I Watched Animal

When I say, ‘it’s complicated’, I do not mean the film has a complicated or nuanced story line. (Of course, such a story is not what the audience seems to have gone there for.) My sister dragged me to it, because she did not want to watch the treat all by herself. So, yes, I went for it after telling my brain not to look for logic. However, the fact that I am even attempting to write this post tells you that my brain ignored that advice anyway.

You Must Know Physics to Watch Oppenheimer

I finally managed to watch Oppenheimer on the IMAX screen. It was a delight, indeed. Like many of you, I had heard that one must know physics to make sense of Oppenheimer. But then, I thought, this film is neither called The Atomic Bomb or The Manhattan Project or even The Los Alamos Lab—it’s called Oppenheimer, which means, this must be about the man, not his creation or the project.

Responsibility for the Balasore Tragedy

This is a part of the series on the Balasore triple-train tragedy. In the previous parts, we looked at the different technical aspects of the Indian Railways, the audit observations from the CAG report, which pointed out the areas that need significant improvements, and looked at the politics of the matter. Handling of the case Inconsistencies A possible precedent The way forward If you did not read the the previous parts, I suggest you do:

The Politics of the Balasore Tragedy

This is a part of the series on the Balasore triple-train tragedy. In the previous parts, we looked at the different technical aspects of the Indian Railways, as well as the audit observations from the CAG report, that are relevant to the context. If you did not read the the previous parts, I suggest you do: Do you know Indian trains Operational Lapses in Indian Railways Here is what we will talk about in this part:

Operational Lapses in Indian Railways

This is a part of the series on the Balasore triple-train tragedy. In the previous part, we looked at the different technical aspects of the Indian Railways, that are relevant to the context. The part explains each of the terms you may come across when reading any story regarding the Balasore train tragedy. If you did not read the the previous part, I suggest you do: Do you know Indian trains In this part … well, everyone is talking of the CAG audit report; why not us?

Do you know Indian Trains

I have, like millions of Indians out there, been travelling long distances by the Indian Railways since infancy—since I was about six months old. And over these past three decades, I have read about tens of crashes including derailments. Even seen that odd wreckage during my train journeys. What happened on the 2nd of June was terrible, and I cannot possibly express what I feel about it, in words. I turned to TV news for updates, thinking for once they could be useful.

I Watched The Kerala Story

Last night, we finally went to watch the film. I wanted to know what the film was going to bring to the table. What I heard and what I read about the film were the exact opposites, and that kindled my curiosity. And then, the last weekend, when I met my cousin, she seemed in favour of the film. And that increased my curiosity. Finally, yesterday, I gave in. Mentioning the plot in short is customary in pieces like these, and so, here goes:

The Earth’s Orbit is not Elliptical

A couple of days ago, I had a rather interesting discussion with a gentleman. Usually, these days, uncles who talk deeply about subjects other than politics or do not parrot noisy news anchors are hard to come by. This gentleman was one of these gems—he was interested in the celestial realm. While discussing about the celestial objects (and their effects on us), a few minutes into the discussion, he asked me what the shape of the earth’s orbit was.

To wear or not to wear the Hijab

Let me start this by saying that the school of thought within Hinduism that we follow at home, teaches us to be not disrespectful of any school of thought. This does not mean we agree with everything, though; we instead appreciate the fact that there are more-than-one ways of seeing anything. Philosophy aside, I am a man of science. Scientific thinking partially goes in line with the school of thought we follow, but digresses a little, in that scientific thinking allows every form of questioning.

Remote work

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in early 2020 and a country-wide lockdown was announced, we all went virtual. The hitherto exception became the norm. Unable to cope with the “new normal”, we found the first weeks unsettling. A month or so later, we started to love it. Two and a half years since, we now have people unwilling to come back to the office. What triggered this article was a discussion I had with a friend who had been to an event organised by the realtors in Bangalore.