BIRD FLU

Outbreak of bird flu in Maharashtra and the Indian government's slow response to this potentially deadly outbreak again highlights the lethargic attitude of our elected representatives. That India's largest poultry company managed to keep the outbreak under wraps for some time, and it took the deaths of over 40,000 birds to draw the government's attention is a slap on the face of the establishment. In fact, does the government care at all?

The government took no precautions to safeguard India against the virus, which was spreading across the world like wildfire and was certain to reach our shores sooner rather than later. Detection took longer still, and though chickens are being burnt at a rapid pace now, there is now a concern about the safety of those employed to do the job. Government has had to employ extra staff on a temporary basis to fuel culling on such a massive scale. But there is not enough protective gear for this extra staff, which makes them easy targets. And all this killing may just not be enough.

The poultry farming industry will surely take a huge hit from this crisis. Big companies may still be able to survive this onslaught, but small-scale farmers, who run this trade from their backyards, will lose a valuable source of income. It can be argued that the government is offering compensation for every bird, but while a chicken fetches somewhere around Rs 80 in a market, the government has set the price at a paltry Rs 40. This has forced medium to small operators to hold back their birds, some of which could be infected! They are, however, ready to risk the threat rather than take a monetary setback which could leave their kids starving.

With such poor planning and miserable implementation, it'll be some time before Indian shores are rid of bird flu -- if at all!

Come Back....

Hi Folks!
How r u all?
Finally made a come back to this blog world after a long break. Was in Mumbai for about 15 days, returned a few days back missed u all....
I have many relatives in Mumbai..
For first few days I was in Andheri(E),
Then in Thane for a day or so,
In Mulund for few days,
In Bandra for a day,
the remaining days I was in Sion.
Had a gr8 time during these vacations...
*Mid-Night we used to go to Reclamation road in Bandra for speed driving.
*Go for shopping everyday to different places (Hira Panna, Center1, Big Bazar, Shoppers Stop etc.)
and did some window shopping at some other places..
*Ramble around throughout the day without any reason..
*Had been to some other places but can't mention here( fav places for young boys and gls).
*Watched many films.
*Used to come online every-day but lazy to post.
some things I will never forget, one of them is When we got cought by the cop when entered in a No-Entry...
Lot to funny experience i had but dont want u to be bugged by a long post....hehe.

Thats it guys have to stop now..... Will post regularly fromnow on thats my promise
-----Aj

Fashon street

Now how many of us have noticed and appreciated the fact that foreigners really make street-fashion rock and have a big hand in making it big. Yeah! All of us have noticed that. I wonder why we don’t make full use of the by-lanes of Pahar Ganj, Tibetan Market, Sarojini Nagar and good old Janpath or for that matter fashion street in Mumbai.

Street Fashion is really big in every nook and corner of the country. The trouble is that we don’t know how to make good use of it. Yet, we keep wondering how foreigners carry off street fashion with such attitude and panache.

To make it work for you, it is important to understand what is street fashion and where, when and how much of it looks appealing. You can say there are two kinds of fashion that has made way into our lives through various fashion bazaars or local fashion markets. One is the functional-stylish street fashion that comes to us from the backpackers’ tradition. This includes shorts-tees, funky pajamas, lowers and other stuff. The second is the ornamental kind of fashion represented by skirts, dresses, junk jewelry et al.

Another thing one should keep in mind is that street fashion is essentially radical in nature (at least that’s how it began) and often goes against the current upper class fashion trends. So if Rohit Bal has said that the subtle look is in, the fashion statements on the street could be crazy bold colours. But when the upper class begins to use street fashion, the street immediately discards it and switches to a new trend. So if a certain style was prevalent on streets and a designer decides to put his trademark on it by making it popular, that style would go off the streets! For now, it would be called nothing new but a cheap down-market imitation (and comes to be known as a poor man’s Ritu Beri!).

Where we go wrong as consumers is that we tend to overdo everything including street fashion. So, if we decide to go functional-stylish or ornamental we go all out of the way and do it. And more often than not the spirit of the person is not in sync with the spirit of clothes! So while the foreigner who comes here is actually a backpacker and it suits him to wear just about anything off the street it may not suit an executive living in Delhi. He would just look like a dude-trying-to-be-a-backpacker.

You can only carry off a complete street look and make a fashion statement only if you are filthy rich, very beautiful or extremely powerful. If you are none of these, don’t try to go overboard and stick to standard fashion norms and conventional attire.

The safest and the best bet is to mix and match street fashion with brands. It looks really hip and zany. Merging the functional with the ornamental is also big but it should be done in right proportions.

So next time when you pair your Levis or Pepe with that red sequined spaghetti (you bought for 50 bucks) and red kohlapuris, you have not only made street fashion de rigueur and tasteful but also evolved your own fashion fundas.

-----Aj