Death of English

Sad to read about the death of English Language ;-)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/13/AR2010091304476.html

And its not over still ….

18 years is time enough, you would think to find a solution to the Ayodhya dispute. But no, Supreme court has now stepped in to defer judgment till 28th. It is done in public interest, they say ..

Which public is this and what interest do they have ? 99% of the population just want to move on with life, we have other things to worry about.

Irrespective of what the court decides, whether to build a mosque or a temple or something else on the site, what likely impact would it have on your or my daily life ?

And everyday the commonwealth games fiasco seems to throw up even more stink. Lalit Bhanot , what an absolute idiot. Thanks for letting me know the difference in hygiene standards between India and rest of the world. I am tempted to deliver the “one tight slap” advocated by MTV , rarely has someone been more deserving than you, Sir.

What makes you happy ?

A nice meal ? Company of friends ? A good book ? A funny movie ? Time spent with family ?

Well, my daughter has provided a clear answer to that question over the past three days – Time spent with grandmother !!
And of course she has got a brand new bicycle as gift from Grand-mom as well. I was watching her sleep a few minutes back, her facial expression says “What more do you want from life ?“

Buying time : From Paulo Coelho's blog

Gem of a story on Paulo Coelho's blog. http://paulocoelhoblog.com/2010/09/11/buying-time/

A man came home from work late again, tired and irritated, to find his 5-year-old son waiting for him at the door.
“Daddy, may I ask you a question?”
“Yeah, sure, what is it?” replied the man.
“Daddy, how much money do you make an hour?
“That’s none of your business! What makes you ask such a thing?” the man said angrily.

“I just want to know. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour?” pleaded the little boy.
“If you must know, I make $20.00 an hour.”
“Oh,” the little boy replied, head bowed. Looking up, he said, “Daddy, may I borrow $10.00 please?”

The father was furious. “If the only reason you wanted to know how much money I make is just so you can borrow some to buy a silly toy or some other nonsense, then you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed. I work long, hard hours everyday and don’t have time for such childish games.”
The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door. The man sat down and started to get even madder about the little boy’s questioning. How dare he ask such questions only to get some money?

After an hour or so, the man had calmed down, and started to think he may have been a little hard on his son. Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that $10.00, and he really didn’t ask for money very often. The man went to the door of the little boy’s room and opened the door.
“Are you asleep son?” he asked.
“No daddy, I’m awake,” replied the boy.

“I’ve been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier,” said the man. “It’s been a long day and I took my aggravation out on you. Here’s that $10.00 you asked for.”
The little boy sat straight up, beaming. “Oh, thank you daddy!” he yelled. Then, reaching under his pillow, he pulled out some more crumpled up bills.
The man, seeing that the boy already had money, started to get angry again. The little boy slowly counted out his money, then looked up at the man.

“Why did you want more money if you already had some?” the father grumbled.
“Because I didn’t have enough, but now I do,” the little boy replied.

“Daddy, I have $20.00 now. Can I buy an hour of your time?”

Fashion

Maybe I am getting too old, but I am not a big fan of this low-waist jeans business.

I was in the Paris airport couple of weeks before, when I saw a young guy, maybe around 18 years old, wearing a jeans which was half way up his thigh !! It was almost on his knees, not even close to the waist !! And he was walking around in his boxer shorts essentially. Why he bothered to wear the pants, I have no idea.

After some googling, I have come to realize that this style is called Sagging, which apparently is a predominantly male fashion.

If this is fashion for the future, things look kind of “low”, don’t you think ?

Creativity and books

“The secret of creativity is knowing how to hide your sources” . I have heard of this one before, still makes me smile every time I hear it. And with the power of Google at one’s disposal, I tend to agree with the above statement.

Finished reading a few books which have sort of disappointed me. The best of the lot was undoubtedly “Immortals of Meluha” by Amish. Based on Hindu mythology and a premise that what if the Gods were ordinary human beings like you or me who got elevated to a cult like status by means of their deeds. Shiva is the central  character of the novel and it is quite decently written. I did not find it moving fast enough for my liking though. And it is the first part of trilogy. As a rule, I hate trilogies, don’t think I have ever found the patience to even attempt completing one.

Also managed to plough my way through the massive autobiography of Steve Waugh : Out of my comfort zone . Well over 750 pages. Boring and irritating for most of the time and an incredible pain to hold in your hand and read ( nearly sprained my wrists just holding the book! ). Unkind readers may suggest that the book is not unlike Steve Waugh himself. A much better review can be found at the following location : http://www.cricinfo.com/ci/content/story/234157.html

Currently thrashing my way through In the Line of fire by Pervez Musharraf. Musharraf is genuinely un-aware of world history or is a blatant liar. His portrayal of India is as the rogue state and Pakistan is the friendly neighbor who is minding its own business. I doubt if he believes in this himself !! More controversies regarding the book can be read from the Wikipedia entry above. Overall he comes across as a pompous man who is desperate to prove to the reader that he was a great man. However the end effect is quite to the contrary. 

Must try and find better books. The growing collection of books in my home is again forcing me to look at e-book readers. In the next year, I hope the companies can sort out the pricing of the readers as well the e-books themselves.

Economy to Excess

So finally I am in the US of A. If Europe is the land of economy, this is the land of excess. The point hammered into me yet again when I went to the Hertz counter to pick up my hired car

"The car you booked is not available, so we are free upgrading you to a mid range SUV"
"Ok, what would that be ?"
"It is a Ford Explorer"

Ford Explorer ...... Mid-range SUV she says. Really, what would be a full range SUV ? This one itself almost qualifies as a bus !!

Flight into US was also eventful, I flew in the A380 . Plane itself is comfortable. Extra comfortable for me as I was seated in the exit row, with tons of leg room !! However getting into the plane is sort of a night mare. Takes a long long time, imagine 580 people trying to board the flight. And imagine the luggage collection area once you exit from the plane. Not very pleasant, I can tell you that.

Landed in JFK too, loud, dirty, crowded ... Should try and avoid it in the future.

Here for a week only this time, flying back on Saturday. Still some more electronics shopping to do. I am like a kid in candystore when I enter BestBuy. Controlling somehow, the $ x 48 conversion will really hurt when I go back :-)