Who on earth?

Can you identify them?

aascharyix OR aascharyasoochix
maastix OR maastikallix
mudkix OR mudiyix
gayix
kunnix OR naayix
mailigix OR koLkix
chaalix OR gaalimaadix
jaalienjaayix
aayurvedix OR vaidix
mukhyaamshix
tondrix
nidrix

These are now subject to copyright!

Darwin

The news that the Anglican church has apologised to Charles Darwin fascinated me.

Somehow, the image of the Church saying, "Sorry Charlie, old fruit!", a la Bertie Wooster passed in front of my mind's eye!

I am doubly honoured!

Some days ago, my friend, fellow blogger, friendly critic (of my posts) and post-publication-spellchecker and grammar-questioner Starry Eyed Shruti gave me this award. I am thrilled.

However, her bestowing the honour coincided with a slump in my blogging. I do hope that that slump is in the quantity and not the quality of my posts. I hasten to add that I am not claiming that my posts are of great/excellent/irreproachable quality. All I am saying is that it has not slumped from whatever quality I normally try to achieve.

The slump was such that I did not even properly acknowledge the award and "brag" about it in a post. So here I am. Thanks Shruti, I am honoured.

This morning I was told that I have been given this award, again! This time by Shruthi.

Are you wondering what this is all about? Look at the spelling. The second one has an 'h' extra. Now, how is that I described Shruti so variously and not Shruthi? Well, Shruthi is my niece, friend, cheerleader and guide, coach, teacher, problem-solver for my blogging.

Thanks again!

Now, how can I sign off without taking a dig at someone or the other? So here goes.

When I describe these two I was uncomfortable that I sounded like many public speakers who introduce someone on the stage with such superlatives that the subject of the praise could start wondering if someone else is being described by mistake. I am sure that Shruti and Shruthi (No reference to Thomson and Thomson intended) will surely recognise themselves without any problems.

Finally, the earlier recipients have all passed on the awards to others. My blog reading is limited. So, I do not pass it on to others. If I had received this award from someone else, I would have (without second thoughts and without a second's thought) given it to these two!

*** Links to the blogs of Shruti and Shruthi are in the list of links below my picture, at the beginning of my blog.

Car Pool

Here is an outfit that is doing excellent work to ease traffic congestion in Bangalore and also contributing towards a greener world.

I was a member from the early days of its inception. But, by the time I got a suitable car pool partner, my office was shifted and along with that move came the office bus. So I commute to the office by bus.

Do try this out and see if you can contribute too?

What is all this Indianness stuff anyhow?

I must admit that the title is inspired by the titles of the inimitable articles of the inimitable Bob Pease.

Flashback: The Aussies came, won some tournament, Sharad Power, I mean Pawar gives away the trophy, in their eagerness to get photographed with it, they ask the power that be, Pawar, to "move away mite". All hell breaks loose. Our senior, respected leader has been insulted. Aussies are boors. In India such things do not happen. Holier than thou attitude surfaces.

Shift to the present day. The coach of the Indian cricket team, is admonished that he should not give interviews. 24/7 "news" channels cry themselves hoarse about it.

Yes, such things happen in India. We invite a guy to make our team perform better. The land where "atithi dEvOBava" is said to be the credo, the news is made public. Would it be too difficult for the BCCI to quietly tell the coach not to do it such that the rest of the world is not even aware of it? "What the left hand does . . . " kind of thing.

PS: Here is a very ineresting article by Pease which is of general interest. If you are an electronics engineer you must explore his articles and some of them are pretty amazing.

Menu

As I looked at the menu in the canteen today, I decided to take the North Indian Thali. Ever eager to try new and exotic food, (I do not call myself a foodie though, more because I hate that neologism than because I am not one!), I was tempted by something called Palin rice that was on offer.

When I looked at the various dishes actually on offer, I was disappointed to find that there was nothing that could have matched that exotic name.

One of the colleagues at lunch offered an explanation that the new dish was named in honour of the "Running Mate" of the republican presidential hopeful, McCain, in the American presidential elections. (McCain, literally, means "the son of Cain" in scottish tradition. Does it mean that his name is really Enoch?) If that had occurred to me earlier, I would have avoided the stuff, as Republicans are not my bowl of rice, (that includes Condoleezza Rice), I mean, my cuppa' tea.

It, eventually, turned out that devil called typo (one more neologism) was at work. What was on offer was just plain Plain rice. How mundane!

(I have written so much parenthetically in this post! Ayyo! Even this!)