Personification Personified...

Being a supporter, a fan, and a crazy fan is different fron each other. It depends on how much adrenaline can possibly the team make your glands release. I'm sure a BIG KKR fan, but I've seen better. The noise that a tv room in a boy's hostel can bear when Gayle lobs one over the ropes, or Dada sends someone packing to the stadium, is beyond words. Sore throats aside, one can become seriously impaired on the hearing front if he stays a part of that group for too long. And certain incidents show how much we get pumped up to see the team from our region beat the other's blackasses!

A fight broke out in the hostel adjoining ours just after the KKR Vs Deccan Chargers match. Some Hyderabadis made provocatory remarks, and then what? They were given a sound thrashing by KKR fans for *trying* to provoke them. A couple o' guys' landed up in hospital too.. Oh yes.. the police had to be called in to control the mob.. for the search of a right word.

Back in Kolkata, around 500 prisoners in the eastern Indian jail went on a hunger strike after authorities refused to allow inmates to watch the IPL.

"We cannot allow cable television inside the jail compound," B.D. Sharma, a senior police officer, told Reuters in Kolkata.

Sharma said prisoners were only allowed to watch state-run television and read magazines and newspapers.

So much for the love of the Bengalis towards KKR, and in perticular, Dada.

P.S. Quote copyright Thomson Reuters

Arctic sea ice is melting so fast most of it could be gone in 30 years. A new analysis of changing conditions in the region, using complex computer models of weather and climate, says conditions that had been forecast by the end of the century could occur much sooner. A change in the amount of ice is important because the white surface reflects sunlight back into space. When ice is replaced by dark ocean water that sunlight can be absorbed, warming the water and increasing the warming of the planet. The finding adds to concern about climate change caused by human activities such as burning fossil fuels, a problem that has begun receiving more attention in the Obama administration and is part of the G20 discussions under way in London. "Due to the recent loss of sea ice, the 2005-2008 autumn central Arctic surface air temperatures were greater than 5 degrees Celsius (9 degrees Fahrenheit) above" what would be expected, the new study reports.

That amount of temperature increase had been expected by the year 2070.

The new report by Muyin Wang of the Joint Institute for the Study of Atmosphere and Ocean and James E. Overland of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, appears in Friday's edition of the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

They expect the area covered by summer sea ice to decline from about 2.8 million square miles normally to 620,000 square miles within 30 years.

Last year's summer minimum was 1.8 million square miles in September, second lowest only to 2007 which had a minimum of 1.65 million square miles, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center.

The Center said Arctic sea ice reached its winter maximum for this year at 5.8 million square miles on Feb. 28. That was 278,000 square miles below the 1979-2000 average making it the fifth lowest on record. The six lowest maximums since 1979 have all occurred in the last six years.

Overland and Wang combined sea-ice observations with six complex computer models used by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to reach their conclusions. Combining several computer models helps avoid uncertainties caused by natural variability.

P.S. Article courtesy ABC news

For those who travel, learn. And those who learn, change. The Grassroutes program is well summarized in "Road trips for social change". It is a fellowship program that centers around a 10-day road-trip, that is designed to make the Fellows question themselves and their existing beliefs.

The fellows Travel to a pre-decided location and spend a week there trying to research and understand the on-ground reality – the problem at hand, the non-profits, the change-makers and their actions, the community and the local government. They play the role of social journalists and capture the stories of all the people involved in community development, and on their return, share them with the rest of the country. They get to be activists by lending a helping hand to the change-makers and use their skill-set to help the local community in their own little ways.

Last year, three teams of fellows, The Hungry fools, Fabulinius, and Sada diesel, went to explore three different locations, and their inherent problems. Sada Diesel, cut across Chattisgarh, Fabulinius trekked in Andhra Pradesh, whereas the hungry fools spent ten days in the backyards of Tamil Nadu.

P.S. Information qouted from www.grassroutes.in

I've not been keeping well for the past couple of days. Fever, the off and on type. I had paracetamol the first day, and was having it everytime the temperature went up. Incidently, my roommate is also suffering from the same problem. Today morning, both of us decided that we should get ourselves checked, and get a proffessional opinion.

It so happens that for students under Manipal University, medicare is given by the Kasturba Hospital (which is a part of the manipal group) free of cost. But again, it enjoys a monopoly over the medical scenario in manipal. Our college needs medical leaves to be certified by the hospital. Otherwise, we're fined. Rs 50 per class. More on that outrageous topic later. What happened was, when I and Chinmoy entered the student clinic, we were directed to the medicine department. What's the point of having a "student clinic" if no student is examined there? Anyways,  we entered the medicine department. And exited immediately. That was because there were already 30 odd people sitting and waiting there. After sitting in the general lounge for like half an hour, we wen't inside, and occupied two of the four odd empty chairs.In about twenty minutes, our names were called. Why? We were supposed to go to the cash counter, and get the department's slip stamped with the medicare stamp. We went. We braved the Q. We got our slips stamped. We came back. We handed over the slips to the counter at the medicine department. We were directed inside the enclosure. We were asked to wait outside cabin 1. Another Q. God! Why do we get sick? Standing there, I noticed something. The cabin of the Doc said, "Asst Prof". There was another chamber with the same distinction. A couple of examination rooms, and a room which said, 'Proffessor and HOU". Now for the best part. In the center of the room, were sitting around a table HOT KMC(d medical coll) interns. And a couple o' guyz 2. They were the 1s who did the elementary work. Blood pressure, pulse and all that. MAN I'd love 2 fall sick again. Anyways we were ushered into the Doc's cabin in a while. He examined our case, and asked us to get some tests done. 3 blood tests, and 1 urine test. Shit. That was what came out of my mouth. I'm scared of needles. Very scared.

My head is paining like someone just shot it. I'm goin to take some rest. Rest of the saga later.