Most Enjoyed software -- iTunes

iTunes

I don't own an iPod. And so, for the longest time, I didn't pay attention when I came across the terms "iTunes" or "podcasting". Then I read somewhere about "iTunes for Windows", and after getting intrigued, gave it a try. And I am very glad that I did. It has given me hours of enjoyment, especially at work, when my neighboring colleagues get a little noisy.

I have especially enjoyed the ability to create numerous Playlists (in particular, the ability to cross-index the same song in multiple playlists) . I love the equitability in being able to play only the songs I haven't heard in a little while. I haven't yet fully explored podcasting, but what I have seen has been impressive. (I have listened to a few podcasts of NPR's Story of the Day.)

If any of you haven't tried iTunes, you should consider downloading it for your PC. It's free.

category: Music, Software

Mohandas -- before he became Mahatma (Museum Africa)

Mohandas before he became Mahatma
Museum Africa in Johannesburg, SA.

Had the opportunity to be in Johannesburg a few weeks back. Even though the cautionary tone of our guidebooks was very clear, there was one museum we didn't want to miss -- the one in Newtown called Museum Africa. (I was hoping to get a better understanding of South Africa, the run up to apartheid, and the creation of Soweto, the treason trials, and the making of Mandela.) But the exhibit that I most enjoyed turned out to be a very different one.

For some unknown reason, the museum has waived the seven Rand entrance fee these days, and still we pretty much had the museum to ourselves. I won't go into details about the exhibits about gold, Mandela, and the photo-essays, which you can read elsewhere on the Web. But I would definitely ask that anyone who visits Jo'burg not miss this museum.

What most resonated with me in the museum was the coverage that the museum has given to Gandhi. For over twenty years in Johannesburg, MKG was a practicing barrister representing Indian laborers who were indentured to work in the mines. The museum has a large area set up with photos, newspaper articles and artifacts from Mohandas' time in the city. It is claimed (by the museum and by others) that the foundations for many of the ideas that Gandhi became known for (ex. satyagraha) were laid in Johannesburg.

Everywhere in India, whether in Raj Ghat or elsewhere, I've only seen him as Gandhiji, as the Mahatma, one to be revered. Museum Africa provided a retro-glimpse into the life of Mohandas, before he became the "Mahatma" that the world came to know. His home and office in Rissik street, the two vegetarian places he often ate in, some of his scribbled letters and postcards are all documented for the interested visitor.

It becomes clear from the displays in the museum that Mohandas was only one of numerous Indians at the time in South Africa, resisting and fighting against the poor treatment of Indians at the hands of the British. They were mostly the leading members of the South Africa Indian Congress (SAIC). Gazing at the artifacts in the exhibit, while also knowing that through the sheer force of his character it was Mohandas who emerged as the giant who took on the mighty British made for a fascinating experience.

It later occurred to me that I was pondering the bigger question of why some people succeed, while their colleagues are quickly forgotten.

Anyway, if you are ever in Johannesburg, don't miss visiting Museum Africa.

Cateory: Travel

Abuelita -- Mexican Hot Chocolate Drink

Here's something that I've been enjoying for well over a year, but I am not sure if a lot of others know about it, and hence the post.

I first had this rich chocolate-and-cinammon drink in the town of Oaxaca, in Mexico. That region produces caca0 and the night before, we'd seen the demonstrations of the mills in the little shops where they mixed and ground the cocoa with sticks of cinammon and sugar to create vats of the hot drink mix. The next morning, we stepped into a cafe and ordered a cup of hot chocolate instead of our usual coffee. It was a bit pricey (Starbuck's price) especially when contrasted with everything else in town being so very inexpensive. I'd loved the taste of the drink.

After returning to Chicago, in a Hispanic-owned store where we buy our fresh produce, I caught sight of the distictive yellow hexagonal box of Abuelita. It seemed like what I'd had in Oaxaca and I bought it to give it a try. I've been buying it ever since. The box contains six discs (tablets) and each disc is good for 3-4 cups of the drink, when dissolved in hot milk. The right way to make it is to put it all in a blender/mixer, but I find that a spoon works too. (The interesting thing is that these boxes must've been there in the store all these years, but only after that trip did I notice them and see how widely available they were.)

When it's around 10 in the night and dinner has long been digested, but I am not yet ready for bed, and coffee seems too strong, I make myself a cup of Nestle's Abuelita. It's perfect to overcome the 10 p.m. slump. If you are a chocolate drink lover, you should give this product a try. Do leave a comment if you end up trying it. Does anyone know if the drink is available in India?

Category: Food

GlobeTrekker: Most Enjoyed Travel Program on TV

Just finished watching Globe Trekker's the 1 hour program on Egypt, and felt that posting here might mean that a few more people would learn about this great program that airs on PBS (if you are based in the U.S). You can also watch the episodes on DVD, which is what I did to view Egypt.

Highly recommended for both armchair travelers and airplane travelers. The premise for this program/travel video is this: One twenty-something traveler lands in a country and backpacks his or her way around to places of interest. The nice thing about these video programs is that the emphasis is on the experience rather than on the sights. This is certainly not your top 10 things to see in XYZ type of a travel program. (The theme music for GT is very catchy. Does anyone know where I could find an MP3 of that tune?)

The unquestionable king of the GlobeTrekker hill is Ian Wright. (Any disagreements here from other GT fans?) Don't miss his quotes and his travel philosophy. This guy Ian is fearless and an absolute hoot. There are many other trekkers, quite watchable. The Egypt trip featured Megan McCormick. There is even an Indian (guessing she was born in the UK) -- Shilpa Mehta, and I quite enjoyed her Northern Spain travel video. PBS keeps messing around with the airtime of this program, otherwise I would surely watch every episode.

Check your local listing and try one episode. If you love travel, more likely than not, you'll love the program.

Category: Travel.

Frank McCourt's Tips On Writing

Towards the end of his very readable book Teacher Man, Frank McCourt has the following to say to his students in Creative Writing class. I thought I would share some excerpts here.

Listen. Are you listening? You’re not listening. I am talking to those of you in class who might be interested in writing.
Every moment of your life, you’re writing. Even in your dreams you’re writing. When you walk the halls in this school you meet various people and you write furiously in your head. There’s the principal. You have to make a decision, a greeting decision. Will you nod? Will you smile? Will you say, Good Morning, Mr. Baumel? or will you simply say, Hi? You see someone you dislike. Furious writing again in your head. Decision to be made. Turn your head away? Stare as you pass? Nod? Hiss a Hi? You see someone you like and you say, Hi, in a warm melting way, a Hi that conjures up a splash of oars, soaring violins, eyes shining in the moonlight. There are so many ways of say Hi. Hiss it, trill it, bark it, sing it, bellow it, laugh it, cough it. A simple stroll in the hallway calls for paragraphs, sentences in your head, decisions galore.
[…]
Dreaming, wishing, planning: it’s all writing, but the difference between you and the man on the street is that you are looking at it, friends, getting it set in your head, realizing the significance of the insignificant, getting it on paper. You might be in the throes of love or grief but you are ruthless in observation. You are your material. You are writers and one thing is certain: no matter what happens on Saturday night, or any other night, you’ll never be bored again. Never. Nothing human is alien to you. Hold you applause and pass up your homework.

Getting a flat tire in Kruger National Park, SA

The lady in the Nkuhlu picinic area was the one who got us excited. We were doing a self-drive safari in KrugerNational Park which is a mind-bogglingly large park (over 400 kms long), and so whenever we could we asked others about the animals they'd spotted. In the picnic area, the lady with the spiky blond hair said in her Germanic accent, "Yes, we saw many animals. We saw a Leo-paard." She then gave us exact directions to spot the leopard 8 kms north of Nkuhlu, but of course we never did spot her leopard.

After taking a long detour to get some gas in the Skukuza camp, our car's tank and confidence restored, we took a side road, heading north towards the picnic area of Tshokwane, where our guidebook said the lions were.

It was a tar road in excellent condition, and we pretty much had the whole National Park to ourselves. Hardly anyone there at all, this being early December. We'd seen plenty of wildlife, and because of the big cats, the rule was to absolutely, positively never to get out of our vehicle. (Frommer's even had a graphic story of a seasoned ranger who got out to take a leak, and was killed by an animal before he could even zip up.)

With the windows open, I was driving at a slow pace, eyes scanning the branches of every passing tree hoping to catch sight of a leopard, the most elusive of the wildcats. And that's when I heard the flap-flap-flap. We knew what it was without even looking. We had a flat tire -- of all places, in a South African NP where the wild animals roamed.

I put on the flashers and we started to read the car's manual to see if the spare tire could somehow be fitted. (I was really scared of the animals and even considered driving the 20+ kms to civilization with the tire flat.)

In a minute, a car passed us, then reversed and the man (an American from his accent) asked if we'd called for help. "I don't have a cell phone," I said and neither did he. I told him that I was hoping to install the spare tire, and he offered to help. Given that we were in a no-getting-out zone, this was really a magnanimous offer. (I have since asked myself if I'd have offered to help if I came across a car with a flat tire in a game reserve.)

Just at that instant, a white truck drove up towards us from the opposite direction. "Good day," said the black man who was driving. "Do you have a spare tire?" I nodded yes. Without my even asking, the 3 occupants of the truck jumped down to help. All I had to do was remove our two suitcases from the boot so that they could get to the spare tire. They did everything else. These 3 worked with the efficiency of a race-car pit crew and they changed the tire in under three minutes, no exaggeration. It all happened so fast, I didn't even have time to register relief fully.

I gratefully started to shake the hands of the men. We were not sure if it was okay to offer them money. I took a currency note, folded it and tentatively handed it to the driver while shaking his hand. Thanks, thanks he said and they all drove off. From getting the flat tire to being back to driving took less than 10 minutes. I resolved to write this entry here to thank all these men who helped a stranger spontaneously. Also, this whole incident has now morphed into something that I quite enjoyed.

P.S. That same evening, as we were driving towards the Crocodile Bridge gate to leave Kruger NP, with our stay over, we did spot a leopard when it decided to cross the road right in front of our car.

Frank McCourt's Teacher Man

Most Enjoyed Book

Full Disclosure: I am a big fan of McCourt's, so this review (if this can be called a review) won't be very unbiased, I'm afraid. My big regret is that I missed attending his book signing when he was in Chicago recently.

Perhaps, you've read Angela's Ashes (or seen the movie). Angela's Ashes is what hooked me on to McCourt. When 'Tis came out, I eagerly read it. And now his third book, Teacher Man, is perhaps my most favorite one. (I should mention that I have noticed a tendency to give a higher score to things that are fresher in my memory.)

Teacher Man is all about Frank evolving into a great teacher over a 30+ year teaching stint. All the trademark McCourt touches that you might have noticed in 'Tis or Ashes are there -- his self-deprecation, the ever so slight ways in which he injects a moral or a lesson here and there, and his irreverent humor. This memoir is a series of vignettes of classroom events, written in his deceptively simple prose. Phyllis writing about Armstrong landing on the moon, while her father lay dying, the singing of recipes, Papa's Waltz are a few examples. Suffice to say that towards the end of the book, I was rationing how much I read, just in order to savor the book longer.

I found this CNN interview and this review by Powell's to be good reading.

If you haven't read any of McCourt's book, Teacher Man is as good a place to begin as any of the other two. The interesting thing is that I can't think of a segment of the population that will NOT like this book. Like I said, I am biased.

Shashi Tharoor takes on other writers in "Bookless in Baghdad"

Book: Bookless in Baghdad
Author: Shashi Tharoor

Let me start with a qualification: If you are not of Indian descent, then perhaps this shouldn't be your first Tharoor book. Many of the essays, I felt, were targeted at and written for Indians.

Now, I must admit that this is my first Shashi Tharoor book. Years ago, my younger brother urged me to read him, having been assigned this author for one of his assignments when he was training to become a civil servant in Mussoorie.

What I found surprising, almost dangerously so in BIB, was how scathing, vituperative even, Shashi gets when writing about certain other writers or politicians.

On Winston Churchill: My blood still boils when I hear teary-eyed British friends describe him as a great fighter for freedom, when I know him principally as a blinkered imperialist untroubled by the oppression of nonwhite peoples...

On John Le Carre: Maybe, just maybe, Le Carre should stick to writing about the gray and gloomy England he knows best, rather than trying to set to rights a world that has moved beyond the sterile divisions of a global antagonism that threatened us all.

On Nirad C. Chaudhuri: (NCC had written an article in the Illustrated Weekly of India entitled Why I hate Indians) Tharoor writes: But even then, I wondered why the arrogant pedantry of the man, his sweeping generalizations and apocalyptic conclusions, usually unsupported by any empirical evidence, were taken so seriously by readers and editors.

On R.K. Narayan: Narayan wrote of, and from, the mindset of the small-town South Indian Brahmin, and did not seem capable of a greater range. His metronomic style was frequently not equal to the demands of his situations.

It has been many years since I read a RKN novel, but I found myself disagreeing strongly with ST on this one. I guess I am not as discerning as Shashi. Moreover, good story-telling is so important to me (and RKN was one no doubt) that I can overlook this "lack of range" in RKN that Tharoor complains of.

I still have a few more essays to read, and might post again.

Loved this Sentence in "Bookless in Baghdad"

I am reading Shashi Tharoor's Bookless in Baghdad, and I will post a couple of times about it as I wend my way through the book. However, this one sentence in the Preface of the BIB hit it right on with the metaphor. I thought it was so good that I had to copy it down to share here.

"To me, books are like the toddy tapper's hatchet, striking through the rough husk that enshrouds our minds to tap into the exhilaration that ferments within."

Links to blogs that have written about BIB: FreedomFries, LazyGeek, Organic Consciousness