Anthurium Anthem

For sheer flamboyance and in-your-face attention grabbing, few flowers can beat Anthuriums (Anthurium andreanum). I think I'm a little prone to drama myself because I love growing these very sophisticated-looking beauties...More

J.J. Murphy: An Irish Jewel on the South Indian High Ranges

The first half of the last century. A rainy day at Ooty, South India’s famous hill station. Some nuns were walking along a road in the cold. Suddenly a car stopped by and the gentleman driver offered them a lift. He asked why they did not use a vehicle in such inclement weather...More

Slightly inebriated post

Howdy, folks. This is Monsieur Shenoy reporting from the flight deck at 36,000 feet over Mysore. The corpore sano is at sea-level of course, but the mens sana is flying, owing to a liberal dosage of fine single malt whisky...MOre

Shift to Bangalore or loose your job, Frech workers told

For some reason, it’s felt that Democrats are against outsourcing. John Kerry during his presidential run in 2004 made a few remarks to give such an impression. More recently, on May 4, President Obama said he would end tax concessions for companies that create jobs in Bangalore than in Buffalo...More

Voted

One of the hottest days of summer today. I am glad we opted to go early to cast our votes for the Lok Sabha (General Parliamentary) election - before the sun got too strong, and the booths too crowded...More

It Is Time We Thought About “Automobile Explosion”

What I strongly feel is that there should be immediately some restrictions on the number of cars on the roads. Till 10-15 years back only a certain section of people could afford to buy cars, thus automatically keeping a control on the number of cars on the roads. But now the situation has changed. The purchasing power of common people has increased a lot...More

The Bearded Conudrum

As a teenager, one of the most exciting things to do is to get hold of the razor, and whether you have facial hair or not, you just want to feel the blade going up and down your cheek. My father would look upon me quizzically and wonder, "What are you doing standing in front of that mirror? ...More

Paolino Bartolomeo and Karthika Tirunal Rama Varma Rajah (Dharma Rajah) of Travancore.

His remarkable book, A Voyage to the East Indies containing an Account of the Manners and Customs of the Natives with a geographical description of the Country collected from observations made during a Residence of thirteen years, between 1776 and 1789, in districts little frequented by the Europeans was originally published in Rome in 1796...More

Auto logic – II

Welcome tomy latest edition of Auto Logic. Some nuggets of conversation with autorikshaw drivers in Bangalore.
Me: Where are you from (in Tamil)?
Auto driver: (Instant smile) Senji Sir...More

Hyper or Just being a kid?

I asked the person I was talking to, what they are going to do about it. He said ‘We took a stand and is going to stick on to that. We are not going to give drugs to our kid. Period. ‘His kid is a very good student. I saw only a normal kid running around the restaurant...More

The Supreme Speed Braker of Mylapore Contest

There are a few roads in Mylapore/ Mandavelli that bear testimony to this new finding. One is the Thiruvengadam Street that has more speed breakers than the number of sixers in a T20 match...MOre

The Goddess at Pompeii

Many more years of painstaking archeological digging followed. In 1939, Italian archeologist Prof Maiuri, discovered an artifact in the ruins, that had a very Indian origin. This ivory statuette which survived the disaster and lasted all these 2000 years was identified by Prof Maiuri as that of the Goddess Lakshmi...More

Doors of Silver

I took these shots at Bhagamandala Temple in Coorg around 220 km from Bangalore. This huge temple complex has shrines dedicated to various Gods. The idols are housed inside these small shrines...More

The Black Winged Stilts at Pallikaranai

They take off as a flock, frightened by a marauding marsh harrier, and then land at a safe distance, their long red legs and black wings making them look better in flight than when they are wading in the waters...more

Ten things that define Delhi (5)

The Metro is more than just a Mass Rapid Transit System. It is proof that change can happen, that things can work, that a few good bureaucrats can make a giant difference. Take a Metro ride today!...More

Oh, What Folly!

It seems to me the films of yore
Have a great deal to answer for.
They led us to expect Great Expectations.
I grew up thinking life would be...More

Cultures of India

Another performing art from Karnataka, captured at the government sponsored folk festival in Bangalore...More

Not enough skills?

This question typically arises when starting a business. You don’t have much idea about selling that gadget you have made. You also don’t have the confidence whether the gadget is of top quality or not. So, do you start selling now? Or do you attain more perfection and then start selling?...More

Poll Games

I have been watching with amused horror tinged with extreme sadness the poll games being played with alacrity over the past few days. These are being reported by all media channels for all to see...More

Mother's Day and Restaurants in Zurich

But later on I realised that parents love all their children equally, its only that the well behaved ones get more praise and thats sometime misconstrued...More

Down the long and winding memory lanes and by-lanes

Pudgy and me met in kindergarten. The first meeting was not so nice. Pudgy was clinging onto her Dad’s arms bawling her lungs out. She kept bawling the whole day and I was pretty fed of the irritating noise. Next day the bawling continued and I remember going to her and doing the decent thing...More

Given up Yet?

Many teenage blogs start out with so much optimism and confidence. Some of them gain popularity, and others melt into oblivion. Either way, it’s unfortunate that most teenage blogs die out pretty soon. They are discarded, dormant or neglected. But they all have something in common...More

Hallmark Holidays

It starts the day after Christmas with valentines day, probably the most contrived con game run on men (and some women), to make them spend unseen amounts of money because someone told the to....More

R.K.Laxman's autograph... my cartoons.....

One small corner of me reserves my interest in cartoons. My cartooning hero is R.K.Laxman. I 'read' his lines drawn in his cartoons. They are so life-like and natural. So much like a picture!

Sometime in 1986 I almost met him in his Times of India [Bombay] chamber.......... I drew a few cartoons of my own though not worthy of comparison to my hero's.

more....

VOTED

The whole procedure, smooth and quick, took less than twenty minutes, out of which it took me ten minutes just to look at all the candidates’ names to find my chosen one from the three Electronic Voting Machines - we had 44 candidates to choose from....More

Option E: None of the Above

when I went through the list of candidates for our constituency, I was stumped to come up with the right or best candidate. Of the candidates from the three major parties, one is corrupt, one is terribly terribly corrupt and the third.....
If you are dissatisfied with the candidates on offer in your constituency and think they don’t deserve your vote; then by provision 49- O,

Down the long and winding memory lanes and by-lanes

We met in kindergarten. The first meeting was not so nice. Pudgy was clinging onto her Dad’s arms bawling her lungs out. She kept bawling the whole day and I was pretty fed of the irritating noise. Next day the bawling continued and I remember going to her and doing the decent thing. I pinched her hard...more.

A Day in the Life of Ejamanar

Undeterred by this 21st century attitude to his 19th century ideals, Ejamanar never falters in his determination to keep his family, particularly his two children, firmly under his thumb and watchful eye. The children, however, under the strong influence of the Ejamanar genes (Ejamanar was notoriously rebellious and independent-thinking as an adolescent) pay scant heed to his remonstrations about the abundance of evil lurking in innocent corners. Ejamanar is an ardent exercise freak, profoundly scornful of “leftists” and a nightmarish driver who believes that any other vehicle on the street is superfluous and needs to come within an inch of being eliminated. More....

Identification Parade

It is not really necessary to know the name of the bird to enjoy watching it. Even without the knowledge of the species it is interesting to observe how busily they go about their activities. I do observe then I try to take shots of it too taking care not to disturb it. But soon I find asking myself ‘what kind of bird is it?’

Singapore Sling

Pour masses of tropical flowers all across a spotlessly clean city.
Fill it all around with beautiful waterscapes.