1 Mar In a few posts, I have mentioned the horrific conditions of the roads in Kolkata, especially in our new neighbourhood. This article says that one of the worst stretches of roads in the city is being repaired. I see it daily, and the work is proceeding surprisingly quickly. The article says that it will be completed by the end of the year. Knowing government bureaucracy, and the monsoon weather, I doubt this optimistic forecast.
1 Mar In a few posts, I have mentioned the counter-productive nature of the Bengali government in severely restricting bicycle usage. This article says that the restrictions are being loosened, somewhat.
3 Mar In a few posts, I have provided links to articles about bird-watching. This article seems to explain why it is so popular: India is home to the greatest number of bird species.
8 Mar Even though an Indian is no longer the World Chess Champion, Chess is still extremely popular here. This is an article about children playing chess in tournaments.
9 Mar I try to provide good information in the places in India that I visit as well as those for which I have no first-hand knowledge. This news article from the Telegraph is about Sikkim.
9 Mar I have not watched the Hollywood film Monuments Men. Regardless, I know that it was based on true events. This article details Indians who similarly saved artwork (in Italy) during World War II.
11 Mar Last month, I read a few articles about the reclamation of the Hooghly River, but could never find the online version. This month, I found one in the Telegraph
15 Mar I do try to write as much as I can about as much of India as possible. When and where I cannot, I provide news articles about these places. This one is about Darjeeling.
16 Mar Living in India, and having lived in San Francisco (where English is a second language), I have a lot of observations of languages (although not of German, as this linked article addresses).
A few years ago, Rosie O'Donnell, an American chat-show host, made some politically-incorrect observations of the Chinese language. The following observations may be equally politically-incorrect, but I do believe that they are more astute and more grounded in real experience. To imitate the Chinese language and its speakers, you do not have to use a lot of words that end in "ng" as Rosie did. All you have to do is speak your own language very very loudly. Similarly, to imitate a French person's speech, you just have to get very drunk.
I have never liked the sound of the Tagalog (Philippine), Malay and Indonesian languages, which are a part of the Austronesian group of languages; I have always found them to be grating to the ears. However, there are some Malay songs that I like; I think that any language can be acceptable in a song provided that the song is nice. I do not like the Bengali language. My impression of it is the same as that of French. However, I often find that Bengali music is similar to Mexican or Spanish music; there seems to be a frequent use of guitars.I have never been able to differentiate the Koran and the Japanese language. I had a friend who could, though. Perhaps if I analyzed them for awhile then I could do the same.
I do like the sound of the Hindi and Vietnamese languages.
16 Mar There seem to be some celebrities who are always in the news. Alok Nath, strangely enough, is one of them.
18 Mar For a long time, I have known that Hotmail.com was founded by an Indian-American. Now, it seems, email itself was invented by an Indian-American, Mr V.A. Shiva Ayyadurai
22 Mar I found this article to be very intriguing. I did further research, found edx.org, and now I think that I will enroll in a course in the foreseeable future.
23 Mar As I write frequently, there ought to be four times as many centenarians in India as there are in the United States, but it seems that there are four times fewer centenarians here. Regardless, Zohra Sehgal is an exception. The linked article is of an older interview with Zohra who is still alive and who will be 102 years old on 27 April 2014.
25 Mar There are many times when the judiciary (of any and all countries) gets things wrong, but it is nice to know that the Indian Supreme Court saved people from the fascism of the Aadhar Card.
28 Mar I am happy to know that there are many Indians vying for this award as World's top thinkers, but I am more glad to know about Elon Musk. I once watched a TV show about his life and achievements. I think that he is this generation's Albert Einstein or Stephen Hawking or Nikola Tesla (perhaps the last, as his motor company is named after him).
31 Mar I had horrible experiences regarding Holi (and may write about it in a post next year). I can not imagine why otherwise intelligent people in the United States would participate in this.
3 Mar In a few posts, I have provided links to articles about bird-watching. This article seems to explain why it is so popular: India is home to the greatest number of bird species.
8 Mar Even though an Indian is no longer the World Chess Champion, Chess is still extremely popular here. This is an article about children playing chess in tournaments.
9 Mar I try to provide good information in the places in India that I visit as well as those for which I have no first-hand knowledge. This news article from the Telegraph is about Sikkim.
9 Mar I have not watched the Hollywood film Monuments Men. Regardless, I know that it was based on true events. This article details Indians who similarly saved artwork (in Italy) during World War II.
11 Mar Last month, I read a few articles about the reclamation of the Hooghly River, but could never find the online version. This month, I found one in the Telegraph
15 Mar I do try to write as much as I can about as much of India as possible. When and where I cannot, I provide news articles about these places. This one is about Darjeeling.
16 Mar Living in India, and having lived in San Francisco (where English is a second language), I have a lot of observations of languages (although not of German, as this linked article addresses).
A few years ago, Rosie O'Donnell, an American chat-show host, made some politically-incorrect observations of the Chinese language. The following observations may be equally politically-incorrect, but I do believe that they are more astute and more grounded in real experience. To imitate the Chinese language and its speakers, you do not have to use a lot of words that end in "ng" as Rosie did. All you have to do is speak your own language very very loudly. Similarly, to imitate a French person's speech, you just have to get very drunk.
I have never liked the sound of the Tagalog (Philippine), Malay and Indonesian languages, which are a part of the Austronesian group of languages; I have always found them to be grating to the ears. However, there are some Malay songs that I like; I think that any language can be acceptable in a song provided that the song is nice. I do not like the Bengali language. My impression of it is the same as that of French. However, I often find that Bengali music is similar to Mexican or Spanish music; there seems to be a frequent use of guitars.I have never been able to differentiate the Koran and the Japanese language. I had a friend who could, though. Perhaps if I analyzed them for awhile then I could do the same.
I do like the sound of the Hindi and Vietnamese languages.
16 Mar There seem to be some celebrities who are always in the news. Alok Nath, strangely enough, is one of them.
18 Mar For a long time, I have known that Hotmail.com was founded by an Indian-American. Now, it seems, email itself was invented by an Indian-American, Mr V.A. Shiva Ayyadurai
22 Mar I found this article to be very intriguing. I did further research, found edx.org, and now I think that I will enroll in a course in the foreseeable future.
23 Mar As I write frequently, there ought to be four times as many centenarians in India as there are in the United States, but it seems that there are four times fewer centenarians here. Regardless, Zohra Sehgal is an exception. The linked article is of an older interview with Zohra who is still alive and who will be 102 years old on 27 April 2014.
25 Mar There are many times when the judiciary (of any and all countries) gets things wrong, but it is nice to know that the Indian Supreme Court saved people from the fascism of the Aadhar Card.
28 Mar I am happy to know that there are many Indians vying for this award as World's top thinkers, but I am more glad to know about Elon Musk. I once watched a TV show about his life and achievements. I think that he is this generation's Albert Einstein or Stephen Hawking or Nikola Tesla (perhaps the last, as his motor company is named after him).
31 Mar I had horrible experiences regarding Holi (and may write about it in a post next year). I can not imagine why otherwise intelligent people in the United States would participate in this.