At the Baseball Game

At the baseball game, the Oakland Athletics beat the reigning champions, the Chicago White Sox. It was a great afternoon to be at the ballpark with the family. It reminds of the times I went with my father to watch a cricket match in Chepauk and Eden Gardens. I still remmeber, Eden gardenswith great fondness. One of the most awesome sights was when you came up the stairs and the whole stadium opened out in front of you! These are times when man made structures inspire great admiration.

Art, artists and inspiration

It is a known fact that artists are inspired by the work of others - past and present. "Good artists copy, great artists steal", a quote attributed to Picasso. And why am I talking about it? Because of the recent debate about the songs in Bob Dylan's new album Modern Times having words identical to another poet from the past, Henry Timrod. Two articles that I thought you might like to read regarding this subject

Translations - Creative Copying and Originality and
The Magpie Tendencies of Genius - read the comments that follow too.

Would love to hear how you feel about it?

Reading bit by bit

Technology and gadgets seem to be taking away our leisure time instead of giving us more. Catching up on reading for pleasure seems to have taken a back seat. Here's a novel way of getting some reading done. Reading Classics that you did not manage to do in college or since.

I recently read an article on LifeHacker where the blurb said " No time to read? Email service Daily Lit sends you a bite-sized chunk of a novel to your inbox every day". This site will email you a page or so of your favorite classic to you everyday, Monday to Friday. I signed up immediately :D

It's not as if I don't have the time to read. I have a lot of time but can't seem to get around to knocking off a few from my list that have been there for years. Ones that I keep there because I still want to read them. Instead I find that I read books that catch my eye in the shop or ones recommended to me recently or whose review I have liked. As you must've gathered from the header and the excerpt, Sons and Lovers is a book that I had wanted to read when I was in school (!) and I still have not got around to it.

This book will be sent to me in 218 installments. Each will take about 5 minutes to read. And if the experiment proves successful, I shall sign on for another. Today I got my first installment. Here is an excerpt from the book.
___________________________________
Sons and Lovers (1 of 218)

By D. H. LAWRENCE

PART ONE

CHAPTER I

THE EARLY MARRIED LIFE OF THE MORELS

"THE BOTTOMS" succeeded to "Hell Row". Hell Row was a block of thatched, bulging cottages that stood by the brookside on Greenhill Lane. There lived the colliers who worked in the little gin-pits two fields away. The brook ran under the alder trees, scarcely soiled by these small mines, whose coal was drawn to the surface by donkeys that plodded wearily in a circle round a gin. And all over the countryside were these same pits, some of which had been worked in the time of Charles II, the few colliers and the donkeys burrowing down like ants into the earth, making queer mounds and little black places among the corn-fields and the meadows. And the cottages of these coal-miners, in blocks and pairs here and there, together with odd farms and homes of the stockingers, straying over the parish, formed the village of Bestwood.
___________________________________

Daily Lit has a selection of 93 classics, from the public domain, available for you to choose from. So whether like me you have the time or like most others life's keeping you a bit too busy and you want to catch up on some reading here's a new way to have a go at it.

You'll find quite a range of reading material from Emma, Christmas Carol to Freud's Dream Psychology all sent to you in small installments. And if on a particular day you have the time to read more or you just have to know what comes next just ask for more and you'll get the next installment sent to you immediately. You wont have to wait! I'm sure you'll find something you'd like to try out. If it works for you do let me know.

4 Generations!

I've been in touch with Dipali right through the years and we meet up regularly. This time was no different.

I was meeting Diya for the first time though. She was shooting all over the place, a bundle of energy and absolutely adorable. Managed to grab her for a few seconds for a photograph but she wriggled right out. She has everyone wrapped around her little finger especially her mother. Aditya is much taller than when I saw him two years ago and is very gentle with his little sister. Rajeev is still the same, still spoiling Dipu silly. And her friends too :d Fellow Aquarian like me need I say more?? :D

Meera Aunty had come over for dinner. Meeting up with her was an added bonus :D She's still keeping busy. Has an exciting job that keeps her on her toes. Khana has always been superb at the Sikand's and the tradition continues at Dipu's.

Something that I discovered this visit. The Sikand's have almost taken over Oakwood. Meera Aunty's mother has recently moved in and lives there on her own as she's very independent. So is Meera Aunty who was the first to move in there and has maintained her own place. And Dipu has her own. 4 generations practically under the same roof. They have their independence but yet are close enough to run into each other homes and do dinner regularly. I think it's fabulous!

Choopa Rustom

How many more of these out there?

During my recent visit to Bangalore, I met up with Sangita Ohri now Jain. It was a pleasure catching up with my first friend at LMC, all the way back in '76. We happily managed to meet up on 3 occasions during those 10 days - a pub, a chinese restaurant and chaat at her place. She did not let me dig up any more details about her years since school than those that I had already gleaned from a common friend, Kshitija.

Sangita is a gold medalist from NIFT, the first batch. Before that she got into NID and left to join NIFT . Sangita then spent some time becoming famous in the world of fashion, got married, had two kids and like a lot of other people I know, gave up her job to bring up the kids. Recently, with a bit more time in hand, she has started painting again and the few that I got to see are truly lovely.

Leave me a comment if you want to know what she looks like now :D

After a break

Sangeeta (Bukshi) has started writing again, for the Afternoon, after a break of a few months. Check out her latest article "Why is everyone up in arms against poor Pratibha Nathani?" I'm sure you'll agree with her take on the subject against exposing children to violence and adult content. This is not her first article on this subject.


Archive of Sangeeta's articles

Daily Horoscopes and such like

Ok, before you go any further let me confess that most of you will find this to be a silly one! It's after 1 in the morning and I tend to do silly things if I'm awake at around this time. Proceed at your own risk. :D

I have been a daily horoscope reader for years :D Didn't really believe it (honest! :D). I guess because most of it didn't apply to me. I haven't been so good about reading them recently given the bad internet access, travelling etc. . But lately, I've noticed that the one that I subscribe to online is pretty accurate.

Background thoda toh dena padega. I have been complaining to (all who within reach mostly ramesh :P) about feeling rushed all the time. I even refused a trip to Delhi this week because I just wanted to be in one place and not travel for a while.

My horoscope says "No wonder everything is such a blur -- you've been moving so quickly. It's time to chew your food, rather than gulping it whole. Be calm and focused and perform actions mindfully, and you won't feel at the mercy of the fate"

Maybe I'm am now, after years of reading them, able to imagine :P, extrapolate, extend anything that is written and make it applicable or maybe this method of forecasting works for me. Whenever I come across them I enjoy reading them. Mostly I find them efficiently filed as "Junk" Mail by gmail.

If you feel like checking it out. Choose the daily horoscope option on this page. Unsubscribe after a couple of days of checking it out and dont forget to give me feedback!