General – Simon + Kayar

Twenty Years Ago

On March 19, 2023 By simonkayar In General

It was exactly 20 years back that I had to started to blog online. Just when we finishing college, in 2001, two of my classmates from B.Tech CSE in Pondicherry Engineering College, Siva and Arun, had an idea to create something that will keep us all connected better than the only option available then – yahoomail group. It is funny to think of it now, but back then they were probably on to the first social media idea (along with several others including one Mark Z you could say 🙂 ). But unfortunately their campus placement offers were delayed and …

The Joy of Knowing

On January 18, 2023 By simonkayar In General

From our early times, we have been very curious about the world around us. We tried to make sense of stuff, know and understand it and pass on the knowledge to the next generation. Probably that is how we were able to survive and evolve. Even today, children ask so many questions and are filled with curiosity about everything. But as we grow up, this curiosity is slowly extinguished by the society’s obsession with success measured in units of marks scored. By the time we are adults, we hardly bother to learn or wonder anymore and will laugh at the …

Push or Pull

On September 19, 2022 By simonkayar In General, Life

Imagine you go to a restaurant and as you sit down waiting for the waiter to present you the menu, what if he just places plates of food in front of you instead. You try to oppose and he says we think this food is the best for you. I am willing to bet that you might not like the idea much. So, when was the last time you had decided to watch a movie, searched for it and watched it instead of say launching Netflix, browsing the Trending or suggested movies and seeing one of them. Now, don’t get …

Am ‘I’ doing What ‘I am’ doing

On November 8, 2019 By simonkayar In General, Life

The title might remind you of the “Me talking to me” meme of Nithyananda. But really, when I look around people and myself sometimes, I see that we are a nothing but a bunch of zombies or for the elite among us – under Imperius Curse. No, no – I am not against technology or social media and am not propagating the idea that we should all go back and live in caves. But, next time you do something – anything, just stop a moment and think “Did I decide to do ‘this whatever’ I am doing”. Why and how …

The Abundance Principle

On April 24, 2017 By simonkayar In General

Once a man got lost in a desert. The water in his flask had run out two days ago, and he was on his last legs. He knew that if he didn’t get some water soon, he would surely die. The man saw a small hut ahead of him. He thought it would be a mirage or maybe a hallucination, but having no other option, he moved toward it. As he got closer, he realized it was quite real. So he dragged his tired body to the door with the last of his strength. The hut was not occupied and …

Jayalalitha – The Iron Woman of Politics

On December 6, 2016 By simonkayar In General

[This was originally published in Bangalore Mirror on 6th Dec, written by AR Venkatachalapathy] In 1981, a Tamil film titled Aaniver was released. A lowercaste girl from a village clears the UPSC examination and becomes a collector. But her childhood sweetheart and husband is illiterate, creating considerable difficulties as the girl tries to perform her social and official roles. Unable the resolve this tension, in melodramatic fashion, she resigns from the civil services to play a dutiful role as the conventional wife. A nondescript film by any standards, I remember it for a review published in the now-defunct weekly Idhayam Pesigirathu. Feminism …

Jumbo Circus

On May 5, 2016 By simonkayar In General

Going to a circus has become a rare event. The last time a Circus team came to bangalore was in 2008 and prior to that in 1999. Even I haven’t been to one since I was a child. So when the chance came for us to visit it close to our home, I wanted to make sure that we didn’t miss it. My daughter was also very interested and so were her cousins on vacation visit. The tickets were priced at 100, 200 and 300. I wanted to encourage the team by buing the 300 Rs tickets but didn’t know …

What do we teach our kids

On June 26, 2015 By simonkayar In General

Today morning near BTM, there was this school bus full of children. It was behind me and near the A2B stop the signal turned red. I stopped but was almost hit from behind by this bus. Not only that, the driver started honking trying to push me to skip the signal. I didn’t budge and also took the pic of the bus Funny thing is that the moto written in the bus “Life’s lessons start at Treamis”

Trying out GoDaddy Hosting

On October 11, 2013 By simonkayar In General

Moved my site from freehostia to godaddy. The domain name changes surprisingly took just 30 mins. I backed up my site there, exported and imported into goDaddy all in under 5 minutes. The photos and some media are missing but there were missing even in the old host. I need to review the speed of goDaddy. I think it should do fine.

10 Years and on…

On April 29, 2013 By simonkayar In General

It was 10 years back when as part of a blogging community called ‘Tabulas’ I had started to blog. A short analysis reveals that I blog a lot in blocks mostly when on official travel outside India (I get loads of free time). They also mimic my professional life’s load. For me a blog is a digital diary with an option of exposing certain pages – the public pages. I have more private posts in this blog than public ones. What do I do with them. There is nothing so funny as to go back and read your own posts …