Namesake and fellow traveller

What are the odds of meeting someone who shares your exact name, is an engineer like you, lives in the same gated community in Bangalore, hails from Patna, is an active biker, and—just to complete the cosmic joke—both fathers were electrical engineers who also worked in the same organisation, with the same surnames and the…

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A cup of coffee

Strolling down a busy food street, I caught sight of a dimly-lit café. The incense smoke drifted across the tables like fairies sprinkling soothing dust—my fascination pushed me towards its glass door. I stepped in, oblivious that a cup of coffee would not only fill my stomach but also satiate my soul too!  A young…

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Japanese artist enthrals Bikaner House

Opening today at Bikaner House is the small 50-painting show by 81-year-old Japanese artist Komugai Minoru. Self-taught artist who began life as a designer, his travels around the world taught him to dabble in silver and gold foil and acrylics and mixed media to create his own vocabulary of technique and style.   At the…

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Sam Altman’s battery theory, crisis of intelligence, and loot gaye Lutyens

Hello and welcome to another edition of the Weekly Vine. This week we explore Sam Altman’s battery theory of humanity, talk about Lutyens’ bust being removed from Rashtrapati Bhavan, examine the problem with the Citrini paper that tech bros cannot stop talking about, and discuss the myth of corporate love. Sam Altman’s battery theory of…

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Education as a process for preparation of mind for living & working yet remaining oriented towards self-realization

Education as a process for preparation of mind for living & working yet remaining oriented towards self-realization 1) Some Key Features of National Education Policy, NEP 20: To promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. Less content, and more towards learning about how to think critically and solve problems. Education must build character, enable learners to…

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Decoding the JNU VC’s recent interview

The recent interview given to a media outlet by the JNU Vice Chancellor Prof. Shantishree Dhulipudi Pandit could be an interesting text for a language student to work on. It could be used well for example to teach paradox, contradiction, ambivalence and other figures of speech in the same cohort. We could have even indulged…

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Tree People

Depending on where we live, we are either coniferous or deciduous, except in reverse As winter yields to warm spring, which will become the furnace of summer, I look at the trees that front my house. Like almost all the trees in the plains of north India, these trees are deciduous, like the amaltas and…

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To Vote or Not? It’s Your Call

The Chief Justice of India recently suggested that everyone in India should be forced to vote. But here’s the thing: our Constitution says voting is a choice, not a homework assignment you have to finish. The Big Numbers: In the 2024 Lok Sabha election, about 65 crore Indians voted. That is more people than the…

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