Myriad Musings

Oct 1st was a virtual bandh in TamilNadu. Virtual? Yes,virtual. The supreme court had declared government sponsored bandh illegal. So,the ruling DMK part and its octogenarian leader pretended to observe a peaceful day of fasting while calling off most essential services. The net result? People stranded at railway stations. Poor Patients coming into chennai, hapless. Loss of a day's wage for those who eke their livelihood from day to day A day of rest for the well-heeled and the over-payed with promises to compensate for the lost man hours on a weekend Free publicity for the DMK and the chance to fire a few volleys at the Enemy a.k.a anyone who objects to the poorly thought out Sethusamudram project. Now for the reason behind the bandh. The Tamil Nadu government, both present DMK and past AIADMK is keen on building a bridge in the Palk Strait, between India and Sri Lanka. The claim an economic bonanza This would destroy the Adam's Bridge, a natural formation in the ocean, destro

Skimming through todays NYT email edition, I came across a rather refreshing article on Engineering education at Olin College of Engineering. This gave the Tag Line for one of my long set desires. I want to change the direction of my blog. I want to focus on learning. I want the e.m.f (education motivating force* ;) to be inquiry and discovery. To be perefectly honest, my blog has been sorts of l. through i. and d. so far. But it has been my learning to the frequent detriment and occasional nirvana of my husband's and mother's palette! I have learnt what works for my son's lunch box, what combinations work together, how to make authentic Kollu rasam etc... I have made some super disgusting Pumpkin curry, Sprouted Horsegram adai etc... Now I am hoping to write about basic science and math education. Exploring the world anew along with a super-smart 5 year old. Coming down the stairs of my 5th floor office in IITM, we encountered something that looked like a sleeping

Gautham finishes his first term in Ist standard. He has the whole week off to rest and recoup; Or drive his mother and grandmother up the wall ;) After nearly 66 more or less unsuccesful packed lunches I have made a few discoveries about Gautham's food habits: Remember Lucy in an episode of "I Love Lucy" where She has to delay Ricky's visit to a play because she lost thetickets or something? She orders a salad and chews each bite an excruciatingly slow 40 times! Yeah, that was hilarious. But Gau doing that in his 30 minutes power lunch half-hour? NOT so much. He once bought his lunch box home having just finished 4 carrot sticks. Wish I could eat as little as that and function as well. Sniff! The lunch box has to have easily swallowable yet really pretty meals. Gerber-like purees out, but the selfsame mush stuffed into a sandwich say a Dabeli Sandwich a la Food For Thought is in. French fries and other roasted vegetables in their ilk are out, but a totteri