Blood Suckers

*I dug this post out from the depths of my Drafts. I had meant to post it earlier (as is obvious from the date). I guess I am not very different from the general forgetful multitude.

Vampires- moody, xerophobous, strangely intriguing undead creatures that have, over a surprisingly short period of time, transformed from foul blood suckers to tragic heroes. Vampire stories originated from the Eastern European folktales and have now become an integral part of the clan of supernatural (alive/partially dead/undead) creatures that walk the earth.

My perception about zem vampires has never been very good. Here's how I saw them up till now.

The Cartoon Age: Vampires could be seen lying in coffins and lurking in the shadows. These animated vampires could only have been slightly scary when they played a sweet host to a lost damsel or passenger looking for shelter for the night. The gracious host kept an eye on his guest by looking through a painting or hiding behind secret doorways in his extremely ancient and spooky mansion. This was all very adorable because I liked Dracula.

The Teenage: Those sitcoms with cute guys playing a vampire trying to live a normal life. Frankly, I don't remember seeing any vampire movies. Werewolves were much more popular despite vampires being more attractive to the human race. Ruskin Bond's omnibus did nothing to increase my interest in vampires. Those nocturnal blood suckers failed to leave a mark.
Oh and vamps(short for vampires) became synonymous with the female soap opera villains.

The Sad Age: Its sad when a single series changes the definition of a vampire. Whether you believe in a certain mythical creature or not, you cannot, all of a sudden, change the way it functions. And now according to Stephanie Meyer widely popular series, vampires shine instead of burning. The 'hottest' vampire on the block has made girls fantasize about vampires than fear them for all eternity. Shocking.
The latest vampire craze is a show called Vampire Dairies. And when I did give it a chance after a lot of persuasion, I found it to be nothing more than a soap opera that gets too dramatic for my taste.

If you are a vampire fan , this might interest you.
Speaking for myself, the only way I see myself actually liking vampires is if I myself turn into one.
Even then, the chances aren't too high.

That Christmassy Feeling

Is it time for Christmas ALREADY?
Time flies by. Why, its been over a year since I have been blogging regularly now. But anyway, back to Christmas.

Jingle Bell Jingle Bell Jingle Bell rock
Jingle Bells swing and Jingle bells sing
Snowing and blowing up bushels of fun
Now the Jingle hop has begun...

No snow. Lots of carols being sung at the church around the corner from dawn to dusk. Jingle Bells. Rudolf, the Red-nosed Reindeer. Long time ago in Bethlehem. We wish to you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Christmas Polka. And the lot.
I do remember a few Hindi ones back from my school days, the most popular one being - Jaago sone waalon koi jagaane aya hai- for the simple irony of the song. Once the audience sniggered to its heart's content and the song still wouldn't get over, nearly everybody fell into a droopy sleepy state. Christmas used to be so much fun, despite the fact that it was always celebrated during exam week.
A few Christmas decorations here and there - enough by Indian standards. I might decorate a pot plant with the remnants of bells and stars I found in a box in one of my drawers. In addition, I am going to bake a beautiful cake this Christmas. I might watch the Ghost of Girlfriends Past again. Or maybe not.
For those who cannot bring themselves to get into the Christmas mood here is a little something that might help counter that.

Tips to help get into the Christmas mood:

1. Christmassy Movies: Revive that Christmassy feeling with a Christmas comedy. The first three Home Alone movies ought to do the trick. If not, try Christmas with the Franks. The Polar Express-an animated view of the North Pole is another good one.
2. Christmas food: If you belong to one of those not-so-rare breed of people who love to cook, you could choose some rich, savory dish to cook for Christmas. It'll serve the dual purpose of exercising your culinary skills and getting you all worked up because its Christmas. From a simple Christmas pudding to roasted chicken or turkey- there's a wide range to choose from. It's just another excuse to stuff yourself with delicious mouth-watering goodies.
3. Watch a season of Friends everyday. That'll get you into the mood for Thanksgiving too. They celebrate Christmas once every Season, like we all do.
4. Go caroling: If you have a pleasing voice(or even otherwise) join the choir in your nearest church. And if denial is all that you get from that end, you could simply enjoy watching the choir sing.
5. Become a benefactor: All those clothes that don't fit you anymore should no longer be allowed to occupy valuable space in your closet. Donate them. Its getting colder with every passing day and there are many unfortunate souls who could use a little warmth. This'll generate a great feeling even if doesn't get you all worked up for Christmas.
6. Host a Christmas party: It could be great party on Christmas Eve or a simple affair for some of your close friends. Or simply go for an outing on account of Christmas.
7. Create presents: Make something for family and close friends. Making a gift adds a personal touch and a gift is always appreciated. Moreover, why should gift culture be only limited to Diwali? Christmas should be a chance to gift things that are more meaningful than that given/received during Diwali season.

Or think outside the box and start a new Christmas tradition and do tell me all about it.

Happy, Are We?

This ain't a rhetoric.

Or maybe it is. Many a times you'd have done things for no apparent reason and  just because you were persuaded into thinking it'd make you happy. But did it ? I ask you again- DID IT? Before you start questioning my sanity, think. Seriously. Did it?
The general idea of a "good time" does not pass for a universal formula for guaranteed happiness.

A happy person makes others around him/her happy. ~ Anne Frank
This isn't a direct quote (Its been a while since I read her diary).

I wanted to see what other great men/women thought of this particular emotion(There were plenty of definitions) and I found the one I liked:

Happiness is often the result of being too busy to be miserable.

                                                                                                ~Anonymous

I have found this to be true.

Hence, if traveling, painting, googling, doodling, cooking, driving, reading, partying, playing a game or a particular sport or even studying is your slice of heaven, do just that. As much as you want(and can) and when you want, without breaking any important and genuine laws. And you'll be happy.

Happiness lies our own backyard, but its probably well hidden by crabgrass.

                                                                                                ~ Dell crossword puzzles
Just another quote to underscore my last statement.

'ellow

I recently got hooked to Yellow by Coldplay.
And then the following happened.

Yellow became synonymous with deceit.
An almost room mate declared her love for certain songs that top my playlist.
A number of common-cold related references to Big Bang Theory culminated in a hot beverage session.
The wide acknowledgement of the surprisingly large number of yellow colored shirts that I possess.

So yeah. Its safe to say that I like yellow. Not the kind that reminds you of jaundice. The kind that leaves you with a happy feeling and makes you want to sing from the bottom of your stomach. The kind that reminds you of a bright sunny winter day.

A Season to Love

October- the best time of the year again. Just went by. Not that other months aren't good. I love the time Spring is just around the corner and the Christmassy air never fails to lift my spirits. But October has its own beauty and appeal and the fact that its the most festive season in our country simply adds to the charm.

Oh! And my birthday just passed me by. I wish my motives behind writing his post were loftier.
Alas, they are not.
The Dude-I-am-twenty moment is passe. Somewhat.

I got an awesome slippers for my birthday that sound and look good. Here, take a look.

Brand new slippers

It was nothing like it was expected to be. Strangely, that suited me well.

The toughest decision of all: One that offers most choices.

Solution: An out-of-body experience.

The End Of Particle Physics As We Know It?

'If it is true then we truly haven't understood anything about anything.' ~Alvaro de Rujula, theorist at CERN


'Neutrinos can travel at a speed faster than light.' When I first read this on Facebook (Sadly enough, Fb is currently my main source of information), the thought that jumped to my head was "How many theories are going to require revision?! Second thought- If and only if this is validated and truly true, we are a step closer to time travel. Wow. Third thought -Lets put the internet to work for us through ifttt.com i.e., 'If certain subatomic particles can travel faster than speed of light, reset all the (now) obsolete explanations and theories based on the presumption that the fastest a particle can travel is at the speed of light.
This news came around a week back and since then, the blogosphere's been flooded by related posts. This discovery if found to be true would destroy the very foundation of modern physics.

A fundamental pillar of physics that nothing can go faster than the speed of light appears to be smashed by an oddball subatomic particle that has apparently made a giant end run around Albert Einstein's theories - is what The Hindu had to say about this.

 If this observation is validated by the Fermi lab in Chicago( a lab well equipped to test the validity of this overwhelming claim), Einstein- the man labeled as the father of modern physics who taught us the energy- mass equivalence, would be dethroned leaving the door open for another great mind to walk in and be immortalized as the man who flawed the almighty E=mc^2 equation.

Did you know - Einstein along with Richard Feynman, Fermi and Openheimer had a direct role to play in the Manhattan Project? In Einstein's defense, his equation might explain the release of energy during a nuclear fission but it does not tell one how to make a nuclear bomb. In his own words, Einstein expressed his regret at having even suggested research on nuclear energy as a good idea to FDR - "Had I known that the Germans would not succeed in developing an atomic bomb, I would have done nothing."

Anyway, amongst the several theories floating around, one particularly interesting theory goes as follows:  particles can travel at a speed greater than 299792 km per second by taking another (a fifth?) dimension through time and that is, travel through wormholes.


Incredible claims require incredible evidence - NY Times.
And for when someone does find this evidence(if it exists), more concrete than anything, the implications will be HUGE. I don't think we can fully appreciate the magnitude of the mess this is going to create.
For now, all we can do is wait. (And hope for time travel to become a reality before our stay on earth  terminates.)

The Beginning of a Tradition

The event ended. More events ended. All the events ended. And still nothing remotely blue. Later , while I lay awake contemplating on how the last two days had been a complete blur, post-Esya blues hit me. More so because a pile of work awaited me with open arms. Another silver lining on the horizon. Yes, I am kidding you.

Months of planning and  hardwork later, people could see their efforts come to fruition. It was amazing how our event heads had planned out each and every moment. Thought of every possible glitch. Took care of everything. Almost superhuman. The entire event is like a reel of film I can run in my head, any instant.

Memorable Moments

Tech Talks - The first GD round was more of a cat fight than a discussion on UIDs. The moderator's expressions were worth capturing. 'C'est abominable '- his expression said.
The finalist for the debate decided to empty an entire bottle of toothpaste on the stage. It impressed the judges and he won the first prize. (He spoke well, though.) 

300 or so participants in Treasure Hunt -  I missed out on this event due to the unfortunate clash of events but they say it was the most happening event of the college's first ever technical fest. Five Rounds. Five clues placed at select places in the 100 acre campus.

The Gaming arena set up in one of the classrooms - Our usually boring, drab and dull classroom was transformed into a haven for gamers overnight. It was absolutely unrecognizable. And the shock of seeing it get back in its normal state less than 24 hours after it was packed with gamers of all sizes- huge boulder sized and tiny kids, was appalling.

The Quiz was another interesting event. The final round made us sit at the edge of our seats. 

The college band's maiden performance - I had heard them play before, but that day with the slight drizzle and the happy crowd of fans and participants, they took it to a another level.

The Rain Dance - The DJ got seizures in between really great dance numbers. The sprinklers malfunctioned. But it was so awesome. Everyone got drenched to the bone and shivered all the way back to their home or where ever they planned to take lodgings for the night.

I'll remember this one for a long time for the tragedy of events that took place. And even otherwise. 

Mind Map

Its always been very intriguing for me. I know that the signals are transmitted through neurons via electrochemical signals. But how does a signal decide its path?  Isn't the unpredictably relatively on the higher side for any decisive conclusion? Isn't the complexity of the brain quite mind boggling? Years and years of extensive study later, the brain can be labeled into the Occipital region, Parietal region, Frontal Lobe, Temporal lobe- each having its own specific functionality. The functional, connective and developmental regions of the brain, though not completely understood can be defined with remarkable precision. Different regions of the brain process different types of information.  Patterns have been observed. Humungous volumes have been written. Its fascinating how after more than a millenia of research, the human brain offers further scope for exploration. The scope seems almost infinite given the space occupied by the brain is finite. Similar to calculating the number of dots that can be drawn in a 1mm line segment.

Did you know- The brain makes up only approximately 2% of our entire body weight while it can require upto 20% of the body's total energy.

The beauty of the brain is astounding. I would have posted another picture of a human brain( for I have quite a collection now) to emphasize on this. However, since more than one person complained about being too grossed out to read Organ Talk , here we are. Sigh. No photograph. For those who think otherwise, try reading 'Silence of the lambs' by Thomas Harris. It will make up for the lack of a photograph here. Its also been filmed starring Jodie Foster( if that makes one see it).

For those of you who consider this to be random outburst of my love for biology - you couldn't be more wrong. As improbable as it may sound, electrical subjects can be quite inspiring. That is what got the cogs of my mind in motion. I can now go back to my assignment, due later today.

Ode to the West Wind

Another one of my favorites. Here goes nothing.   O wild West Wind, thou breath of Autumn's being, Thou, from whose unseen presence the leaves dead Are driven, like ghosts from an enchanter fleeing, Yellow, and black, and pale, and hectic red, Pestilence-stricken multitudes: O thou, Who chariotest to their dark wintry bed The wingèd seeds, where they lie cold and low, Each like a corpse within its grave,until Thine azure sister of the Spring shall blow Her clarion o'er the dreaming earth, and fill (Driving sweet buds like flocks to feed in air) With living hues and odours plain and hill: Wild Spirit, which art moving everywhere; Destroyer and Preserver; hear, O hear! Thou on whose stream, 'mid the steep sky's commotion, Loose clouds like Earth's decaying leaves are shed, Shook from the tangled boughs of Heaven and Ocean, Angels of rain and lightning: there are spread On the blue surface of thine airy surge, Like the bright hair uplifted from the head Of some fierce Maenad, even from the dim verge Of the horizon to the zenith's height, The locks of the approaching storm. Thou dirge Of the dying year, to which this closing night Will be the dome of a vast sepulchre Vaulted with all thy congregated might Of vapours, from whose solid atmosphere Black rain, and fire, and hail will burst: O hear! Thou who didst waken from his summer dreams The blue Mediterranean, where he lay, Lulled by the coil of his crystalline streams, Beside a pumice isle in Baiae's bay, And saw in sleep old palaces and towers Quivering within the wave's intenser day, All overgrown with azure moss and flowers So sweet, the sense faints picturing them! Thou For whose path the Atlantic's level powers Cleave themselves into chasms, while far below The sea-blooms and the oozy woods which wear The sapless foliage of the ocean, know Thy voice, and suddenly grow grey with fear, And tremble and despoil themselves: O hear! If I were a dead leaf thou mightest bear; If I were a swift cloud to fly with thee; A wave to pant beneath thy power, and share The impulse of thy strength, only less free Than thou, O Uncontrollable! If even I were as in my boyhood, and could be The comrade of thy wanderings over Heaven, As then, when to outstrip thy skiey speed Scarce seemed a vision; I would ne'er have striven As thus with thee in prayer in my sore need. Oh! lift me as a wave, a leaf, a cloud! I fall upon the thorns of life! I bleed! A heavy weight of hours has chained and bowed One too like thee: tameless, and swift, and proud. Make me thy lyre, even as the forest is: What if my leaves are falling like its own! The tumult of thy mighty harmonies Will take from both a deep, autumnal tone, Sweet though in sadness. Be thou, Spirit fierce, My spirit! Be thou me, impetuous one! Drive my dead thoughts over the universe Like withered leaves to quicken a new birth! And, by the incantation of this verse, Scatter, as from an unextinguished hearth Ashes and sparks, my words among mankind! Be through my lips to unawakened Earth The trumpet of a prophecy! O Wind, If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?

- Percy Bysshe Shelly

Make way for Esya '11

I never thought of my blog as a space for sharing events from my life. I considered it more of a space where I could go on a rant and be insanely talkative about unrelated stuff. But it is hard not to! Inevitably, I ended up creating a label 'Events' - for when I wish to talk about the happenings in and around my life.

And this time its Esya '11, the first IIIT Delhi Tech Fest.

Excitement is high. Its the topmost thing in almost everyone's mind. Even the non-workaholics are working really really hard for the success of this event. Everyone in the NCR region who has the remotest contact with a IIITDian is receiving invitations for events like- programming, quizzing, debates, treasure hunt, gaming, business strategy, DJ night and lots more. From the basic planning of events and resources to arranging sponsors- its all being done by the students.

Esya '11 - Of the students, By the students and For the students.

Just like that

The following extract has nothing to do with the photographs. Its just something I like.

Full fathom five thy father lies;
Of his bones are coral made;
Those are pearls that were his eyes;
nothing of him that doth fade
But doth suffer a sea-change
Into something rich and strange.
Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell
Ding-dong!
Hark! now I hear them,--ding- dong, bell.
                -William Shakespeare(The Tempest)


These were taken a while ago and I post them here for the simple pleasure of it.

A cute companion

Conjoined twins

Beautiful, isn't it?

The Summer Of My Discontent

This marks the end of three months of vacations that just flew by.
THREE ENTIRE MONTHS!
Gone, gone, gone...

My only discontent being - the end. It came too soon for my liking. I was just beginning to feel truly at home at home.No matter how clichéd this sounds, it truly truly seems like just yesterday- the start of our vacations and there I was, troubling people in other colleges as they tried to slog through their end-semester exams while I celebrated the start of 3 months of awesomeness.

College starts today. As I go through the 'its-the-last-day' FB posts flooding my News Feed, I am not altogether sad at seeing the end of the vacations. Its back to the fun/work. Yay!

And yeah- the title is inspired from a novel. Pardon me, Kaps, for sounding somewhat like you. Your latest post made me want to write this short piece.

She promised him she would leave before the clock struck 12, for she was expected around 12.15. But being the truant she was, she stayed put till the time of the rendezvous.

At five past that hour, she heard a distinctive sound. This sound was more frightening than that made by the clock announcing the hour of the day for she knew only he could cause it. She scampered to her closet, put on fresh clothes, grabbed her case and headed straight for the door. She knew he would be at the doorstep within a couple of minutes. She always preferred the stairs for health reasons. 

Not today, though. 

She could do almost anything to avoid an encounter with him, for she knew it would not be pleasant. So she directed her footsteps towards the elevator. Darn! The elevator wasn’t functional. The dreaded encounter now seemed a certainity. Gloomily, accepting defeat , yet praying with all her heart she took the stairs.For a brief moment, it seemed as if lady luck was smiling on her. Maybe she had overreacted. Maybe her ears were ringing. She heaved a sigh of relief. She couldn’t have been more mistaken. He stood a couple of meters away, at the other end of the garage, engrossed in conversation with a someone. She shot for cover and watched through the tiny opening in the wall. She thought she was a goner. But then an alternative route struck her panicky mind. She headed back for the stairs keeping an eye out for him. Instead of going up, she took the opening that went right behind the stairs. That way the stairs shielded her from his gaze. She now found herself in front of the godforsaken elevator. The exit loomed a couple of meters away. How she longed for a teleporter. Why was technology so slow? Swearing under her breathe, she made her way toward the exit keeping close to the wall all along. Then she realized he might see her from the garage door where he stood, chatting. She waited for the murmur to die down, telling her the coast was clear. And all of a sudden, it stopped. She prepared herself to make a dash for the exit. She was so close. She couldn’t fail now. Then she turned around and her jaw dropped in shock. He stood a few feet behind her, trying out the elevator button with his back towards her. Swiftly, she hid behind the other side of the wall while he realized the only way up was to take the stairs. She waited. Then grabbing her chance, she ran for the exit. All the way to the rendezvous point she wished against hope he hadn’t seen her and that she wasn't too late.

A couple of hours later…

She waited for the sound and she wasn’t disappointed. For the second time that day, it made her dread the moment she knew she’d have to face him (and if he'd seen her earlier that day, his wrath too). Quietly, avoiding his gaze, she got into the front seat of the car. Five minutes of uncomfortable silence, she thought she could finally relax.

And then he asked “Did you get the job done ?” 

The tone of his question made her realize the futility of lying to him. 
Somehow, he knew.

Everything had been in vain.

Organ talk

^Its time to talk 'Organs'.

My job being to talk about the following critical ones only.

Heart

Its pointless to elucidate it's functions and importance. What I will talk about though is, how your daily intake of junk food can drastically reduce healthy heart functionality. All the fatty food that we consume leads to the fattening of the pulmonary arteries- a major cause for heart attacks and other symptoms leading to one.

Abnormal Aorta

         

             Normal Aorta

Abnormal Aorta with fatty streaks

             
Brain

The specimen at display at the Organ talk had Hematoma. The black thing on the right specimen is the clotted blood due to a severe head injury that was evidently fatal.

A normal brain(left) v/s one with Hematoma

Lungs

Yeah, smoke your worries away. But do remember the effect it has on your lungs(See pic). Apart from exponentially reducing the alveoli count, it makes your lungs much less spongy(which effectively means- the lungs' capacity to expand upon inhalation has reduced significantly). Seeing the skeptical look on one of our faces, the demonstrator had us touch the right lung. Both healthy one and the one blackened and damaged due to smoking. I could see from the look on this lucky person's face that she wasn't too happy about it. 

            

A smoker's lung

Blocked Alveoli

Liver

The following picture is why alcohol consumption is not the healthiest of options. Besides the fact that it severely hampers normal functioning of the liver- which includes emulsification of fats, manufacture of bile juices and blah, it doesn't make your liver look good, does it? 

A cirrhotic liver- scarred and blotchy

Bones

Now this reminded me of the Amul jingle 'Piyo dood in every season, piyo dood for a healthy reason'(Drink milk in every season, Drink milk for a healthy reason). Because Osteoporotic bones are weak. So much so that a slight bump against a piece of furniture will cause your bones to crack or break away neatly. 

Why was I present at an organ talk anyway?

Well, my mother's department organised this event on the occasion of the death anniversary of the former head of the department and she asked me to be there. Since I had nothing up my sleeve that would excuse me from this event , I obliged. And boy, was I glad I did that. It wasn't boring at all! Last year's event had been more of a dull exhibition. This year- we, a former school-mate and me, walked in amidst a great introduction by the head of the department. Grand, I tell you.
 Apart from meeting up with our old science teacher we chatted with the weenies about the weird changes made to our good ol' school. The tea and luncheon only made us happier. What was astonishing though, was the way the tenthies(DPS) took on the 11th and 12th standard people(from other schools) in the organ talk quiz. Maybe it had something to do with the booklets they were provided beforehand. The token of appreciation for the winners was a Lucky Bamboo- a Feng Shui plant said to bring good luck.

Post Organ talk, my friend and I headed for our local haunt and gorged on an odd assortment of junk food- golgappas, tikkis, momos, pasta and faluda. 

A deliciously hypocritical finish to a long day.
 

Don't read this if you are anti-HP

Its that time of the year again-When the magic world threatens to abolish the International Statue of Wizarding Secrecy and reveal themselves to the Muggle world. The reality of the magic world acquires a surreal quality. It's the one time when you can tap bricks with your wands and shout spells without the fear of ridicule. Only the skeptics will roll their eyes and call you a crackpot. It's a matter of perception. You see what you wish to see. Those who believe in it's existence, see it. The rest - poor unfortunate souls who wish for the existence of a parallel awesome world but can't bring themselves to accept HP.

Anyway, coming back to the essential issue. How great is the Harry Potter franchise? And by that I mean the characters and not the actors. Don't get me wrong here though. The filming of the Harry Potter books was a necessary evil. The movies can never match the audience and the magic created by the books. But it did make the novel reading a more pleasurable experience, providing a face to those few characters we couldn't visualize. However, I still think that Voldemort did not receive justice. (Read further before going into shock upon reading the previous statement.) The guy plotted and murdered. He rightfully won the title of the darkest wizard of all time. And still none of the versions of Voldemort(at different stages of his life and after he was resurrected) shown in the movie look anything like the word picture painted in the books.The seedy-looking kid in the movie hardly has any resemblance to the book's description of last heir of Slytherin when he first met Dumbledore. And that is not where it ends. Take Sirius and Lupin, for instance. Or Bill Weasley. However carefully I looked, I couldn't locate the coolness in him in Harry Potter 7.1. No fang earring or long hair tied in a ribbon.
I do loath not seeing the book being truthfully portrayed in the movies. The details get distorted.And that sometimes spoils the experience if you've read the book. Plus, anyone who hasn't read the book will not be able to get the story behind the story.

There are a very few cases where the movie turns out to be as interesting and gripping as the book. Expecting faithful  portrayal of the book is like asking the Americans to speak British English. So, in spite of myself, I watch all the HP movies and enjoy them a lot too. I have done that ever since I became sensitive to HP's existence. And it won't be any different this time.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows- Part 2.
*Jumping with a combination of excitement and elation*

Excerpts from Life in Another Metro

Here, you will get to test your patience. If you can get to the end of this post without a feeling of boredom shifting your cursor to the little cross-mark on the top right corner, you know you are a patient soul.

I am in Mumbai, People! With two others who, like me, have never ever been on a trip like this one before. One of us has never been to this city before so its an entirely new experience for her while the other has lived here for a considerable time (which effectively means- we always have an unpaid guide by our side).
What makes this trip so different? 
Well, firstly, its just the three of us. We manage our own chores. And by that, I mean every task imaginable.  Buying grocery, using it to cook our own meals, eating whatever we cook regardless of the taste and loving it at the same time.(We have cooked a couple of things and, surprisingly they've all turned out quite well. Edible. Tasty.) We live in a teeny tiny walk up- complete with a refrigerator and plenty of freedom. Living in a city alone makes you see it in a light you would have never seen, were you accompanied by your family.

The start was eventful enough with my breaking of the wash-basin in the bathroom of our landlady's house. Needless to say, she's not our landlady anymore.
Local trains are not as bad as they are thought to be. They are the 'metro minus the air-conditioning, sliding doors and the weird-sounding lady announcer'. In fact, the relatively new local trains do have a lady announcer who sounds more human and less of a parrot(comparison with the Delhi metro).
Then there are the people here. 'Bindaaas' is the only way to describe them.

Wich Latte, Cossway

NOTE:
To shop at reasonable rates visit Cossway, near Gateway of India. Bargain your way through some really awesome stuff. There is a 98.9% chance that you will overspend and get value for your money. (0.1% chance that you don't overspend and 1% chance that you can't bargain). With a considerably lighter wallet, stop over at a cafe for your favorite beverage. And just in case shopping (or drinking) bore you to death, take a buggy ride to Marine drive. Or take a walk through the crowded roads that were witness to the 26/11 terror strike. As luck would have it, we went there- neither once nor twice, but thrice!

Some ten days later...

The Mumbai monsoons are upon us. The only problem is navigating the narrow lanes without the aid of rubber rain boots. Not that I ever used them before. I don't even own them. But now I wish I had them. Mumbai draws a few parallels from an ant colony. No amount of rain or sun can stop the people here from going about their business. The first day it poured heavily- we stayed in due to sheer laziness, under the impression that the flooded streets would result in walking in ankle-deep sludge. The second day, we ventured out anyway. Destination - Powai. One of the few places where a little greenery is visible in Mumbai.
Kung Fu Panda 2 's awesomeness blinded me like no other animated movie has ever done before. iMax 3D is simply too good to be true.(I like writing iMax the way I did.The inspiration is too obvious to be stated.)


Bombay was the perfect name for this city. Just like Bangalore is way better than Bengaluru.  But the Shiv Sena and its bunch of goons decided that 'Bombay' was a corrupted English version of 'Mumbai'. The British did hordes of bad things to India and its resources. Agreed. But christening the 'gateway to India' as 'Bombay' is certainly not one of them.The national government actually objected to this renaming, fearing 'Bombay' would lose its identity internationally.It hasn't. Foreigners still refer to Mumbai as Bombay. Ha ha.

Now that this first of its kind trip draws to a close, I guess I should conclude this post too and enjoy the last night in this city (on this trip).

In God's Land

How could I complain about life being dull? It can be boring at times, I agree. But dull it certainly is not. Here's why.

Rewind to the morning of 9^th May.
College mates and adventure - a  marvelous combination. From jumping off a cliff into the Ganges to climbing down a vertical mountain face, white water rafting over a 16 kilometers stretch to an early morning nature walk – we did it all. Not to mention the trek up and down a hill along a pre-chalked out path complete with slippery steep regions and a silent zone(Its a human settlement, so you are absolutely prohibited from as much as whispering here. Nevertheless, this is where one of us started singing 'We are the Champions' at the top of his lungs and progressed to singing a few Christmas carols before somebody told him about the zone being a silent one) and a cleanup region(where we were supposed to pick up all the non-biodegradable junk careless mountaineers leave behind. Here we found out the brand of gutka (or pan masala) preferred by people while trekking. We stayed in a cozy little tent complete with an attached washroom. (Tents should be made up of sound-proof material. Even the people trying hard not to eavesdrop can hear everything you say. And whispering doesn't help either.)
Jumping off a cliff into a river is not really that tough. All you need to do is get to the edge, close your eyes, and take a step forward. Gravity will take over and the water below will cushion your fall(almost always). I never understood the power of the potential energy being stored in a object due to the work done on the object by gravity as well as I did during that 3 second fall.
Caves behind waterfalls have neither algae nor bats (or vampires). At least the one I went to only had loads of green surfaced-rocks, a marvelous view and a rare kind of peace and quite.
Most important lesson learnt: When on a bus full of your peers, take care not to fall asleep. Because if you do, you will regret it. Facebook will make sure that even the people who weren't on the bus get to know how peaceful you look while you sleep.

Though I am trying to give words to this experience of a lifetime, memory alone can do justice to this trip. Words simply cannot describe how exhilarating and rejuvenating a trip it was.
Pictures, you say? A few of them, I did manage. Just me and my ghisa-pita phone-cum-camera.

The End Of the Beginning

Today marks the end of one year of college life. No longer freshers with shiny faces,we are now the all-knowing second-year students rearing to have a go at the humungous work and bucketful of fun in the academic year to come.[We have repeatedly been told how ' your workload is nothing compared to ours. ' Its funny how seniors (be it the ones in school or college) always say that.] But we need to contain this steam because its still three entire months before college restarts. Till then it is Fun, fun, fun.


And when it comes to fun - nothing is fun on an empty stomach. So, we celebrated the end of  the end-semester exams with a visit to Pizza Hut. And the best(and most delicious) part was the cheese cake(see pic, if you haven't already).

There are so many things that need to be done during the vacations. Not to mention the great list of must-watch movies to be released this summer. So much to look forward to apart from the usual hobbies which are almost always neglected during term time. Its exciting just to think about it all.


P.S.: This post was due to be posted on 29th April 2011. No explanations available for the delay.

First Things First ?

Hardly the time to be writing a blog post but then, its been a while since I sat down to write something significant and even if its only a blog post, I like to think of it as doing something constructive(though at this point of time it most certainly is not).

I thought of numerous things that can be recorded here but are they significant enough? The significance of most things can rarely be fully comprehended. Anyway, usually some thought goes into my posts but this time I feel I must have one impromptu post. One which does not include me thinking about a specific something and then taking some time pondering over what all can be said about it.
 And I came up with something but suddenly as if on cue, a chat message started flashing in my gmail tab and before I knew, I was chatting to people about all kinds of relevant and irrelevant stuff. Then I started browsing about some random stuff and after an hour or two of that a little something in the back of my head reminded me of the homework I had to submit next weekend.So, I got down to look into the related specifics. Then when I decided to call it a day and was getting ready to sleep like a log, I remembered my original agenda. And it hit me (its hit me previously too but never with the same intensity) : That is how things I plan to do never get done. Because I usually get distracted by something or the other. But then after that brief distraction I should revert back to my original work. But I don't. I should. I will.

H v/s H

Being home after a particularly long spell in hostel, I grabbed one of the most fluffiest pillows on my bed and settled down. Two minutes into this semi-sleepy state, the following came to me:

1.) Home - means food is only a few steps away and every time you hear an odd rumble, you don't have to walk a few hundred meters to satisfy your hunger pangs.

2.) Home is spacious.You can jump, dance and hop all you want without the fear of hitting some random piece of furniture. On the other hand, hostels provide you just enough room to study, sleep, etcetra, etcetra...but NO jumping and absolutely NO dancing.

3.) Take a really prolonged bath. And if in the due course there is no banging on your door asking ...nay, ordering you to come out asap- you know you are at home.
And if its Holi, 'you gotta be home'. Or stay that tinge of green, red, pink, orange, purple, black or silver (or all together) till you get home.

4.) Going home on the very weekend a live band is performing in (almost)your college grounds implies there's a 99% chance you are going to miss an Awes..full ...Awesfull performance. It should actually have been 100% if unlike me, you don't believe in miracles.

Yawn...Post Holi lethargy catching up with me.
Continue this in another post.

Will Magic Be Recreated This Summer ?

                              

They are all lined up neatly for the summer vacations 

| Spider-man 4: May 2011 |

| Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part2: July 2011 |

| The Dark Knight Rises : July 2011 |

    Spider-man. And Tobey McGuire immediately springs up in my mind's eye. For all those who aren't too keen on the Spider-man movies, Tobey McGuire is to Spider-man as Daniel Radcliffe is to Harry Potter. Now, if you are not familiar with Daniel Radcliffe or Harry Potter, then you are seriously not living in this world.You need to start being a part of this world. HP will be talked about in another post.
Spider-man 4 is scheduled to be released sometime in May this year. And  oh, the wait ! Tobey has passed on the spidey mantle to Andrew Garfield. In all probability, Carnage and hobgoblin are going to turn up in this one. But the anticipation is high. Will the movie be as good as the previous ones?

Sequels rarely work out as well as the previous flicks when the lead characters are changed. Agreed, Andrew Garfield is better looking than Toby. But then behind that red and blue suit spider man jumpsuit is a nerd's face. Peter Parker is a nork(hybrid of a nerd and a dork) and the more the directors stick to this reality, the better it'd be for them (and the movie series). I wonder how long it'll be before people start associating Spider-man with Andrew Garfield. Eternity would be my guess.

The Dark Knight Rises : Christopher Nolan's third and last installment of the current batman franchise. I am eager to see how the addition of Anne Hathway affects the movie.(She'll be portraying cat woman ) She's done a few action movies before so, she obviously has a certain amount of experience but how a tight black suit affects her acting prowess is yet to be seen. (Frankly, I am not a huge fan. Sib usually made me watch batman movies (and the cartoon too !! ) and after watching 'The Dark Knight' , the result is this: He doesn't have to force me anymore. ) The one thing I am going to miss terribly in this movie is, Heath Ledger's amazing acting.


                                  

Addiction

Addiction - they say is bad , but is it ?

Most things can be classified into a number of categories and I just figured that addiction follows that rule too. You can be addicted to almost everything or nothing at all. Anything that completely engulfs you and leaves no room for anything else is termed as addiction.You simply cannot live without it. If addicted to alcohol, liver cirrhosis will eventually become a part of you while tobacco addiction will considerably reduce the distance you need to cover on the road labeled Life. ( Fyi, besides being a major cause of cancers and respiratory disorders, tobacco consumption also increases the risk of a heart attack or stroke.) Drug addicts are no different and by the time they are finished with drugs( or the drugs are finished with them), only a shadow of their previous self remains. Most of them look little better(and sometimes worse) than a corpse.Internet addiction is another one that is clubbed along with these three.But I'd like to honour this one with a post of its own.
Then there is addiction to music, novels, and all sorts of stuff. But these activities are healthy as long they are  practiced at the right time.I'd prefer to replace the word addiction by the love of music, etc, etc.
You might also be addicted to fun ... pure undiluted fun that will make you highly allergic to work.Trust me, this is Bad. Been there. Done that. I know its Bad.
Tobacco, alcohol and drug addiction are undeniably, forms of escapism. A simple and self-destructive way out of a situation. Literally making a part of your brain numb and oblivious to certain things around you. But the rest, I am not even sure should be referred to as addiction since the word is considered to be synonymous with evil by many.
The point I am trying to make or rather the question here is - Till what extent can you go before your addiction ruins you?? In a way, you could be called lucky if you are alcoholic or a chain smoker, for then you have a solution - rehabilitation centres and counsellors etc, etc...but otherwise who can you go to other than the latter(most shirk away from this considering it to be a sign of weakness)? Who decides where and when to draw the line? Usually, people don't come to know when they cross the line and turn into addicts.They just take the plunge and don't realize the magnitude of damage they are incurring on themselves untill its too late.
So, lesson to be learnt : Always take the right path not the easy path and if you get both , then you are *el.you.see.kay.why.* . 

5 Days and 7 Hours

"Everything comes together ...its me.... I chose this ... I chose all of this.... this rock has been waiting for me my entire life ... ever since it was a meteorite million billion years ago .... its been waiting to come here...I have been moving towards it my entire life and every breath I have taken, every action... has been leading me towards this crack on the outer surface"


Hope you like your rock when you find it (unlike Aron Ralston).
Though, this encounter with the rock cost him his arm, he must have been thankful to it.
After all, it altered the entire course of his life ... for better.
A MUST-WATCH.

It's in the Air

The season of spring's approaching and a pleasant balmy breeze blows all day long. Other things coming up : a test, a marriage in the family (Yipee... I am attending :D), another test(s) and mid-sem exams (in that order). And various miscellaneous events at college. And Holi is coming up too. But its still a good one and half month away from now. Plus I'd like to devote another post to that.So, I'll leave it at that.

And yeah ... St. Valentine's execution day is just around the corner too. The most plausible story behind 14th February runs as follows :
Claudius II announced a ban on marriage because he believed that marriage made young men emotionally unfit to become good soldiers. But, St. Valentine, a priest defied the emperor's direct order by secretly joining young lovers in holy matrimony and was arrested for his actions. During his imprisonment, a deep friendship developed between Valentine and his jailor's (previously blind) daughter (whom he cured through his strong vehicle of faith - Catholic interpretation or some miraculous powers - Protestant interpretation ). Impressed by his conduct, the emperor tried to convert Valentine to the Roman Gods but Valentine instead tried to convert the emperor. This angered Claudius and he ordered Valentine's execution. Valentine signed a note addressed to the jailer's daughter as "From your Valentine" -  a phrase that became immortal along with Valentine's name. But it is widely believed that his execution had more to do with agape than Eros (Use your favorite search engine here, if the need be).

So, things are lined up neatly for the next few days.  ;)

The Good Ol' Days

Everytime I close my eyes and think about 'em, here is what I get....

School : Four Faces. School : March past . School : White and blue.

School : Cool winter dress. School : Neighbours. School : Prayers. School : Grounds . School : Humming . School : Races.

A few instances I can recall.... for now.

The Principal : She was popularly referred to as IAD( Invisible After Dark). To fully appreciate the humor behind this name you have to see her with your own eyes.But a majority of our school was sure she had supernatural powers. You would find her at every corner and in every corridor. And god forbid (!!)anyone put a single toe over the line...well...IAD would turn up. The ventilator was her favorite means of spying on the lot of us(students and teachers both). Had the ventilator not served so many purposes( sneaking out , spying on people outside , ventilating the room in the hot weather..etcetra...etcetra...)

The 'Group': Funny yet true story. The house captain "Premiises" comes up and tells(more appropriately commands) us to attend the council meeting. Confused and wondering what we had done to be this situation we turned up for what later turned out to be a complete waste of time and a huge strain on our vocal chords. Premiises claimed that we were spreading rumors of our group "Aryans" being a gang. Simply Preposterous. The council had enough issues without adding this to their list. After a heated argument we managed to clear the air about a few points. The name 'Aryans' was coined by a girl called Cha***. And she was the one responsible for making it well known that Aryans was not a civilization.

The Guttar : Yeah the 'Guttar' ...favorite hangout. Securing a place at the Guttar (near the junior wing) was the first thing we did everyday during lunch break. Not being able to do so would put us off and we had to eat at another place that did not have the shade , breeze(occasionally) and overall noisy aura that the Guttar offered.

Cho-Cho : Don't know how it came into existence but that is how she was referred to as since times immemorial. I don't remember her ever being called by her real name. She provided way too many laughs, sticks(wouldn't like to elaborate on that ...not very pleasant) and free periods.

There are so many things I would like to talk about but I'll do that at a time when I am nostalgic enough to remember everything(or close to everything).

Ignorance - The Root of all Fear

Walking down a long lane in the dark and the lone street light goes off . How'd you react? A majority of people would halt in their tracks(even if its only for a second).A single human eye has the range of 150 degrees whereas use of both eyes enables you to span an area with 180 degrees subtended at your eye. But when the sun goes below the horizon and you are enveloped in complete darkness, you are as well off as a person with no sight.(Assuming you do not have any man or machine-made device at hand in this situation).

Another situation : Alone in a place ... you get a weird feeling of being watched every second (especially if its night time).Or someone is about to pounce on you from behind. This feeling is creepy and believe me or not, you are not being paranoid ..its natural and its just the lack of a pair of eyes at the back of your head that make you feel like this.

It is in situations like these when fear sets in.
FEAR-A natural shot of adrenaline which cripples you and renders you incapable of movement (though some are able to gather enough courage to scream).
Humans , by the very definition of humans, are afraid of whatever they cannot comprehend.

Certain everyday observations:

• We plan for the future ...and why is that ? Because we worry about what will happen because we are unaware of it .Surely, nobody plans for the past ! (Because most people who are not affected by amnesia are aware of it).                                                                          

• All the Hindi (& supposedly) horror movies have got one thing right ...the protangonist is always scared of something he / she can't see or is not able to supplement with some rationale. And its only his or her curosity or the fear of losing someone dear that makes them overcome their fear and live in the present and find the antidote to Fear.

Mirror translation: 'Replace fear of the unknown with curiosity'.

The conclusion is simple....." You fear what you don't know" or in other words " Man fears the unknown."  So, if you don't like to live in constant fear, make sure you "know".And this you can be done (exceptions include "darkness" unless you can wear night goggles all night and somehow miraculously have an extra pair of eyes which'll give you a full 360 degrees view).

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay                        
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I marked the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference. 

 -   

I first came across this poem in high school and though I did delve into its meaning at that time, I did not relate to it the way I do now. All the same, it is one of my favorites. 
Based on Frost's life, it is said to be an intended irony. 
Taking the road less traveled reflects your individualistic and unconventional way of thinking.

It doesn't guarantee you an easy journey but then like it is said-untill and unless you take the plunge, you can't truly comment on the coldness of the water. 

:)

India outside the Peninsula

The place is picturesque. Truly, heaven on earth must look and feel something like this. Completely cut off from everyone and everything except my traveling companions, which in this case were my parents and my imp of a brother. The only other constant companions- the perfect breeze(that caresses your face and makes you feel like spending the entire day outdoors), white sand, blue sea water, sun(only deserted us for a very brief period) and predictably loads and loads of sea-food ...and a number of other things ..but the picture is clear enough.

Certain points about the place :

Name: The current name is derived from 'Handuman' (origins-The Ramayana). Ptolemy(renowned roman geographer) called it "Angdaman Islands" meaning 'Islands of good fortune' and T T Sing(a Buddhist monk) called it "Lo-jen-kuo" meaning the 'Land of the Naked'.

Personally, I think both the Ramayana and Ptolemy had a hand in deciding the final name...Doesn't take too much thinking figuring that one out...but an observation nevertheless...:\
  
Tribes: The only ones I saw were are members of the Jarawa tribe. I was lucky to have missed out the elder members of the aforementioned tribe who seem to have a grudge against basic clothing. This confuses me. Because clearly, they can get them if they wish to but they don't ...how long before they realize that it's only a means to protect one's body from heat/cold and dirt ...Who knows?? Couldn't get their picture because the government has imposed a ban on it.Going against the law here can easily and quickly land you behind the bars (coz the tribal people either snatch your camera if your vehicle is stationary or they note down your vehicle's number and report to the authorities who are really strict). Smart ...they are.

And why should we photograph them? After all, they too are humans and how would we like it if we were to be photographed as though we belong to the museum? Atleast, I would not like it at all.

      I did snorkeling...twice...Saw hordes of indistinctive and dull colored fishes, a beautiful blue one with yellow stripes and a blue colored star fish-like creature the first time. I think I saw a clownfish ... couldn't double check (it was too fast for me :P). The second place had more variety of corals -finger, brain corals....etc. Also saw sea-anemones...thankfully I didn't get too close.
But the  most exquisite feeling of all was floating on the surface of the water above those corals. :D

Another experience I am unlikely to forget - standing in the very cells where the British (brainy monsters!!) kept the Indian prisoners in the most inhumane conditions possible(or not thought to be possible). They were asked to work and produce a quantity of oil which was beyond the normal capacity of the bullocks they used for the same task.

View from the roof of one of the wings of the cellular jail

Interesting fact about the cellular jail : The seven wings of the jail were constructed like the seven spokes of a wheel with a tower in place of the axle from where a guard could keep an eagle's eye on all the wings. Plus the front side of one wing faced the backside of the other wing. So zero communication between the inmates of the cells in different wings. Cunning.



Surprisingly, we had no food issues unlike what we were told..."All you are going to get is non-veg, and that too mainly sea-food.You'll have lots of trouble....blah blah..." People just don't realize the pace with which the tourist industry is growing.

The only down side was the effect of sea water on my hair which became really frizzy and and sang(and did) free fallin' in chorus.