Interim Solutions

As I type this, few of the cellars of the ancient Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple at Thiruvananthapuram have been opened under government and judicial supervision to reveal unexpectedly huge amounts of ancient treasures. The partial inventory that has been released compares well to the treasures Sindbad finds in exotic palaces on his maritime sojourns. As of now there are two cellars still left to be opened up and already the conservative estimates of the wealth runs into hundreds of billions of Rupees. The treasures were apparently stored in secret chambers complete with code marks and other rich symbols and symbolisms of a bygone “treasure” era. Pay respects to the erstwhile rulers of Travancore who kept these assets in safe custody for all this while. Point to note is that lot of the artifacts could easily fit into the definition of personal articles (example: the throne of Kulasekhara Perumal that was used for the consecration of the King) and could have very well been kept in the per...

in much splendor, across the forested defense lands and across vast swathes of urban and rural landscapes and from across the Arabian sea and may be even further from the coast of Madagascar and unknown seas and lands beyond. Shaking everything in its path winds blazing across, pummeling down huge walls of water. Nostalgic moment this , the arrival of Monsoon in its full glory, cant help thinking back to my childhood, was it more beautiful, did the fear of nature's fury and loneliness add colors to my memories of this beautiful rhapsody of nature. Can't say - i am drinking in every bit of it standing in my balcony , oh what magical treasures the rain clouds behold in their dark, swollen bellies and long noodly hairs waving madly in the winds !!

List of interesting reasons why the apartment complex I live in is a microcosm of the nation ( should read as country) at large. -- Very undemocratic ,  around 55% of Indians take part in the national elections and roughly the same percent are members of the residents association -- There is a looming security issue and a greater infrastructure issue (read water, roads, sewage) and the focus continues to be on trivial stuff  like fighting over the color of the national anthem -- There are scams abound  - 2G , 3G etc at national level and G2A, G3A etc at the apartment level ---- -- Actually speaking , nobody cares anything about the community at large -- Beautiful scenery - located between 2 lakes and a forest on one side , but lot of shit around -- There are many wealthy citizens and the poor ones are not far away -- High rates of inflation but there are two cars per house -- North Indians are all over the place and many of them think "Kannad"...

Found an ancient BBC interview of the Prince. Amazing how he snubs the interviewer ( around 4:55) !! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MScv3KpdeE&feature=related Also, watch the series of his explanations on Shankarabharanam - amazingly lucid http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyQS5quY6d8

Not sure if this has happened to you , but if you do drive around in Indian cities it is highly likely that it has. Off late there is a remarkable increase of this phenomenon in the city I live and hence it has prompted me to crib about this (admittedly, I do not need much of a trigger) a) Scenario 1 : How to decide where to go ? This scenario seems to happen more on the narrow city by lanes (higher probability of this happening narrower the road). You would find two (usually two, more the merrier) bikes sort of idling near the middle of the lane with their riders actively engaged in discussing some topic of immense importance. You have no choice but to slow down and stop and honk and if you pay attention you can make out that the topic is usually about deciding on which restaurant to go to or which movie to watch or better/worse still which girl to ogle at !! b) Scenario 2 : Friends for life travel together Again best done on narrow lanes, you would find...

I have a feeling that if a study of content being introduced into the internet is done, new blogs explaining the nuances of some commonly used product (ranging from a seeming trivial thing as an umbrella to the latest mobile communication device), would emerge as the most active and prolific source of new content on to the www today.I guess the throne was earlier adorned by porn and has been taken away by products and their features. It is highly likely all the young people who were frequenting porn sites for freebies have figured ways to deal with their 'those' particular needs without the help of the www and have now earned enough money and free time to specialize in analysing niche products like bottle openers, shoe tongues and whatever else you cannot think of. Let me explain the woes I have had due to this take over.I have been planning to get myself a new TV and a cycle for the past few months and have almost given up as I type this, prima...

Travelling continues threatening my carbon neutral goals and claims.  Kothambumanikal ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGt357_0kuI ) at 30000 ft above ground, gazing at the uninhabited, arid Arabian coast = Sweet Melancholy