Tag: India

Language pet peeve #2: ‘… years back’

Recently I’ve been noticing a lot of use of back instead of ago when referring to a point in the past.

For me it’s always been ‘a few days ago’, not ‘a few days back’. Yet, the curse of ‘a few periods back’ keeps on spreading. It’s been appearing more frequently on the Indian sites I follow. It also keeps popping up on some of the American sites I follow.

Every time I read back in that context, I get a small knock on my head. Then I have to reread that sentence a few times, saying ago instead of back to wipe out the bad taste, before reading on.

Could we all just stop using that ugly ‘back’ please?

Continue reading Language pet peeve #2: ‘… years back’

Transition complete – passport & visa

Got my OCI card in the post today. The document transition is now complete

…from the Indian passport & the British permanent visa (indefinite leave to remain)

Old Indian Passport
Old British Residence Permit

…to the British passport & the Indian permanent visa (overseas citizen of India)

New British Passport
New Indian OCI Card

Continue reading Transition complete – passport & visa

Welcome to the UK…

They were initially bemused by the complexity of bus timetables, bin collections and—most of all—by the changeable weather. “In our country, when it’s summer, it’s summer,” says Ziead Alsaouah, Mr Batak’s son-in-law.

—The Economist | After the exodus

I had a very similar reaction to the weather when I moved here 8 years ago.

North India, where I spent the first 24 years of my life, has a very predictable weather. When it’s summer, it’s hot and dry for months on end. When it’s the rain season, it’s raining almost every day for a month. And when winter arrives, it’s bitterly cold, mostly dry, and frequently foggy (recently smoggy) for months on end.

Contrast that to the weather here on the island – it’s common to have at least two seasons in a day. Three’s not uncommon either. We had two months of constant dry, warm summers this year, and it’s already caused a mild panic. If we get a week of snow in the winter, news bulletins are full of ‘snowcalypse’ references.

It’s unsettling, at least initially, for people coming from places with stable, ‘continental’ weather patterns. Where culture, life, traditions, activities are based on the season, what do we do when the seasons just aren’t anymore?

Continue reading Welcome to the UK…

In other news…

Dawn over Abu Dhabi, on the way back
Dawn over Abu Dhabi, on the way back

I returned from India

It was an unplanned trip, to attend to a family matter. Most of it was very boring. The smog kept me indoors, so couldn’t go for long walks. I’m off TV, so no time to waste there either, and I have no friends left in Karnal to go visit.

Reading was my only escape. I read Anita & Me, and Sapiens, and re-read a bit of Thinking fast and slow. Also read 3 issues of The Economist. Separately, read a 100+ articles in Instapaper.

I even had time to update the AcceleReader for Instapaper Chrome extension with a new feature, despite working on a really slow internet connection.

I met old friends

The visit did end on an exciting note though. On the evening before the flight, I met up with my friends from undergrad for dinner.

I had no clue what to expect. These were the people with whom I spent most, if not all, of my first 3 years of college. And yet I hadn’t seen, or spoken, to most of them in last 5-7 years.

I’ve long believed that friendship is just a bunch of shared experiences. Friendships are kept alive by creating these experiences, or reliving them. What sort of friendship would it be when we haven’t even met or spoken for better part of a decade, and not created shared experiences for even longer?

I’ll just say, I’ll need to revisit (refine?) my understanding of friendship a bit. Continue reading In other news…