Srinivas Padma: Personal Musings on Life, Growth, and Connections

THAIPUSAM is an annual Hindu festival which draws the largest gathering in multi-racial Malaysia - nearly a million people in 2000. In Kuala Lumpur, the festival is celebrated on a mammoth scale at the Batu Caves temple on the outskirts of the city. It began in 1892, started by early Tamils who migrated to colonial Malaya. Thaipusam falls on a full moon day in the auspicious 10th Tamil month of Thai when the constellation of Pusam , the star of well-being, rises over the eastern horizon. Several hundred devotees spear their cheeks with long, shiny steel rods - often a metre long - and pierce their chests and backs with small, hook-like needles in penance. Tourists watch in awe as metal pierces the skin with hardly any bleeding and, apparently, no pain as the devotee stands in a trance in the dawn light after weeks of rigorous abstinence. Over the years, curious British, American and Australian medical experts have come to observe and speculate. Some think the white ash smeared on the

After being pronounced winner of the British reality show Big Brother, Shilpa Shetty’s walking away with 1,00,000 pounds and plush assignments… Hyderabad Times celebrates her victory FROM an unrecognisable Bollywood celebrity in the UK to winning one of the greatest reality shows, with a racist controversy in between, Shilpa Shetty has certainly come a long way in the 26 days between January 4 till Sunday last. As the debate on whether or not it was a rigged victory continues, she’s certainly struck gold. And we are also talking of a sure leap from Bollywood to Hollywood, if speculations are to be believed. But first a quick recap. Enter Shilpa Shetty On day one, Shilpa became the first ever Indian to be a part of Big Brother, a reality show which was started seven years ago in Britain, cashing in on voyeurism and receiving huge following over the years. “The only thing I really hope to keep is my self-respect and dignity,” said a tense Shilpa before she entered house. Trouble brewing

1. Bugatti Veyron 16.4 The Bugatti Veyron 16.4 from France is the world's fastest, most expensive, and most powerful car in the world. It can touch speeds of over 407.5 kmph and can go from 0 to 62 mph in 2.5 seconds. The supercar costs about $1.4 million (Rs 6.3 crore). Bugatti Veyron car is made by Volkswagen's 100% arm Bugatti Automobiles. The car has been named after Formula 1 racing driver Pierre Veyron, who won the Le Mans race in 1939 while driving for Bugatti. The car has a W16 engine, which is the equivalent of two narrow-angle V8 engines fused in a 'V' formation. Each of the car's cylinders has 4 valves making it a total of 64 valves. The engine is fed by four turbochargers. The car also has a fantastic array of electronic equipment. The Veyron can be driven by full automatic transmission. The car's wheelbase is 2710 mm and its overall length is 4462 mm. It is 1998 mm wide and 1206 mm in height. The car's weight is about 1,890 kg. 2. Koenigsegg CCX

The much awaited first diesel car from Maruti, the Swift diesel, was launched on Wednesday with an introductory price tag of Rs 4.68 lakhs for the LDi and Rs 4.96 lakhs for the VDi version. (ex-showroom, Delhi). The engine in the diesel Swift is the 1300cc DDiS engine, a derivative of the Fiat Multijet engine, says BS Motoring. Maruti has a plant in India to manufacture exactly this diesel engine in India - it only seems logical that it will find its way in to the Indian Swift too. Maruti also said that it plans to launch two new models in the next fiscal (2007-08) and a new model for export to Europe by 2008-09. However, it did not give any details of the new models to be launched. Launching the new Swift diesel, Maruti Udyog Limited (MUL) managing director Jagdish Khattar, said, “The demand for diesel cars is growing in India and Suzuki Motor Corporation (SMC) and MUL have made major investments in diesel facilities to serve this customer need.” Asked if more diesel cars from Maruti

No more rental fees ¦ Incoming SMS free ¦ Call rates slashed Some good news for mobile phone users : they will now pay much less in roaming charges, with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India ordering a steep cut in the tariffs by up to 56 per cent on Wednesday, and the rental for roaming being removed. At present, any cellphone subscriber who travels out side the home network is charged a rental of Rs 50 for national roaming services. For a GSM subscriber, an outgoing call could cost up to Rs 3.99 per minute while a CDMA user is charged anywhere between Re 1 to Rs 3.99, depending on the distance. The new roaming charges, applicable to all prepaid and postpaid users of any service provider, will be Rs 1.40 for local calls, Rs 2.40 for STD calls and Rs 1.75 for incoming calls, according to a statement issued by the telecom regulator. These changes will take effect from February 15. All incoming SMS would be free while roaming, while charges for outgoing SMS are still under considera

1. Possessiveness : Women always seem to have serous security issues. They need men to hold them, and tell them how special they are. 2. Hopping : Not only is the list end less, they check 10 different stores before finally buying something from the one they first saw. You will won der why she spent so much time roaming around. 3. Never satisfied : They spend hours preening in front of the mirror while you do not see the slightest change. 4. Fashion : Her tastes in fashion change so frequently that you either run out of breath trying to catch up, or end up wondering whether you are too dumb to catch up. At the end of the month you will also wonder why your wallet suddenly looks so empty. 5. They notice the minutest things :Why do women have to criticise everything from hairstyle to shoes? Only a woman can notice something as trivial as the purse not matching the shoes!

HYDERABAD: 84 hotel rooms of VIP standards in four floors, a swimming pool, a recreation centre and three floors of commercial activi ties under one roof. This is not a description of a new mall or boutique hotel coming up in the city, these are a few components of the new state tourism office at Begumpet. The new tourism office aspires to be a landmark in the city and not only because of its brightly painted yellow and blue facade. It is first of its kind tourism office cum hotel to come up in the country. Built on two acres of land in the heart of the city, the building will be centrally air conditioned with ample parking facilities. Defying stereotypes of dusty and mouldy tourism buildings, the top four floors of the seven-storey building will be occupied by an 84-room star hotel with a swimming pool. Shopaholics may enjoy the commercial area which will house handicraft, jewellery and souvenir shops. “This will be good for last minute shoppers. Many people are on a tight schedule an