100 Years of Aviation in Singapore

It was on the evening of 16th March 1911 that a French pilot Joseph Christiaens piloted a Bristol Boxkite Biplane. He took off from the Old Racecourse at Farrer Park from an unprepared airstrip, offering rides to many people for $50 a head! Pricey it may have been, apparently it had many takers. Farrer Park is now just grassy area near the Farrer Park MRT station on Race Course Road. There is no Race Course here but the name remains. Race Course Road is now famous for many Indian restaurants and Singaporean Indian restaurants that are famous for signature dishes such as the "Fish Head Curry".

A tsunami story

The little girl wearing a faded green dress sat alone on the deserted beach, a few feet away from the waterline, looking westward and waiting. She tried to flatten her hair that tossed about in the strong evening breeze with her hands but the strands wouldn’t stay back....

Click on the title to read this touching story.

GVK -'Bye Mysore... Hello Chennai...!

G.V. Krishnan, GVK, to both friends and starngers, moved to Mysore from Coonoor as per his own words, ' to explore something new in the quaint little Royal town-city' of Mysore. Read on...

GVK - ' Bye Mysore.. Hello.. Chennai..!

G.V. Krishnan, popularly to both friends and strangers, GVK, moved to Mysore from Coonoor as per his own words, ' to explore something new in the quaint little Royal town-city' of Mysore.
Read on....

Suppression and Expression

An aunt from our family friends circle is a journalist. She contributes to international magazines. She writes mostly about social issues in India.

Recently we were all recipients of a mail from her with a link to her blog. She requested the recipients of the mail to take a look at her blog. I opened the mail rather late and saw that she had very few hits and no comments. She sent the mail out again. But the post was not getting the attention she was seeking... (more)

Dearest Uncle Pai,

There were days when I used to open up my window to see the world like never before. Those were the days when I was ten, and fairytales were as real to me as the sun, moon, and school. Those were the days when I used to dream up silly stories, or scribble to myself. And even if the world wouldn’t listen to those little stories, there was always this reassurance that you would, someday...More

Is Yoga enough as a fitness routine?

Over the last decade, yoga has begun to become the preferred form of working out for many people. It is an ancient practice that, unlike the typical gym, treadmill or weight lifting routine, gives you all round fitness that includes strengthening, breathing control, stretching, and balance. This makes it the complete package for physical, mental and emotional fitness.

While most of us might presume that lying on a mat and practicing Yoga might not really achieve that full body workout, it is important to know that....continue reading...

Do you power nap?

You've most certainly heard of siestas in the middle of the day in many cultures. Fact is, everyone feels a bit of a slump in energy levels by the time they're half way through the day and could do with a short nap that will refresh and revive.

It is called power-napping. I never believed in it - because the idea of a "short" nap always seems odd to me. I assume I'll just sleep off for several hours and waste the day. I come from a family where even the octogenarians do not believe in dozing in the afternoons, so it is a difficult habit to adopt.

Still, I've been reading a lot about the power of ...continue reading...

Looking Back with Love

Was a little sentimentally caught up with numbers yesterday. As I posted on Going A-Musing, I was surprised to realize, on the dashboard, that it was my 500th post there. So I checked to see where I stood here, and found it was the 200th. Okay - so no big deal - but there's something about a big round number that seems significant. How? No idea. Just makes you want to make a bit of a sound about it. At least in your own head, eh? :-)

Still - I was musing about the...continue reading

Swing in the living room

Living room of my blogger friend in Ooty. Kalyani....

STRINGS OF DEATH

.....It happened in an Italian city. A man was going home from work riding his motorcycle. All of a sudden a kite flown by some boys fell down and the Italian equivalent of the maanja string that came down along with the kite found this man in its way! It is difficult to believe, but the string simply went on its way.....Read more here












http://lifeinpondicherry.blogspot.com/2011/03/strings-of-death.html

Europe Is Considering A Nuclear-Free Future – A Welcome Thought

Will the recent tragedy in Japan, that has made the country face a possible nuclear disaster, eventually push European Union (EU) to go for a nuclear-free future?

Well, there seems to be a possibility, if a recent observation by EU Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger is anything to go by. More

What is ENGLISH?

E = Expressive
N = Necessary More

Heard of a 'haiku'?

Wordsmith, the home of A.Word.A.Day newsletter, celebrates 17 years, and featured five 17-letter words this week. To further mark the milestone, subscribers were invited to take part in a haiku contest - send in a haiku to define or illustrate each of these 17 letter words. (What is a haiku?)

My entries

predestinarianism
My will or your will
Have no doubt - it is His will
that has the last word!
More...

Of wasted subsidy, and freebies for ration-card holders

If govt. decides to de-list ration-card from acceptable proof-of-identity/address documents , nearly 60 percent of ration-cards would disappear from the books. Apart from reducing food subsidy outlay, scrapping so many cards from PDS records would lesson the scope for diversion of PDS supplies to the black-market...More...

Quake-hit Japanese on Twitter

I have no qualms about copy-pasting Jun Shiomitsu’s compilation , and I trust he would condone the plagiarism...More...

My family’s hearts are in Japan

A week back my mind was full of the sea and sailors and ships and pirates. I was planning a blog post on the Somali buccaneers. I was in the process of collecting data. Suddenly Somalia was out and it was all Japan as I sat down to watch the noon news on March 11.....

Fight Back, “The Land Of The Rising Sun”

History bears the proof of the determination and courage that the Japanese community personifies
And there is hardly any doubt that the great country will overcome the present disaster with aplomb and ease. More

Pilots With Forged Certificates/Documents Should Be Charged With Attempt To Culpable Homicide

I personally feel that such people should be charged with attempt to culpable homicide. More

I was dubbed Arjun Singh’s man

Media during Arjun Singh’s regime had things going for them, much to the dislike of much of the bureaucracy and opposition politicians. They had reason to feel done out of govt. houses in prime localities, which were allotted to media people...More...

Nurturing Nature

.....And in-between the two is a lovely, secluded valley, an ecological paradise that teems with a staggering variety of birds, butterflies and insects and a mind-blowing array of animals including elephants, bison, wild boar, sloth bears, leopards, tigers, and the rare, indigenous Nilgiri Tahr and Nilgiri Langur. There is an equally stunning diversity of trees that form the mixed deciduous forest all around, interspersed with dense bamboo groves and open grassland. More...

Zoology Practical Dissection

I have always been one - not one in a million, but among millions! -  to nauseate and run miles at the sight of a cockroach, leave alone slap at it with a broom when they were sighted in our house in their nocturnal outings.  [Read more...]

Photos: Olavipe, my village

See photos...

Roads for Threshing Harvest

While I don’t have any objection to my vehicle being of some use to them, I am really concerned about safety. The vehicle can skid causing harm to both parties. The wastage factor is definitely very high in this process, with the grains getting mixed up with soil and dirt. And what about the cleanliness factor of the grains? Wish the concerned official reads this! Read more...