Here are a few words from Indian English and culture that sometimes have a meaning different from that in the West, and sometimes do not even exist there. However, most of these have their roots from the British, who had colonized India. 1. Petrol bunk: Gas station 2. Out of station: Out of town 3. Auto: A three-wheeled cab – Unique to India 4. Nappy: Diaper 5. Lorry: Truck 6. Native place: Hometown – Unique to India 7. Mixie: A food blender – Unique to India 8. Tick off: Check off 9. Geyser: A water-heating appliance 10. Overtake: Pass a vehicle on the road 11. Interval: Intermission during a movie or Snack break at school 12. Rubber: Eraser 13. Odomos: Mosquito repellant lotion (actually a brand name) – Unique to India 14. Tuition: Tutoring classes 15. Prepone: Reschedule an event ahead of the originally planned time 16. Bollywood: The Hindi movie industry 17. STD/ISD: Abbreviations for: Long-distance dialing 18. Peon: An office handyman 19. Ste...

It was one of those gloomy September evenings at Coimbatore. The holidays were drawing to a close and it was time to drive back to Chennai (where we had moved a few years ago), for another few months of hectic, noisy, polluted metro life. Then the brainwave struck. Lalli’s suggestion to break the monotony of the drive back by a visit to Yercaud, was music to my ears. A couple of phone calls to friends at GRT and we had a Grand room at GRT Skywalk, the latest from GRT stable, waiting for us. The drive from Coimbatore was smooth, though the slow moving early morning truck traffic right until Avinashi, was a huge dampener, especially for my speed hungry Civic. A small break before Salem, to munch on mom’s lovely fluffy idly’s, and we were soon on the road from Salem to Yercaud, which was a breeze. Born in the racing / rallying town of Coimbatore, our weekend drives to the various hills and ghat sections around the city made me a seasoned Ghat / Off roader and this little stretch was no...

The history of photography has recently been rewritten by one single event, the change of the recording media, from Film to Digital. Suddenly, the hobby, which was considered an art form transpired into a technical wizardry. The instantaneous result of a snap on screen meant, there was an opportunity to correct a mistake apart from allowing for experimenting on various settings. In other words, there’s always a second chance. Couple this with other advancements in technology, and any novice, without even the faintest knowledge of the basics of photography or the behavior of light, can pull off decent pictures, thanks to advancement in sensor technology which ranges from basic Auto focus right up to Smile recognition or even character recognizing features. Coupled with image / optical stabilization, a child can shoot a decent picture. The advent of PnS (Point and Shoot) camera’s that fit into a shirt pocket, mobile camera’s with pixelage that put an entry level DSLR to shame and recogn...