Saturday, 27 November 2010

Sloggers & Bloggers (S&B) Meet II - 28 Nov 10

S & B II

The next S & B meet is scheduled to be held at Bangalore at my residence on Sunday, 28 Nov 10. We are meeting at my residence (address and map is available in the Contact details link on the top of this page) around 11 AM and will break off around 3 PM after lunch (I propose a simple Biriyani lunch, which will be ordered from outside)

As of now the following have confirmed attendance

Veer (Present status iffy)
Chaturvasi from Chennai
Bhargav from Chennai
Dr D Srinivasan from Salem
Richard from Mangalore
Kishore in Bangalore
Muthaiah from Chennai
Shuchi from Bangalore
Rajesh from Bangalore
Krishnamurthy Parameshwar from Bangalore
Vinod Raman from Bangalore

Richard is tying up some newspaper coverage of the event.

Anyone else who is attending please do let me know so that administrative arrangements can be tied up.

You may also add your comments regarding your attendance or otherwise here.

65 comments:

  1. Deepak, since your address does not have the main and cross style of Bangalore addresses, please guide:

    When coming from Ulsoor side on Old Madras Road and reaching Benniganahalli lake, how does one proceed?

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  2. Kishore,
    When comung from Ulsoor side on Old Madras Road, continue up to the KR Puram Railway Station and take a U-turn under the cable stayed suspension bridge and come back on Old Madras Road.
    My apartment complex is on the Old Madras Road itself and is located mid way between the ramps of the Cable stayed bridge and the Ring road ramp. While going towards the KR Puram station the building will be visible on your right.

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  3. Thanks. Was a little confused. Your address says 56 while the marker on the map for Gopalan says 116. You are at Gopalan, right?

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  4. Col.: Can I pls be a tentative attendee? I am planning on coming, having first suggested it, but my father's health has taken a turn for the worse and he is needing constant attention. If he recovers sufficiently, which I sincerely hope he does as I am planning to take my parents permanently to my home in the States on the 30th, I will be able to make it to S&B II and have a chance to meet everyone.

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  5. I hoped there would be 12 participants in all, including, hopefully two from the media, to make it a DAINTY DOZEN.

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  6. Kishore,
    That marker with 116 on it was put in by someone else. The number in any case is irrelevant as no one will be able to tell you where 56 is.
    Yes I am in Royal Heritage Apartments which was constructed by 'Gopalan Enterprises'

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  7. I will be interested to attend this. Would be great to meet people who I have only interacted online

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  8. Thanks Deepak, expect me with hair in braid. :-)

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  9. I'm looking forward to meeting all of you. I hope you can make it Veer, and I wish your father a speedy recovery.

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  10. Shuchi, it will be nice to meet you once again. Hope you had a nice Diwali time.

    Veer, I echo the sentiments expressed by Shuchi.

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  11. Rajesh,
    Are you in Bangalore? You are welcome to attend, please confirm you will be attending.
    Regards,
    Col Gopinath

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  12. Col
    I plan to drive down on 28th morning.Will come via Varthur Main Road from Attibele. Do you think this will be better than coming into the city and taking outer ring road at Central silk Board?

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  13. Dr DS,
    My house is on the outer ring road itself. Now that the work on the elevated expressway is completed you could come that way also, moreover since 28th is a Sunday there is no likelihood of any traffic jams.
    If you come via the Varthur/Srajapura road you will hit the Ring Road at Sarjapur junction after crossing the Wipro Headquarters.

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  14. Shuchi, Richard: Thanks for your kind words. I do hope that he recovers enough that I can meet everyone. Interacting with everyone in this blog and the Orkut comm. is a very welcome diversion for me as well as a learning experience.

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  15. Col, yes, I will definitely be attending. I stay in Bellandur, so it won't be too far for me. Looking forward to meeting everyone there.

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  16. You should WebCast it! Or, make it a video-conference - we can all join you then!

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  17. Gita, no wonder you would wish you were there. After all, you are the one who mooted the idea of such a meet in the first place. And it happened in Chennai. Although you haven't met some of us, I am sure you will be missed on Nov 28 !

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  18. sorry pl read s and b instead of f and b.

    mathu

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  19. Veer,

    I hope and pray that your father's health improves.

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  20. Col:
    Thanks for your reply.will choose what's convenient on that day. I think I have got the
    directions clearly and will be able to reach your home in time. In case of any assistance required will call you on your mobile number.

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  21. Veer,

    My prayers to Lord Muruga on Kandar Sashti Day today for your father's health and wish we could meet on 28th.

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  22. Gita,
    No doubt we will miss you in Bangalore!

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  23. Veer,

    Wishing your father a speedy recovery. Looking forward to meet you on 28th in the hope that all will be well.

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  24. Hi there,
    I need to know how many from amongst those attending are vegetarians and howmany are TT's ?

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  25. Colonel,

    By using TT in your post, you're saying, "Hey, if you are a cryptic crossword solver and don't know what a TT is, you might as well not come to the S&B party", huh. :-)

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  26. Well, I am a V and TT. Was an NV long time back, but now I restrict myself to the literal bheja fry.

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  27. Don't worry Kishore. You are always one to be NV-ied!

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  28. Good one Shyam.

    I am part-time V and convenient TT. :)

    Jokes apart, take me as NV and optional TT.

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  29. Naan Vegetarian. (Read: I am a V, a la Churchill).

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  30. On Richard's lines, I am an optional TT and as some restaurants advertise "Pure Veg".

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  31. Oh boy, so far all V's and optional TT's !!
    By the way optional TT is inconclusive, is the option mine or yours !!

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  32. Muthaiah your statement is misleasding to those not in the Military.
    I wonder why in movies they always show an army person as one who drinks.

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  33. Col

    Are there vegetarians in the Army? Curious to know...

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  34. Deepak,

    Military also will mean NV as you know in TN, most of the NV Hotels call themselves Military Hotel.

    For those who have opted for Optional TT probably they would have opted out of Patiala only,I presume.

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  35. "I wonder why in movies they always show an army person as one who drinks. "

    LOL I didn't know that. I'm sure V + TT can survive in the army without issues.

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  36. One of my relatives from the RIAF/IAF who started off in WWII and retired in the 70s is a pure V and TT, inspite of having served/trained in UK, Russia etc. He still is.

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  37. Shyam @ 14:27,
    Army has nothing to do with being veg or non-veg, there are plenty of vegetarians.

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  38. I am a vegetarian.

    As for the other status, Col. Deepak Gopinath knows it from my two encounters with him, one in his home in Bangalore and the other in my home here in Chennai. I would like to inform my readers that the two encounters were unarmed but elbows were raised some times.
    I might have raised my voice too (my wife says it is natural for me) but the Col is a soft-spoken person. He was the official uncorker in my home, I thoughtfully and instantly providing the necessary implement at the opening ceremony.

    I assure my fellow-invitees that I won't do any necking.

    If you're startled by the above statement, please visit

    http://fifteensquared.net/2010/11/12/financial-times-13541-alberich/

    and see Shuchi's solution to 31a and Comments pertaining to the clue thereunder.

    Alberich's clue for 31a was:

    31 Noisily knocked back a very nice
    drink (6)

    But, there's more to it than meets the eye.

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  39. Kishore
    My father was in RIAF/IAF.
    He was a vegetarian but I don't know what he ate in the officers' mess.
    He used to drink mildly at home but we children then (at least I) did not know what it was except that he became lively while reading English poems to us in those evenings.

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  40. Srinivasan
    Don't you ever say what vegetarian hotels were known by in the young decades after Independence.
    And in those days there was a clear distinction between morning tiffin and evening tiffin.
    In a.m. it was idli, pongal, dosai, vadai.
    In p.m. it was bajji, bonda.
    Now anything goes throughout the day.
    For 'parcels' they used to pack the dish in 'thetcha elai' and wrap it in old newspaper and wind it with thread hanging from its reel at some higher level.
    Now it's aluminium foil, plastic containers and extra charges.

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  41. CV, I remember that they used to wrap up groceries and pongal in Chennai in newspaper folded in conical packs and for loose items like aval, pottu kaDale etc, the pack used to be rotated round its vertical axis to the let the contents settle down.

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  42. Yes, and they used 'sanal kayiru' for holding the paper cone together.
    Who threw the paper away without smoothing it and glancing at the contents (of the bit of paper I mean)?

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  43. And if you were lucky you got a crossword in it ! And if you were very lucky, it would be unfilled.

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  44. And if you were very, very lucky, it would not be that of a certain setter. Or was it blank because it was of that setter?

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  45. CV: I thought of saying that, but restrained myself, not because of feeling it would be unkind, but because in those days, the setter would probably be the Admiral or 'my truly'(concocted usage).

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  46. I presume, of course, and rightly so, that in Chennai, in those days, TH was the newspaper we would probably end up with.

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  47. The conical packs themselves turned out to be a puzzle, since they were not transparent and sometimes one had to guess the contents without opening, keeping in mind the stuff purchased, if only a few of them had to be opened immediately.

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  48. Would the high levels of spirit at the meet result in a "staggering" success? :-)

    Maybe, you guys need to check if CVsir inherited his dad's traits by asking him to read a story. :-)

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  49. Satya
    My father read story poems or poetry to us.
    Even today I quote lines from many of them from memory.
    I can often say in which poem I first came across a particular word.
    Recently a blogger on a UK crossword site said the word 'sere' was new to him. Commenters quoted various sources and I was able to cite my own: Ben Jonson's 'It is not growing like a tree...'
    In college I have read poetry to audience.
    For some weeks I have assembled children in our apartment building complex and read poetry to them.
    One favourite is: 'The Owl Critic'. (Ask Bhargav! I am sure he will quote the burthen.)
    I was familiar with Dover Beach, The Forsaken Merman and other such poems long before I had to read them as precribed text.

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  50. Thank you for sharing that sir. Touching.

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  51. CV sir,

    Your reference to reading Poetry brought to my mind my college days.Eventhough I did Chemistry major,we had to study 2 Shakespeare dramas in full,1 full Poetry book which included Paradise Lost(Book 8, I think). I enjoyed them.
    I do rcall some of the poetries from schooldays such as Miller of the Dee, How they brought the Good News from Ghent to Aix...

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  52. He was the official uncorker...

    if we go by the slang meaning of corker, this would mean...

    And would the consumers be unbottlers ? :-)

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  53. Come on, Kishore!

    Only if I had written 'non-corker' (which I would not have, anyway, as it does not suit the context), it would mean our friend is not a corker, with the word in its slang meaning of "a person who is an example of his kind'.
    I only said "uncorker". Cork: to stop with a cork; corker: one who stops [a bottle] with a cork; uncorker: one who removes the cork.
    I agree we others at S&B would be 'unbottlers' - in the sense of those who empty the contents of a bottle, our 'uncorker' too being one of them.
    Of course, when I used the word 'uncorker' it came without a thought and quite instinctively and instantly.
    And this word 'corker' in its slang meaning, has PGW used it? Quite familiar to me.

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  54. Yup, I am sure PGW has used it, as also 'pippin' when describing the persons, plans and even punches:

    With the help of Google uncle (Today is Children's day) : I find following usages:

    I say, you know, that fellow of yours –Jeeves, you know – is a corker.

    I said that Mabel was a corker

    ... landed what my informant describes as three corkers on his opponent's proboscis.

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  55. Kishore
    Thanks.
    It is amazing how we associate some words with some writers.
    I am glad that my hunch was correct.

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  56. Kishore
    W/o your helpful hint in parantheses, I might not have cottoned on to why you called Google an uncle.

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  57. CV: Well, I ain't broking any pawn with him.

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  58. dear col. deepak,
    i missed the mmet at chennai. i will defenitely make up this time.
    i am occassional n.v and would certainly raise the glass for toast.
    krishnamurthy

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  59. Krishnamurthy
    Trust you have got Contact details and directions. The Col's address is obtainable by clicking on Contact details on this page and I think some directions have been noted in this thread. It will be a pleasure for Bhargav and I as well as others to meet you on this occasion.
    - Rishikesh

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  60. On reading CV sir's comment about the poetry he learned from his father,I was reminded of my experience,which has also been quite a lot,hearing 2 of his all time favourites:"Deserted Village" by Oliver Goldsmith & "Elegy written in a country churchyard"by Thomas Grey.Today,thanks to Google (uncle?)we can get them at the touch of a button.Hereeled them off his memory.

    http://www.blupete.com/Literature/Poetry/Elegy.htm
    The above is a link to the elegy for anyone interested.Just to quote a few lines:

    Full many a gem of purest ray serene
    The dark unfathom'd caves of ocean bear:
    Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,
    And waste its sweetness on the desert air.

    quite interesting thougts!!

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  61. Four cheers to Deepak for organising the meet. (The extra cheer is for my new friend Coco).

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  62. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  63. Missed you, Veer. Hope your father is getting better.

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