Word of the day that was..

This is a new type of post im trying out. This is a regular feature in the Times Of India Sunday edition which tries to explain some of the words that have been apperaring frequently in the news for the past week. I shall try the same and try to highlight some of the words i have heard and will try to extrapolate them.

Today's Word: Thirupathi ladu

This word was used extremely well by my maths teacher H.S.Mahadevaiah to explain the concept of small increment in x (dx) while teaching differential calculus.

He said that many of his relatives and friends are frequenters of the Thirupathi temple in Thirupathi. Almost everyone who goes there invariably buys the prasadam i.e. the very delicious and one of its kind, thirupathi ladu. Many people who go to thirupathi dreading to stand in long queues to get only a glimpse of the Lord Venkateshwara often come back satiated at the sweet taste of these ladus. Many athiests also lust for these ladus.

Coming back to my maths class, my teacher explained that due to the restriction imposed on the number of ladus one devotee can buy, and owing to the large number of people amongst whom it has to be distributed, one ends up getting only a very small piece of the prasadam. "x" is the ladu and "dx" is the piece u ultimately get to eat.

Now that is an amazing comparison. No wonder he has been such a good teacher and also very successful in his teaching career.

Alas! if only i had a Thirupathi ladu......

Enchantresss of Florence

The enchantress of florence is the most recent work by salman rushdie and quite an impressive one story-wise. To have the guts to actually make Babar have a kid sister who is an enchantress is a feat in itself.. and to marry her to a florentine is what some may consider a blasphemy of sorts. It might not be impossible for a man who has the ire of the whole muslim population of the world.

The book prmises a good ending and i hope it lives up to its promising start.

the most recent post

my last post.. the one concerning a certain rabid dog eating a syphilis infected lamb turd was written at a time when I was not thinking clearly. What was actually intended to be a critical analysis of stray dog attacks took on a ridiculously lousy look ( I don't hate dogs.. i quite like them but certainly not the ones who are mad). Sarcasm is as sarcasm does, i suppose. An evening walk in a relatively stray dog free zone is a blessed relief if you don't have lorries or tractors honking in your ear.

I recently discovered. or observed the truth of the age old statement that one's fall is another's gain. Though is suppose that to be successful, you have to be ruthless, its looks like my trying to ease my way into success is certainly not working. I hope to be in better academic form the next time i feel like blogging.

Tests are coming up and the almighty hustle before the exams ( in which, frankly.. ive been surviving by the skin of my teeth) has not yet begun. The strange lethargy which seems to have made its home very cosily in some corner of me has to be unenfranchised ( as unethically and ruthlessly as possible) so that it does not again dare to venture anywhere near me. Unfortunately, the unenfranchiser has not yet been found and i expect a dramatic change in my study habits around mid august ( Dont ask why.. its just intuition). Anyway.. hasta la vista for now

Twist in the tail

Bangalore: the curious case of the case of the mad dog and the tasty sheep..

In a curious case of stray dog attacks this weekend, a pack of mad and obviosly wild dogs have torn apart a sheep house and have fed themselves upto the canines with tasty lamb and minced flesh. Curiously.. their leader who himself had 2 lambs is said to be feeling quite "baaah"wdy and has entered his trademark siesta for the afternoon and hence was not available for further enquiry. Scientists have said that this maybe the new form of the newly rampant sheep flu which is really quite similar to the acute cases of cat flu, mosquito flu, cattle flu and the recently detected 10 types of influenza which commonly attacks hmans. But famous cattle physician and world leader in animal flu's Mr. Baahtel Beerappa has commented that this new virus is actually the result of eating lamb turd with syphilis.

After two months of speculation,thought, afterthought, round table conferences and world summits.. the UPANDA (United Progressive Alliance for Non Democratic Activities) is calling for a nationwide strike to mourn for our lost brother cats and sister pigs.

Meanwhile, the rabid dogs are all suffering from the mysterious illness which researchers predict will affect the whole of the country pretty soon.

For more on this new threat (terrorists.... dont eat meat!), please look at this vary column every day.

Reuters

long time no see

Back again after quite some time. Its been fairly quiet and the French Open is going on. Its bye bye Nadal for this year, Robin Soderling playing some amazing tennis. I think this we are witnessing the last ever non coalition government. Our country's leaders are not a witless lot with many of them having done their post graduations from universities like Harvard and Stanford, and its really disheartening to see people with metriculation rule us.

I have started reading Salman Rushdie's works and Midnight's Children does deserve its Booker of Bookers. Hope his Enchantress Of Florence can maintain the same standard. T20 World Cup starts in a couple of days, so something to look forward to.

Unfortunately, all the inspirational speeches from our dear teachers regarding studies mysteriously vaporized and things not worth remembering occupy a lot of thinking space. Better buckle up before i become a jack of all trades and master of none. Coming back to the things-not-worth-remembering, well, they are better left unsaid or unthought of.

Well, thats all for now, hasta la vista

P.S. Gautam's about me column in orkut is extremely well written, reminded me to exercise and increase my vocabulary.

Elections

The classes in college are very interesting and the newspapers are having a gala time mocking and relentlessly pursuing the most idiotic of declarations and statements from our great politicians. The biggest farce being rice at Rs 2 a kg. Somehow this time there have not been atrocious demands like colour tv's and motorcycles. We the voters are finding lots of reasons to not vote for the candidate from our consttituency. As politicians sling mud at each other, they dont realize that they also get their hands dirty( its not like its the first time...but then if there is a time you don't want to disgrace yourself its the elections.) Kudos to the Lead India campaign by TOI. But it's not going to make a lot of difference as we get to vote or not vote for the same set of people years on end. If we are to make a difference,we need more peoplestanding for elections. Lets not have to choose the best from the worst. I had read that some IIT alumni came together and formed a political party. wonder what happened to that.