Welcoming the new year with hope

December 31st is generally special for everyone. For me, this date became all the more significant five years back. That's when I met my husband, Mitrajit in a dimly-lit temple where those B-school guys had set up a function for slum kids. . .More

Kerala: No coir in the coir land

A story heard in Kerala recently: A man who had been a coir worker all his life was struggling to maintain his family. There was no work, no money, no food. Finally he gave up all hope and decided to commit suicide.

But there was a problem there.

Marathon runner

A marathon runner has been, for me, an un-understood entity ; and there was a time when I used to think it was something Ethiopians did. Anyway, I didn’t give a thought to the prospect of ever meeting anyone who did 26.2 miles in one go. This was till I met Dr Srinivas a couple of years back...More...

A very Happy New Year

Let me wish everyone a Very Happy and Prosperous New Year 2010.

...and for those who have taken 2012 seriously, please remember that you have 2 more years to fulfill your ambitions, be happy and give other's happiness..

Gooseberry that got stuck

I was sucking the tasty juice from the gooseberry pickle kept between the gums and the cheek. "Ready?" called I before striking the ball. The pickled gooseberry suddenly slipped when I called and nicely settled in my gullet . I dropped my little bat and rushed to the nearest tap...(.more.)...

MUDA telecast : passing the buck

In the government if someone doesn’t want to get anything done, the issue is referred to the higher authorities. Papers are put up for approval. And a file is created, to move from desk to a bigger desk, till the file finds itself on CM’ s desk..More...

The world's first photograph, our oldest and more

At that time it was really not known which was the one real first photograph taken. Trying to search for details on the above picture on the internet, I found this picture and...
(.... read on)

Narayanan and our cribs

Decorating the house for Christmas is over. It looks nice, colourful. I never realized that there are so many ornamental items for beautifying a place. Each year new ones hit the market..I wonder how much money flows out of the country on this account each festival season. .

Taking A Mental Vacation!

Of late, I've gotten into the habit of feeling a teeny bit envious of people who keep talking about going on vacation during the weekend or during - well - vacation time. It has been a while since we went out anywhere - because of our domestic situation.

My mom's been sick for a long time, and since the last three months, she has been advised complete bed-rest to heal her back (spinal tb) and I have been... MORE

The Legendary Carpet

This carpet has seen it all. It has spent its life with our family and seen five generations and numerous family events. It has brushed many soles of great souls that have walked on it. (..more(-

Spotted an Indian Golden Oriole today

I was thrilled to spot, photograph and identify the Indian Golden Oriole, a beautiful bright yellow bird today. It is known to be rarely seen in the urban landscapes as it is somewhat a shy bird. This winter migratory bird is from the Himalayan region.... (... read on)

Sunitha needs your attention....

Finally I found time to watch Sunitha Krishnan’s presentation on TED.

'Fast unto Death' to get What you want!

By agreeing to create a Telengana State over KCR’s ‘fast unto death’ UPA has set in a chain reaction which could divide India into bits and pieces.
The power of ‘Fast unto death’, even if it is only for few hours, helps reap rich rewards has been well understood and practiced widely in our country.
Who else do you think will go on FUD to achieve their ends?

A Pack of Cards

Ramnath was a contented man; he had retired after a long career with the IAS, and it had been a no mean achievement surviving the bureaucratic minefields. He was back at his village in Pallavur – Palakkad, spending the remaining part of his life ruminating the past, reading religious texts and building up a new social circle. Parvathi his wife, took good care of her soul mate. It had been difficult times for her too, running around with her ‘transferable job’ husband....

The story of an old man and his journey to America.

How I met TS Satyan once

Would like to share a little bit from my one and only serious short meeting with the great photo-journalist who was a Mysorean! Read a little more.....

Mysore: Airport in search of flights

The idea doesn’t seem all that bright or workable because no airline can be expected make its business decisions on the minimum seats guaranteed by a few corporates. Anyway, no such assurance can be binding on individual companies. Besides, airlines are reported to be looking for a state subsidy by way of a cut in fuel tax (27 perecent in Karnataka)...More...

Ungoogle

I was searching for a pals Flickr account having conveniently forgotten to bookmark it when she gave it to me over gchat. Faced with the prospect of quiz questions on the same by her in exactly one hour when she logs in from the US, I tried to search for her album using her name in the Flickr search tool.

The result was interesting. (see text in the red 'rectangle')...more.

LAKE AIRCRAFT

Added a couple of more pictures including this landing pix that I liked.

This is a write up about me and the Lake Amphibious Aircraft. It is more of an information page for the Aircraft with a link to see video of this Aircraft. This Blog may not be of much interest to everyone except those with an interest in aviation.

The Lady of Many Smiles

Let us reflect for a moment on the lot of a widow in India in the 1930s. There were few worse fates that could befall a woman at that time. It was a form of living hell, a mockery of a life lived in the shadows, one of shame, guilt, sorrow and humiliation, utterly stripped of dignity and joy. The widow was shorn of all adornment and color, and had to dress in old rags, without even a blouse to protect her modesty. Her hair, that symbol of beauty and luxuriance, was shaven off, roughly and crudely. She had to depend - for food, shelter, just the basics - on the usually undependable and non-existent kindness of family members. She was looked down upon as the harbinger of bad luck, a dark cloud, ominous and inauspicious, choked by the miasmic vapors of calamity and doom. She was considered lucky just to be alive.

top of my head

Right now, i'm holding my cup of tea and wondering how on Earth a 'fast' even meets a criteria for separate statehood. I clearly remember a news bulletin in 2004 when TRS said they'd support Congress at the centre. KCR had said back then that statehood was what he wanted.

Clipping their wings

I have come across many such girls. They belong to a minority community that does not allow girls to study too much as parents want to marry them off quickly as per tradition and also because they feel that they will not get grooms if they were too educated. The girls get married and soon the couple realizes that one income is not enough and the girl is allowed to look for a job. Because of their low qualifications, they end up being sales girls or cashiers. They do not complete their studies after marriage due to kids and other domestic hassles. But most of them were good students, and if allowed to complete their studies, they would have been in better positions professionally...more

And we were O.K.

To all the wonderful kids who were born in India , grew up in the 60's,70's and 80's and survived :

Now And Then

The compartment was tightly packed with all sorts of women , men, children, with their various steel trunks, hold-alls -- a must for all railway journeys in those days -- and tiffin-carriers big enough to contain food to last for three days Not to forget the suraais for water which were very prompt in tilting and spilling their contents at the least provocation. More here. . . .

Climate change: common edit in 56 dailies

The common editorial has been published on page one, of 56 newspapers from 45 countries in 20 different language. Notably, the only newspaper in India to carry the edit is The Hindu. The Guardian of London that led this unique media initiative could not persuade any other paper in the UK ...the response of one US paper:“This is an outrageous attempt to orchestrate media pressure. Go to hell.”...More...

The International Indian

I must thank Shashi Tharoor for this. Not that I know him or anything. But like all of you, I know of him. Recently, thanks to the internet and the forward mail industry, I got a link from my wife to his speech at the TED forum. As I watched it, I must say I truly enjoyed it. Well, Tharoor is from Palakkad, my maternal hometown and though I disagree with what he said about R K Narayanan, I think he is a pretty neat guy, charming and all that, with a twinkle in his eyes, set to warm many a girl’s heart and a Hugh Grant style demeanor and a Brit accent to boot. But gals, unfortunately this is not about Tharoor or how to charm a woman. It is a little bit about the roaming Indian in the big wide bad world, something Tharoor reminded me of..

...............

But well, this goes back a few months, and I was at my favorite haunt in Temecula, a place which is fast becoming a memory. It was the public library. After a bad week, I was trudging my way in, a little hunched as usual, not a cheer on my face and wondering if I would get the book I wanted.

Get Sunlightened!

"The Sun is a big ball of fire." taught my primary Class 1 "Book of Knowledge". I cannot forget repeating the sentence, "The Sun is a big ball of.... " Read a bit about it and a lot more of 'sunlightenment' and have a nice day.

State victims

Yesterday night while we were returning from a party, we saw a remarkable thing. Two cops were kicking and beating up a teenager. He seemed to be from a good family and kept fending them off by saying “Sorry Sir”. He cops kept hitting and kicking and punching him. So what was remarkable about this sight? They were traffic cops!...more

BANGKOK IN BRIEF

An important update about Visa On Arrival facilities in Thailand. Indians and citizens of various countries that are eligible for Visa on arrival facility can now apply for visa on arrival for free. There was a Thai Baht 1,000 fee earlier and one needed to carry this amount in Thai Baht. That fee has been waived for all till March 2010 with the aim of encouraging tourism in Thailand.

Bhopal before 24x7 news channels

Our priority was survival ; making it somewhere away from the gas, which had by then spread to much of Bhopal . We spent the night with Narasimhan in Arera Colony...whose house was on higher ground and unaffected. On our way up to Narasimhan’s place we found several gas victims who collapsed on the street after inhaling the toxic gas methyl isocyanate...More...

On A Hot Day In August

On a hot day in August (possibly July) 1639, Francis Day, an ambitious and industrious (and, some gossipy tongues maintain, a womanizing, alcoholic, gambling-addicted) employee of the English East India Company, set off on a voyage down the Coromandel Coast of India in search of a suitable piece of land for a factory. More

Bhopal 1984 and the Anderson saga

Mr Anderson and two other company executives were picked up by police from the tarmac as their plane landed at Bhopal, driven off through a side gate ( presumably, to evade a bunch of waiting news reporters) ; taken to the Union Carbide guest house, where they stayed for a couple of hours before being put on the state government plane to be flown back to New Delhi...More...

A students hostel in Karnataka

B R Ambedkar Post-metric Students Hostel, Chintamani, Chickeballapur

(Mis) managed by : Dept. of Social Welfare

Students: 100 ( against grants received for 200 stidents)

Location: dilapidated building abandoned by its owner 40 years back...More...

Dare we hope? at Copenhagen?

Last June this blog mentioned "The Story of Stuff". The same presenter has come out with another video on The Story of Cap & Trade ahead of the Climate meet at Copenhagen. Host Annie Leonard introduces the "energy traders and Wall Street financiers at the heart of this scheme and reveals the .. More...

Talking Dasara

I've been here nine years but still haven't convinced my ass to check out the wrestling events that are held with much grandeur. Nor have i paid any visits to the karnatic music sessions usually held in the famed Mysore Palace...More...

Lenin Rajendran going ahead with Raja Ravi Varma movie

It was the Urvashi and Pururavas painting (see image) by Raja Ravi Varma that inspired the director. The touching tale of the love between Urvashi and King Puruvaras provides the background