Bio Info
Man of Roma is an Italian of almost 60 who prefers anonymity in order to be able to talk freely about ALL.
This blog is bilingual, English and Italian, and will try to merge reflection with anecdotes and elements of autobiography.
Why autobiography?
A. Because as a living witness of the Roman spirit Man of Roma must somehow talk about himself.
B. Because Man of Roma is unassuming, his model being Michel de Montaigne.
C. Because having lost all faiths Man of Roma sees here an opportunity to cling onto the only faith left to him: narcissism (Woody Allen’s, not Man of Roma’s).
Further info can be found in the first post which plays the role of an introduction and gives an idea of the whole general inspiration of the blog. Equally important are the pre-method post and the method post, both intended to clarify the mental procedures we are following in our writings.
Job activities
1) Professional teacher in Italian high school for 16 years (ancient history & Italian literature).
2) Systems and networking engineering professional since the last 14 years, working with networking planning, implementing and training projects, in Italy and abroad.
3) Composer of soundtrack electronic music, playing piano and guitar and liking any kind of music: classical, contemporary, jazz, world (especially Indian and Arabic), rock, pop etc.
4) Freelance journalist with articles appeared in major Italian newspapers and magazines.
Note. Activities 3) and 4) somewhat overlap those at 1) and 2), or Man of Roma would be 85.
Man of Roma will gradually (and cautiously) retire in the course of the next 10 years and hopes this blog can be a good opportunity to brush up humanities back, teach something to others (and to himself), rewire his own synapses and mix up all these things (including technology & science) into a holistic and hopefully not too crazy chunk.
PS
What I know and what I am I almost entirely owe to Magister.
I have decided not to reveal his identity. The method post tells something about him and where/when this crucial encounter took place.
The URI to TrackBack this entry is: http://manofroma.wordpress.com/about-2/trackback/
I thought you would be a teacher..but networking engineering professional too ..hmmm..
Well, dropped in to say that I have subscribed to your blog..now I should be keeping up with your blog.
Thank you Poonam Sharma. I told you we had similar interests. As far as my about page and my profession(s), all is truthful, no doubt about it.
One detail only is missing: I am totally nuts.
All the best from Roma
or ManofRoma would be 85.
Mwahahaha! Lol.
I never saw this post [me lazy to click links in post.] I’ve completed the CCNA coursework and will be giving the exam soon so I’m an entrant to the networks race too!
I can vouch that the ManofRoma is totally nuts. His real life conversations can make you laugh, cry and ponder your exsistence all while learning how one computer in Rome can find another computer in Guam in the blink of an eye because…
What was I saying?
Oh yeah, he is nuts!!!
@Ashish
Very interesting. Cisco is of course Cisco. “In bocca al lupo” (in the mouth of the wolf) being our bastard Latin expression for wishing success before an exam or any challenge in life.
@1ofURitSTUDentS
They will think I *pay* you for such comments… thanks bud
LOL. Thanks.
buongiorno manofroma
very interesting blog. i am thankful that i bumped into this, through alex’s blogfromitaly. i stay in delhi and was in milano till last year and so i feel connected with italy in some way.
i loved some of your posts, but will surely do comment on them sometime when i am more free.
ciao..arrivederci for now.
gaurav
@Gaurav
Thank you Gaurav. You’re too kind. Having been in Milano you then know the modern industrial core of Italy.
>will surely do comment …when i am more free.
As you probably noticed, Indians and Romans seem to be establishing a very good connection. I’ll love your comments too
>i stay in delhi
I know Bombay better, so hope you might help me understand the differences.
All the best
e arrivederci a presto, dunque, caro Gaurav
I am he Sir. Quite liked the post and the writing… will surely come back for greater reading. Didn’t know u were workinb in networkin field.. Quite intresting and may I add very surprising…
Since u mentioned the various civilizations in ur post.. I have always had a querry for which I have yet to find a suitabvle explaination thought u could help?
Indus civilization which collapsed arround 3250-2750 BC (if i remember correctly) had a peculiar feature. The city was built in two ditinct levels. The higher one being the citadel was almost always several feet above ground having only one and only one route of enterance was usually at the end of the city and i8s believed tobe the place of residence o9f the king.
After its collpse this feature remains absent (as per my knowledge) in the civilizations half way across the globe until it suddenly crops 2000 years later in the Europe Castles in the medivial age.
Could u provide me answer to that? IS in’t it amazing!!!
falcon: I’d say that humans were more travelers then [like they are now after a huge lapse in time]. Nomads if thats correct. In fact us Indians are Aryans [well some of us at least].. Indo-Europeans so it isn’t surprising that our city system might be found on the other side of the globe. Sort of like Pyramids. Plus can we discount “Great minds think alike?”
@Falcon
Sorry if I didn’t reply earlier, dear Falcon.
> will surely come back for greater reading
I like when people come back because being an ex arts teacher, it is like I am living again in a classroom, like in old times, which were the happiest. Only, now we are all peers, my only preminence, so to say, being this is my blog. We of course both give and take (well, my classroom was the same actually lol, teaching is always two-ways).
> After its collapse this feature remains absent (as per my knowledge) in the civilizations half way across the globe until it suddenly crops 2000 years later in the Europe Castles in the medieval age.
Well, my knowledge of Indian history is so limited I’ll have to do something about it soon. If I understood your question I think Ashish already replied to you. We are both Indo-Europeans related.
In any case, people sometimes are amazed that in different and totally-far-away parts of the globe similar elements of culture arise.
Sometimes it can be by hazard, but most of the time it is communication, even if transportation was primitive. When thousands of years are concerned people have time to get in touch, even thru great oceans, it has been proven in the Pacific ocean. We know for sure that Ancient Romans (–>Europe) and Ancient Chinese had contacts (both by land and sea). Of course Romans with Indians too, but Indians were a bit closer. We of course know that Greek Alexander the Great conquered parts of northern India. I saw some amazing statues in a Bombay museum where Indian Gods (Goddesses?) were represented the Greek way. But this happened in the 4th century BC. Much later than the Indus civilization and much earlier than medieval castles. I lack a grid for Indian history, in any case …
First of all my appologies for starting a discussion over here. It was actually supposed to be on another post of this site but i guess No specks and 2 days of trek make u do such goof ups.
I think u all got me wrong here!!!
The question is not of its rediscovery but more of its delay in rediscovery!!!
As you might have known that the defence and arms and armourant industry has been the world’s fastest growing industry till we came to the IT revolution. Even Industrial revolution was slow campared to the defence growth. (just shows how barbaric we all have been)
@ Ashish
I do not agree to ur suggestion exacty!!!
>>. In fact us Indians are Aryans [well some of us at least].. Indo-Europeans so it isn’t surprising that our city system might be found on the other side of the globe.
True, But Indus civilization was not of Aryan,It was the world’s first urban civilization where as Aryan was rural one. In fact one line of thinking is that Aryans in fact destroyed the Indus civilization.
Secondly, It is widely believed that Aryans originated from the region near Caspian Sea somewhere in modern Iran and from there they migrated towards Ural and India and other parts. So it is really difficult to digest that some Aryans came to India learnt the technique went to Europe and implemented it … That too a thousands of year late.
The question is that this concept of high walls fortified residence, with only one line of attack and which makes an stealth attack impossible is simply too important and advantageous to be lost for centuries.
In case of Aryan it is understandable for they were rural culture which was primarily agriculture. More over their cites were built across rivers or on hills which provided them natural defence.
@ManOfRoma
The greatness of Indian culture has been its abilty to adapt, tolerate, assimilate and evolve new line of ideas and practices.( like Ashish Even I think that this feature has of late been missing ) So when Greeks cae to India, they won but their religious zeal was not strong enough to stand the onslaught of the Indian ideas. Similarly was true for the Huns, Kushans, Zoorashtrians and all those who came whether as conquerors or as shelter seekers with the exception of Islam. So they won land but Indian won mind.
(Continued) The Greek style states u see is not surprising for our interaction with the greeks led to the various school of arts of which Gandhara School of art and the Satahavana (sic) school of Art were the most famous ( Satahavana - I don’t exactly remember the name haven’t touched history in last 7 years)
The Gandhara School had Indian Spirit and Greek hand( if i remember correctly )As a result their stautes showed Indian gods with more greek features like curly hairs etc.
Now that I have blabbered all the history I know about greek affect on Indian arts … I request u to excuse me for my half baked and half forgotten knowledge.
Merry christmas. Sir don’t be lonely this day it’s an occasion to share with joy with others.
@Falcon
Thank you Falcon and Merry Christmas to you too. You are a gentle soul and I hope you are happy too. Though do not worry. Love is all around, circling back …..
Ciao, come stai?
History is one of my life’s passions. Well, more history 15th century onwards, but I did like some of the Pompeji and Greek history.
How does a teacher turn to networking?
@Cat
Io sto bene. Parli Italiano? Io capisco il tedesco, aber Ich kann nur lesen (und verstehen), nicht unterhalten (oder schreiben)
(Translation: “I am well. Do you speak Italian? I can understand German, but I can only read and orally understand, not speak or write”.
>How does a teacher turn to networking?
Well, my salary as a teacher was not good enough, so I did something about it. At first I didn’t like the change, then I started to get more and more motivated. Basically I am still teaching (IT), plus I am consultant for IT projects (planning and implementation). It helped the fact that in the last school where I was working as a history & literature teacher there were many intelligent IT teachers who showed me the path
Parlo un po Italiano. Ho imparato a scuola latina e sono stata per mesi in Italia quando un bambino.
That probably didn’t make any sense! I learned Latin at school for four years [sadly never paid enough attention though] and I used to visit my family when I was a child. We used to spend 1-2 months a year in Bibione. Sadly that’s a long time ago and last time I was in Italy I found I could make it up as I went along and got by. Barely.
Your German is pretty good though.
Alright, as Sam Gamgee says this German and Italian is a fair bit of tongue cracker.
@Falcon
When I say that Alexander conquered part of India I am just talking about a fact. Exactly like when I am saying that at present Indian firms are growing tremendously and are starting to buy a-l-l everywhere. I am no nationalist. I hate silly nationalists. I try to stick to facts. The fact that I love my Roman heritage means only that 1) this is a matter closer to my heart, especially now that I am getting old, and 2) in this field (Roman heritage) I - m-a-y-b-e (it is to be proven tho) can hope to say a smaller number of stupid things compared to other fields.
@Cat
As far as my German, pls read what I am telling Ashish below. What you said in Italian makes perfect sense. I have been to Genoa in the last few days and I asked a friend to show me where Bibione is. I was curious. Now I know. Not far from Venice actually.
@Ashish
Tongue cracker? Sam Gamgee? what the *heck* do you mean, dear man lol? Of course, it was fun to talk to Cat in Italian and German. Italian-German people fascinate me (like Busoni). I told her: “I am well. Do you speak Italian? I can understand German, but I can only read and orally understand, not speak or write”. Well, i can also speak and write a bit, tho in *horrid* broken German. But I do not care. In Russia my broken German was of great help.
Well that Italian German exchange was a tongue cracker to me. [Hard to understand or even speak those words! lol ]
@Man Of Roma
If u are reffering to the statement
>>So when Greeks cae to India, they won but their religious zeal was not strong enough to stand the onslaught of the Indian ideas. Similarly was true for the Huns, Kushans, Zoorashtrians and all those who came whether as conquerors or as shelter seekers with the exception of Islam. So they won land but Indian won mind.
I too, am stating afact…MUGGED THE STATEMENT in My 7th STD from my history book or was it 6th. It had nothing to do with nationalism whatsoever. It was supposed to be an answer to the question: Why don’t we usually see statues of Greek Gods even though we see their style?
>>I hate silly nationalists… I would appreciate if u had prefered the word abhor..Hate becomes too strong a word for comfort…
I am staunch nationalist myself… Nation before everything else… LOL Though this does not include false sense of pride… But does include more than generous amount of pride…I believe u can progress only if u believe that there is a scope of improvement. And that can happen when u accept that u r not the Best but can become so.
[...] About Italian version Published in: [...]
@ Man of roma
http://india.targetgenx.com/2008/04/14/i-want-my-right-to-education/
This article deals with one the areas where India is being Hypocratic… More will soon follow..
Sorry for being late… Though it does not have any term as hypocrasy..
Bravo Man of Rome…. keep up the good work.
buon lavoro e buon divertimento - Joe
@Joe
Grazie Joe. And welcome to my blog.
Friend,
I have linked you to my blog. It is too irresistible to not do so. You are under no obligation to reciprocate. My linking does not come with a money back guarantee.
I have responded to the espresso post on my blog and hope to hear your opinion on the question.
Ciao
@ The Commentator
Dear Canadian Commentator,
whoever you are, I will link you to my blog as well because we have similar interests, because your write so well and because your nation, Canada, fascinates me (no need to reciprocate for mere kindness or any utilitarian reason, our roots being both non utilitarian, I believe).
I like your blog, I enjoyed many posts you wrote (I am actually lurking), for example the one where you show how the Italian and French cuisine are connected thru the De’ Medici Lady. Plus I have already added a comment to your last post where you refer to my blog, tho more on the German-Italy thing, because, though I’m talking a lot about the ancient Romans’ self-control, my mind is sometimes wild and has a will of its own.
Ciao
Wow!! a multi talented man!! A wonderful blog u have got here. U know i m a teacher too though only since 3.5 yrs and of engineering.
@Reema
Thank you Reema. Engineering? Wow. Very hard stuff. I am not a real engineer. I am only a computer systems engineer via certifications and my graduation is in arts. I sent you birthday wishes in your blog!