When an employee retires after loyally serving his company, the firm provides him or her a monetary gratuity. This is not an arbitrary sum but is generally based on a pre-determined formula and is a reward for services rendered over a long period. At times a wrist watch bearing the company’s emblem may also be …
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Birthdays? Hmmm.
Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter. Mark Twain. A little over a month ago, I celebrated my birthday. On second thoughts, celebrated would be overstating the case at my age. Let us just say I marked the day quietly without fanfare, listening to some good music …
The Metamorphosis Redux
Cockroaches (or roaches) are insects belonging to the order Blattodea (Blattaria). About 30 cockroach species out of 4,600 are associated with human habitats. Some species are well-known pests. Source: Wikipedia. There you go. That particular definition of cockroaches, as acknowledged, is not mine. Clearly some entomologist, whose misfortune it is to delve into the behavioural aspects of these hardy, never-say-die insects has …
Getting an earful
Their venom is like the venom of a serpent; they are like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear. Psalm 58:4 Right folks, here’s the thing. We are 70 plus. We are employing the royal ‘we’ here. Alright, alright, we tell a lie, we are 75 plus. In fact, sod it, let’s call a spade …
When Football and Tennis intersect
In football everything is complicated by the presence of the opposite team. Jean Paul Sartre, Critique of Dialectical Reason. It’s one-on-one out there, man. There ain’t no hiding. I can’t pass the ball. Pete Sampras. Pelé, arguably the greatest ever footballer to dribble past 10 men and essay a bicycle kick past an astonished goalkeeper, (with …
Letters from a Son to his Father
I have had occasion in the past to share my thoughts pertaining to the challenges one faces getting rid, over time, of various objects from home and hearth. Notably books that have seen better days, music cassettes, spool tapes and LPs that are of no more use to man or beast given the rapid advancement …
Roll over Beethoven
I was interested in both western and Indian classical music. Satyajit Ray. What with classical music in India being fused by musicians, in tandem with light music across genres, an increasing number of people are now more than familiar with the art, science and practice of Carnatic music. It is a self-evident truth judging by …
CAPTCHA if you can
I believe that at the end of the century the use of words and general educated opinion will have altered so much that one will be able to speak of machines thinking without expecting to be contradicted. Alan Turing. All right folks, I am willing to reluctantly concede that there must be some deep-seated logic …
The Boxer
‘Everyone has a plan till they get punched in the mouth.’ Mike Tyson. Ever since Muhammad Ali passed on into the great boxing ring in the sky, I evince scant interest in the pugilistic sport. Cassius Clay, as we first came to know of him, was a fast-talking, fast-punching and, for good measure, a handsome …
On the other hand
What is the sound of one hand clapping? Zen Buddhist paradox or koan. While doing a bit of surfing on the net, I came across this amusing anecdote. A man meets a friend in the street, looking worried. ‘What’s the trouble?’ he inquires. ‘Quick,’ says his friend, ‘I need help – do you know a …
Suresh's Corner 