R-Rated

August 23, 2023 will go down in (ironically) Earth's history as the day the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) super successfully soft-landed the 'Vikram' lander in its Chandrayaan-3 mission to Dombivli...err... the Moon - on the 'never-landed-by-any-country-before-India' South Pole. Long statement to read? Well, turns out going from Sriharikota to the Moon wasn't a short ride either!  While Indians all over the globe were thrilled about the much-anticipated mission, for at least one kid in the R3K household, because it was an early morning telecast in the States, the mission may very well have been dubbed, the Chandra-yawn ! Brother couldn't stay awake if his life depended on it. As we tuned into YouTube to witness this momentous occasion, couple of things caught my eye.  First, the announcers - a gentleman (explaining in pure Hindi) and a lady (alternating in good layman's English) gracefully explained the current situation, ISRO's past succ...

You know how many humans have been diagnosed with multiple personality disorder and the condition manifests itself at intervals depending on the situation; a similar behavior is seen among man's best friends, especially the strays. First, a first for us (among many other firsts during this trip). As my father, Kirti and yours truly watched Rocky aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani last night and got off the theater at 1 AM (yessir - my father, Kirti and I is a trifecta one would normally not associate as the group going to a movie with a 10PM start), the logical idea was to look for an auto to take us home. As soon as I trudged off in the direction of Mulund station where autos are normally available, a small hitch! A few stray dogs, who normally would be well behaved during the day, figured now would be the best time to put on the Manjulika avatar and display their beastly best behavior. Wrong turn, Rajesh. And so we decided to walk the roughly 10-12 minutes. Brilliant decision, says Kirti,...