I Broke the Vow - "Till Death Do Us Part"

After more than two decades of harmonious relationship and at times declaring "till death do us part", I decided "it's enough" to sever the ties. No regrets, it is more of elation, rather, to declare it to the world around me. And it happened on the first day of the new year. 

Trrrrng..."H'lo. Celebrate Life."

"Good Morning Sir. You are eligible for a Credit Card free of charge." This was the call I got as I was entering the office today.

Science Vs God

This is a reproduction of a very interesting argument between a Professor and a very astute student. Read on... one of The Best Arguments I have ever read.

A Gentle Nudge

A gentle nudge to all my unfortunate audience.

As a newspaper ’Middle’ writer once said, one has to cajole, caress and coax the teasing wispy feather-like words into shape for publication, either in print or on the web. Writing involves, for the occasional rambler like me, a humungous effort to churn-out a piece. All too suddenly, the thoughts converge from all corners on the mind's palimpsest as I learn the ropes of bloggery and crawl out of writer's block. Yes, it is an essay – in both its senses, as literary composition (value to be determined by the readers) and as an attempt. In those good ol’days, as the legend goes, the churning brought out the nectar and now it brings out a blogpost. Find it exaggerating?

CPUs on the Prowl. Beware.

All Ye Hyderabadis! Beware of the CPUs on the move. These ubiquitous species can be seen on all the roads in Hyderabad. No, they are not any new devices invented by the traffic cops to harass us. They are a breed apart from the normal road users of Hyderabad.

On Being Left-Handed

It is a world dominated by right-handers and the right-handed people take their dominance for granted. Can the right-handed dispute this fact? The majority of right-handed people are cruelly oblivious to the plight of those who are left to suffer the handism in equipment design, from potato peelers to scissors, to wrist watches, computer keyboards to mouses. Even the flush handle on the WC and the handles on the doors favour the right.

The Beauty in Black and White

How do I drape this perfectly shaped and skimpily clad beauty? The stunner appears in absolute dishabille every day. Seduced, I wonder if the cues really help me in doing so. I grew up looking at these in awe and intent upon covering the unclothed beauty, at least partially, but in vain. Yet, to this day it is a humongous task and yet again, with unfailing regularity, I return to ogle at the beauty as she beckons me to cover her nudity with my brainwork. Beaten black and ‘white’ (blue) and lost in those labyrinthine squares, I seek solace from the Random House Dictionary.

Neither a borrower, nor a lender be

Recently I was skimming through the Shakespearean drama Hamlet and had to set aside my scan reading abruptly to read carefully the haughty, if not trite, kernels of wisdom bestowed by Polonius, the father, on his hotheaded son Laertes. I reproduce the lines:

The Oxymoronic Persiflage

A tedious brief scene of young Pyramus
And his love Thisbe; very tragical mirth.
Merry and tragical! tedious and brief!
That is hot ice and wondrous strange snow.
How shall we find the concord of this discord?

- A Midsummer Night's Dream, Act V, scene i, 60-64

Mrs. Malaprop Lives On and On and On...

Walt Whitman described the English language as the "grandest triumph of the human intellect." But many users transcend intellectual barriers and run amok with their inopportune use of words to land in the comity of Malapropists. Yet, they add embellishment, emphasis, exaggeration, exclamation, flourish, irony, and luxuriance to the English language.

Many writers and, especially speakers, appear to ignore the rules of grammar. For example, too many well "educated" speakers have been heard to say something like, "Everyone should do their best to improve themselves." If you do not see anything wrong with this statement, then you are an active candidate for deportation to the Land of Malapropists.

English in the Linguistic Melting Pot of India

India presents its diversity in many a variety. No, I have no intention to list out these varieties, as there are books galore to do this, and more importantly, I am not competent to do this. Yet, one such diversity, I presume, has not been publicised well - the diverse transformations of Queen's English. Across the country - a linguistic melting pot - we see many variants of our very dear Indlish (Indian English). The mosaic is as varied as we see across the globe. We have, for instance, Gujlish, Punjlish, Benglish, Tamlish, Mallish et al. Despite this diversity, there is general homogeneity in syntax and vocabulary among the varieties of Indian English.

Idiosyncrasies of English Idiom, Phrases and Prepositions

This is more or less a continuation of one of my earlier posts.

English displays its inimitable idiosyncrasies when it comes to the usage of idioms, phrases and prepositions in more mystifying ways than one. What else can I say, when it rains heavily it is said to rain cats and dogs? Have you ever seen these animals falling in hordes from the skies? I haven't, of course and not even kitten and puppies. The etymology enthusiast that I am, I started exploring the various possibilities for the origin of this phrase. Thankfully, being the handy aid that the worldwide web is, I came across the following link when I googled for the phrase: http://www.phrases.org.uk/. Although the site does not provide any etymological evidence, it nevertheless puts forth a number of improbable folk etymologies to explain the phrase.

My Love for Language

Being the son of teachers - an English Lecturer and a Telugu Pundit - language, more than science or math, cast its spell on me. I grew up among books, books and more books. It doesn't mean that I have read them all. I've had a sneak peek at some of them. Anyway, while in school, like any other child of that age, my interest lay in comic books and Enid Blyton's Famous Fives. Though my college education dragged me away from them, forcibly diverting my attention towards sciences and mathematics. It felt like I'd landed in a suffocating cul-de-sac, those years. Being the enfant terrible that I was, I failed to live up to my parents' expectations of becoming an engineer. Damp squib was my attempt. And so, back to reading books of interest, drawn by the love for language. Poring through the Random House Dictionary that my father has, was my favourite pastime all through. The syllabic division, pronunciation keys provided alongside each word always held my attention.

My Magnum Opus

One fine morning I woke up with the brilliant idea of penning down a poetic work of epic proportions, the canvas as grand as that of Paradise Lost of John Milton a la

Enigmatic English

English is an enigmatic language, at least for me. And at times, I feel, it really is a funny language. It poses problems aplenty in pronunciations and also in spellings. English spelling is guaranteed to confuse even those who have spoken the language all their lives. When there is no difference in pronouncing see and sea, why are they spelt differently? What do you say about do and go? Why is p silent in psychology and pronounced as f in philosophy, and what about laughter, wherein it is pronounced with an f in it, but slaughter has no such sound?

Mis(dis)use of the Apostrophe

"Its anus". This was written on the vehicle that a lady was driving. "Anus of ...?" I was flummoxed for a while at the brazen attitude of the lady. It then suddenly dawned on me that it was not her outrageous attitude, but the handiwork of a dim witted soul who is appallingly ignorant of the Apostrophe. Yes, it must've been "It's Anu's".