Some more Germanisms

1. Trust is king - making for a very stress free travel experience - of the 15 cities visited - all by rail our tickets only got checked thrice - once on a side trip to Salzburg, Austria to experience what Julie Andrews described as hills that are alive with the sound of music.

2. Every little town has a turnip - as in the black gilded dome that is shaped like one - on top of their local kirche aka church...this is like an elaborate version of dagdusheth ganpati vs. dashbhuja ganpati in Pune..

3. Graffiti is an eye sore - many public buildings have been lavished with splotches from mindless spray painters gone wild episodes in small locales to large cities

4. Industrial might and access to raw material like coal and iron is visible in the fancy manhole drain covers in each city - more on that in another blog

5. Every town or city had a similar footprint - the details varied - a main market place or marketplatz or central square which is usually cobblestone...surrounded by wonderfully painted houses or administrative buildings - interestingly referred to as the Rathaus with the road leading out to one or two major church buildings - each a stunning architectural masterpiece

Comments

Presumptive Society

Today's world is hyper connected. I am not so sure what it means but you hear it a lot. It is probably hyper but not sure how connected it is. Sugar (fermented or not) is available in many ways than before and so getting hyper is easy. It is probably more a threat than cocaine since it is sold legally. And what is this connected stuff? Most people I encounter seem disconnected from reality. So going back to this assumption that we are connected there are subtle and no so subtle instances of how brands and companies and middle men try to portray someone - A linkedin profile for somebody working for X years at a place advertises to the connected network that so and so is CELEBRATING X years @ Such and Such Inc. Do we know if (s)he is celebrating or cringing? Perhaps a better way to portray will be - So and So LASTED X years @ such & such inc. Then it exhorts the readership to go ahead and congratulate them for this lasting effe...

Of Jims and Johns

Here is another essay on the subject of first names. As in birth names. Or names provided to an offspring at birth. While the developed world tends to shy away from the exotic like Refrigerator or Coca Cola for their new production there is a plethora of Jims and Johns and Bobs or Robs. Speaking of which I do not think there is a categoric decision point at the time of birth if a child will be hereafter called as Bob. I mean have not yet met a toddler called Bob or Rob for that matter. At some point though the parental instinct to mouth out multiple syllables runs out and they switch from calling the crawler Robert to simply Robbie to Rob. Now speaking of - it is strange that the name sounds like something you would not want Rob to do - i.e. Rob anyone. Then why call someone that? After all Rob Peter to Pay Paul is not exactly a maxim to live a young life? Is it? Perhaps Peter or Paul might want to have a say in it? Then there is this matter of going to the John. Why degrad...

On the go(zay masta) in Japan again

Cool cat the Japanese are Tokyo at dusk My second visit to this land of the rising sun after almost a decade. Back then clearly I was wet behind the ears product manager and likely didn’t pay attention to all (efficient) things Japanese. But today I did and of course continue to be impressed. It is as much the obvious stuff like on time travel that is both clean and comfortable and all that which makes it possible. The impressive landmark and landscapes that these humans have put together despite their cramped (or because of it) surroundings and precarious geological conditions could amaze a novice architect among us. But it’s also the little things that someone had to think about which have a phenomenal impact on day to day lives that make the Japanese stand apart. Below are few random examples- 1. Providing a very fine machined wooden toothpick in every packet of wooden chopsticks. The said chapsticks are simply set on the To Go counter of any food vendor/ convenience store wher...

Brown Motion

Search This Blog