Friday, June 25, 2004
@Amazon
Jaishree “Janu” Misra writes a simple, spellbinding tale of love and loss, of pain and deserved happiness which simply rings aloud through and through with bitter experience. Once in a while, I read a book that stays with me for a long, long time. Something inside me takes notice, and I think on the sentences, the words and the characters in the book when I’m doing very different things. Usually, it’s because I identify with some of the characters in the book, and usually, if the protagonist is male, I tend to step into their shoes. But Janu at a lively, imaginative and wonderful 18 years of age, and Arjun a boyish teenager (who loves cricket) that she falls in love with - both of em, can’t be more unlike me. I regret to inform you that it’s her Malayalee husband Suresh I found a kindred spirit in, the Suresh that Janu is forced to marry after abandoning her first love. And Suresh is what I fear I will become 
The story, for an Indian author, is refreshingly simple. By that I mean, there aren’t any connivings with the language that both Roy and Rushdie seem to tinker with. Nor is there (despite the name) any deep-rooted mysticism; Janu is human and approachable and her problems are real and vivid and so hard to solve. I can’t draw any parallels with more complicated tales that other Indian authors tend to write nowadays either, but neither is it a return to the ‘before Rushdie’ age with it’s desi tinge; it’s what I feel Indian writing should be - true to the heart, direct, and definitely Indian. Rushdie has said something though that I remember: you have to be an insider and an outsider to see the whole picture. Janu definitely fits the bill, and it’s her unique blend of Delhi-traits and upbringing and her decidedly Malayalee roots that give this story life. I won’t paraphrase the story here because I’m cheating you of a good read, and neither will I give out the many gems of observations that Janu makes about life in Kerala. But if you do get the time, pick up this book; if you’re a Malayalee, don’t miss this.
Tags: reading • review
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Wednesday, June 23, 2004
I’ve seen this error so many times on the net - in articles, in blogs, in the front page of so many web sites - that I think I’ll spare a few words for it. The subject is of course, English Grammar, and for ppl wh0 typ3 l1ke th15, this is not a consideration. Real people may read the next paragraph.
I, T, and S can form two combinations in that order. Its and It’s: i.e., a simple I, T and S, and I, T, an apostrophe and an S. The difference between them is that ‘Its’ is a posessive pronoun, where as ‘It’s’ mean It is.
Correct: It’s a nice day. Why? Because it expands to ‘It is a nice day.’
Wrong: It’s name is Dolores. Why? Because it expands to ‘It is name is Dolores.’
Correct: The cat had its whiskers cut. Why? Because ‘its’ is a posessive pronoun here.
See also: It’s/Its
Tags: chaff
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Tuesday, June 22, 2004
This is the first in what I hope will be a series of articles on how object oriented programming methodology works. I debated whether to post this here or at Sig9, but since there’s a dearth of development posts here, I thought this would be the place.
[Read in RTF]
Tags: development • writing
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Sunday, June 20, 2004
I’ve been listening to the new Corrs album - Borrowed Heaven - and it really sounds good. I’ve always liked them for their melodies, but the album has quite a few excellent vocals as well. Other similar artists that I like: Muse, Dido, Norah Jones, Sarah Mclachlan, Faith Hill, Natalie Imbruglia, Cranberries, Radiohead, mellowdrone, and Coldplay. So go clicky clicky :-).
I probably shouldn’t be doing this, but for the unscrupulous, here is a magnet link to the album: Corrs: Borrowed Heaven.
As an aside, Shareaza has gone Open Source with version 2.0. It’s probably the best Peer-to-Peer downloader out there, so go give it a try.
If anyone can list similar artists here, that would be nice. I’m always looking for new music. Tata!
Tags: music
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Saturday, June 19, 2004
It was when I went back to school the other day that I discovered how much I missed organizing things and speaking. Compared to my time in school, my college is a pretty sorry spectacle for the eye: no events to speak of, no magazine to write in, no good teachers, no basketball, very few interesting people and lots of useless free time. Add to that a very aging syllabus and the general apathy of everyone around and it sucks something out of me everytime I go there. I hate the idea of compulsory attendance first and foremost. Granted, I did choose this stream to be in, but sitting shut-eyed through desultory classes is hardly fun. And it seems as if the topics which are supposed to be interesting are taught by an equally spineless faculty.
A frequent refrain in the Anita Blake Vampire Hunter series is that you can’t be embarassed unless you allow yourselves to be. Another quite apt observation I have to make is that you can’t be depressed and sad and wallow in self-pity unless you open the door. But college nowadays is just enough marks so that you can take home a good report card. And that’s a sorry state to be in.
A mantra to live by:
Don’t look, don’t care, don’t wallow in it at all,
Sit tight, think pretty, and climb off your heavy wall.
Tags: sports
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Friday, June 18, 2004
Once a year, I say goodbye to Achan. Today was the day this year.
Like most other early-morning experiences, when I’m not completely awake, it’s like I see the world through rolled-up paper; tunnel vision - I can’t see the entirety of the world around me, but since I focus on small parts of it, the small bits of the world around me seem so different.
I don’t remember the first time I saw him off. It’s become a ritual, so I remember only the common elements: my car speeding up and down the road at that unearthly hour, the proud sea breeze beating at the car windows, stopping at the Airport Poll to pay parking fees, finding a trolley to carry the luggage in, and then the few moments of uneasy hesitation before a handshake, a fast goodbye to Maji, a brisk walk up the aisle and a goodbye for a year.
Sometimes, Ma lets us go then. At other times she insists on waiting. And it’s this long wait that often gets to me. While she stands at the railing with her shed and unshed tears, I walk up and down the terminal and do everything I can to get away. Today, I started by watching the pretty girls around the ‘port, though that proved to be the wrong kind of distraction. I debated on whether to go and drink a cup of coffee, but since it had been an offer I refused at home, that option was outtatheway.
Today, it was four forty in the morning, and I had nothing to do and nothing to think. Even the sky was clouded-over and starless.
Tags: chaff
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Wednesday, June 16, 2004
A very valid question, my friend. And the reasons are… manifold<g>
- Exams: the bane of every person who picks up a book when someone else tells him to. It’s been a long long month of exams, some sporadic, some stretched over weeks of uneasy pseudo-holidays, some hard, some easy, some jumpy and some as uninviting as the Monster books of Potter fame. On the whole however, it went off okay, all things considered.
- Reading: I’ve been reading a lot lately, from a re-read of Harry Potter to Anita Blake’s Vampires to McCaffrey’s Dragons - and that’s taken up a lot of my free time.
- Coding: SMS Yell and it’s revisions (soon to be cross-platform) are taking up some time too.
- College work: Records to submit, projects to do, it’s been a pretty univiting week so far.
- Response: Lack of people to talk to on these pages. Comment you damn people you!
uber evil among those above (vis a vis, my exams) are over (almost over), I’m going to post here again. My record so far is 47 posts in a month, let’s see if I can crack it<g> And oh, please somebody just yell to me about Kharke, I’ve been dying to post a new chapter or two, just need that extra kick to the shins
Tags: chaff
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Saturday, June 5, 2004
SMS Yell is a bulk SMS messenger for the Windows platform. It is coded using Python but uses COM so it’s platform specific, but it’s modeled on a unix console app. It can be used for sending a message to multiple users multiple number of times. The source is released under the MIT academic/free license. Enjoy!
Download: Source (2K) | Windows Binary (1.3MB)
Tags: code
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Friday, June 4, 2004
Python is an extremely versatile programming language, and it’s one of the best scripting language for the Windows platform. I was tinkering around with it today, and the ease with which it encapsulates COM, DDE and many other Win32 elements is amazing. Besides Python has the best constructs that I’ve ever found in a language, although REBOL is also very good.
Some essentials for the Win32 that you need besides the Python distribution:
Tags: development
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