Meta tags:

Headings (most frequently used words):

the, 2013, tuesday, december, in, of, thursday, july, india, january, 2017, 25, saturday, august, 20, to, christmas, on, no, wang, plus, ultra, 14, 2020, 26, monday, 01, 2015, wednesday, 31, 2014, 17, october, 12, 15, 16, subscribe, about, me, labels, blog, archive, pongal, rome, man, land, 1915, why, sportsmen, autobiographies, disappoint, peak, end, rule, banking, sink, precious, metals, solemn, ritual, final, solution, problem, bawling, kids, planes, origin, female, education, rediscovering, 19th, century, noise, fan, chinese, products, it, only, bad, news, japan, this, week,

Text of the page (most frequently used words):
the (756), and (349), that (132), for (78), with (76), this (73), are (56), their (54), was (51), will (49), they (43), not (40), have (38), all (36), which (36), you (35), were (35), has (35), one (34), from (34), more (34), his (33), there (31), but (30), india (30), can (29), our (28), when (27), been (27), them (26), country (26), may (25), because (24), had (23), than (22), who (22), any (20), some (20), what (20), into (20), her (20), out (19), would (19), #december (17), raj (17), comments (17), posted (17), good (17), its (17), about (16), why (16), other (16), wang (16), she (16), many (15), want (15), end (15), christmas (15), found (14), well (14), time (14), how (14), july (13), story (13), only (13), very (13), must (13), january (12), these (12), made (12), even (12), people (12), your (12), every (12), same (12), british (12), august (11), labels (11), years (11), year (11), through (11), such (11), noise (11), like (11), work (11), new (11), books (11), now (11), natives (11), society (11), native (11), book (11), capital (11), october (10), salesman (10), did (10), said (10), between (10), then (10), great (10), day (10), cooke (10), little (10), could (9), news (9), don (9), life (9), much (9), however (9), century (9), being (9), should (9), miss (9), return (9), september (8), march (8), april (8), june (8), 2013 (8), britindia (8), point (8), also (8), most (8), back (8), white (8), school (8), each (8), experience (8), best (8), airport (8), those (8), too (8), female (8), children (8), kids (8), present (8), both (8), november (7), february (7), stories (7), get (7), way (7), money (7), early (7), high (7), bad (7), according (7), sound (7), just (7), sleep (7), given (7), fall (7), him (7), while (7), long (7), education (7), large (7), never (7), doubt (7), before (7), million (7), genius (7), pain (7), peak (7), athletes (7), 2014 (6), especially (6), know (6), read (6), two (6), first (6), came (6), human (6), see (6), part (6), brought (6), 000 (6), sounds (6), moment (6), interesting (6), course (6), line (6), top (6), another (6), mind (6), 19th (6), material (6), published (6), here (6), after (6), church (6), make (6), give (6), asked (6), european (6), away (6), shall (6), yet (6), matter (6), troops (6), banking (6), manufactures (6), self (6), german (6), pongal (5), travelling (5), posts (5), old (5), article (5), lines (5), science (5), wants (5), number (5), over (5), better (5), increase (5), few (5), across (5), tuesday (5), expect (5), poor (5), pay (5), during (5), explains (5), put (5), chinese (5), fake (5), use (5), source (5), effect (5), difficult (5), higher (5), light (5), within (5), need (5), follow (5), practices (5), google (5), told (5), england (5), rule (5), cause (5), means (5), less (5), girls (5), world (5), amongst (5), parents (5), friends (5), account (5), calcutta (5), page (5), where (5), though (5), without (5), small (5), procedure (5), reason (5), says (5), take (5), state (5), silver (5), coin (5), almost (5), land (5), spirit (5), until (5), average (5), game (5), worship (5), sun (5), hindus (5), rome (4), view (4), home (4), japan (4), something (4), negative (4), duty (4), system (4), looking (4), going (4), ones (4), centuries (4), five (4), fact (4), writer (4), fan (4), frequency (4), although (4), partly (4), classes (4), probably (4), called (4), nature (4), rather (4), provide (4), serve (4), passengers (4), simple (4), used (4), term (4), whom (4), reading (4), vast (4), look (4), considered (4), lives (4), equally (4), charles (4), sum (4), sterling (4), towards (4), believe (4), properly (4), special (4), women (4), produce (4), upon (4), mothers (4), come (4), heard (4), write (4), improvement (4), scarcely (4), operations (4), under (4), certain (4), origin (4), class (4), promise (4), above (4), flight (4), once (4), feel (4), final (4), problem (4), points (4), paper (4), closes (4), whole (4), name (4), shirt (4), places (4), east (4), commerce (4), event (4), precious (4), metals (4), still (4), least (4), indian (4), progress (4), commercial (4), whether (4), trade (4), resources (4), implements (4), agriculture (4), english (4), plus (4), based (4), autobiography (4), goes (4), geniuses (4), family (4), master (4), protestant (4), kissmiss (4), christian (4), season (4), concert (4), 2017 (3), short (3), cricket (3), ask (3), questions (3), atom (3), days (3), thought (3), again (3), changing (3), generation (3), diapers (3), different (3), week (3), amygdala (3), serious (3), parts (3), brain (3), process (3), themselves (3), danger (3), warning (3), kind (3), immediate (3), tiger (3), think (3), thousand (3), takes (3), forward (3), food (3), relentless (3), produced (3), genuine (3), own (3), antique (3), museum (3), demand (3), naturally (3), created (3), hundreds (3), later (3), striking (3), writing (3), daily (3), public (3), month (3), noticed (3), visit (3), down (3), recently (3), simply (3), switched (3), voice (3), already (3), awake (3), frequencies (3), energy (3), seem (3), vip (3), let (3), manner (3), meant (3), offer (3), often (3), set (3), enough (3), area (3), digitization (3), quantity (3), materials (3), late (3), last (3), seems (3), notes (3), purpose (3), poverty (3), railways (3), coast (3), find (3), free (3), narrative (3), period (3), thursday (3), building (3), rajah (3), central (3), following (3), established (3), beginning (3), three (3), wilson (3), directed (3), suitable (3), necessary (3), attended (3), able (3), servants (3), knowledge (3), respect (3), promote (3), interest (3), holy (3), natural (3), total (3), left (3), crowd (3), round (3), door (3), child (3), reply (3), boys (3), hope (3), commencement (3), readers (3), invitation (3), service (3), rude (3), low (3), gold (3), seat (3), peace (3), offering (3), agree (3), solution (3), interfere (3), night (3), along (3), deal (3), exchange (3), turn (3), nor (3), carbon (3), pages (3), ritual (3), address (3), delhi (3), minute (3), company (3), hoarding (3), throughout (3), extent (3), lenders (3), house (3), merely (3), king (3), half (3), millions (3), makes (3), rise (3), condition (3), labor (3), secret (3), improvements (3), stock (3), market (3), placed (3), unknown (3), advanced (3), place (3), hundred (3), religious (3), things (3), completely (3), antiquity (3), blessed (3), record (3), western (3), ending (3), experiencing (3), remembering (3), moments (3), experiences (3), comes (3), person (3), die (3), question (3), ghost (3), gift (3), athletic (3), real (3), profound (3), player (3), centre (3), hard (3), tennis (3), sports (3), memoirs (3), autobiographies (3), beyond (3), written (3), plum (3), blessing (3), occasion (3), feelings (3), catholic (3), cake (3), man (3), portuguese (3), thousands (3), offerings (3), whatever (3), rejoicing (3), northern (3), nations (3), celebrating (3), coincidence (3), observances (3), uttarayana (3), theme (2), 150 (2), 2012 (2), 2015 (2), 2020 (2), blog (2), random (2), stuff (2), series (2), profile (2), subscribe (2), older (2), eye (2), related (2), among (2), update (2), increasing (2), palm (2), thereby (2), indians (2), reflection (2), moral (2), second (2), adult (2), soon (2), quite (2), suffering (2), leads (2), hopeless (2), example (2), economy (2), statement (2), convey (2), alert (2), signals (2), media (2), newspaper (2), attention (2), literally (2), sensory (2), era (2), type (2), hear (2), saved (2), today (2), focus (2), advantage (2), beings (2), systems (2), pick (2), audio (2), data (2), information (2), instinct (2), apparently (2), doesn (2), murders (2), channels (2), perhaps (2), object (2), value (2), china (2), artifacts (2), objects (2), dynasty (2), dated (2), times (2), emperor (2), report (2), appeared (2), 20th (2), began (2), online (2), closed (2), products (2), against (2), chance (2), avoid (2), asleep (2), hearing (2), itself (2), therefore (2), keep (2), ears (2), similar (2), pitched (2), range (2), lower (2), combination (2), colors (2), 000hz (2), equal (2), fixed (2), table (2), stay (2), saturday (2), continue (2), policy (2), celebrity (2), act (2), sign (2), thanks (2), exempt (2), govt (2), officers (2), security (2), fee (2), honrado (2), message (2), popular (2), blaring (2), sirens (2), added (2), standard (2), general (2), angel (2), power (2), curious (2), net (2), near (2), zone (2), please (2), resource (2), understanding (2), helped (2), essays (2), novels (2), histories (2), scanned (2), available (2), accompanied (2), local (2), age (2), scholarship (2), fails (2), college (2), allows (2), scholars (2), significant (2), change (2), 18th (2), accessible (2), thing (2), looked (2), far (2), recent (2), hours (2), enjoyed (2), bringing (2), methods (2), ignorance (2), introduced (2), comfort (2), move (2), evidence (2), realised (2), events (2), true (2), exercise (2), attempts (2), improve (2), planned (2), further (2), funds (2), donation (2), buddinath (2), roy (2), connection (2), extraordinary (2), commemorated (2), wall (2), hall (2), foundation (2), arrival (2), mission (2), mrs (2), order (2), schools (2), understand (2), god (2), always (2), terms (2), highest (2), useful (2), families (2), derive (2), wished (2), woman (2), expectation (2), riches (2), desires (2), interests (2), language (2), taught (2), generally (2), understood (2), chief (2), felt (2), collected (2), desired (2), learn (2), months (2), herself (2), attend (2), twenty (2), opening (2), devoted (2), led (2), sure (2), length (2), having (2), celebrated (2), whose (2), selection (2), stated (2), educational (2), members (2), distance (2), theory (2), purposes (2), success (2), determined (2), edition (2), review (2), cost (2), singapore (2), banned (2), pre (2), section (2), upgrade (2), scootinsilence (2), airlines (2), option (2), quiet (2), airline (2), wailing (2), babies (2), extra (2), none (2), backside (2), case (2), chloroform (2), captain (2), announces (2), off (2), instruments (2), run (2), planes (2), regular (2), proof (2), provided (2), post (2), bawling (2), heads (2), together (2), item (2), doing (2), introduce (2), fill (2), stern (2), watching (2), solemn (2), sale (2), customer (2), behind (2), form (2), seeing (2), satisfied (2), head (2), thick (2), turns (2), seen (2), front (2), showrooms (2), showroom (2), larger (2), tell (2), boarding (2), minutes (2), gate (2), rush (2), occurs (2), owing (2), powers (2), habits (2), received (2), affected (2), converted (2), mode (2), massive (2), sink (2), provinces (2), fortune (2), hoard (2), benares (2), quarter (2), taken (2), metal (2), northcote (2), 1863 (2), link (2), huge (2), bring (2), restrictions (2), results (2), air (2), enables (2), convert (2), annual (2), step (2), earth (2), saving (2), future (2), industry (2), result (2), appliances (2), considerable (2), bear (2), carry (2), banks (2), active (2), productive (2), former (2), influence (2), development (2), colonization (2), europeans (2), lands (2), primary (2), agricultural (2), render (2), tended (2), require (2), prominent (2), caste (2), races (2), hitherto (2), internal (2), roads (2), steam (2), waste (2), skill (2), toil (2), safely (2), absence (2), soil (2), rates (2), admitted (2), ingenuity (2), chaste (2), jest (2), husbandry (2), likely (2), smaller (2), might (2), productions (2), primitive (2), compared (2), release (2), worked (2), pleasure (2), peaks (2), nothing (2), sense (2), seemingly (2), happy (2), ourselves (2), joy (2), football (2), single (2), dramatically (2), overall (2), kahneman (2), judge (2), punch (2), team (2), happier (2), lost (2), heuristic (2), sachin (2), batting (2), reviews (2), gifted (2), articulate (2), obvious (2), answer (2), throw (2), impossible (2), define (2), austin (2), disappointing (2), fascinate (2), court (2), appeal (2), inside (2), penetrate (2), divine (2), difference (2), driven (2), profundity (2), minds (2), anything (2), beautiful (2), performing (2), sell (2), sportsmen (2), anticipation (2), mince (2), pies (2), usages (2), wishes (2), handsome (2), fire (2), idea (2), perishable (2), presents (2), cakes (2), fish (2), mutton (2), oranges (2), almonds (2), raisins (2), domestics (2), solemnity (2), laurel (2), plate (2), castes (2), roman (2), holly (2), saheb (2), servant (2), behold (2), khetmudghar (2), shores (2), word (2), adopted (2), fruit (2), christians (2), mass (2), celebrate (2), image (2), types (2), chapels (2), churches (2), bearing (2), water (2), towns (2), peasantry (2), father (2), presidencies (2), observed (2), tenanted (2), tide (2), cross (2), faith (2), dedicated (2), scattered (2), born (2), brief (2), cease (2), hostilities (2), invite (2), instantly (2), ended (2), ages (2), entertained (2), character (2), common (2), mankind (2), cattle (2), connexion (2), purport (2), interchange (2), sweetmeats (2), dates (2), west (2), recurrence (2), undergone (2), ultra (2), ethereal, powered, blogger, 2005, 121, 2006, 161, 2007, 2008, 190, 2009, 2010, 2011, 101, archive, chennai, ramblings, bata, thatha, dear, diary, boring, nonsense, watch, dad, daughter, dialogue, complete, probing, answers, reportedly, causing, surge, infections, eyeball, licking, japanese, schoolchildren, craze, missed, fifth, span, overarching, missing, finally, unique, beauty, treatment, offered, salons, live, snails, crawl, face, claimed, slime, removes, cells, rejuvenates, skin, popularity, surgery, redrawn, prescribed, palmistry, destiny, fate, reshaped, brilliant, third, elderly, arrested, shoplifting, tokyo, exceeds, teenaged, shoplifters, demographic, standards, younger, reported, sales, exceed, baby, demographics, percentage, geriatric, citizens, incontinence, business, four, fed, chew, picking, cautionary, caveat, accompany, flip, side, unlikely, sustained, due, rainfall, bounden, oblige, earn, television, detector, combs, input, putting, evolved, evolution, bush, rustle, leaves, wind, percent, calls, saw, bleeds, evolving, tuned, visual, around, filtered, amyglada, temporal, lobe, brains, vital, survival, negativity, bias, hardwired, tiring, listen, rape, terror, poisoning, accidents, illnesses, resist, bombardment, newspapers, churning, imitations, 1200, won, qualify, midst, boom, incentives, dubious, display, collection, contained, tang, colour, porcelain, vase, despite, technique, invented, ming, errors, engraved, purportedly, showing, yellow, shanghai, simplified, characters, widespread, humiliation, earlier, boyong, inexplicable, discrepancies, findings, 40000, exhibits, formidable, physics, acoustics, falling, masking, kinds, effectively, overloads, numbs, auditory, hold, conversation, crowded, restaurant, identify, promotes, reduces, clutter, drowning, distract, hiss, waterfall, aerosol, static, represented, perceive, relatively, octaves, consist, greater, giving, proportionally, sensitive, elementary, learned, using, prism, separate, component, analogy, composed, roughly, cycles, per, spectrum, amplitude, volume, instead, generating, tone, 20hz, 21hz, 22hz, generator, creates, constantly, mixture, tones, audible, probability, issue, fans, earshot, hypnotic, avoided, soporific, support, airports, elsewhere, politician, insists, treated, rare, instance, choosing, normal, citizen, non, vips, forget, fawn, obsequious, phrase, metaphor, literal, signs, strict, monitoring, nobody, standing, except, officials, foreign, ambassadors, stricter, measures, rid, enterprising, personnel, including, police, guards, porters, illegal, escort, services, capitalized, street, lingo, cut, procedures, posters, intend, routine, miaa, manager, jose, mentality, culture, catch, phrases, president, aquino, speeches, reaffirm, commitment, root, abuse, initially, attack, powerful, streets, metropolis, speech, deplored, symbol, privilege, wondered, filipino, slang, littering, smoking, codeword, kissing, check, manila, yesterday, immigration, counter, embarrassment, cctv, monitored, comment, scholar, fascinating, precede, victorian, portal, mare, magnum, print, authors, launch, disciplines, wrote, transcend, anonymously, paperwork, emerging, bureaucracies, organizations, businesses, printed, rediscovery, open, subtle, appreciation, intellectual, merits, consider, obscure, catalogs, minor, journals, sea, biographies, terrifyingly, erudite, bibliographies, specialty, enter, canon, literary, historical, otherwise, tends, languish, dustier, shelves, libraries, fresh, regard, represents, searchable, scholarly, neglected, unreliable, library, 21st, becoming, accustomed, copyright, paula, findlen, thus, spent, learnt, bit, role, armchair, historian, similarly, sole, indoctrinating, unfair, accusation, show, intentions, honourable, stemmed, belief, superstition, stamped, liberate, squalor, marked, goods, hinterland, ship, intention, plunder, piece, communication, conveys, desire, build, transportation, reliable, safe, profitable, done, tag, links, passages, accessed, gain, perspective, history, sided, unfolded, ruthlessly, crushed, rebellion, hesitate, authority, engineers, generals, administrators, quality, rediscovering, executed, 1828, promoted, knowles, robinson, esq, greatly, assisted, liberal, bahadur, founded, ladies, omit, notice, munificence, gentleman, subscribed, sicca, rupees, upwards, erection, patriotic, unrivalled, annals, liberality, inscription, marble, tablet, inserted, principal, institution, 1824, raised, 1826, stone, cornwallis, square, laid, became, wife, rev, isaac, missionary, relax, afforts, behalf, efforts, obtaining, erecting, establish, eight, regularly, 214, pleased, fellow, creatures, spoke, approbation, passed, hoped, tend, harmony, husbands, brutes, benefit, happiness, suppose, pleasing, cried, smiting, right, hands, pearl, earthly, seeks, yours, learning, friend, conversant, repeated, morrow, fifteen, several, inquisitiveness, prompted, enquire, motive, coming, kept, men, allowed, attain, degree, obstacle, females, undertake, teach, compassion, help, unaccustomed, lady, town, girl, pundit, drove, interpreter, past, begging, known, devoting, instruction, next, whilst, engaged, studying, bengali, daring, entering, paid, observe, pronunciation, circumstance, trifling, appear, thunthuniya, babus, talking, acting, arrangement, entered, auspices, chapman, gratify, extracting, selected, rightly, informed, memory, aright, richard, cecil, admirable, sagacity, distinctly, manifested, arrived, 1821, committee, spoken, region, recoiled, obloquy, assault, honored, custom, somewhere, 1818, 1819, union, formed, shortly, formation, encouraged, attempt, direction, 1855, 164, carrier, flies, sydney, rom, teens, seven, rows, allowing, opt, cabin, enjoy, exclusivity, privacy, 12s, someplace, else, scoot, budget, arm, offers, customers, fly, seats, looks, fare, dark, thoughts, works, parent, parachuted, plane, containers, pets, load, cargo, someone, develop, acoustic, filters, selectively, suppress, bawl, scream, muted, effective, kick, method, described, sealed, packs, containing, distributed, board, mobile, phones, functioning, navigation, anesthetised, obey, unquestioningly, cooperate, realise, disallow, flights, economically, viable, enclosures, accommodated, possibilities, kicking, sleepless, sleeplessness, couple, badly, behaved, wide, menace, offend, sensibilities, below, proceed, cautiously, shop, does, impression, yes, big, favour, collect, brownie, hey, elaborate, forms, triplicate, perform, indecisive, cat, needs, assurance, realises, mistake, hassle, provides, myself, intent, drama, imaginary, phone, lot, blue, ink, grudgingly, nodding, disapprovingly, pulls, inserts, recall, full, contact, whenever, red, tapism, tick, tells, adjusting, spectacles, sterner, weeks, size, bespectacled, asks, exchanging, announced, ten, walk, shirts, try, worry, sir, helpful, smiling, easily, reassured, 1856, colonel, sykes, chairman, external, passage, excess, exports, imports, constant, gradual, producing, civilization, 100, pound, chiefly, appreciable, prices, mutiny, 1857, terrific, ordinary, absorption, secretion, bracelets, anklets, earrings, necklaces, waist, bands, safest, treasure, preserved, kirwee, prize, property, messrs, hamilton, trappings, elephant, chains, sufficiently, ground, tackling, vessel, tons, eagerness, ornaments, measure, importation, disappearance, plint, aptly, upper, practised, incredible, hidden, needed, rich, oude, secreted, runjeet, singh, punjab, ava, scindia, fort, siege, bhurtpore, taking, seringapatam, positively, asserted, shah, jehan, died, wrung, impoverished, subjects, tendency, ingrained, psyche, exactly, observation, love, continually, imported, current, deficit, resulted, impose, import, curb, inflow, analysts, met, illicit, smuggling, providing, sort, wagon, highways, pastures, corn, fields, considerably, relieve, borrower, crushing, usurious, dealings, grasping, unprincipled, counteract, mischievous, consequences, pernicious, habit, congenial, burying, convertit, jewels, fruitful, forth, vivify, lie, dormant, hiding, advantages, accumulation, making, profit, add, strength, principle, cumulation, latter, machinery, involve, outlay, stinted, embarrassed, individual, embark, machines, extensive, plans, scale, pecuniary, assistance, utility, apparent, rendering, province, accummulate, distribute, smith, judicious, operation, dealer, dead, tools, provisions, subsistence, produces, himself, inland, extended, territory, facilities, neither, climate, religion, refuse, benefits, thereof, desiderata, suffered, exclusiveness

Text of the page (random words):
sting features it is early morning the sun is up and christians of all classes are afoot the bells of all the places of christian worship are summoning to prayer hurrying along the roads and across the maidauns or esplanades the portuguese clerks and ayas nurses and waiting women attired in their best cottons wend their way to mass to celebrate the glorious nativity and behold the image of nossa senora the gorgeous paintings which decorate the massive religious structures in italy austria spain and portugal are wanting but there are other types which equally address themselves to the vulgar sense after mass at many chapels and churches a little bed is exhibited and within reposes an effigy of the virgin mother bearing the infant jesus crowds rush forward to render homage to the image it is kissed by thousands and bedewed with the tears of joy and gratitude holy water is at a premium the vast congregations return homewards the better and the happier for the annual commemoration away from the chief towns and more especially along the malabar coast the small primitive chapels are thronged by the rustic christians bearing offerings to the poor and worthy padre in the shape of wheat sheaves fruits cheeses conserves and whatever their own poverty will permit herein their offerings resemble the contributions of the irish peasantry to father luke or father brady while early service is performing in the roman catholic places of worship the servants of the protestant householder are busy testifying their respect for master by dawn the portico of his house has been hung with festoons of marigolds or mogree the indian jasmine wreaths and branches of laurel the tropical substitute for holly adorn the columns of his verandah and the entrances to his rooms now master or the saheb has breakfasted and the head servant announces that the rest of the domestics claim permission to pay their respects what procession is this is a marriage feast toward behold the sircar or clerk who keeps the saheb s accounts attended by a coolee or porter he makes his salaam and lays before his employer a huge rooee or seher fish a plum cake charmingly frosted with sugar candy a copper tray of almonds and raisins two vast cauliflowers and a nosegay his offering is graciously accepted and a small present cancels the obligation now comes the khetmudghar or body servant he has brought a leg of mutton some oranges a smaller cake and a quantity of kissmiss the small sulltana raisin from the shores of persia kissmiss whence the word has it been adopted by the hindoos because it is acceptable at christmas we never could divine the etymology kissmiss is a pretty dessert fruit to play with and isn t it suggestive of the standard joke of the old quihye he accidentally on purpose rolls a mango towards the fruit plate and exclaims with a chuckle see how naturally man goes to kissmiss the children laugh and a faint smile plays about the lips of the adults who have heard the veteran jest a score of times the khetmudghar is dismissed with a present anon comes the sirdar bearer the tailor the washerman even the poor mehtur sweeper each with the christmas present and each receives a suitable douceur or buksheish often pronounced buxis and so suggesting the notion that we have borrowed the term and converted it into boxes blessed and blessing the master now dismisses his domestics and the carriage is ordered to the door to carry the family to church service is performed with the extra solemnity suitable to the occasion the church is garlanded with laurel and other evergreens an appeal is made to the charitable feelings of the congregation and as the organ peels the final voluntary the bank notes and the silver coin are freely dropped into the churchwarden s plate to provide food and clothing for the indigent of all castes and classes home and the family are greeted at the door by visitors native and european of the highest grades more cakes more fish more legs of mutton more oranges more almonds and raisins crowd the hall and staircases the question is how to dispose of all this perishable matter for khansumagee the butler takes care that all these supplies shall not interfere with his usual bazaar arrangements _ he has in anticipation made the market for the day so when the children are satisfied the perishable presents are given to the poor as evening closes in the house of each family of respectability opens its hospitable doors to the reception of friends and the roast beef and the plum pudding and the mince pies the port wine and the champagne attest the attachment of the english to old home honoured usages the glass goes round good wishes are exchanged many a thought is directed to friends and relatives at a distance and the day closes much as it closes in england in calcutta fires are burnt in english grates in the months of december and january and although a handsome bouquet of roses decorates the drawing room table and the chilfoniers there is a wintry feel about the atmosphere and as the chairs are drawn round the fire place and the whiskey punch is brewed the cherished idea of home on christmas day is suitably and completely realised posted by raj at 9 11 pm 2 comments labels britindia thursday january 01 2015 why sportsmen s autobiographies disappoint when sachin tendulkar released his autobiography recently i knew that at least one person would not be buying or reading it me while i ve always considered him an intuitive batting genius i ve never heard him utter an intelligent remark about the game so even if it was going to be ghost written i was under no illusion at all that the book would offer any insight either on how he approached or planned his innings or any other nuances of the game but given his stature there was tremendous anticipation before the release of the book i am sure it sold well even if the reviews were not too favourable why are autobiographies of most geniuses invariably disappointing and why do we feel the need to read autographies of sportsmen at all in his review of tennis player tracy austin s autobiography beyond centre court david foster wallace writes you can find a pdf version here almost uniformly bad as books these athletic my story s sell incredibly well there are so many of them and they sell so well because athletic stories seem to promise something more than the regular old name dropping celebrity autobiography here is a theory top athletes are compelling because they embody the comparison based achievement we revere fastest strongest and because they do so in a totally unambiguous way questions of the best plumber or best managerial accountant are impossible even to define whereas the best relief pitcher free throw shooter or female tennis player is at any given time a matter of public statistical record top athletes fascinate us by appealing to our twin compulsions with competitive superiority and hard data plus they re beautiful great athletes are profundity in motion they enable abstraction like power and grace and control to become not only incarnate but televisable to be top athlete performing is to be that exquisite hybrid of animal and angel that we average unbeautiful watchers have such a hard time seeing in ourselves so we want to know them these gifted driven physical achievers we too as audience are driven watching the performance is not enough we want to go intimate with all that profundity we want inside them we want the story we want to hear about humble roots privation precocity grim resolve discouragement persistence team spirit sacrifice killer instinct liniment and pain we want to know how they did it what goes through their minds is their agony of defeat anything like our little agonies of daily frustration so the point then about these sports memoirs market appeal because top athletes are profound because they make a certain type of genius as carnally discernible as it can ever get these ghost written invitations inside their lives and their skulls are terribly seductive for book buyers explicitly or not the memoirs make a promise to let us penetrate the indefinable mystery of what makes some persons geniuses semi divine to share with us the secret and so both to reveal the difference between us and them and to erase it a little that difference to give us what we want expect only one the master narrative the key story however seductively they promise though these autobiographies never deliver and beyond centre court is especially bad the book fails not because it s poorly written but because what any college sophomore knows is the capital crime of expository prose it forgets who it s supposed to be for none of the book s loyalties are to the reader the author s primary allegiance seems to be her family and friends dfw then talks about the air of robotic banality that suffuses the sports memoirs genre and how the books turn out to be disappointing and stunningly inarticulate about just those qualities and experiences that fascinate the readers it remains very hard for me to reconcile the vapidity of austin s narrative mind on the one hand with the extraordinary mental powers that are required for world class tennis on the other real indisputable genius is so impossible to define that maybe we automatically expect people who are geniuses as athletes to be also geniuses as speakers and writers to be articulate perceptive truthful profound the real secret behind top athletes genius then may be as esoteric and obvious and dull and profound as silence itself the real many veiled answer to the question of what just goes through a great player s mind as he stands at the centre of hostile crowd noise and lines up the free throw that will decide the game might be nothing at all it may well be that we spectators who are not divinely gifted as athletes are the ones truly able to see articulate and animate the experience of the gift that we are denied and those who receive and act out the gift of athletic genius must perforce be blind and dumb about it and not because blindness and dumbness are the price of the gift but because they are its essence i felt that this to a large extent explains why sachin undoubted genius though he is when batting was unable to offer any insights in his autobiography as i admitted i haven t read it i m going by some of the reviews i came across unfortunately for him his ghost writer too lacked an understanding of what to provide to the readers posted by raj at 8 02 pm 50 comments labels cricket wednesday december 31 2014 peak end rule some year end reflection how was 2014 for you while answering the question you will in all likelihood apply the peak end rule the peak end rule popularised by daniel kahneman is a psychological heuristic in which people judge experiences largely based on how they were at their peak i e their most intense point and at their end rather than based on the total sum or average of every moment of the experience it occurs regardless of whether the experience is pleasant or unpleasant according to the heuristic other information aside from that of the peak and end of the experience is not lost but it is not used this includes net pleasantness or unpleasantness and how long the experience lasted source even if a movie were to be good overall on average you are more likely to judge it based on a high point or low and the end which is why the director tries to pack more punch in the climax scene same thing when it comes to games a cricket match with a prominent high point and an exciting finish will be considered a more memorable one compared to one in which the winning team dominated the proceedings throughout if a person lives 95 of his life in poverty but strikes a fortune towards the end he is believed to die happier than a person who was rolling in riches all his life on an average but lost it all for some reason at the fag end of his life so when judging the year 2014 you would probably give more weightage to the events that happened closer to the end of the year in his book being mortal atul gawande cites kahneman s peak end rule while discussing how people evaluate their experiences and their lives in their final stages people seem to have two different selves an experiencing self who endures every moment equally and a remembering self who gives almost all the weight of judgement afterward to two single points in time the worst moment and the last one just a few minutes without pain at the end of a medical procedure dramatically reduced patients overall pain ratings even after they d experienced more than an hour of high level pain a bad ending skewed the pain scores upward just as dramatically in the end people don t view their life as merely the average of all of its moments which after all is mostly nothing much plus some sleep for human beings life is meaningful because it is a story a story has a sense of a whole and its arc is determined by the significant moments the ones where something happens measurements of people s minute by minute levels of pleasure and pain miss this fundamental aspect of human existence a seemingly happy life may be empty a seemingly difficult life may be devoted to a great cause we have purposes larger than ourselves unlike your experiencing self which is absorbed in the moment your remembering self is attempting to recognise not only the peaks of joy and valleys of misery but also how the story worked out as a whole this is profoundly affected by how things ultimately turn out why would a football fan let a few flubbed moments at the end of the game ruin three hours of bliss because a football game is a story and in stories endings matter when our time is limited and we are uncertain how best to serve our priorities we are forced to deal with the fact that both the experiencing self and the remembering self matter we do not want to endure long pain and short pleasure yet certain pleasures can make enduring suffering worthwhile the peaks are important and so is the ending so i hope 2014 worked out well for you especially the ending p s i was rather disappointed that i did not write a blogpost for the entire year wanted to record at least one to maintain my minimum balance in the account posted by raj at 2 01 pm 10 comments tuesday december 17 2013 banking in india the book the rise progress and present condition of banking in india by by charles northcote cooke published in 1863 was the first to describe the prevailing commercial practices in the country and record the developments in western system of banking it notes page 65 70 that the combination of railway network and availability of capital through banks that were going to be set up would unleash the potential of the country it would release the natives from the tyranny of high interest charged by the traditional lenders of the land nowhere is the investment of income more certain of good return or more likely to be blessed than here india has boundless resources ...