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The advent of the computer ushered into the common lexicon of English many new words from 'software' to 'Silicon Valley'.
Sometime in the 1980s, I overheard some geek at IIT KGP say: 'user-friendly'. And I loved the word.
But every teacher can be user-friendly to his students. That is, no student should ever be scared of his teacher to ask relevant questions either in the classroom or outside. I was acutely aware of this since I studied at a university where all my teachers, without exception, had been standoffish. And I disliked them for it.
Coming to things that I find user-friendly, the cake goes to the match box. When I was a chain smoker during the 1960s, several stylish cigarette-lighters came into the market but all of them sank without a trace. The humble match box survived. So too with the gas-lighters of our kitchen stoves. I am never happy with them. Most of them emit some sparks trying to set the leaking gas on fire. But I never learned the trick to use them. Often, I don't know why, I get a mini-shock from their bodies. So it is back to the good old match box for me.
And match sticks can be fun pieces in setting up models and puzzles. Try this hackneyed one:
"Using just 6 match sticks, make 4 equilateral triangles"
Next thing I find most user-friendly is the Cello Benz ball pen. My struggles went on with slate-pencils to lead pencils to fountain pens to ball pens. I never found any brand to my entire liking. Several friends gifted me Parker Fountain Pens and Ball Pens but I found them useless despite Amitabhjee. And the Parker things used to cost anything upwards of Rs 120. I was also gifted several Japanese and Chinese pens.
Ultimately, 5 years back, I went to a shopkeeper in Hyderabad who stores all sorts of stationary items and soon became friendly to me. And I asked him for a pen he himself uses for his kids. And he produced a Cello Benz ball pen with a metallic body in a fancy box. And I thought it would cost at least Rs 100. But he took only Rs 35 and my joy knew no bounds. This particular ball pen has a tip that is practically indestructible...ask Ishani. I always carry one in my pocket and keep at least a couple in my book rack as spares.
For about 4 years before my marriage in 1979, I was staying alone in Qrs C1-97 at IIT KGP. I never have breakfast, so that was no problem. But lunch was. There were no good eateries then in the campus. And I had just an hour and half for lunch break. So I used to rush home and cook just one curry and rice on my gas stove, take my bath, eat, and rush back.
And I found brinjal (eggplant) the easiest and fastest to cook...very user-friendly. Just take a giant-sized eggplant, slice it into small pieces, dump them in boiling oil and wait for just five minutes. Add salt and chilli powder and the curry is ready. And it is delicious too. In the evenings I used to have a couple of rotis and curry in the Annapoorna restaurant by the side of the TSG Lake. On my way back I would peep into the Tech Market and our regular veg vendor, Balai Babu, used to shove an eggplant into my shoulder-bag for next day's lunch. It went on and on...
There are dozens of varieties of eggplants in the Indian market. The best I ever ate were those at Jalgaon in Maharashtra. They were tiny green chaps. Just cut them into two and fry them. Their specialty was that they retained their shape outwardly and looked like deep-fried paneer (cheese pieces). But they simply melted in the mouth.
Eggplant used to be such a delicacy in our homes in AP in our childhood that Father used to recite a popular 4-lined poem in appreciation of their curry whenever it was served to us. And about five years back I tried to recall that poem. But could only remember the first 2 lines. And I was going crazy not getting the other two. I tried to make them up myself but without relish.
This morning I woke up with those first 2 lines humming in my head and I was again going crazy. Then I Googled for it and got the entire poem. Here it is:
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The advent of the computer ushered into the common lexicon of English many new words from 'software' to 'Silicon Valley'.
Sometime in the 1980s, I overheard some geek at IIT KGP say: 'user-friendly'. And I loved the word.
For, I was looking for a word to describe the ideal relation of a teacher to his students. A teacher can hardly be a friend to his students, unless they happen to be more or less the same age. Of all the thousands of students I taught, only one wrote:
"Sir also has been a great friend..."
And this crazy chap was my son's generation...
Coming to things that I find user-friendly, the cake goes to the match box. When I was a chain smoker during the 1960s, several stylish cigarette-lighters came into the market but all of them sank without a trace. The humble match box survived. So too with the gas-lighters of our kitchen stoves. I am never happy with them. Most of them emit some sparks trying to set the leaking gas on fire. But I never learned the trick to use them. Often, I don't know why, I get a mini-shock from their bodies. So it is back to the good old match box for me.
And match sticks can be fun pieces in setting up models and puzzles. Try this hackneyed one:
"Using just 6 match sticks, make 4 equilateral triangles"
Next thing I find most user-friendly is the Cello Benz ball pen. My struggles went on with slate-pencils to lead pencils to fountain pens to ball pens. I never found any brand to my entire liking. Several friends gifted me Parker Fountain Pens and Ball Pens but I found them useless despite Amitabhjee. And the Parker things used to cost anything upwards of Rs 120. I was also gifted several Japanese and Chinese pens.
Ultimately, 5 years back, I went to a shopkeeper in Hyderabad who stores all sorts of stationary items and soon became friendly to me. And I asked him for a pen he himself uses for his kids. And he produced a Cello Benz ball pen with a metallic body in a fancy box. And I thought it would cost at least Rs 100. But he took only Rs 35 and my joy knew no bounds. This particular ball pen has a tip that is practically indestructible...ask Ishani. I always carry one in my pocket and keep at least a couple in my book rack as spares.
For about 4 years before my marriage in 1979, I was staying alone in Qrs C1-97 at IIT KGP. I never have breakfast, so that was no problem. But lunch was. There were no good eateries then in the campus. And I had just an hour and half for lunch break. So I used to rush home and cook just one curry and rice on my gas stove, take my bath, eat, and rush back.
And I found brinjal (eggplant) the easiest and fastest to cook...very user-friendly. Just take a giant-sized eggplant, slice it into small pieces, dump them in boiling oil and wait for just five minutes. Add salt and chilli powder and the curry is ready. And it is delicious too. In the evenings I used to have a couple of rotis and curry in the Annapoorna restaurant by the side of the TSG Lake. On my way back I would peep into the Tech Market and our regular veg vendor, Balai Babu, used to shove an eggplant into my shoulder-bag for next day's lunch. It went on and on...
There are dozens of varieties of eggplants in the Indian market. The best I ever ate were those at Jalgaon in Maharashtra. They were tiny green chaps. Just cut them into two and fry them. Their specialty was that they retained their shape outwardly and looked like deep-fried paneer (cheese pieces). But they simply melted in the mouth.
Eggplant used to be such a delicacy in our homes in AP in our childhood that Father used to recite a popular 4-lined poem in appreciation of their curry whenever it was served to us. And about five years back I tried to recall that poem. But could only remember the first 2 lines. And I was going crazy not getting the other two. I tried to make them up myself but without relish.
This morning I woke up with those first 2 lines humming in my head and I was again going crazy. Then I Googled for it and got the entire poem. Here it is:
Meaning:
Eggplant-like curry
Lotus-faced Seetha-like lady
Shankar-like deity
And Lankapati-enemy-like King
....Can we ever find?
And I must add to the above list of inimitables:
"Google-like Search-Engine"
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2 comments:
Some more match box trick:
Make Ten out of 9 match sticks from 9 without breaking !
OR
Make four out of 3 sticks without breaking !
One of my students, (Prof) Chandralekha Singh, had found me so user-friendly that she instituted a Student Excellence Award in my name at IIT Kharagpur the other day, 30 years after we parted.
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