Sketchbook is Truly Over!

Yes, this sad announcement is all there is for this post…

Sketchbook’s official end was more than 6 years ago, bookmarked by this post.

Its scanlation ended just yesterday. For those interested, here’s a sneak peak (the picture below is clickable!):

Finally, I hope something similar happens for

Scorebook

Feeble February

The weather has been all over the place this month. Mornings and Evenings are quite chilly but the rest of the day is quite warm. I seem to turn on the fan for 10 minutes every hour or so. There were again a few weddings this month but I didn’t attend any as I did in November because Sakura had a few Olympiad exams this month and her final exams for class 3 start next week. You may wonder why I did not go alone as I did in November! Well, I wanted to help her “revise” regularly this time. Anyway, it seems she did as good/bad as last time so my “help” may not have helped that much. Or, maybe it “helped” to maintain that level of consistency!😆 We did take a weekend trip to Kochi before the exams, so there’s that too. And remember Fort Kochi is not a Fort!🤯

I have also been programming the past few couple of weeks and the result of that is here. The actual code and stuff is accessible directly on GitHub. It is basically a card game that became well-known as a nontrivial programming problem in a contest organized by MathWorks last year.

Out of the blue, 5 chapters of Sketchbook dropped this year after a gap of nearly 3 years! And these did not disappoint. Two sample strips about cooking food are perfect:

Lastly, I listened to a “new” poet this month. I was amazed at his choice of simple words which packed a brilliant punch to where it mattered! This is again one of those untranslatable Ghazals so I won’t even transcribe it in English. But I will try to explain it below, though I don’t think I will do it justice.

राह बदलूँ के क़ाफ़िला बदलूँ
इससे बेहतर है रहनुमा बदलूँ

दर्द जाता नहीं ए चारागर
रोग बदलूँ के मैं दवा बदलूँ

फिर वही खुद से रोज़ का झगड़ा
खुद को बदलूँ के आईना बदलूँ

अब कोई प्रार्थना नहीं फलती
शब्द बदलूँ के देवता बदलूँ

ज़िंदगी की रदीफ़ रूठ गई
बहर बदलूँ के क़ाफ़िया बदलूँ

–दीक्षित दनकौरी

The whole Ghazal is about dilemmas in various situations, where one has to choose one option or the other. This Ghazal is so structured that the first and last Sher themselves open up dilemmas in similar situations but with contradictory options! That’s what makes this a great Ghazal. So the first Sher asks in its first line whether to change one’s path or one’s company (caravan); only to wonder in the second line if it’s better to change the leader. The second Sher complains to the doctor that the pain does not subside; and wonders whether to change the disease or the medicines. The third one is upset about fighting with oneself; and wonders whether to change oneself or the mirror! The fourth one is so profound as to notice that no prayer is being answered; and wonders whether to change the words or the gods! The last Sher contains quite a few technical terms related to Ghazals (refer to this post for their technical meanings) but they all have “normal” meanings too, so in essence, this Sher is full of श्लेष अलंकार (Puns) raising it to the highest level of poetical beauty I’ve ever witnessed! Here is what I think are its dual meanings: 1. My life’s refrain (रदीफ़) is “upset”. Should I change the meter (बहर) or the “rhyme” (क़ाफ़िया)? 2. My life’s co-travellers (रदीफ़) are upset. Should I change my ways (बहर) or the followers (क़ाफ़िया)? What a reversal of viewpoint compared to the first Sher: there, the leader seemed to be the problem and here, the followers! To appreciate the beauty of this Ghazal fully, here is Dixit Dankauri reciting it in full (starts around half-time):

Dixit Dankauri, Jashn-e-Adab, 2025

His previous recitals are also worth listening to: 2019, 2021 & 2023. One more on the occasion of

Gopaldas “Neeraj” Birth Centenary 2025

Happy New Year!

The first month of the new year is about to end so I might as well put up the first post before it is too late.

Let me start with the last month of the last year, first. We went to Taipei after nearly 8 years and met with my “old” colleagues who seemed to have aged not even 8 months! But in that period of time, I have an 8-year-old kid tagging along with me and I may as well have aged 18 years with my balding face, rotund shape and aching skeleton. Literally! Apart from that, it was a great trip. We (re)visited some of my old haunts like NTU (of course), Kapok Vegetarian Bakery, Da’An Park, Maokong Gondola, etc. These places have changed quite a bit. One example of an extreme change (which was disorientating at first) was the 4-way square flyover bridge over the Da’An park intersection was nowhere to be found! Anyway, Sakura seemed to like these places. In other news, we almost lost Sakura’s ear-warmers on one trip (THSR to Taichung) and almost lost her on another (National Palace Museum)… These are stories for some other time! And so a weeklong trip came to an end with a visit to the Taipei Zoo where we witnessed South American animals in flesh for the first time. We refrained from doing the “tourist-y” thing and climb Taipei 101 again this time. But somebody doesn’t care about that!

 

Let me end with the first month of this new year. Not much noteworthy has happened, though. We watched the Republic Day parade live for ~3 hours today. Sakura enjoyed the floats and stunts by the CRPF officers & military jet pilots. Though, she missed the coloured jets those jets didn’t spray! Anyway, Happy New Year once again to all the readers of this Blog. Hope you learn and grow beyond your expectations this year…

Happy 2026