Waiter serves my juice to Nilay by mistake. He tastes and passes it on. Grins and says "approved by Nilay”. So I tell him, ”शब्री कहीं के". And he says "what?"
Useless kids. Don't get Indian cultural references. My entire childhood was wasted waiting in front of the TV for arrows to reach the other end of the battlefield. More often than not the damn arrow would be countered mid-flight by another arrow, and the story would drag on further. That's how we learnt about the रामायण and महाभारत।
So, y'all know how Cadbury Nutties are so rare in shops these days. Well, I chanced upon a bunch of them in a neighbourhood shop a few weeks ago, and bought three packs.
Three. Whole. Packs.
And then they "vanished" (I have kids at home) before they could reach their intended recipients (one does not buy Nutties for oneself).
And then, a couple of nights ago, they "resurfaced" (*cough* interrogation techniques *cough*).
And so, for the first time ever in my life, I had an entire pack of Nutties all by myself. The whole pack. In one sitting. No sharing.
Now, when I'm close to dying, I will be able to tell myself that near the middle of my life occurred the high point of my life. (Never before had I eaten a pack of Nutties all by myself in one sitting. And never again would I do it for the first time ever.)
The children are going to come back from school to some sad news
Edit: Apologies for not including a link. Stan Lee, the (co)creator of Spider Man, Iron Man, the Fantastic Four, and many other Marvel superheroes, passed away yesterday.
The Verge: Stan Lee dies at 95. https://www.theverge.com/2018/11/12/18088554/stan-lee-death-obituary-marvel-comics
Between 2011 and 2013, China used more concrete than the U.S. used throughout the entire 20th century.
Source: USGS
I lost sleep after reading that statement. It terrifies me, yet fills me with wonder. I've been analysing this information from multiple angles, inside my head, as I lay awake in bed.
I have a map of places I've been to, and places I want to go to.
Here is a list of places in India I am yet to visit. Can we plan a trip together?
Bhuj Jaisalmer Gokarna Lakshadweep (Looks like diving has been shut down here. No point going if that is the case. Also, it's expensive.) Hampi Lal Qila Amritsar Leh Roop Kund, Badrinath, Kedarnath and a bunch of other places in Uttarakhand Arunachal Manipur
I have also not been to any of the neighbours. So that's: Sri Lanka Bhutan Nepal Karachi Bangladesh Beijing, Shanghai (probably going to knock this off in transit some day). Shenzhen (I'm surprised work has never taken me there) Chiang Mai Burma
Chiang Mai showed up in the list because of the AH1. But interestingly, going to Chiang Mai by air is cheaper than going to even Dhaka by road. Thailand seems to have really worked on their air transportation costs. Colombo is really cheap too... cheaper than a lot of flights within India (Leh, I'm looking at you).
Anyway. कोई लाल किला तो चल लो यार। I suppose we should wait till the air is breathable again, though.
I just woke him up and we tried this experiment. It took him many tries and significant effort to nod just once. The median number of nods is three (yes, we are both math nerds).
Conclusion: My son is Noddy.
--- Edit: Experiment has been repeated today after two years.
Kavin was woken up from his sleep, and as he usually does, he woke up smiling. I then asked him to nod his head, which he nodded many times. I asked him to nod it only once, so he nodded it five times.
Verdict: Still Noddy. Median nods have increased from three to five.
You hear so much about the "founding fathers" of the US. इनसे मिलिए, they are some of the authors of the Indian Constitution. All the freedoms we enjoy today can be credited to them.
Image comes from https://www.livemint.com/Politics/X4lDGjqQm6bto8isWPQbEN/The-most-influential-judgements-in-Supreme-Courts-history.html
Non LGBTQ people, this is our opportunity to express solidarity, reach out and make new friends. The illegality may have been lifted, but the stigma and prejudice remains. While the fight against 377 was largely driven by the LGBTQ, the verdict benefits everyone who has sex. Now that they've fought this battle for all of us, how about we help them win the bigger battle. In fact, how beautiful it would be if there weren't any us and them any more.
solidarity ˌsɒlɪˈdarɪti noun
unity or agreement of feeling or action, especially among individuals with a common interest; mutual support within a group.
"factory workers voiced solidarity with the striking students"
Many a hipster barista have been at the receiving end of my annoyance, "Don't give me your mumbo jumbo. Just give me coffee. Whichever one of these is regular coffee, just give me that."
Guys. Just a reminder. My house is always open. If you need someone to talk to, guidance, a sounding board, food, books, wanna learn Linux, smell some flowers or learn some craft, take a nap, crash for a while. Welcome!
(copied from a friend's wall but the feelings are genuine)
PS: The flowers are seasonal. I'm a crappy teacher. If you don't return my books I will haunt you.
I wish I was taught science like this. Not in school. Not at IIT. Not once did even one teacher bring experiments into the classroom so we could see with our own eyes what we were studying.
ABV has been very sick for almost a decade now. He is over 93 years old and clearly suffering. Why is it customary to only pray for recovery in situations like this? Why can't we wish for the peaceful and gentle passing of a person who has lived a full life.
I know little about religion, but at least Buddhism does celebrate the passing of a person, as merely the death of the body (the "vessel").
Me: We weren't at home... Wait, that's not how things works.
She: I still woke up early morning and came to your place. If you had informed me, I would have woken up late for a change.
Me: Yes. I should have called and informed you.
She comes to my place at 5:45am every morning, and takes pride in her work.
This exchange happened while I was writing an essay on privilege. And just a day after I was discussing with other parents at the kids' school how we mistreat our help every day.
I am currently reading Larry Gonick's book on Physics. I have previously studied almost everything covered in the book. And yet there are so many concepts that I am really only appreciating now.
In the past I have attributed this to my growing wisdom with age. Thanks to my kids, I realise now that that isn't true.
When I was in school, we weren't studying to learn. Usually, we were studying to remember. Only the most captivating of texts escaped this treatment. The focus was on being able to regurgitate the information we read on demand, not processing that information.
Examinations are the bane of education.
In college I was mostly studying to know. This meant I had wildly varying examination results, depending on the teacher, the subject, and how much interest I had in it. But I had a free pass in college, so it was OK :-). Whatever I learnt in college, stays with me, unlike what I learnt in school.
On the other hand, I have been learning about computers and crafts since childhood. Learning by doing. The underlying concepts I learnt, and the muscle memory of tools I used, are still with me. I expect to be able to explain extrusion, and perform extrusion of graphics in Coreldraw, or the extrusion of metal in Solidworks, until my dying day.
The focus of education should be to give children the ability to acquire knowledge. Not to actually impart them as much knowledge as possible. Students should also be tested only on their abilities to acquire and process information. Not on how much information they carry around in their heads. This will free up time for discussion and critical thinking. Children will form their own opinions, and reformulate these opinions when presented with new information.
They will then grow up to be intellectuals and Basanagouda will have them shot. But I digress.
Thank you Meera and Rajeev for introducing me to Larry. Your library will always be my number one favourite/aspirational thing in the world.
Some of you know that I design tiny computers for a living. This picture was shared on our support whatsapp group, as one of our field engineers makes it work for a customer in Bangalore.
I found the photo curiously artistic. You might not share the same passion for computers as me, so might not relate.
Product development is always a team effort. Except this little guy. It was developed independently by me in 2016, as we went through a lean phase and had zero people in development.
It's two years old now, which by electronics standards is long in the tooth. We have newer models now. Prettier. Faster. And yet its still going strong, rough edges and all 🙂
In the end the commentator says "she is a huge star in India" and I'm sitting here feeling stupid because I don't even know her and she is a world gold medalist now. Entirely my fault of course. Kudos.
Honourable mentions missing from it: vastu, jinx, काला टीका, बुरी नज़र, sixth sense, pranic healing, magentotherapy, black cats and other assorted superstitions.
What you miss in the vastness of this painting is the detail. See the second pic, which covers just a small fraction. And I could have zoomed in closer. Amazing. So much effort.
America, you need to turn off more lights at night. Kavin is very upset with you. Some of that electricity still comes from dumping CO2 in the air. He's asleep now, but when he wakes up in the morning there'll be hell to pay. A store with no one in it doesn't need its lights on.
