tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-311168502026-10-18T15:06:01.385-07:00Figuring Things Outc u r i o s i t y + w w wDinakarrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02139480754726008948noreply@blogger.comBlogger863125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31116850.post-80503485441423789932026-10-17T09:40:53.353-07:002026-10-17T09:40:53.354-07:00Trek 2026: Across Buran Pass to Kinnaur This was a trek of many firsts for our group of mid-lifers: the first time we crossed a mountain pass in crampons and gaiters; the first time we got caught in a traffic-jam of trekkers; and the first time we spotted some new birds at close quarters. It was also a trek that almost got called off even before it started. Despite being well past the rainy season at the end of September, itDinakarrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02139480754726008948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31116850.post-58805555140587026482026-09-04T09:54:40.620-07:002026-09-05T02:59:01.741-07:00Gift from the Gila Monster Asterix and Ozempix. When this illustration landed in my SM feed a few months ago it took me a while to figure that the skinny guy next to Asterix was actually Obelix. Also just like Obelix, many of my own friends are now becoming unrecognisable, slimmer, trimmer versions of themselves. One thing they all have in common is that they were all on the heavier side and had all tried Dinakarrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02139480754726008948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31116850.post-41506883869839141912026-06-20T10:20:00.000-07:002026-08-03T10:20:48.424-07:00Mallika Darling"आपकी मल्लिका आने ही वाली है!!" (Your Mallika will be here soon!)Every summer folks at our friendly neighbourhood Mother Dairy Fruit & Vegetable outlet tease me about my fondness for this particular variety of mango which happens to share its name with an old Bollywood siren, Mallika Sherawat.The mango season in Delhi NCR almost always starts with Safeda. In the early summer season these areDinakarrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02139480754726008948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31116850.post-37991926505660835332026-05-15T09:11:00.000-07:002026-07-01T09:12:05.931-07:00Wondering about Whales Recent research shows that communication in the oceanic world of whales is lot more complex and nuanced than we assumed it to be. Just as tonal languages like Mandarin use Tonal languages use variations in pitch — not just consonants and vowels — to distinguish the meaning of a word, whales have their own tonal dialects.Using new AI-ML tools, scientists at CETI have been trying to decipher Dinakarrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02139480754726008948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31116850.post-73751690889903456912026-04-30T08:03:00.000-07:002026-05-20T08:15:02.071-07:00Photography as DarshanRaghu Rai, a famous Indian photographer, passed away this week (26/04/2026).Having grown up seeing his amazing photographs in newspapers and magazines it felt a bit strange to see those same images turning up on the small but all pervasive screens of the new social media. Over the past few days, while we collectively mourn his passing, friends have posted PDF copies of his book "Picturing Dinakarrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02139480754726008948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31116850.post-41383603389912822542026-03-10T17:12:00.000-07:002026-03-11T08:41:58.040-07:00Uppal in the 70s Last week on X, I came across a site that took me down the memory lane.The link to Felt Map Archive site came from @tejamalladi and the site had a collection of declassified satellite pics of Hyderabad starting from the 1960s. Almost immediately, I found myself searching for Uppal, the place where I spent my wonder years, and seeing with varying degrees of awe, amazement and Dinakarrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02139480754726008948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31116850.post-10573288601009356512026-02-24T17:01:00.000-08:002026-02-26T16:51:21.507-08:00Running, Pain and LatinDistance running is a fun way to learn Anatomy, and Latin :)A part of the fun is of course taken away by the fact that these lessons come packaged in pain. A few years ago, after what seemed like a regular run, my right heel started hurting. I thought I had stepped on a sharp stone, or that I had twisted my heel. After many unsuccessful sessions of massages, rubbing in balms and oils (esp. Dinakarrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02139480754726008948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31116850.post-63360968549119806192026-02-21T07:42:00.000-08:002026-02-21T07:42:32.207-08:00How Did They Know? Each civilisation had a different way of looking at the stars. They found different patterns and linked them to a wide range of traditions, legends and stories. What is amazing is not the patterns but the level of detail they were able to observe in the night sky. A few years ago the jolly, ebullient Khurshed Batliwala gave a talk listing out a few things ancient Indian scientists Dinakarrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02139480754726008948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31116850.post-12849524858059483452026-02-15T07:55:00.000-08:002026-02-15T07:55:26.186-08:00Kyauktada KathaGeorge Orwell's book, "Burmese Days" is centred on a fictional town called Kyauktada 'in Upper Burma'. It is the story of an English timber merchant named John Flory set in the 1920s. Kyauktada is actually a district in Yangon so it seems Orwell drew his inspiration for this story from his stay at a small town called Katha ('story' in many Indian languages), on the banks of the Irrawaddy.The bookDinakarrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02139480754726008948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31116850.post-73056997006459628362026-01-04T08:55:00.000-08:002026-01-17T10:39:27.020-08:00Bhopal-Sanchi: 20 Years Later The last time I visited Bhopal was during my JICA days, in the early 2000s. My projects were far fron the city, in Sagar, Damoh and Tikamgarh districts. This meant my usual hotel - Jehan Numa Palace - was only a stopover for rest and recuperation from the long road journeys. During those days I remember visiting the usual touristy places in the city - the newly built Bharat Dinakarrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02139480754726008948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31116850.post-15261712985264308052025-10-04T08:07:00.000-07:002025-12-24T06:53:04.752-08:00Fachu Kandi Pass - Notes from a Crossover TrekThis is a note to myself. As the years go by, and as details of our numerous treks in the Himalayas start to get mixed up, I find it necessary to write down at least some highlights and details of each trip. These notes may also be useful for those who discover that much of what see online, especially on website put up by travel companies, are either incomplete or simply inaccurate.This year our Dinakarrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02139480754726008948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31116850.post-52358147272658685412025-08-05T09:54:00.000-07:002025-08-05T09:54:32.311-07:00Davai, Pustai, Rabota, Skoreye! If there is one word you would catch from the numerous clips from the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, it is "Dawai!" Even though it sounds like Hindi for medicine, it simply means "Move!" in Russian. In the videos the soldiers and civilians are urging people to try and get away from the gruesome, drone-dominated warfare that had hits soldiers and civilians in both countries.This word turned up Dinakarrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02139480754726008948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31116850.post-89089617329189412462025-06-29T02:07:00.000-07:002025-08-17T02:07:42.997-07:00The Body I have been a fan of Bill Bryson for many years now. Starting with "A Short History of Nearly Everything"(2003), I have tried to keep up with his numerous books on popular science that blend hard facts with a wry sense of humour."The Body: A Guide for Occupants" is perhaps one of his fattest books. In over 500 pages (excluding the refs and index) it covers not only many parts of the human Dinakarrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02139480754726008948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31116850.post-68936620616508672182025-06-21T17:47:00.000-07:002025-07-07T09:45:42.529-07:00Rainbow Trouts in Bhutan I guess it does not take much of marketing to sell a fish that evokes images of kisses, mountain streams and rainbows. The rainbow trout, aka Oncorhynchus mykiss, loves cold, clean, fast-flowing mountain streams. Native to the Americas it has, over the centuries, become a valuable table-fish - thanks to its great taste (it belongs to the salmon family), the fact that it can be Dinakarrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02139480754726008948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31116850.post-23425524454056092532025-06-15T08:37:00.000-07:002025-07-06T17:47:03.615-07:00Dynamics of the North EastAt first glance Sanjoy Hazarika's book may seem rather dated. It gives a snapshot of the North Eastern states up to the early 1990s. Much of the turmoil described in the book has died down - insurgencies that roiled the North East for decades after independence has given way to a superlative push for development - the new longest river bridge in India, 10,000km of new highways, railwayDinakarrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02139480754726008948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31116850.post-88951011144915692492025-03-22T09:43:00.000-07:002025-03-31T10:31:44.843-07:00Yantras of Jantar Mantar Jantar Mantar is one of the iconic monuments of Delhi. It figures in almost every representational image of the city skyline alongside the Lal Qila, Qutub Minar, and Lotus Temple. It is supposed to mean "instruments for measuring the harmony of the heavens", and yet there is hardly anybody who is able to explain how these astronomical instruments were used. The Jantar Mantar is Dinakarrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02139480754726008948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31116850.post-10867128882895757392025-02-15T07:28:00.000-08:002025-02-15T07:28:03.523-08:00Snooping on YouTube If you are curious about something but nobody is willing to tell you, what do you do?Recently, BBC reported on an interesting method of gathering market intelligence. The question researchers at the University of Massachussetts were trying answer was - how big is YouTube?This may sound like a simple question but for various reasons - commercial, or otherwise - this is not the kind of Dinakarrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02139480754726008948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31116850.post-32272330250411715202025-02-11T07:53:00.000-08:002025-02-18T09:23:37.952-08:00Non Volatile Memories Last Sunday I got a big scare - one
of my newest external hard disk drives (HDD) let out a few scratchy
noises and suddenly stopped working. Its LED light went out and the icon just
disappeared from my desktop screen. Disbelief, panic!
I checked the plugs and ports, tried
changing the USB port, tried restarting the system but the HDD just
would not turn on. I had purchased this
Dinakarrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02139480754726008948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31116850.post-53274214185277580342025-02-08T07:47:00.000-08:002025-03-02T09:09:34.657-08:00Boston 11 - A Biting Problem Adidas Adizero Boston11 Refuel. Quite a mouthful for a brand-name but it certainly counts as the most unusual pair of marathon shoes I have used so far.Long ago when I stepped into the world of distance running, shoe-salesmen used to emphasise on flexibility. They would hold up a pair and twist and roll the running shoes, making the heels touch the toes, to show you how easily they would Dinakarrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02139480754726008948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31116850.post-6883261995579047182025-01-25T09:43:00.000-08:002025-03-02T09:44:32.038-08:00Shooting with Pancakes Last year when I switched from my old Nikon D90 + 18-105mm kit lens combo to a full-frame Sony A7C I had agonised over right lens to go with it. Ultimately I had opted for a Tamron 28-200 E-Mount. It has been a pleasure learning the new syntax of shooting with mirrorless cameras, and the I have been amazed by the versatility of this Tamron lens which can go from macro to a fairly good Dinakarrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02139480754726008948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31116850.post-22279941422262199772025-01-04T06:39:00.000-08:002025-02-08T08:05:53.878-08:00DholaviraAn endless white expanse of saltpans, blue skies, and Dholavira.If you are a history buff nothing quite prepares you for the ancient Harappan site of Dholavira. Perhaps you recall hearing about the place in school classrooms, or visits to museum galleries or books. Bits and pieces in our collective memory about the ancient civilisation that covered an area larger than known sites in Mesopotamia, Dinakarrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02139480754726008948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31116850.post-83801395043784829842024-12-15T01:02:00.000-08:002024-12-15T06:42:57.875-08:00Singular Music This is a collection of short-stories Murakami published in 2020. The title comes from the last story in the collection but the one I liked best is the one depicted on the cover - "Confessions of a Shinagawa Monkey" / Ichininshō Tansū (一人称単数).It is a story that brings together a number of elements I love about Japan - the inclination to experience nature, the everyday courtesy, Dinakarrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02139480754726008948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31116850.post-61981313285598360862024-12-08T08:54:00.002-08:002024-12-15T06:33:04.832-08:00Glimpses of Bangkok It was good to return to the Brahma temple in downtown Bangkok after a few years. I missed a few shrubs and trees that once stood in the area now thronging with people - worshippers, onlookers, curious tourists - all watching the dancers swaying to the rhythms of cymbals and prayer songs. Not too far from Erawan Brahma shrine on Rama-I road, Lumpini district is the "Sri Maha Mariamman Dinakarrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02139480754726008948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31116850.post-5608941322012374242024-11-18T09:22:00.002-08:002024-11-18T09:30:28.921-08:00For the Love of Railways Smooth, flowing prose is so difficult to find!The last book I read was the 2022 winner of the Booker prize, and I did not like it. Even before i reached half way through I had got tired of the ghosts and ghouls, the violence, and most of all, by the cumbersome writing style. So I was quite relieved to find a recent book by Haruki Murakami."Colourless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Dinakarrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02139480754726008948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31116850.post-43012542851258091572024-10-20T07:14:00.000-07:002024-11-13T06:15:40.387-08:00Trek to KedartalIt has been about two weeks since we returned from our annual Himalayan trek. After having done most of our earlier treks in the Dhauladhar mountains, this was our first foray into Uttarakhand (UK). How different was it compared to the treks in Himachal Pradesh (HP)? On a map the trail to Kedartal looks quite straightforward, and benign. It is a glacial lake located about 17km west of Dinakarrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02139480754726008948noreply@blogger.com0