Learning To Write...

Snowglobing in Michigan

2012-01-22T09:17:00.000-08:00

Coming to Michigan State wasexciting in many ways... and one of the things that I was terribly excited inmy first winter here was the snow… and sure enough, when it first snowed lastyear, I was as happy as a little kid in candy store. The irony is that thefirst snow storm occurred before one of my final exams of the year, and as italways happens before any exam, I wasted a lot of time of time doing somethingother than studying. This time, it was absently staring out of the windowpartly in amazement and partly in wonder with a big, childish smile plasteredacross my face. The white stuff falling from the sky was quickly occupyingevery square inch of spare space on the ground. Pretty soon, the entire streetand the beautiful green lawns outside my house had turned white!

The next day, the campus, thestreets, and practically everything in sight was covered in white. Evenfamiliar roads and lanes and turns seemed different with snow accumulation. Ontop of it, the sunshine seemed even more brighter than usual, what with therebeing a lot of white to reflect off of. It all seemed kind of magical thatfirst day.

But that was just the one day.

As winter dragged on, there camethe biting wind, the icy roads, and the black ice. And the snow every singleday of the week. Snow and winter seemed to be totally losing its charm. Inaddition, winter never seemed to stop! December came and went, January went by,February, March, it was still snowing! In India, the arrival of March generallymeant that winter was almost over, and it was time to look forward to summer.What happened in Michigan in March? Freezing rain. Definitely, the worst partof winter ever. I particularly remember this one time, when I was standing atthe bus stop, freezing my socks off, despite wearing about 4 layers ofclothing, when it started raining ice drops at a frenzied rate, in sub-zerotemperatures. It seemed to be hell on earth those few minutes, and when Apriland May brought warmer climes, I couldn’t have been more glad.

Cut to the Winter of 2011-2012.

October and November passed bywith the gloomy and windy and depressing fall. December started and ended withminimal snow. We were enjoying a surprisingly mild and warm winter. Afterhaving made up mind after the first winter in Michigan, that I did not likewinters, I was very surprised to find myself actually missing it. No more whitefluffy stuff falling on your head, no more cursing as you got out of thebuilding, and definitely no more steam as you let out a breath. Things seemedamiss.

Then January finally started, thetemperatures plummeted, and it started snowing again. And all seemed right inthe world again. I found myself actually enjoying walking through the freshwhite blanket on the ground. And then one evening, when I was walking back tolab, I understood why Bollywood has always been fascinated with snow andshooting romantic songs and movies in snow clad mountains.

It wasn’t snowing very heavilythat evening and most of the snow flakes seemed to be falling down veryidly—almost lazily—to the ground and melting away as soon as they touched theground. Watching them fall down, everything—the buildings, the streets, thetrees—seemed to fade into the background. As if the only thing that existedthat evening were these pretty flakes falling to the ground, and me—destined toenjoy them. It was surreal—like being inside a snow globe. The only thing thatcould have possibly made it better was to have had a Prince Charming—a Bollywoodfantasy àla Om Shanti Om come to life!

I know it would be too much too soon to say that I genuinely like the winter. And I know that this year too, the winter will drag on till I want to cry. There will be expletives, there will be cursing and there will be angry shouts at the person living in the sky, for having put me in this terrible terrible place. But somewhere in my mind, there will also be this memory to bring a smile on my face. Of a nicer time, when the entire world seemed pretty and small enough to be captured inside a globe. Of snowglobing and dreaming in Michigan.

Home is where the heart is

2011-10-03T22:01:00.000-07:00

Whenever you take someone's leave at the end of the day, at the end of meeting, at the end of a of wonderful candlelit dinner in a restaurant or simply tired and and exhausted at the end of a walk, you end up saying something along the lines of "I have to to go back now.."

For some days now, I have been contemplating on the inherent implcitness of the sentence. Gotta go back. So much is stated in what is not said. That you have something to go back to. A person, a friend, wife, family, a roommate, maybe even a pet. It's implied that you have a home, a sanctuary, a place to go back to and call your own.

At various times during the last five years, the word home has meant different things to me. When I was in Pune, my hometown, home always meant Prabhat Road. The house with the big backyard, the big old house where I'd grown up. In Baroda (what I always think of as my adopted home), home was K.G Hall, Girls Hostel, M.S. University. Here at the other MSU, home will always be the one on Abbott.

What I never realised all the time that I had been in India, was that home was actually India. Hindustan. Bharat. Bharatiya Ganarajya.

All my life in India, I had never been patriotic. You could almost say that I never liked India. Or at least I was convinced that I would never miss home or India if I ever went abroad. I criticized everything about it, the roads, the politics, the people, the idiocy, everything about it. I was convinced that this was the worst place to be in. Little did I realize that all the same things that I professed to despise in India, were the same things that I would grow to miss here in the US.

A couple of American friends asked me last year, what was the one thing that I missed about India. Food ? Yeah, well.. not so much. People ? Maybe.. The weather.. to an extent (especially in winter!) Craziness.. definitely! I mean where else in the world would you get as much entertainment as the one provided by Baba Ramdev over the summer ? Or as much amazement as the one provided by the Madurai Temple, with its secret treasure trove ? Here in the States, where we are obsessed with hygiene, no wonder then that Bhel and Pani Puri never taste the same.. they are missing the essential key (?!) ingredient of the mysterious and elusive water used to prepare the dishes!*

Home... just some of the things I miss!

You, see, it was never just one thing that I missed the most. The vendors selling hot jalebli, the stereotypical 'pandu havaldar', the side slap humour of hindi movies, the noise on the streets, the incessant cawing of the crows, the smell of the earth after the first rains of the season, the joy of Coconut Water on a hot summer day... there are so many things to home, to India that can never be captured under one category. To quote Aristotle, what I miss most about home is the whole, which is always greater than the sum of the individual parts!

In Baroda, at DD circle, where we had our daily Chai, we encountered daily the orphans who lived on the street. I often couldn't help but feel sad about their homelessness and misfortune (though they never let us on of any such feeling on their part!) In some ways, that is what moving out of the country has turned me into. Sure, unlike them, I have the four walls of my house to retreat into, but somewhere deep down is this nagging sense that this is not where I belong. Where I belong is in the alleys of Sadashiv Peth, Pune, haggling with shopkeepers, in Baroda dancing away to glory at United Way, or merely by the side of street in any Indian town, wolfing down Pani Puri and cutting Chai.

Home, then is not just a place where you have grown up, and you're used... to but someplace that is rooted so deep within you that it somehow becomes a part of your psyche. It's a feeling of belonging... of knowing irrationally that you understand a land and its people and that you ought to be there. Its the first place that comes to your mind when you close your eyes.

Don't believe me ? Try it!

------

.* The water used to make Street Food (Chaat) in India is believed to be the key to the taste. In a nutshell, the more unhygienic the water, the tastier the Chaat!

A decade later...

2011-09-10T19:20:00.000-07:00

9/10/2001 Pune, India

It had been another regular day at school, and I was home with my Dad and my grandmother having wrapped up dinner. As usual we were awaiting the regular phone call from Mom, who was in Mumbai. Two months had been enough to get used to the regular after dinner phone call which . was the only time I talked with Aai in the day, ever since her job as a lecturer had transferred her over to Mumbai. It wasn't so bad, I was still in school--in Std. 9 to be precise, and things had slowly fallen into place after two people had left so close to each other. Dada--to Boston and Aai--to Mumbai.

Like I said, it had been just another day at school, and was going to be just another day at school the next day but for Aai's second phone call late that night around 11pm asking us to turn on the TV and watch what was happening. A little worried we turned on the TV to watch what would in later months and years be merely known by 2 numbers seperated by a /.

9/11. Nine Eleven.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

It seemed unbelievable and unfathomable to me that someone would just hijack a plane and be able to crash it in two of the tallest buildings in the heart of the most powerful nation on earth. I remember discussing the events the next day with friends and then very actively following the Afghanistan war and the following war. For a little time, I even idolized Ahmad Shah Masood, the rebel leader fighting against the Taliban and was even pretty saddened when he was killed. How long ago that seems now...

It seems unbelievable and unfathomable to me now that a decade--10 years--have already passed by 9/11. So much has changed, me, people and the entire world order at large. Sadddam Hussein is dead, Osama bin Laden is dead, Musharraf is in exile, the Swine Flu, SARS have come and gone, walkmans and cassettes are out being replaced by iPods, and iPhones and Droids are substituting for Nokias. Gone is the bespectacled uniformed school girl from 10 years ago, and taking her place is an older, smarter, independent and wiser (?) version of the same girl.

Life truly is strange in terms of not knowing where it will take you... what you have in your hands is determining whether you go along passively with the flow or actually dive into it and enjoy the swim !!

One Line Movie Reviews

2010-07-05T10:42:00.000-07:00

The Importance of Being Earnest: Funny, witty, Wodehousian movie; bit of a musical; Starring big names like Reese Witherspoon, Rupert Everett; a typical 'English' comedy, light and airy.

The Painted Veil: Beautiful movie, stunning locations, poetic almost; subtle yet intense and gripping performances by Edward Norton and Naomi Watts; a tragic love story.

Hotel Rwanda: Haunting, searing, story of the genocide in Rwanda; extremely difficult to forget.

The Law Abiding Citizen: Brilliant, Intelligent, if not at at times, slightly disturbing movie--definitely worth a watch.

Balgandharva: Moving and educative portrait of a great man, stunning visuals and beautiful music, even if its not original--a little scattered at places.

No One Killed Jessica: Very intelligently made Hindi movie, rare, but does not stick to real life events.

Creative Non Fiction Workshop Exercise 3: A Life Changing Incident

2010-06-30T01:28:00.000-07:00

Written from two different perspectives. The Incident, is, as you will find out, moving away from home into the hostel.

Me:

I wish they'd just go... I thought to myself.

It was 8pm in the night and I was completely exhausted. Standing in the office of the hostel, feeling a little lost, I just wanted to sleep. My parents, on the other hand, were having an animated discussion with the hostel warden, insisting on getting the tiniest of doubts clarified. I looked here and there, trying to get a feel of my 'home' for the next two years. Some of the hostel girls came in, took one look at me and started sniggering amongst themselves. I looked at them indifferently, hoping that one of them wouldn't be my roommate. I was jolted out of my reverie by the warden asking, "New Wing Room ? Wo to bahut kam hai... do you know someone who's already there ?"

"Yes!", I blurted out, a little too fast, proffering the name of a senior from the department. "Room No. 77!", she anounced pompously, putting an end to any further debate.

I rolled out my bag and came out of the office, followed by my parents. We stood wkwardly in the hallway for a few moments, not knowing what to say. The advice, the instructions all seemed to have dried up. "I guess, I'll go up now... I'll see you tomorrow...", I muttered.

I could see tears weling up in my mom's eyes. "Mom...", I protested. "You're here tomorrow... save these for tomorrow, when you leave...", I said, pulling her into a hug.

Finally, letting go, she said, "I know.. I know.. I'll see you tomorrow then... Goodnight, take care..."

And just like that, they were gone, leaving me in a building full of girls with no place to call as my own--except Room No. 77.

Manishaben - The Hostel Warden

Manishaben looked up blearily from the paperwork to look at the tired and distraught faces of two parents. She looked over behind them at the girl standing behind them. Dressed tomboyishly, you could make out a mile away that she didn't belong here.

"Humph", she thought to herself. "These Pune-Mumbai girls are all the same. Parents over-worried, daughters in their own sweet world..."

She pushed her glasses firmly up her nose nad turned to field a barrage of questions from the parents. "Nahin, garam paani nahin milta... only in winter. Deadline is 10pm; attendance is taken every night... temporary room right now, room final only after fee payment. "

It's all the same, she thought to herself, she thought to herself. Whether they come from big cities, or the smallest villages... despite the notices on the boards, despite the brochures, despite the instruction sheets, they ask the same questions again. Over and over and over.

She sighed deeply on being requested a New Wing room. "New Wing ? Everyone wants New Wing... Where am I going to get New Wing Rooms from ? What can I do if there are so few... and the University refuses to improve the old ones ?", she muttered to herself. Out loud she said, "New Wing Room ? Wo to bahut kam hai... do you know someone who's already there ?"

Looking through the pages for the name told to her, and finally finding it, she announced, "Room No. 77" and thought, 'Lucky girl... to get one of the last good rooms...' Watching them walk out, her thoughts to herself, ' One girl comes in, another goes out... but where am I ? Stuck here... as always..."

Creative Non Fiction Workshop Exercise 2: Travelogue

2010-06-25T12:56:00.000-07:00

Imagine this. It's 2am in the night and you're climbing steps. Step after step after step. It's a chilly winter night and all you can think of is your warm bed with the patchwork quilt. Yet, your legs seem to be working autopilot without respite.

They are the steps of Pavagadh--a hill shrine about 50 km away from Vadodara, Gujarat. Pavagadh gets its name from its unusual location--it rises suddenly out of the otherwise flat land surrounding it. The local legends make full use of this apparent anomaly by claiming that it is a broken part of the mythical Dronagiri mountain which Lord Hanuman carried all the way to Lanka. Its not all a myth though. The discovery that Pavagadh is home to a few non-native herbs, otherwise found only in the Himalayas has not only lent credibility to this legend, but also bolstered its status as a holy mountain in the minds of the faithful.

A popular trekking destination apart from being a pilgrimage center, it is THE place, if you want to go for a night trek. From stories of tiger spottings to near death incidents to getting lost in the forest and fearful "I-think-I see-someone-there" experiences, everyone has their own version of the Pavagadh trek. What gives it this whole "aura" of menace and excitement though, is the climb at night. The wind rustles leaves of the trees as you climb, the undergrowth crackles with every step. Its a harrowing task for your eyes as you try to adjust from a world of light to one of complete darkness. Guided by the hazy light of torchlights and the ever present moonlight, you walk gingerly through the forest, your eyes busy trying to find the easiest way through the rocks, your ears alert to every sound coming from your side. More often than not, you feel there is someone walking beside you. You walk, "he" walks. You stop "he stops". You're eyes widen at the thought that slowly creeping in your mind. You stop your climb, your ears alert to the smallest sound. Still petrified, you shine your flashlight "out there" but there's no one... just the forest; as it always has been.

Coming out of the forest is where the steps start. It's a relief initially--at least you're not walking half scared anymore! But then the boredom takes over... the steps go around the mountain face and the higher you climb, the steeper they get. The sides of the step are dotted with little shops selling flowers, coconuts and other offerings to the Gods--most of them already setting up shop by early dawn. If you're lucky to have climbed on a non-festival day, you'll get to enjoy the solitude and the beauty of the place...otherwise it just becomes like any other holy shrine--noisy and crowded.

The beauty of Pavagadh though, is not in the climb. It is in seeing the sun rise over the mountain. Sitting at a vantage point on the cliff face of the mountain, a 1000ft drop behind you, you see the sky start to lighten and a faint chanting. You can't help but feel the divinity of the moment. The earth and heavens both awakening, in one moment, together. The sun rises up high now, clearing the mists and leaving you with a trace of the sublime...

Creative Non Fiction Workshop Exercise 1: The First Time

2010-06-25T12:23:00.000-07:00

"So, will you play? The show starts in an hour", came Chirag's voice down the phone.

It was 7:30pm and I was still in the lab, having worked for 5 hours straight running an experiment. I paused, feeling incredulous at what he was asking me to do.

"Well, will you play ?", he asked again.

He was asking me whether I'd play the harmonica, an instrument I'd only just started to learn, in a rock show, in front of 200 people! Now although I play other instrument; and I have played in public before; but to play in a rock show ? Without even a bit of rehearsal ? Never!

Everything after that phone call seems like a blur now. The disbelief and the near-hysteric cackle after I agreed... Grabbing my bag and rushing out... The few rushed rehearsals... The bright glare of the lights... The leaden feeling in my legs... My hands trembling as I started playing... The screaming crowd fading into oblivion and the music taking centrestage... The relief when it was over... and finally the joy of being place second...

Looking back, I still don't know what made me say yes. Maybe it was the chance to escape from the cage of routine that life had become. Maybe it was the chance to do something completely on a whim. Or maybe it was just the chance to challenge myself.

But that momentary insanity of saying yes, led to an out of the world experience. Away from the deliberate, calculated, planned way in which I always lived. And for that, I shall be always be grateful to that phone call.

Pavagadh Memories…

2010-05-30T11:58:00.000-07:00

The legend goes that Pavagadh is a broken part of the mythical Dronagiri mountain that Lord Hanuman transported from somewhere in the Himalayas to down south in Sri Lanka. No wonder then that there is an inherent magic and mystic to this place.

For the two years that Vadodara was my home, Pavagadh trips were always something we looked forward to—and something that has provided an eternal source of some of the most amazing memories. Every trip to Pavagadh provides something new.. and no matter how many times you complete the trek, no two trips are ever quite the same.

Every trip has a rough timeline which goes something like this. The word is spread around since the morning that a trip is on the cards and a rough assessment of how many people are up for it is done. Despite this “early” planning, there always are last minute dropouts, last minute entries into the plan, and some people who inevitably miss out on it, since, well, the word just didn’t get round to them! After the people are collected.. its time to pack… but definitely not before 9:30pm (when, in fact you are supposed to leave the hostel at 9:45pm). Packing, is and always is, a big rush. The torch that is always there on your table goes missing. You run to 5 other rooms before finding a torch that works. Hurriedly stuffing your sweaters and shawls inside your bag, you run out of your room. Just as you run out, you realize you’ve forgotten to take a bottle of water (and fill your OS). Rush in again, get the bottle, fill the OS, and you’re out again.

That’s when ‘The Wait’ begins. ‘The Wait’ is not for the bus or a means of transportation, but for the boys to arrive at the girl’s hostel gate. If they have said 10:15pm, no way will they come before 10:45 pm. That too, the early stragglers will come by 10:45pm. Before Dwight comes, and before you can set off for the bus stand, it is already 11:15pm and you have spent about the last hour cursing boys and how they take much more time to get ready than girls and how this happens each and every time. Once on the bus stand though, things go much more smoothly. All you have to do, is cram on to a bus that goes through Halol, get off at Halol, catch a six-seater to Pavagadh and start the nightly trek. Simple, eh ? The point is though, that by the time you reach Halol it is at least 12:30 in the night, friggin’ cold (most of the times), and you’re usually groggy as hell. Then you have to clamber on to a six-seater, and literally hand over your lives to the drivers… who are the true ‘Khatron ke Khiladi’ in my opinion. Because not only is the road from Halol to Pavagadh completely unlit, there are usually very few vehicles on the road in the dead of the night. That is not the worst part though. The worst part is that all of the drivers (and some of the people with you) seem to suffer from some kind of ‘Invincibility’ complex and are continually pushing (what you think) are the limits of survival. This includes the said people driving like Michael Schumacher—at speeds almost equal to the wind, handing over the steering to passengers sitting next to the driver (while he, himself enjoys a bite), and your said ‘Invincible’ passengers standing out on the back step of the six-seater throughout the journey.

After, (what is usually), a very hairy hair-raising ride, you land up at Pavagadh. Most times you promise yourself that in the morning you will visit Champaner (whose walls you see right next to you).. sadly enough the promise is almost never kept. After a quick tea and an even quicker pee, you FINALLY set off. Setting off is a bit unsettling at first, especially until you get used to the other darkness. And initially, if you are the one walking ahead of the group, even though you may have been here twice or thrice already, it still freaks you out somewhat. Climbing through forest and darkness and crossing the road, you get to Maachi quite safely (and usually without incident). You are apt to have a few spooky experiences though.. especially if there are only a few people, and if you’ve been a fool and decided to head out on a new moon night. Once, when we were out there in the wild, someone had the brains to turn of the torches. And maaan.. what darkness.. you could actually see nothing! Even if you had raised your hand in front of your face you would not have been able to make it out.

And then in such a place when all is dark, naturally your ears are the sole source of information.. and then you start hearing things… a slight rustling in the woods next to path where you are walking… you stop and put your torch their… there’s no one there… but the sound has also stopped… you walk on ahead convincing yourself it was just a figment of your imagination… but again the same sound… this time you freak… and without thinking twice about it, you just grab the hand of whoever you’re walking with and make a run for it! Better to be safe and away than alone facing the demons in your brain…

Eventually you arrive at Maachi. Maachi is small village at the base of Pavagadh, and from where the real test of patience and stamina starts. For it is from Maachi that the stairs begin… and they really suck the life out of you. There’s nothing to it… you just have to climb an endless and seemingly infinite number of stairs. Initially they are quite easy and not very high or steep… but as you go higher up the mountain, and as it gets colder and colder, the stairs also get steeper and all you can think of is, when the hell are these stairs going to end ?!?! Eventually, though, the stairs end and you finally come on to the top. The stairs are usually quite tiring, but they are worse if you are unlucky enough for your trip to fall on a festival eve. Then the crowds completely throng the stairs and make walking even harder, because they go at an even slower pace. Whats worse, that parts of the stairs are not at all well lit; and often you crash into a small child who you didn’t see…%$#@%!!

Once at the top, the best thing to do is take a breather, and take my word for this: Chuck the temple. Don’t even think of visiting it. Because anyways it opens at 5:30 and it is usually around 3:30-4 by the time you reach up there and trust me, the temple is not worth visiting. Not worth the pushing and jostling and the extreme crowds you have to go through. Sure, maybe, if it’s your one and only visit to Pavagadh, then you can give it a shot.. but otherwise, the best thing to when you get to the top is go and sit on the cliff face by ‘the Path’ and enjoy the solitude and satisfaction of knowing that you will be the only fools to sit there and brave the friggin’ wind and cold.

There’s something magical about that place that keeps drawing you there every time you visit Pavagadh. For one, it is not at all frequented by the pilgrims, and is therefore completely crowd-free. Second, even though people do come there, (as can be seen by the grafitti on the walls of the stone structures), my guess is that they do so mostly in the day, when the way can be clearly seen; unlike us fools who prefer to visit the place in the darkness and be off when the sun is up. Thirdly, no matter what season you come, it is SO windy up there… that even if it is summer, you are bound to feel cold. And if it is winter, God help you then. That same time when we had the brains to go on a New Moon day, it was the middle of winter… and it was so damn cold out there—especially with the wind howling... despite 2 layers of t-shirts, one jacket, and a shawl, we were shivering and chattering so much!! That is definitely the coldest I’ve ever experienced … ever! Fourthly, sitting up there, is literally experiencing the cliché ‘living life on the edge’…since you literally sit at the edge of the mountain, with perhaps a 100ft fall just 2 ft from you. And lastly, you’ve done all the above at night! When it’s cold, its dark, its scary… it just adds to the overall thrill of the trip!

A few hours spent there, in the company of your friends is one those memories that last for life and always bring a glow on your face when you think of it again. Though, then and there at that place, all you can think of is SLEEP… beautiful, inviting, gorgeous sleep! All too often, you fall asleep then and there… if you manage to find a decent “comfortable” position among the rocks and the gravel, and not too close to the edge too! It’s my experience though that the tiredness and the sleep-inducing effect of the wind and the cold soon sets in, and you are knocked out before you even realize it. One moment you are talking to someone and then in the brief silence that sometimes follows, you are out. You wake up then maybe some 15-20 minutes later, rudely jolted out of sleep by the extreme cold and wind…

You HAVE to seek the solace of the old stone structures now. The first time that we visited the place, I got so freaked by it… that too some #$%^&@ friend of mine insisted on telling horror stories that might be connected with the place. Truly, the first time you visit it, you are bound to get shit scared. Not because it maybe unsafe or anything, but because of the uncertainty and of the unknown and of the big, bad terror in the dark of the night. Your own mind… no matter how much you try, it wavers, it almost walks on the edge of panic and curiosity… but once you’re past the initial fear of the unknown, those stone halls also seem welcoming to you… like shade in the sun, so also, shelter from the wind!

The sun rises and you get up groggily, thinking it’s been an amazing trip so far. But immediately the next thought is, better get down before the sun is completely up and the crowds increase and it becomes irritating to climb back down. The descent is so much more faster and easier… you can actually decrease the time even more if you race with friends to see who gets down the fastest… There is the ropeway though, for people who don’t want to use their own two feet!! Once back to Maachi, a quick drink of water, breakfast if you’re hungry, then its back down by car! Woohoo.. it feels awesome to go back down without expending any energy on your part.. even though you are so cramped, that you can’t even move an inch! Back down to Champaner, the self-promises to visit it are already out of your head, and all you can think of is getting back on the first bus back to Vadodara.

Once in the bus the most desired thing begins: Catching up on sleep. Truly… the sleep that you get in the bus, and later in the hostel (after a fantastically loooong bath and lunch in between) is just out of this world. You collapse on your bed, and without even a second’s delay you are out… and when you wake up… man, you really feel like a different person. Not because you are truly moved or changed or anything by the experience, but simply because you have the complete awareness of each and every muscle in your lower body. And each of them seems to be throbbing dully. :) But the feeling soon passes as you revel in the memory and thought of what the night had been and what an amazing time it was. And without even realizing it, you start to mentally plan for your next trip…

Movie Review - The Red Dragon

2010-05-11T10:54:00.000-07:00

Watched a movie called ‘The Red Dragon’ yesterday. Brilliant movie, it was. Kinda scary. It’s the prequel to Silence of the Lambs, which in my opinion is one of the scariest movies ever. Somehow, ghosts and other supernatural things fail to ‘really’ scare me. But human beings and their disgusting and weird bents of minds somehow scares the shit out of me. Precisely why I find SOTL so scary.. I mean the fact that Dr. Hannibal Lecter can just so cold-blooded finish a human being and enjoy eating him as a meal.. it’s just so creepy!

The Red Dragon traces how Dr. Hannibal Lecter ended up behind the plastic door cage which we find him in SOTL in the first place. Will Graham (Edward Norton) is the ‘thinking’ FBI agent on the case of a serial killer. Dr. Lecter (the one and only Anthony Hopkins) is the psychiatrist helping him on the case—to build a profile of the killer. Only problem ? Dr. Lecter is the serial killer that Will is looking for—something he realizes almost too late. Lecter discovers that Will has found about the truth about him and attacks him with a knife stabbing him in the stomach, Will manages to escape by shooting Lecter. What so unusual and disgusting about him Lecter ? He had excised all the body parts which were soft—and amenable to eating..

Eventually Lecter is indicted, and ends up in jail for the rest of his life, Will takes early retirement and lives a quiet life in Florida. His idyllic existence is jolted by another series of killings when the FBI recalls him back, to see if he can get a sense of the ‘thinking’ of the killer. Won’t bore you all with details of how he does it, but the killer is indeed a very gruesome person, with an altogether twisted logic and thinking. Perverse. Ralf Fiennes, who plays the role is marvelous. Very scary.

It just scares me how the human mind can possibly be twisted and develop its own brand of logic which to that individual person seems completely rational, yet to the entire is world, is obviously very irrational. Hell, even Lecter, apart from the cannibalistic tendencies is a true gentlemen, enjoying fine dining and classical music. How can one part of your life be so completely ‘normal’ and the other so completely contorted ? Amazing though. The gruesomeness of it all, and the fact there is a remote possibility that this might actually happen somewhere is what scares the shit out me, something that ghosts and hags and banshees never do—because at the back of your head, you know, it is not true. Brilliant acting by all the main characters gives this movie a really good feel. Watch it.

Weird Science—Anyone wants to know how to make the ticks on your dog become fatter ?

2009-10-30T01:18:00.000-07:00

Apparently the authors of this paper think so. The paper is like any other research article, in which one goes from a level of “high uncertainty” to a much “lower uncertainty” as one goes on ruling out the possibilities that may be causing whatever phenomena.

The authors identify a common molecule—glutathione (just a fancy name, all you need to remember is that it is something playing an accessory role in redox reactions) which acts as a feeding stimulant. So how do you go about proving this ? Rather obvious, actually.

Step 1. Take a tick.
Step 2. Make a solution which mimics blood with respect to the concentration of salts in it.
Step 3. Add the appropriate concentration of glutathione. (Again similar to the concentration present in blood)
Step 4. Observe whether the ticks drink the solution. Quantify.

Easy peasy, right? Sure! But..imagine you are the post-doc or PhD student working on this project, and your mom (who will probably be harbouring dreams of the big hot-shot scientist that her kid is going to turn out to be) calls you from home and asks you what you are up to. And you answer, “Well, mom, currently, I’m putting ticks into this one solution, and then checking whether they want to drink or not” (!!)

A sure thing to make your anyone question your soundness of mind!

What is the purpose of science like this, I wonder… who, apart from ticks, I suppose, would want to know what acts as a feeding stimulant in ticks, of all the insects ??!! No tick marks for this kinda science, I think!

"Instead of encouraging conformity, society should show greater appreciation of individual differences."

2009-06-12T09:45:00.000-07:00

As a biologist, one of the first things you come to appreciate is the variety of life forms that one sees around us in the world. It is because of so many differences in natural forms—be they insects, plants, animals or even invisible microbes—no two are ever alike. Even two identical twins are never exact copies of each other—their fingerprints differ! In the face of such damning evidence of the difference between individuals, I strongly support the title of the essay. Sadly though, I think we, as individuals often never do justice to the thought.

One of the strongest reasons why I think that individual differences should be encouraged and appreciated comes from my understanding of the theory of evolution. It has been often said that variations are the fodder of evolution. It is because there is variation between the characteristics of different species and even between individuals that only those best suited to a particular environment or habitat are favoured over those that are not. It is also because you have variation across a species of organisms, that each one gets adapated and thrives in its own niche habitat. Eventually, each one of the organisms in a habitat becomes dependent on another, so that the unique characteristics of each enable them to specialize and fulfill their roles in the ecosystem.

In addition, it is only because there are variations between organisms, that natural selection has been able to act on them, and life has managed to evolve into as we know it today. If not for nothing else, at least for this, we have to appreciate and be grateful for the diversity and differences between individuals.

The other reason why conformity is harmful is that it eventually negates or stifles the uniqueness of each individual. If we were all to conform to a standard of thought, behaviour and speech, what would be the difference between you and me ? It is because each one of us is different that the life is such an enriching experience. If every morning instead of meeting someone new and different, You were to meet someone exactly like you, it would be very dull and boring indeed. Each one of us is born different, unique, and it is important that this uniqueness should be cherished and encouraged rather than be stifled.

Even if you set out to, you cannot breed Newtons and Einsteins. One of them might well be a Picasso. How can you possibly resolve the two? Rather, it will be a more enriching experience to let a Picasso discover his true talent in art and develop it fully. The feelings and emotions that such art evokes is not unlike the feeling and experience of understanding and discovering a scientific phenomenon. The difference is merely in manner of expression and the medium these people choose to express themselves. But if you force a Picasso to study science and leave art, just to conform to the standard, he will never be able express what he can wielding a brush on a canvass.

Another situation where I can think of where the situation applies is in the conservation of languages. In today’s modern and age, English has become the common language the world over. To a certain extent, the establishment of a languages as such itself requires that more and more people conform to this new standard. India, which has over 22 official regional languages, is the veritable treasure trove of diversity in terms of languages. Each state has its own language, each language has its own dialects. Many a times, there are some languages, spoken by a mere handful of people. In such a situation, encouraging conformity, or promoting the learning of the English language can cause a suppression of these languages and often their death as well.

In encouraging such conformity, be it to facilitate communication, exchange of knowledge, we fail to realize that we are losing out on so much of the ancient knowledge and wisdom locked within these languages. Each language breeds authors, storytellers, playwrights—which are the true custodians of the ethos of a people. Only they can give expression in the written and spoken form to a people’s way of thinking, living, and can carry forward the tradition and heritage of the land. In such a situation, in order to not lose out on this and conserve the language, it is very important to encourage diversity and not conformity.

In the end, what we have to realize is that each situation, each place, each person has something unique—be it a talent, a strength or an ability. And in order for that thing to achieve its full potential, one has to let it be—give it the freedom and encouragement to develop and discover itself. Only then can it achieve so. Trying to mold it to a set die, will just mar its uniqueness and make it into something of the commonplace.

It is dangerous to trust only intelligence.

2009-06-06T08:22:00.000-07:00

We, as members of the species Homo sapiens, pride ourselves as having the most well-developed brains and thinking abilities. Quite naturally therefore, intelligence is coveted in society, and we admire and respect people of great intelligence. It is however, misguided to trust mere intelligence alone.

Man is a social animal. And therefore, in order to live in a civilized manner in society, there are rules in place, for the overall welfare and protection of all the members in society. Intelligence is certainly an asset—so long as it is not used for harming others or for personal gain at the cost of others. Intelligence can be used both ways—it can be used for the good of people, or it can be used in a highly destructive ways if it used only for achieving your own personal goals at whatever cost there may be. Intelligence coupled with a highly competitive and ambitious nature can be a very potent mixture. To give a figurative example, I would like to quote an example from the popular ‘Harry Potter’ series : Both Harry and Tom Riddle were naturally talented with sufficient intelligence and intrepidness. Yet one of them chose to use those talents to fuel and fulfill his own desires whereas the other used his to save others. That’s where all the difference lies. You may be the most brilliant man on earth, for all it matters. But how you use your intelligence is the only thing that ultimately counts.

Secondly, at a workplace, when you may be looking for potential employees, intelligence is not the only personality trait that matters for the highest productivity. What matters also is your honesty and integrity to your work. What is the use of hiring the most intelligent candidate, only for him to turn out to be a dishonest cheat embezzling away money ? These are qualities that are especially very important in the defence services where keeping secrets and being dedicated and loyal to your country is of prime import. More importantly, it has been my observation, that often some of the most intelligent people are not as hard working as those not equally blessed with their intelligence. It is likely that an exaggerated confidence in their abilities makes them to be less so—it may be justified too—but it is just as likely that it is not. That belief may equally ill be ill founded, and in such situations, a more hard working and perseverant candidate may often be the better choice. It would be any day better to have a less intelligent but more hard working person on the job who would continue chipping away at a problem to finish by the deadline rather than having a man of brains who rush about at the eleventh hour and not meet the deadline.

Lastly, intelligence is not something that can be measured. Sure, there are IQ tests. But is it wise to trust merely IQ tests? In rural India, I have come across several people—with no formal education to boast of, who have never even heard of IQ tests—who have often come up startling inventions which many so called ‘brilliant’ people may never even think of. These are people who would never ever be labeled intelligent, yet they are also true geniuses in their own right. Their creativity and ingenuity is not something that is a learned activity, it is something that has been achieved with perseverance, hard work and an astute observation of the mundane things in life. More importantly, intelligence can be measured at several levels. For example, some people have other brilliant analytical and reasoning and abilities, but if you give them a block of clay, they would just sit there dumbstruck. Whereas, there are other people with extremely creative minds who could visualize a hundred different things that could be created out of that same clay block.

In conclusion, I would say that Intelligence by itself is not the defining character of a personality. It is more important to take into consideration the person’s character as a whole and not give an undue importance to mere intelligence. Ultimately, in life, what matters more is how you interact with other people, how you deal with the lows as well as highs in life and whether you retain your honesty and integrity as an individual. And these are things which simply cannot be measured by one’s mere intelligence alone.

science

2009-05-01T04:40:00.000-07:00

Currently reading this very interesting book by Kary Mullis : "Surfing Naked in the Mind Field" and there is this very interesting para in it :

"When you get the hang of it, science, like everything else people do for a living is pretty straightforward. You are in the business of solving puzzles. The way to approach a puzzle is to think about it for a while, look at all the facts you can find out about it and then take a guess. Propose a solution. The next step is to try your best to disprove your solution. Show that the pieces don't fit together in the way that you have proposed. If you can do that, then propose another solution. And then do the same thing. Reality is a tricky little puzzle. Sometimes a few pieces will fit together but do not really belong together. Some solutions will seem to be right for a time, but then they fail. The one that accounts for all the relevant facts and cannot be disproven--all the pieces fit together without squeezing them too hard, and new pieces fit together on top of them--is probably right. It's as close as your ability to know the initial facts. You can claim that your solution is tentatively true awaiting further study. Or look at the picture on the box. "

so aptly put.

The Golden Gate : A review

2009-04-06T10:57:00.000-07:00

as i started to write this post,
one thing i may try, i thought,
write a doggerel about the book
(thought it may be crap, not worth a look).

the thought that someone has written a tome
entirely in verse, and not in prose,
may seem like madness, horrible to read,
but thats the brilliance of mr. seth's deed.

it may seem abstruse, even weird at times,
to try and read stanzas, and follow a story line.
but once you start reading, your mind will catch
the flow of words, which the onegin sonnets match.

the words he uses, (are at times) interesting
(to say the least); but many times may be figured
by only a GREite. But let that not stop you,
from opening this book, and perhaps even buying it too!

for he does paint picture with apposite words,
and you CAN see the scene with your own eyes.
the themes in the story will certainly ring a bell,
of love (lost, found and lost again) making life hell.

of life and how we deal with, isolated in boxes,
bitter and lonely; or calm, peaceful, just letting things go..
of growing old, growing apart, and all the baggage
that each one accumulates, inevitable as we age.

i think i'll stop my rambling now; let you find the rest,
(else the plot entire might be leaked)
so go and try to read this book, of a disparate style
strain your mind a bit, its worth the extra mile.

Kadhi Kadhi Asa Watta

2009-03-27T05:47:00.000-07:00

Kadhi Kadhi asa watta…

Uncha eka building warun jhokun dyava swatahla
Panyasanga wahat java door eka kathala
Padnarya panasarkha galun java matila ?
Ki samudrachya latansarkha dhadkun java khadkala ?
Warychachya jhotasange milun java dhagala,
Ki tyach lahrivar bhidawa agdi gaganala ?

Kadhi Kadhi asa watta…

Mala je watle asa watle te kadhi watlech nahi
Tu je sangitles te me kadhich neat aikle nahi..
Bhovticha wistar ha asa agdi angavar yeu pahi
Mani ekach thikan asunahi khunavu pahi disha dahi
Manchya hya pranyala kadhi kahich bhan urat nahi
Manchyach khelat man swatahla tatpurte ramvu pahi…

Kadhi Kadhi asa watta..

Me mhanje ahe kon, nustech ek doke, haat ani pay ?
Tu tari ahes kon, fakta ek hello ani goodbye ?
Aayushya mhanje bharlya glassmadhla kami honara chai,
Ka karanjyatle utsfurta pani, mahit ahe kay ?
Futkal goshtincha wichar karayla konachya bapacha jatay kay?
Manachya hya khol bhuyaryat nakki ajun dadlay tari kay ?

Kadhi Kadhi asa watta…

Creativity and Imagination (contd.)

2009-03-16T02:39:00.001-07:00

Well, I havn't really thought much, but just thought about posting a link to this paper that a friend of mine gave me a few weeks back. Quite pertinent to the topic at hand.. and I quite agree with it! :)
URL : http://sites.google.com/site/pittyaa/Home/Akinola.pdf?attredirects=0

Creativity and Imagination

2009-03-14T05:46:00.000-07:00

I have begun to notice, or in the past few days after much introspection and deliberation, I have noticed that there are two different kinds of (extremely talented--?) people.

There is one category which is totally creative, imaginative, whose minds work faster than you can think and will often leave you with a question in your minds--"Wow, that is so simple, and yet so cool... why didn't I think of it ??"

Then there is the other, which is more methodical, deliberate, calculative and analytical. (This classification is by no means mutually exclusive by the way. I'm sure each of us has both of the above traits and slightly more or less amounts). These guys are very good workers.. in the sense give them a problem which they find absorbing, and you'll find them chipping away at it, bit by bit, till they get to the answer.

I'd always thought that I belonged to (or had, in a greater proportion, the qualities of) the first group of people. But more and more these days, I realize that I belong to the the second. That set me thinking.. are such kind of people made or are they just born that way ?

Sure, I can grant that some people are born intelligent.. no one takes that credit away from them. But can creativity be fostered ? Could I have become more creative rather than the chip-one-brick-off-at-a-time person that I am ? What does it take to to keep thinking out of the box and not get confined within the boundaries of a picket fence ?

I remember my Undergraduate HOD telling us on our very first day in college, "I like to teach only the first years. Thats because they still have that openness of mind, and wonder about life in their minds. You can easily catch their expressions and seem them laugh openly, be amazed at something they didn't know during the course of a lecture. Yet, when they get to their third yesr, or by the time to graduate, they become more and more inscrutable. " Is that becoming inscrutable just due to a big stifling of creativity ?

I certainly think so at times. Most of us (including some of the smartest people I know here) still struggle to come up with an original idea or write about something innovative and usual on which they would like to work on. How come ? Do you get so used to looking at life with a narrow perspective that you forget to stop and marvel at whatever little unusual thing you would have noticed otherwise ? Then you just tend to dismiss it as one of the little quirks of life and turn a blind eye to it..

(will be continued later after further thinking)

Revisiting writing...

2009-02-17T01:07:00.000-08:00

So why have I not written in, like almost an age ? Excuses, excuses for the most part.. so I will not get into that and just write from now on.. thats actually maybe a good thing.. so that from now henceforth I will (or at least try to) just write when I feel like it without bothering about making up stuff beforehand and then sitting down and trying to get it all down..

Currently : no thoughts. Maybe its because there's like a load of free time like there never has been here before. In the sense, for so long, it was all almost on autopilot. Now in a long time, there is time where you can stop and smell the roses. But sometimes I wonder if its better when things are like that... on autopilot.. when you don't have to think what you have to do next.. sure, you miss out on certain stuff that you want to do and can't do otherwise.. (and may end up whining and giving idiotic worthless excuses).. but you are often at your most productive that way..

Just random thoughts to to start off (what hopefully should be) a more frequent series of blogs.. :)

Rock On : Music Review

2008-09-03T08:54:00.000-07:00

Saw rock on a few days back. The movie is not very good.. very predictable; almost boring to an extent, with no funny lines to cheer you up. A bad hash of Jhankaar Beats perhaps. (Tho the story line is slightly different and the entire way it is projected is different). Arjun Rampal is very good, and looks HOTT with long hair.. :D Farhaan is also pretty good.

But the best part about the movie is the music. After Jaane Tu... this year we finally have another good hindi song album. The movie starts with 'Socha Hai' a nice rock song, with simple lyrics and a great feel. To be honest I did not like this song at all when I heard it frist but now that I've heard it some more, I think I quite like it. Then there is the title song 'Rock On' which is an excellent song. Farhan Akhtar does a decent job on the song despite not being a professional crooner. Its not that he's very good, but he's not too bad either.. so its okay.

The next 'Pichle Saat Dino Mein' is an awesome song. Just listen to the song for its lyrics. I'm sure you'll burst out laughing .. (at least I did! :D ) There are also 3 soft ballads in the movie : 'Tumhari Meri Baatein' , 'Tum ho To' (sounded much better in the movie in Arjun Rampal's voice rather than Farhaan Akhtar's) and 'Phir Dekhiye' (which is almost not there in the movie, being played towards the movie) which is an excellent excellent song to just listen to peacefully at night when all is dark and you are standing or sitting in you terrace looking at the sky...

There's also another song called 'Sindbad the Sailor' which I heard for the first time in the movie, but I've become an instant fan of the movie. Its an excellent song with some great guitar at the end. (which Arjun Rampal looks great playing :D)

So thats that .. overall an excellent album once again frm SEL. Great Going as always!

p.s : this post is especially for rankedu for waking me out of my blog-slumber!

The magic of the written word

2008-07-09T23:03:00.000-07:00

I was actually inspired my San's post to write this one.. Why do I write ?

I don't even remember when I began to love to write.. It was never something that was publicly stated in my 'hobbies'. It's something that developed gradually..maybe after I started keeping a journal regularly.. Or maybe it flourished during the times spent trying to write poems in different forms.. the Villanelle, the Sonnet, the Haiku, the Limerick (one I never quite managed)..I never realized when all of them stopped being just things to be studied in English Textbooks but became ways of expression.. It was then that I realized that the English they teach you in school is utter crap!

Yes, they do a good job of teaching you how to read. Yes, they do a good job of teaching you to appreciate good writing. Yes, they do a fairly good job of exposing you to different kinds of writing. But what about expressing ? I think that's where they complete lose it.

A language thrives when fertile minds find words to express themselves. And that is exactly what is lacking. I agree that you can never teach someone to express things.. but its is definitely possible to challenge someone with the task of writing. And that's something that I realize I truly missed in my school days. Sure, we wrote essays, compositions, letters and newspaper reports. But where was the relevance to actual writing ? There were never any challenging ideas thrown at us. Never any poetry writing involved. All of it was in a perfect mold, never to be broken. And everything so pathetically exam oriented. I mean, I still remember there used to be (or probably still are) Essay digests published by companies like Navneet with 'model' essays in them. I even had friends who used to mug 'the-most-likely-to-be-asked' essays for exams. For that matter, even I had practiced writing a particular essay that was likely to be asked at least 5-6 times.

But when you get stuck in this limited range of topics, your creativity flounders like anything. You never think out of the box. And writing is all about exploring, and exploiting different thoughts, moods, experiences, fantasies.. Something that I never learnt as a child. It was only gradually that all of this came to me. And though I've always enjoyed reading, I had always been in awe of writers and their works, and simply the fact that they could conjure up entire worlds entirely out of their flights of fancy. Something that seemed completely impossible for me.

Then, over the past couple of years, as I gradually took to writing, a curious thing happened. I could begin to see, or at least try and see vivid images of things I could write about. Things which would be worth writing about.. I wont say that I am very good at it, but just the fact that I could conjure up my own little world through a small story, or whatever it be, was amazing to me. Unreal even. And something like this changes you in way like never before. Makes you aware of things about yourself you never even knew. It also opens up new avenues for you.. makes you aware of hidden talents, and untapped opportunities.. whisking you away to flights of imagination way way beyond mundane life.. all of this, sitting in a comfortable chair, at a table, with a pen in hand. What could be more powerful ??

Hidden Geniuses

2008-07-05T12:58:00.001-07:00

Just a few days back had gone to the jewelers, to get a necklace made. Now the person who makes this necklace seems like an ordinary guy. If you spotted him on the train station, or at a shop buying stuff, you would pass him by without even a glance at him. But give him a few beads, a pendant a length of thread and watch him go at it. You would just be entranced by the deftness of his fingers and the dexterity with which he fashions a beautiful necklace out of only a few beads.

Then there is the tailor, or the darzi as he may be better known. I have often thought that tailors are some of the most creative people around. I have no idea of what education the average tailor in a shop has, but I'm willing to bet he has never been to any NIFT. And yet these guys churn out, dress after dress, each unique, moulded to the customers requirements and with their own little dash of creativity thrown in.

Then there was one of the labourers who had been engaged to paint the house a few yers back. It was only after the entire house had been painted, did we discover that the man was an excellent sketcher and he had chosen to exhibit some of his work on one of the few unpainted walls in the house.

I've still kept the sketch as it was. Who cares if it looks a little out of place on the green wall ? Everytime I look at it, it reminds of the hidden genius we all have within us...

A month old rambling..

2008-06-15T12:36:00.000-07:00

One month exact since I last blogged. Oh well, so much has happened since then. Well, not so much per se, but then it does seem like a long way off in time. Things like this always remind me of the 'relativity' theory. As in, there are certain things in your life even though they may happened like wayy wayy back, still seem fresh as yesterday. Whereas something that happened like a month back may seem to be like light years away..

And why is it that we kind of subconsciously always know which things are important and which are not ? Simple example. Getting up early in the mornings. Something which I am utterly incapable of (as all my friends will definitely, unanimously vouch for that one). So here's the deal : I need at least 5 snoozez on my mobile alarm (which is set to full volume) to wake me up(which eventually turns out to be at least an hour past my wake-up time). On the other hand, on exam days, I spring up like an automaton out of bed, dot on time and often without an alarm, with much lesser sleep than on regular days. I mean what is it ??

And no matter how much I try, how much I psyche myself up before I sleep by saying "You have to get up tomorrow. Your friends are gonna be waiting for you for the movie. They'll screw you if you turn up late!!" or "You have to get up early tomorrow. You have MedMicro at 9. And you definitely cant bunk or be late cos you have a pathetic attendance record already!" I just cant do it! Maybe its a simple issue of 'wanting' to do something and 'having to do something'. But then, I do really want to get up early even when I don't have to get up early (like on exam days)..oh well..its getting much too confusing even for me. :D

Maybe if I googled it, I might get some handy hints..ah..here we go :
Hit No. 1 : How to become an early riser
Somehow, most of it seems like bullshit to me. I mean, an entire article telling people 'how to sleep', 'how to get up in the mornings', 'why early-to-bed-early-to-rise' makes sense..
Somehow, I've never been a follower or a fan of all of this Benjamin Franklin crap. (Nothing against Mr. Franklin personally tho) Me, and more than half of my friends are definitely what you would call as nocturnal beings. And so far none of us have had any major problems. In fact a majority of us feel that night times are often our most productive times in terms of getting work done.

I have this other weird theory of getting up on time or early. Somehow, when you have a lot of work pending or are pushed for time and have a lot of things to accomplish, you naturally tend to get up on time, get less sleep (but still don't see the grumpy side effects) and you definitely feel much more satisfied that you achieved so much. And there are the off days when you hardly get any work done, and all you want to do is just laze around, and only if there's nothing else to do would you care to get some work done.

Maybe the off days are a by-product of working incredibly hard for a short period. So then is sustained effort the answer to avoiding the off-days ? Or is it better to work in short stretches of intense effort to achieve something and relax later ? Maybe different goals require different things..maybe its all relative..!

Short Forms, Short Cuts

2008-05-15T04:06:00.000-07:00

This article set me thinking. Why do we always have this urge to shorten things ? Why can't we just go along the flow and take our own sweet time to enjoy and discover something ?

And its not just names we shorten. We shorten everything. . .we shorten long words while typing out an SMS, we shorten all the stuff we have to learn while studying something by assigning some letter or by creating acronyms, hell, we find (or try to find) shortcuts in literally everything we do in our daily lives. . . be it cooking from a recipe book, going somewhere or following a lab protocol.

Sure, its faster. . .sure, its easier. . .sure, it takes much less effort. . .but I often wonder. . .do we lose out on anything while we snip and chop away things, and more specifically, words? I usually hate it when people write SMSes using something like 2-3 representative letters per word and then you are supposed to decipher the meaning of it. . . I mean Come On!!

Just the other day,while chatting with a friend online. . .she insisted that people should start using the symbol '~' for things like 'Good Night, Sweet Dreams, Take Care, Bye' that you say while signing out.

'~'!?!?! Bull*!@#

For heavens sake, just type a few extra letters!!! I mean if we were to do this to all the words that we frequently use, not only would we have to come up with too many different symbols but the entire written word may have to replaced by something like a Wingdings font. . .

And that certainly wouldn't make for pretty reading!! :-D

Sunday's Song of the Week #4 : Learning to Breathe

2008-05-11T08:45:00.000-07:00

To be honest, Learning to Breath is not really one of my ultimate favourite songs, but it is a great song nonetheless, and the first interesting song that Winamp Shuffle threw out for me. So here goes. The song is by the band Switchfoot (one of my favourite bands) from the album Learning to Breathe. The lyrics go something like this :

Hello, good morning, how ya do?
What makes your rising sun so new?
I could use a fresh beginning too
All of my regrets are nothing new

So this is the way
that I say that I need You
This is the way
This is the way

That I'm learning to breathe
I'm learning to crawl
I'm finding that You and
You alone can break my fall
I'm living again, awake and alive
I'm dying to breathe in these abundant skies

Hello, good morning, how ya been?
Yesterday left my head kicked in
I never thought I could fall like that
Never knew that I could hurt this bad

I'm learning to breathe
I'm learning to crawl
I'm finding that You and
You alone can break my fall
I'm living again, awake and alive
I'm dying to breathe in these abundant skies

So this is the way
that I say that I need You
This is the way
That I say I love You
This is the way
That I say I'm Yours
This is the way
This is the way

Understanding this song is rather difficult the first time you hear it I think. But the major theme of it that strikes me is rebirth, awakening, starting things afresh. What I really like in this song is the wonderful use of guitar and the sort of rhythm generated by it. Just as the song the song starts you get the feel that this song is bound to be good by the opening riffs.

The other thing that I really like in this song, is that it is not too obviously preachy. Of course, if you really listen to the song, you can find a lot of meaning in it, but by using implied meanings and not saying things, directly, especially, 'The Hello, Good Morning' part gives a very distinct feel to the song. Go listen, and maybe you'll be able to understand more than by reading bout it here!

Chasing Dreams..

2008-05-05T10:46:00.000-07:00

This is probably going to be a sequel to the Finding You post. But now that I am graduating this year, chasing dreams, 'the future', various other questions are always on my mind..

Its a strange thing, this thing we call dreams. Actually dreams are pictures that we see when we sleep..and are often the most fantastic, crazy and realistically impossible things. But the way the word has come to be used in the common tongue, it has almost come to signify a wish, a desire, an aspiration, a goal, an aim. All of them with a touch of the impossible.

Its almost as if a goal, an aim, a target is achievable. A dream, is slightly beyond. And that is why chasing and achieving dreams is so important.

When you dream about yourself, when you dream about achieving certain things, you actually define yourself, your limits, your boundaries. You set a measure by which you measure yourself, your own self-worth. Knowing your limits is always important, but going beyond that can do wonders for your self-worth.

Consider this : A small boy, untested, unsure of himself, suddenly discovers that he has a natural talent for, say, Maths. He tests himself within his own limits first, perhaps within his friends. Seeing that he is better than most, he moves beyond those limits and dreams of being the best in school. He knows that its a hard task ahead, probably impossible, but using his brains, and training and testing them continuously, it is, perhaps, just possibly achievable. Now what he achieves in this process is not the fact that he is now the best in his school. But the realization that dreams are achievable. That provided you work hard, anything is possible. That setting slightly impossible tasks takes you to levels of effort you never thought were possible and which ordinarily you would never have believed were possible.

I always feel that the the more you are pressed, the more you are pushed, the more you are loaded with work, the more you achieve. That aside, back to chasing dreams.

If chasing dreams is so important, why is that more often that not, we see many people NOT chasing their dreams ? There's the guy who's brilliant at playing the guitar, but is stuck crunching numbers in some dim lit office. There's the tennis player who gave it all up for a comfortable job in an air conditioned cabin. Why do we so often easily give up on that enigmatic thing called dreams ?

Perhaps because we satisfy ourselves by convincing ourselves that what we have got is already good. Why risk it further ? Perhaps because we get so comfortable within our four walls, within the relative security of knowing what the next day will bring, that we stop testing our own limits, we stop pushing our own boundaries.

Is that good or bad ? Personally, I think that it is possible that such an attitude can lead to stagnation and that eventually you stop dreaming, and aspire for easier things. For things you know you can get; right within your comfort-zone.

Sure chasing dreams has the inherent requirement of taking risks and facing possible failures. But then that is exactly why I find such dreamers extremely admirable. Because not only do they follow their heart, doing what they WANT to do and not what they HAVE to do, but also because they continuously challenge themselves to go beyond the limits and in the process set new benchmarks.

The dreamer within us all is always there, somewhere, deep inside. All we have to do to wake him up is sit calmly, take a deep breath and 'Take the plunge'...

Sunday Song of the Week #3 : Tanha Dil

2008-05-04T03:07:00.000-07:00

Wanted to write this song for a long long time. Its just that this song is so special, and has an incredible great nostalgic feel to it. More so for me this year since most likely I will be leaving sleepy old Pune City (most likely my favorite place on earth, or maybe I am already nostalgic) and this song relates so well to that.Anyway so the lyrics are :

Song :Tanha Dil
Singer : Shaan
Album : Tanhai

aankhon mein sapne liye
ghar se hum chal toh diye
jaane yeh raahe abb le jaayengi kahaan
mitti ki khushbu aaye
palkon pe aansu laaye
palkon pe reh jaayega yaadon ka jahaan
manjil nayi hain
anjaana hai kaarava
chalna akele hai yahaan
(tanha dil, tanha safar
dhunde tujhe phir kyun nazar) - 2
tanha dil....

dilkash nazaare dekhe
zhil-mil sitaare dekhe
aankhon mein phir bhi tera chehra hai jawaan
kitni barsaate aayi
kitni saugaate laayi
kaano mein gunje phie bhi teri hi sada
waade kiye the, apana hoga aashiyaan
waado ko jaane hoga kya
(tanha dil, tanha safar
dhunde tujhe phir kyun nazar) - 2
tanha dil....

tanha dil...

aankhon mein sapne liye
ghar se hum chal toh diye
jaane yeh raahe abb le jaayengi kahaan
mitti ki khushbu aaye
palkon pe aansu laaye
palkon pe reh jaayega yaadon ka jahaan
manjil nayi hain
anjaana hai kaarava
chalna akele hai yahaan
(tanha dil, tanha safar
dhunde tujhe phir kyun nazar) - 2
tanha dil....

tanha dil...

Its the first paragraph that simply blows you away. The words are very powerful, and yet incredibly simple. You kinda think, 'Hey, why didn't I think of that ?' And as you flow through the song, vivid images of amazing times spent with friends, of the laughs and laughter and fights and the teasing and everything just floods back.

Its a strange time, this..everyone is chasing their dreams (which is good) but there is a strange fear/apprehension of losing something incredible that we share right now. On the one hand you don't want to let go of it, and yet at the other you have your own dreams, your own goals to accomplish..

Is saying goodbye always necessary to starting afresh ? Maybe it is..maybe it is inevitable..

Perhaps by only letting go of the past but keeping the memories together, intact, whole, can be really move forward, grow, and become better individuals..what do YOU think ?

Finding You

2008-05-02T12:18:00.000-07:00

Just finished watching 'The Namesake'. Great movie. To me, a central theme in the movie seems to be about finding yourself. Just like in real life. Finding yourself, can be an excruciatingly hard thing. I mean there are so many times that we do things just for the sake of doing them, without being true to ourselves, without being faithful to our beliefs, our core values.

How long and how much can we go against our own minds, our own wills ?

For that matter, how do you know the real YOU ?

Very few people actually know where they are headed for sure. Even fewer know what they want. But those few that do know, for sure, that this is what want, are truly powerful people. Because they know what they really really want. And when a person really really wants something, he will bend over backwards, go through hell and heaven but do everything in his power to get it.

Whether he gets it or not is another matter. But knowing what you want, what you don't want, what you like, what you don't like is a powerful thing.

Ambivalence doesn't work. Ever.

growing up growing old

2008-04-24T10:55:00.000-07:00

So today was the final exam before I become a graduate..kahihi..awraach..
In the sense that you still dont believe that you are old enough to do something even tho you know you are..I know I'm probably not gonna make any sense here but then, this is my blog and I can do what I want..So there!!

So here's a little story. When I was 5 years old, and a little cute kid, I had nothing to do in the world, except go to school, come back,eat, have a niiiice afternoon nap, go to play, come back, eat, sleep. Repeat. And I used to think how much more fun it'll be when I grow and go to primary school..then so many teachers..and coloured uniforms on 1 day of the week!

Then when I finally got to school, routine was pretty much unchanged again except with a bit more studying thrown in. When I was in 5th/6th standard grown up to me was being in 10th std. or passing out from 10th std.

And so on and so forth. In school you want to go to junior college, where you you have no uniforms and can bunk lectures as and when you want, after JC you want to finally pursue a career by deciding what you want to do for a living..etc etc etc. So does this mean you never really grow up in your own eyes ? It seems to me that the 'definition' of grown-up always changes as you grow..

And what seems like an wonderful amazing thing to be grown up when you are young, turns out to be definitely not so rosy and wonderful as you had imagined it would. Or maybe its just a form of nostalgia when all the past memories to be much better than the current present that you are living in. Who knows ? Maybe I'll find it out, when I really grow up!

Sunday's Song of the Week #2 : Crash and Burn

2008-03-16T08:43:00.000-07:00

Yep, thats right. Crash and Burn by Savage Garden. Definitely one of my favourite songs of all time. In fact the entire album (Affirmation) is one of the best ever and has some great songs (The Animal Song, I Don't Know You Anymore, Two Beds and a Coffee Machine, Gunning Down a Romance, I Knew I Loved You, and the title track itself Affirmation)

Song : Crash and Burn
Artist : Savage Garden
Album : Affirmation

When you feel all alone
And the world has turned its back on you
Give me a moment please to tame your wild wild heart
I know you feel like the walls are closing in on you
It's hard to find relief and people can be so cold
When darkness is upon your door
And you feel that you can't take anymore

Chorus:
Let me be the one you call
If you jump I'll break your fall
Lift you up and fly away with you into the night
If you need to fall apart
I can mend a broken heart
If you need to crash then crash and burn
You're not alone

When you feel all alone
And a loyal friend is hard to find
You're caught in a one way street
With the monsters in your head
When hopes and dreams are far away and
You feel like you can't face the day

Chorus

'Cos there has always been heartache and pain
And when it's over you'll breathe again
You'll breathe again

When you feel all alone
And the world has turned its back on you
Give me a moment please
To tame your wild wild heart

Chorus

Somehow this song brings to me vivid images of darkness and light sparkling out there somewhere deep in that darkness and a single voice seems to be singing the song, reassuring you that everything will be alright. The best time to listen to this song is when you are feeling incredibly low and down and out. Just turn of the lights, sit somewhere alone, close your eyes and let the song take over. Its truly a very magical experience.

I don't think there are any two ways about this song (Read that as : For me, the song is completely self-explanatory, and so I'm not gonna waste my energy analyzing it! :D) The lyrics are simple, yet amazingly powerful. The best part definitely being 'If you need to crash then crash and burn, You're not alone'.

Thats exactly the kind of feeling I get when I think of my gang. Knowing that people are there for you, even though they may not be around in person is a terrific feeling. Because you don't think twice even while calling them in the middle of the night. Because you don't have to question that they will stick around with you. Because you know, that whatever happens, you will get through life together...

An Introduction (In Protein Terms)

2008-03-15T05:40:00.000-07:00

I realize I've never really introduced myself on this blog. So here's a brief introduction of me. And if you just use that little cranium on top of your head you may get an idea of my interests. (Apart from my name, obviously!) :)

Sunday's Song of the Week

2008-03-05T06:36:00.000-08:00

So this is a new thing, I'm gonna be starting on my blog, just so that I'll try and write more regularly.

So I shuffled among my favourite songs in Winamp and out came this song :

In Dino
Singer : Soham Chakraborty
Music : Pritam
Lyrics : Sayeed Quadri
Movie : Life...In a Metro

In dino...Dil mera...
Mujhse hai...Keh raha...
Tu...khwaab saja, Tu...ji le jara
Hai tujhe bhi izaazat, Karle tu bhi mhabbat

Berang si hai badi zindagi, kuchh rang to bharoon..
Main apani tanahaayi ke waaste abbb kuchh toh karoon..
Jab mile thodi fursat, Jab mile thodi fursat Khudse karle muhabbat...
Hai tujhe bhi izaazat, karle tu bhi mohabbat

Usako chhupaakar main sabse kabhi le chaloon kahin door...
Aankhon ke pyaalon se pita rahoon usake chehre ka noor...
Iss jamaane se chhupakar, Iss jamaane se chhupakar
Puri karloon main hasrat..
Hai tujhe bhi izaazat, karle tu bhi mohabbat

The song opens with a wonderful guitar riff, and is definitely among the best hindi rock songs. In fact, I think you can credit this entire album with infusing the entire Hindi music scene with some solid rock music and it feels great to hear great guitar and drums in hindi music rather than the very typical techno beats or the tabla.

Coming to the words, the first 3 lines itself blow me away. 'Hai tujhe bhi ijazzat, karle tu bhi mohabbat' is just something that takes your breath away. Almost saying that 'love like you'll never be hurt' and 'its always better to have loved and lost than not have loved at all'. But more than anything I think, its almost consoles all those people longing for something they can never have...saying its okay, almost as if the song grants you a sanction.

The other line that really really hits you in this song is 'Jab mile thodi fursat, Jab mile thodi fursat, Khudse karle muhabbat...' So many times, we are filled with shame and regret and complete and utter self-loathing, and in the midst of all the things going on in life, we forget to look at the positives. Simply forget to take care of ourselves, be proud of what we've achieved in the race for wanting more and more. Simply forget to appreciate the people around you, those who really make you who you are. And so, this line, I feel has an incredibly powerful message. Unless you love yourself, be proud of yourself and respect yourself, you never can truly loe another person.

Singer Soham Chakravarty does a fantastic job giving the song a wonderful moody feel which adds to the beauty of the song.

So go on, go listen to it! NOW! :)

A fresh start!!

2008-01-09T07:36:00.000-08:00

So many things bin happening recently and though not all of them qualify for the vaulted space of this blog..hehe..among the most exciting things tho..been shortlisted for both the NCBS and TIFR courses!! Woohoo!!

But it also grounds you back to earth again with a reminder that the tough part starts from here onwards. What I need to do now is do a write-up on some problem in biology with my ideas thrown in and how to tackle it in the lab..now how the hell do I do this ??!! Hehe..so currently am on the look-out for some interesting topics which may lead to the generation of some ideas..

Apart from the Chennai conference was rather sobering..not just in terms of good science and bad science but also in terms of friends, life, people..hehe..and so was the New Years Party this year..!! I mean we were tired of gossip that night..!! And to think that we were literally 'worried' that there was no gossip to talk about on 31st two weeks ago..hehe..

Happiness is..vaishali's chatni (among other things)

2007-12-12T08:51:00.000-08:00

Happiness is..
- vaishali's chatni
- when your favourite song comes on the radio
- hanging out with friends, laughing, and talking and joking and playing
- a nice hot cup of coffee on a rainy day and some great kanda bhaji
- a nice hot cup of coffee on any day
- a nice book to read, a table lamp and pitch dark in the room
- playing music with friends
- the tekdi on a nice wet rainy day
- fish
- a night out with friends
- not having to wake up early
- a nice bright sunny day
- the canteen's misal and limbu sarbat
- dark chocolate and snickers and toblerone
- any homemade ice cream
- reading the newspaper at a leisurely pace at breakfast
- Calvin
- all this and so many little things we do every day!

Tuesday's GD Digest #1

2007-11-27T06:39:00.000-08:00

This should have been posted wayy back, but me being a lazy bum am doin it 4 days late..Enjoy :
It had been in my head to write/discuss/explore the topics discussed in GDs. And now that I've been blogging on and off fairly regularly, here's todays to kickstart.

The whole train of topics went somewhat like this :

How schools in Gadchiroli were responsible for the increasing diarrhoea cases-due to change in the hygienic practices-due to use of water for cleaning you-know-what and since there was only one major water source, everything would be in a small radius around that-then onto a similar scenario in cities where some paper proved that it is better to provide good drinking water supply to or none rather having some people having access to good water and the others having no access to it-then onto malaria-how pune has been rather spared of it in recent times due to increasing pollution as a result of which the population of Anopheles has plummeted-to everything about malaria-which is the most deadly one (falciparum, apparently, William Hamilton died of it)-to the Malaria Vaccine being developed at no. of places, on them being Chetan/Chintan Chitnis in India-the vaccine involves the protein on the RBCs which is attacked by the protozoan-then everything about the disease (don't remember all the tiny details.. :D)-immune smokescreen-which is the reason why its been so dificult to produce a single vaccine against it-determining evolution rates-neutralizing mutations(?)-rates of adaptation-and most importantly, the importance of selection in evolution.

Thats about it I think..maybe I'll remember some other things later.

My Thoughts on Religion

2007-11-19T01:31:00.000-08:00

I hate festivals like Ganpati and Diwali. Don't get me wrong. I love the spirit behind them, I love the fact that the entire family gets together you light lamps and burst crackers and do all the things you can only do when the entire family is together. But I hate the fact that such days are associated with religion. Because with anything associated with religion, the skeptic in me starts shouting. The same goes with any ritual that is being performed related to God. And at times likes those, I feel, I don't really belong. I have absolutely no idea whether I'm making sense, but then this blog is about my thoughts, so I don't give a damn about making sense. :)

Why did religion originate in the first place ? According to wikipedia, Religion can be defined as :

A religion is a social institution that includes a set of common beliefs and practices generally held by a group of people, often codified as prayer, ritual, and religious law. Religion also encompasses ancestral or cultural traditions, writings, history, and mythology, as well as personal faith and mystic experience. The term "religion" refers to both the personal practices related to communal faith and to group rituals and communication stemming from shared conviction.

Of the above, I have a huge problem with the 'personal faith' and 'mystic experience' part. I don't mind traditions much, because in the ancient past (or at least until a few centuries back) they must have had some relevance, and I see them as honouring your heritage and where you come from. The same goes for history. In fact even with regards to Ramayana and the origin of Diwali, somewhere within me is a suspicion, that maybe the entire story is true. Even then, I still dont buy the whole "God descended on Earth part". For me, at most, Ram was a Man, A Great Man perhaps, and did all (or maybe some of the stuff he was attributed to have done, with the rest being exaggerated by hand-me-down stories) the things that the Ramayana tells us. And I love the all the traditions associated with Diwali like lighting the lamps etc. But even then, I see all of this as a commemoration of all the great deeds of a Man, and not of a God.

And all of this because, somewhere, I refuse to believe that God created us. It has been proved quite conclusively, that evolution is how we developed. And the Big Bang before that which caused the earth, universe and everything in it to be formed. Sure, nobody knows all the details, and science still leaves a lot of gaps unanswered, but so does Religion! The only difference is that, in science, you can see the evidence and understand the logic, whereas, with Religion, I have never been able to do so.

'Nuff said for now, I feel. More later.

Prawns and Bombil

2007-11-16T21:31:00.000-08:00

Day before yesterday was the most enjoyable coking lesson ever..under the guidance of the expert, though..making Kolambi Kalwan (Prawn Curry) and Fried Bombil. Did everything from buying fish to marinating them to cooking them..and had a helluva time! Also they tasted excellent as always..and the the thing that amazes me always about seafood is that there are so few masalas involved and yet they taste so brilliant.

For eg, for the Kolambi Kalwan, all you have to do is, finely chop an onion, make a paste of green chillies and ginger and seperately make a paste of coconut. Deshell and devein the prawns and if you are keeping them overnight, then marinate them by adding salt and turmeric to them. Then take a bit of oil in the frying pan, add 'hing' (asafoetida) and mohri(mustard), and then the chopped onions some crushed garlic, then the prawns and then the chilly ginger paste and just mixed it all up very well till prawns are done well or at least until they start to curl up. Then add the coconut and some water and let thewhole thing boil for a while..and voila! You are done.. :)

As for the fried they are even more simpler..just marinate the chopped fish withchilly and ginger paste and salt and turmeric overnight and then cover them with Rawa or tandalachi pithi and grill/shallow fry them in a pan.. Done..!

As for my prawns and fish, here's what they looked like :

Kolambiche Kalwan

Bombil Fry

On Being a HouseWoman

2007-11-06T06:10:00.000-08:00

Well, for the past 3-4 days, I've become a Housewoman (similar to Housewife, except I'm not married so has to be Housewoman..hehe..), rather than the college going girl I used to be a week back..hehe..doesn't mean this change is permanent though..

Anyway, so for the past 3 days, I have been cooking lunch and dinner and what a job it has been! Not that I am getting bored doing it..(there's no time to get bored..the entire morning is spent in doing something or the other which will contribute to lunch..)..thatsentence was so typical of my mother..but then it really is true..

So ver the past 3-4 days, I've made batatyachi bhaji (kaachryanchi), bhoplimirchi chi bhajji, ek kuthli tari palebhaji, bhoplyache parathe, dahibhat ani pithale, ani polya, obviously..tyapaiki bhajya saglya barya jhalya..pan polya jara borach jhalya..still, its start in the cooking department..

Aaj tar prathe kartana evdha frustration yet hota..akkha wel te chiktatach hota polpatala..!! wattel tevhdha pith lavun latla shevti..tevha kuthe te jara neat jhala..hehe..

Ata udya palakachi bhaji ani poli and bhaat ani aamti asa bet ahe..bagh kasa kay jamtay sagla! :D

Making Polya...hard work!!

2007-11-03T06:41:00.000-07:00

So today, was the first day or rather the first time that I made polya or roti or chapaati or whatever it is you wish to call it..and its such hard work!!

Maan..The first two were a complete disaster..the 3rd was pretty okayish..the 4th was a disaster as well, while the 5th and 6th ones were much better, and yet they didn't turn out the waythey were meant to..(they became all stiff hard and somewhat like papad..much heavier papad)..and today I face an even more daunting challenge..making the dough..well, what d'ya know..it may turn out to be okay tomorrow! :D

Until next time!

The Weird and Contorted Side of the Human Body

2007-10-25T06:41:00.000-07:00

Just finished reading the book Mutants by Armand Marie Leroi. Well, finished it a quite sometime back but in the middle of studying for the exam had not time to blog about it..and since I'm planning to re-read it once again, I thought I might write something about it and then get back to read it once more..

Mutants is a very fascinating book. It has its oddities with horribly graphic pictures of various bodily mutations..from supernumerary breasts to cyclopia (meaning you have an extra eye above your nose) to mermaids syndrome to hermaphroditism. Many of the pictures are terribly graphic and a large percentage of you (I admit, I was grossed out as well!) are gonna be totally grossed out by the book, but the book is really fascinating when you got to see the number of varied different things that can actually go wrong with the human body. And the fact that we made it alive and in one intact with piece with none or very few obvious 'mutations' has to be a great thing. (Though we are all mutants, as the author explains in the very few chapter, a very small number of us are actually born with any serious life threatening ones, anyway)

What I really like about that the book, was that it did not stick to cataloging all these mutations and leave it at that. It goes into the science of these mutations and manages to come out with explanations why these mutations actually occur and where the originate from. Thats where the 'gross factor' stops and the fascinating part of the book begins. In very simple language Leroi manages to explain the functions and the mechanisms of various mutations right down to the genes involved. And thats when you begin to wonder at the marvel that the human body is..

And thats not all..cos Leroi has obviously done a lot of research, poring over heaps of history documents, I'm sure because he has documented various mutation from about 3 centuries back. A creditable feat, no doubt.

More snippets when I re-read the book

Time, Friends, Life..Dunno What To Call This Post

2007-10-06T05:31:00.000-07:00

So what happened today was fairly simple..and yet got me thinking and with sadness I realized that this could well be what the situation is in the future. What happened was that one of my very good friends whom we'll call A for the time being, was in the city for a couple of days. Both of us really wanted to meet, but that with conflicting schedules and clashing time tables, it's simply not possible..and on my way home today, had a strange epiphany..is my future likely to be like this ? With more episodes like today's ? Two friends in the city, but no time to meet..that would be like the saddest thing..well..

Nothing can be done though..only hope and pray that such incidences are minimum..

And so it begins..

2007-10-01T09:04:00.000-07:00

Applying to Universities and taking entrance exams so that I can get into somewhere I want to and something which offers exciting things to do in the future..

Today went off the first application to : NCBS/TIFR for both their M.Sc (Biology) and M.Sc (Wildlife Biology and Conservation) programmes. The later programme seems to be rather interesting going by their course description and the course structure, though I don't know how well, I personally would do at it given the fact I have almost nil experience of field work and things like that..

The next on the list of to-give exams would most likely be the Bremen Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Exam. It'll be exciting to go to Germany again, if I get in..and not just because I looved Germany the last time I'd been there but also because currently, Biochem, is definitely one of my favourite subject, and something that I think I will be rather good and would like to work in the future. But then sometimes, just wonder whether the cost of it all is worth it..sure they don't have tuition fees there and though working part time is an option, none of the people already there are doing it..so dunno 'bout its feasibility either..but then, these worries can be saved for later..the primary thing to worry about currently is studying hard to get through into it.. :)

So thats two exams down. The other ones on the list of to-gives are currently : MSU-Biochem, IIT-JAM and probably UniPune-Bioinformatics. But then they are bit more further off in the distance.. :)

Until then there are a number of things to look forward to (and not as well) including the trip on Sunday to Dive Agar (Ye!!), the ugly genetics test on friday (yuck!), and the pending semester exams which are to begin on the 20th of this month (Help!)..

But Oh well..studies have started and gaining momentum by the day..so we should be okay..no major worries.. :D

Exam Time Again

2007-09-06T22:11:00.000-07:00

So today was the first exam of TY :

Med Micro..all memory nothing else..oh well..

And as is with any exam a number of controversies as well :

The two most important :
1. Is Klebsiella pneumoniae a normal flora organism of the respiratory tract ?
2. Is scarlet fever a suppurative complication of Strep Throat ?

Some references on the net say that K.pneumoniae is NF of the RT but then it is also more commonly found in the GIT. But then if it is present, I assume, the answer is yes, it is a NF of the GT.

As for Scarlet Fever, the answer seems rather ambiguous. Could not find any reference of Scarlet fever itself being suppurative but it can lead to suppurative complications like Otitis Media etc.. so not sure 'bout that.

So thats that.. another interesting thing of note : Why is it that music relieves tension ? Cos as is with any exam, I went off (even though I was rather not confident of my memory ) in a pseudo-confident state of mind after hearing to one of my favourite songs of all time : Luka Chhupi. Its actually more of an 'exam song' if there is any such category. Just have to listen to it before any exam. And sing along. And then hum along on the way to college. Puts me in such a nice frame of mind (Irrespective of whether I know things required for the exam or not!) :)

Oh well..enough of tp.. Genetics tomorrow. Transduction.Conjugation.Transformation.Recombination.Replication. All of which eventually results in : Confusion.Irritation.Distraction.Prostration.

So thats that for now..off to studies!

P.S : Another thought : in the long run is your understanding more important or does what you have to show for your intelligence more important ?

2007-09-04T08:16:00.000-07:00

Well, so this is my first blog..something that hopefully stimulates me to write..hehe..well, writing is something, that I've always enjoyed doing, and yet done v.little of..so this is something to propell me in that direction..more later.. :)