An extraordinary scene was orchestrated in the White House. Lights in the Oval Office were dimmed to show video clippings of purported genocide against whites to South African President Ramaphosa. Right in front of the television cameras, unfounded accusations were hurled at the visiting dignitary. The shameful spectacle was reminiscent of Ukrainian President Zelensky’s February visit, when he was humiliated in a similar fashion in the full glare of TV cameras.
Goof-ups that left me red-faced
Thanks to predictive and auto-correct features in smart phones, texting is much easier and faster. While the former assists by suggesting words that you may intend typing, the latter takes command in its own hand to automatically correct a supposed typing error. However, auto- correct doesn’t always work as intended. There are goofups when phone’s software decides to change a normal text into something very different .You may get ‘corrections’ that are incorrect. While some autocorrect blunders, like changing ‘desert’ into ‘dessert’ can be amusing, others, such as turning ‘meeting’ into ‘mating’ and substituting ‘therapist’ with ‘the rapist’ are appalling.
A random memory flashes back
Setting curd before winding up the kitchen at night has been a part of my daily routine for decades. In winters, as temperatures fall the task becomes daunting. I try to follow my mom-in law’s golden rule for the perfect curd: mix a little curd thoroughly into sufficiently warm milk and wrap the milk bowl in layers of covering depending upon warmth that you require for yourself. However, the fact remains setting curd to the right taste and texture is tricky. I remain apprehensive about the outcome.
A social media post and the lessons learnt
There is nothing exceptional about getting a text message from a student on Teachers’ Day. These days it’s quite common for the students to wish their teachers on social media. But this message, posted by an old student on my Facebook timeline, was different- the first of its kind. It was neither a greeting nor a ‘thank you’ note but the ventilation of pent up anger and grouse held against me for over a decade. Continue reading “A social media post and the lessons learnt”
Conversing in comfort
“You always speak in Hindi, while your husband converses with you in Punjabi.” I looked at my friend in disbelief when she pointed out . Months into my marriage, I was blissfully unaware of the anomaly that we were conversing in two different languages, speaking with each other in our own comfort language, a lingo that the other person was conversant with. Continue reading “Conversing in comfort”
