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Showing posts from September, 2010

Someone sent me this never-before-seen photograph!

PRICELESS DISCOVERY I am seated on the scooter, extreme Right. Didi is standing in front of me. The lady behind me recognized me from a snap on Facebook and promptly sent me this priceless photo! Can’t thank her enough! I went to sleep last night with a smile on my lips and tears in my eyes.

Returning to IE

Internet Explorer 9 Beta almost has a nostalgic feel to it, except that Microsoft has stripped the heavily laden look of its browser to such an extreme that it’s hardly recognizable. The Spartan interface is heavily inspired by Google Chrome. The emphasis on screen-estate is unmistakable, though Chrome still beats IE9 to it. I’ll try IE9 before reaching a verdict.

How autonomous is Quebec?

This autonomous!!!

In a dilemma

Which is worse: being spoilt for choice or having no choice? I have been in a dilemma for some time regarding buying an ebook reader, the Amazon Kindle, to be more precise. But then, the exponentially dropping price eggs me each time to wait just a little more. Technological improvements have been another wait-maker, the crucial divide being of a certain chromatic character. You see, I love color thought I have a fetish for black. Years ago, when Dad was about to buy our very first TV set, he gave us the choice between a 21” B&W TV and a 14” Color TV. The womenfolk ganged up against me and settled for B&W. It made no sense to me at all and I would have been up in arms had I had access to them. The loss of screen width could be compensated for by sitting closer to the set, I reasoned. Want it bigger? Sit nearer! Want it bigger still? Keep nearing the screen until the tip of your nose touches the screen and electrostatic sparks fly. Simple! Well, 1 is less than 2 and Dad knew h

Soul-stirring

A very memorable movie shot in Jamshedpur, Udaan captivates the audience with its riveting portrayal of the struggles of a young lad against the stern aspirations of a father. The plot is not without pitfalls, but its overall fabric is well-woven. The fact that it was set in my hometown perhaps lends this flick some extra mileage for me.

London Nostalgia

It’s 7:29 pm in Montreal as I listen to a Schubert symphony on BBC. I miss London real bad. UK was picture-perfect, literally flawless. Montreal is a stark-contrast. Traffic rules are rampantly broken, I saw more beggars here in a week than I saw in UK in a year, great expanses of land are unkempt, some of the buildings are shockingly shabby and people generally lack the etiquettes I imagined all Westerners possessed. In spite of all these flaws, Montreal has a rather quaint old-world charm to it.

To-Get-Her (this is how I memorized the spelling as a kid)

Memories don’t get much better than this!

"You are mad"

People have been telling this to me all along. When I look back in retrospect and take stock of the mess, it all begins to make sense. Maybe there is some truth to my madness!!

The book that never was

I remember the ebullience in Dad’s voice as I called up at 5:00pm one Sunday evening and suggested translating our family-history book. It was in Bengali and I wanted a larger audience using Engish on the Internet. I hadn’t really figured out the nitty-gritty, but that could be conveniently left for later. I suggested enlisted didi’s help as she was good in both the languages. Dad’s failing eyesight would have failed to put up with this vigor, I assumed. So it was all set. I would come home for vacation and our Bengali—>English translation project would ensue. It didn’t really happen that way. Years of nursing for someone had taken its toll on his already ailing heart. Well, cardiac ailments are generally hereditary and Dad couldn’t defy the tradition. By the time I was home, he was gone…but not before buying a notebook for our project. The notebook was probably pressed into less glorifying use soon after. But the urge to complete the project burns within me. Maybe someday…before