Top Ten Highlights of the Absolutely Spectacular Common Wealth Games 2010 Opening Ceremony Showcasing Indian Culture at the

Source - http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/commonwealth_games/delhi_2010/9052926.stm
Source - View full slide show at The Hindu
Source - Spectacular Picture Slideshow from the Gaurdian, UK


I knew when i started to get text messages and calls from friends in India, that the opening ceremony of the Common Wealth Games had been a mind blowing affair. At about 1.pm EST i started to hear the excited streams come in. Barely two weeks ago, most people had given up on the event, but from all accounts (friends, family, and the media) the opening ceremony was mind blowing. Here are some accounts
1. India has Arrived - Guardian, UK
2. Commonwealth Games off to colourful start, The Hindu
3. Commonwealth Games 2010: India opens doors to the world at opening ceremony - The Telegraph

And besides the technical effects, the artists and all the glitz, what made the almost 3 billion people who watched it go wow was that warmth and depth of the fabulously rich cultural and intellectual heritage of the country that on in display.

I mean just look at the highlights of the opening ceremony

1. Entire stadium was decked up to glow like a new bride

2. The evening started with the blowing of the conch shells because all auspicious events start that way

3. The crowds were greeted by thousands of children dancing to form a 'Namaste' to the sounds of 'swagatam" (meaning you are welcome)

4. The diversity of the country (its 23 official languages) and dozens of dances and musical forms were brought into a whole with a 7 year child prodigy playing the tabla

5. The show then focused on perhaps India's greatest contribution - Yoga and the tradition of guru-shishya (student teacher) and learning. They even have an illuminated Buddha

6. Then there was depiction of Gandhi to remind the world of India's non violence

7. The love for its neighbor - the Pakistan contingent got the maximum applause after the Indian Contingent

8. Our biggest global brand, AR Rahman got the show to a resounding end with the rendition of the theme song

9. Depiction of India's growing economy and modern technical achievements with $8 million helium balloon that rose into the sky to ecstatic cheers after a countdown beaten out on giant drums.

10. And lastly, dedication to the common man in India with all depicted in the train ride symbolizing India's movement, 'the great indian journey'. A train spilling rickshaws, cattle, fishermen, hawkers, oversized sparkling bags of laundry, leering bureaucrats, weavers and brick kiln labourers across the stadium floor.

And i am so glad there was no bollywood here - this was pure and classical india.

Check out some awesome pictures. As they say - it only happens in India. I mean two weeks ago the event was billed to a be headed to disaster and then to come up with a dazzling ceremony - The gods only know how the stars align to get it all right!

Hot Yoga, Bikram Yoga, Yoga to the People - Call it Whatever, It Aint No 'YOGA"

As the title says and i will repeat it - 'Hot Yoga, Bikram Yoga, Yoga to the People - Call it Whatever, BUT IT Aint No 'YOGA'. Period!

I went to a hot yoga (yoga to the people) class today. Ok, i will say it upfront, i usually only do iyengar yoga). I wanted to see what it was like. I do understand the need to innovate, to create new things, but i dont think hot yoga qualifies to use the label "yoga". Okay its a hot workout (lots of sweating) and the poses at best can be said to be inspired from classical yoga. But guys, this is not yoga! Call it anything else, "hot exercise", "sweat exercise", whatever, i am all for it. But, Please dont attach the word Yoga, drop in some Asana names, and end the class with a Namaste to make this yoga !!

To begin with, there was no attempt to make the students understand the pose in terms of the axes where the stretch needs to happen, to recognize the elements of alignment, and correctness. There was no sincere attempt to emphasis the need to create balance in all angles, planes, and or that focus that one needs to apply in the mind to hold the pose.

Beyond the general stuff, take for example individual poses such as the second warrior pose [veer asana] (by the way, they call it the triangle pose - its not). When doing this pose, there are certain important points to note. The chest has to face forward (all students had their chest twisted a bit towards the bent leg). In the classic pose a major emphasis is on the the stretch that needs to happen at the groins - the forward leg needs to open from the groin outward to the knee which goes back. The hips need to be tucked in wards and brought in the same place the (forward) bent leg knee and the back foot. Another key aspect of the warrior (or many of the standing triangle related poses) is that the outer portion of the back leg has to be planted deep down into the floor so much so that the chest is propelled up. But the pose we did in Hot yoga was nowhere about this. It was about working your thigh muscles to hold the warrior pose at 90% angle (between thigh and the legs at the knee jt ).

The same can be said of the other poses. And i dont understand why do almost 30 mins of poses alternating with 10-15 seconds of Shava Asana. The Shava Asana is done typically in the end of the practice.


I could go on but suffice it to say, Hot Yoga was simply a fast paced workout (but i seriously dont understand the logic of the hot room!)

Bikram (i was told Hot Yoga follows the same 26 postures of Bikram yoga) and the many others, including those at Hot Yoga and similar variants, folks, i sincerely admire your efforts to make Yoga Popular and i am all for innovation. And yes as a physical exercise, Hot Yoga is great. Do whatever you guys like (i am all for people wanting to sweat their butt off in your classes) but just make it clear "this Aint yoga." I mean there is 5000 years of art, science and wisdom to it. If there is any doubt of what Yoga is, one just needs to look at the picture of BKS Iyengar (or his students) or see his videos or books - here are some for reference with more here





Last but not the least, why this experience was more disconcerting is that there was a guy who was doing "Yoga" for the first time. And to him this is what "Yoga" was after the class. But i think it was the wrong introduction. Suffice it to say, just take an introductory class at the Iyengar Yoga Institute in NYC and you will know why i am writing this post and what i am trying to say.

Non stop 24 hr hacking and coding at the TechCrunch Disrupt Conference

What a day!! Non stop, adrenalin fueled from scratch to a fully functioning App! had a great time at the TechCrunch disrupt Hackathon - met some of the coolest, creative and talented developers on this side of the silicon valley. Some of the 60 apps build just were way out there - like the FutureMario guy who controlled the mario game with blinks of his eye (he won the competition).

we guys built the first web app that used the Facebook API and the Google Charts API to make LikeALytics.com - sort of Google Analytics for the Facebook Like button on your website

We all know how big Facebook Like button has become or can be and 100k+ sites have implemented the same and billions of likes have been recorded. LikeA-lytics.com provides Analytics on how much a websites content is being "liked" on facebook -

-the daily count of likes across all the domain urls,
-the top liked posts,
-the most liked bloggers of the domain
-Comparison of likiness of a site with another

We have currently built this to display data for both TechCrunch.com and ReadWriteWeb.com and we will release the site with the ability to provide data for any given site with a feed in a week

Check it out and let us know what you think

Some of the coolest apps were the FutureMario guys, the guy who built a 3-d scanner from two web cams and laser light pointer. And of course there were the MakerBot guys - way too cool - they make printers that can print 3-d objects !!!

From Punk Rope Games to Massive Hamstring Pull to a Red Bull Fueled 24 hr Hackathon

May 22nd is turning out to be a looooong and exciting day.

Started with participating in the 2nd Punk Rope Games content along with folks at heykiki.com - it was great fun competing with some serious punk (jump) rope participants. except that in the last event (a straight run around the bases sprint) i massively pulled my hamstrings and was in excruciating pain for some time till the tylenol and brufen kicked in.

But that would have been a normal saturday if things ended there. Had already signed up to participate in the TechCrunch disrupt hackathon - basically non stop coding from 2 pm till 10 am (sunday) morning and then demoing the app at 11.am

And with gallons of red bull and just plain excitement have been chugging along on the code with cop - things coming along folks - check out LikeALytics - the idea is to use the facebook api to make a analytics for like stats for a website.

And then we have another based app in the making but that will happen only if we can get the above done.

And in the meantime we have been keeping up on what people are saying on the LOST Message Wall to pay their tributes for this awesome series that concludes tomorrow! check it out


Check out the video of the hackathon



lots of cool stuff around here... like the 3-d printer (print plastic based models) and the mashery opener mashed up with a usb stick!

Why Cheapoair.com Sucks - second time they have ditched me

This is the second time i am being ditched by CheapOair.com - last time i bought a return ticket from NYC to Delhi in October they gave an unbelievable low price and then came back saying there was a system glitch by British airways and hence one day before my flight they canceled my ticket.

Then yesterday i decided to give them a benefit of doubt and purchased a round trip from Delhi to Newark. They offered cheap fares of approx $1120 per person - all good - ticket got confirmed and even got the booking receipt and confirmation (see above and below)





Then after one day they come back saying - sorry we cant offer you that ticket and there was a system error and we can oly offer you a ticket at approx $1300+ - almost $200 more per person.

This is ridiculous - i spent 1-2 hrs going through the site and finding a ticket and now ia m back to square one - and i have lost two days in the process and prices have gone up.



Does any one know how one can take legal action against this company?

Random Sightings in New York City - Asbestos Kills and Roller Blading Dudes

Just happened to walk past this coffin in display which has a dummy guy with a mask inside it. An interesting way to increase awareness that 'Asbestos Kills' see below

And then 3 days back after getting out of my yoga class i saw this gang of dudes roller blading, skating and boarding off on 7th avenue - there must have been like 30 of them



NYC, the city always has more for you then once can imagine.

Gorgeous Tulips Abound as Spring Unfolds in New York CIty

Enjoy these gorgeous tulips that are blossoming every where on the sidewalks of New York city. The atrium near the World Trade Center has a very large number of them in all colors!

Thoroughly enjoying the magical and revolutionary iPad

Happened to buy the iPad today from the 68th and broadway apple store (you have to go see it - its awesome) and the whole experience of buying it was tooo cool - i walked in, asked one of the sales guys to get me one - which she did in a minute. and the whole thing was the size of a book and neatly packaged. and then the rep just took my card and swiped it on the iphone! the receipt was emaile d from the iphone itself and all in 2 mins!






And now i am just playing with the device - swiping, rotating, zooming, pinching and much more - including just oooogling!

here are some screenshots of the apps and stuff i have been looking at - the device has clear, crisp image and video rendition and is just meant to consume stuff with more focus. and the typing was actually better than i had thought - i was able to type the first blog and post it using the wordpress app from the device itself !!!

The New York Times App

The Cure Talk Clinical Trials Blog

Epicurious Food App

Watching Lost on the ABC App

Trialx.com - a website to find clinical trials

Image from iFood.tv

Sunday afternoon musing in the starbucks at battery park

One of the joys of the weekend is to spend a few hours letting the mind wander, think (without making an effort to think), criss-cross ideas while sitting in a starbucks or another cafe. Off late i have found this nice Starbucks right opposite battery park. It has great views of the park and the Hudson beyond and is usually teeming with a constant parade of tourists stopping over for a restroom break or a coffee (the former comes first).

And today for a brief moment it just occurred to me - as if some one was speaking these words into my mind or that my mind was reciting a mantra from the book of life itself. So i figured why dont i blog and tweet (and also text my friends) before the thought recedes into memory.

"In the end what really matters is passion and love.. its what drives the creativity within us to realize our potential."

Perhaps it takes a sunday afternoon in a Starbucks to learn/realize that.

But i think it applies to so much to what we do and becomes. And it surely does apply to entrepreneurship because unless you feel passionate about what you are doing and love what you are doing, a start-up may never realize its full potential.

Happy to hear comments ...

Enjoying Dark Chocolate With Caramel At the Starbucks After a Great Iyengar Yoga Class

One of the rewards of the long weekend (and a messy rainy one). Just wanted to sit down and enjoy a chocolate after my grueling (level 2) Iyengar Yoga class (went to Lra Brunn's class - very good, though a bit advanced for me).

Bought a Dark Chocolate with Caramel made by Starbucks itself. Felt really good though the chocolate itself was not the best i have had. But for $1.50 it did work to provide some contentment. Now back to work ...