Sparsh Oct 06: The lore of the dak runner full blogger version

Welcome to the inaugural issue of Sparsh.

Coming from MeraSnap.com, Sparsh is a random 3-minute scan of the world going by. About changing times and how technology continues to alter personal communication - from the intimacy of a quaint hand-written letter to a college kid's rapid-fire ease with SMS. It's bewildering!

Here's wishing you and family a very happy Diwali and Eid. Spread cheer!

Warmly,
Team MeraSnap

	The lore of the Dak runner The Dak runner or mail runner was intrinsic to the Indian postal system when mail was transported from village to village on foot, through jungles, terrains and deserts. The runner went from one station to the next,
passing the letters to the next runner who would continue.

It was a 24-hour service and the runners braved wild animals, bandits, swollen rivers and natural calamities. Dressed in colourful attire, they carried spears with jingling bells for self-defence. The runners seldom shrunk from their duty.

Even today, inaccessible regions in Himachal Pradesh are reached by dak runners. The runner's tinkling bell sets off a commotion, breaking the monotony of everyday life in the high mountains.
Credits: The Hindu (Shalini Umachandran), The Tribune & BBC

Jim Corbett as a Dak runner
Jim once famously impersonated a mail runner, complete with lantern, spear and bundle of letters, while tracking down a man-eater that had carried off quite a few runners.

Democratization of opinion! Blogs today offer the most reliable measure of a film's worthiness - far away from the newspaper types. If you come across interesting & smart alecky blog reviews, do let us know.

	Stalin ....then he comes face-to-face with the home minister where the story starts. The best scene is with Prakash Raj when he warns him “Oka amma ki oka abba ki puttina vadayithey…..” More. By Rajesh Segu
Meanwhile, enjoy these YouTube bits - the jing bang title sequence and a song clip

	Lage Raho Munnabhai One must admire Rajkumar Hirani's guts in attempting to turn a completely whacko thought into a charming
movie. And how it works! Shiv Visvanathan, a socialogist has an equally interesting take on the film. More

Vettayadu Vilayadu
....but it is neither a tale of mind-games, nor in-your-face. The storyteller takes his time to let the desired effect sink in. More. By Vijay Krishna

	K A N K If Kabhi Alvida...is a mélange of 1s and 0s, Gaurav Pahuja has got it all right. Sample this - *ShahRukhKhan* and *RaniMukherjee* are emotionally overloaded and go into an infinite weeping loop
every 60 milliseconds. More

Q&A
1. a) I want to send some photos to a rural area in Andhra Pradesh where there is no courier service. Do you deliver to such places too?

b) Am based in Bongaigaon, Assam. Will you deliver to my address? Pl confirm.

Actually we deliver to any place in India - any village, any town, any city. It's simple - if our courier service doesn't go there, we reach by Indian post.

More

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It's a visual documentary. A co-existence of the pretty and not-so-pretty. More



Why parents must read to their children


Reading aloud to children has many benefits. One, it's the best way to introduce them to the world of books.

Regular read-aloud sessions stimulate brain development of pre-schoolers and help foster a lifelong love of reading and learning. More


What exactly is 128 bit encryption?


It is the highest level of encryption available that guarantees safe and secure payment over net.

128-bit encryption offers 2-to-the-power-of-88 times as many possible combinations as 40-bit encryption. That's over a trillion times a trillion times stronger! More.