Fair Factor

Fairness creams is a  big business in India. Really big. Watch any channel on TV and count the number of ads related to getting fair, looking beautiful. These ads have been aired since so many years and will continue to do so. Thanks to our obsession with looking fair. 

Most of us are obsessed. Is it because we have been brought up in society where having dark complexion is considered a curse? or We have too much peer pressure to look beautiful which somewhere down the line has been  equated with being fair? or we just want to ape the west. Gori chamdi included.   

Whatever be the reason, this obsession is not going to die soon. So do these fairness creams really make sense? I have used it a few years ago. Thanks to the cream being available on my mom's dressing table. Did it work ? Yes because a girl later on complimented that i look a lot fairer than before. Infact she was shocked.Now I dont want to vouch for the fairness cream. Maybe there must be some other reason. Or maybe the fairness cream really worked.  I dont know. This was six years ago. So recently when my mother complained that i look a shade darker and that i should 'take care' of myself, i decided to use my old friend. And the results are not as good as before. :)

I got a very strong opinion from one of my doctor friend  who said these creams should be banned as there is no way that these creams can control the  amount of melanin produced by skin which determines our skin colour. These creams(read chemicals) are just bleaching agents. And they have harmful side effects when used over long term.  

So the verdict is fairness creams work (a liitle) for sometime/some people, when combined with other conducive factors. Some of the other conducive factors are :  

1) Shut yourself up in your home. Dont venture out, avoid sunlight and dust. For one month. Or may be more if you can. I bet you will see the difference. 

2) Get yourself a software job. Reach the office before sun shows up. Preferably drive in a AC car. Find a place in office where the AC is strongest. Dont go home till the last of the sun rays have left. Try it out. This will work. Atleast this is a pretty feasible solution as compared to going to the poles. 

3) Try out all the natural alternatives that are available in the indian kitchen. 

4) Change the society outlook towards skin colour. 

For much better articles on this topic visit: 

Fairness Cream Case study by an MNC : You got to read this. 

Dark truth about fairness creams

 Ten funny ways of getting fair.

Satyam

The events that have unfolded over the past three days have been shocking. And its sad, for there is more than one reason to it. 

A lot of friends have been affected. Some close, some not so close. A company isnt dependent on an employee; and neither is an employee dependent on the company. I always live by the saying that whatever happens is for our own good. And i dont see a reason why this cannot be turned into an opportunity by all those who want to...... 

A lot of freshers are recruited by India's fourth largest software services provider every year. It seems a lot of that would not happen this year. That would mean added unemployed graduates. And it just further adds to ongoing financial crisis. 

A scam this big and its been going on for some years. How really are we to trust that this is just a single isolated case and its not going on else where? Probably in another company next door ? 

A lot of invsetor wealth has gone down the drain. The stock is being avoided by everyone and it seems to be heading only one way. Two years ago, i remember a colleague telling how he managed to earn few thosuands out of this stock and this was the stock to invest in. And very recently, a colleague told he had invested his first salary in this stock; and ten years down the line, when he had almost forgotten that he held the stocks, how happy he was to know that those few thousands now were worth more than few lakhs. Many earned a fortune, and now many have lost.

Mr Ramlinga Raju, You are one of the architects of new India. For many you were the role model to be. For some you still are.  A small beginning, that grew into one big family of great people and smart ideas. You were the icon whose each footstep was worth following. Until this happened. It just makes me wonder whether people can really trust anyone. Is there a dark side to everyone? Does money brings out the worst from the best of us ? I do think so. 

PS:

A blog by Satyam associates

A Satyam friend

Tadoba Tiger Reserve

Tadoba Tiger Reserve is a National park in the state of Maharashtra situated near Moharli village ,  25 Km from  the city of Chandrapur.  Established in the year 1955, the tadoba tiger reserve is home to tigers, leopards and many other wildlife species. The park is sprawled across 625.40 sq km area  and is home to variety of jungle cats, indian deer, reptiles and birds.

I had the pleasure of visting the tadoba national park on Wednesday 7 January 2009. The park remains closed every Tuesday and is open for tourists on other days from 6 am-11 am and 3 pm-7 pm. The night safari, which used to be the crowd puller is no longer available. The reserve is at one hour drive from the city  of Chandrapur and its best not to take your own vehicle. The road is not bad, but inside the tiger reserve only the likes of tata Sumo, Safari are allowed. Either take a hired vehicle from Chandrapur or you can hire one at the gates of the tadoba national park . We had hired a Tata Sumo in Chandrapur and reached the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation Resort at Moharli on Tuesday evening. The resort is right near the gates of the reserve and is a good place for overnight stay. We got up at 5 am next day, got ready and reached the entry gate at 6. It was still dark; We were assigned a guide and we entered the forest with great hopes. 

Over the next five hours in the reserve, we encountered Sambhar, Cheetal, Crocodile, Indian deer, various species of birds, monkeys, peacock, wild boar. But the tiger remained elusive. Spotting a tiger needs patience. You have to wait long nights, and days. To get that one glimpse. When we started out, we didnt think we will spend five hours inside forest. But the guide did his job with great perfection , taking us through all the 'inside' routes and all the water holes where its easy to spot animals. We also spotted the tiger pug marks. Thats as close as we could get. :)  April-May is good time to visit the reserve, when they say is the best time to spot a tiger.  During summer, the bushes are all dried up and water holes are few which makes it easy to spot tigers. We came out of the reserve at 11 am. Happy but not satisfied. 

Tadoba at wikipedia

Tadoba at project tiger

FeedBurner with a big B

I was exploring the idea of using feed burner. So that i can put a widget like the one you can see now on top left of my home page. And see how many readers i have and other such things... 

I stumbled upon this  Its a good starting point and within minutes you can start burning your blog feed.  Hope that it works out well and there are no issues with my feeds.