Booooooks!

You open the bookshelf and find 6 unread books waiting to be consumed - it is times like there that make me glad i earn what i do.

Of course, by the time i could put this post to paper (Yes, i am writing this on paper and will type it out later, and No, i do not know of a better way to spend my weekend), the number of unread books has dwindled to 3. So i am halfway between dreams-come-true-land and nightmare city.

All 6 were procured as part of sales in various book stores, none, as far as i can recall, at any discount. Now i know the power of a Sale, it is just a legitimate excuse to go crazy! I was showing off my catch to a cousin and he says,

Cousin: I cant believe it! All of these are so good you went and bought the original?
Me: Original? Arre, nakli books bhi koi leta hai kya?
(Rich, coming from someone who until a year ago regularly drooled over roadside book stalls.)
Cousin: I don't know how you can get yourself to pay full price
Me: Guilt.
(That is one of the prime movers of my life. I mean, what excuse do i have to not go and buy the original? The book means much more to me than the 250 rupees i spend on it. And Pinocchio would call me a liar if i said i couldn't afford it. It was guilt that make me, ME, go and pay full price for HP7 on the day it came out. That is how powerful it is.)
Anyway, i don't suppose you will understand it. The same way i don't understand how you can get yourself to spend so much on branded clothes.

And with that,we agreed to disagree. And launch our own small war on piracy. I buy original books, he buys original clothes. The only thing we need to complete our League Of Extraordinary Fools is one who watches only original movies!

Rambling

I tried to write something about my being an exercise junkie, in which i tried to go on and on about fixes and highs and reveal in the end that i was talking about exercise all the while, but it all got too depressing.

Then i thought i could write about my first "stay-over" at a book store on Saturday. I spent hours lost in a book called No onions no garlic. It was funny, yes, but what kept me hooked was the fact that some of the scenes seemed to be lifted right out of my home! I never realized we were so typical. But that would have been a two-liner post and i am trying at stay away from those.

All this blueness reminded me how in my first job, a friend and i used to get regular Friday Blues, which is depression you get at the prospect of yet another purposeless weekend. Now i get Friday blues and Monday blues. And Sunday blues. And sometimes Tuesday blues too. Yeah, I'm blue should maybe become my anthem. (I'm wearing something blue as i type this, what are the odds!!!)

At this point, i wakeup and realize that i may be scaring off a couple of young things that read this blog about life outside academics. Listen kids, its not so bad in general. Honest. Only, it hasnt been my day. Or week. Or month. Or even my year. And anyway, anyone who looks up to me as a responsible adult or my life as some measure of as good as it gets is a bloody idiot. There, you have been warned!

P.S. I have decided to dignify all the crying i have been doing all over the blog with a label of its own. Its called Boo Hoo. Bet you didn't see that coming. Anyone who clicks on that link needs serious help.

P.P.S. Another theory of mine. According to it, we tend to approximate sounds into words and fail miserably. And then we get so used to the approximation that we change the sound! Take Boo Hoo for example. Have you heard anyone actually go boo hoo while crying? I'm sure it was meant as an written approximation for the sound people make while crying. Already it has found its way into our spoken language. And i predict someday it will change the way we cry. Like Haha has changed the way we laugh. Or Ouch has changed the way we ask for Iodex. Wonder if the theory apply to animals too. I mean, will cats tomorrow actually cry out meow the way do? Or dogs go bow-wow? Or will it be woof?

P.P.P.S. I really admire the person who invented woof. I first came across the approximation in Enid Blyton's books but i'm not sure she invented it. Whoever did it must have been brilliant. And so brave. It couldnt have been easy standing up to a world raised on doggie says bow-wow and say, no, they say woof. Babies would have laughed at him.

Suppose

Came across this Tamil song Suppose yesterday and have been grinning ever since. (Warning, do not see the video, it pretty much wiped the grin off my face). Its the combination of not exactly poetic lyrics and a classical-ish tune that does it, i suppose. Devoid of work and ideas that i am, i decided to try and translate the first para into Hindi. Some points about the translation:

• Its not literal. Because that is no fun. And also because i dont know enough Tamil. What does Baedhalichu mean anyway?
• Not translating the word "suppose". Thats part of the non-poeticness. Out of curiosity though, what in Hindi would suppose translate to? Socho ki?

Tamil:

Suppose Unnai Kaadhalichu
Suppose Naanum Baedhalichu
Suppose Enna Kattikkoanaa
Enna Solvaai

Suppose Un Mael Koabam Vandhu
Suppose Angae Ena Marandhu
Suppose Naa En Seruppeduthaa
Enna Seivaai

Hindi:

Suppose tum se pyaar hua
Suppose tumko dil diya
Suppose tumse byah kiya
To kaisa hoga

Suppose tumpe gussa aake
Suppose khud pe kaboo khoke
Suppose haath mein chappal aaye
To kaisa hoga

Time for a career change, maybe? If someone is looking to remake Sukran in Hindi, talk to me!

While on the topic, why do most Tamil to Hindi song translations suck so? Either they are plain idiotic (remember telephone dhun mein hasne wali? To be fair though, it was almost a literal translation, but the nonsense is at least tasteful in Tamil). Or they are filled with unheard of Hindi words which make them unhummable (awara bhavre, dil se). Thankfully they seem to have stopped dubbing movies, otherwise the software industry's gain would have become Bollywood's loss!

Which is worse?

That i had to survive a week at work without the Internet or that i did?
(Knowledge gained as part of the survival: the clock on the phone on my desk is 30 seconds behind the clock on my PC. And my mobile is 18 seconds behind my desk phone )

That i now have to travel 12 kms and 10 signals to get to work or that i like it?

That i don't have a life or that i don't miss it all that much?

That i drink tea thrice a day or that i still don't like it?

Who cares? I just played a game of carom with board magnets. And discovered a badminton court walking distance from the office. I am uplifted. It doesn't get better then this!