Miscellaneous Facebook posts & comments in or around April and May 2022
When author of post or comment is not mentioned, it should be assumed that it is me (Ravi S. Iyer).
To save time, I am usually not providing my FB post links but only contents. I am also not hyperlinking links. So readers may have to copy-paste links from this post onto a browser link box and then browse to that link.
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On FB post: https://www.facebook.com/eve.gardener.980/posts/2207598062730635 , I wrote (slightly edited):
So sorry to know that you have to endure pain/suffering due to long wait times for dental and cataract surgery/work. ... A private dental surgery appt. having 6 weeks wait time is rather shocking for me to know. ... All the best ---.
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FB post: https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/3378074959075724
Nice text typing shortcut feature on Samsung mobile (similar seems to be available on other smartphones too)
I am not so savvy about smartphones. Today I learned about a nice text typing shortcut feature in my Samsung M21 smartphone. Seems that all smartphones hv such text typing shortcuts.
If u already know about it, u may pls ignore this post.
I created two shortcuts ppd and ppp which are shown in attached screenshot of my mobile.
If i type ppp then the full text (as an abbreviated sentence) appears as a suggestion below typing box. Choosing that suggestion leads to full form of text shortcut - "I am pausing now due to something cropping up. Will resume in short while." - getting entered in the text box.
Could not take screenshot of suggestions being shown as I typed in ppp.
This feature seems to be very handy. So I thought I should put up a public post on it, in case some readers (almost all, if not all, having smartphones I guess) don't know about it.
After I figured out how to set up these text shortcuts on my own, I googled for articles explaining details of how to do it. Here are two interesting results:
To see how to setup text shortcuts on Samsung mobile phone, expand Text shortcuts section in https://www.samsung.com/uk/support/mobile-devices/how-can-i-personalise-and-turn-predictive-text-on-and-off-on-my-samsung-galaxy-device/
This seems to be a more general article for text shortcuts on Android phones (it includes Samsung keyboard (mobile) as one case): How to Set Up Custom Text Shortcuts on Your Android Phone, https://www.makeuseof.com/how-to-set-up-custom-text-shortcuts-android/
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On FB post https://www.facebook.com/adiazviana/posts/10160391937784837 , I commented:
Even though I think there are criticisms of such an approach, it seems to me that that's one way to reduce the horrific tragedies of school shootings in USA.
Guns have played a key role in the history of USA (which is quite short - a few centuries - as compared to many other countries in the world). So I think it is not easy for some USA folks to move away from legal purchase and use of guns by many civilians (easy access to guns for adults who can buy them), like is the case in many other countries of the world (where civilians have limited access to guns).
Therefore I think this solution of having an armed and trained force to protect schools in USA may be an interesting one.
However, I have to say that one USA based college professor (who has also taught in Texas in the past) and who is originally from Europe, in a private mail conversation with me some years ago on shootings in college campuses in USA, was very uncomfortable with the idea of some teaching staff having to be trained in usage of guns against campus-shooters, and being armed on campus for that contingency.
He had also taught in European college campuses where college-campus shootings are rare, if any, and so not really an issue and where college teaching staff don't have to be trained and armed for such contingencies. I think that made him very uncomfortable with the idea of some teaching staff being armed and trained to combat college campus-shooters in USA.
...
In response to a comment, I wrote (slightly edited):
Thanks for your valuable views --name-snipped--.
Though we don't have this problem in India, I have many friends and few relatives who live in USA, with most of them having children who are in school or college. So this difficult topic is something that indirectly impacts me. Therefore I try to get an understanding of the issues involved.
A different group from teachers doing the armed protectors service for schools looks quite ideal. But perhaps the additional expenses involved may make such an option a difficult one for some small schools in USA, especially in rural USA.
In practice, I think some schools in rural Texas and Utah states in USA already have some teachers who are armed and trained to confront a school-shooter. Here's an interesting 2018 video about such teachers/staff in Texas: Training teachers to carry guns in school | The National Documentary, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIJzparow48 , 8 min. 49 secs.
The social angle of role of parents of such school-shooter kids is certainly an important one. The least the parents can do is to inform the police if they suspect their kid is thinking about doing such horrific shooting and killing. But then I think dysfunctional families are quite common. Perhaps it is a tough issue to solve at the family level.
The question you raised about whether parents of such school-shooters should face criminal prosecution, seems to be a very tricky one. Of course, if they knowingly collaborated in the shooting then they would be criminally liable even according to current laws, I think. But if they were not aware of the shooter's plan then I think they cannot, and I think should not, be held criminally liable for their child's horrific actions. BTW, in this particular case, the shooter had just become an adult.
I hope & pray that some way is found to prevent or at least drastically reduce such school shooting tragedies in USA in future.
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On post https://www.facebook.com/poon.ratnam/posts/2497741393696263 , I commented:
I normally don't comment publicly on USA politics. But I felt that I must share this recent post of Senator Bernie Sanders about this tragedy and how to prevent future such tragedies ... https://www.facebook.com/senatorsanders/posts/570753941086754 . It says, "Enough is enough. We must abolish the filibuster and pass gun safety legislation NOW. No one in America needs an AR-15. How many more children, mothers and fathers need to be murdered in cold blood before the Senate has the guts to ban assault weapons and take on the NRA?"
I don't want to get into the details of stuff like abolishing filibuster ... But I have to say that Senator Sanders says it straight and says it simple. He does not shy away from saying what he thinks. That's so great to see in a senator.
Awesome! But, if I got it right, the video says HSC exam which would be 2 years after SSC exam typically.
FB post: https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/3377476882468865 shares article on Orissa tribal MLA appearing for SSC/HSC exam.
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Around 6 and a half minutes video... Shri Ratan Tata speaks in English first and then speaks a few words in (broken) Hindi. It is awesome to see Shri Ratan Tata's dedication to serve people through affordable cancer treatment in this case (I presume it is a charitable hospital like the Tata Memorial (cancer) hospital in Mumbai), at his age (84 years).
FB post: https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/3376408875908999 shares related video post.
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Enjoyed seeing the video (did not hear audio). Wonderful viewing deck! Brought back memories of Mumbai seashore.
FB post: https://www.facebook.com/ravi.s.iyer.7/posts/3374167026133184 shares video post on Girgaum Chowpatty viewing deck.
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Enjoyed seeing UK PM Boris Johnson try his hand at the Charkha in Gandhiji's Sabarmati ashram in Gujarat. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtHwbH-BKvE , 1 min. 18 secs.
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Daughter of Former Kenyan PM regains eyesight through Ayurvedic treatment in India, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sjiPFssUFY , 5 mins, published on 15th Feb. 2022 by DD India.
A related Kenyan video of 2 years back: "My daughter's healing was a relief": Raila narrates Rosemary's journey to recovery, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMYaXEVgbaE , around 4 mins.
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Sachin Tendulkar's lovely video about 315 Mumbai BEST bus rides in his youth; I too had many rides in same bus route
Here's Sachin Tendulkar's recent short video titled "The story of 315": https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1317861118734781 , 45 seconds.
I thoroughly enjoyed the short video and I was able to relate to Tendulkar's favourite seat during the bus ride as I too have enjoyed these bus rides in such seats or nearby window seats :-).
The comment I put up in above video post:
Enjoyed it. Thanks for sharing! Brought back memories of my bus rides on same route, from Govt. Colony, Bandra (East) to Dadar/Matunga and back, in mid 70s (to go to English High School, Dadar) and then in late 70s (to go to Ruia college, Matunga).
--- end my comment put up in above post ---
Hmm. Feels nice to know that Sachin Tendulkar used the same Bandra (East) bus services that I used some years earlier. Very nice of Tendulkar to share such details of his life as a way to connect with Mumbaikars (current & former, with me being a former Mumbaikar) and celebrate Mumbaikar life.
I had not known that Sachin Tendulkar spent some of his boyhood years in Bandra (East), Mumbai (Bombay). I had presumed that he lived in Dadar area of Mumbai.
So I was pleasantly surprised to see above short video of Tendulkar about 315 bus rides. Now I too spent some of my boyhood in Bandra (East) and have had many 315 (and 314) bus rides, but some years before Sachin Tendulakar's 315 bus rides.
I looked up Tendulkar's wiki page, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sachin_Tendulkar, to get more info. about his Bandra (East) days.
It states, "Tendulkar spent his formative years in the Sahitya Sahawas Cooperative Housing Society in Bandra (East)." This housing society seems to be in Kalanagar, Bandra (East). When I shared this with my sister, I came to know that this society was unofficially known as Patrakar society. I clearly recall hearing about Patrakar society during my Bandra (East) days. Patrakar means journalist in Marathi (& Hindi) but perhaps also means writer in some context. Tendulkar's father was a Marathi writer (novelist & poet).
The wiki page further states:"Achrekar was impressed with Tendulkar's talent and advised him to shift his schooling to Sharadashram Vidyamandir (English) High School,[22] a school at Dadar which had a dominant cricket team and had produced many notable cricketers. Prior to this, Tendulkar had attended the Indian Education Society's New English School in Bandra (East).[37]" [References: 22: Bal, Sambit. "Sachin Tendulkar—Cricinfo Profile". ESPNcricinfo. Archived from the original on 14 November 2010. Retrieved 14 December 2007.; 37: Gulu Ezekiel. "HTCricket.com: A special HTCricket section celebrating Sachin Tendulkar's 100th Test". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 25 October 2012. Retrieved 18 December 2012.]
I think New English School in Bandra (East), https://www.ies.edu/nes/about_school.html , was where I appeared for my Xth standard (SSC) Maharashtra board exams in 1978. It was not too far from my school then - Cardinal Gracias High School in Bandra (East), and from where I lived in Govt. Colony, Bandra (East) [multiple places within the colony over the years].
Hmm. Fascinating to know that it seems that Sachin Tendulkar studied for some years in a school close to where I lived in Bandra (East).
Let me share a small extract from my part autobiography book, https://ravisiyer.blogspot.com/p/autobiography-of-indian-software-techie.html , about bus routes 314 & 315. From page 26:
For the rest of the
sixth standard term I had to travel by public bus from Bandra
(E) to Dadar and back on my own – I would have been around
11 years old then.
I recall some of those bus experiences quite vividly even
today. Conductors would usually be gracious to me noting my
school bag but catching the bus from Dadar in the evening
when school would get over, IIRC, exposed me to crowded
bus travel and its challenges. The bus was a ring route bus –
Govt. Colony, Bandra (E) to Govt. Colony, Bandra (E) [Bus
nos. 314 and 315, one doing the ring clockwise and the other,
anticlockwise]. So catching the bus from Dadar (E) [called
Dadar T.T. as it used to be a Tram Terminus in the past] in the
evening, a mid-point bus-stop, was sometimes very
challenging. I am not sure about this now but, at least on
occasions, I could enter the bus from the front side door
usually reserved for exiting passengers (as I was a school
going student). However, many times, the bus was so crowded
that it would not even stop at the official bus-stop. Regulars
would try to guess where it would stop before/after the official
bus-stop to allow disembarking passengers to get down from
the bus. The regulars would then rush towards it to try to enter
the crowded bus at that time. I think I tried to pick up some
tips from watching these regulars .
--- end extract from book ---
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