Zero To One – Peter Thiel
Wednesday, February 4, 2015
Jimmy Boy, Fort
This place has been on my ‘Must Eat Here’ list for far too long. So last weekend we decided to just go despite not knowing where exactly it is located. We managed to reach Horniman Circle but were unsure of how to proceed from there when I noticed a gentleman who appeared to be a Parsi walking along the road. Hoping that he would know the eatery’s exact location we asked him for directions. Our hunch was proved right as he told us precisely where it was located – at the back of Bade Miya’s. :)
I did a double take when I walked in as my eyes rested upon a group of Parsi senior citizens polishing off what appeared to be Thali meals served in – Banana Leaves. Thali in a Parsi restaurant? That too served in banana leaves? This was unheard of, at least as far as I am concerned.
Though the thought of the Thali was uppermost in my mind while ordering food, I decided not to go for it without first sampling the a la carte. Jardaloo Salli Chicken was a must as we had eaten the same at Britannia. I couldn’t recall whether I had eaten Dhansak there. So we ordered Mutton Dhansak. Dhansak is served here with brown rice and 2 kebabs (depending on whether you have ordered mutton or chicken Dhansak).
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| Jardaloo Salli Chicken and Mutton Dhansak |
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| Apple Pie with vanilla ice-cream. |
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| Lagan Nu Custard |
P.S. In case you are wondering about the above painting, it depicts the story of the community’s landing at Sanjan. You can read it here.
Supernatural – There’s no place like home
To be very frank, I ignored the TV screen for first few minutes of the show. I am living in mortal fear of Crowley’s mother hastening Dean’s descent into the darkness before Sam and Castiel get a chance to find a way to prevent it.
Then I saw a man being beaten up and realized that this episode might instead be about a case. I was surprised, however, when Charlie, who I vaguely remember walking through a door into the Land of The Oz (in God knows which season!), turned out to be the culprit. Of course, being a seasoned (!) follower of the series now, it didn’t long to figure out that this must be her dark side.
Relieved that Crowley’s mom was unlikely to be this episode’s focal point (BTW, I find her way too creepy to be a mom!), I happily dropped whatever I was doing and watched the rest of the episode. Nothing exciting there but at the risk of sounding repetitive, I would say that it was a mighty relief to not have to worry about what The Witch would be upto next. I hope to God that Crowley is only pretending to be clueless.
Then I saw a man being beaten up and realized that this episode might instead be about a case. I was surprised, however, when Charlie, who I vaguely remember walking through a door into the Land of The Oz (in God knows which season!), turned out to be the culprit. Of course, being a seasoned (!) follower of the series now, it didn’t long to figure out that this must be her dark side.
Relieved that Crowley’s mom was unlikely to be this episode’s focal point (BTW, I find her way too creepy to be a mom!), I happily dropped whatever I was doing and watched the rest of the episode. Nothing exciting there but at the risk of sounding repetitive, I would say that it was a mighty relief to not have to worry about what The Witch would be upto next. I hope to God that Crowley is only pretending to be clueless.
Spanish – Written Exam
The more I studied (and I really didn’t study that much!) the more I became ‘un poco nerviosa’. :) I knew that I am doomed by the ‘Audio’ part of the exam. Though I was able to make sense of the transcriptions of the ‘Audio’ samples meant for the DELE A1 exam preparation, they were like Greek and Latin to me (!) when I just heard them. :(
So I went into the classroom with more than a little bit of trepidation. During my student days, I could be seen going through the troublesome sections of the notes in the exam hall. But these days I prefer not to look at them. Still, the sight of so many people poring through their notes has an effect on you so I fished out my notebook and went through the irregular verbs section one more time.
The exam started a bit later than 9am. The first part was of course ‘Audio’. The teacher forgot to attach the speakers to the music system and as a result had to play the recordings thrice before she realized her mistake. Only the first section – that dealt with the numbers – was audible to me. The 2nd section talked about timings and I could get some parts. The last section was a total washout. It talked about people, their places and occupation. The teacher had told us to familiarize ourselves with the cities in Latin American countries but I had forgotten all about it till the time I was standing at the bus stop on the day of the exam! :) I wrote what I could and left the rest to God!
The written part of the exam was okay, I guess though prudence (and experience!) tells me to wait till the results are out. There was reading comprehension, grammar and a couple of images that we were asked to describe. Let’s see.
We have Orals on coming Sunday. Judging by the fact that the teacher has allocated one hour for a group of 8-9 students, each of us cannot be grilled for more than 10 minutes :) My judgement hour starts at 10am. Hope I don’t get all tongue-tied.
We were also told that the second part of the course is going to start in March – Saturday 7pm-9pm and Sunday 9am-11am. Total 40 hours i.e. 10 weeks = 2.5 months. Totally not possible for me and that’s a shame. The teacher said that there isn’t much grammar left to be taught but emphasis will be on vocabulary and practicing for the ‘audio’ part. After this, we should be able to face DELE A1 level. That means I need to figure out how I can prepare for the same on my own.
As I handed my paper to the teacher, I realized that I won’t be seeing majority of these faces again. That’s sad. Here’s wishing them luck – for the oral as well as for the rest of their lives. Buena Suerte :)
So I went into the classroom with more than a little bit of trepidation. During my student days, I could be seen going through the troublesome sections of the notes in the exam hall. But these days I prefer not to look at them. Still, the sight of so many people poring through their notes has an effect on you so I fished out my notebook and went through the irregular verbs section one more time.
The exam started a bit later than 9am. The first part was of course ‘Audio’. The teacher forgot to attach the speakers to the music system and as a result had to play the recordings thrice before she realized her mistake. Only the first section – that dealt with the numbers – was audible to me. The 2nd section talked about timings and I could get some parts. The last section was a total washout. It talked about people, their places and occupation. The teacher had told us to familiarize ourselves with the cities in Latin American countries but I had forgotten all about it till the time I was standing at the bus stop on the day of the exam! :) I wrote what I could and left the rest to God!
The written part of the exam was okay, I guess though prudence (and experience!) tells me to wait till the results are out. There was reading comprehension, grammar and a couple of images that we were asked to describe. Let’s see.
We have Orals on coming Sunday. Judging by the fact that the teacher has allocated one hour for a group of 8-9 students, each of us cannot be grilled for more than 10 minutes :) My judgement hour starts at 10am. Hope I don’t get all tongue-tied.
We were also told that the second part of the course is going to start in March – Saturday 7pm-9pm and Sunday 9am-11am. Total 40 hours i.e. 10 weeks = 2.5 months. Totally not possible for me and that’s a shame. The teacher said that there isn’t much grammar left to be taught but emphasis will be on vocabulary and practicing for the ‘audio’ part. After this, we should be able to face DELE A1 level. That means I need to figure out how I can prepare for the same on my own.
As I handed my paper to the teacher, I realized that I won’t be seeing majority of these faces again. That’s sad. Here’s wishing them luck – for the oral as well as for the rest of their lives. Buena Suerte :)
Elementary
One didn’t need to be Sherlock Holmes or even Dr. Watson for that matter to figure out that the person who the team had been pursuing as the culprit wasn’t really the one who had tortured Kitty. It all looked too easy to be true. But the possibility that Watson’s new boss could instead be that person was startling. Come to think of it, it shouldn’t have been. All the signs pointed to this being someone who was every time one step ahead of the team and thus privy to what was going on. It couldn’t have been anyone else. It would be interested to see what Watson would do now. I hope she brings him to justice and teams up with Sherlock and Kitty again. They make a good team. :)
Friday, January 30, 2015
Kittur Fort (Ekaant, Epic Channel, 27 January, 2015)
This episode was about the fort of Kittur (Karnataka) and the Queen whose name is forever linked to this fort – Raani Chennamma.
This fort was constructed somewhere in the 16th century by the Desai dynasty and converted into their kingdom’s capital. The story of Chennamma’s marriage with the Kittur King Malasaraja can be an inspiration for a Hindi movie. She was very proficient in horse-riding and archery. One day she had been to a forest and the King was there as well. Their arrows happened to hit the same lion but Chennamma insisted that the lion died from her arrow. The King was impressed with this feisty lass and she became his second wife. This kingdom was so rich that by the turn of the 17th century they had about 15 Lacs Rupees cash along with other precious stones and ornaments in the state coffers.
Needless to say, other kingdoms were looking for a chance to lay their hands on this fabulous wealth - the Peshwas being one of them. They imprisoned the Kittur King but his health deteriorated in captivity. Fearing a backlash from the general populace of Kittur if anything happened to the King, the Peshwas released him. But he died on his way back to Kittur. His first wife Rudramma dedicated herself to religious activities after this. And Chennamma declared the firstborn of the King and Rudramma as the new King. Unfortunately, he turned out to be a weak ruler and died young. Now the reins of the Kingdom were in Chennamma’s hands and she ruled well.
But the British had their eyes on this tiny kingdom. In 1824 the Dharwad collector of British East India Company attacked Kittur. Queen Chennamma didn’t allow him to set foot in the fort and the British were mightily defeated.
Unfortunately, they did not take this defeat well. Chennamma must have realized that another battle was inevitable. Hence she had started the settlement process with the Governor of Mumbai – on the condition that her adopted son’s rights would be recognized and protected. She had also offered to release the British war-prisoners of the 1st war. The governor got his men released and then with the help of battalions that were brought from Mumbai and Mysore attacked Kittur in 1829. They did this under the pretext that the kingdom didn’t have a legal heir because their true motive of attack – to get their hands on the royal wealth – would have alarmed other Indian kingdoms. Chennamma had been preparing for war. And she would have won as well had it not been for the age-old curse of treachery that plagues this land. The traitors mixed cow dung in the ammunition and Kuttur was defeated. The Queen and her adopted son were imprisoned in a nearby fort.
Despite the defeat the people of Kittur were far from accepting the British rule. A common man by the name of Sangoli Rayanna made life hell for the British with his constant surprise attacks. However, he too was caught with the help of traitors. The British hanged him in the village of Nandgad.
Kittur’s struggle for freedom ended with Sangoli Rayanna’s death. The British left in 1947. But the fort that had defeated the British suffered abandonment and neglect at the hands of its own countrymen. Though much of it is still standing, the ASI has put up boards to indicate what purpose certain places served during the years gone by because their present condition is a far cry from their yesteryear’s glory.
I wish we common people could do more to preserve our heritage. :(
This fort was constructed somewhere in the 16th century by the Desai dynasty and converted into their kingdom’s capital. The story of Chennamma’s marriage with the Kittur King Malasaraja can be an inspiration for a Hindi movie. She was very proficient in horse-riding and archery. One day she had been to a forest and the King was there as well. Their arrows happened to hit the same lion but Chennamma insisted that the lion died from her arrow. The King was impressed with this feisty lass and she became his second wife. This kingdom was so rich that by the turn of the 17th century they had about 15 Lacs Rupees cash along with other precious stones and ornaments in the state coffers.
Needless to say, other kingdoms were looking for a chance to lay their hands on this fabulous wealth - the Peshwas being one of them. They imprisoned the Kittur King but his health deteriorated in captivity. Fearing a backlash from the general populace of Kittur if anything happened to the King, the Peshwas released him. But he died on his way back to Kittur. His first wife Rudramma dedicated herself to religious activities after this. And Chennamma declared the firstborn of the King and Rudramma as the new King. Unfortunately, he turned out to be a weak ruler and died young. Now the reins of the Kingdom were in Chennamma’s hands and she ruled well.
But the British had their eyes on this tiny kingdom. In 1824 the Dharwad collector of British East India Company attacked Kittur. Queen Chennamma didn’t allow him to set foot in the fort and the British were mightily defeated.
Unfortunately, they did not take this defeat well. Chennamma must have realized that another battle was inevitable. Hence she had started the settlement process with the Governor of Mumbai – on the condition that her adopted son’s rights would be recognized and protected. She had also offered to release the British war-prisoners of the 1st war. The governor got his men released and then with the help of battalions that were brought from Mumbai and Mysore attacked Kittur in 1829. They did this under the pretext that the kingdom didn’t have a legal heir because their true motive of attack – to get their hands on the royal wealth – would have alarmed other Indian kingdoms. Chennamma had been preparing for war. And she would have won as well had it not been for the age-old curse of treachery that plagues this land. The traitors mixed cow dung in the ammunition and Kuttur was defeated. The Queen and her adopted son were imprisoned in a nearby fort.
Despite the defeat the people of Kittur were far from accepting the British rule. A common man by the name of Sangoli Rayanna made life hell for the British with his constant surprise attacks. However, he too was caught with the help of traitors. The British hanged him in the village of Nandgad.
Kittur’s struggle for freedom ended with Sangoli Rayanna’s death. The British left in 1947. But the fort that had defeated the British suffered abandonment and neglect at the hands of its own countrymen. Though much of it is still standing, the ASI has put up boards to indicate what purpose certain places served during the years gone by because their present condition is a far cry from their yesteryear’s glory.
I wish we common people could do more to preserve our heritage. :(
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