Tid Bit from My Diary

We all require safety and protection from the big bad world outside. Today I am sitting at my desk well protected and with a sense of security but totally entangled in a web of random numbers and letters. Every moment of this existence, I am reminded that all good things in life come with a price tag and in this case I am almost paying with my mind. I consider myself fortunate that I can still use a key to enter my house (a remote key like the car is in my wish list though) and a keyless biometric provides access at work. I am thankful that keyless access to cars by punching access code did not go too far. Password has been in existence since time immemorial. I am told that in earlier days sentries would only allow a person or group to pass through or allow access only if they knew the password. The dictionary meaning of the word “password” is a secret word or expression used by authorized persons to prove their right to access, information, etc. Before we were required to make an ef...

A Taj Mahal Remix by me I resisted myself from watching the remake of the film Don directed by Farhan Akhtar even though I like his films. In fact when I finally watched it on the cable I have to admit that I quite liked it even though in my opinion, it was not as good as the original one. But the matter of the fact is that I am not too comfortable with this concept of Remake. I do agree that many changes have been made to the original one to align it to the present times but the fundamentals as well as the concept remains unchanged. I wonder how the people of the world, particularly the French, will react to the idea of remaking the Eiffel tower with some modifications and changes. Maybe we could suggest adding a few stainless steel members in between to get some polish and shine. Another remake I may suggest of my mind is the Statue of Liberty. Maybe we can replace the crown in her head with a baseball cap to give it a more realistic look and connect with days generation. After all i...

A shopping trolley abandoned in the middle of the aisle in some super market is a common sight and we all have learnt to navigate our own cart around such obstacles. Abandoning one's shopping cart in the middle maybe still acceptable with a little bit of inconvenience to fellow shoppers but to find a pram with a child nicely parked in the middle of an aisle makes me nervous. Certainly there is something mostly in the female genes (no offence intended) and in some males too, that causes the brain to freeze the very moment the eye spots an interesting package on the display shelve. All other logic stop working if there happens to be some red tag declaring a “Sale” or a yellow tape wrapped package stating " special offer " or “ buy 1 & get 1 free ” or maybe a yellow sticker with "free" written in red ink attached to any product on display. The world around does not exist anymore as the brain starts working on complex calculations towards establishing how m...

Ora je ki kore - I wonder what they do! Last few days I am noticing a new of excitement around me. We have been making frequent trips up to a hotel and they ("ora" as I say in Bengali) are talking to a manager uncle about banquet hall and balloons and food and what not. I have a feeling that they are so excited because I am about to reach my first milestone. Actually this happens to be the first anniversary of the best thing that happened in my life. I remember that day in Bhagirathi Neotiya hospital very clearly. It was the morning of 11th of July and that was day I have seen the first ray of light and felt the first gust of fresh air hit my face and blowing whatever little hair I had that time and most importantly got the first hug from my mother. After a little while one aunty dressed in white clothes took me out through the corridor. I saw many people waiting for me there but I was so sleepy that I could barely keep my eyes open. Somehow managed to open both my eyes for ...

This is my second post on the English language but that does not mean that I am a pro in this language. But language like habit keeps growing on oneself over the period of time and we keep plucking and storing an odd phrase, word or a sentence. Following are three syndromes that are not so medical and did catch my fancy and would like to share with all who are interested. Emperor's New Clothes syndrome : An emperor of a prosperous city who cares more about clothes than military pursuits or entertainment hires two swindlers who promise him the finest suit of clothes from the most beautiful cloth. This cloth, they tell him, is invisible to anyone who was either stupid or unfit for his position. The Emperor cannot see the (non-existent) cloth, but pretends that he can for fear of appearing stupid; his ministers do the same. When the swindlers report that the suit is finished, they dress him in mime. The Emperor then goes on a procession through the capital showing off his new "cl...

During my school days someone once asked me a question which was kind of silly when I first heard. Was it a car or a cat I saw? But the fun in that sentence was the letters are in exactly the same order from both starting and end. It is the same as in the word Malayalam . I was very impressed to know such a line being the little boy that I was at that time. Today I attempt to create a silly question of my own based on etymology. Will a maverick guy be lynched and end in mausoleum if he was a Casanova ? Well this sentence might not be as interesting as the earlier one but it does have something special in it. All the main words (italics) in the sentence have got something in common. They are all derived from name of persons who walked this planet once upon a time. This is an attempt to find out who they were and what they did to be part of the English language. Samuel Augustus Maverick (July 23, 1803–September 2, 1870) was a Texas lawyer, politician, land baron and...

Change is the only constant in life while weight is the only constantly changeable truth! As we move along the journey of our life we meet a lot of people and also leave them behind as we continue on our path. Sometime we do not remember much of that person anymore but certain comment or act of his stays with our for a long time. I remember one such statement which will make all the health conscious people shudder. While I was in Delhi we had an Accountant (a hot shot stock broker now) who used to come for a week every month and do the auditing and prepare our salary cheques. He was loud spoken north Indian with lots of anecdotes and excellent sense of timing. That made him very popular with this bengali man who was just being exposed to Hindi and Punjabi languages. Our usual lunch was dal makhani (black dal with white butter) and tandoori rotis with the option to top up with a quarter makhan or half makhan (25gm or 50 gm of amul butter). Then we were young and hungry, not at all pertu...