Vikas Kamat is a programmer- entrepreneur
living
in Atlanta. This blog is a complex mix of Indian
culture, life in southern USA, computer sciences, and sports. Opinions are his
own. About - Bio - Contact
Amma is on a tour of Orissa state. You can look forward to many updates on this mysterious Eastern state of India.
After my recent trip to Goa, its temples and museums, our Glimpses of Goa section has gotten a nice facelift.
We are experimenting with using LaTeX for publishing contents in Indian languages. Please await the details and the results!
I finished my 2006 Winter Tennis season with 50% results.
But now I am tuned very well for Spring when I play the Local Interclub "B-League" and USTA (United States Tennis Association) Mixed Doubles.
Photography arrived in India through the Europeans in early 1900s, and photographs of the period are perhaps the most authentic record of social life, customs, attire, and
street life of the time.
My dad was collector of such photographs, and indeed you see samples from our collection used
throughout the site. (for documenting the periods before photography, we have used landscape paintings, sculptures,
inscriptions, and period literature. Anyway...)
Recently I had an opportunity to visit the home of Dr. Rajeswari Chatterjee
(a terrific lady BTW, more about her in another entry) and she had some fantastic
photographs of her family. I didn't have good equipment or light to
capture them, but thought that they spoke so much.
Amma will preside over a function at Mythic Society (on Nripatunga Road, Bangalore) today remembering historian-administrator Wilkes. 6:00 P.M.
Festival of Colors The festival of Holi is celebrated in India by spraying colors on each other. Pictorial exhibition showing celebration of the Holi. My greetings to the readers of this blog on the occaion of the Holi festival.
KamatPlex Head Office
Dog friendly workplace surrounded by flowers and woods provide a stimulating workplace. March 2006
Finding a needle in a haystack
Dr. Jyotsna Kamat searches through Kamat Photo Archive. No other facility in the
world is said to have such a fast retrieval system.
If you want a job done well, do it yourself
The web producers take a break preparing gourmet dishes. December 2000
State of the Art Duplication Facility
Kamat (second from right) walks a mile to 8th cross Malleswaram to get a
document photocopied. The shop-keeper then offers a very personalized service,
sometimes commenting on Kamat's articles or sketches. January 2000
Open Air Office
The Kamats brainstorming an idea in open air conference
Apsarakonda Beach, 2006
Kim Kamat, 2004
KamatPlex features such benefits as therapeutic oil massages and baths from relatives.
Kim Kamat, 2004
The fans of Kamats are well known to provide delicious
fruit, rare manuscripts and other perks. It is firmly believed that such
admiration and adulation keeps the KamatPlex ticking.
The Field Trip
Jyotsna Kamat interprets an inscription
The village of Hadolli, February 2005
If you have a blog or website of your own, I encourage you to write a review
(good review or bad, doesn't matter, I am soliciting thoughtful feedback). If
you do not have a blog, please consider writing a review
on Amazon or StumpleUpon.
Of course, you can send your feedback privately via email at
The Gudbud (a.k.a. Gadbad) is probably the most exotic ice-cream meal you will ever eat. Very
popular in the part of India that I come from, you can easily prepare it it
USA.
Gudbud is a hearty ice-cream. The advertisements claim it as "Gudbud
Meal", as it is very filling.
In some Indian languages "gudbud" means
haste or even trouble and pandemonium.
Once a connoisseur from my town
went out of town (where they didn't know about Gudbud ice-cream) and entered an
eatery by the bus station. The multiple meanings of gudbud led to a lot of confusion
(or should I say gudbud?)
The connoisseur asked the owner of the eatery, "Do you have Gudbud?"
Owner: "Welcome! I'm in no gudbud Sir, please have a seat" (assuming that the
customer has a long wait for the bus)
The customer sits down down and waits for a long time and gets no service.
Customer (impatiently): "Can I have my Gudbud or not?!"
Owner: "I don't mind Sir. You can wait as long as you want. The bus is
always late."
Customer (puzzled): "I want Gudbud to eat."
Owner: "I'm sorry, I thought you were not in a hurry to eat. What can I bring you? I have Masala Dosa, Idli..."
Customer (angrily): "I want Gudbud!."
Owner (smiling, as if he can handle any trouble): "I can handle any gudbud Sir. I
have handled lot of gudbud in my lifetime."
How to Make Gudbud Ice-cream
Requirements: Vanilla ice-cream, Strawberry ice-cream, Saffron (Kesar,
available at Indian grocery stores) ice-cream, unsalted cashew nuts and raisins.
Serving: In a tall glass, mix cashews and raisins. Stack a scoop each of
vanilla, strawberry and saffron ice-creams.
I sometimes substitute peach or butterscotch ice-cream instead of saffron, and use
Craisins instead of raisins.
The best way to eat Gudbud is to dig deep vertically with a long spoon so
that each mouthful has a layer of each of the ingredients. It also helps smear
the flavors into each other which enhances the experience!
Yugadi Links
Song of Yugadi
Song of Yugadi is the English translation of a famous Indian song.
Powered NOT by Blogger or MovabaleType or
WordPress, but by SimplyBlog, a software I wrote to
create blogs.
See details
of implementation or download SimplyBlog.
This is how I surf the web. Turns out
creating your own start page beats all portals, back-flipping,
personalized corporate pages, and book-marking tools.
But now I am tuned very well for Spring when I play the Local Interclub "B-League" and USTA (United States Tennis Association) Mixed Doubles.
