Oh! Calcutta

Bullied by Decency

Yesterday, 'bus' ing home I faced a dilemma that has bothered me often enough. Often enough to write about that is.
Got a seat, sat through most of my journey, got up with two stops to go. Passageway on a Volvo is quite narrow and me and my bag had to make way through, mumbling apologies ( me); and getting stuck ( my bag).
The landing area near the door,was packed with people. Most took one look at me and squeezed, angled, contorted, themselves to make way... and waited. A few just sucked in their tummies, held their breath ...and waited. A father picked up his kid . The doors hissed open. The conductor looked at me reproachfully.
I didn't think too much after that and quickly got off.

But you see, it wasn't my stop.
And it wasn't the first time.

Alonely

Whiteboard art...dont wanna go :(

My weekend..

About that "knowledge is free" thing. I honestly have been giving it a lot of thought and the idea is sounding better with each round. I am sure I will have something up in a few days time.

I found a quote I like:
“Simplicity is not the goal. It is the by-product of a good idea and modest expectations.”– Paul Rand"

Watched a movie " The Spirit" this weekend. Honest opinion is that I liked it. It is a very visual movie by a person who has a clear idea of what he wants to convey.The wikipedia entry for it is bloated and useless with too much emphasis on the plot ( which actually is not very important)

Finished reading the book "The Godfather" by Mario Puzo this weekend. Really good read, the characters are mind blowing and well balanced. The story tight and unputdownable. Will also try to read "The Sicilian" if I can get my hands on it.

Submitted an entry for a design competition this weekend, lets see how that goes.

Not bad for a weekend...

Knowledge and me

Knowledge should be free. I will see what I can do about it.

Its time to open the toilet door again

I remember a time when I was traveling overnight in a general class railway compartment during college. I used to do that a lot then... wonder why I stopped. Met really genuine people during those journeys. Anyways that's a different story.
So, I was in a general compartment, had not got a seat ( never ever did actually) and so, about twelve of us were wedged inside the narrow corridor connecting the two exits( yes, almost under the basin and beside the toilet).
I use 'us' generically as I did not know any of my co-passengers. Actually, when one is in a situation where one has to ask permission from at least three people to shift own weight from one buttock to another, one kind of develops a rapport with the whole group.
It was night and it was very hot and humid. There was absolutely no cross wind as a guy was standing in front of one of the door windows. All were perspiring freely and cursing the poor guy, when an old man smiled and said " Open the toilet door".
Yeah right, exactly what we needed, to add 'stink' to the heat and humidity. Most, all of us scoffed at the yucky idea. The old man grinned his grin, got up and went and sat in the toilet, holding the door open. " Give it some time", was all he said.
Soon the stench filled the corridor, but that was gone in 30 seconds flat. Cool air flowed freely from one of the door windows out of the toilet window and took all the stench out in seconds. We were a lot more comfortable and refreshed as the breeze also took away both the heat and the humidity. The solution still left another toilet for its intended use.

Taught me a good lesson that I think is very useful for me right now. :)

Identity crisis

I did it again. I googled myself and then yahooed myself. At least I own my name on the net. Sat wondering how big that deal has become. An unusual name guarantees self named user ID's .
I am lucky to have an unusual surname that way. Lucky because my parents weren't born in this generation and named me so simply because it rhymed with an elder cousin brother's nomenclature.
No one is born with a name.Tomorrows parents have so much more to think about. Here is my take on the ground rules (in no particular order)

1. The beginning letters should ensure school roll numbers fall safely in the middle.
2. Shouldn't be common as that would mean an email ID like "ravi1962007superstar" ( it exists!!)
3. Unique but not too much (preferably use a less common alphabet like Q in the beginning)
4. Shouldn't be weird ( hard for a name beginning with Q!!!)
5. Should be pronounceable in most accents ( heard a story of a girl named Kaamini being called "Kameeni" ('wicked woman' in Hindi) by her accentually challenged American boss)
   
6. Shouldn't be long (think of the endless forms that she will have to fill in her life time)
7. Shouldn't be short ( almost always will result in problem as in Point 2 above)
8. Should be something that, when shortened would result in something that sounds cool ( examples are too tragic to be mentioned)
   
9. Finally it should also mean something nice!!!

Here are a few nice links I found on myself though:

A French trend watching site thought that one of my ideas was...er...well it is in French and here it is
This site featured my website on their blog (one of their inaugural issues). This link is here