Tag Opinion
Did you like Kabali?
It’s funny how people just assume that I’m obnoxious. No, I’m not trying to deny facts here, just stating that I’m not that predictable. So a few days ago, thanks to a friend, I watched Kabali—probably the most-awaited Tamil movie of 2016. When I told people I’ve watched the movie, people (predictably) asked the question, ‘Well, did you like it?’ To save myself from the trouble of unnecessary argument, I just used to answer depending on the tone of their question, which, in most cases, was, ‘No’.
‘Honourable members of the jury…’ (part three)
As I already mentioned in the last post, I’d like to end this series of posts on a positive note about my experience at Bhavan’s Rajaji Vidyashram. The first thing I’d like to talk about is the two good sessions I was part of: This house would restrict the media reporting of violent crimes to reduce miscarriages of justice This house would use the funds collected by the religious institutions as insurance for ‘Acts of God’ One could say that these topics were more common, and preparation for this was not a big deal.
‘Honourable members of the jury…’ (part two)
In my previous post, I spoke about three debate sessions that could’ve been better. For reference, let me list down the three sessions: This house would revoke all support provided by the government to the religious groups in the spirit of true secularism This house believes that all laws in India should be made gender-neutral This house believes that the judicial interpretation of laws should be purely literal to prevent subjectivity of the interpreter The reason I said these could’ve been better was that there was no passion seen in these sessions, when the debate began.
‘Honourable members of the jury…’ (part one)
I remember saying this in school, when I participated in debate competitions. Boy, those days… Sweeping aside the nostalgic thought for the moment, after having indulged my mind for a second, I re-read the message that I’d received on Facebook Messenger; I wanted to make sure I was reading it right. Sure, my eyes hadn’t betrayed me. Yes, it was real that I’d been asked to be a judge for an inter-school debate competition, organised by Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan’s Rajaji Vidyashram!
Perhaps, it’s not their fault
Complaining about the government and the ministers is something we love to do these days. Last night, just for the fun, I tried to take the blame off of the ministers’ heads, and put the blame on the officials instead. The result was an imaginary speech I gave to the Station Master of the Chennai Central Railway Station. I do not mean to say that the Minister is an ignorant man.
Engineering as a form of art (Part 2)
In continuation to my [last post](https://blog.ramiyer.me/engineering-as-a-form-of-art-part-1/ If the story around the TeX world is to be believed, Prof. Dr Donald Knuth, a computer scientist and a mathematician, was publishing the third edition of his book. He had gotten a sample of his book from his publisher. His publisher had just acquired some new computer-based typesetting and printing machinery, which they were super-excited to use. But when Prof. Donald Knuth received the book, he was more than disappointed with the output.
Engineering as a form of art (Part 1)
In the field of computers, irrespective of how long you’ve been with them, some tools stop you on your tracks and take a closer look at the marvel that they are. Now I’m not talking about the usual IT engineers you’ve seen, who care nothing about what they do, who look at their jobs as just jobs; as something that pays them. Granted, technically they’re calling a spade, a spade. But then there are those, who are passionate about what they do; who do not spend a day without trying out something new—who are comfortable with being vulnerable.
The one thing that people don’t understand
This is to all the other mums and dads in India. If your children are thin, it’s a good thing. Really. Please understand that, and stop torturing yourselves emotionally, and stop taking us on guilt trips. It is nothing to be worried about if your kids are thin, and it doesn’t reflect badly upon you. I repeat: it’s a good thing, please understand that. …fat and muscle aren’t the same…
Indifferent or grounded?
This is about those times when a side of me thought that I was heartless (it may well still be the case); it was one of those times I hated myself and thought I was a hypocrite (spoiler: no, I’m not a hypocrite). Let me give you the background first, and then we’ll go to a story. The background I don’t give money to beggars on the road. I look them in the eye and deny them any offer.
Anarchy of Speech
Given that the fire around the JNU row has died down a little, I guess some of us are now ready to see it for what it really is; hence the post now. First of all, thank you, news channels for fuelling outrage using the one factor that you know as a weak point with all Indian middle-class majority—money. Someone claimed that the government spends over ₹3.33 billion per year for these students, and that it is the hard-earned money of us taxpayers.