Polly-voo-franzy?

“Why, Huck, doan’ de French people talk de same way we does?”

“No, Jim; you couldn’t understand a word they said- not a single word.”

“Well, now, I be ding-busted! How do dat come?”

“I don’t know; but it’s so. I got some of their jabber out of a book. Spose a man was to come to you and say ‘Polly-voo-franzy’- what would you think?”

“I wouldn’t think nuff’n; I’d take en bust him over de head. Dat is, if he warn’t white. I wouldn’t ‘low no nigger to call me dat.”

“Shucks, it ain’t calling you anything. It’s only saying do you know how to talk French.”

“Well, den, why couldn’t he say it?”

“Why, he is a-saying it. That’s a Frenchman’s way of saying it.”

“Well, it’s a blame’ ridicklous way, en I doan’ want to hear no mo’ ’bout it. Dey ain’ no sense in it.”

“Looky here, Jim; does a cat talk like we do?”

“No, a cat don’t.”

“Well, does a cow?”

“No, a cow don’t, nuther.”

“Does a cat talk like a cow, or a cow talk like a cat?”

“No, dey don’t.”

“It’s natural and right for ‘em to talk different from each other, ain’t it?”

“Course.”

“And ain’t it natural and right for a cat and a cow to talk different from us?”

“Why, mos’ sholy it is.”

“Well, then, why ain’t it natural and right for a Frenchman to talk different from us? You answer me that.”

“Is a cat a man, Huck?”

“No.”

“Well, den, dey ain’t no sense in a cat talkin’ like a man. Is a cow a man?- er is a cow a cat?”

“No, she ain’t either of them.”

“Well, den, she ain’ got no business to talk like either one or the yuther of ‘em. Is a Frenchman a man?”

“Well, den! Dad blame it, why doan’ he talk like a man? You answer me dat!”

I see it warn’t no use wasting words- you can’t learn a nigger to argue. So I quit.

- The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

A Patriot

I was watching the presentation ceremony after India lost a humdinger of a match to Australia at Hyderabad. And I was wondering at Sachin’s ability to play a marathon innings so late in his career.

Why on earth does he do it – playing for hours together in the heat of Hyderabad, chasing an impossible target when most of his younger colleagues had already given up the case as a lost cause and choose to relax in the pavilion? More puzzling considering Tendulkar is arguably the richest player of the lot! And he has nothing left to prove; he is recognized as one of the greatest batsmen the world has ever produced. His place in history is assured. What motivates this man at this stage in his career?

Arun Lal asked this exact same question to Tendulkar – “What motivates you?”

Tendulkar’s reply was a cliche, but it made perfect sense in this context:

“It’s the passion of representing India in international cricket that keeps me motivated all the time. It’s always a dream to play for my country. I am absolutely honoured to do that for the last 20 years,” Tendulkar said.

This is what sets this man apart from his younger and less talented teammates. He takes his responsibility of playing for India very seriously.

Previous Post

The Politics of (Re)Location

Western press and media give extensive coverage to the utterances of Iranian President Ahmadinejad, particularly his denial of the Jewish massacres during World War II.

Ahmadi, on the other hand, has always focused on a different aspect of the same issue:

Iran is trying to improve its relationship with the West, as I understand it. It is clear that there was a Holocaust. Why would you say there was no Holocaust? Do you feel there should be no Jewish state—no Israel?

What I am saying is extremely clear. It is an academic approach to a crucial subject and also one based on humanitarian considerations. What I am saying here is that in past history many events have happened, and in World War II many crimes were committed. Over 60 million people were killed and even more were displaced. So we have several specific questions with regard to the events of World War II, and I believe we cannot find the answers to these questions through the propaganda that is promoted by the media. In the end, the questions need convincing answers. The first question that I have to try and understand is why in the midst of all that happened in World War II, the Holocaust is emphasized more than any other [event]?

Let’s say that Stalin’s crimes were equally great.

The second question is why do Western politicians focus on this issue so much? The third question is how does that event connect with issues that we see around us in the world today? Was this a historical event that happened in isolation without impacting the present conditions? The next question we should ask ourselves is if the event did take place, where did it happen, who were the perpetrators, what was the role of the Palestinian people? What crime have they committed to deserve what they have received as a result? Why exactly should the Palestinian people be victimized? Are you aware that over 5 million Palestinians have been displaced and have had refugee status? What role did they play in the Holocaust? Why is the Holocaust used as a pretext to occupy the land of other people? Why should the Palestinian people give their lives up for it? You are probably aware that there have been embargoes on the people of Gaza.

- The Iranian president on nuclear ambitions and Holocaust denials, Newsweek, Oct 5, 2009

All this is old hat. As early as Sep 2007, when Ahmadi spoke at Columbia University, he made the same point (with the same conditional around the Holocaust).

What I found new was a first person account by Norwegian-British children’s author Roald Dhal, of his experiences as a World War II pilot, in his autobiographical work Going Solo.

When fighting in Palestine, he is asked to check out a new secret airstrip. When he lands at that airstrip, he is welcomed by a tall bearded man who speaks with a strong German accent:

‘You seem surprised to find us here,’ the man said.

‘I am,’ I said. ‘I wasn’t expecting to find anyone.’

‘We are everywhere,’ the man said. ‘We are all over the country.’

‘Forgive me,’ I said, ‘but I don’t understand. Who do you mean by we?’

‘Jewish refugees.’

Bizarre

A pen for Rs 11 lakh as tribute to Mahatma!

Online Photo Printing in India

What is it with online photo printing services in India? I tried it twice with two different vendors and both of them messed things up.

I tried it first with G. K. Vale. I asked them to print a greeting card for me:

For one full week the order was not delivered. I chased their customer services guys (who were pretty hard to reach) and they had no clue as to what exactly was happening to my order (“we had power failure so they was a delay”, “we will ship this evening”, “we have already shipped it; you will be receiving it any moment today” etc).  Finally my wife had to walk into their store in Jayanagar and lodge a complaint (they knew her by sight since she was a frequent customer).

Finally it emerged that some wise guy in  their print shop decided this was a bad photo  - all black – and decided not print the order! The GM of their web sales division had to get involved to finally print it and send it to me! I barely had time to get the card out before New Year.

The day before, I tried ordering a calendar (composed from my photographs) from Canvera. Now, the Canvera office is barely 5 KM from my home. They tell me they have shipped the order yesterday. This morning the courier guy calls me for directions to my house. Now it is 7 PM and no delivery yet. Tomorrow is a public holiday so the earliest I can hope to get delivery is the day after. That is almost three days to cover a 5 KM distance! And of course I have no idea how the calendar will turn out!

In both cases, the order booking web site worked like a charm (well, almost like a charm. The Canvera web site truncates the shipping address). It is the fulfillment process that leaves a lot to be desired. Trouble is, on a web order they make you pay the full money in advance. I suspect this is one of the reasons why the fulfillment is lax – they have my money in their pocket already!

The idea of ordering photo products looks good on paper but in reality these chaps have just not got their act together. And probably never will (unless a biggie like Reliance gets into the act).

PS:

Canvera responded well to my email complaints and got the calendar delivered today (though it is a public holiday today). Canvera’s production quality is top class.

Happy Dusserha!

The Trouble with Tharoor

Tharoor is running up against the risks associated with social media.

• It is always “on record”.
• One cannot be stream of consciousness and diplomatic at the same time.
• If you really communicate with your constituents, sometime somewhere you will offend somebody.

In this case the “cattle class” remark was not pertinent. Most politicians treat their constituents like cattle anyway. It was the “holy cow” part that was impertinent.

You cannot take pot shots at your party chief in public and expect to continue in the same party for too long.

All said and done, it was a good line. Tharoor is a good writer and a great communicator.

The Trouble with Digital

I have recorded elsewhere of my travails with digital photography. Today I ran smack into one of the big limitations of digital sensors (as opposed to film).

Take a look at this photograph:

I exposed on the brown of the wind chime and see what my Nikon D80 did to the sky! I assure you it was a dull, cloudy, grey-white sky which was atmost two stops brighter than the brown chime. Nikon’s 10 mega-pixels CCD sensor simply does not have the dynamic range to handle this!

I never had such trouble with film.

On the street, where I live

more about “On the street, where I live“, posted with vodpod