Thejaswi Udupa

The Thousand Cultures series by John Barnes is brilliant. Especially the first book, A Million Open Doors. A narrative that's essentially all about economics and politics, wearing a space opera costume. The best part though is the world-building, which is just about perfect.

You'll lose a lot if I translate, so if you don't understand the lyrics, ask someone who speaks Kannada, preferably someone who's a bit of a rebel, to translate it for you.

namma deshadalli, sarakaaradalli

baree sooLemakkLu tumbkonDiddaare

tumbkonDiddaare...

avrakkan naayimari kEya

avramman handimari kEya

X4

All this with a typically catchy punk riff.

For a brief moment in early 2000s, we had a Kannada punk moment. The best song from then, which we sadly can't find on Internet now (I have an MP3 on one of my hard disks) was a song whose lyrics went...

Hypothetical question. If I say I'll write a book on Bangalore's history, say on substack behind a payment gateway (with fairly frequent updates etc), what's a one-time lifetime subscription fee you'd pay?

Unlike a book, given the nature of the medium, there will be no limit on what I keep adding

A.Na.Kru who spoke next opened his speech with "Telugu is such a strange language. Raama becomes Ramudu. Bheema becomes Bheemudu. And Naayi becomes..." before pausing and soaking in all the laughter and applause

An anecdote that was narrated to me by A.Na.Kru's great grandson.

At some function, a certain Naidu apparently made some snide remarks about Kannada on stage.

If there's an Axar Patel, there definitely should be a Kabhi Kabhi Patel.

If there's a new way
I'll be the first in line
But it better work this time

- Dave Mustaine

Whether lake is Ulsoor lake?

What a beautifully formatted article edition.cnn.com/interactive/...

We're humans. We fuck up. Apologize (and mean it). Move on.

In my life I've made mixtapes, mixCDs, mixFlashDrives even. And all of them gave me far more joy than making playlists on any streaming app.

“It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.”

- Sinead O'Connor

Why aren't kids taught to cook at school? It's a fundamental enough skill that needs to be taught

Sometimes I'm Alone is probably the first song composed by a cat that's become an earworm for me

Quite possibly my favourite local flower (plucked this off a plant some 50m from home)

And a name that's impossible to improve on

nandibaTTlu

This probably is the first time people will get to eat muLka outside of a titi/shraaddha ooTa

Saturday evening well spent

Definitely rumpled library detective

Haha those are three shows I've been avoiding too, though I don't know why

Crowley and Aziraphale kissing. (It was much better when the homoeroticism was more an undercurrent) The multiple Crow Road easter eggs. Also one Pratchett easter egg.

This should make a lot of IIMB alums of my vintage happy. Apparently Liverpool play tsepak to train.

The one app that really cracked IM was GTalk. I still don't understand why Google let that product die

Good Omens 2 is lovely, but the fan service is a little too obvious.

One of the emails I treasure the most is a rejection letter from CC Finlay.

You always get to see the cutting edge of fashion while walking down Residency Road/Brigade Road. Spotted today, two girls (possibly Malayali) wearing fabindia style kurtas and munDus. More power to them, why should only men have the luxury of comfortable munDus?!

Extended family pic. And this is with many missing. Play "Where's Waldo" to spot me

Three days in Noida, and each day has been a radically different experience, weather wise.

Day 1: Unforgivingly hot, even late at night

Day 2: Hot, but with an occasional breeze, filling you with hope

Day 3: non-stop rain

Fans of The Wire will recognise that name, of course