http://www.blackchai.com Life defunked over a cup of tea Sat, 08 Mar 2008 18:58:21 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en I just got back from India (well it has been almost 2 months but I need an excuse to post my first post of 2008) and while all the talk about burgeoning population, rising middle class and even bigger midriffs are certainly true, I was sadly reminded that India is ... http://www.blackchai.com/2008/03/08/india-2008/ On my way to India I was stranded for over 12 hours on the runway due to bad weather. So what was to be a 4 hour flight turned out to be a 12 hour nightmare with a detour to another airport and 200 passengers just ... http://www.blackchai.com/2007/12/26/radio-lab-getting-you-through-being-stranded-for-12-hours/ Every once in a while I am silently reminded of this thing called life. While I keep my instrospections away from public domain, this time I feel compelled to write, and forget that my life is compartmentalized into personal, public and private. A father, a sister, a brother, a daughter - ... http://www.blackchai.com/2007/09/20/meaning-to-life/ With the recent recall of Mattel toys, I am sure every parent lives in fear of what next. While China is obviously trying to cope with the recent flak and corporations are stepping up their quality control, here is an innovative idea that helps parents take control of their children's ... http://www.blackchai.com/2007/08/16/safer-toys-how-social-networking-can-help/ Growing up, I sometimes would read Indian comic books that covered stories of epic heroes. The visual depiction was traditional and often lacked the sophistication in story-telling that you are accustomed to in the Western world. Story-telling and character development is in our history, as is evident in the numerous ... http://www.blackchai.com/2007/08/12/indian-comic-books-revived/ Ever thought about capturing the infinite universe of changing information in a computer program? See this unbelievable attempt to capture present day mythology. Jonathan Harris is the mastermind behind this visualization. Part visual designer, part anthropologist, part artist, part storyteller, Jonathan has a body of work that is often ... http://www.blackchai.com/2007/07/22/universe-information-visualization/ Last night I watched an ad for Spot Runner that talked about "affordable" television advertising. Having been privy to that world, I have known that television advertising has always been elitist, catering to the big fish of the consumer experience. So now that small businesses can advertise and more ... http://www.blackchai.com/2007/07/19/spot-runner-modularity-in-television-advertising/ Clive Thompson talks about Twitter in this week's issue calling it the "social sixth sense". While some would think that this new app is just another dying fad I tend to agree with a lot of what Clive talks about. Having experienced it myself I now have a better ... http://www.blackchai.com/2007/06/30/twitter-in-wired/ Twitter serves as a tool to keep friends connected, joining the social networking bandwagon as yet another Web 2.0 technology. I rolled my eyes when I first heard about the tool but then curious, I checked the site out and I am hooked. I find that this can be useful especially ... http://www.blackchai.com/2007/05/08/twitter-what-are-you-doing/ It's tangy, "tomatoey", yummy and really simple. Avg time: 20 - 30 minutes Pair with bread or rice Ingredients: 1 cup pigeon pea lentils (also called toor dal) 1 cup crushed tomatoes 1 tsp cumin seeds 1/4 tsp asfaoetidia 1 tbsp tamarind paste mixed with 1/2 cup water 1/2 tsp turmeric powder 1/4 tsp chilli flakes/powder salt to taste 1 tbsp ... http://www.blackchai.com/2007/04/26/sindhi-dal-tangy-lentil-soup/