It hits the fan, but some are blind
(At low tide a few mornings ago, thirteen. Read on.)
Dilip D'Souza: Death Ends Fun
Independent writer, Bombay
Threw away the boot
(Some of you reading this have walked and run with me, played tennis and basketball, squash and cricket with me. This one's for each of you.)
A-team patriots
Five of us trooped into a beautifully restored downtown Bombay theatre the other night, to watch The Odyssey on the big screen. Full house, surprisingly little legroom at least in our row, but a splendid three hours.
Twenty years to Proxima
You've probably heard of Alpha Centauri. It's often called the nearest star to us, though strictly it is the nearest star system to us. That's because Alpha Centauri is actually three stars - Alpha Centauri A, Alpha Centauri B, and Proxima Centauri. Proxima it is - the name may have given it away - that's the nearest star to us.
Antisocial behaviour. Or not.
What is it about ants? No, I mean it. In all my writing over the years, ants have been a frequent and nearly beloved subject. Some, when set down in a maze and faced with a choice, tend to turn left. Some have walked on stilts while compatriots have had their legs (sadly) trimmed. The late great myrmecologist, EO Wilson, described a charming experiment in which a live ant, smeared with pheromones only exuded at death, was promptly ferried - frantically waggling limbs notwithstanding - by his mates from the nest and dumped outside.
Some border crossings
Several years ago, I spent a few days sending an email appeal to everyone in my inbox who might have been able to help. Some folks did, and some wheels turned, and the result was that a certain Major crossed a border for the first time in over six decades.
Arm-edabad Blues
Some mornings, I wake up thinking of Ahmedabad. It's a city I've visited a few times; for a few reasons, it's a city I've never really warmed to. But I've roamed widely there, often by autorickshaw. And on those mornings I'm talking about, it's two of those rides I remember.
Breakfast on my mind
Heading for the famous Jog Falls, we made an early start from Shivamogga on NH 206. The town looked like a war zone, because entire stretches of buildings and shopfronts had been demolished to widen the highway. Homage to the ravenous automobile god, but not calculated to make us feel positively inclined about Shivamogga. Even if I'm in a car, I thought, I would welcome a little hardship in driving - narrow roads, traffic - if that will preserve the character of a town. Yet it never happens that way. Obsessed as we now are with wheels, the car's needs always dictate how a city develops.
Hearts cradled by science
Through those six minutes, my only thought was - and I cannot imagine I was alone - "what would I be thinking?"
First City
The Only City: Bombay in Eighteen Stories (edited by Anindita Ghose)
Showed Us a Statue, Told Us to Pray
Long years ago - well, 1977 - Billy Joel sang these lines:
The man, the mind, the series, and 314 trillion digits
Here's a factoid that, over a century later, still stuns: In 1914, the mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan published an academic paper in which he spelled out 17 - yes, seventeen - formulas to calculate π (pi).
Bows, arrows and what will become sine
My friend Arjuna is an archer in the army. He has been on several campaigns, always victorious. His bow is as tall as he is. It is made of wood but strengthened with sinews. The combination makes it firm, supple and elastic. I say that, and marvel at the expert ease with which he handles it, and I know I - man of letters and numbers as I am - would never be able to pull the string back as he does.
Was he an outlier? Does it matter?
Nearly six years ago, I lost a good friend to cancer. It was tragedy compounded, because he had lost his wife to cancer a few years earlier. That left their two daughters, orphaned in their 20s. More recently, another good friend has been struck with the disease. I know others too, as I'm sure you do as well.
Searching for correlations ... between animals and cities?
One day you spot the young enchanter you've had a crush on for months, but haven't yet found the gumption to speak to. Still, you're affected in ways you've heard about forever. You know - maybe you feel your heart beat faster? Maybe you think it skips a beat or three? You know the feeling, no doubt. But is your heart actually beating faster, or skipping beats?
Vasco, and a supernova discovered
On a stargazing trip between September 19 and September 23 this year, I spied a supernova.
Southern Worry Territory: The Indian Spectre of Delimitation
In South India, they're worried. For following some stated national priorities, for performing well at them in comparison to the North, the states of the South might be punished: They stand to lose a certain quantum of political power.
Earth Angle, Will You Be Mine?
The autumn equinox - well, autumn in the northern hemisphere - came and went a few weeks ago. I spent it, as I mentioned in my last column here, at the Hanle Dark Sky Reserve in north India. Four nights with some 40 other amateur astronomers, in the open at 14,000 feet, temperatures hovering just below freezing, photographing the splendid night sky.
Nights in dark Ladakh: What keeps stargazers busy through the day
In late September, forty amateur astronomers and photographers from all over India converged on the tiny hamlet of Hanle, in Ladakh. We were at the Hanle Dark Sky Reserve (HDSR). This is one of very few spots in India where ambient light doesn't overwhelm the night sky.
Nights in dark Hanle: Stars, galaxies and even a supernova
We had been warned. It will be bitterly cold. Totally dark. You're at 14,000 feet. There's less oxygen in the air than at home. You'll fumble with the buttons on your camera. Your mind will get befuddled, you'll walk slower, you'll feel the strain of going up even gentle ramps.