Hope of Deliverance

A family lost in the wild weather in Oregon survives for 9 days. Father is Cnet's chief editor and a lot of people, like my apartment mate Uday who is an avid electronics fan, were wondering about his whereabouts. Finally, the mother and the two kids were found today. They had run out of food so mother kept the 4 year & 7 month old daughters alive by nursing them. They ran out of gas, so burnt tires to keep themselves warm.

James Kim is still missing since he went out 2 days back to find the way out. Lets all prayer that he is alive!!!

Death of an IITian

I always believed that as an IITian, I belonged to an exclusive group that could not be touched by problems. So when I first heard about the problems Manish Kumar Verma was having, the feeling was,more than anything else, that of surprise ...I couldn't believe that a student at IIT could be critical because of lack of money to fund kidney treatment. Manish was from an economically backward family and did not have the money to pay for bills at AIIMS. Quick word went around on the internet and specially within the Kumaon community about what could be done. Money started coming in from people from all over the world...I got 1100 dollars of contribution myself...I was again happy that we as IITians would prove to the world that we can take care of these mere problems.

Things started going well for Manish. He was in AIIMS and his health began to improve. But then something went horribly wrong... No donor could be found for a kidney transplant and Manish died last week. I got to know about it today and I just feel so horribly helpless. If people from IIT are going to die like this, what hope does someone who does not have the resources and the network have? Something needs to be done..there has to be more effort, more coordination, more will...something to stop a thing like this from happening again

Oh for the life of a 25 year old....

On Friday morning in Singapore, 25 year old Nguyen Tuong Van would be hanged till death for smuggling 400 grams of Cocaine in December 2002. Last two weeks have been very hectic in terms of major diplomatic activity between the Autralian government and the Singapore counterparts to look at the possibility of clemency. The strict laws against smuggling in Singapore also mean that you cannot meet your dear ones if you are facing capital punishment. The best you can do is to see the condemned across a thick glass wall.
This young man has shown tremendous calm in this ultimate moment of trial. In fact, in his last statement a few days back, he conveyed to his loved ones that he has accepted what is coming and he expects the same from his family. His mother who has lost so many years in every day which has gone by has also shown tremendous calm of late though there is very high probability that her last request to hug his son would not be granted by the Singapore government.

Well, what is the moral of the story. The moral is, everytime you feel that you are distressed and you are not getting a good deal,no one cares about you, think about the Nguyens of the world and you will find that you don't feel that bad any more. We are still very fortunate for who we are and what we go through. Some people would give a lifetime to live a moment of our life.