Where do you get truly uninterrupted power in India?
In a train, of course
In a train, of course
With stars in their eyes
What is wrong with some Americans? Why do they insist on going to places like North Korea and Iran, where governments are openly unfriendly to all Americans. Don't they get a memo when leaving the country, "Fellow citizen, go ahead, enjoy the world. Just stay out of NK and Iran. If you go there, we will not come and get you. We have enough problems to deal with already. Get it?"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/n-korea-releases-information-on-us-tourist-held-for-more-than-a-month/2013/11/30/c20ea404-5989-11e3-bdbf-097ab2a3dc2b_story.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/n-korea-releases-information-on-us-tourist-held-for-more-than-a-month/2013/11/30/c20ea404-5989-11e3-bdbf-097ab2a3dc2b_story.html
And so it begins. Arriving in Hyderabad on Monday night. And in Bangalore on Wednesday/Thursday. Who's interested in catching up?
Few of the funky things I experienced on the road today.
1. Folks distributing liquor for votes. People openly talked of having received liquor for votes.
2. AAP distributing pamphlets with the toll free number of the EC, requesting people to call and report distribution of liquor and cash. Shouldn't the EC be doing this themselves, tell people about their dumb toll free number. I'm sure they'll charge the cost of these pamphlets to AAP's election budget too :)
3. AAP volunteers asking people to "please vote this time", not "please vote for AAP". That was very positive. We need to make people vote first. That is more important. Fight a social cause even as you run a political campaign. But then, I guess they're also pretty sure that if people vote, they'll just vote for AAP. I mean, look at the alternatives.
4. I heard news that one guy was distributing liquor from a vehicle with AAP posters on it. An AAP volunteer spotted this vehicle, then rounded up more volunteers and blockaded the car. The cops were called. The car, of course, had nothing to do with AAP. Wonder if the cops will investigate and find out who was trying to malign AAP's reputation this way.
1. Folks distributing liquor for votes. People openly talked of having received liquor for votes.
2. AAP distributing pamphlets with the toll free number of the EC, requesting people to call and report distribution of liquor and cash. Shouldn't the EC be doing this themselves, tell people about their dumb toll free number. I'm sure they'll charge the cost of these pamphlets to AAP's election budget too :)
3. AAP volunteers asking people to "please vote this time", not "please vote for AAP". That was very positive. We need to make people vote first. That is more important. Fight a social cause even as you run a political campaign. But then, I guess they're also pretty sure that if people vote, they'll just vote for AAP. I mean, look at the alternatives.
4. I heard news that one guy was distributing liquor from a vehicle with AAP posters on it. An AAP volunteer spotted this vehicle, then rounded up more volunteers and blockaded the car. The cops were called. The car, of course, had nothing to do with AAP. Wonder if the cops will investigate and find out who was trying to malign AAP's reputation this way.
Politics, activism, बदलाव, देश प्रेम. बड़ी मेहनत का काम है. Respect for these people.
Two honest men, standing in the Sun, doing the right thing. Being a traffic policeman must be the most thankless job in the world.
Every time I attend a big fat Indian wedding, I witness some major technological innovation. Entrepreneurs, if you're chasing the big bucks, weddings are where they are in India. And it's no longer just fashion, gourmet and retail. Technology startups have a big play too.
शादी season. बच्चों की बरबादी का season.
Weekend FLOSS project - develop a web UI for SaltStack.
Unreasonable self goal - 12 hours to learn Python, Django and Salt.
Sarin, Manivannan, Goli Golani, Jyotis, Muthu, Pramod, Mashood, hackathon IIT style?
Why isn't DJ on Facebook?
Unreasonable self goal - 12 hours to learn Python, Django and Salt.
Sarin, Manivannan, Goli Golani, Jyotis, Muthu, Pramod, Mashood, hackathon IIT style?
Why isn't DJ on Facebook?
Seriously, if you're not using Dropbox already, you should give it a try. I keep all my photos on it and thereby keep my photos synced between laptops.
Which is why I'm posting this too. If you accept the referral I get more free space to store my ever-growing photo collection without actually paying Dropbox anything for the service!
Which is why I'm posting this too. If you accept the referral I get more free space to store my ever-growing photo collection without actually paying Dropbox anything for the service!
Dungaree boys
Happy Children's Day. We are playing Pacman in the maze at Children's Park, India Gate. Come join us.
Featured here, Pacman Namita chasing ghost Nilay who is in inverted mode. Ghost Kavin, who was just eaten by Pacman and has come back alive in normal mode, is hot on Pacman 's heels.
Kavin is making sure we follow all the rules of the original game
Featured here, Pacman Namita chasing ghost Nilay who is in inverted mode. Ghost Kavin, who was just eaten by Pacman and has come back alive in normal mode, is hot on Pacman 's heels.
Kavin is making sure we follow all the rules of the original game
Quick change artist. Now he's a tree, now he's a Pandav
Kavin is excited about Children's Day
You've got to be taught to hate and fear,
You've got to be taught from year to year,
It's got to be drummed in your dear little ear,
You've got to be carefully taught.
You've got to be taught to be afraid
Of people whose eyes are oddly made,
And people whose skin is a diff'rent shade,
You've got to be carefully taught.
You've got to be taught before it's too late,
Before you are six or seven or eight,
To hate all the people your relatives hate,
You've got to be carefully taught!
My kids are still quite young. Yet, they're already afraid of poor, unwashed kids on the street. No, they're not guilty or ashamed that they live a good life amongst this extreme poverty and lack of opportunity (school and sports, to them). They're just uncomfortable with these kids approaching us, even if they're not begging or otherwise asking for anything.
Where did this dislike for humanity come from? I know my family didn't instill this fear. Is this the price they pay for living in urban middle class Indian society? Should I go out of my way to counter the damage that neighbours/friends/wherever-this-is-coming-from is doing to their psyche?
You've got to be taught from year to year,
It's got to be drummed in your dear little ear,
You've got to be carefully taught.
You've got to be taught to be afraid
Of people whose eyes are oddly made,
And people whose skin is a diff'rent shade,
You've got to be carefully taught.
You've got to be taught before it's too late,
Before you are six or seven or eight,
To hate all the people your relatives hate,
You've got to be carefully taught!
My kids are still quite young. Yet, they're already afraid of poor, unwashed kids on the street. No, they're not guilty or ashamed that they live a good life amongst this extreme poverty and lack of opportunity (school and sports, to them). They're just uncomfortable with these kids approaching us, even if they're not begging or otherwise asking for anything.
Where did this dislike for humanity come from? I know my family didn't instill this fear. Is this the price they pay for living in urban middle class Indian society? Should I go out of my way to counter the damage that neighbours/friends/wherever-this-is-coming-from is doing to their psyche?
Kavin did some writing exercises.
He stuck and cat and dog onto the page. His logic: if there can be a brown cow, there can be dogs and cats too.
He stuck and cat and dog onto the page. His logic: if there can be a brown cow, there can be dogs and cats too.
The story goes that the Americans captured the V-2 scientists after the war and gave them a choice, "You can die. Or you can make rockets for the US."
We all know what they chose. But many a scientist must have laid awake at night, wondering if a life spent dealing with the Unified measurement system was worth it.
But hey. At least back then they didn't have to press a button to cross the road.
Feels good to be home again
We all know what they chose. But many a scientist must have laid awake at night, wondering if a life spent dealing with the Unified measurement system was worth it.
But hey. At least back then they didn't have to press a button to cross the road.
Feels good to be home again
There exists someone called Zabyn Khan who makes movies. She is allegedly making a movie called Action Jackson. Which will have an item song. Someone called Minal is trying to convince her to cast two women named Mandana Karimi and Ela Nair for this song.
How do I know and why do I care? Because Minal insists on sending _me_, of all people, seductive half naked photos of these women. It's as is if my email account were a village choupal where you can pass around any and all random information.
Which brings me to the relevant question. Since when is the ability to undress in public an important criteria for being an actor? Or dancer, whatever you call people who perform in item numbers. I mean, these women don't even look beautiful to my untrained eye (I married Namita, so, you know, obviously, I know a thing or two about good looks). These models are just trying to sell their physique, and how they carry clothes (or lack thereof).
I quote Minal, "Ela is no stranger to swimwear", "for 4 years running she has been on FHM 100 sexiest women in the world list", blah blah blah. Jaydeep Sarkar, Aparna Purohit, care to weigh in on this breakage in your industry?
In other news, something has gone wrong with me. I am upset about photos of half naked women. Publically. Bharat Krishna Barry, do not judge me.
How do I know and why do I care? Because Minal insists on sending _me_, of all people, seductive half naked photos of these women. It's as is if my email account were a village choupal where you can pass around any and all random information.
Which brings me to the relevant question. Since when is the ability to undress in public an important criteria for being an actor? Or dancer, whatever you call people who perform in item numbers. I mean, these women don't even look beautiful to my untrained eye (I married Namita, so, you know, obviously, I know a thing or two about good looks). These models are just trying to sell their physique, and how they carry clothes (or lack thereof).
I quote Minal, "Ela is no stranger to swimwear", "for 4 years running she has been on FHM 100 sexiest women in the world list", blah blah blah. Jaydeep Sarkar, Aparna Purohit, care to weigh in on this breakage in your industry?
In other news, something has gone wrong with me. I am upset about photos of half naked women. Publically. Bharat Krishna Barry, do not judge me.
Need a bit of help in Bangalore tomorrow. I have to move out of my sublet in the morning, but am not well. Can someone drop in with a couple of boxes, and help me pack up and get out? Tomorrow morning or this evening, either is good. I will be forever grateful.
OK, maybe I'll only be one-lunch-at-a-nice-place-after-we're-done grateful.
OK, maybe I'll only be one-lunch-at-a-nice-place-after-we're-done grateful.
Can anyone recommend a residential ayurvedic treatment center that doesn't cost an arm and a leg to fix your back and neck?
Anyone know of progressive education schools in Bangalore other than Prakriya and the Valley School? Or any school that focuses more on the child's growth and individuality, less on powering through the syllabus.
Attending Electronics Rocks 2013. Anyone else here?
I've never done a three flight journey. I'm currently on the last leg of my SFO-HKG-DEL-LKO itinerary. This is a red eye BOM-DEL-LKO bus service that Jet Airways operates for the "cattle class" coming in from Gulf states.
My copassenger is in the middle of his Kabul-Kandahar-Dubai-Mumbai-Delhi-Lucknow-Ajamgarh journey. He will transfer from the Amausi airport to Lucknow's bus station, take a bus to Ajamgarh, then whatever he can manage to get home.
He is an Indian expat. Works as an admin in a US base in Afghanistan. He brings in foreign currency, specifically US dollars, that Manmohan Singh's government so desperately needs.
It is always interesting to meet people who must travel long and far, and work hard, to earn a living. In the last 4-5 years I've started travelling almost exclusively by AC trains and buses, so I don't meet the working class as often. But they're catching up... you just need to be on late night non metro flights.
My copassenger is in the middle of his Kabul-Kandahar-Dubai-Mumbai-Delhi-Lucknow-Ajamgarh journey. He will transfer from the Amausi airport to Lucknow's bus station, take a bus to Ajamgarh, then whatever he can manage to get home.
He is an Indian expat. Works as an admin in a US base in Afghanistan. He brings in foreign currency, specifically US dollars, that Manmohan Singh's government so desperately needs.
It is always interesting to meet people who must travel long and far, and work hard, to earn a living. In the last 4-5 years I've started travelling almost exclusively by AC trains and buses, so I don't meet the working class as often. But they're catching up... you just need to be on late night non metro flights.
भ्रात्रिप्रेम
Rocketfuel rings the opening bell at NASDAQ
Rocketfuel at the nasdaq entrance. Looking forward to the opening bell ringing on Tuesday
Visiting New York tomorrow after a gap of eleven years. Who's in the neighbourhood? Am there Sunday to Tuesday. We should catch up.
Bhaag Kaviniya Bhaag
What's the best thing thing about UDP jokes?
I don't care if you get them or not.
I don't care if you get them or not.
I've been interacting with Intel regarding the withdrawal of my EPF account. I sent them all the verification info they usually ask. They made me repeat the info over three more emails. Then, they gave me the email address of their outsourced firm and asked me to talk to them.
How big a process failure is this? The subject of my email itself mentioned EPF withdrawal. Did the process monkey at the other end really need to verify every detail of mine, simple to divulge an oh-so-precious email address?
How big a process failure is this? The subject of my email itself mentioned EPF withdrawal. Did the process monkey at the other end really need to verify every detail of mine, simple to divulge an oh-so-precious email address?
"Women are in general inferior to men in bodily strength and energy; consequently the male part of the community, taking advantage of their corporeal weakness, have denied to them those excellent merits that they are entitled to by nature, and afterwards they are apt to say that women are naturally incapable of acquiring those merits. But if we give the subjects consideration, we may easily ascertain whether or not your accusation against them is consistent with justice. As to their inferiority in point of understanding, when did you ever afford them a fair opportunity of exhibiting their natural capacity? How then can you accuse them of want of understanding? If, after instruction in knowledge and wisdom, a person cannot comprehend or retain what has been taught him, we may consider him as deficient; but as you keep women generally void of education and acquirements, you cannot, therefore, in justice pronounce on their inferiority."
- Raja Rammohun Roy
Reading the above, I feel monumentally inept.
What prose! This was written 200 years ago, by a person born 240 years ago in rural Bengal. No schools, no printed books, no travel outside of Bengal. How did he acquire such a command on the English language? This is perfectly accessible language that makes sense even today; not the kind of flowery crap people used to write in those days.
What insight! He has captured all of society's hypocrisy in one hard-hitting sentence. His thoughts are relevant even today, across the world. Do we unburden women of their domestic chores when they take up careers outside? Do we afford them a level playing field in the workplace? And yet they must outperform their male colleagues in order to be demonstrate their competent.
Thanks to my association with rights groups over the last fifteen years, I've hobnobbed with a number of women's rights activists. I'm yet to see someone express themselves as eloquently as this guy 200 years their senior.
I am a "product" of "elite" English medium schools and a "premier" engineering college (ugh, but that is how the Indian press likes to describe folks like me). Of course, RRR started the first English medium school for Indians, so if anything, I'm a "product" of his legacy. But can I ever express myself as coherently, eloquently, beautifully as this man whose only possible formal education was in the Hindu scriptures.
Before thought must come observation. Can I ever perceive the injustice around me, and recognise my own hypocrisy and of those around me, as this man could?
Why have I not read the works of great Indian thinkers like him before? I've read Jefferson and Lincoln and Marx but not RRR or Ambedkar or JP. I suppose you end up reading more of Gandhi, Vivekananda, Aurobindo, JK and Annie Besant because they have entire publishing societies promoting their works. I suppose this is expected if all you ever read is what the media promotes.
People before us have thought so much. Written so much. We pay such little attention to history, and to writers and thinkers who do not belong to our generation. In my most recent visit to Anand Bhawan in Allahabad, Anuj Mama pointed out the wealth of books in the library there. He observed how our leaders were so well read. If they didn't read so much, how would they develop their own ideas?
I think we give too much importance to "original" thought. Maybe its the startup culture - argumentum ad novitatem (or perhaps even novitate gratia novitatem). When the truth is that most useful human output is incremental. Everywhere you see, the good stuff improved incrementally - hardware, software, scientific research, architecture.
Is it possible, that if you read a lot, you would run out of original ideas, because everything interesting had already been thought before? The infinite monkeys theorem!
At the very least, the more you read, the harder it becomes for you to come up with truly novel improvements to existing ideas. In fact, you're left with very little room for thought. Your puny brain is too busy connecting up all the observations and thoughts of people before you.
But hey, I'm only 33. Maybe I should keep reading books and bide my time till I'm 45, then move to a big city and be a rockstar (which is what RRR did). So the plan is:
Step 1: Get off the grid; go rural.
Step 2: Read lots of books; think new thoughts (or die trying).
Step 3: Write books and propose new laws.
Step 4: Be awesome!
Wait a minute, I know some people who're following exactly this plan. Jean Drèze, Aruna Roy, Michael Mazgaonkar.
Damn. Even my diabolical plan for intellectual domination isn't original.
Maybe I'll just go upgrade Ubuntu on Aruna and Michael's laptops.
- Raja Rammohun Roy
Reading the above, I feel monumentally inept.
What prose! This was written 200 years ago, by a person born 240 years ago in rural Bengal. No schools, no printed books, no travel outside of Bengal. How did he acquire such a command on the English language? This is perfectly accessible language that makes sense even today; not the kind of flowery crap people used to write in those days.
What insight! He has captured all of society's hypocrisy in one hard-hitting sentence. His thoughts are relevant even today, across the world. Do we unburden women of their domestic chores when they take up careers outside? Do we afford them a level playing field in the workplace? And yet they must outperform their male colleagues in order to be demonstrate their competent.
Thanks to my association with rights groups over the last fifteen years, I've hobnobbed with a number of women's rights activists. I'm yet to see someone express themselves as eloquently as this guy 200 years their senior.
I am a "product" of "elite" English medium schools and a "premier" engineering college (ugh, but that is how the Indian press likes to describe folks like me). Of course, RRR started the first English medium school for Indians, so if anything, I'm a "product" of his legacy. But can I ever express myself as coherently, eloquently, beautifully as this man whose only possible formal education was in the Hindu scriptures.
Before thought must come observation. Can I ever perceive the injustice around me, and recognise my own hypocrisy and of those around me, as this man could?
Why have I not read the works of great Indian thinkers like him before? I've read Jefferson and Lincoln and Marx but not RRR or Ambedkar or JP. I suppose you end up reading more of Gandhi, Vivekananda, Aurobindo, JK and Annie Besant because they have entire publishing societies promoting their works. I suppose this is expected if all you ever read is what the media promotes.
People before us have thought so much. Written so much. We pay such little attention to history, and to writers and thinkers who do not belong to our generation. In my most recent visit to Anand Bhawan in Allahabad, Anuj Mama pointed out the wealth of books in the library there. He observed how our leaders were so well read. If they didn't read so much, how would they develop their own ideas?
I think we give too much importance to "original" thought. Maybe its the startup culture - argumentum ad novitatem (or perhaps even novitate gratia novitatem). When the truth is that most useful human output is incremental. Everywhere you see, the good stuff improved incrementally - hardware, software, scientific research, architecture.
Is it possible, that if you read a lot, you would run out of original ideas, because everything interesting had already been thought before? The infinite monkeys theorem!
At the very least, the more you read, the harder it becomes for you to come up with truly novel improvements to existing ideas. In fact, you're left with very little room for thought. Your puny brain is too busy connecting up all the observations and thoughts of people before you.
But hey, I'm only 33. Maybe I should keep reading books and bide my time till I'm 45, then move to a big city and be a rockstar (which is what RRR did). So the plan is:
Step 1: Get off the grid; go rural.
Step 2: Read lots of books; think new thoughts (or die trying).
Step 3: Write books and propose new laws.
Step 4: Be awesome!
Wait a minute, I know some people who're following exactly this plan. Jean Drèze, Aruna Roy, Michael Mazgaonkar.
Damn. Even my diabolical plan for intellectual domination isn't original.
Maybe I'll just go upgrade Ubuntu on Aruna and Michael's laptops.
Me: Where do clouds come from?
Kavin: China?
If it weren't for those dang himalayas in the middle, he could be right!
We were reading the water cycle in Larry Gonick's Cartoon Guide to the Environment.
Kavin: China?
If it weren't for those dang himalayas in the middle, he could be right!
We were reading the water cycle in Larry Gonick's Cartoon Guide to the Environment.
So I pick up this Gary Larson book and I'm reading the foreword, and I'm thinking to myself, "why does a Gary Larson book need a foreword?"
And then I realise that the foreword is exceptionally badly written. So I'm thinking to myself, "who could have committed this travesty?" Anyway, here's what this foreword writer says, "And, for me, it will be a future with more job security knowing that Gary chose to use a pen rather than a microphone."
And then, right there is his name. Robin Williams.
So here's what I'm thinking Mr. Williams. You have a lot of electrical engineers to thank for your profession. Imagine if there were no microphones or moving pictures. Imagine if you had to compete with the likes of Mr. Larson with the written word.
Huh? Huh? Imagine that.
And then I realise that the foreword is exceptionally badly written. So I'm thinking to myself, "who could have committed this travesty?" Anyway, here's what this foreword writer says, "And, for me, it will be a future with more job security knowing that Gary chose to use a pen rather than a microphone."
And then, right there is his name. Robin Williams.
So here's what I'm thinking Mr. Williams. You have a lot of electrical engineers to thank for your profession. Imagine if there were no microphones or moving pictures. Imagine if you had to compete with the likes of Mr. Larson with the written word.
Huh? Huh? Imagine that.
Healthy ways to loose weight:
1. Eat a balanced diet, exercise regularly.
2. Umm, never mind.
Unhealthy ways to loose weight:
1. Go on a fast unto death.
2. Contract a 'water borne disease'
3. Start smoking.
Hey, I'm only trying to look for the silver lining. At least I'm loosing weight here. A bit more, and I'll fit into those discount trousers I grabbed at CostCo years ago. (or have they already been passed onto a deserving cousin?)
1. Eat a balanced diet, exercise regularly.
2. Umm, never mind.
Unhealthy ways to loose weight:
1. Go on a fast unto death.
2. Contract a 'water borne disease'
3. Start smoking.
Hey, I'm only trying to look for the silver lining. At least I'm loosing weight here. A bit more, and I'll fit into those discount trousers I grabbed at CostCo years ago. (or have they already been passed onto a deserving cousin?)
This is why we send our sisters to medical college :-)
Typhoid.
Elementary, my dear Watson. I've had typhoid before in 2008, and should have seen the signs. Maybe it was denial. My cousin saw them instantly.
This is how my conversation with her, over the phone from Lucknow, went:
She: Twelve days of fever. All tests are normal. Ultrasound में obviously कुछ नहीं आया होगा। Enlarged liver I'm sure. Typhoid.
Me: But Typhidot was negative.
She: When?
Me: Ah, never mind. (Protip: Typhoid manifests itself in tests only one week after the first fever. My blood tests were done on the sixth day. Too soon.)
She: Widal कराया?
Me: I'll get it done tomorrow.
She: You're still eating Typhoid antibiotics. (Protip: Thirteenth day of fever. If you're going to wait, your intestines will start popping. Nobody in their right minds waits for Widal once typhoid is suspected.)
Then Jijaji reeled off two of the best.
So, who says you can't get medical advice on FaceBook? I got the best advice possible. Change your doctor!
Typhoid.
Elementary, my dear Watson. I've had typhoid before in 2008, and should have seen the signs. Maybe it was denial. My cousin saw them instantly.
This is how my conversation with her, over the phone from Lucknow, went:
She: Twelve days of fever. All tests are normal. Ultrasound में obviously कुछ नहीं आया होगा। Enlarged liver I'm sure. Typhoid.
Me: But Typhidot was negative.
She: When?
Me: Ah, never mind. (Protip: Typhoid manifests itself in tests only one week after the first fever. My blood tests were done on the sixth day. Too soon.)
She: Widal कराया?
Me: I'll get it done tomorrow.
She: You're still eating Typhoid antibiotics. (Protip: Thirteenth day of fever. If you're going to wait, your intestines will start popping. Nobody in their right minds waits for Widal once typhoid is suspected.)
Then Jijaji reeled off two of the best.
So, who says you can't get medical advice on FaceBook? I got the best advice possible. Change your doctor!
Are diseases more complex than they were before? Are doctors less empowered than they were a generation ago? Or have our expectations of medical science become unreasonable?
I've been sick for twelve days now. And I still don't know what's wrong with me. After a battery of tests, the doctors have only given me a list of what I DON'T have.
I've been regularly having the antibiotics and other drugs prescribed to me. Yet today I have the highest fever of the last twelve days! Are humans getting weaker as a species? Or are the virii that cause viral fever getting more virulent?
How scary must situations like this be for the poor? Without access to expensive tests, these long drawn illnesses must be terrible for the daily wages types.
Harsh Singhal is now going to ask me if these are rhetorical questions, or am I expecting reasonable responses. On Facebook.
These extended illnesses give me a depression. Its a chemical thing. Whatever hormone causes happiness in humans, decides to go on vacation every time I fall sick. So if you have any spare PG Wodehouse books lying around, please send them to me. I'm trying to maintain the chemical balance through external stimulus.
I've been sick for twelve days now. And I still don't know what's wrong with me. After a battery of tests, the doctors have only given me a list of what I DON'T have.
I've been regularly having the antibiotics and other drugs prescribed to me. Yet today I have the highest fever of the last twelve days! Are humans getting weaker as a species? Or are the virii that cause viral fever getting more virulent?
How scary must situations like this be for the poor? Without access to expensive tests, these long drawn illnesses must be terrible for the daily wages types.
Harsh Singhal is now going to ask me if these are rhetorical questions, or am I expecting reasonable responses. On Facebook.
These extended illnesses give me a depression. Its a chemical thing. Whatever hormone causes happiness in humans, decides to go on vacation every time I fall sick. So if you have any spare PG Wodehouse books lying around, please send them to me. I'm trying to maintain the chemical balance through external stimulus.
RIP Seth Vidal. You made something my life depended on for many years! Plus, you made RPMs so much more bearable.
Kavin: Anuja मौसी auto चलाती हैं क्या?
Namita : Auto नहीं बेटा Alto.
Maruti has a naming fail on their hands.
Namita : Auto नहीं बेटा Alto.
Maruti has a naming fail on their hands.
Since we've already covered everything around bangalore once, we are down to repeating places. And it isn't as much fun. Thanks to Alistair for a great ride in his awesome car.
घर हो तो ऐसा
Typical Bangalore weather. Got too cold in the night, so I woke up with the chills.
Barry is at it again. This only gets better with time.
Bharat Barry is back in town, and so are the fanbaaaaayz
Cake भी कट गया
Kavin enjoying a long distance train ride on his fourth birthday
Visiting Bangalore for four days. Wanna catch up?
1. Outsource the kids.
2. Hit the town for a night of decadence.
3. Get too drunk to dance or drive.
4. ...
5. Score?!?
2. Hit the town for a night of decadence.
3. Get too drunk to dance or drive.
4. ...
5. Score?!?
Ismein kaddoo nahin zara... Volfarm
Treating our guests well
Daily evening randomness
Alistair gets battered
Just when I thought my life is following too straight a path, Wolfram Alpha comes to my rescue. The gold star in the middle is the set of people I know for reasons other than: going to school or work with them; being born or married into the same family as them; my volunteering with AID.
These are random people I met in the journey of life. Someone who "styled" my hair at a college fest. Folks I organised fundraisers with. Someone I shared a train journey with. Theatre artistes, musicians, dancers and stand up comedians I hung out with in Bangalore or Chennai.
Of course its not comprehensive, because only a small subset of the people I know are my Facebook friends. But some interesting facts cropped up. I am not in touch with any neighbour from any point of my life (other than IIT hostels). That's crazy. I must have lived in 30+ houses in the course of my life, and not one friend?
I was in Samsung for more than an year, and am only in touch with 3-4 colleagues. I was in Impulsesoft for 3-4 months, and am in touch with dozens of folks. That's the power of startups (check out the BloomReach cluster)! (We shall silently ignore the sparsity of the Thinvent cluster).
Am jobless in Bangalore on a Sunday afternoon, numerically analysing my friends rather than meeting them. What a pity. People, call me. I'm over here!
These are random people I met in the journey of life. Someone who "styled" my hair at a college fest. Folks I organised fundraisers with. Someone I shared a train journey with. Theatre artistes, musicians, dancers and stand up comedians I hung out with in Bangalore or Chennai.
Of course its not comprehensive, because only a small subset of the people I know are my Facebook friends. But some interesting facts cropped up. I am not in touch with any neighbour from any point of my life (other than IIT hostels). That's crazy. I must have lived in 30+ houses in the course of my life, and not one friend?
I was in Samsung for more than an year, and am only in touch with 3-4 colleagues. I was in Impulsesoft for 3-4 months, and am in touch with dozens of folks. That's the power of startups (check out the BloomReach cluster)! (We shall silently ignore the sparsity of the Thinvent cluster).
Am jobless in Bangalore on a Sunday afternoon, numerically analysing my friends rather than meeting them. What a pity. People, call me. I'm over here!
Bangalore ahoy
This week our family was struck by viral gastroenteritis (a.k.a. stomach flu). The disease spreads very rapidly and is quite scary in the beginning, but like most viral infections, is self-limiting.
Viral gastroenteritis isn't quite common in India. In case you're also sick with gastro, here are a few precautions and "remedies" that are working for us.
This thing is very contagious. Wash your hands often, and don't share food within the family. That's hard to do with kids, but it has to be done. Eating outside is probably how you contracted the disease, so stick to homemade stuff for a few weeks. Don't cook food for the family if you're sick. Wash your clothes and linen and clean your toilets, more often that you usually do.
Drink plenty of ORS and Electral. Drink cold stuff... this is one of those diseases where drinking cold stuff and staying cool is a good thing. You'll need antacids right in the beginning, when you're still vomiting. Later, Dependal will help with the diarrhoea. Kids will have a lot of trouble holding food, but creative cooking helps.
Viral gastroenteritis isn't quite common in India. In case you're also sick with gastro, here are a few precautions and "remedies" that are working for us.
This thing is very contagious. Wash your hands often, and don't share food within the family. That's hard to do with kids, but it has to be done. Eating outside is probably how you contracted the disease, so stick to homemade stuff for a few weeks. Don't cook food for the family if you're sick. Wash your clothes and linen and clean your toilets, more often that you usually do.
Drink plenty of ORS and Electral. Drink cold stuff... this is one of those diseases where drinking cold stuff and staying cool is a good thing. You'll need antacids right in the beginning, when you're still vomiting. Later, Dependal will help with the diarrhoea. Kids will have a lot of trouble holding food, but creative cooking helps.
Shadow Puppetry workshop at Panchatantra
Pour vous... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QakBtoOIlIc
Kavin
Awesomeness