Holi is the festival of radiance, colors and usher in spring. I wish you all a happy Holi / Dol (as we Bengalis say) and hope that you all remain safe (no colors in eye).

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I am just back from a Bengali wedding and I am writing this post after gulping some super strong antacid. I had a bad experience. My tips for groom’s guardians:
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I just came back from a semi-traditional Indian wedding. It was an interesting experience. I met with many first-cousins and other relatives who are supposed to be close to me, but this is the first time I am seeing them, ever. Others I am seeing after 16-20 years. I wasn’t happy, I wasn’t sad either. It just made me realize how fragile human relationships are and how transient are the bonds with which we tie ourselves.

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In MySpace on average (based on sample size of 2071208 images) 15 photos are uploaded per user. Considering only users who have at least one or more photos uploaded, they have on average uploaded a staggering 32 photos.

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My public profiles on 9 popular social networking sites:

• LinkedIn - I have started adding my friends to this. Found some old IITians from this network. Also was able to find some old friends.
• Pownce - Just started…
• Orkut (requires free Orkut account) - Looks more like a dating network, similar to Friendster.
• Ryze - I was one of the early adopters, haven’t used lately. It has lots of details about me.
• Twitter - I frequently update it these days. Feel free to add me to your list.
• Facebook - Requires a free login.
• Hi-5 - Pretty spammy site. It dupes unsuspecting users to send hi5 requests to all addresses in their contact book. Avoid this site.
• MySpace - My MySpace love.
• Friendster

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IPC 498a Indian Penal Code 498a makes it super easy for any wife to systematically harass and make life miserable for her husband and in-laws, including but not limited to jail time and routine torture by cops. All she has to do is file a FIR (first information report) at the local police station, even a false one, and cops will arrest her husband and her in-laws (whoever has been accused) will be imprisoned without any chance of bail. To further clarify when an FIR under IPC section 498A (498a) is registered, the accused are automatically arrested and jailed without investigation.

What is IPC-498a ?
Cognizable – The accused can be arrested and jailed without warrant or investigation
Non-Bailable – The accused must appear in the court to request bail
Non-Compoundable – The complaint cannot be withdrawn by the petitioner
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I wish all Indians, in India and abroad, a happy Independence day on its 60th anniversary. I hope it heralds the beginning of ongoing prosperity and happiness for the whole country. May the country live upto its glorious past and may we even excel it.

I recently started exploring a rather alarming phenomenon, which was there all along but has very recently been highlighted to me. Let’s say a person has been attacked by members of a particular community. The normal reaction I would have expected is general condemnation of the attack even from the members of the same community. However it is actually being justified and further threats are being given, members of that community are lamenting that the murder attempt wasn’t successful and life-threats and legal threats are being given to the victim. What is wrong with this picture? I explored in more details with some members of the community and came with a shocking realization.

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Waterlogged streets and flooded homes everywhere in Kolkata thanks to inept Kolkata Municipal Corporation and heavy rains last few days. Personally we haven’t suffered.

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Attorney General Jim Hood said his office is reviewing 162 identifiable records of registered Missisippi sex offenders provided by MySpace.

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