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In Aberdeen, Scotland, Chivas brothers started making whiskey in 1801 which means the company is in business for the last 208 years. The sales figures of 2007 mentioned 4.4 million 9 litre cases. I am not sure if this means the company sold about 40 million litres of whisky in all or 40 millions litres of whisky in 750 ml bottles plus others. Whichever it is , it is a large quantity of whiskey. This is possible because it is the largest selling premium whisky in many countries including USA and China and many countries in Europe.

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Although Manu didn’t write with pencils, he still had a few of them and sharpeners he got as return gifts at birthday parties and other places. A pencil and a sharpener were a lethal mix and once he gets his hands on both, they would keep Manu busy for a good half and hour to an hour before the entire pencil is converted to these pencil shavings. Like every kid he still likes to sharpen the pencils but now he stops when he has a nice and sharp lead.

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We reached the Calangute Beach at just the right time. The setting sun gave a very nice backdrop for the pictures I shot of people parasailing. There are more shots that I will be posting in an image gallery of Goa I am working on.

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The booze is quite cheep in Goa but we had to wait for a while before we could enjoy it. I had a beer with Berry at a shack at the Baga Beach and obviously it was not all that cheap, in fact it was quite expensive at 50 bucks for a pint of Tiger Beer. Later that night we went to a bottle shop and picked up bottles of Budweiser. I have a lot of images of the Goa trip and I am sure if I start posting one picture a day, I will lose interest long before I run out of images so I have decided to make a new image gallery of the Goa Images. I’d like to get it uploaded while the memory of the trip is still fresh in my mind but it is a lot of work so I don’t know when it will happen.

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Superman is the favourite super hero of Jerry Seinfeld. I like Superman too, simply because he can fly and I guess this is the reason why Manu has always had a Super man shirt. Earlier he had a shirt with just the SUperman sign on it and when I used to ask him if he was Superman he used to say “I am not a super hero”.

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Usually I am quite successful in making birds pose for me. I have photographed parrots, pigeons, kites, sparrows, crows and other birds and not just birds, some cats, lions, tigers have also posed for me. However this duck was proving to be a difficult case. I was following it around the the edge of the pond but it kept swimming away as if purposly trying to avoid me. Finally I called… read the full conversaton and check out the bigger image

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In view of the recent attacks, we have to be more careful. The public and the press have appreciated us and we should not let them down or do anything for that confidence to slip. We need to be extra vigil, we need to be alert, and we need to be on duty 24X7. Every time you go out, I want you to remember that you are not an individual, you are a part of a respected team and each and every one of you is a brand ambassador of Mumbai Police. Now go out and make this city safe. GO, go, go.

This is the pep talk by the senior cop. Check out what the junior one did.

They named a street after me downunder. That is very nice of them

Batman Avenue? Strange name for a road. Let’s see if I can find a Superman Street or Spiderman Lane as well. This is what I thought when I first saw the sign for Batman Avenue in Melbourne. Later I realised it was not named after the caped crusader who also goes by the name of Bruce Wayne but after John Batman-the man who found Melbourne. Read more on my other blog

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The Indian market has not collapsed like the US market and the real estate has also not suffered the way it has in India. The sharp rise in price (about 300-400%) we saw in the last 5 years in Bombay has stopped and the prices has gone down but the real estate is still hell of a lot more expensive than it was 5 years ago. Some builders have slashed the prices, some are offering other goodies like free registration, appliance and what not. A builder was offering a one bedroom house in some remote suburb if you buy a 3 BHK in Thana and someone was also offering a car on the purchase of a house but that is not unique, even in Gulf someone was offering a Merc with a house

I was thinking about the car and a house. If I buy a house in Bombay, I will be paying a minimum of 3 lacs for a parking spot. 3,00,000 bucks for parking a car that I bought 6 years ago for 2.25 lacs. Do you think it would put me under pressure to ditch my car and buy one that is more expensive than the parking spot?