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Category Archives: Culture
Don’t donate bad food and call it ‘dharma’
There’s a troubling pattern among some people who give food away to homeless people and beggars. I have seen this happen first-hand with my folks, my extended family and their wider group of neighbours and acquaintances. All of them are … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, Op-eds
Tagged Brahmins, Chocos, circular economy, dharma, junk food, noncommunicable diseases, street dogs
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The names of our dragons
The first piece of very-popular epic fantasy fiction I read was J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth saga, which, among many things, reminded me how much the American and British writers of ‘high fantasy’ owed the ancient mythologies of the people of … Continue reading
Railroad to zealotry
“It would not be unusual for finger-stick testing to be met with skepticism,” says a spokesman for Theranos. “Patents from that period explain Elizabeth’s ideas and were foundational for the company’s current technologies.” Vanity Fair received this statement from Theranos, the … Continue reading
Review: ‘Love Death + Robots’ 2 (2021)
I’ve been curious why the Marvel Cinematic Universe picked the Malthusian catastrophe for the ultimate disaster the superheroes rescue everyone else from. Narendra Modi has invoked the misguided idea of some (religious) communities breeding too fast for Hindu India – … Continue reading
Posted in Culture
Tagged animated anthology, LDR, Love Death and Robots, Malthusian catastrophe, Netflix, Pop Squad, Sonnies Edge, Zima Blue
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On the International Day of Light, remembering darkness
Today is the International Day of Light. According to a UNESCO note: The International Day of Light is celebrated on 16 May each year, the anniversary of the first successful operation of the laser in 1960 by physicist and engineer, … Continue reading
The Government Project
Considering how much the Government of India has missed anticipating – the rise of a second wave of COVID-19 infections, the crippling medical oxygen shortage, the circulation of new variants of concern – I have been wondering about why we … Continue reading
Lord of the Rings Day
Here’s wishing you a Happy Lord of the Rings Day! (Previous editions: 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2014.) On this day in the book, Frodo, Sam and Smeagol (with help from Gandalf, Aragon, Gimli, Legolas, Faramir, Eowyn, Theoden, Eomer, Treebeard and … Continue reading
Slate Star Codex: No time for malice
This post benefited from valuable input and feedback from Thomas Manuel. To the uninitiated: Scott Alexander Siskind is a noted member of the international community of rationalists and wrote the once-celebrated blog Slate Star Codex. I use the past tense because … Continue reading
Tech bloggers and the poverty of style
I created my writing habit by performing it over a decade (and still continuing). When I first started blogging in 2008, I told myself I would write at least 2,000 words a week. By some conspiracy of circumstances, but particularly … Continue reading
Posted in Culture
Tagged blogging, creativity, Silicon Valley, tech blogging, tech bros, writing, writing style, writing voice
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The forgotten first lives of India’s fauna
Prof. Biju said the Rohanixalus is the 20th recognised genus of the family Rhacophoridae that comprises 422 known Old World tree frog species found in Asia and Africa. He said there are eight frog species in this genus Rohanixalus, which … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, Science
Tagged Adivasi, biodiversity hotspot, frogs, old world, Rohanixalus, scientific literature, treefrogs, tribal communities
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