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Christopher Hitchens has passed away. I have been affected by him and his philosophy. I might not subscribe 100% to his opinions but it is his suave, unapologetic nature and refusal to back down in debate have had an impression on me.

Tough to find somebody with his kind of intellect. Personally speaking, the biggest loss of the year. And there have been so many.

Here are some of his videos from Vanity Fair.

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A rather funny account of a senior gentleman’s driving experience after an ‘L’ board was fitted on his car.

Even City bus drivers who usually rule our roads by laying down their own rules and breaking all others, have now stopped honking from behind me as they normally do even before the lights turn green. In case an occasional one still honks, ignoring my ‘L’ board, I have now perfected the art of getting my car stalled helplessly after a couple of brisk jerks, like a perfect greenhorn to buy time till the light changes colour.

The second and perhaps more pleasant outcome of sporting an ‘L’ board is that most other learners when they pass by my car now nod and smile at me in a spirit of camaradiere and brotherhood and also perhaps with the pleasure of seeing a person much older than them being in their league.

I have my share of pleasure too from this courtesy because, for some inexplicable reason, most learners happen to be pretty girls who would otherwise never even turn and look at a much older man, let alone flash a smile at him. I therefore feel like continuing to drive a car with an ‘L’ board till I retire from driving, which I do not intend to do in a hurry despite the rather daunting present day traffic conditions.

Now even I’m tempted to try this.

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Recently, I came across an old Krish Ashok blog post where a vegetarian and non-vegetarian are debating their dietary habits, and which among the two is being morally upright. The vegetarian — who seemed to be losing the argument — appealed to tradition, and cruelty to animals. The non-vegetarian was using logic and science. I agree with the author that, in India, being veg or non-veg is a big deal of our identity. People in either camp may look at the other with suspicion or ridicule. Finding out that the other person is non-veg, or veg, can even be a deal breaker in relationships.

Being brought up in a vegetarian (tambrahm) family in Delhi, most of my childhood food memories are vegetarian. I had plenty of plant eaters around me in Delhi and I never felt out of place. Delhi, for me, is a great place for veg (and non-veg) food. Combine this with the yummy Kerala Iyer cooking at home, and my taste buds managed to remained satiated most of the time!

The first memory that I have of eating something non-veg was, ironically, with my Dad. We were at Wenger’s, and he gave me some Shami kabab to taste — and I remember liking it! But — fortunately, or unfortunately — it didn’t result in any further ventures into “forbidden” dietary escapades.

Later, when I started to work in Mumbai, there were many more NVs around me. Curiosity, peer pressure, lack of anything better, or too much alcohol, resulted in me trying out meat. It tasted alright — some soft chewy tissue, around bone — but didn’t really grab my fascination. And the smell of it wasn’t something that I was used to. This year I was in Stockholm for a few weeks; and being a believer in acting like the Romans do, I tried out more non vegetarian food: chicken, ham, bacon, beef, salmon, caviar, turkey are the ones that come to mind.

I still remain most comfortable with the Indian lacto-vegetarian cuisine. In fact, after doing some thinking, I have come up with some reasons why —

1. I like eating food which reminds me of my childhood :)
2. India is a great place to be vegetarian — probably the best
3. Meat smells sometimes. I don’t mind the taste, but the smell gets to me
4. The idea of growing animals like they are crops — their only purpose being to end up on our plate — does not appeal. It reminds me of that scene from The Matrix where a vast farm of human babies were wired up as the energy source to the machines.
5. Animals have a brain, nervous system. They have a sense of community and attachment to their offsprings. They can feel pain in many ways. Why kill them? Yes, many rodents die when grains and vegetables are cultivated, but that seems incidental. Killing an animal for food is a more deliberate act, and intuitively less appealing among the two, at least to me.
6. Animals in farms release more CO2 than all the vehicles in the world. Global warming, guys!
7. It takes 30kg of grain to produce 1kg of beef (boneless). If feeding the world is going to be concern, we need to look at more efficient ways of getting everyone this energy.

Last two points are attributed to this SciAm article

In the end we are all hypocrites. The chicken biriyani at Paradise in Hyderabad counts among the best meals that I have ever had.

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I don’t drive regularly — mainly because of working from home and not wanting to develop fossil fuel dependence. But in the past few days, I was required to be in office, and work till later than usual. This resulted in me becoming a reluctant car driver faced with the Bangalore rush hour for 28 kms a day.

I noticed that as I became more used to the commute, my confidence on the road was up, but so was my impatience. I was basically in a rush to get to my destination — either thinking of the work that I need to do on the day, or about returning home and chilling. The commute part was a chore that I wanted to be over with as soon as possible. This attitude is probably what causes road rage and accident.

Here’s an article on the rules of the road that I quite enjoyed.

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The gears in my bike were not working very well. I called up BSA stores and tried writing to their customer care; unfortunately I didn’t make much headway — The store I called up told me that they will service only the bikes which were bought from their store. Customer Care didn’t give much away either. Then I decided to go looking in Malleswaram for some cycle repair store which might help. I resorted to Just Dial to look for such places. I found a few but when I went looking — invariably early morning — the place would be shut or non-existent. Later I realized that expecting a shop to be open before 11am in Bangalore is some sort of fatal mistake.

The bike, by the way is a hand-me-down from my brother. So I wasn’t exactly familiar with the ins and outs of own a Hercules ACT 105 yet.

Some days later, my bicycle ended with a flat tyre and — surprise, surprise — I didn’t know where to get it fixed. I went to Sweden in May, and once I was back in June, the thing sort of slipped my mind. Couple of months later, it was when we were looking for a place to get one of the tyres in the car examined, that I came across a place in Guttahalli which seemed to fix cycles. Salvation, possibly?

Now imagine my displeasure when I found out that the number lock securing the bike had suddenly decided not to budge! First I thought that I had forgotten the combination — I emailed my brother for it, and tried again but to no avail. Maybe the lock needed some oiling, but I didn’t have any … Very soon I gave up on the lock and decided that breaking it is the way to go.

One locksmith in Malleswaram suggested that I take a hammer and have a go at the lock. I was not so sure … I came across another guy in Sadashivanagar who suggested that I cut it using a metal file. He agreed to lend me his for a day. Pleasantly surprised by his generosity, I took home the file and spent the best part of an hour cutting the metal chain. Finally the chain gave way and I felt as if I made some progress in my quest to ride the bike again.

Couple of weekends later, I rolled the bike to a shop in Guttahalli where I thought the guy fixes punctures. When I approached him, he told me he doesn’t do it; and directed me to somebody who does it. I found Kasturi Cycle Works on Nagappa street. The guy there fixed the puncture and rear brake (the wire had come off) for Rs. 15. Would I be able to ride the bike now? Ah the possibilities! I got onto the bike uncertainly and rode back home.

Once home, I checked the BSA website again for stores nearby. I had remembered seeing one in Rajajinagar recently. I called up the Rajajinagar outlet, and this time the guy agreed to fix the gears!

I plan to go there today. (Edit: the gears are working now! All that is left is to clean the bike properly)

Being a bit more wiser about my surroundings, and being persistent about wanting to fix the bike, brought me to the “right time” when the bike was supposed to get fixed.

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An analogy that I have heard of is that an Apple product is like a car
(Porsche?) with its bonnet sealed off. The user cannot look under the
hood and tinker around. A lay user can't even change the battery of
his device. By not trusting the user to know what is best for their
purchased product, and by exercising such control over the user
experience, I'm tempted to believe that the creators are pompous
control freaks. Why would Apple do this?

-Lack of protruding screws make the product look good?

-To prevent people from trying to reverse engineer their work?

-Ensuring that users visit an Apple store to get their product fixed,
thus earning from after-sales support?

These were some of the reasons I could come up with. Having said that,
if the company's bottom line was the only concern, giving the OS X
Lion upgrade for $30 and the iOS 5 update for free does seem generous
when you compare with, say, the Microsoft Windows revenue model.
Apparently they do care for their users even after having sold the
product, which cannot be said for quite a few companies.

Apple products seduce you with their design. I wouldn't call my self a
convert or a fanboy, but it is a welcome change to use computers which
have been thoughtfully built, keeping the user's interests front and
centre. Hardware and software made by the same guys makes all the
difference (plus having a good deal of control over what can be
installed). I even read John Gruber for a while, trying to understand
the thinking of a Mac devotee; now I can't seem to stand him :)

Apple's hardware is definitely superior to their competitors, not
always in terms of specs, but in the way it's built. So the next time
I'll be shopping for computing hardware, going for something made by
Apple -- even if it means paying a premium -- does seem to be an
option. The reality these days is that most users don't assemble their
own computers, nor do they they write code on it. They just want it to
work, and be able to accomplish the myriad tasks modern computers are
capable of. And Apple more than delivers on these fronts. I wouldn't
hesitate to suggest Apple to all the tech luddites (among others) out
there. In fact, I think an iPad would be the perfect computing device
for my mum (I have been at the receiving end while providing tech
support far too many times)

I don't mind paying for software. At times I have come across software
which is insanely great and I want to pay, to: reward the creator;
make sure I keep getting to use it. The app store does make it easy to
make purchases and for programmers to monetize.

What I'm doubtful of is learning Objective C to create native
applications on Mac. Xcode is a 4 GB download, in addition to costing
money. Plus I would have to invest on a platform where I would have to
bow down to Apple's wishes. These are reasons enough for me to
procrastinate. (But I have no excuse for not brushing up on my
rudimentary Python skills; it comes preloaded with OS X)

Notes -

1. We (wife and I) have an iPad 2 running iOS 5, and an iMac with OS X
Lion, and have been using them for about three months now.
2. This post has been written on the iPad w/ wireless keyboard

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via learningfundamentals.com.au

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via twitpic.com

via @AtulChitnis on Twitter

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In 2005, I was working at ‘Exchange Plaza’ (NSE building) in Bandra Kurla complex. This is near the troublesome Mithi river which had overflowed on that day, and as a result, was one of the worst hit areas.

I remember filing the IT returns on that day. I walked to the income tax office at BKC, and had stood in line to submit the documents. This was in the morning. It started raining in the afternoon and just didn’t stop.

I was stuck in office for 31 hours with my colleagues. We ate biscuits and chips.

I was awake most of the night on the 26^th. We watched a few movies in the meeting room on the projector

Heard of friends who walked from Bandra to Borivali, wading in the dirty water.

Even after the rain the rain had stopped, it was difficult to get out as the water levels had not subsided. Finally, three of us mustered the courage to step out on 27^th evening. We caught a very crowded and slow moving local from Bandra station & somehow got off at Borivali.

A guy and a girl, whom I knew, hooked up on that day. They apparently waded back home – hand in hand – in knee deep water. This was the starting point of their romance. They are now married & also have a kid! 

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This post has nothing to do with the Apple AirPort Express

I wanted to try out Delhi's new Airport Express metro train. We (wife & I) landed in Terminal 1D and since the train leaves from T3, had to take a connecting DTC bus. (If you have a connecting flight that leaves from T3, you travel free)

Although the directions were a bit confusing, we managed to locate the platform (after asking for directions a couple of times) for a train to the New Delhi railway station. We used a ticket vending machine which actually worked! It even accepted currency notes!

The ride was quick & we got off at Shivaji stadium where Dad picked us up. The train was fairly empty when we rode it. Wonder how much cash the DRMC is bleeding…

Although connectivity with the Delhi metro is not seamless (you can’t catch a regular Delhi metro train from any of the stations), and it is a bit of a hassle for domestic passengers to go to the international terminal to catch the flight, this is still a good improvement from what we had earlier.

As an aside, I never got heckled by taxi/auto wallahs when I came out of Terminal 1D. (which is my biggest surprise so far!)

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Wonder how she would have looked full length?

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Beggars can't be choosers

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