tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-282062602011-07-31T02:46:53.306+02:00A.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00087663457150317651noreply@blogger.comBlogger381100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28206260.post-10044749949394420322008-02-18T11:19:00.005+01:002008-02-18T12:24:47.990+01:00

A few years ago, I had met an interesting guy called Oliver on the internet. We met up one evening and had fantastic conversation. We never met up again, despite my attempts. Last night he told me that it was because that meeting convinced him that this would lead to more than just a simple friendship or simple fun, and he wasn't ready for a relationship.How utterly stupid!Oliver is a very

A.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00087663457150317651noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28206260.post-39660222321028273852008-02-14T19:25:00.013+01:002008-02-15T08:36:39.248+01:00

The Viennese winter is very happening: it is the ball season. Last year I had been to the BOKU Ball organized at the Hofburg palace by the Agriculture University of Vienna; and this year Fabien and I checked out the Regenbogen Ball ("Rainbow Ball") a queer ball at a hotel near the Schönbrunn Palace. Last's year's trip was from the lab-- a kind of leaving party of my colleague, Dieter, who was

A.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00087663457150317651noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28206260.post-6062176840023368792008-02-12T21:14:00.005+01:002008-02-13T10:33:22.975+01:00

No, my dear blog readers, I still haven't abandoned you. It's been ages since I've posted. My inseparable companion Mme Procrastination is to blame. There's a lot that's been happening and so I should have had a lot to blog about. But then that's where the overwhelming influence of Mme P. brings about postponements.Anyways, I'll try to at least complete this post and hopefully this make me resume

A.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00087663457150317651noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28206260.post-9988575856635804892007-08-22T01:06:00.001+02:002008-02-12T17:51:30.228+01:00

What's in a name? That what we call a roseBy any other name would smell as sweet.claimed Bernard Shaw.Ha! I hear you clicking your tongue at my ignorance, muttering, "That was Shakespeare, you fool!" Don't worry, I know the quotation very well, and I always deliberately misattribute it because I want to make precisely this point: names are indeed (often) very important!There are several examples

A.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00087663457150317651noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28206260.post-68082140771871164182007-02-06T01:23:00.006+01:002011-05-15T19:50:47.327+02:00

I had never heard of Guy Nègre and his company Moteur Developpment International until tonight when I read a Times of India article about the Tatas collaborating with them. It is fascinating-- Nègre has designed an engine that produces momentum by releasing compressed air instead of using combustion of fossil fuels as in other engines! And these air powered engines would be running cars. A huge

A.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00087663457150317651noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28206260.post-13853410362695639292007-01-23T01:30:00.004+01:002011-05-15T19:58:55.983+02:00

No really, the weather... I do want to talk about the weather. In fact I was talking about it in another group-blog where one was supposed to talk about anything in an open thread and I blabbered about the weather, and then realized it wasn't quite the nonsense I'd intended to post, so I thought why not copy-paste it in my own blog. With some modifications. I thought spring had followed after a

A.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00087663457150317651noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28206260.post-7362208797221242942007-01-22T21:57:00.001+01:002008-02-18T11:08:05.915+01:00

We are friends with our friends not merely because we are fond of them, but also because we get along with them, find them interesting, can have great conversations with them, can gel with them, can trust them, can open up to them, and so on. Most importantly, in most cases our wavelenghts match, even though we may have serious disagreements.Now what happens when these friends have partners or

A.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00087663457150317651noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28206260.post-13197960269820297992007-01-21T18:44:00.007+01:002011-05-15T19:43:46.540+02:00

On an internet forum, someone had posted links to the late Nishit Saran's film, Summer in My Veins (1999) on YouTube. I had been wanting to watch this since years, but never managed to locate a copy or be near film festivals that screened it. So understandably I was thrilled to find these links.I had read about Nishit's film soon after moving to Germany-- during the period I was coming to terms

A.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00087663457150317651noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28206260.post-2999790114732563092006-11-03T23:59:00.000+01:002007-08-21T23:35:54.273+02:00

There was some mild snow yesterday, but it started snowing quite heavily around noon today and continued for a few hours. A mere week ago, we had warm weather... upto 16°C, then then last Sunday late afternoon while I was at Sharron's there was a hailstorm, and the next day the temperature dropped. The last couple of days have been really cold, and today has been particularly so. Temperatures

A.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00087663457150317651noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28206260.post-27668126408274539732006-10-29T08:48:00.000+01:002007-08-21T23:37:29.233+02:00

This is a really overdue post. So much has been happening in the past few weeks, and I have really been slack at posting. This one is particularly overdue-- I had visited Paris a month ago. We had this conference on our group's direct area of research in Paris and the whole lab (excluding the techincian) went. Anton was an invited speaker, and Karen gave a talk, and the rest of us presented

A.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00087663457150317651noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28206260.post-85444564588623357882006-10-21T09:39:00.000+02:002007-08-21T23:38:42.767+02:00

Vienna Lit is a new organization in Vienna that, in their own words, aims to provide a platform for live literature and the spoken word in English. They had organized a series of events a week ago, from Thursday through Saturday. These included four writing workshops (plus one for children) at the British Council. I attended all of them, and though I was disappointed that these workshops focussed

A.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00087663457150317651noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28206260.post-1160415412887439802006-10-18T00:08:00.000+02:002007-08-21T23:41:23.651+02:00

I have been tagged. It has been quite a while, but I have been busy with this and that and as you see, I haven't been posting since three weeks. Which is a pity, as there is certainly a lot to blog about.I am not a very social blogger, i.e., although I do browse other people's blogs and follow quite a few of these... I'm not big into leaving comments and developing friendships with bloggers. I do

A.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00087663457150317651noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28206260.post-1159392649822706892006-09-27T22:08:00.000+02:002007-08-21T23:42:54.362+02:00

As happens so often in the blogosphere, I came across another blog today and realized that I had missed out on a very interesting and important piece of news. The Paris trip last week is to blame for my being out of touch with the internet, and hence news in general. Anyways, a large number of prominent personalities led by Vikram Seth have signed an open letter to the Indian government, the

A.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00087663457150317651noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28206260.post-1159281005250505002006-09-26T16:20:00.000+02:002007-08-21T23:44:44.992+02:00

Illegal immigration and how to deal with the illegal immigrants are a hot topic of discussion in the EU these days, lots of opinions and frayed tempers. I guess Vienna has its fair share of illegal immigrants, and I would think many of the South Asians and Africans selling newspapers are not here legally. When Roopsha parents were visiting Vienna several months ago, her mother was telling me how

A.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00087663457150317651noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28206260.post-1159226218716626172006-09-26T00:14:00.000+02:002007-08-21T23:46:44.541+02:00

I'm "in crush".Well, not really in love, nor in lust, although neither would have been really difficult. But I think being "in crush" describes it better.I haven't blogged about my second Paris visit last week because I have been busy. Since I intend to post about Paris, let's just give the basics for now. We had a conference there on our specialized research area, and except for the technician,

A.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00087663457150317651noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28206260.post-1158176854688334832006-09-13T21:17:00.000+02:002007-08-21T23:47:46.034+02:00

Oh no, don't worry: I haven't suddenly come to believe in an omnipresent omnipotent creator. Rather, I was referring to a typically Austrian (and Southern German) greeting, "Gruß Gott!" (note: the "ß" is pronounced like "ss"), which means "Greetings to God". So instead of saying hello to you, they greet God.Not only do I find this hilarious, but being an atheist I also find it uncomfortable (or

A.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00087663457150317651noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28206260.post-1158093295756156892006-09-12T21:50:00.000+02:002007-08-21T23:48:59.440+02:00

Tatsuya is a Japanese colleague who has joined the lab recently. He has a 3-4 year old daughter who's started kindergarten since early September. But she isn't quite enjoying it and has been crying every morning before going to kindergarten. Tatsuya thinks this is because she doesn't speak any German yet (neither do Tatsuya and his wife) and so can't communicate, make friends and play with the

A.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00087663457150317651noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28206260.post-1157324104300758172006-09-03T23:58:00.000+02:002007-08-21T23:50:00.036+02:00

In the greatest of Indian epics, the Mahabharata, there is an episode where Yudhishthira, has to answer philosophical riddles of a Yaksha. One of these questions (that my father likes to quote) was [I really should know this shloka in Sanskrit, but unfortunately I don't]:"What is the greatest suprise?""People die everyday making us aware that men are mortal, yet we live, work, play, plan etc as

A.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00087663457150317651noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28206260.post-1155683210711860792006-08-16T01:05:00.000+02:002007-08-22T00:43:10.662+02:00

This is the third part of a three-part article. Check out the first and second parts.My parents are not perfect-- I doubt anybody would say their parents were perfect. There is always something missing, there are grudges, things they could have done better. Hindsight is so useful. Because of several other things that I won't get into, and probably because of my being different, being gay, I have

A.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00087663457150317651noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28206260.post-1155683095024838202006-08-16T00:59:00.000+02:002007-08-22T00:42:47.441+02:00

This is the second part of a three-part article. Check out the previous one first.Kerstin was a postdoc in a neighbouring lab in Tübingen, and one of the smartest girls I have met in Europe. She was nice, although she could be quite bitchy. She was openly lesbian, and I had met her girlfriend too. One of my biggest regrets in life is that I didn't come out to her. Bitchy or not, gossipy or not,

A.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00087663457150317651noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28206260.post-1155682779051345382006-08-16T00:49:00.000+02:002007-08-22T00:42:20.154+02:00

Wild Reeds had an interesting post recently about an event they organized in Mumbai to get together parents and relatives of gay and lesbian people and discuss various related issues with them. The post has detailed transcripts of these discussions. The post reminded me of the time I came out to my parents. I really wished there had been a support network for them, like PFLAG, that would allow

A.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00087663457150317651noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28206260.post-1155336265989927352006-08-11T22:57:00.000+02:002007-08-22T00:41:43.679+02:00

I just got off the phone after talking to HRJ... she has made her contribution to the next generation. Her baby, Arya (stupid name actually) was born on Monday. She had told me way back in March, when she'd called for my birthday, that she was expecting a baby. Although I had not forgotten about it, it had indeed kinda slipped out of my mind... after all, we talk about twice a year-- in March and

A.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00087663457150317651noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28206260.post-1152893164286672752006-07-14T16:35:00.000+02:002007-08-22T00:45:04.574+02:00

I have come across this story rather late. 40 year old "Crown-Prince" Manvendra Singh Gohil was disowned by his parents for going public about being gay. Manvendra is the son of the "king" of one of the richest erstwhile princely states of India, Rajpipla in south-eastern Gujarat. He has been an activist working for prevention of the spread of HIV/AIDS among gay men in Gujarat, and had originally

A.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00087663457150317651noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28206260.post-1152834315618319992006-07-14T01:28:00.000+02:002006-10-16T16:48:01.486+02:00

... is on my travel blog now. The complete one, with photos.Since this was probably the first time I carried my laptop to a trip and my blogs are rather new, I was able to maintain a regular travelogue during the trip. Just the last two days (one and a half actually) were missing. I was first lazy to write these two days, and also to process, select, and insert the photos. I solved the usual

A.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00087663457150317651noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28206260.post-1152641857046005962006-07-11T18:31:00.000+02:002006-10-16T16:48:01.414+02:00

Come summer, and life seems to become faster. There is so much to do, so many people to meet up with. The Sunday after the parade (2nd July), a few of us CSers met up at Marcus' place in the afternoon. Couchsurfing had died the previous week, with Casey the founder send an emotionally charged obitituary. Of course lots of people couldn't accept it, and quite a few people started to try to recover

A.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00087663457150317651noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28206260.post-1151938885660223592006-07-03T15:09:00.000+02:002006-10-16T16:48:01.350+02:00

(started on 3 July, completed and posted on 11 July)The Regenbogen Parade ("Rainbow"/Gay Parade) of Vienna was on Saturday, 1 July. The previous week had excellent weather, but the forecast for Saturday was bad-- cloudy and rain. Fortunately there wasn't anything more than a few drops here and there.Since the more than three years that I have been in Vienna, I have attended all of these, though

A.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00087663457150317651noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28206260.post-1150272621545428422006-06-14T09:52:00.000+02:002006-10-16T16:48:01.272+02:00

I have lived in Europe for 7.5 years now, but never been to Paris before. As a kid, I used to gulp up Alexandre Dumas' novels. Guy de Maupassant has always been one of my favourite short story writers. I was introduced to Science Fiction (although I am not a big fan of the genre) by Jules Verne. I have read Balzac, Hugo, Flaubert, Gide. All in translation of course. The only place in France I

A.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00087663457150317651noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28206260.post-1149966829775414492006-06-10T19:00:00.000+02:002006-10-16T16:48:01.213+02:00

I get addicted to different things at different points of my life. Fortunately I don't smoke, don't like alcohol and have no curiousity about drugs, so no harm done to my physical health. Ok, I shouldn't be in a hurry to claim that last last bit... I do wear glasses...ReadingMy very first and long-lasting addiction was books, stories.It was probably introduced to me by my grandmother who used to

A.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00087663457150317651noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28206260.post-1149427981688384262006-06-04T14:25:00.000+02:002006-10-16T16:48:01.151+02:00

I can't help it. Reservation (see my original post on this issue for a background) is probably one of the most talked about issues today in India, and hence this is already my third post on the issue in the 10 posts I have made since I started my blog. Browsing Indian blogs, I came across several interesting articles and ideas. The most interesting among them is from Anshuman Ghosh from Delhi/

A.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00087663457150317651noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28206260.post-1149378269393171472006-06-04T00:52:00.000+02:002006-10-16T16:48:01.086+02:00

I was checking out discussion groups in CouchSurfing (that reminds me, I really have to write the inaugaral post about CouchSurfing and Hospitality Club on my travelogue), and saw this group called "Protecting the Environment for a healthier tomorrow". They'd had a very one-sided discussion on Transgenic Crops-- as is usually the case, such groups are filled with people who care for the

A.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00087663457150317651noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28206260.post-1149290859381535862006-06-03T00:39:00.000+02:002006-10-16T16:48:01.024+02:00

I had almost forgotten about Leonie's flattering compliment. On Tuesday, when Ramesh was here for the siRNA conference, and we were having dinner upstairs at the cafeteria, two German guys were sitting next to us. One of these was a young group leader in Ramesh's current institute, and when he had been introduced before his talk, I had heard that he had done his postdoc in Heidelberg. So I

A.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00087663457150317651noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28206260.post-1149078193190295872006-05-31T13:00:00.000+02:002006-10-16T16:48:00.963+02:00

President APJ Abdul Kalam has returned the office-of-profit bill to the Parliament for reconsideration. Kalam seems to finally have woken up to his duties as the President of India.The office-of-profit issue: Jaya BachchanThe Constitution of India bars the Members of Parliament from holding "offices-of-profit". The usefulness of this law is debatable in itself, but let's not go into that. I think

A.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00087663457150317651noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28206260.post-1149036645603214502006-05-31T02:15:00.000+02:002006-10-16T16:48:00.901+02:00

I met Ramesh after 6 1/2 years! The last I had met him was in Berne in October 1999. I had gone to Zurich for a conference, and afterwards took a train to Berne and spent the weekend with him.I had seen the poster announcing the symposium in IMBA on si/miRNA, and Ramesh's name as a speaker quite a while ago. Since we haven't really been in touch, I googled for his email address last week and

A.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00087663457150317651noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28206260.post-1148860588117330592006-05-29T00:07:00.000+02:002006-10-16T16:48:00.841+02:00

Arjun Singh seems to have an obstinate determination that only he knows what is the best in the reservation issue. Logic and sense don't seem to work with him as evidenced in an interview with Karan Thapar (via DynamiX notes, a community blog that I chanced upon today). [Check the post of May 17, 2006 for the background]Excerpts (actually, most of it) :Parliament has decided, so it will

A.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00087663457150317651noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28206260.post-1148853684513005702006-05-28T23:18:00.000+02:002006-10-16T16:48:00.765+02:00

There is a word in German, that probably doesn't have an equivalent in English: Ohrwurm (literal translation: "ear worm"). It describes a condition where a song or melody sticks in the head and refuses to get out, and one has to hum/whistle it over and over all day long.My aunt, "Jethima" had been visiting me last weekend and she had brought a few cds of my uncle's ("Jethu"'s) songs that they

A.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00087663457150317651noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28206260.post-1148395076192757372006-05-23T16:07:00.000+02:002006-10-16T16:48:00.708+02:00

I get these email newsletters from ILGA (International Lesbian and Gay Association). They often have interesting political information. I guess at some point I should become a member and really think of doing something, attending their conferences when they are held in Europe or the like. But I'm, after all, me, and my to-do list is as boundless as my procrastination.Anyway, I just saw this

A.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00087663457150317651noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28206260.post-1147825527025791312006-05-17T01:55:00.000+02:002006-10-16T16:48:00.649+02:00

A large number of students, especially medical students, are protesting against the government's proposed policy of increasing the number of reserved seats in educational institutes to 50%. These protests are really muted compared to those in 1990 against the implementation of similar recommendations of the Mandal Commission. One of the reasons of the fall of the then government is often

A.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00087663457150317651noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28206260.post-1147788785401153022006-05-16T15:35:00.000+02:002006-10-16T16:48:00.563+02:00

I have already had two previous attempts at maintaining a blog. Here's a third one. Would I bet on whether it survives after the first few posts? No way. But doesn't this go against my self-proclaimed incorrigible optimism? Perhaps, but remember, whenever I make that claim, I also hasten to add that I am also a realist at the same time. Let me explain. I have seen my blogging disappear after a

A.S.http://www.blogger.com/profile/00087663457150317651noreply@blogger.com2