Gun Control

Let me start by saying I am not trying to take on the NRA. I do need to ask: what is the obsession with guns?! The second amendment really has no relevance now, we have a national military, and we all know the stats about gun deaths....More

Taste of Summer

A latecomer tree was a surprise. Its green fruit is very sour, but turned out to be very delicious when ripened. Folks in the know say that the more sour it is when it is green, the sweeter it is when it is ripe. More.....

The language of work

All the team members talked in their respective language and soon enough a situation developed when there was a total communication breakdown between employees, teams and departments besides fierce protection of team members by team manager even if they were not upto the mark. Performance appraisals were similarly rigged in favor of team members...more

Australia: Curry bashing and ‘convict stains’

Australia’s original image as ‘Penal Colony’ slowly faded away after the World War II. People had forgotten that once it was a country of offenders shipped out from Great Britain, the so called ‘debris of British convictism’. Perhaps only the Barmy Army tried to keep that image alive with taunts like the song,

‘We are a convict colony,
We carry balls and chains’....

Premiere show of "Spaces for Rent"

I'm very happy to announce that the premiere show of the first major production of GangwayZ media house, Spaces for Rent or Jaaga Doreyuttade, has been fixed and the details are as below:

Date :6th June, Saturday
Place :Senate Hall, CIST, Manasagangotri Campus, Mysore
Time :5pm onwards

All are cordially invited. More...

How Much Should You Pay Your Newspaper Agent?

When an agent delivers a newspaper to your doorstep, do you know, as an enlightened consumer, how much you have to pay him? Many customers are paying more than they should. Let us first look at how many issues are delivered in a year. More..

Oldies but Goldies

The Vintage Car Rally marks the end of the 'Season' at Ooty. We do have a month long program of events which include a Boat Regatta, Dance and Music, Photographic Shows

Random Memories of My Travels

New photos of Ixora coccinea

Verse is Worse

A year long theatre training course in Rangayana was replete with theatre games. Prashanth Hiremath - one of the best theatre teachers I have ever seen - introduced us to a very interesting game during the course. .. .More. . .

A mockery of the law

The Persons With Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act mandates that all staircases in public buildings should be supplemented by ramps. The ramp here is so steep that no one but a superman can negotiate it. "Obeying the letter of the law but not the spirit" can not have a better example. . .More. . .

Case for 24x7 water supply

When water is supplied merely for 2-3 hours in a day, and not regularly, we all tend to store more water than we actually require. . .More. . .

Shroff Saab of Carmelite St.

Shroff Saab was a man of few words. He opened his mouth only when he was with the boss, Dr Tarapada Basu, usually to complain about something or someone. And his words carried weight with Dr Basu.. . .More. . .

Vanilla, the flavouring the world loves

Vanilla ice cream? Cool! Cakes, chocolates, biscuits, drinks using vanilla? Yummy! Perfume with vanilla fragrance? Wow!

Well, vanilla is the world’s most preferred flavouring. It accounts for a whopping 29% among all food flavourings, according to a 2006 study by the International Ice Cream Association.

Vanilla is an orchid, a climbing terrestrial one…

Photos: More of pastoral Olavipe

Thinking Big with honesty?

I came across an article quoting Former president APJ Abdul Kalam saying ’small goal is a crime’.

“I will have a goal and work hard to achieve the goal. I realise small goal is a crime. This should be the motto to achieve success,” Kalam told students after inaugurating a ‘Arts and Science Centre’ at Balbhavan... more

Chakram: The wheel that turned agricultural fortunes

This photo from Olavipe brings a rush of memories to my mind. In the good old days when paddy cultivation was a way of life...

Puppies of a lesser god

Over the years things have changed though at the races. A lady can be seen seated near the racing track with a binocular and every now and then she gesticulates and makes a noise. Since we were ‘insiders’ we got to know that she was from Mrs. Kenaka Handhi’s stables. A highly excitable creature that watches every race like a hawk and reports any “harsh treatment” of the horse to her Madam. Madam would then make life hell for you in the Press. I have seen several such ladies at the races. Each one more holier than thou who think nothing of the malnourished and over burdened Ponies in Ooty because it gives them no mileage in the Press...more

One-Day-Summer-Treat

A few years ago in one of its environment conscious moods, the city corporation had planted a seedling on the pavement outside our compound wall...More...

Pastoral Kerala: Photos from Olavipe

Indian Elections 2009: Tid-bits

A joke heard in Kerala during the elections:

Son: Father, what is the Indian-American nuclear pact?

Father: I don’t know much about it, son. But it must be a good thing because the Communists are opposing it.

The Communists were opposing the Congress in the elections as well. Is that why the electorate thought the Congress-led UPA is good for the country and voted overwhelmingly for the alliance?

Dining in Hell

So here we were three freinds on our monthly pilgrimage to M.T.R sitting at this table next to a large joint family. The joint family consisted of a grandpa, grandma, their siblings and the grandpa, grandma and their sibling’s older kids and the older kid’s younger kids most of whom were newly married with babies and toddlers. The entire Khandaan sat on half a dozen tables. The women wore ghoonghat (covered their head with saree pallu) and were perpetually busy keeping it in place. The men talked loudly amongst themselves and kids were like brats raised by a she wolf a la Jungle King for they crawled all over the table and under and generally behaved like a pack of baby animals escaped from a hospital for mentally retarded baby animals...more

Kerala fruits: More photos

It’s time…

Took the first step today – opened my CV, to update it I just realised that it has been so long since I saw a CV – 2 years does feel like a long time.. And all my apprehension came flooding back.. Will I even get an interview, leave alone a job? . . .More. . .

Car crash on our way to airport

Viewing this image you would not hold out much hope for its passengers. I wouldn’t, either, had I not survived the crash. This was the vehicle in which my wife and I were going to the Bangalore airport to catch an early morning Dubai-bound flight... .More. . .

Gardening photos: Flowers from Olavipe

Weddings - Part Two - Getting Ready

Once the 'kaal naattal' was done, the preparation for the wedding also started. Relations came one by one. They along with the neighbours took charge of the preparations, without being told or asked. Someone getting groceries and vegetables from the market, another arranging for fresh milk to be delivered...More...

Web site for Chennai South

Two weeks ago, a group of us launched a Web initiative.
A project linked to the General Elections this year.
Employing free-to-use Web tools and services, we created a web site whose address is - www.southchennaivotes.wordpress.com
The focus was Chennai South parliamentary constituency...More

Option E: None of the Above

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, you can go to the polling booth, confirm your identity, get your finger marked and tell the electoral officer that you don’t wish to vote...More

An exercise in dis-organisation

A couple of weeks ago, I crossed the Singapore border to go to Malaysia by train. When the initial documentation checks were done at the Singapore railway station, we were handed a health form to fill in along with our immigration form...More