tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-87260299432174914682024-03-13T04:03:47.927-07:00The other side of Sen-ityRitwika Senhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08039897142179258368noreply@blogger.comBlogger59125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726029943217491468.post-87042266689437703112013-08-25T09:38:00.002-07:002013-08-25T09:38:56.523-07:00Tales of a Novice Backpacker: Picture time!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Nothing quite like a long weekend after an intense work-week to reminisce about an extraordinary summer. After much procrastination I finally uploaded photographs of my trip. Here's the link to my flickr collection (in spite of best efforts to reduce content, there are quite a few)- <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ritwikasen/collections/72157635223558365/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/ritwikasen/collections/72157635223558365/</a></div>
Ritwika Senhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08039897142179258368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726029943217491468.post-70923185157745141272013-08-18T09:27:00.006-07:002013-08-18T09:43:02.999-07:00The Tales of a Novice Backpacker: "Food Glorious Food!"<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Chocolates in Brussels! Of course I took a generous helping of free samples</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Currywurst and Berliner Weisse at a street stand under the shadow of the Reichstag. Part of an 'authentic cultural experience' in Berlin, according to the Sandeman Walking Tour guide. Currywurst essentially comprises of fried pork sausages seasoned with ketchup and curry powder. The Berliner Weisse is a traditional wheat beer, in this case raspberry flavoured, that I would not recommend to anyone who can't reconcile themselves to sweet beer.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Cafe Domecek, Prague: "Typical Czech" Brewery Goulash with Bohemian Dumplings and Lobkowicz Premium (4.7%). The goulash cooked in a dark beer and seasoned with red peppers was exquisite, to say the least. I later found out that 'Domecek' means a small house in Czech. Albeit this is also the informal name for a prison cell in the Hradcany (castle) district that I came across. This prison has been used by the military, the Gestapo and Communists in the past. In hindsight that's a fairly dismal name for a cafe. I didn't take any photographs of another traditional Czezh dish I tried- Halusky. I would not recommend this to anyone unless a combination of potato dumplings, cabbage and bacon sounds appealing to your palate. </span></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">Vienna loves its coffee houses. It also lovingly makes the world's best Apfel Strudel. However an appreciation of the city's coffee houses requires distinguishing between the more 'proper' Classic coffee-houses such as Cafe Museum (where the above picture was taken), and Beisl(s). The latter have a more relaxed atmosphere conducive for long evenings spent arguing over drinks. They're infinitely less bourgeois-best understood by the menu, and differential socio-economic composition of regulars. Both types however encourage hours spent lounging about in the spirit of Viennese 'Gemutlichkeit' (cosiness)</span></span></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">I really enjoyed this simple meal of bread with wurst in goulash sauce (Viennese style) at Cafe Bendl. According to a map designed by locals this cafe is a legendary Beisl that hosts students, actors and intellectuals alike. It even has a jukebox with a vast collection of Austropop songs!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;">This was a most gratifying dinner in the Tuscan village of Tavarnelle. The meal comprised of chicken breast with zaffron, via santo and mushroom sauce with salad accompanied by a glass of Chianti wine (Tavarnelle is in the heart of the Chianti region so we were surrounded by vineyards). I really needed that meal after a fairly harrowing episode which involved being stranded in the middle of nowhere with my backpack and not a bus in sight (more details in a later post). </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><b>Gelato at Giolitti's. Totally worth the wait!</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><b>And finally- after weeks of Antony Bourdain inspired craving- I finally got me some Cacio e Pepe tonnarelli. Cacio e Pepe translates into "Cheese and Pepper". You can't go wrong with that.</b></span></div>
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Ritwika Senhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08039897142179258368noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726029943217491468.post-1053750045268593912013-08-18T07:15:00.000-07:002013-08-18T07:15:16.880-07:00Perestroika<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
This blog has been inactive for over a year and consequently has me feeling like I've outgrown it. Perhaps it's been difficult to keep pace with changing environs, perspectives and age. Perhaps I've just been lazy. At any rate, it's time to revamp this space to tell new stories and mull over life, the universe and everything.<br />
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I'm writing at the end of what has been a very eventful summer. Somewhere between an intensive internship in Blackfriars, a weekend in Paris, another surreal weekend in the French Riviera, my older sister's wedding in New Delhi & Kolkata, two weeks with family, friends and the drum kit in India, and the longest train journey I've ever embarked on (London-Brussels-Berlin-Prague-Vienna-Florence-Rome) I've managed to recuperate from an intensive year at the LSE! Evidently the summer after the tougher MSc year has a lot to live up to.<br />
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The next few posts will attempt to recreate sites, feelings, people, food and moments that made my ten-day journey across Europe remarkable. </div>
Ritwika Senhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08039897142179258368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726029943217491468.post-11971901143502084262012-08-08T01:11:00.001-07:002012-08-08T01:12:03.496-07:00Context Piece Draft<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Can find final version at: <a href="http://www.fairobserver.com/360theme/pondering-poverty">http://www.fairobserver.com/360theme/pondering-poverty</a><br />
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<br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">A discussion of poverty immediately throws up the conundrum of
identifying and aggregating poverty to guide policy. The multi-dimensional
nature of poverty is not as obvious as intuition suggests. The more popular
definitions of the concept stem from perceptible impacts such as starvation. The
inability to obtain the minimum nutritional requirements to facilitate physical
efficiency (Rowntree, 1991) motivates a biological approach. Albeit this is
undeniably parochial- wider concepts account for income inequality, relative
deprivation, epidemiological factors, education, the environment and the
freedom to attain well-being. Sen’s
capabilities approach is the most wholesome approach to understanding poverty,
yet its characteristic ambiguity confounds statisticians. Measurement has conventionally
therefore been limited to narrow definitions. Even so, effective policy
response would need to transcend statistical limitations, and recognize the
deep nature of the problem.<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The adoption of eight Millennium Development Goals represents a global
commitment to comprehensively address the problem, in a time-bound manner. The
eight goals include </span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">eradicating
poverty and hunger, universal primary education, gender equality, child health,
maternal health, combating HIV/AIDS, environmental sustainability, and global
partnership for development. The goals were arrived at through </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">a series of summits
across the 1990’s and the joint effort of UN members countries, the OECD, IMF,
and World Bank, finally culminating in the Millennium Summit in 2000. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-top: 12.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">According to the World Bank, nearly 1.3 billion people
on our planet live in extreme poverty, as per the US $1.25 income per day
poverty line computed at PPP. The $2 a day measure of deprivation, estimates
twice this number. Approximately three quarters of the world’s poor reside in
Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. The 2011 progress report on the MDGs paints
a mixed picture. The sharp reduction in poverty in East Asia (China, in
particular), supplemented by gains in India have led to a substantial decline
in global poverty. The 2015 global estimate of poverty is 15%, well below the
23% target. Projections for Sub-Saharan Africa are also more optimistic than
before, despite the global economic slowdown augmented by food and fuel crises.
Markedly, the best record for pursuing the goal of universal primary education
is that of Sub-Saharan Africa (1990-2009). Joint efforts of international
partners, governments, civil society, and public health workers have helped
effect substantial improvement by making treatment for HIV, tuberculosis and
malaria accessible to millions of patients. Access to clean drinking water and
a renewed focus on maternal and child health has also helped reduce worldwide
deaths attributed to disease.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">However, there are pertinent concerns about the
reliability of data. The variability in analytical techniques across countries,
small sample sizes and vested interests make it difficult to obtain credible
estimates. Income inequality continues to broaden unabashedly with the growth
trajectory of developing nations. Volatility in food and fuel prices, food
shortages, environmental degradation and economic shocks further obstruct
development. Furthermore, there is disturbing evidence that the conditions of
the poorest sections is only getting worse. The most vulnerable are
disadvantaged compared to others below the poverty line where access to limited
resources of sanitation, education, food rations, public health and clean
drinking water are concerned. Theory
suggests that the headcount ratio mode of aggregating poverty may in part be
responsible for such a phenomenon. Women and children are among the worst
affected, as a consequence.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The
multiplicity of anti-poverty programmes oft leaves observers baffled. These
programmes can be divided based on a one-size-fits-all approach versus one that
is more region/institution specific. Policy need not confine itself to either
approach exclusively, of course. Development aid, part of the former genre,
reflects the approach of the international community to help impoverished
countries escape the ‘poverty trap’. This method has met with varied results,
and has consequently been the centre of a controversial academic debate (Sachs
vs. Easterly). The opposing party argues that aid is ineffective, encourages
perpetual dependence and undermines local institutions. Neither side has succeeded
in unequivocally establishing their case.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Microfinance
received international recognition after the Nobel Committee recognized Yunus
for the Grameen Bank’s pioneering work in Bangladesh. These schemes helped
extend organized credit to the informal sector, finding innovative ways around
the traditional impediments of collateral, lack of creditworthiness, default,
etc. However, it is incorrect to regard this tool as a panacea as there is
little evidence that microfinance has actually helped lift people out of
poverty; albeit it has facilitated greater financial freedom for its clients. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Another scale-based
approach promotes ICT4D, i.e. Information and Communication Technologies for
Development. This involves the use of technology to address issues in
agriculture, health, banking, education, etc. Since the adoption of MDGs,
cellular phones have also begun to play an important role. The successful
M-PESA scheme in Kenya, for instance, has helped incorporate more than half of
Kenya’s adult population within the formal banking network. However, the
feasibility of replicating one-off technologically supported successes depends
on the extent of institutional heterogeneity. There is an intriguing line of
thought that questions the underlying premise of prioritizing technology
altogether (Toyama, Boston Review). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The
various solutions (not exhaustive) listed above all motivate the same query-
does it work? Following this line of reasoning there has been an increasingly
popular shift towards evidence-based policy in development economics, which
uses statistical tools to assess the impact of policy interventions. The
necessarily micro nature of this exercise, however, is a limitation for
large-scale projects and grand solutions. Simply put, your questions about
interventions will still receive qualified ‘yes and no’ answers. There is no
single magic cure.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>Ritwika Senhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08039897142179258368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726029943217491468.post-83211957786611628972011-09-14T20:35:00.001-07:002011-09-14T20:35:30.686-07:00The Breakfast-Bath Dash<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Do I stop living when in college? Or is it that I'm too busy living?<br />
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No time to think.<br />
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Gah!<br />
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Its either this or go stinky to class.<br />
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</div>Ritwika Senhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08039897142179258368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726029943217491468.post-26483433935688978742011-07-14T23:02:00.000-07:002011-07-14T23:05:46.014-07:00Questions that leave me stumped..1) What's up?<br />
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2) What did you this summer?<br />
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Clearly, I need a life.<br />
<br />
What I did: I read some, watched some, ate some, jogged and weight-lifted some, even drove some...and drummed, but a bit too little for even a 'some' qualification. I put my feet up. Embedded my behind into a rather phoons bean bag... Oh, and I 'finally' managed to make a french pancake without breaking it. (The trick lies in making the filling separately). Most importantly, I spent time with Ma and Baba. I often forget the joys of huddling round the TV to catch the 9 o' clock news...that's our window to the world. We like to keep it open.<br />
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What I didn't do: Engineer another financial crisis with complex derivatives and other strange financial instruments. Run around the country-side thinking of ways to effect change and improvement of the country (been there, done that...would probably like to do it again..in a little while,perhaps). Write interesting papers (I outlined one in my head and laptop, on my own terms and not those dictated by a think tank's reigning ideology). Get coffee for some corporate honcho, and write tedious reports on construction finance and the like... (Why do I sound defensive?)<br />
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DISCLAIMER: The internships described in this post intentionally resemble those of a lot of my friends. I do not in the least wish to undermine their efforts, and do in fact laud them for having some clarity of purpose. Something I lack.Ritwika Senhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08039897142179258368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726029943217491468.post-48067210856435166812011-07-14T00:08:00.000-07:002011-07-14T00:08:31.958-07:0013/07/11It's so much easier to read my friend's blogs and marvel at their work, rather than pen down something in my own. Check out <a href="http://rasagya.blogspot.com/">http://rasagya.blogspot.com/</a> for some insightful experiments with poetry and prose, and <a href="http://independentrandomvariables.blogspot.com/">http://independentrandomvariables.blogspot.com/</a> for brilliant photo-stories. Now their blogs are truly windows into their lives. My rather uneventful life, in comparison, could use some sprucing up (<i>be careful what you wish for</i>, says a tiny part of my movie-stuffed-memory). Yesterday was actually rather interesting..<br />
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It all began at 2 am where my coffee-stimulated-self could not get herself to sleep. I opened Karmel and Polasek to aid the process, and boy did it work while I held on to the leaves of its sickeningly yellow-green cover (<i>If you're going to write a book on statistics, at least try deceiving the reader into thinking its interesting, with the cover! The only pictures it has are of histograms and bell curves</i>). Anyhow, so once I did get drowsy, I did the whole light-switching-off, dump-the-book-on-the-drum-stool routine, not in that order...but it seemed that my eyelids were inversely correlated with the light switches. Well, that isn't entirely true..because then the solution lay in sleeping with the lights on..which too wasn't working. Do you ever marvel (or curse) at the ability of your mind to switch off while your body's still screaming for action..and vice versa? Lullabies must be invented for both parties...<br />
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So I gave up eventually..and decided to sort my cupboard. God alone knows how many clothes I've amassed over the years and hardly, if ever, worn. It's time someone who truly valued them had them. Well, that is the end of my terribly interesting story. Haha..so this post should be an effective cure for your insomnia. :p<br />
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No no that isn't the end at all...later in the day..I was all pumped up to go on a date with my newly appropriated old camera (a film-run-canon T50) since my driving test got cancelled. Thought I'd head down to Fort Area and take a couple of peek-chars..possibly eat some Pizza by the Bay. ('eat at' I should say)..maybe I'd even find the much-anticipated mobile for my new room's window. Ah..but all of it went up in the air..when the rain came pouring down with a vengeance. My link to the beautiful paved stones of Kalaghoda has a tendency to go under water when the coast Gods unleash their wrath upon us suburb-ians. So I cursed the elements, while grudgingly giving into the beautiful calm that a hot cup of tea and a book can bring upon one on a rainy day.<br />
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Later, in the evening, Ma took me on another driving lesson. I really started enjoying myself...fifth gear on the Palm Beach expressway has the tendency to iron out one's frown and worry etched forehead. However, not all was smooth..as I did the following 'bokami' in the span of the same evening- 1)leave the keys hanging on the door outside, while we got seat-belted and ready to roll (quite deservedly I was at the receiving end of a '<i>are you feeling stupid yet</i>?'); 2) Almost hit a bike with a sudden leftward swerve just after positioning myself to turn right <i>(Ma: 'But when I said we needed to park somewhere, I didn't mean right now!'</i>); and the worst, 3) Worried by a bullying red bus heading in our direction at rapid pace, I steered leftwards (again) only to realize that I was separated from a parked car, literally, by a hair's breadth...we were close enough to lock in a passionate kiss...get my drift? Goodness...I do tend to lose my head when I'm behind the wheel...well..actually...I do tend to lose my head. period.<br />
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Home, we returned, after some gift hunting and bakery swooning...only to be informed that there had been three blasts in the city. Colaba, Zaveri Bazar and Dadar West had been hit during rush hour. Baba had fortuntely returned to Belapur by the time the madness hit...but, man did I retract all my ill-will towards the rain that morning! It reminded me of this story...was it by Nathaniel Hawthorne?..we read in our English class in school..something about chance..and how every second's decision can take one down a different road. It still gives me the heebie jeebies to think about it.<br />
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Me aside though...it's insane that Bombay's been hit again. With every passing hour of last night, the home ministry kept revising the casualty figures upwards..the city will get over it. It always does. But it shouldn't. As in it should get up and get moving again, as is characteristic of the average Mumbai-kar who'd brave the flood to get to work...but we shouldn't adopt an attitude of resignation and inevitability towards terrorism. The helpless 'What can we do about the bomb blasts?' is not going to get us places.<br />
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Look at urban planning for instance. The terrorists have picked Zaveri Bazaar several times now..it's a soft spot in terms of congestion, chaos and traffic...any novice could target the place and get away with it. The last time they thought of V.T...well of course they'll think of VT- have you seen it at rush hour? Maximum impact with minimal gunpowder and planning.. Our country is chock-a-block with people...I'm not going to get all Malthusian and look at it as purely an evil. We have to deal with the numbers in ways such that the value of human life is elevated and not undermined. The media has got it right this time- human life comes really cheap in our nation. Just this once, I wish the laws of economics (excess supply decreases price) didn't apply..Ritwika Senhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08039897142179258368noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726029943217491468.post-60677090381029318162011-07-11T03:23:00.000-07:002011-07-11T03:24:22.554-07:00A Comprehensive Discussion of the Indian Economy and its ProblemsPrabhat Patnaik and Jospeh Stiglitz in conversation (3 yrs ago, Columbia Univ)<br />
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<a href="http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7154370381634513450">http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7154370381634513450</a>Ritwika Senhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08039897142179258368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726029943217491468.post-80486392938771873862011-07-08T13:55:00.001-07:002011-07-08T13:57:03.220-07:00Listen in the dark, with quality headphones and the rain beating on your window<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/dRPwFAoQwxc?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>Ritwika Senhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08039897142179258368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726029943217491468.post-75823206984928972322011-07-08T02:21:00.000-07:002011-07-08T02:21:42.252-07:00<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><i>"How far should one accept the rules of the society in which one lives? To put it another way: at what point does conformity become corruption? Only by answering such questions does the conscience truly define itself." </i></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">-Kenneth Tynan, critic and writer (1927-1980)</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> </span>Ritwika Senhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08039897142179258368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726029943217491468.post-68488902340311715422011-07-05T00:38:00.000-07:002011-07-05T00:38:36.293-07:00Notes of a reader<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Creative Accounting is Destructive. Period.</div>Ritwika Senhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08039897142179258368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726029943217491468.post-22993609810514144932011-06-29T12:31:00.000-07:002011-06-29T12:31:06.673-07:00From Dud-Dud-Tish to Boom Boom...Here's Coldplay.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/fyMhvkC3A84?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div><br />
</div>Ritwika Senhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08039897142179258368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726029943217491468.post-67747650128663324172011-06-28T23:01:00.000-07:002011-06-28T23:07:23.388-07:00Le Guard-ian of the World's Coffers<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CV0wuGvh1NQ/Tgq8o_GgmJI/AAAAAAAAAFs/cclXKVr4Nwk/s1600/Christine-Lagarde_550275a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CV0wuGvh1NQ/Tgq8o_GgmJI/AAAAAAAAAFs/cclXKVr4Nwk/s1600/Christine-Lagarde_550275a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="217" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CV0wuGvh1NQ/Tgq8o_GgmJI/AAAAAAAAAFs/cclXKVr4Nwk/s320/Christine-Lagarde_550275a.jpg" width="320" /></a>Finally a woman ruling the IMF!! Why is the distribution of economists so skewed in favour of males? I cannot conceive of a rational explanation. I believe Orrell had something to say about it in EconoMyths but I can't quite recall what it was just now.In absolute contradiction to global trends though, my department is dominated by females (9 out of 50 in my class are male!) How many of us will veer towards academics,though? The probability that any given student from my class who pursues econ, is female, is ofcourse higher...but statistical forecasts are known to have been terribly wrong in the past.Ah well...Time will tell.<br />
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<strong>1. Dysphoria</strong> (the currently dominant state of mind)<br />
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<em>Often used to describe depression in psychological disorders, dysphoria is general state of sadness that includes restlessness, lack of energy, anxiety, and vague irritation. It is the opposite of euphoria, and is different from typical sadness because it often includes a kind of jumpiness and some anger. You have probably experienced it when coming down from a stimulant like chocolate, coffee, or something stronger. Or you may have felt it in response to a distressing situation, extreme boredom, or depression.</em><br />
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<strong>2. Enthrallment (read 'Sunday morning' or 'What you Will')</strong><br />
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</strong><em>Psychology professor </em><a href="http://explore.georgetown.edu/people/parrottg/?action=viewpublications&PageTemplateID=131"><em>W. Gerrod Parrott</em></a><em> has broken down human emotions into subcategories, which themselves have their own subcategories. Most of the emotions he identifies, like joy and anger, are pretty recognizable. But one subset of joy, "enthrallment," you may not have heard of before. Unlike the perkier subcategories of joy like cheerfulness, zest, and relief, enthrallment is a state of intense rapture. It is not the same as love or lust. You might experience it when you see an incredible spectacle — a concert, a movie, a rocket taking off — that captures all your attention and elevates your mood to tremendous heights.</em><br />
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<strong>3. Normopathy </strong>('Conformism is the new rebellion'-a reference you won't get without a long,protracted explanation. Don't take this particular emo by the letter while reading me)<strong> </strong><br />
<strong><br />
</strong><em>Psychiatric theorist </em><a href="http://books.google.com/books/about/The_Shadow_of_the_Object.html?id=cFv18bzGs08C"><em>Christopher Bollas invented the idea of normopathy</em></a><em> to describe people who are so focused on blending in and conforming to social norms that it becomes a kind of mania. A person who is normotic is often unhealthily fixated on having no personality at all, and only doing exactly what is expected by society. Extreme normopathy is punctuated by breaks from the norm, where normotic person cracks under the pressure of conforming and becomes violent or does something very dangerous. Many people experience mild normopathy at different times in their lives, especially when trying to fit into a new social situation, or when trying to hide behaviors they believe other people would condemn.</em><br />
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<strong>4. Sublimation</strong><br />
<strong><br />
</strong><em>If you've ever taken a class where you learned about Sigmund Freud's theories about sex, you probably have heard of sublimation. Freud believed that human emotions were sort of like a steam engine, and sexual desire was the steam. If you blocked the steam from coming out of one valve, pressure would build up and force it out of another. Sublimation is the process of redirecting your steamy desires from having naughty sex, to doing something socially productive like writing an article about psychology or fixing the lawnmower or developing a software program. If you've ever gotten your frustrations out by building something, or gotten a weirdly intense pleasure from creating an art project, you're sublimating. Other psychiatrists have refined the idea of sublimation, however. Following French theorist Jacques Lacan, they say that sublimation doesn't have to mean converting sexual desire into another activity like building house. It could just mean transferring sexual desire from one object to another — moving your affections from your boyfriend to your neighbor, for example.</em><br />
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<strong>5. Repressive desublimation</strong> (unfortunately this one's more interesting, than personal)<br />
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<em>Political theorist Herbert Marcuse was a big fan of Freud and lived through the social upheavals of the 1960s. He wanted to explain how societies could go through periods of social liberation, like the countercultures and revolutions of the mid-twentieth century, and yet still remain under the (often strict) control of governments and corporations. How could the U.S. have gone through all those protests in the 60s but never actually overthrown the government? The answer, he decided, was a peculiar emotional state known as "repressive desublimation." Remember, Freud said sublimation is when you route your sexual energies into something non-sexual. But Marcuse lived during a time when people were very much routing their sexual energies into sex — it was the sexual liberation era, when free love reigned. People were desublimating. And yet they continued to be repressed by many other social strictures, coming from corporate life, the military, and the government. </em><a href="http://books.google.com/books/about/Eros_and_Civilization.html?id=GkWRVHPpQ0gC"><span style="color: #791265;"><em>Marcuse suggested that desublimation can actually help to solidify repression</em></span></a><em>. It acts as an escape valve for our desires so that we don't attempt to liberate ourselves from other social restrictions. A good example of repressive desublimation is the intense partying that takes place in college. Often, people in college do a lot of drinking, drugging and hooking up — while at the same time studying very hard and trying to get ready for jobs. Instead of questioning why we have to pay tons of money to engage in rote learning and get corporate jobs, we just obey the rules and have crazy drunken sex every weekend. Repressive desublimation!</em><br />
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<strong>6. Aporia</strong> (This has to do with one painful epiphany-and no I shan't tell-I'm sure you've had one yourself)<br />
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<em>You know that feeling of crazy emptiness you get when you realize that something you believed isn't actually true? And then things feel even more weird when you realize that actually, the thing you believed might be true and might not — and you'll never really know? That's aporia. The term comes from ancient Greek, but is also beloved of post-structuralist theorists like Jacques Derrida and Gayatri Spivak. The reason modern theorists love the idea of aporia is that it helps to describe the feeling people have in a world of information overload, where you are often bombarded with contradictory messages that seem equally true.</em></div>Ritwika Senhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08039897142179258368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726029943217491468.post-33685956053910063302011-06-25T22:35:00.000-07:002011-06-25T22:36:40.826-07:00Sunday Morning<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">The veins in my head are threatening to pop. A consequence of unsound sleep patterns, but ofcourse-engineered only from my desire to watch every single video on youtube or something of that nature..<br />
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<em>Come and open up your folding chair next to me<br />
My feet are buried in the sand and there’s a breeze<br />
There’s a shadow, you can’t see my eyes<br />
And the sea is just a wetter version of the skies</em><br />
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I'm really annoyed with my driving instructor. Makes me wake up early every morn only to be a zillion nanoseconds late. And its not even a predicatble lag, such that adaptive expectations could come into play. Gna gna gna...<br />
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<em>Don’t make frowns, you silly clown...</em><br />
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Ram called. The other Ram. It seemed like a godsend amidst my low patch wrt the drums. Maybe things will take a turn for the better on that front. It's crash boom time again, baby. Woot woot!! <br />
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<em>Just come and open up your folding chair next to me<br />
My feet are buried in the sand and there’s a breeze<br />
There’s a shadow, you can’t see my eyes<br />
And the waves are just a frothier version of the skies</em><br />
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It's interesting...funny even...how one phone call and a good song can uplift my mood.<br />
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<em>I’ve got a perfect body, though sometimes I forget<br />
I’ve got a perfect body cause my eyelashes catch my sweat<br />
Yes, they do, they do…</em><br />
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As for the above mentioned perfect body-its there somewhere, amidst layers of adipose ;) To the treadmills I now depart. Toodle Dee. Have a good holy day, all.<br />
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:D<br />
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</div>Ritwika Senhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08039897142179258368noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726029943217491468.post-62336937701953739462011-06-24T08:29:00.000-07:002011-06-24T08:29:02.727-07:00What you Will...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Hell it's impossible to keep to the 'must write everyday' resolution. I lack discipline, I do. Possible some imagination too. The past few days however, have most certainly been lacking in immunity on my part. The Rhine, it flows noisily (Rhine-Rhino-nose)..my rooommate once asked me if I was done moving furniture :P. Trust me, you want to stay away.But things have taken a turn towards healthy today...mind you, not 'halthy' (punjabi eshtyle) cause I'm working out again. God knows how I'll keep it up in college-one look at the 'flop master' and lethargy creeps into me bones again. Okay, maybe it isn't entirely her fault.<br />
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Regina Spektor is bloody good by the by...and refreshingly original at that. Will attach 'Ghost of a Corporate Future' with this post. The title does haunt me-I do find myself increasingly at sea about career paths as I grow older. In the fourth grade, for instance, it was definite that I was to be the President of the World Bank!! By the seventh, I was to be a robotic scientist manufacturing revolutions at NASA. 'Spirit' and 'Opportunity' was all I needed ;) And ofcourse I'd study at MIT. And 7 years down the line I still want to go to MIT-only the social sciences division,if you please. Well atleast the immediate progression from Stephen's is not entirely unclear-I should count my blessings,eh?<br />
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<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OdJkb3IiAA">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OdJkb3IiAA</a> (Regina Spektor link)<br />
While I was shirking in the past few days I omitted to recount my trip to NCPA. Ma,Baba and I (and boy was Baba grouchy at the outset of the journey-"tickets are too expensive"/"train's too crowded" yada yada yada)...Lady luck was awfully kind to me that Sunday noon-no rain, and a functional harbour line-what more could one ask for in the Navi Mumbai monsoon! So..after the usual and somewhat eventful train ride (read: burqa clad lady picks a fight with typically marathi lady..and there were chappals and abuses to boot)..we reached the seaside...it's beautiful, this time of year. So alive to the millions that come to soak in its splendor. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-L7pxH36kexA/TgSrZTQiYmI/AAAAAAAAAFg/-yJXM1J2Uxw/s1600/frankenstein.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="243" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-L7pxH36kexA/TgSrZTQiYmI/AAAAAAAAAFg/-yJXM1J2Uxw/s320/frankenstein.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iZYKixZCMgo/TgSrnTL1XsI/AAAAAAAAAFk/dPf8wEAooUc/s1600/Frankenstein9_1833302b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iZYKixZCMgo/TgSrnTL1XsI/AAAAAAAAAFk/dPf8wEAooUc/s320/Frankenstein9_1833302b.jpg" width="320" /></a><span id="goog_150129634"></span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/"></a><span id="goog_150129635"></span></div>Danny Boyle's direction of Mary Shelly's 'Frankenstein' was screened live from the National Theatre in London at NCPA's Godrej Dance Theatre (it's a small but comfy audi). Boyle's return to theatre was looked forward to by most theatre-loving Londoners (or whatever they're called)...and boy was it worth the wait, anticipation, and queues at 2 am! (I got the tickets online :P) The production starred Johnny Lee Miller and Benedict Cumberbatch-the two actors switched roles every night. One day one was the creator, and the next-the created. I think thats a delightful idea for any actor to grasp the roles truly. We were lucky (although both versions are considered equally good by critics)-Cumberbatch was the creature at our show. I confess I know not much about the stage and acting..and so forth. But whatever it was that they pulled off that Sunday evening-bordered on perfection. There's no denying it. To give you a tiny glimpse- the beginning showed Frankenstein's monster's birth followed by it's learning processes. How it learnt to move every limb and sinew. How it learnt to stand, to eat grass...to speak..and later read thanks to his only friend-an old blind man. Now think of how one can possibly manage to convey all that..without narration...in about fifteen to twenty minutes, without, for a second, boring one's audience. It was brilliant, I tell you. You'll just have to take my word for it because it's beyond my linguistic/narrative skills to communicate even a fraction of what I saw and felt that day. Baba, who was quite the theatre-goer in his bachelor days, was astounded. Ma, equally so. They said that they'd never seen anything like it (Phew! Can you conceive of what would have come to pass had he disliked the production?!! It's not as bad as all that really, but, like Phoebe, I don't appreciate negative vibes). We followed this up with a walk down a rather crowded Marine Drive and RustomJi's ice-cream: it's essentially a cuboid of ice-cream sandwiched between two wafer biscuits..you should try it sometime. Heck, you should watch a broadcast of the play if you ever chance upon it! Boyle should stick to theatre. Really.</div>Ritwika Senhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08039897142179258368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726029943217491468.post-22829948355457899392011-06-16T21:25:00.000-07:002011-06-16T21:25:54.900-07:00Stealing from Greg Mankiw's Blog<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DM6gLCmXKtk/TeectmxmrgI/AAAAAAAABPQ/ajDDino-vcw/s1600/arloandjanis060211.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="122" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DM6gLCmXKtk/TeectmxmrgI/AAAAAAAABPQ/ajDDino-vcw/s400/arloandjanis060211.gif" width="400" /></a></div></div>Ritwika Senhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08039897142179258368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726029943217491468.post-83852870244742550832011-06-16T08:59:00.000-07:002011-06-16T08:59:52.838-07:00Of 'Hara Cheez' and Brontosaurus-Back-Shaped Lemon Cake<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-q-rsCRfP6_I/Tfol9KBFKvI/AAAAAAAAAFI/JUqzstSUmK0/s1600/IMG_0094.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-q-rsCRfP6_I/Tfol9KBFKvI/AAAAAAAAAFI/JUqzstSUmK0/s320/IMG_0094.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UAA3G6yyrVE/TfoknXU9lDI/AAAAAAAAAE0/QX6ye-Fk-_I/s1600/IMG_0089.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UAA3G6yyrVE/TfoknXU9lDI/AAAAAAAAAE0/QX6ye-Fk-_I/s320/IMG_0089.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8PdVkqHZwUU/TfomgiS1ALI/AAAAAAAAAFU/cA1jewA2TFQ/s1600/IMG_0098.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8PdVkqHZwUU/TfomgiS1ALI/AAAAAAAAAFU/cA1jewA2TFQ/s320/IMG_0098.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bFR0bdjgb9k/TfooMBcn9bI/AAAAAAAAAFc/M9GoWQXaZoQ/s1600/IMG_0099.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bFR0bdjgb9k/TfooMBcn9bI/AAAAAAAAAFc/M9GoWQXaZoQ/s320/IMG_0099.JPG" width="320" /></a></div></div>Ritwika Senhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08039897142179258368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726029943217491468.post-62994189704979795072011-06-15T11:11:00.000-07:002011-06-15T11:11:23.449-07:00Thinking about Thinking.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Sometimes I accidentally do the smarter thing (and at other rarer times, it isn't accidental)- I'm so glad I signed up for the new format of the GRE. Just the names of the sections 'Verbal Reasoning' as opposed to the older Verbal something is enough to indicate that I don't have to learn long lists of otherwise irrelevant vocab. This stuff is quite cool, in a sort of way. It requires critical thinking (<em>'thinking about thinking'</em>)...and now I regret only concentrating on Mr.Cole's gigantic Homer Simpson pants pinned on the softboard, and the plate-full of Maltesers in his critical thinking classes at Millfield (brief exchange programme- I use the slightest opportunity to show off). <br />
<br />
Checked out the neighbourhood gym today. Needless to state that the instructor took one look at me and figured out that I lead a most unhealthy lifestyle. And here I thought that Rohtas' samosas were awfully nutritious! <br />
<br />
Finally attacked the book on dev econ. It's amazing how all later research points to instiutional reform for development. Amidst cries in national politics over the Lokpal Bill, 2G scams and such like-I'm coming to believe that specialzing in institutions/ instiutional economics may be a productive move to make. At any rate, I think I'll spruce up my institutions project for the M.Phil applications. This applications/scholarships business is already beginning to drive me nuts: just how am I going to make it through the entire year?? <br />
<br />
Tomorrow, I'm praying my driving lessons begin. Might enroll at the gym and attempt to make either paalak paneer or lemon cake (inclusive 'or'). Ooh lunar eclipse! I shall bid yea adieu for now to go check eet out, if the rain clouds permit. Oh and here's a link for a movie I watched over yesterday and today (long story, and no I don't mean the movie). It's good fun-an Amole Gupta production.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/Fdd9Y166JXY?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div></div>Ritwika Senhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08039897142179258368noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726029943217491468.post-43308642316928778962011-06-15T02:51:00.000-07:002011-06-15T03:30:32.762-07:00The Summer-whatever little there is of it.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Let not the title of this post fool you into believing that the length of the 'summer' commented on therein has anything to do with the weather-it's the duration of our break I'm cribbing about. A month and a half is just about all that second econ managed to scrape, given the stretched duration of the darned univs.<br />
<br />
Anyhow, I've decided that I'm going to document the happenings of my unemployed life this break (for the sake of clarification, the decision to not intern was not entirely shaped by the one..or.two..or three rejection letters I received. Everything worthwhile requires time..or a postgrad!) So yes, where were we? Documentation. Now the purpose behind such a move has nothing whatsoever, pardon me dear reader, to do with you. It's purely out of selfish motives- it'll help me stay active. The knowledge that everyday must have something to say for itself should keep things interesting around here... or so one hopes. There's always the danger that the average post will run something on the lines of- brushed me teeth, attempted to count the pimples on my face but gave up midway, ate A lot while all the time miraculously hoping that pounds were being shed...and so on.<br />
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Do not be deceived into believing that 'interesting' shall be anything on the lines of conventional living it up. This is Navi Mumbai. And, more importantly, this is me. So there. We shall correspond again at the end of the day-electricity and internet connection,permitting. Cheerio for the mo.</div>Ritwika Senhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08039897142179258368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726029943217491468.post-71544960400923861442011-06-01T09:55:00.000-07:002011-06-01T09:55:08.348-07:00Def Col.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">The curtains, they do cover for<div>Enthusiasm, self worth: the lack thereof.</div><div>Call it what you will..</div><div>But oh they do sway..</div><div>Meatloaf belly-full..</div><div>Happy, illogically so,</div><div>Shirks the ton of..work.</div><div>In favor of litchi,</div><div>With vanilla glazed..</div><div>In sloth we do persevere,</div><div>Unfailingly.</div><div><br />
</div><div><br />
</div></div>Ritwika Senhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08039897142179258368noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726029943217491468.post-17356047086501485482011-04-24T22:49:00.001-07:002011-06-15T03:35:37.807-07:00XVII<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: inherit; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">The stars have not dealt me the worst they could do:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: inherit; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">My pleasures are plenty, my troubles are two.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: inherit; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">But oh, my two troubles they reave me of rest,<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: inherit; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">The brains in my head and the heart in my breast.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: inherit; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: inherit; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Oh grant me the ease that is granted so free,<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: inherit; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">The birthright of multitudes, give it to me,<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: inherit; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">That relish their victuals and rest on their bed</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 10pt;"><o:p>With flint in their bosom and guts in their head.</o:p></span></div><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: center;">A E Housman </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div></div>Ritwika Senhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08039897142179258368noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8726029943217491468.post-89713693469496420162011-03-09T04:57:00.000-08:002011-03-09T04:57:44.543-08:00The same old...me<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">I like hearing my voice in my head. And its ever so much louder when I write...or walk...or sit on the ledge of my balcony in residence. <div><br />
</div><div>I'm glad that I have a voice. (King's Speech reference...I love that line).</div><div><br />
</div><div>I was convinced, at the time that the album came out, that Viva la Vida was Coldplay's best. New sound=good sound=growth as artists and what not...upon re-discovering 'Don't Panic' recently though, I think I was mistaken. The violins and strings, though they were refreshing..was just not 'them'. Then again, maybe because I've heard Viva...so many times, the new is now old...and the old new? We shall never really know,eh?</div><div><br />
</div><div>The Script, might I add, has a sound I quite 'dig'. </div><div><br />
</div><div>Economic History is painfully boring.</div><div>I miss writing letters. I miss receiving letters.Okay modify that to e-mails...'snail mail' can be frustrating. And I do believe I'm drifting into an insulated planet where sitcoms, movies, projects, music and food are all that matter. It gets a little lonely on this planet sometimes...there's only so much that vicarious living can do for one.</div></div>Ritwika Senhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08039897142179258368noreply@blogger.com0