Celebrating Our Second Anniversary – Introducing DelhiPlanet 2.0

2 years back on 22^nd December, 2006, a publication was born that aimed to emulate a fictional Superhero. DelhiPlanet.com started out 2 years back as a tribute to Superman and was inspired by the paper he worked for, namely “The Daily Planet“. This is quite apparent from our Logo and our famous comic which shows the inspiration behind DelhiPlanet (check it here). Now, 2 years and more than 300 articles later we present to you our new avatar.

The New Delhiplanet would showcase our work published over the past few years in addition to creating even more active and interesting content so that you keep coming back for more. So whether you are planning a trip to Europe, trying to find out ways reduce stress at work, checking out the reviews of a recently released movie or even finding ways to know your future you can find it all @ Planet.

So checkout our new world and do let us know your thoughts.

Rab Ne Bana De Jodi – Truly A Different Love Story

The Desire To Be Superhuman – Understanding The Superman Syndrome

The picture above gives a classic representation of what our lives have become today as we strive to do more and more every day in our desire to become superior and more “super” than the rest. As we progress into the information age and technology becomes more widespread, people tend to be with their work for a major part of the day on weekdays and in some cases even on weekends. “For years, like legions of other professionals, Mr. Obama has been all but addicted to his BlackBerry. The device has rarely been far from his side — on most days, it was fastened to his belt — to provide a singular conduit to the outside world as the bubble around him grew tighter and tighter throughout his campaign“, says noted reporter Jeff Zeleny while writing for the New York Times (Check here). This just goes to show the kind of pressure today’s high-ranking professionals have to face and the rise of a little known mindset called the “The Superman Syndrome“.

“the Superman Syndrome is a dangerous workplace success formula that forces men and women to leap tall buildings and outrun speeding bullets — at the expense of personal lives, families, children and even business productivity. This represents a major hypocrisy implicit in nearly every boardroom in a lot of countries: The belief that we should be accountable to work but not to our families“. Superman Syndrome can exist in various forms, a person could work days and nights sacrificing his health and family commitments so that he can get the promotion that he desires or to get a better annual review on his performance so that he gets a better salary hike. Another form of the Superman Syndrome is one where a person tries to flash his wealth and take care of the needs of everyone around him. Take the case of Trent, who writes at The Simple Dollar.

“When I was freshly out of college with my first high-paying job, I would constantly insist on paying for everything. Meals out with friends, lattes at the coffee shop, even sometimes shopping purchases – I felt this deep need to step in, bust out my plastic, and say, “I’ll take care of it!”. It took many years, but I finally realized that I don’t need to be the financial hero all of the time – or even much of the time at all. Being the credit card-bearing Superman, like in that video below, doesn’t lead to being a hero – it leads to overspending, a sense of guilt, and a false image presented to others that you must keep up .

The Learning Fountain carries an interesting read of the Superman Syndrome here. It ends with a thought provoking line “Get a life. A real life, not a manic pursuit of the next promotion, the bigger paycheck, the larger house.”

Probably it doesn’t pay to be Superman everytime.

What Did Superman Give India This Diwali ?

It’s Diwali, the “Indian Festival Of Lights“. A time when people all across the country and Indians all across the globe adorn their houses with lights and lamps. It’s a day which people celebrate with great fervour and enthusiasm and is one of the biggest festivals in the country.

In the 21^st century this festival continues to carry forward its religious and cultural significance. While the festival is supposed to have originated to commemorate the homecoming of King Rama of Ayodhya, after a 14-year exile in the forest (thus the people of Ayodhya welcomed him back by lighting up rows of lamps), today it has become an event where people exchange gifts and pray for a better and brighter future. The lights and lamps are supposed to signify the uplifting of darkness and victory of good over the evil within.

And then there is Superman, the great american hero who embodies the noble american virtues of honesty, patriotism and chivalry. Superman is superhuman and possesses god-like powers which he uses to good effect while battling numerous villians and super-villians in the universe.

Now, wait a minute, Lord Rama and Superman, isn’t there something similar between these two. There certainly is. Both of them are superhuman but lead ordinary lives as normal humans(superman spends his time as Clark Kent, a reporter at the Daily Planet when he’s not crime-fighting). Both of them fight villians and monsters(rakshasas) to ensure world-peace. While lord rama has billions of worshippers all over the world, superman too has millions of fans across the globe. So maybe for a while we can assume that Superman is infact the modern day Lord Rama.

So what would happen if Superman visited India around the festival of Diwali. Well, he wouldn’t be welcomed the way Lord Rama was, but he would certainly use his powers to enjoy this diverse and mystical land. And maybe, he would even give India a diwali gift.

On the occasion of Diwali, DelhiPlanet is very proud to showcase the DelhiPlanet Comic Strip. A short story on Superman’s discovery of India which ends with his gift to the country (See below, click on each image to see the larger version).

Well you probably know the answer to the post title now.

DelhiPlanet has over the past 11 months aimed to emulate Superman’s Newspaper and has in the process published close to 150 articles on a gamut of topics ranging from news, current affairs, trivia, little known facts to travel tips, travelogues, stock tips, movie reviews, event reviews and much more. Our endeavour is simply to keep you informed and to try and make a difference to the world that we live in.

Here’s wishing you and your family a very Happy, Bright and Safe Diwali.

Note: We will back next month with a new set of informative articles and stories, so do check us out.

The DelhiPlanet Comic Strip was conceptualized, designed and created by DelhiPlanet and reproduction in full or in part without prior permission is prohibited. If you wish to spread the word, kindly link to the post.

DelhiPlanet is best viewed with a resolution of 1280 X 800 or more.

Santa’s Gift To Delhi – It’s Own Planet

December 21,2006 will go down in the annals of History as the Day ,Delhi changed forever.Delhi Planet(DP) a one of it’s kind structured content blog promises to take care of all your news and information needs.Right from the latest and most happening events of the day to movie reviews,album reviews,guest posts and opinions on the news makers and breakers.

If it’s information that you seek then DP is the place to come to.Delhi Planet takes off today with it’s Christmas Theme.To know more about Delhi Planet, see here.