Urban Thrilling Adventure Walks

I'm going to start Urban Thrilling Adventure Walk workshops for foreign tourists It is an idea whose time has come!
Based out of Pune city in India, the itinerary will include exciting events such as how to cross Fergusson college road at 5 pm, negotiate traffic signal chowks in the early mornings, walking along the narrow peth lanes without harming a hair (of your own self!) and so on. Advanced levels will include survival and negotiation skills such as actually managing to hire an auto rickshaw that is ready to take you where you wish to go, how to climb on a public transport bus, etc. 

Might add more brilliant ideas to this list later :D 

Let's Celebrate Lurkers' Day

How about celebrating Facebook Lurkers' Day? On that day nobody will post anything anywhere on Facebook. Everyone will only lurk on other friends' fb pages and groups. In this day and age of social media, a Lurkers Day is so apt. Celebration will be online and worldwide. The idea is to create awareness about the existence of the poor silent souls known as Lurkers.

This day the vociferous, the narcissistic, the vocal amongst us who keep clattering away at the keyboard, shall refrain from posting our witty remarks and high quality images, and experience the feelings of our friends who lurk. We shall experience their feelings of lurk and weightlessness as we silently float in cyberspace along walls, on the edge of groups, occasionally stumbling on the mass of words and sharp image corners. Traveling along our friends' timelines, we shall silently absorb facts about our friends' history, geography, political leanings, sleeping hours, the smarmy images they share, and what they do for fun.

How will we know that people lurked? Well, nobody will post anything. And since no one can stay away from facebook for even an hour, they will have no option but to lurk!

This idea can be expanded to organize Blog Lurkers' Day, Yahoogroups Lurkers' Day and so on.

Mud pack delivery?

Couldn't resist clicking this. The juxtaposition of these two elements made my morning. 

Sugar or Chini?

I'm always on the lookout for new restaurants and udipi cafes where one can sit for a long time undisturbed over a cup of coffee and vada sambar.  

Scene 1. Ah. A new joint. I enter, sit at a table and ask for coffee. The waiter nods. The resultant drink is the restaurant's standard coffee. It is way too sweet for my taste.

Scene 2. Same cafe. This time with a friend. Friend tells him to get two coffees. "Sugarless" she says, in rich plummy tones. The fellow nods his head. The coffee arrives, steaming. And sweet. Aaargh.

Scene 3. Same joint. Ok, it's on my way and convenient. I ask for coffee. Waiter nods. Then in a fit of epiphany I ask him, "Which language do you understand? Hindi,  English?" in each of the languages. Turns out he is from the rural areas of north. Hindi it is. "Coffee mein chini nahi daalna. Bilkul nahi." He nods his head vigorously, and also rewards me with a smile.
This time the coffee is as I like it. Without sugar.

Evidence of the expanding universe

One of the theories about the origin of the universe mention how the universe is continuously expanding. This implies that there is more distance now between two stationary objects in the universe than before. Now scientists can find solid evidence of this phenomenon at work in Pune.

A city in India, its most commonly used form of public transport is the three-wheeler auto-rickshaw, fondly abbrieviated to 'auto' or 'rick' . Its driver is usually the owner of the vehicle. Payment is made based on a per kilometer rate. A meter records the number of kilometers covered by the vehicle. And this is where the expanding universe theory comes into the picture. A few years ago, the distance from point A to point B would clock say 3 kms. If you travel the same distance today, the meter will show 4 kms! Time to bring in the scientists, methinks.

Remarks of a modern empathetic teacher

Gone are the days of old-fashioned teacher - who taught with sincerity, and therefore occasionally chided the student or pulled their ear. Today we operate in a business like environment where students are 'customers' and have to be cosseted accordingly. 

The words on assessment reports have also evolved to keep pace. Here are a few samples sent by a friend: 

• Your son has a remarkable ability in gathering needed information from his classmates. (He was caught cheating on a test).
• She is an endless fund of energy and viability. (The hyperactive monster can't stay seated for five minutes). 
• Fantastic imagination! Unmatched in his capacity for blending fact with fiction. (He's definitely one of the biggest liars I have ever met). 
• She exhibits a casual, relaxed attitude to school, indicating that high expectations don't intimidate her. (The lazy thing hasn't done one assignment all term). 
• Her athletic ability is marvelous. Superior hand-eye coordination. (The little creep stung me with a rubber band from 15 feet away). 
• He thrives on interaction with his peers. (Your son needs to stop socializing and start working). 
• Your daughter's greatest asset is her demonstrative public discussions. (Classroom lawyer! Why is it that every time I explain an assignment she creates a class argument). 
• He enjoys the thrill of engaging challenges with his peers. (He's a bully). 
• An adventurous nature lover who rarely misses opportunities to explore new territory. (Your daughter was caught skipping school at the fishing pond). 
• I am amazed at her tenacity in retaining her youthful personality. (She's so immature that we've run out of diapers). 
• I firmly believe that her intellectual and emotional progress would be enhanced through a year's repetition of her learning environment. (Regretfully, we believe that she is not ready for high school and must repeat the 8th grade). 
• Her exuberant verbosity is awesome! (A mouth that never stops yacking). 

 ~

What is not a landscape?

Something that brought on a smile.

I was browsing groups on www.flickr.com and going through the rules of some of the groups.
Here is an extract of what one group displays in its rules:


TIPS FOR DUMMIES :
=================
- A flower is not a landscape
- A duck is not a landscape
- A cow, a lion, an animal aren't a landscape
- A house or every building are not a landscape
- A church is not a natural landscape
- A bridge is not a natural landscape
- A town, a village, a farm, a port, or a cityscape are not a natural landscape
- A vehicle, a car, a train, a boat, are not a landscape
- A garden is not a natural landscape (it is man made, not natural)
- A wind power plant is pretty and ecologic, but not a natural landscape
- And a nuclear power plant is not natural at all... ;)

Milk and a portion of fate

Now when you drink milk, you not only get the usual vitamins and minerals, but also a slice of fate. Take a look at the picture here. This was printed on a reputed brand of milk. (This is for those who can read the Devnagari script).