31 December 2023

Two big changes in the new year

Over the last 25 years, I have fine tuned my own crazy system to set and track goals. Some legitimately worry that I spend more time setting and tracking my goals than actually doing them!!

This year, one of the goals is to try minimalism on digital stuff. For me personally, it seems to create too much distractions and eats up my time. The experiment of minimalism on physical goods has yielded good results for me in terms of freeing up time and certainly having far less worries. Admittedly, my wife and friends have upped their worries on my sartorial sense, though!

The challenge is my OCD-level detailed system is all digital. Finally, after talking to Roger, decided to go his way and am headed the analog way for 2024. Of course, me being me, I had to convert all my digital templates (there are about a dozen of them) into paper and pen versions first.

In an another first, I have set all my 2024 goals before the year has begun! Usually it is middle of January when I get done.

Now, for some unscheduled afternoon nap!!!

Category: Musings | LEAVE A COMMENT
1 November 2023

One of the newer Asterixes

I can not remember having read this one before – Asterix and the Missing Scroll. As always, it is wickedly funny. This is a later one. I think this was after Uderzo had passed away. Ferri and Goscinny did this.

Because it is a newer one, it has a lot of ultra modern references which makes it even funnier. An example… the pigeon minder let the pigeon fly away and immediately realized that he had not tied the message to its feet. His words? “Oh! Wait! I forgot to add the attachment!” 🙂 🙂

Category: Images | LEAVE A COMMENT
1 October 2023

An evening transported by a “Thumri”

The beauty of the words can only be bested by the tune. Both of which are from Rabi Guha Majumdar. While there are many renditions of this song – and most would say Feroza Begum is the absolute authority on this, I would lean equally to the one by Kaushiki Chakraborty.

Translations of any poem never can carry the whole impact since emotions find it infinitely more difficult to cross language bridges than words do. That said, it might be instructional to remember here that while the song is ostensibly about the moonlight, metaphorically, it is referring to the person the poet loves.

Also, if you are not familiar with the traditional Indian dress “saree” – it is a long flowing piece of cloth that women wear with great elegance.

Anyways, the words of the first stanza go…

“জোছনা করেছে আড়ি
আসেনা আমার বাড়ি 
গলি দিয়ে চলে যায়,
লুটিয়ে রুপোলি শাড়ী”

Roughly speaking, (improvements welcome)

“She is upset with me like never before
For no more does she grace my abode
Quietly, she moves thru the neighboring lane
Sweeping all along with her saree’s train”

Category: Music/Poetry | LEAVE A COMMENT