The Blah Blahs and the Yada Yadas

“Everything that can be invented has been invented” - said the US patent office commissioner in 1899. And over the past century, people have been burying that statement in an avalanche of inventions… around 100,000 inventions on an annual basis. You GOTTA stop and wonder - 100, 000??? Really? What are these guys inventing, for [...]

It never ceases to amaze me how you can find people with radically different problems in life. And life, in its infinite wisdom, chooses to scatter its resources rather unjustly. Bloke A may be running through life looking for something; the same stuff that bloke B might be throwing away by the bucketloads. For example, [...]

It was time. No threatening work looming over my head, an increasing pile of messy junk cluttering my room, and an artificially extended weekend for me to cool off. It was time to tip my hat off to Bangalore for a while and pop by the ol’ ancestral abode back down south in Cochin.
Of course, [...]

Scott Adams didn’t paint a rosy picture when he depicted accounting personnel as trolls. Now I love Adams’ work. In fact, I could frequently be found rolling on the floor after reading his material. Yet, I used to say I had never found any justification for this scandalous portrayal. But that was because I didn’t [...]

For a long time, I was living under the delusion that I was , if not a neatness freak, at least intolerant of living in dumpsters. But looking at the mess I leave behind in every room I could lay my hands on, I have to face the ugly truth… Even when I wrote Movers [...]

Wedding bells chimed… metaphorically, of course. Crowds cheered, drinks emptied, cameras clicked, and speeches given. Another joyous occasion. And no, I am still safe, sound, and blissfully single. The wedding was of my prodigious cousin, Roshan Francis, and my multi-talented friend, Ashika Sharma. Wrongly rumored to be next in line, and the clear target for [...]

I’m moving.
Yes, moving… shifting house… migrating… changing horses … jumping ship… altering my housing supplier. Some of you may be thinking of jumping up and down in joyous exuberance, while others might be crying deep within. While I protest more vehemently towards the first group, BOTH reactions are quite unwarranted in this case. I’m not [...]

It’s not everyone who can hold a drink. And no, I’m not talking about the fading art of balancing the wine glass. I was talking about the less literal, more common, and definitely more fun ritual most of our town toast to. Some people have iron, rust-proof chambers in their stomach that keeps them sober [...]

Regular readers of this site would know of the cold war and subsequent status quo between Hamish and his relatives over the quest for marital bliss. For those who came in late, I am at a stage in life where I put up trenches and shout “hold your fort” to imaginary comrades in the vain [...]

Those who know Hamish Joy are qualified to testify under oath - “Hammy? Oh, he’s Christian, I think, but he’s not really that religious, if you know what I mean.” Sure, I say ‘God’ and ‘Jesus Christ’, pretty often, but it is more frequently used as stress busting expressions than actual words of prayer. And [...]