Ripples In A Teacup

  I’m in Montpellier, Southern France, for a month, to attend an intensive French language immersion course at the Accent Francais . I have classes five days a week, 3:15 hours a day on Mondays and Fridays and 4:45 hours on Tuesday, Wednesdays and Thursdays. I stay with a landlady who speaks only French. Weekends are mine and yesterday, I rented a bicycle for the day (paying € 15 for the pleasure) and cycled in and around Montpellier for around five hours. I found it very easy to cycle in Montpellier. Though I am used to cycling on the left and out here I have to cycle on the right, I found the going very smooth. There are cycling lanes everywhere and even if there isn’t a cycling path, bicycles are treated like any other vehicle on the road. I followed the traffic signals like every other driver on the road and felt very safe.  I had lunch at an open air restaurant, with my bicycle propped up against a nearby railing. I returned my cycle at 6:30 pm and walked back to my flat. A co

  As I continue my ‘ enseignement francais’ , one of the things that has piqued my interest (and immense frustration) is the ‘faux amis’. ‘ Faux amis’  literally means "fake friends", but here we are talking of ‘ mot français’ or French words and there’s nothing to watch your back out for.  Just like the real things, they pounce on you when you least suspect it.  Let me explain. Since French and English are closely related languages within the Indo-European language family, both having derived from Latin, there are many words in French which more less have the same meaning in English. For example, words like Constellation, Danser, Accompagner, Quart, Ancien, Long, Large, Voyager, Musicien, Docteur, Ingénieur, Entrer and Chercher mean more or less what they mean in English. So, one tends to think that when faced with a word which seems to have an equivalent in English, the meaning will be the same. That’s where the ‘ faux amis ’ warning has relevance. What do you thin

I’m now in Kerala for a week with my grandparents who live in a village called Mundakayam. Mundakayam is a ninety minute drive from Kottayam town and is at the eastern periphery of Kottayam district. The road from Kottayam to Mundakayam is called KK Road , the KK for “Kottayam – Kumaly” and old milestones marking the distance are still in vogue. Places enroute KK Road are carry the names of the  milestones. So, Mundakayam is the 33 rd Mile (from Kottayam) and where we live is actually the 31 st Mile. Ask someone where they live and pat comes the reply: “Muppathi-Onne” or “Thirty One”. Go past Mundakayam (the 33 rd Mile) for a kilometre or so, cross the bridge across the Manimala River and you’ll be in Idukki District and rubber plantations give way to tea. The bridge across the Manimala River Every time I am in Kerala, I am reminded of how beautiful it is . Possibly the most beautiful tropical place I have ever visited, even counting Goa. Where we live, we are surrounded by the

As a budding/wannabe software engineer, I am fascinated by AI, though it is very likely that hundreds of thousands of software engineers may become redundant on account of AI. An open letter —signed by Elon Musk and over 1,000 others with knowledge, power, and influence in the tech space—calls for the halt to all “giant AI experiments” for six months. According Musk et. al: AI systems with human-competitive intelligence can pose profound risks to society and humanity; Contemporary AI systems are now becoming human-competitive at general tasks and could flood our information channels with propaganda and untruth, make it possible to   automate away all jobs, including the fulfilling ones;  Nonhuman minds might eventually outnumber, outsmart, obsolete and replace humans; Powerful AI systems should be developed only once humans are confident that their effects will be positive and their risks will be manageable; AI labs and independent experts should use the 6-month pause to jointly develo

  In India, one can’t help notice the strays that prowl our streets. One finds them everywhere. Not just dogs, but also cats. I am partial to cats (I have two at home), but love dogs too. I feed stray cats a lot. I sometimes carry food with me to feed stray cats. I have never gone out of my way to feed a stray dog, but perfectly understand why some would do so. However, let’s admit, India has a stray dog problem on its hands. On February 19, 2023, a four year old child was mauled to death in Hyderabad by stray dogs. In Delhi, a few weeks ago, two small children were mauled to death by stray dogs . What’s the solution? I would hate to see any stray dog being killed. However, we can’t allow feral strays to kill small children. In Mumbai where I live, stray dogs are not a big problem, at least in my experience. The Mumbai municipal corporation has innovative plans for sterilizing stray dogs . Kerala, where I have my roots, has a big problem with stray dogs .  This CNN report highlights

  My board exams got over a few days back and life is slowly returning to normal. No more late nights or early mornings (for studies), no more cramming, no more anxiety, no more last minute panic attacks and trepidation. Once again, I start cycling in the mornings (for which I don’t mind waking up early), watching movies (for which I don’t mind staying up late), reading books and blogging. Hold on, I’m headed towards my 11 th and 12 th standards and there are more exams looming in the distant horizon. However, for the next couple of months, I am going to have fun.