The recent floods in Kashmir reminded me of a sentence in the 'The Small Picture' column in The Mint (Why don't they have the column anymore?):
You can't outrun a planet that wants you dead
You can't outrun a planet that wants you dead
Wednesday, September 17, 2014
Twist Of Taste - The Sweet Life (With chef Vikas Khanna)
Fox Life, 13th October onwards, every Monday-Tuesday, 9:30pm.
Tuesday, September 16, 2014
Spanish - Class VI
Whoa! The teacher taught so much in this class that I hope she conducts the surprise test on the coming Sunday. My tiny brain won't be able to cram in the material taught in yet another session for the exam :-)
When I was revising the material before the class I wondered if I had by mistake left off the 'c' in 'Adjetivos'. Nope, adjectives are indeed called 'Adjetivos' in Spanish, sorry, in Española. The first thing that we learnt in the 6th class was how the adjective changes as per the gender and plurality of the noun that it describes. So Masculino Singular 'Bueno' becomes 'Buena' for Femenino Singular, 'Buenos' for Masculino Plural and 'Buenas' for Femenino Plural. And that's just one of the rules - applicable to the adjectives that end in 'o'. There is one for the adjectives ending in rest of the vowels, another for ones ending in consonants and representing nationalities, one for adjectives ending in consonants (without having anything to do with the nationalities) and the last one for adjectives ending in 'or' or 'on'. I am sure I will forget what I had started to say by the time I am done mentally going through all the rules :-)
As if this wasn't material enough for one class, next was the very first verb - 'Ser' i.e. To Be (Thank God it wasn't Hamlet teaching us Spanish!). I was happy to learn that 'Yo' stands for 'I'. That's easy to remember! 'Yo Soy' means 'I am'. My joy was short-lived. There is 'Nosotros/as Somos' for 'We Are'. Then there are 2 forms for 'You' - 'Tu' (तुम) is used in Spain and Usted (आप) is used in the Latin America. I was so glad they haven't heard of the Bambaiyya तू :-) As we went about chanting 'Yo Soy' down to 'Ellos/Ellas Son' (They Are), I suddenly remembered my English school teacher asking us to repeat after her - I go, you go, it goes, he goes, she goes, they go. Life seems to have come full circle for me.
BTW, there is no 'it' in Spanish. Oh, and there are 6 cases where these forms of 'To Be' are used. I dare not think about the exceptions.
There was no home work this time. But the teacher has told us that we will have to introduce ourselves to the class. Here goes:
Yo Soy Swapna. (I am Swapna)
Soy Hindú (Hindú means 'Indian'. Wonder what the various jamats and jaishs will make of this!).
Soy Ingeniera De Ordenadores (Ordenador is Computer. I hope what I have written means "I am a Computer Engineer")
What worries me is the tildes and horizontal bars that seem to accompany some of the letters. How in God's name am I going to remember them? :-(
When I was revising the material before the class I wondered if I had by mistake left off the 'c' in 'Adjetivos'. Nope, adjectives are indeed called 'Adjetivos' in Spanish, sorry, in Española. The first thing that we learnt in the 6th class was how the adjective changes as per the gender and plurality of the noun that it describes. So Masculino Singular 'Bueno' becomes 'Buena' for Femenino Singular, 'Buenos' for Masculino Plural and 'Buenas' for Femenino Plural. And that's just one of the rules - applicable to the adjectives that end in 'o'. There is one for the adjectives ending in rest of the vowels, another for ones ending in consonants and representing nationalities, one for adjectives ending in consonants (without having anything to do with the nationalities) and the last one for adjectives ending in 'or' or 'on'. I am sure I will forget what I had started to say by the time I am done mentally going through all the rules :-)
As if this wasn't material enough for one class, next was the very first verb - 'Ser' i.e. To Be (Thank God it wasn't Hamlet teaching us Spanish!). I was happy to learn that 'Yo' stands for 'I'. That's easy to remember! 'Yo Soy' means 'I am'. My joy was short-lived. There is 'Nosotros/as Somos' for 'We Are'. Then there are 2 forms for 'You' - 'Tu' (तुम) is used in Spain and Usted (आप) is used in the Latin America. I was so glad they haven't heard of the Bambaiyya तू :-) As we went about chanting 'Yo Soy' down to 'Ellos/Ellas Son' (They Are), I suddenly remembered my English school teacher asking us to repeat after her - I go, you go, it goes, he goes, she goes, they go. Life seems to have come full circle for me.
BTW, there is no 'it' in Spanish. Oh, and there are 6 cases where these forms of 'To Be' are used. I dare not think about the exceptions.
There was no home work this time. But the teacher has told us that we will have to introduce ourselves to the class. Here goes:
Yo Soy Swapna. (I am Swapna)
Soy Hindú (Hindú means 'Indian'. Wonder what the various jamats and jaishs will make of this!).
Soy Ingeniera De Ordenadores (Ordenador is Computer. I hope what I have written means "I am a Computer Engineer")
What worries me is the tildes and horizontal bars that seem to accompany some of the letters. How in God's name am I going to remember them? :-(
The moment I started researching for the Critical Illness Insurance choices, I knew I was going to regret it. It felt like watching a 'Final Destination' movie or an episode of 'House, M.D.'. I had no idea there were so many diseases and so many ways to die. Take a look:
Blindness, Paralysis, Stroke, Alzheimer, Loss of speech, Deafness, Coma, Paraplegia, Heart attack, Cancer, End stage kidney failure, End stage renal failure, End stage lung failure, End stage liver failure, Organ Transplant, Bone marrow Transplant, Bypass, Brain tumor, Heart valve surgery, Motor neurone disease, Multiple sclerosis, Pulmonary arterial hypertension, Aorta graft surgery, Parkinson's, Major burns, Aplastic anaemia, Bacterial meningitis, Fulminant viral hepatitis, Muscular dystrophy
Grey's Anatomy and House (whatever episodes I could watch before I could stand him no more!) have made sure I have heard of and know about some of these. But I have no idea about some of them and hope never to find out. :-(
Blindness, Paralysis, Stroke, Alzheimer, Loss of speech, Deafness, Coma, Paraplegia, Heart attack, Cancer, End stage kidney failure, End stage renal failure, End stage lung failure, End stage liver failure, Organ Transplant, Bone marrow Transplant, Bypass, Brain tumor, Heart valve surgery, Motor neurone disease, Multiple sclerosis, Pulmonary arterial hypertension, Aorta graft surgery, Parkinson's, Major burns, Aplastic anaemia, Bacterial meningitis, Fulminant viral hepatitis, Muscular dystrophy
Grey's Anatomy and House (whatever episodes I could watch before I could stand him no more!) have made sure I have heard of and know about some of these. But I have no idea about some of them and hope never to find out. :-(
When I exited ITC Grand Central after attending a session arranged by my Business School, there was only one taxi on the road. When I approached it, for a moment I wondered if the old Sikh cabbie was waiting for someone. When I told him I have to go to the SiddhiVinayaka temple, he thought for a moment and then almost reluctantly asked me to get in. I almost asked him if he was sure, then thought better of it and got in. Then he told me that he wasn't sure about the route. 'It's better to tell up front. Otherwise the passengers think that the cabbie is taking them for a ride' - 'which in Mumbai he often is' I said to myself as I gave him the directions.
'Sorry Madam, I had to bother you about the route. But I don't drive taxi regularly. It's because of some personal problems that I have to do it' he said as he drove along. 'Okay' I wasn't sure how I was supposed to respond to this. Thinking back, I think I should have been worried about whether this guy even knew how to drive. But then I guess I have seen enough drivers who make you wonder if they are in the driver's seat for the first time in their lives. At least I would die knowing the truth :-)
Some moments passed in silence. 'I had to go in the opposite direction. But you are a lady so I couldn't refuse to drive you.'
'You should have told me. I did sense that you were a bit reluctant. I would have got another taxi' I said, a tad annoyed at what I took to be a patronizing attitude towards a female. It was not as if I was being abandoned in the middle of a forest.
'And you said you had to go to the SiddhiVinayaka temple. I could not say no. Going there has never incurred a loss for me. In fact, this is the third time today that I will go there'. he said beaming at me through the rear-view mirror. I still wonder what he meant by that. Did he mean that one is always able to secure a passenger from near the temple (a practical explanation) or did he imply that God made sure that he didn't incur a loss going all the there (a matter of faith)? I guess the answer to that question is known only to the cabbie - and to God.
But there was something in his smile that told me that it was all about faith and belief and a zillion other things that you just cannot put in words. Either you believe in them or you don't. As I got down and paid the fare I said softly 'God has made sure you landed up here thrice today. I hope and pray that whatever problems you are facing are soon taken care of'. The cabbie grinned ear-to-ear and said 'God Bless You'.
Could it be true what they say about faith being able to move the mountains?
'Sorry Madam, I had to bother you about the route. But I don't drive taxi regularly. It's because of some personal problems that I have to do it' he said as he drove along. 'Okay' I wasn't sure how I was supposed to respond to this. Thinking back, I think I should have been worried about whether this guy even knew how to drive. But then I guess I have seen enough drivers who make you wonder if they are in the driver's seat for the first time in their lives. At least I would die knowing the truth :-)
Some moments passed in silence. 'I had to go in the opposite direction. But you are a lady so I couldn't refuse to drive you.'
'You should have told me. I did sense that you were a bit reluctant. I would have got another taxi' I said, a tad annoyed at what I took to be a patronizing attitude towards a female. It was not as if I was being abandoned in the middle of a forest.
'And you said you had to go to the SiddhiVinayaka temple. I could not say no. Going there has never incurred a loss for me. In fact, this is the third time today that I will go there'. he said beaming at me through the rear-view mirror. I still wonder what he meant by that. Did he mean that one is always able to secure a passenger from near the temple (a practical explanation) or did he imply that God made sure that he didn't incur a loss going all the there (a matter of faith)? I guess the answer to that question is known only to the cabbie - and to God.
But there was something in his smile that told me that it was all about faith and belief and a zillion other things that you just cannot put in words. Either you believe in them or you don't. As I got down and paid the fare I said softly 'God has made sure you landed up here thrice today. I hope and pray that whatever problems you are facing are soon taken care of'. The cabbie grinned ear-to-ear and said 'God Bless You'.
Could it be true what they say about faith being able to move the mountains?
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