Blockbuster Chief Executive James Keyes said combining the companies would create a chain that could sell portable devices and entertainment for them, much like Apple Inc.’s stores. But, asks Circuit City, can the movie-rental company finance the deal?

Circuit City is America’s No. 2 consumer electronics chain. Over the last year, Circuit City has done some restructuring — cutting positions, laying off 3,400 retail workers and hiring lower-paid replacements. Blockbuster is undergoing its own turnaround and has been cutting costs too. Analysts question the timing of this play for Circuit City.

Whether the deal fructifies or not, the concept holds promise - DVD players are selling like popcorns anyway!

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Via: Yahoo News

“Genie Kids” in Indira Nagar, Bangalore provides a summer camp which is very flexible (you can enroll for any 3 weeks of April/May, different camps for ages 3-16), lots of fun and incidently educational.

My son was at their Dusshera camp and he enjoyed it thoroughly. They provide a stimulating, expectation free environment. As I saw it, he was at a place where he was not ‘expected to excel’, he was allowed to fail and learn from the process. This did a lot to boost his self-confidence.

I firmly believe in multiple intelligence. Einstein was intelligent and so was Gandhi, Bach. So is Tendulkar, Tarla Dalal, Asha Bhonsle. What I mean is, each child responds more to a different stimulant - analytical, spatial, musical, oratorial etc. A child who is weak at maths is definitely not ‘dumb’, he will probably responds better to art?

Especially if the child goes to a rigid school with a lot of academic pressure, he needs to unwind and explore. Encourage him to try out different activities, without pressurizing him to excel in everything he touches. Let him discover what he has a flair for, what he will love doing for the rest of his life!

We need to allow the child to discover himself and these environments seem to bridge that gap in our academic curriculum.

I have been able to relate to both their writings very well- both write in simple English, about simple people we find in everyday life, looking at the world around through simple eyes without any frills and flamboyance. This probably had a lot to do with the environment in which they were brought up. Any number of times one reads “Swami and friends”, one’s bound to think that RKN has been spying on him sometime somewhere in life, and that it’s just a page out of one’s own life. It’s this simple realism that makes his reading such a pleasure.

Gangadhar too talks about everyday life with light humour and this makes reading a pleasure. One can’t miss the subtle boasts that he used to make in the course of his writings about his daughters and their accomplishments. Consciously or otherwise, his writing style is similar to RKN’s and it makes my Sunday coffee to read his article.

We stayed at a very pleasant resort called “Georgia Sunshine”. It’s run by a nice couple - Leonard and Georgia - who have been in the hospitality domain for several years now (surprisingly in the same place for the last 8 years- can’t imagine how they would commute on such roads in those days- probably it wasn’t a big deal for people who anyway live in amidst nature). The cottages are set in natural surroundings and have all the basic amenities. Television, Internet /Wi-fi are thankfully not provided and this affords a complete break from the unwanted intruders from office!!! The place has 6 cottages, a nice swimming pool, play areas, games room, walking tracks through small villages, facilities for fishing, camp-fire etc. The meals were very fresh, tasty and relaxing. My kids had a splendid time with the 5 dogs at the resort!

The two falls Ganganachukki and Barachukki are about 15 kms & 25 kms from this cottage. G’chukki offers a great view and is more fierce & picturesque while B’chukki has shallow water with boating (on the small round “parisal” or boats made of cane). The climb down to the plain waters of B’chukki is quite steep and tricky.

Altogether a good break from the hustle and bustle of city living and only a short distance from the city.I endorse.

But to make up for all the wrongs meted out by the majority, southpaws have made their presence felt and signed-off in style as celebrities- politicians, musicians, actors and in various other walks of life- some solace to the not-so-famous generalists who also happen to be southpaws! I just looked up the celebrities with whom I share this special status- Sir Paul McCartney (who’s said to have played John Lennon’s right-handed guitar upside down in his first concert), Bill Clinton and several other US Presidents, Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Julia Roberts, to name a few..it’s said that even Leonardo Da Vinci was left-handed (and that could have possibly been becos. his right hand was paralyzed).

It makes me wonder whether it could be true that southpaws are endowed with some special talents, something about the functioning of the brain that sets them apart from the others in creative field or in areas that require certain skill-sets. How’s it that several southpaws have made it big in the field of Politics, Music and Acting- is it probably because Music and Acting come naturally to Politicians and most of the famous politicians happen to be southpaws?

Whatever be the correlation between the brain functioning and lefthandedness, I feel that there should not be any differentiation in the way implements for day-to-day use are made- either they should be made for use by either “dex”-es (if I could coin a term for People of either Dexterity) or there should be things made specifically for the southpaws- scissors for Left-handed people, as well as University chairs, door knobs and even the wash-room closets!

This will atleast help ease the problems of southpaws to some extent- to give them the happiness that their needs are being addressed. I am not advocating a 33% reservation, but a degree of sensitivity to the needs of the minority- an understanding of their special needs!

It’s not a fault of the child that he or she is born a southpaw. I do feel strongly against changing the ways of nature- let a left-handed child be left to her way - let’s not change her to do things right- instead let’s teach her to do the right things, left to herself!!!!