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And then there was this cute incident at IIT KGP. One of our colleagues had a Japanese Guest, Prof Kao, as a Visiting Prof for a day or two to his lab. Prof Kao was fairly proficient in Spoken English. And towards the end of his visit, he was taken to our then HoD's Office for a formal couple of minutes farewell.
And as soon as Prof Kao took his seat, our HoD asked him:
"Do you have my book 'Physics of Rare Earths' in the Central Library of your University in Japan?"
Upon which Prof Kao bowed charmingly and switched to a couple of sentences of fluent Japanese...
And everyone around got fabulous cool drinks offered by our HoD (from Departmental Funds).
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Last year I had a couple of phone calls from IIT KGP, from unknown numbers, a good half a dozen years after I left the place for good.
Somehow or other the student organizers of its Annual Tech Fest, Kshitiz, got my cell phone number. And then it was a typical case of Chinese Whispers.
The caller announced his name and asked me if I was P. G. Sastry. And I said, 'more or less'. And he said he got my details from so and such and got to know that I am a KGPian owning a Tech Firm in Hyderabad. And he wanted me to be a sponsor of their Tech Fest.
And I had to sadly disappoint him saying that I am a KGPian alright, having a hard-won Ph D from there under my belt, but right now I am a poor pensioner and not a Tech Tycoon. Upon which he was scared that I would stretch my palm for finances to see me through the month, the price of onions having hit the roof...
And he banged his phone down.
A week later I got a call from another number going:
"Is it P. G. Sastry? Bla bla bla..."
I thought that should be the end of it.
But after a month, during the Durga Pujas, there was another call from a female voice identifying herself as a second year student at IIT KGP. And the usual:
"Is it P. G. Sastry?"
And she said she was calling from Abids in Hyderabad and wanted to meet me asking to know my home address. And I asked her if it was about a sponsorship of their Tech Fest. And she said yes. And I said she was welcome to visit me but her long trip to the other end of Hyderabad would be futile.
And then I said:
"Actually I am not P. G. Sastry but G. P. Sastry"
And then she asked charmingly:
"Sir, are you the author of the Lecture Notes for First Years with R. S. Saraswat?"
That got my head swollen like a pumpkin.
"Why, yes...Is my book still being followed at KGP?"
"Oh, yes, sir...it was our prescribed text last year"
I was then wise enough not to ask her if she bought a copy, if she read it, if she liked it...
The phone went dead at the other end...
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A couple of days back I got this mail that delighted me no end...Blogger's weakness:
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Thank you boss! That made my day!!!
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Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Blogger's Illusion
His next blog,
The whole world
Awaiteth
With bated breath
The whole world
Awaiteth
With bated breath
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...Ivor Lewellyn was there talking to the reporters about Ideals and the Future of the Screen. The members of the All-England Ladies' Hockey Team were there, saying good-bye to friends and relations before embarking on their tour of the United States. Ambrose Tennyson, the novelist, was there, asking the bookstall clerk if he had anything by Ambrose Tennyson...
...PGW in The Luck of the Bodkins
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---I never saw an author in my life --- saving perhaps, one --- that did not purr as audibly as a full-grown domestic cat (Felis Catus, Linn.) on having his fur smoothed in the right way by a skillful hand...
...Autocrat of the Breakfast Table
...I had started writing, mostly under the influence of events occurring around me and in the style of any writer who was uppermost in my mind at the time. My father had lost a dear friend, which affected him deeply. Moved by his sorrow, I wrote ten pages of an outpouring entitled "Friendship" very nearly echoing the lamentations of "Adonais" but in a flamboyant poetic prose. I read this aloud to my younger brother Seenu, who could always be counted upon to utter encouraging words, but I hid it from my elder brother, whose critical sense I feared; and I read my piece also to a few close select friends, who were prepared to walk with me to Kukanahalli Tank, since I always carried my composition in my pocket. Whenever I could afford it, I gave them a cup of coffee at a restaurant on Hundred Feet Road. The cup of coffee blunted the listeners' critical faculties and made them declare my work a masterpiece...
...RKN in My Days
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In 1957, at 13, I left my Muthukur cocoon, once and for all, and went to the small town, Nidubrole, for my 1-year stint of Pre-University Course.
My Shakespeare Uncle, GVS, had just then joined there as the Principal of the rural college after his retirement in Nellore. And I was living for that year in his house. During that entire year, we exchanged hardly 100 sentences...he was my Principal, English Teacher and Guardian. And he was properly aloof. But I used to browse his home library and discovered that he wrote a booklet titled: 'Songs and Sonnets', and I was overawed...Uncle is an AUTHOR!!!
And later on I went to the University at Vizagh for my B Sc (Hons) and M Sc. And after a couple of years stay with my MD Uncle, two of my sisters and I shifted to a tiny rented house to pursue our various studies.
During that period GVS used to visit our University at Vizagh on official work and preferred to stay with us for a day or two. By then we became friends. He had just then published another booklet titled: 'Love's Fulfillment and Other Poems'. And carried copies of it for distribution as sweeteners to higher-ups at the University.
And after dinner, he would lie down on the floor like us, and bring out a copy of his booklet and ask me to read it aloud, with my erudite comments. It was embarrassing to me since I had no ear for poetry other than bawdy limericks, had no reading voice, and was too shy to pass comments. But I knew he was a generous tipper and the tip would be directly proportional to the appreciation I give him...emoting the poems and praising their form and content.
And I guess I did a fairly good job of it...once I walked away with a fabulous Rs 100 note.
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And then there was this cute incident at IIT KGP. One of our colleagues had a Japanese Guest, Prof Kao, as a Visiting Prof for a day or two to his lab. Prof Kao was fairly proficient in Spoken English. And towards the end of his visit, he was taken to our then HoD's Office for a formal couple of minutes farewell.
And as soon as Prof Kao took his seat, our HoD asked him:
"Do you have my book 'Physics of Rare Earths' in the Central Library of your University in Japan?"
And everyone around got fabulous cool drinks offered by our HoD (from Departmental Funds).
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
Last year I had a couple of phone calls from IIT KGP, from unknown numbers, a good half a dozen years after I left the place for good.
Somehow or other the student organizers of its Annual Tech Fest, Kshitiz, got my cell phone number. And then it was a typical case of Chinese Whispers.
The caller announced his name and asked me if I was P. G. Sastry. And I said, 'more or less'. And he said he got my details from so and such and got to know that I am a KGPian owning a Tech Firm in Hyderabad. And he wanted me to be a sponsor of their Tech Fest.
And I had to sadly disappoint him saying that I am a KGPian alright, having a hard-won Ph D from there under my belt, but right now I am a poor pensioner and not a Tech Tycoon. Upon which he was scared that I would stretch my palm for finances to see me through the month, the price of onions having hit the roof...
And he banged his phone down.
A week later I got a call from another number going:
"Is it P. G. Sastry? Bla bla bla..."
I thought that should be the end of it.
But after a month, during the Durga Pujas, there was another call from a female voice identifying herself as a second year student at IIT KGP. And the usual:
"Is it P. G. Sastry?"
And she said she was calling from Abids in Hyderabad and wanted to meet me asking to know my home address. And I asked her if it was about a sponsorship of their Tech Fest. And she said yes. And I said she was welcome to visit me but her long trip to the other end of Hyderabad would be futile.
And then I said:
"Actually I am not P. G. Sastry but G. P. Sastry"
And then she asked charmingly:
"Sir, are you the author of the Lecture Notes for First Years with R. S. Saraswat?"
That got my head swollen like a pumpkin.
"Why, yes...Is my book still being followed at KGP?"
"Oh, yes, sir...it was our prescribed text last year"
I was then wise enough not to ask her if she bought a copy, if she read it, if she liked it...
The phone went dead at the other end...
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
A couple of days back I got this mail that delighted me no end...Blogger's weakness:
Dear Sir,
I
hope you are doing well. I am one of the (probably) tens or hundreds
that read your blog. I was in Section 5 in 2003-2004 and you taught us
physics in the Spring of 2004. While I found your classes (the ones I
attended, about 70-75% maybe) interesting, I came to know a lot more
about you through your blog.
Because
of the rate at which you write, I have to admit I have not read most of
the posts. But I have found some of them really interesting because of
the trivia in them: just today I came to know about Thacker's and Tikka's and Harry's, or because of some inspirational writing: Learning Curve, your love for languages, and some really touching posts, like Celebrating Death...
...I am actually quite happy and proud of the fact that a
professor of Physics cares so much about languages and writes witty
posts about the gaining popularity of SMS 'language' and about Blogaches (the
picture really made my day), specially in present times when reading
and writing (good coherent articles) are on the decline (at least
amongst people of my generation). I wish more power to your elbow and I
hope you keep writing (and that I catch up some day).
Sincerely
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Thank you boss! That made my day!!!
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