Adrenaline rush among players is nothing unheard of but to live the experience from the stands while cheering one’s throats dry is definitely something out of this world. It is simply magic to catch a good game live and unfold in front of your eyes. Every point scored, every sigh let out, every leap of joy, cry of pain, and each and every shout for cheer is passion personified.  I wonder why the stands are not brimming at every game, since there is nothing compared to experiencing the sporting passion which goes deep into the sinews of every young player . 

Well, I was fortunate enough to witness such a game this week at the _____Basketball tournament “The ___Big Guns Vs the _____Young Ones”. Blood and Sweat literally laced the game, where the score tally went up and down like a rollercoaster till it decided to stop at 35 – 27 in the favour of sheer experience and poise under pressure.  The match confirmed that between a battle of stamina, fitness, grit, passion, and level-headedness under pressure, the latter counts more than anything else. Both teams aced their games and produced awe-inspiring baskets and passes throughout. There never was a dull moment. The expressions in the stand and on the sides ranged from wide-eyed amazement to screaming fits! It was an absolute joy and pleasure to watch our gentleman heroes on the sporting field.  I for one am not going to miss any more of such action if I can help it!

http://mymesonoxianramblings.blogspot.com

Gossip "The Science of it"

Wikipedia defines Gossip as idle talk or rumour, especially about the personal or private affairs of others. It forms one of the oldest and most common means of sharing (unproven) facts and views, but also has a reputation for the introduction of errors and other variations into the information transmitted. The term also carries implications that the news so transmitted (usually) has personal or trivial nature, as opposed to normal conversation.

It helps to form or strengthen bonds of acquaintance or friendship, especially in a situation where people hardly know each other and are subject to transferable jobs and lives. Gossip, then, becomes a great conversation starter. It can be an idle chat between friends , but in an extreme form, can take shape of treason against one's institution or even one's country, depending , of course, on the contents of the gossip.

During one of these idle chit-chats, I happen to compare the nature of people to that of subatomic particles :). Well, people could be like protons and electrons. Some like protons , do not get attracted by magnetic fields of gossip and remain stable. They receive information and choose to just sit on it. Whereas , there are others who are always charged up like electrons and ready to jump at the slightest hint of magnetic gossip fields. They make bonds and break bonds with others like them ( other electrons) depending on the nature of the gossip. They even generate magnetic gossip fields , simply by moving here and there with their idle chit chat/dirt/misinformation/scandals, etc.

Having said the above, it is imperative to mention that these so called electrons are very essential to our society. Just as the exchange or sharing of the electrons between two or more atoms is the main cause of chemical bonding, No community, society, or group can bond without the presence and exchange of these electrons. It is a human need to interact with others as without the social bond, survival is scary. However, there is a fine line between idle chit chat and malicious rumour and people should respect the line and live in peace with their neighbours.

Zilch pie

A long long time ago
which I can't even remember....
there used to be a girl
who could never do without writing
or reading for that matter
But now the music is fading
and she hardly scribbles or doodles
and neither does she read...

................Meh....

Ex Nihilo "creation out of nothing" or chaoskampf "struggle against Chaos"???
Either way I need to move around the space and think , so that I am what I can be!

Je pense, donc je suis

You think,therefore you are...
I think and therefore, I am not what you think I am....Logically it's not possible to think of all the think(g)s possible and...
Hence, I am in toto what you can never think of :PPPP

www.jolandie.co.za

Hi All

Please goto my new website for updates on my South Africa Trip.

email jo@jolandie.co.za

Thanks for the Support

www.jolandie.co.za

Countries:


Total Distance:


Approximatley 45 000 kilometers

Time Frame:


2 Years

South Africa
Namibia Tourism
Angola
Kenya
Ghana
Tanzania
Egypt

Article in the Star newspaper

March 2008 I launched in cycling solo from Johannesburg to Cape Town.
What a journey!!!

Many disputes arose as to whether I would make it. Concerned friends tried advising me against taking on the trip. Two weeks later, I cycled into Cape Town on my bicycle!!!

As awareness around what I was doing and on what I plan on doing grew, the response really knocked me out. People from all over the country started contributing in ways of funding, gear, goods etc.

I've been asked a number of times whether I was ever scared? :) I can honestly say that there was not even a second in that two week period where I felt endangered in any way. Even with cars pulling over on the road, people always just wanted to know who I was, where I was going and whether I needed any help?
South Africans are actually very caring and very colorful people.

The side session organized by SaciWATERs at the World Water Forum 5 called for generating visible demand for interdisciplinary studies on water in South Asia with a focus on creating a cadre of women water professionals to combat the ‘masculinity’ of current water sector

The side event titled Up-scaling IWRM Education in South Asia: Which boundaries to cross? was organized by SaciWATERs for the Crossing Boundaries Project in Feshane Lale Hall 5 at the World Water Forum 5, Istanbul, Turkey. The session evaluated the current status of water resources education, assess the demand for interdisciplinary water professionals and identify challenges, opportunities, and new initiatives in the realm of higher education for water resources in South Asia through the findings of the study titled “Strengthening IWRM Education in South Asia; Which Boundaries to Cross?”. Prof. S Janakarajan, President, SaciWATERs, welcomed the panel members and the session speakers and briefly described the purpose of the Crossing Boundaries Project, an endeavour of SaciWATERs with six partner institutions in four South Asian countries, to bring a paradigm shift in water resources management education in South Asia. Dr. Peter Mollinga, Convener, SaciWATERs, initiated the session by briefing the participants on the objectives of the study which was to review the progress of the Project’s initiative and to determine whether higher education system in South Asia was responding to the reforms generated by the Project.

Dr. Vishal Narain, Associate Professor, School of Public Policy and Governance, Management Development Institute (MDI), Delhi, further elaborated on the findings of the Study in North India by tracing the changing perceptions of IWRM among water professionals and emphasized the fact that though there is a demand for IWRM water professionals in the Government sector, a visible demand still needs to be created. Dr Nimal Gunawardena, Professor, Post Graduate Institute of Agriculture, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, and Steering Committee Member, Cap-Net, Sri lanka, followed with a brief presentation on the status of the IWRM Education Programme in the Post Graduate Institute of Agriculture, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. Ms. Nazmun Naher Mita, South Asia Water (SAWA) Fellow, Masters in IWRM, Institute of Water and Flood Management (IWFM), Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), Dhaka, Bangladesh, shared her personal experience of being one of the first female students to take up the IWRM course in South Asia with the help of SAWA Fellowship provided by the Crossing Boundaries Project.

Following this, the three panelists, Dr. Shahbaz Khan, Chief, Sustainable Water Resources Development & Management Section, Division of Water Sciences, Natural Sciences Sector, UNESCO, Paris, France, Dr. Paul Taylor, Director, Cap-Net, Pretoria, South Africa, and Dr. Joke Muylwijk, Executive Director, Gender & Water Alliance, The Netherlands, provided their comments and insights on the study. Dr. Khan shared his vision of IWRM programme gaining a stronghold in the higher education sector. However he also expressed his disappointment in the Draft Istanbul Ministerial Statement of the World Water Forum 5, 2009 which he regretfully pointed out, focused on the technical aspect of water management ignoring the socio-cultural constraints of implementing a change. He emphasized the urgent need to press the interdisciplinary approach to water resources management. Dr. Paul Taylor, congratulated SaciWATERs and the partners of the Crossing Boundaries Project for the remarkable progress made in promoting IWRM Education in region and further emphasized the need for capacity building of higher level water professionals. Dr. Joke Muylwijk lauded the report but also pointed out the lack of comprehensive gender-segregated data. The participants of the session followed with various questions and comments on the issues of gender, capacity building of not only technocrats but also of social scientists and extending the programme to other countries of South Asia especially Pakistan.

The side session organized by SaciWATERs at the World Water Forum 5 called for generating visible demand for interdisciplinary studies on water in South Asia with a focus on creating a cadre of women water professionals to combat the ‘masculinity’ of current water sector

The side event titled Up-scaling IWRM Education in South Asia: Which boundaries to cross? was organized by SaciWATERs for the Crossing Boundaries Project in Feshane Lale Hall 5 at the World Water Forum 5, Istanbul, Turkey. The session evaluated the current status of water resources education, assess the demand for interdisciplinary water professionals and identify challenges, opportunities, and new initiatives in the realm of higher education for water resources in South Asia through the findings of the study titled “Strengthening IWRM Education in South Asia; Which Boundaries to Cross?”. Prof. S Janakarajan, President, SaciWATERs, welcomed the panel members and the session speakers and briefly described the purpose of the Crossing Boundaries Project, an endeavour of SaciWATERs with six partner institutions in four South Asian countries, to bring a paradigm shift in water resources management education in South Asia. Dr. Peter Mollinga, Convener, SaciWATERs, initiated the session by briefing the participants on the objectives of the study which was to review the progress of the Project’s initiative and to determine whether higher education system in South Asia was responding to the reforms generated by the Project.

Dr. Vishal Narain, Associate Professor, School of Public Policy and Governance, Management Development Institute (MDI), Delhi, further elaborated on the findings of the Study in North India by tracing the changing perceptions of IWRM among water professionals and emphasized the fact that though there is a demand for IWRM water professionals in the Government sector, a visible demand still needs to be created. Dr Nimal Gunawardena, Professor, Post Graduate Institute of Agriculture, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, and Steering Committee Member, Cap-Net, Sri lanka, followed with a brief presentation on the status of the IWRM Education Programme in the Post Graduate Institute of Agriculture, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. Ms. Nazmun Naher Mita, South Asia Water (SAWA) Fellow, Masters in IWRM, Institute of Water and Flood Management (IWFM), Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), Dhaka, Bangladesh, shared her personal experience of being one of the first female students to take up the IWRM course in South Asia with the help of SAWA Fellowship provided by the Crossing Boundaries Project.

Following this, the three panelists, Dr. Shahbaz Khan, Chief, Sustainable Water Resources Development & Management Section, Division of Water Sciences, Natural Sciences Sector, UNESCO, Paris, France, Dr. Paul Taylor, Director, Cap-Net, Pretoria, South Africa, and Dr. Joke Muylwijk, Executive Director, Gender & Water Alliance, The Netherlands, provided their comments and insights on the study. Dr. Khan shared his vision of IWRM programme gaining a stronghold in the higher education sector. However he also expressed his disappointment in the Draft Istanbul Ministerial Statement of the World Water Forum 5, 2009 which he regretfully pointed out, focused on the technical aspect of water management ignoring the socio-cultural constraints of implementing a change. He emphasized the urgent need to press the interdisciplinary approach to water resources management. Dr. Paul Taylor, congratulated SaciWATERs and the partners of the Crossing Boundaries Project for the remarkable progress made in promoting IWRM Education in region and further emphasized the need for capacity building of higher level water professionals. Dr. Joke Muylwijk lauded the report but also pointed out the lack of comprehensive gender-segregated data. The participants of the session followed with various questions and comments on the issues of gender, capacity building of not only technocrats but also of social scientists and extending the programme to other countries of South Asia especially Pakistan.


http://saciwaters.wordpress.com/

Olá pessoal,

Gostaria de poder convidar a todos os jovens para se juntar a RENAJU - Rede Nacional de Grupos, Movimentos e Organizações de Juventude na realização da Semana Global de Voluntariado Jovem aqui em Brasília. o Global Youth Service Day vai acontecer em diversos países do mundo durante os dias 24 a 26 de abril e aqui no Brasil a RENAJU é uma das organizações organizadoras dessas atividades, principalmente no que diz respeito a Brasília.

Buscamos jovens que possam contribuir com as seguintes atividades que serão realizadas no Parque Olhos D'Água:

1. Oficinas de leitura para crianças;
2. Campanha de arrecadação de agasalhos e alimentos para serem doados a alguma entidade;
3. Mutirão de limpeza;
4. Plantar árvores;
5. Recolhimento de brinquedos para crianças em orfanatos;
6. Promover rodas de diálogos sobre temas diversos, entre eles meio ambiente e prevenção ambiental;
7. Serviços de saúde;

Os interessados em contribuir com essas atividades e com outras que acharem pertinentes, por favor escrevam para diaglobal@renaju.org.br e nos informe de que forma poderá contribuir.

Vamos fazer dessa semana uma nova Brasília

Dia Global de Voluntariado Jovem
Sou cidadão brasileiro.

Sou eu que vou mudar o Brasil!

Eu participo do Dia Global de Voluntariado Jovem, e você?

www.diaglobal.org.br

Dia Global 2009, de 24 a 26 de Abril!

Participe!

Junte sua turma e faça a diferença!

Brasília precisa de sua força !

I still can't believe it ...I just can't ... Abid, one of the few who really inspired me and became a very good friend. An amazing guy , a bundle of energy, spontaneous, fun, always making others around him smile ...
I can't believe that he was kidnapped and murdered in Parwan, Afghanistan.
http://profiles.takingitglobal.org/Abid-Akmal

Abid was a true Afghan, a true pathan who believed in a merciful God and who believed in his people and so he stayed back in his country and worked to bring peace and safety back to his beloved land.

My heart goes out to his family . I pray they get the strength to carry on.

I have Abid's number but I dont have the courage to call knowing that he won't be there on the other end to receive my call ... He has touched our lives in such beautiful ways...its hard to hold back tears now ...when I was in Delhi there was a part of me which was very sad ...and it was Abid who healed that part ...He gave me hope and taught me to look at life from a whole new point of view...I truly respect and love him for being such a good friend...

His zest for life was so infectious that he made everyone around him happy. No one can take his place !

I know we have to gain strength from his life and stand up against all who took him away from us... and let's promise each other never to stop fighting against those evil elements.

Let us all do our bit to bring peace and safety back to Afghanistan...

Love & peace

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Food for thought or food for survival? ... though the creation of thought is definitely dependent and influenced by the presence /absence / quantity or quality of food .

The first half of my day was spent casually going about my reading and other mundane chores and anticipating the culinary delights that I might be savouring in the evening.
So much was the anticipation that I and my friend practically starved ourselves thinking about the treat..."we better prepare ourselves ...adjust the space in our tummies... make way for the excess calories that were going to be added in the evening"...

Ah ...well the wait for the food stretched so much that sitting in the restaurant we could think of nothing but food....food that was travelling from the kitchen to the tables with eagerly awaiting palates, ready to gobbled, munched or chewed carefully( depending upon on the time-lapse between their previous bite).

For a moment we looked at each other, sparks flying????
...ummm no ...
we just couldn't take our mind off food...we just smiled .... " Ohh I wish the order comes or I swear I am going to snatch that next plate that passes by me! " screamed my "on-the-verge-of-a-major-social-breakdown" friend.

We tried to shift our gaze to a particular loud table where a few drunkorexic two-pot screamer kids were practising the art of "Yo/hey-man-ing" [screaming the words "Yo/hey-man" accompanied by the hip-hop hand gesture (
it is the arm bent at around a 90 degree angle out from the body and being moved up and down :)) or as a 'disillusioned-with-rap' guy describes "making a pouty-kinda face and waving their arm in the air like they're swatting flies")......

no it doesn't work!!!!....
the aroma of freshly baked cakes with pinguedinous layers just filled my senses immediately reminding me that our order had still not arrived...
I looked at my companion who had turned atrabilious for the lack of food and summoned up the greatest gravitas that I could accomodate on my face in that situation and enquired about our order to which I got a polite but firm reply that "'it's almost ready ma'am".