RameshMahadevan

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Created 13 Jan 2023

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87 Articles

This journal is a collection of humorous text written by Ramesh Mahadevan.

Ramesh Mahadevan was born in India, in the city of Madras, where he spent his childhood. He studied at University of IIT-Kanpur and then moved to the USA where he obtained a PhD in Applied Physics from Ohio State University. He worked first for Storage Technology Corporation and then for Maxtor in Denver, Colorado. Later he become an adjunct professor at the SSN College of Engineering. On top of consulting, he started a weblog which had a good following. Later on he decided to move back to India.

Ramesh passed away beginning of 2016.

These texts have been written in the 90s and originally published on Soc.Culture.Indian (Usenet newsgroup).

85. Rosebud

" Zindagi Ek safar Hai suhaanaa.... " Kishore Kumar's timeless melody filled the entire living room of Dr. Srikanth Gupta's house. Suddenly Dr. Gupta stopped whatever he was doing. The music was so arresting that Dr. Gupta actually found himself tapping his feet to its rhythm. "My God!" he thought, "How many years has it been since I heard this number !" It was one of his all time favorite songs. Now, where did it come from, all of a sudden ? "Oh, I just picked up this CD from the Indian store yesterday." his wife answered. "I know how much you like this song." Dr. Gupta even remembered the lyrics. He was amazed at his own memory....

84. Madurai, Here We Come

Darkness was slowly creeping in on the town of Poompuhaar, even as a gentle sea breeze was hugging it. A large moon had just then popped out of the sea, as if it too wanted to be a part of the evening festivities. The merchants were closing their shops and were getting ready to have a drink or two and join in the special performances to mark the Sea Festival. The entire Market Street had come alive to the sounds of music and dance. The royal lamplighters were already out on the streets lighting the numerous lamps - some especially set up for the festival. Isn't it true that the Market Street in Poompuhaar almost never sleeps ? Nay, it...

83. A Desi in Paris

I never spent so much time underground as I did when I was in Paris. The Metro system of subway trains is a brutal reality of life in Paris and there is no escaping it. Something akin to the Bombay trains or Madras buses, except that you creep around in the bowels of Paris. And it is a great place for 'people watching'- one of the many dying arts. Even getting into a Metro station is very intriguing. You know that Paris is like many pizzas cut into slices, with eight or nine streets converging into a street corner. I wonder how it feels to live in the wedge shaped houses in the street corners, with triangular rooms. At any rate, y...

82. On Uncles and Aunts

From: sbhide@mentor.com (Sandhi Bhide) Subject: Why don't you do something more productive ha ?? Date: 23 Aug 89 01:25:25 GMT Organization: engr Fret not, Mr. Bhide. I will respond to your post. True, I did ignore your post the first time. But not this time around. I am not qualified to repsond to every aspect your post, but I will respond to just one issue you raised. You wrote: 3. I travel quite a bit for pleasure. Living in the USA, our children do not have an idea of the relationships like uncle, aunt (maternal and paternal) etc.. like the way we do, since we came from there. If there was a pool of people spread around in the US ...

81. Close Encounters With Men Of God

The very first time I encountered a Sadhu in my life was when I was almost finishing up high school. One day, as I got back from school and carelessly tossed my schoolbag and was biting into some junk food, demanding my evening 'chai', my mother turned into a motherly, aggressive, non-sequitur mood."You are always procrastinating. Take your horoscope this instant and show it to Swamiji. Consult him on your higher education and make sure you pay attention to whatever he says" She urged me. "We are very fortunate that Swamiji has condescended to stay in Madras for an extra week. Remember to first fall at his feet and get his blessin...

80. Rewind

Ajay Palvayanteeswaran undergoes a phase transformation after his fifth beer. Last night, he reached out for his sixth bottle, decapitated the cap off with his bare teeth, belched extensively like a coffee machine, sat squarely on the couch and asked me. "Do you know which professor in IIT Kanpur holds the record for putting to sleep the least number of students in a lecture ?" "You mean the maximum number of people ?" I asked naively. "No, I mean minimum. There are all kinds of records for maximum. Maybe in your days IIT K professors were interesting and kept a whole lecture class awake, but I am talking about my time, several moons afte...

79. Pet Peeves (Part 2/398)

There are lies, damned lies and statistics. And then there are worse lies, also called a lonely desi male's stories about 'ex-Flames'. How many times has it happened to you when one of the fellow desi guys walks up to you and confesses that he was once in love and therefore now has an 'ex-Flame' ? Ex-Flame ? Yeah, right. We were not born yesterday. Are we supposed to be impressed by the dude's sexual prowess and ladykiller personality or what ? Especially when we know right away that the man had spent four years of monastic existence in his pet IIT and never even made an eye contact with any woman. We simply know t...

78. Pet Peeves (Part 1/398)

I am a very angry man with a lot of pet peeves. Here is a short list.I am bugged by Hindi movies, of all things. Why are they all rushing to Rajasthan these days to make movies ? From Sridevi to Madhuri, from Tun Tun to Dimple, I have seen all actresses in mile long lehengas with a thousand bangles on each hand, traversing a desert. I must have seen every single camel in Rajasthan by now. Not that I have anything against Rajasthan, but it is just that it gets a little repetitive. Don't you think ? And why are some songs always the last song in any cassette tape ? Do music directors compose designated 'last song of the cassette'...

77. Music Season - Madras 1990

If it is December, it must be Madras. The time when the month-long Music Festival is held across the city, showcasing South Indian Karnatic music. The sleepy city awakes to the sound of music and dance and its vast population imbibes more than its share of culture in just a matter of days. For those of you who don't know, now there are more than fifteen organizations and cultural academies in Madras which organize music/dance concerts during December. Add to this a number of independent, smaller outfits. On a good day, during the height of the season, as many as 35 concerts are held simultaneously in various parts of Madras. The c...

76. Hanging Loose in The Himalayas - A Final 'Travel' Post

I have walked over four hundred kilometers in the Himalayas during my several trips. Even though there could be other places in the world with similar natural beauty, for sheer heights and depths, nothing can compare with the Himalayas. When you stand on them, you are flushed with feelings of pride - of being a citizen of this great country called India - no questions asked. On one trip lasting nearly a month, we hanged around without electricity for most days and depended entirely on strangers' kindness - and there were plenty of kind strangers. We had to sleep next to water buffalos, on top of buses; had to make chapatis at an altit...

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