence.Analysts say Ruchika's case is a classic example of misuse of official power by a police officer who used his influence and contacts to escape punishment for nearly two decades for his crime.

Ruchika was a budding tennis player when she was assaulted by Mr Rathore, a senior police officer and president of Haryana state Lawn Tennis Association.
After her family lodged a complaint with the Haryana chief minister, the state police chief RR Singh was asked to investigate the case.
In his report, Mr Singh said there was credible evidence in the allegations and ordered the police to file a case against Mr Rathore.
This was just the beginning of nightmares for Girhotra family as Mr Rathore used his influence to harass them.

She was thrown out of school for "late fee payment" and her 14-year-old brother Ashu was falsely charged with theft several times until the Punjab and Haryana high court intervened and ordered an end to his harassment.
Unable to deal with the trauma, Ruchika committed suicide in December 1993 and her family went into hiding.

In 1997, the case was handed over to the federal police, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which concluded Mr Rathore was guilty and formally pressed charges in court in 2000.
In the meantime, Mr Rathore was promoted to the head of Haryana police.

In a case that took 19 years to reach a conclusion, Ruchika's family and friends say they are disappointed by the verdict and will continue campaigning to get justice.
A candle-lit march will be held in Delhi on Thursday(24th December 09) in a bid to mobilise support for their campaign.
Aradhana's father, Anand Prakash, says, "We will see to it that justice is done."
Aradhana was Ruchika's close friend. Both of them used to play tennis together, where this incident happened.

Have a look at this video for the detailed report of this case.
Look at the way Mr. Ram Jethmalani(Senior Criminal Lawyer) is speaking as if nothing has happened. He is saying "I am sorry, this is not a serious issue and the law need not be changed for this case."

Have a look at the video:



Source: news.bbc.co.uk, 24th December 2009 and NDTV.com

TED India Talks: Sunitha Krishnan fights sex slavery

Sunitha Krishnan has dedicated her life to rescuing women and children from sex slavery, a multimilion-dollar global market. In this courageous talk, she tells three powerful stories, as well as her own, and calls for a more humane approach to helping these young victims rebuild their lives.

About Sunitha Krishnan:

Sunitha Krishnan is galvanizing India’s battle against sexual slavery by uniting government, corporations and NGOs to end human trafficking.

Each year, some two million women and children, many younger than 10 years old, are bought and sold around the globe. Impassioned by the silence surrounding the sex-trafficking epidemic, Sunitha Krishnan co-founded Prajwala, or "eternal flame," a group in Hyderabad that rescues women from brothels and educates their children to prevent second-generation prostitution. Prajwala runs 17 schools throughout Hyderabad for 5,000 children and has rescued more than 2,500 women from prostitution, 1,500 of whom Krishnan personally liberated. At its Asha Niketan center, Prajwala helps young victims prepare for a self-sufficient future.

Krishnan has sparked India's anti-trafficking movement by coordinating government, corporations and NGOs. She forged NGO-corporate partnerships with companies like Amul India, Taj Group of Hotels and Heritage Hospitals to find jobs for rehabilitated women. In collaboration with UN agencies and other NGOs, she established printing and furniture shops that have rehabilitated some 300 survivors. Krishnan works closely with the government to define anti-trafficking policy, and her recommendations for rehabilitating sex victims have been passed into state legislation.

"The sense that thousands and millions of children and young people are being sexually violated and that there’s this huge silence about it around me angers me."
Sunitha Krishnan

Here is the Video:

TED India Talks-Ryan Lobo: Photographing the hidden story

Ryan Lobo has traveled the world, taking photographs that tell stories of unusual human lives. In this haunting talk, he reframes controversial subjects with empathy, so that we see the pain of a Liberian war criminal, the quiet strength of UN women peacekeepers and the perseverance of Delhi's underappreciated firefighters.

About Ryan Lobo:
As a photographer and filmmaker, Ryan Lobo uses his exquisite lens to capture humanity and nature at their most open and vulnerable moments.
During a recent shoot on the streets and beaches of Chennai, Ryan Lobo turned his lens on men and women in relaxed, after-work poses. His starkly beautiful black-and-white photos, Lobo writes, reveal what it's like “to be young, employed and alive in Chennai today, regardless of one's language, economic class or social skills.” This follows the theme of Lobo's career: breaking down stereotypes while reframing the landscape.

Since 2001, Lobo has been taking haunting stills of everything from Yakuza tattoos and the illegal organ trade to the Indian middle class. He's worked as a field producer on many nature-oriented shows for National Geographic and founded Mad Monitor Productions, a production company based in Bangalore and Washington, D.C. There's no scientific, economic or sociopolitical boundary Lobo isn't willing to cross. His intense fieldwork continues to illuminate his traveling (you can read about his journeys and see photographs on his blog) and a forthcoming book project.

"I have attempted to delve beneath clichés and with photographs tell stories about the secrets, trials and ethos of urban Chennai."
Ryan Lobo

Here is the Video:

TED India Talks-Thulasiraj Ravilla: How low-cost eye care can be world-class

India's revolutionary Aravind Eye Care System has given sight to millions. Thulasiraj Ravilla looks at the ingenious approach that drives its treatment costs down and quality up, and why its methods should trigger a re-think of all human services.

About Thulasiraj Ravilla:

Thulasiraj Ravilla is the executive director of the Lions Aravind Institute of Community Ophthalmology, helping eye-care hospitals around the world build capacity to prevent blindness.
As director of the Lions Aravind Institute of Community Opthalmology, Thulasiraj Ravilla is helping to promulgate the Aravind Eye Care System's exam, diagnosis and treatment model to find culturally relevant solutions to the problem of avoidable blindness throughout India, and throughout the world.
Ravilla serves as chair of the Southeast Asian arm of the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness, and is head of Vision 2020: The Right to Sight, a global initiative for the elimination of blindness. He developed the LAICO-Aravind Eye Hospital Care System, and continues to lead it.
"When you grow in spiritual consciousness, we identify with all that is in the world so there is no exploitation. It is ourselves we are helping. It is ourselves we are healing."
Dr. G. Venkataswamy, founder, Aravind Eye Care System

Here is the Video:

TED India Talks: Anupam Mishra - The ancient ingenuity of water harvesting

With wisdom and wit, Anupam Mishra talks about the amazing feats of engineering built centuries ago by the people of India's Golden Desert to harvest water. These structures are still used today -- and are often superior to modern water mega projects.

About Anupam Mishra:

To promote smart water management, Anupam Mishra works to preserve rural India’s traditional rainwater harvesting techniques.

Anupam Mishra travels across water-challenged India studying rainwater harvesting methods and learning from the people behind them. He presents his findings to NGOs, development agencies and environmental groups, pulling from centuries of indigenous wisdom that has found water for drinking and irrigation even in extremely arid landscapes through wells, filter ponds and other catchment systems.

A founding member of the Gandhi Peace Foundation, Mishra is working to bridge the gap between modern water management technology and india's heritage of water harvesting, so that every community is self-sustainable and efficiently safekeeping an increasingly scarce and precious resource.

Listen to his entire speech, initially you will feel that what this man is talking is full of crap but at the end u feel its worth watching this entire talk.

Here is th Video:

TED India Conference: Pranav Mistry - The thrilling potential of SixthSense technology: Video

Here is another Indian - Pranav Mistry, who is making mark worldwide with his great technological skills. He is the inventor of Sixth Sense Technology which is just amazing. Just have a look at this video. I bet you will be astonished. Such great people from India are taking India ahead in the global technological front. Hat's Off!

At TEDIndia, Pranav Mistry demos several tools that help the physical world interact with the world of data -- including a deep look at his SixthSense device and a new, paradigm-shifting paper "laptop." In an onstage Q&A, Mistry says he'll open-source the software behind SixthSense, to open its possibilities to all.

About Pranav Mistry:
Pranav Mistry is the inventor of SixthSense, a wearable device that enables new interactions between the real world and the world of data.
He is a PhD student in the Fluid Interfaces Group at MIT's Media Lab. Before his studies at MIT, he worked with Microsoft as a UX researcher; he's a graduate of IIT. Mistry is passionate about integrating the digital informational experience with our real-world interactions.

Here is the Video :

TED India Conference: Hans Rosling on Asia's Rise - How and When : Video

Look at this video of TED India Conference where Hans Rosling explains and predicts the economic growth of India and China. India Shining. :)

Hans Rosling was a young guest student in India when he first realized that Asia had all the capacities to reclaim its place as the world's dominant economic force. At TEDIndia, he graphs global economic growth since 1858 and predicts the exact date that India and China will outstrip the US and become the worlds economic power.

About Hans Rosling:
As a doctor and researcher, Hans Rosling identified a new paralytic disease induced by hunger in rural Africa. Now he looks at the bigger picture of social and economic development with his remarkable trend-revealing software.
Even the most worldly and well-traveled among us will have their perspectives shifted by Hans Rosling. A professor of global health at Sweden's Karolinska Institute, his current work focuses on dispelling common myths about the so-called developing world, which (he points out) is no longer worlds away from the west. In fact, most of the third world is on the same trajectory toward health and prosperity, and many countries are moving twice as fast as the west did.

Here is the Video:

Shiv Sena Activists attack on IBN Lokmat channel's Office: Video

India is facing more problems in regionalism and national integrity these days especially after recent attacks on North Indians by MNS in Maharashtra. If this goes on like this, the day is not too far that India itself will be splitted into different parts based on this meaningless regionalism. Indians should first stop this and stop fighting against each other.

Few days back Sachin Tendulkar said "Mumbai belongs to all Indians. I am a Maharashtrian and am extremely proud of that. But I am an Indian first" . What was wrong in that statement. Shiv Sena started attacking sachin through media saying that what he said was against maharashtrians and marathi manoos. This was not enough to them, they later attacked the IBN news channel in mumbai.

CCTV captures the moment right wing Shiv Sena activists launch an attack on the offices of television channel IBN Lokmat in India's western Mumbai.

At least 25 people were hurt when an angry mob of 20-25 activists barged into the office of the channel at around 1600 (1130GMT).

Armed with rods and cricket bats, the mob damaged computers, furniture, glass partitions and other electronic equipment. The attack on the IBN offices was allegedly sparked by negative reports about the Shiv Sena and its chief Balasaheb Thackeray.
Media networks across the country have condemned the incident, saying it amounts to a clear attack on press freedom. Police have arrested seven people in connection with the incident.

Look at the way the activists are attacking the journalists inside their office. Disgusting.

Here is the Video:



According to a channel staffer, the Sena activists barged into the channel office around 4 p.m., shouting slogans in favour of the Shiv Sena and Bal Thackeray.

Besides editor Nikhil Wagle, who was slapped, pushed around and had a chair flung at him, three other staffers sustained injuries in the Shiv Sena activists' attack.

A shaken Wagle said that some of the activists launched a brutal attack on the journalists and other staffers in the office, they caused extensive damage to the office, furniture and fittings there.

"The attack was preplanned, they had come armed with sticks and iron rods for creating the mayhem in our offices. They hurled a chair at me," Wagle told media persons.

The Shiv Sena owned up responsibility for the attack later Friday evening, while the vandalism drew condemnation from other political parties.

"The government shall not go soft on the Shiv Sena and the media should boycott the Shiv Sena," a grim Ashok Chavan told media persons Friday evening. The city police nabbed seven and Pune police arrested eight Shiv Sainiks for the attacks.

Home Minister R.R. Patil also condemned the attacks and assured newsmen that stern action would be taken against those involved.

Shiv Sena spokesman Sanjay Raut accused the channel of misquoting Thackeray's observations on cricket maestro Sachin Tendulkar in a signed article in the Sena mouthpiece "Saamana" last week.

"This is not an attack on the entire media. The (IBN-Lokmat) channel has been constantly misreporting about Bal Thackeray and targeting the Shiv Sena. We shall not tolerate any criticism of our party chief," Raut, a Sena Rajya Sabha MP, said.

"They also manhandled a few staffers, including women, and editor Nikhil Wagle and others," said Vijay Darda, chairman of the Lokmat group of newspapers that part-owns the channel.

Terming it as "an attack on the freedom of speech and media", Darda said he did not expect this from Sena executive president Uddhav Thackeray.

"I have always considered him as a refined, cultured and family person and what has happened has pained us," Darda told IANS.

He said the channel had been running several reports on the debacle of the Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alliance in last month's elections to the Mahastrata state assembly.

"They have vented their frustration at the defeat on the journalists and the TV channel, which is highly condemnable," said Darda, a Congress member in the Rajya Sabha.

Darda, whose younger brother Rajendra is a Congress cabinet minister in Maharasthra, said it is "disturbing that the Sainiks have become so bold as to launch attacks on the media without any fear".

CNN-IBN chief Rajdeep Sardesai termed the attacks as "a shame" and condemned the Sena for the attaks.

"Be it the Shiv Sena or the Maharashtra Navnirmaan Sena (MNS), all are anti-social elements. They are spreading a feeling of regional difference amongst the states of the country. We appeal to the Election Commission to cancel the registration of such parties which do not follow the Indian constitution," Rajendra Chaudhary, spokesperson of the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh, told IANS.

Source: in.reuters.com,www.tvnext.in, 20 Nov 2009

2000 women whipped for 5 hours by priests in Tamilnadu: video

More superstition. Once again the target is women. Massive whipping of women and even young girls. They are getting whipped like this as part of some ritual. Really dont know how many such rituals are still existing in rural India. People watching this say nothing absurd about what they saw. "Tradition is tradition", they say.

Read On and also have a look at the video..

Like every Dussera, thousands gathered to pray at a 300-year-old temple in Tamil Nadu's Namakkal district. What followed next was unspeakable horror.

Two thousand teenagers and children, some as young as 10, were whipped by the temple's priests. For five hours. The priests' explanation: This whipping is a cure-all. Some 10-year-olds were lashed for not studying enough. Others were attacked for being slow to attain puberty. And menstruating teens were hit for being impure. The priests say this is nothing new. "We have been practicing this ritual for 300 years" declares Thangavelu, a priest.

The shocking scenes were filmed by local channels, none of whom called for help. Like others in this area, they find nothing absurd about what they saw. Tradition is tradition, they say.

The women can be seen gasping for breath, many are sobbing their hearts out. But the faith is unshakeable. Radhika, a devotee, says, "We believe that when we are whipped, we will get rid of all our mental and physical ailments and evil spirits."

Source: NDTV, September 30, 2009

9 year old karnataka boy set a new record in limbo-skating: Video

I always wondered why sports like gymnastics, skating, etc are not promoted in India. If promoted properly, these might bring us good amount of medals in olympics and commonwealth games.

Leaving medals aside, here is one 9 year old indian guy who has set a new record in limbo-scating. This needs a lot of dedication and practice. Wonder what is limbo-driving, have a look at the attached video.

Read On..

A 9-year-old boy from Belgaum, Karnataka, has set a new record by doing “limbo-skating” under cars while blindfolded.

Rohan Ajit Kokane left onlookers shocked showing them his skilfulness at vanishing under three vehicles, before emerging triumphantly on the other side.

The daring schoolboy is the first to attempt a record at limbo-skating while blindfolded.The World Records Academy has given him a certificate, and nominated his brave efforts for the Guinness book of world records.



The bendy third grade student started limbo-skating two-and-a-half years ago, and trains for four hours every day.“I passed blindfolded under three cars but in future I would try to pass under more,” the Sun quoted him as saying.

Rohan revealed that he was first inspired by a boy skater at a local roller skating rink in Belgaum.“I got fascinated and asked my dad to get me one roller skate because that’s all we could afford,” he said.

He first developed his talent at home, and later took formal lessons from a skating coach.Suryakant Hindelgelkar, Rohan’s trainer, says that he soon realised that his student had a special talent.

He said: “I train more than 200 students but seeing Rohan’s body flexibility and control, I knew he could do something unique. We came up with limbo-skating blindfolded. He is an amazing student. I think he’s god’s gift.” (ANI)

Here is the Video:

Source: www.thaindian.com, September 23rd, 2009

13 year old Indian Girls fiery speech against Pakistan : Video

I am speechless by seeing this video !

Look at the hatred against pakistan in her words. uffffff !!!!

I am not sure whether such level of hatred is good or not, but if this is what a small girl feels and preaches to other people, just think to what level Indians are disturbed by their neighbors terrorist acts over the years.

Here is the Video:

A Monkey taking care of a new born baby: Video

Have you ever seen a monkey being a baby sitter.
Here is one such story where a monkey takes care of a new born baby.

A wild monkey in Dhenkanal(INDIA) protects and takes care of a twenty-four day old human baby when his mother is engaged in household activities. The monkey comes to the house in the morning and spends the whole day taking care of the baby and at times even sleeps in the house with the little one. This incidence has become the talk of the town and the locals are also surprised, though pleasantly protects and takes care of a twenty-four day old human baby when his mother is engaged in household chores.

Here is the video..

New born babies thrown off roofs to thank God : Video

How can anyone throw their new born baby from a roof of 50 feet height just for following some of their bizarre religious tradition. If by mistake the head of the child bangs to the ground directly, the child will be spot dead. Still, people in india take this risk.

Read On.. and have a look at the video also.

Religious traditions are diverse and sometimes as bizarre as they can get. A village in Solapur, Maharashtra, has a dangerous tradition of throwing newborns from a height of 50 feet onto a sheet, which is held by devotees.

The infants are thrown off the roof of the Baba Sheikh Umar Saheb Dargah in Musti village in Solapur. This is an age-old tradition practiced by couples who are blessed with a child after taking a vow at the dargah. The devotees also believe that this ritual is good for the health of the child.

“People have been following this tradition for almost 500 years now. They believe that if they throw the child from the roof then it does good to him or her,” deputy sarpanch of Musti village, Ravikiran Mehta said.

While the practice may seem dangerous and superstitious to others, the devotees strongly believe that the fall will not harm the infants. The reason given is that there has been no recorded evidence of any physical disability to the infants.

“It’s our family tradition and so we follow it,” a devotee said.



Source: IBNLive, Apr 27, 2008