We were sitting at the far end of the pub, tired, exhausted, and relieved. I was slowly wiping the water that had condensed on the glass of my IPA with my fingertips, or was it a Belgian? We had conjoined two adjacent tables. The pub was playing some recent-old pop music, as usual. The lights were d . . . Read more

In the opening scene of Nolan’s Prestige, Michael Caine explains what a magic trick consists of - a pledge, a turn, and the hardest part - the Prestige. This is what Asimov’s stories are like. He starts with an ordinary world with something slightly extraordinary about it, takes you arou . . . Read more

There is an official page on Active.com about what an unidentified charge of $79.95 on your bank statement means. How many such websites have you seen in your life? Here is a website that deceptively charges you hoping that you’re stupid enough to not check your credit card statement. Apparent . . . Read more

EDIT: Heeding my (and undoubtedly) infinitely many other complaints, the Canadian embassy has changed their agency from CIC to VFS who are genuinely good at their job. No complaints anymore. Being an Indian means that I’ve to apply for a visa even for short visits when traveling internationall . . . Read more

“We don’t have much truth to express unless we have gone into those rooms and closets and woods and abysses that we were told not go in to. When we have gone in and looked around for a long while, just breathing and finally taking it in – then we will be able to speak in our own vo . . . Read more

A cultured friend of fine, who owns an expensive Brompton Bike, once told me before moving out of Baltimore that the thing that he was going to miss the most about this city was the Baltimore Bike Party. Now, this is someone who I imagine brushes his teeth while listening to E-minor sonatas and who . . . Read more

I always wonder what exactly is the world that Wes Anderson sees, does he really see things the way he portrays them in his movies? What a great gift to have, I’m so envious! Like all other Wes Anderson movies, Isle of Dogs makes no pretense of being serious or dark in any way. At the very sta . . . Read more

Unless you’re a pro, it’s not possible to backpack for multiple days in the Big Bend. The desert conditions require you to carry all the water you need with you and you reach your limitations really fast. But, there are plenty other ways to appreciate the Big Bend. I car camped at the Ni . . . Read more

I reached the Chisos Visitor Center at 5, the place is nearly 5 hours from the nearby Midland airport. I had to hike up the Laguna Meadows trail and part of the Colima trail in 3 hours to avoid hiking in the dark, in order to join my friends camping at Colima 3. This wasn’t the best idea I hav . . . Read more

“What do we leave behind when we cross each frontier? Each moment seems split in two: melancholy for what was left behind and the excitement of entering a new land.” - The Motorcycle Diaries I'm profoundly sad about leaving this desert. Sitting in an Indian campsite, here's a genuine Ind . . . Read more

"Man is fallible, but maybe men are less so." -The Checklist Manifesto It is such a simple idea, and yet so hard to follow. When your work is complicated, involves serious teamwork, needs to be done in a time critical manner, is prone to errors of oversight; make a checklist. Follow it diligently, a . . . Read more

Someone had gifted me this book as a kid, I do not remember who or when, I think it was my maths teacher. I remember Hawking says in his book, that adding equations to books decreases their popularity. I remember not particularly liking this. But I also remember reading, for the first time in my lif . . . Read more

It was the last day of the camp. All the campers were leaving out in busses and cars, being chaperoned off by the staff to the airport at various times during the day. As had been normal for quite a few days now (or was it weeks?), I had slept for 5-6 hours the previous night and yet was wide awake . . . Read more

The running high is like having a prolonged orgasm. I have a love-hate relationship with running. At the core of it, it is an extremely repetitive act, you’re doing one thing and one thing only, but then it is this simplicity of action that puts you in a trance. If you’re like me, the ti . . . Read more

“One must wait until the evening to see how splendid the day has been.” - Sophocles Oh man, what do I say about this novel? It was excruciating to keep reading it, perhaps for something like 90% of the novel my mental state was somewhere between mildly frustrated and benignly annoyed. But I’m . . . Read more