Almost seventeen years ago (about half a lifetime), I had made another big move. This was from my family's home in Presidential Lakes, New Jersey to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to go to college. It was a journey of about 37 miles; I could easily go back on the weekends. I made many interesting friends there, especially among the math people and, for whatever reason, international students. I got along particularly well with an Indian math student named Acushla. We spent much time together, walking around Philadelphia and eating from the food trucks. She even visited my family once, including my late grandmother. But alas the nature of academia is that friends must often part ways; I moved to Chicago and she moved back to India.
Of course I e-mailed her immediately when I found out I was coming here. She now studies differential geometry at the University of Mumbai, not far away. Some years ago, she was even a grad student at TIFR. We made plans to meet up; she met me at TIFR and we went to catch a bus.
As we waited for the bus she informed me that I was going to have to learn my Hindi numerals in order to use it properly, since the buses are all marked with such. Also, the signs for the stations are in Hindi. This means that loyal DAI readers are going to learn them as well. Here they are: the first nine natural numbers १२३४५६७८९, and then zero ०, one of the great inventions in mathematics. I will henceforth use them frequently in DAI without comment.
(Pssst! Don't remind Acushla but she already tried to teach me these numerals before in the Math Undergrad Room at Penn one evening! We had been discussing alphabets back then, and where mathematicians might look next after using up all the Greek and Latin letters. She suggested the Hindi alphabet...)
The moment the bus came to a halt, I saw an amazing sight. Imagine watching someone jumping into a bus door from some distance, rather than simply stepping into it. Now image watching ४ people attempting that simultaneously, while ५ more are jostling to enter in the usual anarchic way. Now on the one hand, this is obviously a bit intimidating. On the other hand, it wasn't particularly violent, more competitive. Dear Diary I must confess that a baser part of me might enjoy that sport myself, like I might enjoy playing football with people my size or stagediving. Perhaps not while being traveling with a lady however...
The bus ride was shaky and moderately crowded. When the ticketman told me the price, I swear he made the Hindi numeral ७ with his finger. Now I had been given some advice before coming here, that I should always keep my hand on my wallet while on the bus. It turns out that this can be difficult to do, while squeezing your way to the front of the shaky bus while also holding your ticket.
We got out at a moderately crowded downtown area. Several times I was asked if I wanted some new drums. I didn't buy them. I got myself some shoes for my upcoming interview, and we had dinner at the Leopold Cafe. I had the Penne Arabiatta and she had the Fussilli Alfredo. (I was laying off of Indian food for a while.)
It was really yummy, but the restaurant was a bit noisy; I suppose I'll get used to speaking up a little louder in public places. Our two meals came to ७७० Rupees. We left ८०० Rupees; the ३० Rupee tip is about the price of a vegetarian meal back at the (subsidized) Canteen.
See you next week Acushla!
Of course I e-mailed her immediately when I found out I was coming here. She now studies differential geometry at the University of Mumbai, not far away. Some years ago, she was even a grad student at TIFR. We made plans to meet up; she met me at TIFR and we went to catch a bus.
As we waited for the bus she informed me that I was going to have to learn my Hindi numerals in order to use it properly, since the buses are all marked with such. Also, the signs for the stations are in Hindi. This means that loyal DAI readers are going to learn them as well. Here they are: the first nine natural numbers १२३४५६७८९, and then zero ०, one of the great inventions in mathematics. I will henceforth use them frequently in DAI without comment.
(Pssst! Don't remind Acushla but she already tried to teach me these numerals before in the Math Undergrad Room at Penn one evening! We had been discussing alphabets back then, and where mathematicians might look next after using up all the Greek and Latin letters. She suggested the Hindi alphabet...)
The moment the bus came to a halt, I saw an amazing sight. Imagine watching someone jumping into a bus door from some distance, rather than simply stepping into it. Now image watching ४ people attempting that simultaneously, while ५ more are jostling to enter in the usual anarchic way. Now on the one hand, this is obviously a bit intimidating. On the other hand, it wasn't particularly violent, more competitive. Dear Diary I must confess that a baser part of me might enjoy that sport myself, like I might enjoy playing football with people my size or stagediving. Perhaps not while being traveling with a lady however...
The bus ride was shaky and moderately crowded. When the ticketman told me the price, I swear he made the Hindi numeral ७ with his finger. Now I had been given some advice before coming here, that I should always keep my hand on my wallet while on the bus. It turns out that this can be difficult to do, while squeezing your way to the front of the shaky bus while also holding your ticket.
We got out at a moderately crowded downtown area. Several times I was asked if I wanted some new drums. I didn't buy them. I got myself some shoes for my upcoming interview, and we had dinner at the Leopold Cafe. I had the Penne Arabiatta and she had the Fussilli Alfredo. (I was laying off of Indian food for a while.)
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| Do I look like I want to buy drums? |
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| Acushla |
See you next week Acushla!
Why does their 5 look like 4 and 7 look like 6? Maybe they should just take the arabic numerals and shift them all by 1.
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