#84: people power

The French TGV can chase records for the fastest train. We Indians will chart our own opposite course – literally moving iron-chariots with "people power". Not surprising though, it follows Ricardian trade theory – each country specialising and milking their comparative advantage, and using the relatively abundant resource to do so. And the notion of abundance takes a whole new perspective when describing India's teeming billions!

#83: this one's for jay leno

Okay, smart people, decode this parking regulation sign posted along a DC street (19th and S, NW – to be exact). Can you translate this? If parking is prohibited at all times, then why the exceptions? And just to spice it up a wee-bit more, there are two different contact numbers for parked cars that get towed away.

Forget all the banter about indecisive "two-handed" economists. The DC traffic administration beats them hands down!

#82: bitter-sweet

'Tis that time of the year: graduation, celebrations, congratulations. I watch my friends revel in their accomplishment. They've all worked so long and so hard for it. In two days from now, they'll don their hoods and gowns and be formally recognised. I'm celebrating in their joy.

But it's also the moment of valediction; soon they'll fly away. Every year there are some who mean a lot. And more so this year. Some that I had grown most fond of, are heading out the farthest. I'll miss them. Will we remain close despite the distance ... I don't know. I certainly hope so; I heard that the world had shrunk!

#80: oh, my bleeding heart

Paris Hilton was handed a 45-day prison sentence for driving when intoxicated on a suspended license. A caller on the radio cried bloody murder for this biased and disproportionate punishment. Yah, right! Non-resident-aliens (FOBs like me) can get deported on our first instance of DUI or DWI. The "harsh treatment" of celebrities truly bleeds my heart.

Notoriety and infamy is a passage to fame: ask Martha Stewart, Naomi Campbell or Marion Barry. Beaming them 24/7 is the zeitgeist of the 21st century media. The day Scooter Libby was indicted, the headline on WPost.com was Anna Nicole Smith's fatal drug overdose. So much for priorities and burning issues.