[mobilePic] Wonderful (Bangla)deshi meal chez Riyadh and Rini

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Captions, on Varun's request, from left to right, top to bottom: Chicken cutlets, shrimp with capsicum - chinese style, Chicken curry, salad, "koi" fish curry [with entire fishes], egg korma, pulao, and chicken with veggies. And there was amazing cake-topped custard later, not pictured :)

Eight years on, still alive.

It has been eight years now since that car accident in 2002. Time surely flies fast.

So happy re-birthday to (Ashish) Chandra, Akshay, Rahul and Me!! :)

-A
P.S. Met Chandra in London last month. Good times. :)
--
sent from my Google Nexus One

[mobilePic] A.R.Rahman is coming to Paris. Jai Ho!

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[mobilePic] Mom, Dad, Big Bro and me at Neha and Piyush's Wedding

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[mobilePic] Off to India for 4 days.

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Revisiting Maxims

This post is a redux. Because some maxims should be re-remembered. [ref: old post]

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But I guess the part that has been bothering me the most are maxims such as the one above, which make very strong claims, which are not true, at least not to the extent they claim.

...

As another case, take the following

Good things happen to good people.

or its much stronger cousin

Bad things do not happen to good people.

WTF?! That is _such_ a strong claim. How about saying

Bad things can happen to good people, but usually they have a strong social net of similarly good and understanding people to rely on, and that helps reduce the recovery time.

which, in my opinion, is much closer to the truth than its simple, absolute version.

Yes, I understand the above is hard to fit on a bumper sticker or a motivational poster, but some of us here are trying to lead more logically rigorous lives!

Well, enough of my rant. Have _you_ seen maxims that you think should be altered/improved/deleted?

And to end, I leave you with the song of the day, my favorite one from Ek Chalees ki Last Local (must watch, for desis and non-desis)


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This post goes out to all those who are going through tough times. I hope that with time (and support from friends), things will start to look up.

[mobilePic] Fajitas for dinner. Yum!

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[mobilePic] The aloo vadi curry turned out awesome. And my French neighbors liked it too. :)

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Oops for Indian Electronic Voting Machines

I was pointed to the video below by an article on slashdot on this topic. The researchers show how to tamper with an EVM so that it shows wrong vote counts after the elections. Let me know what you think, especially about whether this can be done in a real scenario on a meaningful scale.

Update: Link to website, which has abstract, and link to paper.



[Note their use of an Android app to reprogram the display :)]

Personally, I would prefer a EVM-based system where the machine also printed out a paper ballot, which the voter could see and then put in a box. The main counting happens via EVM, but in case of a lawsuit, the paper ballots could be used to verify the results. Total cost will not be much more than the earlier system, while still retaining the security and anonymity.

So, what say?
-A

[mobilePic] Indian sweets, snacks, and mom's pickle at work. :)

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Back in Paris

I am finally back in Paris now [actually, reached on last Friday afternoon]. Am slowly processing the work and email backlog. Thanks for your wishes during the stuck-ness :).

Stuck at Santa's Airport

I have been stuck in India for some days due to the volcanic ash on Europe.

Yesterday, I got into a last moment flight to Helsinki, and it landed 1000km North of Helsinki in Santa's official airport :-)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rovaniemi_Airport

Was in a hotel last night, going back to airport now. Let's see what happens. Still  no idea of how to get from Helsinki to Paris.

More updates as I figure them out :-).

-A

[mobilePic] Me with the bride and groom. :-)

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[mobilePic] Fun and games at the post wedding lunch

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[mobilePic] Putting sindoor (crimson matrimonial powder) in the bride's hair.

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[mobilePic] Tying of the mangalsootra. wedding necklace

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[mobilePic] Kanyadaan: the giving away of the bride to the groom

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[mobilePic] The wedding has started!

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India Notes, April 2010 Edition

As you might know, I am in India nowadays for my brother's wedding. Things, as usual, are very hectic, and I am writing this on my phone on the way to Chennai airport to pick up some guests who are coming for tomorrow morning's wedding ceremony.

Here is a set of disconnected observations and thoughts I wanted to share with you all. Let me know if you have any thoughts.

* weddings and other big family events are a wonderful occasion for family members to meet each other, some after many years. And when you meet your cousins after a long break, it does not take long to re-make that bond.

* The subway sandwich shop in Chennai has separate counters for veg and non-veg subs. And all halal meat. And no beef or pork. I just had an Italian BMT with chicken ham and mutton pepperoni. :)

* mosquitoes are evil.

* The streets of Patna are much safer now.

* I have lost my conditioning to the constant honking. Or maybe I never had it, having grown up in a walled campus and gone to college in another.

* Getting your blackheads removed hurts.

* BSNL 3G SIM cards will not work in Delhi or Mumbai. In Chennai, 3G will work but voice will not.

* Indian vodafone "zoozoo" ads are cool. Look for them on youtube.

* Indian soap operas are terrible. And addictive to parents :-(

* you cannot carry spare batteries in your carry on baggage.

* carrying an episode of Bones on your laptop is a great help on cheap domestic flights.

* It is hard to get attendees in a party to start dancing, but once it happens, it is great fun. Yes, photos and videos will be posted ;-). Also, remember to make some lemonade with salt and sugar to rehydrate if you plan to dance like a madman at your brother's pre-wedding party. :)

and finally,

* Family _is_ the most important thing.

Getting ready to leave in a wedding procession at 5:30 tomorrow morning,
-A

--sent from my Google HTC Magic--

[mobilePic] Lunch: drumsticks in mustard curry on a leaf plate :)

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