1. Greatbong. What’s that supposed to mean?

I swear by placing my hand on Bill Clinton’s autobiography that “Greatbong” is not an expression of Bengali parochialism. The “Bong” has two meanings.Of course the “Bong” as in Bengali (a denizen of the Indian state of West Bengal) and the second one is “Bong” as in a instrument for smoking cannabis. Not that I endorse drugs or have ever tried it myself, but because “cannabis” is related to “ganja” which in Bengali also means an embellished story. In other words, a teller of tall tales.That takes care of the Bong part. What about the Great ? Well the name “Greatbong” was a derisive epithet given by a (non-Bengali) friend of mine to refer to all Bengalis who thought too much of themselves..and so when I was looking for a moniker, I could think of nothing better than Greatbong.

2. Random Thoughts of a Demented Mind. How original !Why don’t you change it to something more mm uncommon?

I consider myself demented. In addition, blog posts here have no central theme —that is they are random. I looked : there is no other blog (as of now) with the title “Random Thoughts of a Demented Mind” i.e. the exact juxtaposition of those words. Unique no? Plus I am too used to this name and for someone who is no longer in the 20s, it is very difficult to change.

3. What’s the comment policy at RTDM?

Almost anything and everything is kosher at RTDM just like it is at Hugh Hefner’s Playboy mansion except

1) Regional/Religional name-calling

2) Personal Attacks on my blog-readers and other bloggers.

3) Abuse, Obscenities and other Vulgarities

4) Comments which are waaayyy off-topic [you are encouraged to email me for that]

5) Blog-whoring i.e. promoting your blog by putting a link in the comments section of RTDM to your own blog. This is fine as long as it is on-topic, you put a brief synopsis on the comment and then for a detailed arguement direct us to your blog. However just a curt link is going to find its way into the trash.

6) Ads for home-loans, toilet-cleaners and herbal Viagra.

Capiche?

4. I am offended by a comment by so-and-so on your post titled so-and-so.

I am in no ways liable for anything that is in the comment space. The opinions mentioned in the comments are those of the commenters and not mine. I do not agree personally with a lot of comments on this blog space. If something offends you in a blog-post of mine (i.e. something written by me), do get in touch.

And what I write are my own opinions only and in no way reflect my employers or any institution to which I may be or have been attached to.

5. What’s your name? And what do you do for a living?

My name is Arnab. I have several jobs: combing Salman’s hair, managing Puru Rajkumar’s career, tutoring Bipasa Basu in physical sciences and book-keeping the Indian National Congress’s accounts.

No seriously, I work in a high-tech research consultancy firm based in the burbs of Washington DC. I am a PhD in Computer Science.

7. Did you have a disturbed childhood?

Do I know you?