Of Platforms, Pulp, and the Pain of Shoveling

Ever since moving to Massachusetts, I constantly complain about the winter. It's too long, running for a solid six months from November through April. It's bitterly cold, with temperatures dipping into negative territory - in Fahrenheit - every January and February. Shoveling snow is literally a pain in the backside even if you use a snowblower, and that too one which obstinately refuses to turn its head when you need it.

Massachusetts Man endures pain trying to maneuver an obstinate snowblower

And yet. And yet there are some days when you stand near the window overlooking your backyard, cuppa in hand, stunned.

I know I will keep complaining about winter, about the cold, the frigid air. But I am also thankful for moments like these which I do not want to ever take for granted.

Alright, on to this week's books and binges!

A Book

You already know what Enshittification is about - the title is pretty much self-explanatory. Cory Doctorow talks about how almost all tech platforms deteriorate over time: first, they are good to their users. Next, they throw users under the bus to bring in business customers. Third, they throw those customers under the bus to make a ton of money for themselves. He provides examples from all the companies you can think of (Facebook, Amazon, Google), and walks through the process with data and examples to back up his theory. Unlike a lot of other books though, he provides a couple of ways to solve this problem, through the right of exit and the end-to-end principle. The book is oriented towards (or perhaps against) the tech industry, but I would wholeheartedly recommend it to everyone. You do not need a tech background to feel angry as you read, and a teeny bit hopeful as you finish.

A Movie

So, about the French. I use the term loosely, as some of these folks are not, strictly speaking, of French origin, though their most famous films have been in the language. I have not come close to watching their entire filmography but I have absolutely loved the ones I've seen of Truffaut, Renoir, Melville, Varda, Tati, and our homme du jour, Godard. I'd actually watched the American remake of Breathless (Richard Gere) before I watched the original (Belmondo). And since you might ask, no, please don't bother. The French New Wave (or Nouvelle Vague, as you might have guessed), emerged in the 50s and was championed by some of these auteurs, stemming from the magazine Cahiers du Cinéma.

All this to say that the Richard Linklater creation Nouvelle Vague on Netflix is an ode to these movies. It's a lovely, fun film about film. About art. About Godard for sure, but also about creating something totally new, going against established norms and expectations. It's shot similar to the movies of that era, in black and white and in French. I watched the entire film with a big stupid smile on my face, in love with the movies all over again. Highly recommended.

A Show

I grew up on a diet of all genres, but one that I enjoyed the most was pulp. You know, books written by folks like John D McDonald, Elmore Leonard, Ed McBain, Robert B Parker, and if you go back a bit more, Jim Thompson. They usually have covers with fonts like the one below, and feature all the usual noir elements - a woman (sultry), a man (hard boiled), and a twisty, winding, often incomprehensible plot (unimportant).

The Lowdown is in the same vein, with a dash of humor thrown in. It features an incredible Ethan Hawke playing a "truthstorian" in Tulsa, Oklahoma, a white man who cares (the worst type, according to a few characters in the show). Its plot takes several twists and turns, people aren't who they seem (but of course), and you are not quite sure if every loose thread was wrapped up at the end. But you enjoyed the ride. Recommended.

Coming Up

Have a great week!

AI Nightmares, Poetic Cinema, and Belfast Cops

We made it to week two! Thanks to all of you who clicked on the subscribe link and wound up finding this post in your mail. So to speak.

I have been following a few artists/writers on Instagram for several years, especially since I jumped ship from Twitter. Folks like Brian K. Vaughan, Jeff Lemire, Stephen King, and Pia Guerra. Pia has been doing editorial cartooning for over fifteen years now, contributing to The New Yorker, The Washington Post, and the occasional MAD Magazine issue. She is better known though for her breakout work on Y: The Last Man, collaborating with Brian K. Vaughan.

Y was the first comic series that I ever read from start to finish, and has stayed a firm favorite. So, when Pia announced a year-end clearance sale of some of her pages, I couldn't resist. I got in touch with her, paid for a page after consulting with Satya, and carefully unwrapped it yesterday. I don't usually collect comic art, but this felt special.

The published & the original

Alright, on to this week's books and binges!

A book

Karen Hao's Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman's OpenAI covers pretty much what it says on the tin. It's incredibly well-researched, diving deep into the environmental costs of AI as well as the human element. I hadn't fully considered the colonialism aspect she highlights, specifically the labor and economic impacts on the Global South, which was an eye-opener. It reads like a book written by an engineer-turned-journalist (which is exactly what she is). The tech is interesting, as are the machinations behind closed doors. Highly recommended, no matter where you stand on AI and its implications.

A movie

I've always tiptoed around Terrence Malick's work, worried it might be a bit too slow or dense for me. That changed last September when I watched Days of Heaven and was completely blown away. I probably should have moved on to Badlands or The Tree of Life, but I'd recently snagged the Criterion edition of The New World, so I settled in for that instead.

It features a stellar cast, with Christopher Plummer, Colin Farrell, Christian Bale, and Q'orianka Kilcher. The movie is gorgeously shot - just astounding, poetic in its appeal. It's also... a bit plodding? Parts of it actually reminded me of Indian films like Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam or Mani Ratnam's Mouna Ragam. Even with the slow pace, I'd recommend it for the visuals alone; it's basically poetry on film.

A show

It's a truth universally acknowledged that if you're the son of a pathologist and married to another, you're going to end up watching a lot of crime procedurals. Luckily, the genre has produced some of the best TV ever made. I don't know if Blue Lights is quite at the very top of that list, but it's pretty damn close.

Set in Belfast, it follows a group of rookie cops dealing with organized (and disorganized) crime. The characters are well-defined, the plot is highly engaging, and it never insults your intelligence. I've watched all the three seasons that have been released so far, and cannot wait for the next. It might be hard to find on your favorite streaming service unless you are in the UK, but it's absolutely worth the search. I wouldn't have stumbled across it if Mujib hadn't mentioned it. Highly recommended.

Coming Up

Have a great week!

Now Reading, Now Showing

So, I have been mulling over this for a while. Last year was when I experimented with posting screenshots of the books I read (on Whatsapp), and brief takes on the movies and shows I watched (Bluesky). I was honestly surprised when a few folks responded to these takes, and asked me for recommendations. 

Now my system so far when I get these requests has been to turn it back to the person and ask them to list the last three books (or movies) that they enjoyed, which would help me think of similar books which I could recommend. However, Sindha, who keeps me sane (most of the time), gently informed me that people hate doing this. They just want a reco which they could then decide to try out - or not. I was backing them into a corner by asking them their preferences, which was what they wanted to avoid thinking about in the first place.

The second related thing that happened last year was when I had dinner with a few friends and got into conversations about books, movies, and TV shows. I spoke about Slow Horses. About Murderbot. somebody somewhere. My friends asked me to write about these shows and tell them about it.

These two instances made me do the mulling bit I spoke about earlier. Which led to thinking about an email format, in what was called the year of the newsletter. Substack was a no, which made me consider beehiiv, with a setting to automatically post to my blog as well just to keep that mostly ignored thing alive.

Let's try this out, shall we? The idea is to list a book, a movie, and a show that I consumed. You will not need to pay anything to subscribe of course, and I intend to do this every week (ish). Let me know what works and what makes your eyes glaze over, please.

Off we go!

A Book

Kiran Desai's The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny is a novel that really gets into the heads of its two main characters as they navigate the disconnection that accompanies an immigrant experience. I could relate to how this fuels their feelings of isolation, their fragmented sense of self, the hopes and letdown that come with seeking a new identity. That said, the book was overlong and there was a point where I wanted the damn thing to end. I had purchased the hardcover and could skip my dumbbell workout when I was reading it. I wanted to like this book, I really did. I wound up putting it on my shelf with a sigh of relief at the end. Not recommended.

A Movie

Kishkindha Kaandam was my favorite Malayalam movie of 2024, so I knew I had to watch the new film by the same folks b. Eko is written and shot by Bahul Ramesh, and directed by Dinjith Ayyathan, two people I still don't know much about but whose careers I plan to follow with interest. Eko is supposedly the final installment of Ramesh's Animal Trilogy, following Kishkindha Kaandam and Kerala Crime Files (the TV show). This is one of those movies which you need to experience yourself, going in as blind as possible. It has a lot to do with dogs, if you must know. I liked it quite a bit despite a few misgivings, and plan to watch it again sometime soon. Recommended.

A Show

The Beast In Me has Claire Danes, she of the quivering lip, and Matthew Rhys, with his steady Russian/American smirk, playing two unlikeable characters doing unlikeable things - not to each other though, thankfully. It leans heavily into the "suburban noir" feel with lots of tension, good cinematography, and that constant feeling that everyone is hiding something behind their polished front doors. Rich white-people problems, mostly. I wound up liking it but will stop short of recommending it as it does fall into the trashy category. And that quiver from Danes can get grating quickly.

Coming Up

The Tower of Babel series by Josiah Bancroft

Playing on Hulu/Disney/FX/your favorite torrent site

On Netflix

Have a great week!

All About Credit Cards

Who this is for 

A recent poll conducted by NEFE shows that four out of five adults in the US wish they were required to complete a personal finance class while they were in school. My daughter, who graduated college a few months ago, is one of them. We discuss personal finance a lot when we meet, with topics ranging from investing in the stock market to taxes to credit cards to why she wasn't born rich. Not that I'm an expert, but I've learned from my many mistakes (see why she wasn't born rich). There's nothing I'd like more than to help provide a foundation of financial literacy for her. I'd love for her to stand on her own feet making thoughtful decisions about managing her money, and not be reliant on anyone else. This is true for my son too by the way, but he's been interested in this space the past couple of years, learning quite rapidly on his own.

So, with that said, I intend to write a few posts covering various topics related to personal finance in the US. The caveat is that I am not a finance professional and none of this should be taken as financial advice. Everything on these pages can be found across hundreds of thousands of blogs, tiktoks, videos, and books - there's zero original content. My target audience is just one person, and I hope this is helpful to her.

Let's start with credit cards. Those pieces of plastic that people whip out at restaurants, or use on their phones when checking out at grocery stores.

What is a credit card anyway?

 A credit is when you receive a product or a service which you plan to pay for later. In this case the product is money, and the way you get it is through a credit card. Think of it as a loan you get from a financial institution. Instead of paying for things directly with money from your bank account, you're borrowing money from the credit card company, which you agree to pay back in time. 

A big benefit of using a credit card over a debit card is that you pay for your purchase much later. Your money continues to remain in your bank accumulating interest until your statement due date. With a debit card, you pay for your purchase instantaneously. I cannot remember the last time I used my debit card for a purchase, honestly.

How credit cards work

When you use a credit card to make a purchase, the credit card company pays the merchant on your behalf. This creates a balance on your credit card statement: the amount you owe, usually the total cost of the items you purchased. At the end of a billing cycle (typically once a month), you'll receive a statement showing all your purchases, the total amount you owe, and a minimum payment due. This statement will have a due date, which is the last day to pay off the amount before accumulating interest. 

Let's go with a made-up example. You used the credit card for a month at a few merchants and got a statement at the end of the month for $100, with a minimum amount of $10 owed by Nov 10. Now the best thing to do is to pay off the entire amount of $100 by Nov 10 so that you can avoid interest charges. If you do not have the $100 by Nov 10 then the next best thing to do is to pay the maximum amount you can afford, thereby reducing your outstanding balance. Interest rates, or Annual Percentage Rates (APR), on credit card debt are incredibly high, ranging from 17% to 29% or more.

Paying the minimum balance is not the worst thing you can do, by the way. The worst thing is not paying anything at all. Not only will you incur higher interest rates on your outstanding amount, you'll have to pay late fees as well. Stick to paying the entire billed amount every cycle and you will be fine.

Most credit cards have a credit limit associated with your account. Banks decide this based on your credit worthiness which takes into account your credit score (more on this in a later post), your payment history, credit history, and credit utilization - the amount of credit you are currently utilizing compared to your total credit available. Another factor is your ability to repay, which is mostly determined by your income. Beginners or students with limited credit history may have a low credit limit (say $1000), but this will increase as you use your card, make regular payments, and add to your income.

Credit card fees

 Some credit cards charge an annual fee for their usage. These cards would have additional perks which to some may justify their high fees. I spend $325 per year to use the American Express Gold card for instance. I do this because I value travel points (see below for details) a lot more than cash back, and the Amex Gold gives me 4 points for every dollar I spend at restaurants and grocery stores. For example, a grocery run at Roche Brothers that costs $50 gets me 200 Amex points, which I can transfer to airlines and get at least a $2 discount on travel tickets. 

Now I realize $2 doesn't seem like much but this spend adds up quickly, giving me fairly significant discounts when I book travel. Amex Gold also gives me $10 a month as Uber cash which I can use for rides or ordering through Uber Eats. They give an additional $10 a month on Grubhub as well, which we use quite often. You can likewise get an $84 annual credit for spending at Dunkin' and another $100 credit for eating out at Resy restaurants. So if you make use of the full amount of all these credits, you'll pick up $424 worth of value, completely covering the annual fee. I confess I don't use Dunkin' but I do use most of the rest, plus the discount on travel, which makes this card worth it for me. That said, I don't think this is a card for beginners, and I would advise picking cards without annual fees and give cash back when you are just starting off. 

Some banks charge a foreign transaction fee if you use the card outside the US, by the way. I personally think this is an outdated system, and there are plenty of institutions that provide cards without annual and foreign transaction fees, and offer cash back points and other perks as well.

Credit card rewards

Many credit cards offer rewards to encourage you to use them. These rewards can be a great way to get extra value from your spending. The typical rewards are:

• Sign-Up Bonuses: These are rewards you get for meeting certain spending requirements within a specific time-frame after opening a new card. For example, "Spend $500 in the first three months and get 20,000 bonus points." I have obtained significant sign-up bonuses by opening new cards, which I've redeemed for either cash or miles with airlines. 
• There is a catch here though: some financial institutions track the number of credit cards you've opened in a two year period, and if it's more than five, they are likely to deny your application. They do this to reduce credit card churning, where you open multiple cards just for the sign-up bonus and don't use them later. Chase has an unwritten rule, widely referred to as 5/24, which does exactly that: they will deny your application if you have opened more than 5 credit cards in the past 24 months.
• Cash Back Points: With cash back cards, you earn a percentage of your spending back as cash. This might be a flat rate (say 1.5% on all purchases) or higher percentages in specific spending categories (eg: 5% on groceries, 2% on gas). You can usually redeem these as a statement credit, direct deposit, or as gift cards. This is extremely useful when you are just out of college and starting your career, as you'd usually want to make every dollar stretch as much as possible. So if your credit card bill was $100 and you've accumulated 500 points as cash back, you would owe them just $95 as each point is valued at 1c. You should be able to do this on your credit card app or on their website fairly easily.
• Travel Points/Miles: These cards earn points or miles that can be redeemed for travel, such as flights, hotel stays, or car rentals. The value of these points can vary depending on the card and how you redeem them. Some cards like my American Express Platinum offer 5x points on travel-related purchases. So if I book a $500 travel on say Delta Airlines using my Amex Platinum, I get 2500 points in my Amex account, which I can redeem for at least 2500 miles which usually converts to a minimum of $25 reduction from my next booking.
• The way to do this is to transfer your Amex points to the airline of your choice. You will need to have a frequent flier account with that airline, and choose that airline as your transfer partner in Amex. Let's say you frequent Delta, and you have 20,000 points in your Amex account. You can transfer this 20,000 to Delta, which almost always shows up right away in your Delta account, which you can redeem for your next flight ticket purchase. 
• Other Perks: Most credit cards have a lot of additional perks, which can come in handy. They include travel related perks such as insurance and roadside assistance, vehicle rental coverage, concierge services, events access, special discounts, cellphone insurance, etc. While you don't want to pick up a credit card just for these perks alone, they definitely don't hurt. What's usually not listed is the benefit of getting extra days to make your payment. That $100 purchase won't hit your bank account right away, unlike using your debit card or Venmo/PayPal. Your money stays in your bank gathering interest until the credit card statement due date.

How to pick the right card

 As with anything, you need to decide what works best for you. At an early stage, I'd argue going for a card without annual fees would work best, particularly one that provides a good cash back rate. If you value travel a lot, then you can look for a card which gives you 2 to 3x travel points for every dollar spent, ideally with zero annual fees or with low fees which you feel confident about recovering through their reward programs. You should also look for sign up bonuses, which offer you say 50,000 miles if you sign up and spend $5000 in the first three months. Remember, you can sign up for more than one card if you like!

Another factor to consider is the ecosystem you'd want to be part of, if you really think long term and want to maximize your points. The American Express cards operate slightly differently compared to the Capital One cards, which are again a bit different from the Chase credit card family. Most of these differences are in their travel and hotel partners, and in how you accumulate points. For instance, accumulating points from the Capital One Venture X card is drop-dead simple: any transaction anywhere gets you 2x points. On the other hand, Amex Platinum gives you 5x only when you use the card on the airlines they support, and nowhere else. You get just 1 point per dollar if you use the Amex for a shoe purchase, for instance. 

I've avoided adding details about backend payment processors like Visa and Mastercard, as there's little to differentiate between the two. They provide payment rails for credit cards like Capital One, Chase, et al. You would rarely need to factor those into your decision around picking the right credit card. Be aware though that while these two heavyweights are usually accepted anywhere in the world, others like Amex and Discover are not. That small restaurant in Kerala might take your Capital One Savor Visa card, but is highly unlikely to accept the American Express Gold.

There are lots of resources out there which explains the pros and cons of each ecosystem so you can make an informed decision.

What to watch out for

The main drawbacks of credit cards are pretty much what you'd imagine: high-interest rates and fees, the temptation to overspend and accumulate debt, and the potential to damage your credit score if not managed carefully. You also run the risk of fraud and identity theft, which is not uncommon these days. 

Regularly check your credit card statements for unknown expenses, no matter how small. Some fraudsters who've gotten access to your card start off with small purchases for a dollar or two, testing out the waters before buying an 85" OLED TV and the latest PlayStation.

You can set up transaction alerts so anything above a certain amount will be flagged right away. The usual caveats around security apply here too: never share your password or PIN, be cautious of emails or texts asking for information, avoid clicking on links from unknown senders, etc. Adding your physical card to your mobile wallet adds an extra layer of security as well. 

What I use

I'm on the Amex ecosystem primarily, though I made the mistake of signing up for the Platinum first, which prevented me from getting a signup bonus for the Gold card. If I had to do it over, I'd start with the Blue Cash Preferred, then get a sign up bonus to upgrade to the Gold, and then get another to upgrade to the Plat. However, I like this ecosystem mainly because of the travel that I do every year, as Amex provides access to a lot of lounges. They also automatically give you Gold status at Marriott, Hertz, and a few other places. In addition to a lot of other rewards and perks, of course.

I like Capital One too, and am an authorized user of my wife's Venture X card. This is a really simple card to earn points with, and their annual fee of $395 pretty much pays for itself with their $300 travel discount and other rewards.

We also use the Chase Amazon credit card that offers 5%+ discounts on all purchases at Amazon, which add up pretty fast. This card does not have an annual fee and has zero foreign transaction fees as well, which makes it a no-brainer to get if you are a heavy user of Amazon.

I have a few other cards too, most of which were obtained for signup bonuses or as part of other investments, which I do not use as regularly as the above set (eg: the Robinhood gold card). I'm still learning though, and there are new cards and updates pretty much every year that keep me on my toes. 

Happy spending!

A dumbbell with two

 Introduction

Let’s get this out of the way first: I hate working out, and have avoided going to the gym all my life. I’ve never tried lifting weights until a couple of months ago, and my exercise, until recently, was limited to walking, or a bit of running on the treadmill. I’m utterly unqualified to prescribe a workout regime, so naturally, that’s what I’ll do in this document. Secondly, this workout focuses on strength training, and does not cover cardio exercises. Third, it uses just a pair of dumbbells for pretty much everything, which may feel a bit limiting. 

Caveat emptor, as they say. Off we go!

Glossary

Before we begin though, here’s a small glossary of terms. Videos and workout instructions use these terms a lot, and I’d struggled to understand what they mean. Makes this whole damn thing feel like a close-knit clique, honestly.

• Rep: short for repetition. In the workout world, this is the number of times you need to repeat an exercise. For instance, if raising your arms upward is the exercise you need to perform, doing it ten times is ‘10 reps’. Took me a while to understand, but now you know.
• Set: from the above example, doing 10 reps is one set. So when they say do 3 sets, they want you to raise your arms ten times, wait for about 90 seconds, then raise it again ten times, wait for another 90s, and do it again ten times. That’s 3 sets of 10 reps. You’ll hear that phrase a lot when you look up workouts: “x sets of y reps”. Don’t let that scare you anymore.
• Workout: I use this term to mean a series of exercises. The lift-your-arm thing from the above example is one exercise. Doing a push-up is another exercise. Doing both of these is one workout.
• RDL: Romanian Dead Lift, but let’s not go there right now.

The Workouts

My goal was to find a simple strength workout that I could do at home, using the dumbbells that I had available thanks to my kids. After lots of searching, I settled on this video which talks about a four day full-body training plan using only dumbbells. I then proceeded to find short clips that covered every exercise in this workout, and made two playlists, poetically called Workout A and Workout B. All exercises are 3 sets of 8-12 reps each, unless marked otherwise. I’d advise taking a look at the videos linked to get a sense of what I’m talking about.

Workout A	Workout B
Floor press	Overhead or shoulder press
Pullover	Dumbell rowing
Overhead or shoulder press	Incline press
Bicep curls - 3 sets of 12-15 reps	Hammer curls
Skull crushers	Triceps kickbacks 3 sets of 15-20 reps
Rear delt flys	Rear delt flys
Lateral raises - 3 sets of 15-20 reps	Lateral raises - 3 sets of 15-20 reps
Goblet squats	Lunges 3 sets of 12-15 reps for each leg
Romanian deadlift (the RDL from earlier)	Front squats
Calf raise on steps- 3 sets of 15-25 reps	Calf raise on steps- 3 sets of 15-25 reps

Workout regime

Trainer Vinny, the creator of the original video, suggests two options for the regime. For a week: 


 

Now I find each workout quite strenuous, and am currently in no shape to do one of these in a single day. After a few hiccups, I’ve settled on doing half of workout A on day 1, the second half on day 2, take a break on day 3, half of workout B on day 4, second half of B on day 5, break on day 6, and back to half of workout A on day 7, etc. I hope to complete all of workout A or B on a single day, but I think I’m a couple of months away from getting there. When I started, I could barely do three of each in one day. Your mileage may vary, of course.

FAQ

What weights to use?
You can pick the weights you feel most comfortable with lifting - please don’t feel pressurized to start with heavier ones. I use two ten pound dumbbells (4.5kgs each) for most exercises, but have slowly started moving to 15lb (6.8kg) for a few.

How about breaks?
Breaks are really important to help you catch your breath and recover. I take a 90 second break between sets (remember, a set is a series of n repetitions), and two or more minutes between each exercise. In this context, an exercise is a series of x sets. Breaks between workouts are key too, so feel free to skip days if your body complains a lot and you need the rest.

And warming up?
Getting warmed up is important. Vinny suggests doing a few pushups or planks to get your muscles ready. I do a 30-min run/brisk walk on the treadmill, followed by a brief muscle warm up. Pick the warm up you feel most comfortable with, but doing something does help.

Can I really do these exercises?
I really don’t know. Some of these are simple, others can be quite strenuous. Feel free to replace those with simpler ones that might work for you to start with. For instance,  I found the lunges from Workout B quite difficult to do, so I switched to the instructions in this video as a replacement. Again, this worked for me, but you might find it too easy.

How do I repay you?
I take Venmo. I also take biryani, beer, and bourbon.

Credits

Thanks to all the content creators of the videos I referenced, especially to Trainer Vinny who provided the inspiration. Check out his channel if you haven’t already.

On the Fringes of Scotland

 

Alright; now about Scotland, the next item I crossed off my bucket list a couple of weeks ago. I had a lovely time visiting Edinburgh and the highlands, even though it was a fairly short trip at less than three full days. I'll break up the visit into three parts: the food, the highlands, and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Edinburgh Castle

The Food 

Let's start at a very good place to start: breakfast. The pic above shows a typical Scottish breakfast, comprising the usual eggs and bacon, sausages, tomato, potatoes, a nice and crispy slice of mushroom, and toast, all of which I was well acquainted with. The new entrants were haggis (the brown circular cutlet-like piece), and black pudding, which despite its name turned out to be a black circular cutlet-like piece. Now here is where you vegetarians (all two of you, yes) stop reading and skip to the highlands. Black pudding is made from pork or beef blood, fat, and oatmeal, and is as sinful as you imagine. It's also quite tasty, despite being a bit dry.

Haggis is a mixture of sheep heart, liver, and lungs coupled with oatmeal, onions, and spices. You can eat it like a cutlet in the above picture, or with 'neeps and tatties' as in the pic on the right. Now these are actually cunningly disguised turnips and potatoes, which you discover later, much to your chagrin. The Scots call haggis a pudding too, but don't believe them. This isn't the pudding your mom fed you in India when you were all cold and feverish. What's more, you should be in the highlands by now. 

 Scotland offers other kinds of food as well, like this plate of fish and chips for the wife's dinner, and this nice bit of steak for the ever-hungry teenage boy. Said wife was also very happy with the devilishly well-made eggs she had for breakfast, and wound up skipping both lunch and dinner that day.

Fish, chips, and strangely enough, peas

 

 

 

 

Deviled eggs with the inevitable haggis below

 I would be remiss if I did not include the wonderful pulled pork roll we consumed at this appropriately titled restaurant, Oink. You decide your size, you pick your bread, choose your stuffing - which includes the omnipresent haggis, of course - and pick your sauce. You then plonk down if a seat's available, and dissolve into a state of bliss until you lick the sauces from your fingers and your stomach congratulates you on a job well done.

 

You know what would be remiss too, don't you? Oh, you do. Much to my surprise, you can't ask for Scotch in Scottish restaurants. Nor can you insist on single malt with a splash of ice, like you do in every Indian Bar and Restaurant ever. You have to go with whiskey, making sure you pronounce the 'e'. If you are a connoisseur like me, you can ask for a flight of whiskeys, sip all of them, and promptly forget the names of each one of them. They were all very good though, ranging from the less smokey to the very peatey. I slept quite peacefulley that night after the whiskeys.

The Highlands

Scotland is divided into two, as per our tour guide and bus driver, Neil. The highlands, which ye'll take, and the lowlands which I'll take to make sure I be in Scotland afore ye. Stretching from slightly north of Edinburgh to pretty much every other part of the country, the highlands are mountainous, sparsely populated, and comprise forests, castles, coastlines, and thirty three thousand lakes, called Lochs just to confuse the average tourist. Now the average tourist would make a beeline for Loch Ness, since they would have heard of Nessy, the monster that lives there. Not us though, the clever tourists that we are. Being brought up on a steady diet of Tintin comics, we headed to Loch Lomond, the closer (and more affordable) tour offered by Rabbie's. The lake and the surrounding hills are drop dead gorgeous, and is absolutely a must-visit if you are in the area. 

Inveraray, north-west of Loch Lomond

 We also got to visit multiple castles, some of which you may have seen on shows like Outlander or Game of Thrones, or in movies like Monty Python and the Holy Grail. In fact, Doune Castle has a souvenir shop that sells not just Python t-shirts and hats, but coconuts as well. 

Doune Castle, of Outlander & Winterfell fame (just S1E1 though)

Kilchurn Castle, stronghold of the Campbell Clan

 Cows in the highland have a shaggy mane, powerful horns, and are called Coos, to make them look cuter to tourists. They are apparently the oldest breed of cattle in the world, and have survived for centuries as Malayalees hadn't made the long voyage over yet. The three we met were called Hamish, Honey, and Baxter (the Efficient one). 

 

Edinburgh Festival Fringe

August 1947 witnessed two historic events. One was the completion of a 4300-mile long voyage on a wooden raft by Thor Heyerdahl, and the other was the start of the Fringe Festival at Edinburgh. The story goes that the Edinburgh International Festival was created to celebrate and enrich European cultural life in the wake of the Second World War. Eight theater groups who were not invited to this festival went ahead and did their own thing on the fringes of this event, thus establishing the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, which now attracts millions of people from all over the world.  The festival organizers are committed to include anyone with a story to tell and a venue willing to host them. This makes August a crazy time to visit the city though, with streets packed with tourists, locals, and artists.

Street Performer at the Fringe Festival

The Royal Mile, connecting Edinburgh Castle and Holyrood House

We attended an hour of stand-up comedy where five performers took turns to come up on stage for ten minutes each, which was a lot of fun. We then went to KC Shornima's show at a bunker nearby, which we thoroughly enjoyed. I'd highly recommend checking her out - she's really good! The last was a rock show by this tribute band from Australia, called 27 Club. They play cover versions of songs from Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Kurt Cobain, and Amy Winehouse, all of whom died at 27. 

And Finally...

 I loved Scotland. The people were friendly and welcoming, the food was great, and the weather was just perfect during our visit. It's a very inclusive country, which actively invests in human rights. They were the first country in the world to protect, in law, the right to access free period products for everyone who needs them. I was pleasantly surprised to find tampons and pads in restrooms, marked as free. Their LGBTQI+ community seems vibrant and active, with a clear voice during the Fringe festival. They take pride in their heritage and culture without making a huge deal out of it. I'd visit again, in a heartbeat.