This being my last Friday night as a bachelor, I couldn’t help but write my last post as a bachelor.

Dhi Only One will soon be joined by Mrs. Dhi Only One (or Dhi better half – or make it worse with Dhi Only Two). Alright, humor hasn’t really been the forte of this blog nor do I attempt to cover up for it.

Ladies and gentlemen, within the span of this weekend I shall enter the next stage of life in which I shall have to do things hitherto unthought of. These include not ogling at a pretty girl next to my coffee table – at least not blatantly. Not being able to get drunk on a wild Saturday night on pure whiskey and ice (Not that I ever did that, but still the point remains that I can’t do it now). Tobacco was unknown to me anyway (yes, Mrs. Dhi Only One does read this blog).

So, all in all, I think it looks quite a good phase to move into (like I said, the blog is read). The wedding is one thing I look apprehensively at while marriage is another thing I look….well, apprehensively at. But for different reasons of course.

Like most Indian weddings, this one promises to be a fun affair. People all over the place, lot of pomp, lot of colors and the groom figuring out where to go next and where to smile next. Fun shall arrive.
Mrs. Dhi Only One has been shopping and arranging things ever since the date was decided half a year ago, so that should tell you about the scale of the wedding. Me, I am blogging two days before the wedding, so that should tell you something…I guess.

Getting back to the topic, I have been getting unsolicited advice from all quarters regarding marriage and its long-term impact on life (I thought marriage was long-term anyway). Relatives whom I have met only once in my lifetime feel its their duty to slap my back, congratulate me and smile away until I open my mouth to thank them. There are people who tell me its now going to be all about sacrifice and compromise, and then there are those who tell me its going to be great to have someone to share all your experiences with. Leaves me confused? Nah, far from it.
I remain convinced that this is one of the better things to happen in my life (and I don’t say this because the blog is read…but of course). It is indeed a wonderful feeling to be able to comprehend the world around you with another person who shares similar lines of thought as yours. It is an even more wonderful a feeling when the world around you itself becomes better solely because you are able to share.

So, on that great and promising note, Dhi Only One bids adieu to bachelorhood.
Married life, here I come. And oh yes, hey Devil, remember the carols singing girls at Java City? Good for you if you do remember, cos I have now forgotten. (But a quick Jack Daniels with Coke, I am sure, can fix that memory lapse).

Enjoy.

Update: The play and the protest got some coverage in this article of The Hindu. Thanks to Arka for pointing this out.

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Those were the messages we tried to convey via some performances on a hot Bangalore afternoon yesterday.
At around 3:00 pm we started our first performance at the M G Road – Cubbon Park junction. Some motorists at the signal stopped a while to look at us before the honks from other traffic members eased them on their way. Some of the casual passers-by seemed amused and some nodded their head in approval. We continued with our stuff till about 4:00 pm. Here are the pictures of the performance:

That’s DhiOnlyOne (in the above picture) on the left holding a small percussion instrument. And nope, I did not hurt the dude over whom I had my feet.

Some more volunteers here:

Another performance (a solo one):

I am not quite sure how much of an impact this event had. Maybe some people on their shopping stint went home later and asked “What or Who exactly is Nandigram?”.
If that happened, it was probably worth the few hours we spent.

Enjoy the day, ladies and gentlemen.

Update: The street play will be performed 2-3 times between 3:00 pm and 4:00 pm on the pavement of M G Road on Sunday. Watch out for the place where there is a crowd and a bunch of people acting.
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I will be performing in a street play this Sunday (18th Nov).
The play will be staged on M G Road (yeah, right in the middle of the city – no traffic jams I wishfully hope).

The context is the unfortunate turn of events at Nandigram. This Sunday, in the afternoon from 2 to 8 there is going to be a mass protest on M G Road opposing the government actions in Nandigram.

The exact time-slot for the play will be updated shortly, but it would be great to attend the entire duration of 6 hours which shall offer performances of all kinds highlighting the plight of the people in Nandigram and creating awareness about this issue.

The play would last for about half an hour. You can contribute to the play, if you want, by sending in your thoughts, a couple of lines, a poem, a picture – whatever makes you express against this disrespect for fellow human beings and their lives.

Be there or be there. On Sunday, ladies and gentlemen.

For your reference, articles related to Nandigram:
Amit Varma’s brilliant article on this.
Hindustan Times report
Sanhati.com

Young’s double slit experiment is the one that started all the confusion about light’s wave nature vs. particle nature.

Any relatively simple discussions on quantum physics starts off with this insightful experiment conducted by Thomas Young. Till now, I had found Gary Zukav’s Dancing Wu Li Masters as one of the better write-ups on explaining the significance of this experiment.

However, this particular post at Cocktail Party Physics goes one step ahead and makes the whole concept refreshingly clear for people looking to get a glimpse on what quantum physics is all about. I particularly like the analogy of Paris Hilton used here in order to explain the idea that the outcome of a quantum experiment depends on the observer:

There was exciting news from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory last week, as researchers announced that they had performed the world’s smallest double-slit experiment and determined that quantum (subatomic) particles will start behaving in accordance with classical (macroscale) physics at the size scale of a single hydrogen molecule. Quantum physicists are no doubt excitedly discussing these marvelous results with a passion most people reserve for Super Bowl Sunday. But the average reader’s eyes probably just glaze over with incomprehension, leaving him/her to wonder what all the fuss is about. Truthfully? It’s tough to grasp the significance of this latest quantum wrinkle without a bit of background about Thomas Young’s original 1802 experiment (now the poster child of the quantum concept of particle/wave duality), as well as the historical scientific debate that raged around the nature of light. Hence today’s Monster Post.

Read the entire article here.

A quote that brought some perspective in life, for now:

“Not a shred of evidence exists in favor of the idea that life is serious.” – Brendan Gill

Courtesy: www.quotationspage.com

Empty. At home.

A corner. At home.

Mails to go before I sleep.

I came up with that near-genius line as I sit here sending out e-mail invites.
With the outbox full, I have to wait till the queue is completed.

Hence, mails to go before I sleep.

Time for some publicity, ladies and gentlemen.
So, amidst the trumpeting and never-dying applause, here is www.OneFamily.com.

Your one stop place to create your very own Family Tree, invite family members and close friends, share important occasions with family, upload family photos and much more – essentially your very own private family space. A home on the internet.

Hence, stop reading this blog now and head to www.OneFamily.com

Enjoy.

Surprisingly, I didn’t notice this piece of news in any of the Indian mainstream news media.

In fact, I found it on the Freakonomics blog:

Wild monkeys assaulted the deputy mayor of New Delhi on Saturday as he sat on his terrace, reading the morning paper. In the scuffle, S.S. Bajwa lost his balance, tumbled from his building, and died the next day from injuries sustained in the fall.

No doubt this is a tragic incident but it has a comic ring to it. Probably because of the comments posted on that particular post at Freakonomics.
References to politics and presidents is not to be missed.