Five Past Midnight In Bhopal -Dominique Lapierre and Javier Moro

What a book!!I should say that this is one of the best book written about a calamity or industrial disaster.Lapierre is a master investigator, he brings his vast experience in this book.They the authors started this book with the poor peasant family from Orissa and their struggle with their land and agriculture.Through this family the authors narrated the various incidents happened before and after the disaster.

This book reveals the history of pesticide in a very peculiar point relevant to this disaster.The Union Carbide's effort to bring sevin and other pesticides to prevent the attacks of Aphids and other insects which were causing so much trouble that many families all over the world suffered because of crop failure.Credit has to be give to UC for their invention which really helped so many families.But the problem was the danger of mass production of these pesticides.To capture the pesticide market in India ,Union Carbide decided to open a production plant in Bhopal,Madhya Pradesh, somehow they got the government approval(as its case still today,see to start any business),as Union Carbide started to construct the production plant,the exodus of people from different parts of orissa to Bhopal continued.

Orya Bustee was the place where the poor family from Orissa started their new life, this family's sole breadwinner was Ratna nadar and six others were dependent on him.(his wife,his daughter ,two sons and his parents).This Orya bustee was full of life with all kinds of people doing variety of jobs.Even though they were poor they shared their everything(only poor people can do that!!).The nadar family easily adopted to this place.They do whatever job the can to supplement the family.
Kids steals the coal fell down from the passing trains and get little money.

Union Carbide with the help of some locals able to construct the plant as they planned.The safety guide was prepared and sent to India to be given to all the employees.UC trained some of the finest Indian engineers for their new plant in Bhopal, these engineers were well educated and had been trained to handle deadly chemicals which the plant was going to produce.UC's management believed that their safety measures were best in the world, of course everyone thought the same since UC had a high reputation in the industry.

The plant was constructed near the bustees specially near Orya bustee.If the air blows in that direction ,it will carry the chemicals to these bustees.The engineers and the Union Carbide management knew this and the impact also but they firmly believed that their safety was best and never fails.The Union Carbide's recruited engineers and workers felt they were in seventh heaven,as they believed that getting job in Union Carbide so prestigious.They got nice salary and lot of other perks more than that some of them got nice girl to marry.Many parents were ready to get marry their daughter to a Union Carbide employee with huge dowry.Overall the employees of Union Carbide were in different world.

The authors description of life in Orya bustee is touching , as far i knew only Lapierre can do this, i already read his 'City of Joy'.The way everyday life went during that time was amazing.The Scottish nun Felicity who carried out health checkups in Orya bustee once in every week,Padmini,Ratna nadar's daughters immaculate behavior,Ahmed Bassi , the young tailor who was famous for his embroidering in sarees,Salar the bicycle repairmen,Nilambar , the sorcerer who exorcized evil spirits by sprinkling country liquor,Prema bai,the crippled widow,Ganga Ram,the former leper,Belram Mukkadam,the tea shop owner,Dilip ,Gopal and many more ..

The authors touched the history of Bhopal also,the description of Begams and their bravery, the colorful festivities and the poetry recital.I really wondered how come i don't know the history of most of the Indian states, i think we have to change our eductional system or government can take animated movies or children books to tell the these legendary stories.

On the night of second to the third December 1984 a massive leak of toxic gas (MIC) killed between 16,000 and 30,000 people and injured more than 500,000.The workers at that night first thought that small was normal nothing suspicious even though one of them warned, the tank which holed up MIC leaked , as Union Carbide suspended their alarm /warning system due to non-production.The Union Carbide did not get the profit as they expected so they stopped producing sevin.The wind blew towards bustees , first all the cows died then everything.I can't imagine that situation,pathetic as inhaling MIC caused sever irritation in eyes ,people ran here and there for water and medicine.The cloud with MIC caused unspeakable horror and immeasurable damage to Bhopal and its inhabitants.
Even today those who suffered or lost their dear ones waiting for the compensation and government action.Padmini and her newly wed husband survived but many of the Orya bustee inhabitants died .But the life goes on. The resilience of these people are amazing.
After finishing this book i felt strange that i was not informed or taught about this before.I decided to go to Bhopal once and visit all the places.It was one of the most remarkable investigation.Read this book.You will cherish the triumph of human spirit.
Check out this site for more info:
To view Union Carbide's statement
About the author

My trip to NTU,Singapore

Date:23/03/2010
Singapore

The purpose of my visit was to get my running t-shirt for Run Round Singapore 2010 organized by NTU.The moment i saw the sign board of Nanyang university,i got excited, wow great roads both sides beautiful trees,rain made the sight even more wonderful, i felt as if i was traveling in some hill station.once i got down from the bus i noticed many foreign faces(not chinese nor malays nor indians), thought they are professors and lecturers.I didn't even ask the way to my destination which is Executive center, the sign board and maps are so clear that no need of any external guidance.
The Executive center itself is a superb building specially the 2nd floor.I stood there wondering about similarities of the buildings which i read in different books,drank cold water still amazed by the surrounding.Once i got the t-shirt, roamed around Art building and tennis courts, i haven't seen any Educational instutions in my life like this before.
I decided to go there once again to see all the different buildings and take some photos.Hope Run Round Singapore will be a good one.Will update on that next week.

Ivar Vivahitharayal

Cast: Jai Surya,Bhama,Samvrutha Sunil,Nedumudi venu,Suraaj,Devan,Siddque and Rekha
Directed by:Saji Surendran
Music:M. Jayachandran

I liked this movie.The movie starts with the dream of the hero about his future wife and marriage.Thats the story, its about a student of 22 years of age getting married and how to handles the marriage life and his parents.He is having 4 wonderful friends, who share everything with him.The heroine is working as a RJ in a radio station and not interested in marriage , he wants to settle in good job.

Siddque and Rekha as a parent of hero done a very good job.They are living in a separate flat because of ego problem, the hero is switching between mother and father alternative days from his childhood.So he decided to get and marry and have a family.The girl(heroine) on the other side want to have independent life but her mother forces her to get marry before the age of 21 since her father asked to do at his deathbed. As usual two different characters are getting married , she doesn't know the truth that because of him only she lost hi job.

Hero failed in one of his exams which frustrates his parents and his father started scolding him, so he decided to go out and live separately.The newly married couple then lives in one his friends(Samvrutha Sunil) guesthouse, from the first day the heroine didnt like Samvrutha's closeness to him.The hero is trying to get a job but no one is hiring since he didn't pass his exam, now they started to feel the stress of not having money.Arguments broke out when the hero pawned the marriage ring and chain and bought gifts for her family and to go honeymoon and she also came to know that he is reason for his job dismissal, the same night the heroine misunderstood the hero as the he went to Samvrutha's home to get food, so decided to go to his home.The next day his parents came together and ask him to come and stay with them.They were brought together by the absence their children and sickness of his father, love prevails na..

The hero begged the heroine not to go to her house now and they come to conclusion that they both will stay together for one month in his parents flat.The hero started the proceeding for divorce.The rest as usual within one month he gets job and when he about to leave to Dubai, he explains why he decided to get marry at the early age.. then everything ends well. Music is nice . Suraj as assistant
advocate is wonderful, he is a really funny.. The interior of the houses are nice in this movie.

NorthEast Run 2010

Date:14-03-2010
Time:6:45AM
Place:Pasir Ris Par,Singapore
Distance:16KM
My pip number :2919

This was my first race of 2010.Due to some family problems and mental stress i thought of not to run this race , but something in my mind told me that 'go and have fun' so i kept alarm at 5:38AM on the race day.Unfortunately i didn't wake up by Alarm sound,i woke up at 6:20AM , immediately i put my running clothes and shoes, my watches and took a taxi to Pasir Ris park.I reached there at 6:42AM I paid the taxi and ran to the starting point but before i reach there the race started ,i was 2min:38sec late.Anyhow i started running along with other late comers.

Prior to the race i haven't practiced much,since im taking swimming lessons nowadays i tend to go to swimming than running.So once started running i set myself the distance of 10KMs first without taking too much risk or pain, for the first 6KMs i was feeling better ,no pain ,i was breathing normal.This race route was wonderful,runners have to cross the traffic signals ,bridges and over bridges,really nice but physically demanding for me as i have to adjust my pace which im not good at, i used to run at a same pace for a long time.

From 7th KM to 8th KM we ran inside Temasak Polytechnic ,this school has wonderful buildings ,i watched these buildings while traveling by bus but to see behind the buildings was so beautiful specially the fountains and pools.I crossed the 10KM mark with little pain in my back, i drank lots of water on the way since i ate only 2 breads before starting the race.But after 10KM i started feeling the pain all over my body specially both knees and back, i started walking for almost 4 mins,crossing the over bridge became Herculean task, again i started walk slowly and crossed it.
I pushed myself and finished my race with the timing 1hr 45 minutes.After finishing the race i felt peace in mind , the previous day mental stress had gone,stretched for sometime then undergone a free medical check up which showed the following details:
Body Fat : 11.5 % (Normal)
Weight:61.6Kg
Height:180.0cm
Visceral Fat:3
Blood Pressure: Systolic :83 Diastolic :56
The guy who checked me told that i have low pressure but no need to alarm, asked me to eat lots of meat.
Another surprise waited for me , after the race we had a lucky draw,i had won the 8th place prize which is Sing $500 spa voucher.

Overall a great race to start my racing calendar.

Balthasar's Odyssey - Amin Maalouf

I never heard of this book before.As you was searching for some discounted books in book sale i found this and some other books. Truly this book is one of the best book i ever read while traveling back and forth to office.
The Story revolves around Balthasar,his nephews, hi clerk, marta and the very important 'The Hundredth Name' a book.Balthasar is an antique merchant who sold the book 'The Hundredth Name ' to a french man.As the year 1666 approaches many believed that the world will end,mainly the Jews and some of them believed this book reveal the hundredth name of God which will protect them from all the evil,in Holy Quran there are 99 names attributed to the almighty.The rest of the novel is his adventure to get the book back.Author with his depiction of different places like Genoa, Symrna, London, Lisbon and many other places took us to that period i.e 1600 .

As Balthasar starts his journey to get back the book, he find himself many things about his own life and characteristics. He renewed his love for Marta and he remains faithful till the end even though Marta is a wife of rude man .Marta joined Balthasar and his entourage to get death certificate of his husband whom everyone believed died 5 years back from Ottomon officials. Balthasar loved/liked her from his teen age but he never proposed it to her or to her father.

The various habits and customs of the people of those period specially the Ottomon officials has been vividly described by the author.As the days are getting closer to the year 1666 there was chaos and riots everywhere in Ottomon empire.Once Marta found out that her husband is alive and went to stay with him Balthasar could not understand what to do since Marta is carrying his child.Balthasar's lamentation about his situation really natural and make the reader to think of the situations we face in our life.At last Balthasar found that the book was in London, he traveled there and found the book as well as a new love in this also he was not able to marry or take the girl with him as he has to escape the plague and fire .He found the book there and the keeper of the book asked him to translate it to English which Balthasar agreed but his translation was interpreted by his eye problems which he overcome by translating his own ideas of the book,which was reasonably good.The novel ends in a sad note that he neither marry his love nor gone back to his old business .The year 1666 passed without any major destruction.He keeps the book with him and curios to finish reading it.

But overall for me it was a great and wonderful read for 2 weeks , i read this book mostly in train and bus travels.Its amazing how a book will change the aspect of your journey.