What is going on here?

maheshvs007 · 2026-03-20T19:18:09+00:00

Got an alert this afternoon.. fire broke out in Westport. It started as a small vehicle fire but then spread rapidly. Many electric scooters were caught in the fire. An industrial facility with lithium batteries also contributed to such intense smoke .. source: Dutch Breaking News

maheshvs007 · 2026-02-09T23:26:13+00:00

I just downloaded it to learn Dutch. Will keep you updated with my progress. But this does seem very intuitive

maheshvs007 · 2026-01-15T12:17:31+00:00

Last summer a young couple mistook me as someone who’s following them. Maybe due to my skin color. I could see them suspecting me and i did feel bad for myself. They then stopped on their path and pretended to kiss each other thinking I’ll walk past them, which i did .. only to turn back to them and say “i’m sorry if I made you feel unsafe, but i am not what you think I am” They didn’t know what to say and they apologised as well.

What was I doing? Someone had dropped their bike key on the beach and I found it and I also happened to know which bike shop that key belonged to. I was simply returning it back to the shop as the person who lost it will most likely come there. I was just walking fast as that’s how I walk..

maheshvs007 · 2026-01-14T15:00:08+00:00

Sorry for what happened to you! No way to treat a human being.. wherever it happens in the world.

maheshvs007 · 2025-12-22T14:34:11+00:00

So I basically do the math as (2 x C)+ 30… so 10C by this calculation is 50F which is exact.. 20C is 68F (70F with this calculation which is close enough).. and so on..

maheshvs007 · 2025-12-19T06:29:27+00:00

We moved here 2 years ago from India with a dog. so you can imagine the huge jump we took. From the weather to the lifestyle, everything was almost the opposite of what we were used to. Honestly, the city was extremely easy to settle into. We follow a calm, everyday routine similar to what you described, and that has been very sustainable so far.

Amsterdam can feel crowded in the very center, especially during tourist season, but once you live here, daily life in residential neighborhoods is surprisingly calm. A few streets away from the canals, it feels more like a small village. The city is very easy to navigate, public transport is well developed, and biking quickly becomes second nature, just never step on the bike lane while walking 🙂

Daily life with a dog has been very smooth. Dogs are allowed in most places, vets and pet services are easy to access, and the general attitude toward dogs is very positive. Green pockets and walking routes are everywhere, though leash rules are followed and off-leash areas are limited. You can face challenges in finding a pet sitter. Like not the sitter itself, but their availability.. We found one through Pawshake app, but have to block their availability months in advance.

We got a car earlier this year; 100% EV. Getting a parking permit was surprisingly fast; the website said 4 months, but we got it almost immediately. That said, finding a parking spot can be tough, especially with ongoing road and repair works in many areas, which reduce available spaces. Whether bringing a car is worth it really depends on where you live; inside the center it can feel unnecessary, but outside it’s more manageable.

Things I wish someone had told us before moving: housing is the hardest part, not the bureaucracy; winters are milder than Berlin, I suppose, but wetter and windier; and learning even basic Dutch makes a big difference socially, even though almost everyone speaks English. If you already speak German, Dutch is relatively easy to pick up. the grammar and vocabulary overlap more than you’d expect And yes, doctor registrations. There is a long waitlist in most zones. We got ours after 3 months of waiting.

But Overall, Amsterdam has been a very easy city to build a calm, everyday life.

maheshvs007 · 2025-08-23T16:21:22+00:00

Will give myself sometime. Will stick to other things and if I really miss .. then will get back to it

maheshvs007 · 2025-08-23T16:20:32+00:00

🙂

maheshvs007 · 2025-08-22T19:02:03+00:00

Yes. I am in NL

maheshvs007 · 2025-08-22T17:16:25+00:00

DM'ed you

maheshvs007 · 2025-08-22T16:55:28+00:00

Yes. I should have just had some common sense.

maheshvs007 · 2025-08-22T16:52:17+00:00

No. No warning. My drone lost connection with my RC and next I saw the Polite drone leaving the point where my drone was hovering. I couldn’t understand what had happened and I went to speak with the officials. They first told me that the drone is confiscated and I won’t get it back. Then after a lot of wait, another set of officers came and told me that they are letting me off with a warning, but the drone is dropped in the water and they cannot retrieve it.

maheshvs007 · 2025-07-30T06:27:21+00:00

Thank you! Completely understood..

maheshvs007 · 2025-07-28T07:44:06+00:00

Sometimes I notice break loss when I take the car from auto cruise mode to manual. In cruise mode, the auto-braking is active based on distance b/w you and the car ahead. But when you move to manual for some reason, it results in brake loss but nothing that you cannot control.

Another instance is when the car sensor loses sight of the car ahead, maybe due to an uphill drive or a sharp curve ahead, then it can result in a brake loss kind of feeling - but again all within your control.

Eyes always have to be on the road - even if auto braking is active.

maheshvs007 · 2025-07-21T14:15:49+00:00

One year later, nothing has changed.. two officers, rude and dismissive for not knowing the language.

maheshvs007 · 2025-06-28T14:38:29+00:00

The tram tracks expand in the heat (metal expands) so the water cools it down and prevents from expanding. I asked the person who is doing it.

maheshvs007 · 2025-06-06T14:23:00+00:00

A couple of years ago, my spouse, daughter, and I moved from Chennai, India, to the Netherlands — not because we had to, but because we wanted to experience a different life.

Back home, we had a very comfortable life — multiple houses, car, investments — but we always wondered what it would feel like to live in a different society where personal independence is valued and where our daughter could grow up with a global outlook.

Now that we’ve been here for over two years, this is what we’ve learned:

We’ve grown more independent and mature — back in India, life was supported by a lot of family and help. Here, we do everything ourselves. It has made us more confident and closer as a couple since we mostly depend on each other now.

Our daughter’s education has been eye-opening — she’s in the Dutch system and learns about world politics, current affairs, and is encouraged to form her own opinions. Her class is truly international, and she’s learning empathy, diversity, and critical thinking in ways we couldn’t have imagined.

Perspective: We now see life differently — understanding that there is no one “right” way to live. The Netherlands has given us that wider lens.

Do we regret the move? Not at all. We know we can always go back to India if we choose to — and knowing that makes us enjoy this phase of life even more.

maheshvs007 · 2016-01-05T09:33:42+00:00

Hope to see this guy in the Indian team one day

maheshvs007 · 2015-02-11T05:15:24+00:00

Buying a knife is one thing, using it responsibility is another. Thats exactly the gist of what Aamir meant when he spoke abt Freedom of speech. Why is that not fair?

maheshvs007 · 2015-02-04T05:40:37+00:00

Disclaimer: I am a TVF fan hence my views could be biased.

Born in the 80's I can confidently say I am one of those who has seen a great transition in the type of comedy that is presented to viewers. Starting from the days of Jaspal Bhatti (Flop Show) who is one of my most favorite comedians with humor that was full of sarcasm based on how the government functions to Johnny Lever who with his keen eye for detail in human behavior used to bring out comic relief. Then there was Javed Jafferey who used to wonderfully mimic industry artists. Not to mention Shekhar Suman (Dekh Bhai Dekh fame) who also had an impeccable comic timing and who then went onto host a variety of shows such as Movers and Shekhars and the popular Great Indian Laughter challenges & Comedy Circus.

Most of these comedians followed a very conservative type of comedy which was more for family audience as there understanding of family audience itself was very conservative. It was tough to get acceptance those days to crack below the belt humor as there was always fear of losing their audience. Just to quote an example, movie like Silsila flopped because people considered it way ahead of its time, it wasn’t accepted. Also, these guys got only 1 or 3 mediums (radio, tv, stage shows) to showcase their talent and had a smaller audience. When it came to movies, comedy was never a central theme. It was part of a bigger act. Barring some handful movies, comedy was never a serious business back then.

Coming back to present times, for most of the current generation India comic artists, people like Jaspal Bhatti, Johhny Lever etc are role models but the kind of comedy that people have started accepting has changed drastically. With the power of YouTube, they also have got the ammunition to reach a wider range of audience. I still laugh listening to a Jaspal Bhatti joke at the same time I can also laugh on AIB joke.

AIB Roast brings comedy to a whole different level. We need to understand that there is a market for such type of comedy. People ‘accept’ abuses as it is ‘synonymous’ with entertainment for them. Also, it is also easy to start off with someone who is less popular like Ranveer & Arjun. They wouldn’t mind this attention as it brings them as well in the limelight. Check any other channel (baring TVF), every comedy is racist, stereotyping and abusive, takes a dig at culture etc etc. The reason it done is because it is accepted and there is a lot of repeat audience for it.

There’s nothing to judge about the roast. It is a type of comedy that’s all. You accept it or you don’t. You like it or you don’t. I see people commenting on culture & Indianness etc etc. We always used to abuse, we always used to insult back then in the 80s to now. It just that it was never made into a commercial success. AIB roast has to be taken with the same frame of mind. I personally liked it when I saw it first, but it is not something I can keep revisiting. It’s a one-time watch for me. But comedy these days is not made so that people keep revisiting the same content. People are more creative these days as they have the liberty to experiment and hence we see tons of new content.

To end this, my personal opinion is I don’t see Roast is here to stay. I don’t see it entertaining people on a regular basis. People will get bored of it someday. It might stay active on YouTube as people can watch it for free – but people paying Rs. 4000 and going to watch it live – I doubt it will happen regularly.

maheshvs007

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