MIT’s Intellectual philanthropy

The MIT initiative helps self-learners and the intellectually curious to acquire knowledge that would otherwise be possible only by joining a regular university course that every one, everywhere, cannot afford. . . .More. . .

Sears, the big book and America

It was a Sears’s catalog that my shippie (merchant navy officer) uncle had brought back from America. He had brought it along to show samples of life in the new world, to his mother, sisters and brother. . .More. . .

Blog of the Day: Returned to Bangalore

Chitra Aiyer, Arch. graduate, IT professional and hands-on mom, more than anything else, blogs on experiences in the wake of her move-back to India, from California. . .To the blog . . .

Macao Notes: Return of the Dragon

Lord Stowe’s has a bakery on the corner near the roundabout and I ran into an Indian looking guy who gave me a smile. I stopped to have a small chat and that made him happy, not seeing “his kind” in great numbers in Macao and that too in desolate Coloane’. He was from the Southern Indian state of Kerala and was serving as a baker at Lord Stowe’s. . .More . . .

Free public transit

For those of us in India free public transport is no one's dream. It's an academic concept that we read about in blogs or the Tyee kind of publications that investigate issues and carry viewpoints widely ignored by the big media. . .More. . .

Blog of the day: Blogpourri

Blog by US-based Sujatha, with Mysore connection. Talks of parenting, writing, radio, Bangalore. .. .More . . .

Lakshmi's first day at college

. . . was something like a dream, . . . very confused at to how to find my classroom. My timid heart was welling with excitement, my face was red and alert, and there were butterflies in my stomach. But I found my classroom, and there were people…so many new faces, it would be difficult, I thought, to find a friend. . .More. . .

Blog of the Day ; Babies Anonymous

It's a mom's blog that ought to interest any child, even as old as Amitabh, I presume. As the blogger's latest tale put it, "If Amitabh can. . .So can Poppin. . ." . . .Can what ? Look it up . . .

India of his dreams

Mr Thomas would like to see, what he terms, a holly alliance of parents, universities, private enterprise and the state, with a hidden agenda to keep the fire of innovative spirit burning in our brilliant young minds. We must ensure that the best of us do not become available to the highest bidder. . .More . . .

From an American on the Infosys campus

All of this occurred during my Saturday morning journey into Mysore with a few colleagues. The sensory blend of sights, sounds, smells, tastes is just incredible. We walked around the area near Devraj Market and just wandered around . . . It was the most “authentic” experience I’ve had since I have arrived - Infosys’ campus is amazing, but it is an oasis of corporate serenity in the midst of a wild and beautiful country. . . More. . .

Blog of the Day: Life's puzzled ..

The two-word title says it all. Does it ? - A blog by Disha, in IT in Mumbai . . .Check it out. . .

Madam President, be a Kalam in your own way

. . . she has one clear agenda before her. She must use the influence of her high-power office -- not to bring in more laws in favour of women but -- to radically change the way our society looks at women, which no law can bring about. . .More. . .

Blog of the Day: Harimohans

A personal page: ".... my ramblings ,anecedotes ,opinions ,richochete from me to my keyboard and thence to the blog . thoughts metamorphose to words, grammar and spellings arent my strength". . .To the blog. . .

My take on Mira Nair's Namesake

What happens to Ashoke and Ashima could happen to any NRI who sets up family in the U S. The film brings out the critical little concerns of desi parents with growing teenagers who have closer affinity with their American peers than their tradition-bound parents. . .More. . .

Pottermania

JK Rowling has entered history books, broken records, and the world is queuing up for the last book. After we grow too old for Fantasy, I’m sure we’ll forget the spell Potter cast on us as children. I know all good things should come to an end, and it is time to bid adieu to the famous series. . .More. . .

Navasree Reji, a school dropout, village artist

He studied up to school final and dropped out. . . couldn’t concentrate on the curriculum because his mind is full of beautiful images and he has been transferring them on all kinds of vegetables, Thermocol (Styrofoam) , ice and other medium. . . More. . .

Last of the Travancore maharaja

Mahatma Gandhi visited Kawdiar Palace in 1925 and during conversation asked the boy king whether he would abolish untouchability and permit low castes to enter temples when he formally assumed power. The answer was ‘Yes’. True to his word, the Maharaja made the famous Temple Entry Proclamation in 1936. . .More. . .

Guru Dutt’s cameraman

Cinematographer V K Murthy has in him a book or two; and it is time an enterprising publisher talked to him into writing them. . . . Mr Murthy who gave up his schooling in Mysore and violin lessons to go to Bombay in search of work in visual media was with Guru Dutt for much of his career. . .More. . .

The heart of the matter

How many of you know that the human heart is indeed stopped with ice during a conventional Cardiac Bypass surgery? And that it is restarted a few hours later? And believe it or not, I have seen it all – 7 hours of a complex bypass performed by a famed cardiac surgeon, standing right next to him – . . .More . . .

Why this fuss over Mysore Utsav?

Sure, they would be fun. But I’m not sure if these cinema-based events help “foster a great tradition and culture”. And there is no mention of involvement of the person who has a very personal stake in sustaining the city’s royal image. Mr Wadyar and the palace appears nowhere in the organisers' scheme of things. . .More. . .

Autobiography of a school

I am proud that my village has people who can write like this. The authors used what they termed ‘memory boxes’ to collect data. Each old student available was asked to jot down his/her experiences relating to the school. From that collection evolved this poignant piece. . .More. . .

I T professionals and social space

This brought to me the reality that many of us in software profession seldom have any relationship with our own relatives back home nor share a common social space with them. It happens that a software professional is busy working in Bangalore that he is not bothered to keep his social relations back home alive. . .More. . .

India & WW 2

WW II has always fascinated me, though I have still many a page left to read on that tragic war that stretched a long six years. I am still to wade through the great 3rd Reich book written by William Shirer. Over 60 million people died in a war that mobilized over 100 million troops from 61 nations. India was primarily involved as a supplier of troops supporting Britain and as a base in the CBI Theater – the China Burma India Theater of the war front. . .More. . .

Singapore snapshot - 8

ACM, as it is popularly known as in acronym loving Singapore, is a relatively new museum, opening its doors in 1997. However, the original building was first constructed in the middle part of the 1860’s apparently using convict labor. . .More. . .

Lost friendship

I now look back and think how precious that friendship was. . . growing up has changed us. We are different. We now know our manners, and we know we need to be dignified in speech and expression. We are not anymore those sissies who shared with each other the stories of how scared we were of going to bathroom alone at night, how the howling winds scared us, or how we secretly cried when our mothers scolded us. . .More. . .

Devi Shetty’s heart tips

IT professionals among them, who worked to the US time zone, found it reassuring to have it from the guru that those who work night shift were in no way more vulnerable to heart attack than those who do more earthly hours. . .More. . .

Rail travel notes

I have yet to come across one who relished – I mean, yummy-yummied – a meal in the train. That the train food is no good isn’t worth writing about. What intrigues me is capability of caterers to serve meals in trains that are so uniformly tasteless. . .More. . .

Belaku Shishu Vihara

While going to bed does not mean a good night kiss from a mother, it might mean a comforting touch of a friend’s hand, and suppressed giggles throughout the night. While they might not enjoy pillow fights with brothers and sisters, they still practice for the annual Belaku function with enthusiasm. . .More. . .

Bonded labour with creative mind

That a creative mind is not bonded . . . is demonstrated with a socially useful innovation by Balakrishna of Tamilnadu , whose family once worked as bonded labourers. His innovation : power generation using slow moving water. . . More. . .

Teen innovator

Of a Malawi teenager who built a windmill to power his house. . .More. . .

My Mysorean thatha

Do any old Mysorean recognize him ?. . . He was known for punctuality, according to a trader near his office. My grandfather had a “Sun-beam” bicycle that he rode to office daily in the morning. He followed a particular route. This particular trader informed us later that he used to set his watch when my grandfather passed his shop. . .More

How to argue effectively

Booze. . .Make things up . . . Use snappy and irrelevant comebacks. . .Compare your opponent to Adolf Hitler. . .More. . .

Cricket in remore areas

Olavipe was an extremely remote area till a road link was established in 1970. And cricket came to the place in 1941; just nine years after India’s Test debut! The man behind it was OC George, Ollattikulam, husband of my younger aunt Annamma (Kunjammai). We used call him Achhan. He and his brothers were well-known sportsmen of the erstwhile Cochin State. . . More. . .

Nixon unmasked

...just published book “ Nixon and Kissinger Partners in Power’ throws much light on the deep-seated hatred Nixon had developed towards Indians whom he described as ‘slippery, treacherous people “, while his National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger described them as “insufferably arrogant”. . .More. . .

Karnataka legislators for China ?

The Karnataka assembly speaker is quoted as saying that the China trip would help our legislators “change their mindset” towards development models to be adopted in Karnataka. . .More. . .

Conversion wouldn't improve Dalits' lot

The reports that some of Mysore City Dalit leaders , notably, former union minister Mr V Srinivasa Prasad and reputed writer Mr Devanur Mahadev, embraced Buddhism at a recent function in Bangalore disturbed me. . .More. . .

Gita, Guru, Ekta and Ecevit...

I still remember the time when my parents visited us in Turkey. The Dolmabache palace we took them to while sight-seeing had a school excursion going and the children were wide-eyed seeing my mother dressed in a Sari, they had never seen one before and clamored to get photographed with the strange looking ‘Hintli’ (Indian) woman. Much to my mom’s embarrassment!!. . .More. . .