The hit sitcom remains my go-to binge watch because of the awareness in its writing — CONTAINS SPOILERS Prologue I discovered HIMYM only in 2016. I was crashing on my friend’s couch, and had lots of time to kill waiting for a response from the bazillion job applications I had sent out. With the TV in front of me the whole day, I logged onto his Netflix account &…

A COVID19-proof travelogue up to Swedish Lappland for the Northern Lights TRAVELOGUE In this travelogue, I cover my journey up to the white north and my experience hunting down the fabled Northern Lights or Aurora Boreolis Having lived in Stockholm for over 5 years, I was yet to see the fabled…

An outline of the geopolitical cards held by ten regions shaped historically by their geography and what it means for them and the world. — Book review #3 In brief Our present is largely a consequence of the mountains, oceans, deserts, islands around us. Tim Marshall picks ten regions, squeezes in geography, history, economy, and more importantly context within 35 pages each to postulate where they are headed. He chooses an array of countries/regions to make his point. Australia, Iran…

A nice feel-good story of a man of science and altruism on an interstellar voyage to save humanity. — Book review #2 In brief: In the present day, scientists of earth have recently discovered a peculiar phenomenon happening between Venus and Sun called the ‘Petrova line’. However, it concerns Earth since upon its rather sudden appearance, the Sun has been losing its energy at an alarming rate and no one seems…

Part 3- Madurai — TRAVELOGUE SERIES I reached Madurai by noon. I passed by Thoothukudi (Tuticorn), an ancient city known for pearl fishing also attested in Ptolemy’s maps. Today it’s a major industrial town with a large power plant that I passed by. It is probably the oldest continuously inhabited city in south India. The centre of Sangam era Madurai is…

Part 2- Senthil @ Neithal — TRAVELOGUE SERIES I started out with the longest leg of my journey. The 460 km long journey took me close to 10 hours by train and costed me just 140 Rs (< 2$). The 460 km long journey took me close to 10 hours by train and costed me just 140 Rs…

Part 1- Prologue — TRAVELOGUE SERIES Where: Tamil nadu, India In December 2022, I undertook a 8-day journey backpacking across Tamil Nadu in south of India. I describe my travels in a 6-part series of blog posts. I will be blending my travelogue with local folklore, stories, cultural themes and my own personal experience to establish…

An encyclopedic collection of interesting details tied together into a narrative with a not so convincing inference — Book review #1 In brief The author starts with an interesting hypothesis of presenting the present day middle east and central Asia as the centre of the world through which humanity has been trading since antiquity. He then proceeds to narrate key events that shaped the region (and later, the world) by dedicating chapters for…

This blogpost describes the idea behind award winning entry for Transport Research Arena’s TRAVisions2020 Young Researcher Competition The rail transportation sector across the world is at a unique juncture. On one hand, it is being increasingly acknowledged as the most eco-friendly transportation mode for its active role in decreasing emissions…