Vibhat and I went to the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve in the north end of Singapore on an outing organised by the MPA Class Committee (thanks guys!). Gorgeous place ..
Johor Bahru of Malaysia, across the straits
This small snake we saw freaked Vibhat out. Need to spend time with him to educate him about animals so he can be at home with them
I was very happy to see mangroves for the first time..
Seun on the right is Nigerian and a natural dancer and bonded with Vibhat. He's now Vibhat's dance godfather. Zaigham from Pakistan is on the right
China, Japan and Vietnam !
The MPA group's outing to East Coast Park in Singapore for a barbecue. The MPA class has gotten distributed between lots of electives so we don't meet much as a class, so this was very good to connect with people. And Priya and Vibhat joined and got introduced to my classmates which was very nice.
Most photos by Anton Arcilla , from our class
Sunday, September 01, 2013
That we are all imperfect or flawed is obvious and a truism. One deeper understanding of it is: there are times when we are helplessly dependant on others, and there will be times when the vice versa is true. This is often true with a significant other. We should let this be, instead of trying to be tough and independent and not allowing oneself to be 'at the mercy' of others. Being dependant or vulnerable is a passing thing, and you can be sure that the tables will be turned at some point.
I went to the Rework the World conference, www.reworktheworld.org in early June, representing Arghyam. The conference was in Leksand, a lakeside resort a few hours north of Stockholm. The conference was a very good experience. The next and last edition of the conference , which is one of a series is going to be held in Alexandria , Egypt in 2012 and I heartily recommend that to any young person, though needless to say, it would be quite expensive.
As luck would have it, my passport was quite close to expiring and I needed to get it renewed. I had a difficult time getting the renewal done ; worth its own blog post!
I flew out of Delhi and back to Delhi which make the overall trip more strenuous.
The event was on youth and social entrepreneurship. It was co-organised by two interesting groups the Yes Foundation (one of whose key people is an Indian American, Poonam Ahluwalia), and the Tallberg Foundation, a wellknown think-tank in Sweden. The trip expenses were sponsored by the organisers which was really nice of them, though I think they were hoping I would play a more active role than I did.
From Stockholm Airport, I drove down to the conference location by car with Thomas Bjelkeman-Petersson of Akvo.org, who's visited us in India a few times. It was a great drive through open sparsely populated countryside. A very welcome break from the crush and the dirt of Bangalore and India which gets to me.
There was a huge amount of infectious energy in the gathering ; so many people, especially youth (1500+), all trying to make the world a better place, all over the world.
Lots of particulars that bear a passing comment but maybe in a later post.
Some videos below: 1.) The Max hamburger chain in Sweden now tracks the carbon footprint of each kind of burger and lets you know !
Vibhat was in India and invited us to join him while he was in Kerala. I went with Siddhu, since Priya and kid are at her parents place. Vibhat's mom organised a cool music concert at the house. The video of of this. As a matter of fact this is pretty rare footage. This particular instrument is not common and is rarely played in public. The musicians here are students from Kala Mandalam -- a university for traditional arts in Kerala. We visited the place later, pretty impressive.
Let me know what you think of the music:
It was done by photography not animation. According to the artist: "Took a total of 256 photos and time-lapse'd them! Took solid 4 hours for a 50 second split!"
The sensitive zenrainman has started a series profiling the lives of ordinary working class people whom we come across all the time but never really know well because we don't care to. I heartily applaud the project. Here's one, of a 'green leafy vegetable' seller in Bangalore. Sopppppuuuuuu !!!!
Vibhat (good friend) sent me mail after a long time. Mail thread went like this:
=== From: Vibhat Nair Subject: What is your phone
I seem to be missing it. How is ptiya with her pregnancy?
==== From: Vijay Krishna Subject: Re: What is your phone My phone is a Nokia low ender, don't remember the model (I want to start a website http://cheapestmobileinindia.com) . 'Ptiya' is doing fine !
More later,
Vijay Krishna
==== From: Vibhat Nair Subject: Re:What is your phone
Dude: you are a true nerd. what is your phone no.?
==== From: Vibhat Nair Subject: Re:What is your phone
And. Oh the sensitivity to typos. What will you do if you go an iPhone ?
==== From: Vijay Krishna Subject: Re: What is your phone
What will I do if I go an iPhone ? Oh, I don't know, maybe I will teach it some english ?
Phone no is 98801 37097. Also Skype seems to work fine, I am x_vijay. Good to hear from you, btw :-) and even better to rag you, Cheers,
Vijay Krishna ===
I got the better of that exchange didn't I ? Here's a contest, why don't you come up with *your* smartalecky response to Vibhat's mails, and we'll see who's wittier. If you insist (and yes, Arvind, we know you insist), you can take Vibhat's side instead and take potshots at me.
Ready steady go.
Thursday, April 09, 2009
As forwarded by Vishwanath:
My comment : My intaxication lasts for a long time, the fact that the money was mine in the first place (and went to the gourmint because of my incompetence) doesn't dampen it
==============
Here is the Washington Post's Mensa Invitational which once again asked readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding,subtracting, or changing one letter, and supply a new definition. Here are the winners: Cashtration (n.): The act of buying a house, which renders the subject financially impotent for an indefinite period of time. Ignoranus: A person who's both stupid and an asshole. Intaxicaton: Euphoria at getting a tax refund, which lasts until you realize it was your money to start with. Foreploy: Any misrepresentation about yourself for the purpose of getting laid. Giraffiti : Vandalism spray-painted very, very high Sarchasm: The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn't get it. Inoculatte: To take coffee intravenously when you are running late. Decafalon (n.): The grueling event of getting through the day consuming only things that are good for you. Glibido: All talk and no action. Dopeler Effect: The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when they come at you rapidly. Beelzebug (n.): Satan in the form of a mosquito, that gets into your bedroom at three in the morning and cannot be cast out. Caterpallor (n.): The color you turn after finding half a worm in the fruit you're eating. The Washington Post has also published the winning submissions to its yearly contest, in which readers are asked to supply alternate meanings for common words. And the winners are: Coffee, n. The person upon whom one coughs. Flabbergasted, adj. Appalled by discovering how much weight one has gained. Abdicate, v. To give up all hope of ever having a flat stomach. Esplanade, v. To attempt an explanation while drunk. Willy-nilly, adj. Impotent. Negligent,adj. Absentmindedly answering the door when wearing only a nightgown. Lymph, v. To walk with a lisp. Gargoyle, n. Olive-flavored mouthwash. Flatulence, n. Emergency vehicle that picks up someone who has been run over by a steamroller. Balderdash, n. A rapidly receding hairline... Testicle, n. A humorous question on an exam.
===
Vote for your favorite. I liked the Dopeler effect, abdicate, negligent, lymph. Tough call for the single favorite, I'll select lymph
Arvind left this comment in response to my Hindu newspaper posting, which I regretfully had to delete: === Dsyw, I liov toi hxifn nsoespape. Wheif elosp cso I tais to wposivis I wais to sao a bosiu os intellocisllly imspten fokxj wovit an uziantsox rveigistoaone of tss fecis uoefo tsi gixis os "baoxidke vici." Wheoc eisi in Iciks cao I tice to to sxi sdibids on tsi Cislens paydrll? Wsoer esol cib I tnor ta ffi asoi Tsiit pdidifigis? Wso eisk wsidirl esifitiris on ssoript 3 dsou a wsood asi on uncofitrollale tsivin lsik UG fsifine piolich tofiels Tinbokakoo ? Linf lins thi Hondi nispapr.
Dear Arvind: I am seriously concerned. I hope the isolation in Tokyo is not affecting you. Or was the above written under the effect of the local rice sake? Naughty, naughty! Nandita -- I would start tracking Arvind more closely if I were you! ==== Sidharth: Apologies for the self-indulgent post (self indulgent blog?). I was referring to the fact that the Hindu has a blind spot as far as Tibet is concerned; it vociferously defends every action of the undemocratic chinese government in Tibet. So when you see an article with a title like "Tibetans enjoy comforts of progress" it is not even worth reading the article to see if it has anything reasonable in it. ====
Rather quietly without many people knowing it (well, at any rate without me knowing it, and without announcing it on our class mailing list), C.V.Shankar, physics genius and good man, and May, math cat and good friend, had a baby recently.
Clickthrough should take you to the album let me know if it doesn't (Sajini, haven't yet checked the problem you reported earlier).
Johor Bahru of Malaysia, across the straits 
This small snake we saw freaked Vibhat out. Need to spend time with him to educate him about animals so he can be at home with them 
