I don’t read all that much, but of what I’ve read recently, I can say that Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts is stellar. For someone who’s lived in Bombay all his life, this book is moving, exciting, nostalgic and inspiring all at once. I am in awe of the author for what he has experienced in a single lifetime. The book is a thousand-page monster, but once I got started, I just couldn’t put it down. I even read while slightly tipsy in the early-AM on the 505 bus from Bandra to Vashi. I finished it yesterday, and was very sad to let go.

And I just found out that the author had a book reading at the Kala Ghoda festival yesterday. DAMN! I can’t recommend this book enough, especially if you’ve grown up in Bombay and remember life before cable.

Technorati Tags: book, shantaram

I’m back from a very nice weekend in Goa. The weather was hot, but not hot enough to make sleeping problematic. I was there with Educated Tatya and friends for Vally’s wedding. Pictures are on my Flickr. More tid-bits and updates when the world stops crashing around me.

Technorati Tags: goa

Announced, and shipping in February. I’m neutral to Apple, but I am an aesthete geek/gearhead; so this thing appeals to me. Loaded! As is typical, there is a nice touch with the ‘MagSafe’ power connector. It’s a magnetic slot/connector, which just snaps off incase someone trips over the wire. Simple but very useful.

I wonder what Core Duo notebooks are like running Ubuntu.

Link: Apple – MacBook Pro

Technorati Tags: apple, macbook, intel, coreduo

Michael sent me this link, which seems to be replicated on every site that lists BBSes around the world. Here’s my bit:

Board Name: Outpost 7Teen BBS [Last Updated 16/07/95]
SysOp: Tushar Burman
Co-SysOp: The rest of the family 
BBS Program: RemoteAccess 2.01
Mailer: FrontDoor 2.11
Timings: 9:30pm - 6:00pm (soon to be 24hrs)
Started on: 20th March 1995
Lines: 1
Modem: Jet 14.4kbps
Speed: 14400 max
BBS Number: 604-9820
VOX Number: 649-2363
FAX Number: 604-9820
Location: Bombay, India
Speciality: Biggest and most fun LORD game around 
OS used: DesqView 2.60
System used: 486DX2-66, 4MB, 340MB, Soundcard
Users: 85+
Total Calls: 2500
Calls/day: 25+
Doors: Deep Thoughts, Galactic Overlord, Summation,
Trivia Master, Legend Of The Red Dragon (LORD),
Majyk Empires, Bowling Solitaire.

Read the full list: Live Wire! BBS, Home Page, List of BBSes in India
Technorati Tags: bbs, mumbai, outpost

The amazing Penn Masala will be playing at NCPA, Nariman Point this Sunday. If you haven’t heard these guys before, you have missed something special. The show starts at 7pm on the 8th. Here’s a superfluous link to the same event: Upcoming.org: Penn Masala at National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) (Sunday, January 8, 2006)

OT: It looks like Upcoming.org is also now a Yahoo! company. What? No AJAX?

Technorati Tags: music, concert, penn, masala, mumbai