Simon + Kayar – Page 2 – life, dreams & passions..

The Cost of Happiness

On November 4, 2022 By simonkayar In Life

Just as a fun pass time activity, I have always wondered how to measure the cost associated with our happiness. My theory is that we first need to have “Happiness Points” ranging from 0 to 100 for each of our experience / feeling / product etc. The points can range between 0, which brings you no happiness at all to a maximum of 100 meaning a great ecstasy of happiness that you can revisit again and again. This point system should consider every form of happiness that you derive out of the thing under condideration. Let’s take an example to …

Mani’s Ponniyin Selvan – the Movie

On October 31, 2022 By simonkayar In Movies

As a huge fan of the books, I was anticipating that it would be made into a movie someday, right after I finished reading it in the early 1990s. Even back then Maniratnam was trying to do it with Kamal Hassan and Rajnikanth (what a treat that would have been). After that whenever the rumour resurfaced, I was always ready for the ensuing disappointment. In 2020, when I heard the news that Mani had started shooting it rekindled the fire only to be put off by Corona news few months later. But Mani was a patient sculptor I guess and …

Ponniyin Selvan – Books

On October 29, 2022 By simonkayar In Books

During one of my annual school holidays (probably 8th or 9th) my father got me the full set of 5 books of Ponniyin Selvan. I have heard him talk about it earlier but I never thought I would read them. I started with the first book, first chapter and Kalki’s writing took hold of me till I finished the full set within the holidays. I ended up skipping cricket some days to finish an interesting part of the book. Even my parents were amused that I was sitting with the books all day long. There is a kind of simplicity …

My First Gaming Laptop – Dell G15 5520

On October 23, 2022 By simonkayar In Tech

I was using the Macbook Air M1 for the past 2 years and loved it for its build, battery, speed and ease of use being almost like an iPad with keyboard. It was amazing value for money but I encountered couple of issues – I was not able to play my favorite game “Age of Empires” which got a definitive edition upgrade and had to borrow my wife’s windows laptop to try it. Also whenever we worked together and shared MS Word files, the alignment would be off. Thankfully my good friends Joe and Sushma showed interest in the Macbook …

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 …

Hamta Pass Trek

On September 15, 2022 By simonkayar In Tours and Trips

Sometimes, things happen in strange ways which might make you believe in dreamy stuff like destiny. Two months back a casual read of a LinkedIn mail lead me to chatting with an old classmate who promptly added me to a WhatsApp school group. I was not aware of the existence of this group and added my best friend from school to it as well. Shortly they were discussing a trek there and I ignored as usual as treks especially those with overnight camping was never my thing. There was a little push from them and when I looked into it …

Windows 11 on Macbook Air M1

On July 31, 2022 By simonkayar In Tech

So, after 1.5 years with the MAC, I need to be fair and list the pros and cons without a buyer’s bias and also some recent probing I did to solve some of the cons. Pros The build quality is top notch and has not shown any signs of wear and tear. The full metallic finish and the clickety keyboards are just as much fun as the first day The fanless build and a brilliant battery life are still a great plus and unlike say a Dell which by now would have started reducing in battery life, this one is …

Sapiens – Yuval Noah Harari

On March 22, 2022 By simonkayar In Books

I love reading books and have been aided by numerous others in the internet on what could be a good book . It is only fair that I on my part provide some info on the books that I have read and aid (if any) who comes looking for them Sapiens is easily one of the top 10 books that I would recommend. It might even be one of the top 5. When I think about it, there is no one single reason why I would recommend it but on the whole it is one entertaining package. I think spoilers …

Audiobooks – the magic spell for Bangalore traffic

On March 21, 2022 By simonkayar In Books

Believe it or not, I am one of those fortunate ones that still drives back and forth to office without hitting a single traffic light intersection. There are several junctions but none with red light countdowns. Inspite of this, as any Bangalorean would freely attest, pre-corona days, driving within city is something that very few would curse even on our worst enemies – you see humanity is still alive. I think it is a possible theory that some grandfather of BBPM director left behind a clue for a treasure in one of the roads. They seem to be always digging …

Living a Deep Life

On February 26, 2022 By simonkayar In Life

So, I was wondering how shallow most of the time we are with whatever it is that we are doing. It is like we are under an imperius curse and chug along as it takes us. Technically we are not to be blamed as most of us are just helpless preys of a life style pushed on to us by others with different motivations. When was the last time you did something deep, like with complete focus and attention, without anything or anybody disturbing you or vying for your attention every few minutes. If you had answered the above question …