Dilip D'Souza: Death Ends Fun

Independent writer, Bombay

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.
Dilip D'Souza: Death Ends Fun
Hearts cradled by science
Through those six minutes, my only thought was - and I cannot imagine I was alone - "what would I be thinking?"
Dilip D'Souza: Death Ends Fun
First City
The Only City: Bombay in Eighteen Stories (edited by Anindita Ghose)
Dilip D'Souza: Death Ends Fun
Showed Us a Statue, Told Us to Pray
Long years ago - well, 1977 - Billy Joel sang these lines:
Dilip D'Souza: Death Ends Fun
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).
Dilip D'Souza: Death Ends Fun
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.
Dilip D'Souza: Death Ends Fun
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.
Dilip D'Souza: Death Ends Fun
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?
Dilip D'Souza: Death Ends Fun
Vasco, and a supernova discovered
On a stargazing trip between September 19 and September 23 this year, I spied a supernova.
Dilip D'Souza: Death Ends Fun
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.
Dilip D'Souza: Death Ends Fun
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.
Dilip D'Souza: Death Ends Fun
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.
Dilip D'Souza: Death Ends Fun
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.
Dilip D'Souza: Death Ends Fun
Take pride in Kokborok
On our honeymoon, my wife and I spent a few days camping in tiny Rio Gallegos, Argentina. One morning at breakfast, two German men sat down with us. After a few pleasantries, one said to us: "Please go ahead and speak to each other in your language - don't feel like you have to use English because we are here."
Dilip D'Souza: Death Ends Fun
Staring at fewer babies, are we?
There's news and trumpeting, as there seems to be every few years, about India's Total Fertility Rate, or TFR. And that means another opportunity to examine both the TFR and what it means for our population growth.
Dilip D'Souza: Death Ends Fun
Lord I'm 400 Years From My Home
(So this is a followup of sorts to my previous column in this space - I wrote it as my regular contribution to 3 Quarks Daily.)
Dilip D'Souza: Death Ends Fun
The mask does a job
So by the standards of our galaxy and universe, the star Alpha Centauri - actually three stars, but I'll return to that - is very close to us indeed. In fact, of all the billions of stars out there, it is the closest to us Earthlings. Yet that mention should not have you polishing your shoes in anticipation of an imminent visit there.
Dilip D'Souza: Death Ends Fun
About staying in position, and understanding
Going to college in rural Rajasthan, I've always felt, was an education. But not so much because of the engineering and so forth I learned (or didn't learn, more like it) there. It was an education, above all, about this country I live in.
Dilip D'Souza: Death Ends Fun
To burst or not to burst
There's a particular astronomical phenomenon that we have been observing only for the last couple of decades - and especially frequently in the last five or six years. We observe it, but we don't fully understand it.
Dilip D'Souza: Death Ends Fun
All things being inequal
In Bombay, India's largest city, you will find what is frequently called the world's most expensive residence. That edifice belongs to Mukesh Ambani and his family. That man, of course, is routinely at or near the top of lists of the world's richest human beings. I don't have any idea of his worth, but it's a lot.
Dilip D'Souza: Death Ends Fun

Dilip D'Souza: Death Ends Fun

Independent writer, Bombay

211 Followers

2 Following

Breakfast on my mind

Dilip D'Souza: Death Ends Fun

Hearts cradled by science

Dilip D'Souza: Death Ends Fun

First City

Dilip D'Souza: Death Ends Fun

Showed Us a Statue, Told Us to Pray

Dilip D'Souza: Death Ends Fun

The man, the mind, the series, and 314 trillion digits

Dilip D'Souza: Death Ends Fun

Bows, arrows and what will become sine

Dilip D'Souza: Death Ends Fun

Was he an outlier? Does it matter?

Dilip D'Souza: Death Ends Fun

Searching for correlations ... between animals and cities?

Dilip D'Souza: Death Ends Fun

Vasco, and a supernova discovered

Dilip D'Souza: Death Ends Fun

Southern Worry Territory: The Indian Spectre of Delimitation

Dilip D'Souza: Death Ends Fun

Earth Angle, Will You Be Mine?

Dilip D'Souza: Death Ends Fun

Nights in dark Ladakh: What keeps stargazers busy through the day

Dilip D'Souza: Death Ends Fun

Nights in dark Hanle: Stars, galaxies and even a supernova

Dilip D'Souza: Death Ends Fun

Take pride in Kokborok

Dilip D'Souza: Death Ends Fun

Staring at fewer babies, are we?

Dilip D'Souza: Death Ends Fun

Lord I'm 400 Years From My Home

Dilip D'Souza: Death Ends Fun

The mask does a job

Dilip D'Souza: Death Ends Fun

About staying in position, and understanding

Dilip D'Souza: Death Ends Fun

To burst or not to burst

Dilip D'Souza: Death Ends Fun

All things being inequal

Dilip D'Souza: Death Ends Fun