August 15, 1975: Minerva

I went there to watch Sholay. Went by myself. Didn’t want to buy in black. Didn’t tell anybody. After I waited for about 30 minutes, a guy came to me, saying I have an extra ticket. He gave it to me at the list price, no mark up. The seat was very near the screen… Continue reading August 15, 1975: Minerva

Shammi Kapoor

After work at Nariman Point, sometimes used to watch movies in the VT area so that could go home later when the crowd subsided. One of my favorite movie theaters was New Excelsior. New and generally showed good English movies. One day I booked a balcony ticket to watch Godfather – I or 2 I… Continue reading Shammi Kapoor

Gita Press Dictionary

There was a Hindi dictionary, Gita Press Hindi dictionary, that formed a big part of my childhood. My father had got for me when I was 4-5 as a birthday gift, I had cried because I wanted what others were getting, but slowly it entered my life in a grand manner. It was cheap, and… Continue reading Gita Press Dictionary

Skylab is falling

I was in Larsen and Toubro. Lived in Andheri and went by 7.24 train (some times earlier by 7.16 train) to VT to then took a bus or walked to Nariman Point. Bakhtawar building where my office was located was next to grand Oberai Hotel, with its swimming pool on the seventh floor, watchable from… Continue reading Skylab is falling

Narendra Karmarkar

He was my classmate at IIT Bombay. When I took classes at University of California at Berkeley, his name was there on the inside wall, perhaps he got the gold medal at that prestigious school. He did his masters there. He later studied at CalTech, another very selective school among the very best in the… Continue reading Narendra Karmarkar

Lying is Futile

Was checking an interview of Narayana Murthy by BusinessWeek. And place I cound was embarrassing. The interview went like this: Narayana Murthy gives to Charity Q: We hear you’ve become quite a philanthropist, that you’re making large donations with money from sales of your personal Infosys stock. Can you tell us about the money you’re… Continue reading Lying is Futile

A girl liked garlic

In childhood I remember reading a story where a girl who loved to eat garlic went to a party. Shy, she was afraid of talking to people face to face. Now I con’t remember the story line, but remember it is a happy one. In IITs, contrasy to media, other IITians, where we have been… Continue reading A girl liked garlic

Hindi debate in IIT?

Note: This is based on my recollection. If you remember different please correct me. One year “Hal” (in Silicon Valley) Kazi became our hostel’s Culture Secretary. I used to think of him as Delhi crowd’s chamcha, so I was not very excited by that. Why he was scared of those snobs was a mystery to… Continue reading Hindi debate in IIT?