For Japan With Love.

There are 2 parts to this:

1. Fundraising:

 ?

For Japan With Love has a direct link on the website to our fundraising page for ShelterBox. ShelterBox was one of THE first organizations asked by Japan to help and were on hand on the Saturday after the quake. 

Each large, green ShelterBox is tailored to a disaster but typically contains a disaster relief tent for an extended family, blankets, water storage and purification equipment, cooking utensils, a stove, a basic tool kit, a children�s activity pack and other vital items. 

Please check it out and whatever you can contribute will be so appreciated.

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2. Bloggers Day of Silence:

Anyone who has a blog can help out with this one. The aim is just raise awareness and respect and acknowledge the devastation going on in Japan.

The guidelines are simple.

1.  This coming Friday, March 18th, no posts at all on your blog.

2.  Please post a blog post about what you will be doing this Friday whenever possible in hopes to spread the word and whoever else would like to join in.

3. Tweet and re-tweet the shiznit out of the link to  http://www.forjapanwithlove.com please. 
4. Encourage everybody to contribute and donate shelter to Japan. 

Whatever anyone can contribute will be appreciated. Every little drop helps. 

Feel free to ask other bloggers you like to join in on this.  Whatever impact we can make will be so awesome.

For Japan With Love.

There are 2 parts to this:

1. Fundraising:

 ?

For Japan With Love has a direct link on the website to our fundraising page for ShelterBox. ShelterBox was one of THE first organizations asked by Japan to help and were on hand on the Saturday after the quake. 

Each large, green ShelterBox is tailored to a disaster but typically contains a disaster relief tent for an extended family, blankets, water storage and purification equipment, cooking utensils, a stove, a basic tool kit, a children�s activity pack and other vital items. 

Please check it out and whatever you can contribute will be so appreciated.

---

2. Bloggers Day of Silence:

Anyone who has a blog can help out with this one. The aim is just raise awareness and respect and acknowledge the devastation going on in Japan.

The guidelines are simple.

1.  This coming Friday, March 18th, no posts at all on your blog.

2.  Please post a blog post about what you will be doing this Friday whenever possible in hopes to spread the word and whoever else would like to join in.

3. Tweet and re-tweet the shiznit out of the link to  http://www.forjapanwithlove.com please. 
4. Encourage everybody to contribute and donate shelter to Japan. 

Whatever anyone can contribute will be appreciated. Every little drop helps. 

Feel free to ask other bloggers you like to join in on this.  Whatever impact we can make will be so awesome.

Silence Speak Volumes

This weekend was full of reminiscence of 26/11. That was because i chose to visit the places which now stood in poignant silence telling us the story of those who lost their lives in one of the worst ever terror attacks. I had the usual lunch and movie routine with my guy. But since we were dining at one of the restaurants at Churchgate, we decided to go on a stroll after lunch. And we started walking towards Nariman Point we saw The Trident-Oberoi. Even though there were no signs of attack externally, but it still had an untold story to tell. Its under renovation now, and is expected to open by Christmas. The whole area around it has been cordoned off to keep people away. Hope it reopens soon.......
We then went ahead to see "Rab Ne Bana di Jodi". Don't feel like talking about the movie, not bcoz i dint like, but bcoz i dont want to talk about it now. Its a good movie and SRK fans will like it for sure!! As the movie ended my next aim was to see the Taj Mahal Hotel.
We went to the Gateway of India to catch a glimpse of the legendary hotel that's been the face of Mumbai for decades. But what i saw was saddening.......both the buildings (old and new) had been cordoned off and no cars were allowed on any of the roads surrounding the Hotel. The hotel wore a deserted look and the old bldg bore the marks of the attacks. (look below)



I clicked two pics of the old Taj coz the new one seemed to be fine except for an opaque barricade that could be seen right from the new Taj to the old one. This has been placed in order to stop people from having a look at the ground floor and first floor of the old Taj which were completely destroyed in the encounter between the terrorists and the NSG commandos.



But the most irritating thing that i saw was that people were getting their own photographs clicked with Taj in the background. Just made me feel as if this was a tourist place and people have come on a picnic. It felt as if all these people around me were mocking the Taj Mahal Hotel. For heavens sake! this hotel has gone through so much....how can one click photos of it in the background......this is not a joke, its a reminder of the ghastly attacks, the pain that people who were inside the hotel had gone through. It is this quality of people which i find very apathetic. I couldn't go to Leopold Cafe coz i was running late for an appointment. I'll go their as well, mebbe next weekend.

Silence Speak Volumes

This weekend was full of reminiscence of 26/11. That was because i chose to visit the places which now stood in poignant silence telling us the story of those who lost their lives in one of the worst ever terror attacks. I had the usual lunch and movie routine with my guy. But since we were dining at one of the restaurants at Churchgate, we decided to go on a stroll after lunch. And we started walking towards Nariman Point we saw The Trident-Oberoi. Even though there were no signs of attack externally, but it still had an untold story to tell. Its under renovation now, and is expected to open by Christmas. The whole area around it has been cordoned off to keep people away. Hope it reopens soon.......
We then went ahead to see "Rab Ne Bana di Jodi". Don't feel like talking about the movie, not bcoz i dint like, but bcoz i dont want to talk about it now. Its a good movie and SRK fans will like it for sure!! As the movie ended my next aim was to see the Taj Mahal Hotel.
We went to the Gateway of India to catch a glimpse of the legendary hotel that's been the face of Mumbai for decades. But what i saw was saddening.......both the buildings (old and new) had been cordoned off and no cars were allowed on any of the roads surrounding the Hotel. The hotel wore a deserted look and the old bldg bore the marks of the attacks. (look below)



I clicked two pics of the old Taj coz the new one seemed to be fine except for an opaque barricade that could be seen right from the new Taj to the old one. This has been placed in order to stop people from having a look at the ground floor and first floor of the old Taj which were completely destroyed in the encounter between the terrorists and the NSG commandos.



But the most irritating thing that i saw was that people were getting their own photographs clicked with Taj in the background. Just made me feel as if this was a tourist place and people have come on a picnic. It felt as if all these people around me were mocking the Taj Mahal Hotel. For heavens sake! this hotel has gone through so much....how can one click photos of it in the background......this is not a joke, its a reminder of the ghastly attacks, the pain that people who were inside the hotel had gone through. It is this quality of people which i find very apathetic. I couldn't go to Leopold Cafe coz i was running late for an appointment. I'll go their as well, mebbe next weekend.

Mumbai Burns Again!!

An excerpt from one of the news websites of India:

"At least 101 people, including a foreign tourist and a top counter-terror officer, were killed and about 287 injured as terrorists struck in the heart of Mumbai in planned and synchronized attacks.Terrorists held people hostage in two five-star hotels, the Taj Intercontinental and Trident (formerly Oberoi) facing the waterfront across the Arabian Sea, and the Madam Cama Hostel.Three top police officials, including Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) chief Hemant Karkare, were among the nine policemen killed in gunfights with the terrorists, police confirmed."

What more can i say......i am speechless!! I have gone numb, to think of it i was thinking of writing a happy post yesterday. But dunno what went into me and i delayed it by a day.....had never thought that things would change so dramatically in one day. The happiness has been turned into tears and there's a sense of gloom all around me. I never thought that there would come a day when we would have a holiday due to terrorist attacks! Yes, i have been at home today, watching the television for minute to minute updates on the worst ever terror attack in Mumbai. It feels disgusting to know that there are such people who derive pleasure from such attacks and feel motivated to spread terror amongst people.

By the way i am going on a family vacation to Coorg & Ooty; two beautiful hill stations in South India this Saturday and will be back only on 8th December. It couldn't have come at a better time.....i am not being a coward by running away from this...but i want to take time off from everything happening around! Will be back soon and i hope everybody is safe and sound with their families.

Mumbai Burns Again!!

An excerpt from one of the news websites of India:

"At least 101 people, including a foreign tourist and a top counter-terror officer, were killed and about 287 injured as terrorists struck in the heart of Mumbai in planned and synchronized attacks.Terrorists held people hostage in two five-star hotels, the Taj Intercontinental and Trident (formerly Oberoi) facing the waterfront across the Arabian Sea, and the Madam Cama Hostel.Three top police officials, including Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) chief Hemant Karkare, were among the nine policemen killed in gunfights with the terrorists, police confirmed."

What more can i say......i am speechless!! I have gone numb, to think of it i was thinking of writing a happy post yesterday. But dunno what went into me and i delayed it by a day.....had never thought that things would change so dramatically in one day. The happiness has been turned into tears and there's a sense of gloom all around me. I never thought that there would come a day when we would have a holiday due to terrorist attacks! Yes, i have been at home today, watching the television for minute to minute updates on the worst ever terror attack in Mumbai. It feels disgusting to know that there are such people who derive pleasure from such attacks and feel motivated to spread terror amongst people.

By the way i am going on a family vacation to Coorg & Ooty; two beautiful hill stations in South India this Saturday and will be back only on 8th December. It couldn't have come at a better time.....i am not being a coward by running away from this...but i want to take time off from everything happening around! Will be back soon and i hope everybody is safe and sound with their families.

Dual Strike

This is all I can say after the occurence of two disasters....one caused by humans and the other caused by nature. Just when we were beginning to dwell over the massive earthquake that struck Central China on Monday....we hear about the seven serial blasts that rocked Jaipur yesterday, turning the Pink city red!! My heart sank when I saw the first file pictures of the blasts on the news channels....my heart goes out to the families of all those people who were shopping or were there to worship at the temple when the blasts occurred. I just went numb at the thought of how it must hav been for the ppl who lost their dear ones in the blast. Memories of the July 11, 2006 train blasts came rushing to my mind and I was left with a strange question in mind! �How do people agree to plant bombs in there own country, in there own area??� Yes, the heartless work of planting bombs is mostly done by local ppl who r hired for this purpose bcoz they know the area very well. I just fail to understand that is money so important that a person is actually willing to go ahead and create mass scale destruction. I dunno what goes on in the mind of the person who sells himself to such a task!

Talking about the earth quake that hit China on Monday, its heart wrenching to know that the toll has already reached 12,000 and is expected to increase further. Whenever such a calamity occurs I am reminded of only one thing�.I dunno how many ppl here believe in god�.but I feel its god�s way of reminding us tht, no matter hw advanced v become but when it comes to nature�s fury v mortals r helpless creatures! Even if v r able to detect something like an earthquake�..its impossible to prevent it from happening�..the least tht can b done is to try n minimize the impact on life and property. I think I am not goin to see the news for a few days now�as there is no point in seeing the aftermath of these disasters�.it will only evoke feelings of unhappiness. In case of China, it will take quite sometime for them to resurrect wht they hav lost. And In case of the blasts at Jaipur, the lesser said the better (the 2006 blasts case has still not been cracked!) what can one expect from a country like India?? The emotional and physical scars left behind by these blasts may never heal! Whatever mental turmoil I was going thru has been overshadowed by these two disasters��I wonder when will this sombre and glum phase subside!?

Dual Strike

This is all I can say after the occurence of two disasters....one caused by humans and the other caused by nature. Just when we were beginning to dwell over the massive earthquake that struck Central China on Monday....we hear about the seven serial blasts that rocked Jaipur yesterday, turning the Pink city red!! My heart sank when I saw the first file pictures of the blasts on the news channels....my heart goes out to the families of all those people who were shopping or were there to worship at the temple when the blasts occurred. I just went numb at the thought of how it must hav been for the ppl who lost their dear ones in the blast. Memories of the July 11, 2006 train blasts came rushing to my mind and I was left with a strange question in mind! �How do people agree to plant bombs in there own country, in there own area??� Yes, the heartless work of planting bombs is mostly done by local ppl who r hired for this purpose bcoz they know the area very well. I just fail to understand that is money so important that a person is actually willing to go ahead and create mass scale destruction. I dunno what goes on in the mind of the person who sells himself to such a task!

Talking about the earth quake that hit China on Monday, its heart wrenching to know that the toll has already reached 12,000 and is expected to increase further. Whenever such a calamity occurs I am reminded of only one thing�.I dunno how many ppl here believe in god�.but I feel its god�s way of reminding us tht, no matter hw advanced v become but when it comes to nature�s fury v mortals r helpless creatures! Even if v r able to detect something like an earthquake�..its impossible to prevent it from happening�..the least tht can b done is to try n minimize the impact on life and property. I think I am not goin to see the news for a few days now�as there is no point in seeing the aftermath of these disasters�.it will only evoke feelings of unhappiness. In case of China, it will take quite sometime for them to resurrect wht they hav lost. And In case of the blasts at Jaipur, the lesser said the better (the 2006 blasts case has still not been cracked!) what can one expect from a country like India?? The emotional and physical scars left behind by these blasts may never heal! Whatever mental turmoil I was going thru has been overshadowed by these two disasters��I wonder when will this sombre and glum phase subside!?