Life's lessons from last week
1. It takes a lot of strength to hurt the ones you love.
2. The more they leave you to mind your own business at work (and by "your on business" I mean official work assigned to you), the less important you are.
3. Some things are bigger than everything (disclaimer: plagiarized)
4. Sometimes, its nice to live a lie. To get lost in its comforting haziness, never having to face harsh reality.
5. Do not get lost in details, like the little kid who chases the colorful butterfly. Keep an eye on the bigger picture. Not only because you might get lost, also because you might miss that perfect sunset.
Friday, September 22, 2006
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
A peek into a regular morning of a regular Indian family that
a) has recently been centralized after being a regular distributed Indian family for about two years
b) consists of 4 jobless people and
a) has free Internet from 2 a.m. to 8 a.m.
Life begins at 6 a.m. with the mother tiptoeing into the children's room, not daring to switch on the light lest she wakes up the competition. She makes her way to the P.C in the semi-darkness (which in itself is no mean feat, remember, the two occupants of the room have been thoroughly "hostelized" and are yet to get acclimatized to home discipline) and switches on the UPS. That dumb machine, unaware of the sensitivity of the issue, emits a loud beep that causes the father to open both eyes, the son one and the daughter to stir. By the time the mother has finished her online activities (which cover a wide range - from jewelry stores, to cookery sites to MTV VJs that catch her fancy), the father has completed all formalities and is ready to take over. He then begins his journey of all online newspapers, heard and unheard of. Any missing details are efficiently searched using the small search bar in Yahoo Messenger (the existence of which, I am ashamed to say, I discovered only after I saw him use it). In typical Indian tradition, the son takes over. And in typical gen Y tradition, he dispenses with all formalities and jumps directly from the bed into the chair. While he organizes a massive and comprehensive hunt for unheard of songs and obscure comics, the daughter awakens. Having always belonged to the "Oh Shit! Its morning" community, she takes her time going about it. The Internet, her only gateway to the external world, proves a strong enough motivator. She wakes up, kicks the son out and settles to her few minutes of bliss, which consists of alternating between Orkut and Gmail. Yes, free Internet is pretty much wasted on her. She is lost to the world until someone shouts - "5 minutes to go!". She immediately wraps up her activities and very generously offers the remaining minute or two to anyone with an emergency.
8 a.m. Life goes back to normal.
You would think that with
a) the two children occupied in jobs that provide free Internet and ample free time to (ab)use it and
b) an upgraded Internet connection that is "free" the entire day,
the contention would have reduced. Ha! Remember that law we were taught in school that gases expand to fill the space available? They forgot to mention that it applies to free Internet too!
a) has recently been centralized after being a regular distributed Indian family for about two years
b) consists of 4 jobless people and
a) has free Internet from 2 a.m. to 8 a.m.
Life begins at 6 a.m. with the mother tiptoeing into the children's room, not daring to switch on the light lest she wakes up the competition. She makes her way to the P.C in the semi-darkness (which in itself is no mean feat, remember, the two occupants of the room have been thoroughly "hostelized" and are yet to get acclimatized to home discipline) and switches on the UPS. That dumb machine, unaware of the sensitivity of the issue, emits a loud beep that causes the father to open both eyes, the son one and the daughter to stir. By the time the mother has finished her online activities (which cover a wide range - from jewelry stores, to cookery sites to MTV VJs that catch her fancy), the father has completed all formalities and is ready to take over. He then begins his journey of all online newspapers, heard and unheard of. Any missing details are efficiently searched using the small search bar in Yahoo Messenger (the existence of which, I am ashamed to say, I discovered only after I saw him use it). In typical Indian tradition, the son takes over. And in typical gen Y tradition, he dispenses with all formalities and jumps directly from the bed into the chair. While he organizes a massive and comprehensive hunt for unheard of songs and obscure comics, the daughter awakens. Having always belonged to the "Oh Shit! Its morning" community, she takes her time going about it. The Internet, her only gateway to the external world, proves a strong enough motivator. She wakes up, kicks the son out and settles to her few minutes of bliss, which consists of alternating between Orkut and Gmail. Yes, free Internet is pretty much wasted on her. She is lost to the world until someone shouts - "5 minutes to go!". She immediately wraps up her activities and very generously offers the remaining minute or two to anyone with an emergency.
8 a.m. Life goes back to normal.
You would think that with
a) the two children occupied in jobs that provide free Internet and ample free time to (ab)use it and
b) an upgraded Internet connection that is "free" the entire day,
the contention would have reduced. Ha! Remember that law we were taught in school that gases expand to fill the space available? They forgot to mention that it applies to free Internet too!
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
Back to work. A new place, a new beginning. Somehow not quite along the lines of my past beginnings. Allow me to explain.
Flashback: my first job. Though I had got in the hard way [a test, a couple of interviews one of which gave rise to serious doubts about my ever having done engineering], I knew that I still had to prove myself. I had to start from zero and build up from there. People knew nothing about me, assumed nothing and expected nothing out of the ordinary [ordinary of course being completely subjective]. I could take my time, make my mistakes and learn.
Cut to IIT. Another beginning. Another start from zero. Lot more time, lot more freedom to make mistakes [because they hurt no one but you] and a lot more to learn.
Back to work. A new place, a new beginning. But no start from zero. The bar has been raised. My past has caught up with me! People know where I am from and hence assume something, expect something. Nothing out of the ordinary, to be fair, just that ordinary has become a little extra-ordinary.
Flashback: my first job. Though I had got in the hard way [a test, a couple of interviews one of which gave rise to serious doubts about my ever having done engineering], I knew that I still had to prove myself. I had to start from zero and build up from there. People knew nothing about me, assumed nothing and expected nothing out of the ordinary [ordinary of course being completely subjective]. I could take my time, make my mistakes and learn.
Cut to IIT. Another beginning. Another start from zero. Lot more time, lot more freedom to make mistakes [because they hurt no one but you] and a lot more to learn.
Back to work. A new place, a new beginning. But no start from zero. The bar has been raised. My past has caught up with me! People know where I am from and hence assume something, expect something. Nothing out of the ordinary, to be fair, just that ordinary has become a little extra-ordinary.
Sunday, June 25, 2006
The countdown begins!
My last Saturday in paradise. Inspired by a couple of movies (oh yeah, some movies do that), I've decided to chronicle every day of this last week. I know the whole thing sounds terribly self indulgent, but it is my blog after all! People! Make it special so i wont have to sink down down to the "brushed my teeth, had a bath" level!
Morning. Surprisingly spent doing work. Work meaning listening to Devendar give an excellent demo to some visitors. And running around for a gate pass, meeting unexpected obstacles, balanced by unexpected kindness. Lunch in CR with the visitors.
Afternoon. Yesterday i created history by becoming the first girl to ever sleep in the department. Decided to repeat history today, but fate (in the form of Nitin and co) had other plans. He and a bunch of others thought it would be very funny to sprinkle some namkeen on poor ol me, an opinion to which i would have wholeheartedly subscribed, had i been but a slightly more impartial observer. Woke me up with a start they did! Screamed them away and tried to take up where i left off. But some things broken cannot be mended.
Evening. Whiled away hogging and chating, weather being surprisingly cooperative.
Late evening. My first football match. As audience, of course! That too on the big screen. Germany versus Sweden. Kept bugging Sudeepa with rookie questions throughout. (Still cant digest her interest in football, Bengal or no Bengal!) She tried her best to show me Miroslav Klose, but always ended up showing me his back. Not particularly handsome, that!
Night. Saw "Whisper of the heart", my first foreign language film. Not bad, and partly responsible for the inspiration mentioned in section 1(a) above. Concluded with a "coupled" belated birthday celebration. The last ever birthday celebration of MTech 2004. I should have kicked someone. Sigh. A group of classmates "ba ba" ed their way into a nimbu pani treat tomorrow. (Details in some Telugu movie, name unknown)
Tomorrow is Sunday! Very likely to be very uneventful.
My last Saturday in paradise. Inspired by a couple of movies (oh yeah, some movies do that), I've decided to chronicle every day of this last week. I know the whole thing sounds terribly self indulgent, but it is my blog after all! People! Make it special so i wont have to sink down down to the "brushed my teeth, had a bath" level!
Morning. Surprisingly spent doing work. Work meaning listening to Devendar give an excellent demo to some visitors. And running around for a gate pass, meeting unexpected obstacles, balanced by unexpected kindness. Lunch in CR with the visitors.
Afternoon. Yesterday i created history by becoming the first girl to ever sleep in the department. Decided to repeat history today, but fate (in the form of Nitin and co) had other plans. He and a bunch of others thought it would be very funny to sprinkle some namkeen on poor ol me, an opinion to which i would have wholeheartedly subscribed, had i been but a slightly more impartial observer. Woke me up with a start they did! Screamed them away and tried to take up where i left off. But some things broken cannot be mended.
Evening. Whiled away hogging and chating, weather being surprisingly cooperative.
Late evening. My first football match. As audience, of course! That too on the big screen. Germany versus Sweden. Kept bugging Sudeepa with rookie questions throughout. (Still cant digest her interest in football, Bengal or no Bengal!) She tried her best to show me Miroslav Klose, but always ended up showing me his back. Not particularly handsome, that!
Night. Saw "Whisper of the heart", my first foreign language film. Not bad, and partly responsible for the inspiration mentioned in section 1(a) above. Concluded with a "coupled" belated birthday celebration. The last ever birthday celebration of MTech 2004. I should have kicked someone. Sigh. A group of classmates "ba ba" ed their way into a nimbu pani treat tomorrow. (Details in some Telugu movie, name unknown)
Tomorrow is Sunday! Very likely to be very uneventful.
Saturday, May 27, 2006
Ever get the feeling that fate is playing with you? That is is tempting you with a... i don't know... dark temptation, lets say. (If you don't know what that is, no games fate can play can be as cruel as your life!) And just when you think you are about to bite into that delicious, irresistible, incomparable combination of rich chocolate and ice cream, fate snatches the plate away. All you are left with is thin air and a reminder of the smell.
The first time, you feel like kicking fate on the backside. The front side. And every other side that that multi-dimensional polygonal concept has. After several iterations, slowly, you learn. To live. To hope. Perhaps to even enjoy the taste of thin air. You see that all your kicking and screaming has no effect on fate whatsoever. And so you stop. Take things as they come. Hope, that fate will get bored of the games when it sees that it is not getting to you any longer.
Nursery rhymes making a sudden re-entry into my life, so i end this post with one.
Old Mother Hubbard
Went to the cupboard
To fetch her poor dog a bone;
But when she came there
The cupboard was bare,
And so the poor dog had none.
*ing: My guide as OMH, me as the dawg, my defense as the bone and my internal examiner as the contents of the cupboard.
The first time, you feel like kicking fate on the backside. The front side. And every other side that that multi-dimensional polygonal concept has. After several iterations, slowly, you learn. To live. To hope. Perhaps to even enjoy the taste of thin air. You see that all your kicking and screaming has no effect on fate whatsoever. And so you stop. Take things as they come. Hope, that fate will get bored of the games when it sees that it is not getting to you any longer.
Nursery rhymes making a sudden re-entry into my life, so i end this post with one.
Old Mother Hubbard
Went to the cupboard
To fetch her poor dog a bone;
But when she came there
The cupboard was bare,
And so the poor dog had none.
*ing: My guide as OMH, me as the dawg, my defense as the bone and my internal examiner as the contents of the cupboard.
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
Three pairs of specs, too good to be true!
One crushed in a Basky match,
And then there were two.
Two pairs of specs, oh what fun!
A frame split for no reason,
And then there was one.
One pair of specs, now that's a laugh!
A temple broke while wrestling
And then there was half.
Half a pair of specs, ever got that done?
Soon joined the other half,
And then there were none!
(Managed to salvage two complete pairs of specs out of the wreckage. A big thanks to my caretaker mom and my anna's anna for helping me through my blindness)
One crushed in a Basky match,
And then there were two.
Two pairs of specs, oh what fun!
A frame split for no reason,
And then there was one.
One pair of specs, now that's a laugh!
A temple broke while wrestling
And then there was half.
Half a pair of specs, ever got that done?
Soon joined the other half,
And then there were none!
(Managed to salvage two complete pairs of specs out of the wreckage. A big thanks to my caretaker mom and my anna's anna for helping me through my blindness)
Saturday, May 13, 2006
Friday, April 28, 2006
Sunday, April 23, 2006
What's eating Vinaya N?
Apart from a report that a snail would say is going at snail's pace and segmentation faults that drop in unannounced, bug you the whole day and then disappear without giving you the satisfaction of having driven them away, it is this. Is it right to do unto others what they do to you? On one extreme, you can sink down to the level of the lowest human you meet, letting him get what he gives. And on the other, you can decide to take the high road, letting people take advantage of you in the process.
The answer, as usual, lies somewhere in between. In defining limits. A lower bound below which thou shalt not sink and an upper bound beyond which though shalt not be nice (My language affected by too much association with the people of a certain room in the department and re-watching I Dream Of Jeannie). And while the theory seems sound enough, the devil is in the (implementation) details!
Apart from a report that a snail would say is going at snail's pace and segmentation faults that drop in unannounced, bug you the whole day and then disappear without giving you the satisfaction of having driven them away, it is this. Is it right to do unto others what they do to you? On one extreme, you can sink down to the level of the lowest human you meet, letting him get what he gives. And on the other, you can decide to take the high road, letting people take advantage of you in the process.
The answer, as usual, lies somewhere in between. In defining limits. A lower bound below which thou shalt not sink and an upper bound beyond which though shalt not be nice (My language affected by too much association with the people of a certain room in the department and re-watching I Dream Of Jeannie). And while the theory seems sound enough, the devil is in the (implementation) details!
Sunday, April 16, 2006
No, I am not brave.
Bravery is doing something despite your fears.
I have no fears to overcome.
No, I am not a monk.
A monk gives up all desires for something higher.
I have no desires to renounce.
No, I am not ruled by emotions.
I do not get carried away by joy or drown in sorrow.
A smile and a frown are all that I need.
Yes, I am the undefeated King.
Not because I have won all my battles
But because I haven't fought any.
(The mind moves in mysterious ways on a Sunday afternoon)
Bravery is doing something despite your fears.
I have no fears to overcome.
No, I am not a monk.
A monk gives up all desires for something higher.
I have no desires to renounce.
No, I am not ruled by emotions.
I do not get carried away by joy or drown in sorrow.
A smile and a frown are all that I need.
Yes, I am the undefeated King.
Not because I have won all my battles
But because I haven't fought any.
(The mind moves in mysterious ways on a Sunday afternoon)
Saturday, April 15, 2006
Some things in life are only possible in a college hostel.
Spending hours sitting on a structure suspended between the second floor and the terrace of the department, gazing at the night sky, discussing life, the universe and everything...
Deciding on a whim to go to the faculty building roof at 12 in the night (inspired by five point someone?), half expecting to find people drinking vodka. Climbing 6 floors, making our way through dark corridors (feeling very much a part of a detective novel) looking for the way to the roof. Only to find that though the roof is very much there, the only way to get on it is to climb down a rickety ladder.
Four people. Three guitars. Tuned to three different pitches. One song (Uthe sab ke kadam...). Girls Hotel terrace. Again past midnight. It must have been cacophony, but to us it was pure music!
Past 1 A.M. Basketball court. A bunch of super enthusiastic classmates, most of whom had never touched a basketball before. And one of the most enjoyable games of basketball ever, despite me being blinded halfway because of broken backup specs. Surprisingly, I have one more pair to spare. When did I become one of those people who have a second backup for everything? Noooooooo I didn't, this just happened to happen.
M Tech second year students ready to play anytime I whip out a sponge ball (a very cute birthday gift with the original yahoo smiley drawn on it). 20 somethings who are soon going to take up responsible jobs actually making faces at each other, the same faces that tiny tots 20 years their juniors make in play school. Going from lab to lab, asking people to narrate their love stories or lack of them. Water fighting in someone else's lab, wetting some innocent non bystander's keyboard in the process and making a sworn enemy out of him until he gets a chance to wet some other innocent non bystander's keyboard. Hiding each others keys, purses, mobiles...
Damn! I am going to miss it all. Terribly :(
Spending hours sitting on a structure suspended between the second floor and the terrace of the department, gazing at the night sky, discussing life, the universe and everything...
Deciding on a whim to go to the faculty building roof at 12 in the night (inspired by five point someone?), half expecting to find people drinking vodka. Climbing 6 floors, making our way through dark corridors (feeling very much a part of a detective novel) looking for the way to the roof. Only to find that though the roof is very much there, the only way to get on it is to climb down a rickety ladder.
Four people. Three guitars. Tuned to three different pitches. One song (Uthe sab ke kadam...). Girls Hotel terrace. Again past midnight. It must have been cacophony, but to us it was pure music!
Past 1 A.M. Basketball court. A bunch of super enthusiastic classmates, most of whom had never touched a basketball before. And one of the most enjoyable games of basketball ever, despite me being blinded halfway because of broken backup specs. Surprisingly, I have one more pair to spare. When did I become one of those people who have a second backup for everything? Noooooooo I didn't, this just happened to happen.
M Tech second year students ready to play anytime I whip out a sponge ball (a very cute birthday gift with the original yahoo smiley drawn on it). 20 somethings who are soon going to take up responsible jobs actually making faces at each other, the same faces that tiny tots 20 years their juniors make in play school. Going from lab to lab, asking people to narrate their love stories or lack of them. Water fighting in someone else's lab, wetting some innocent non bystander's keyboard in the process and making a sworn enemy out of him until he gets a chance to wet some other innocent non bystander's keyboard. Hiding each others keys, purses, mobiles...
Damn! I am going to miss it all. Terribly :(
Sunday, April 02, 2006
Been a while since I got back from the ski trip. An amazing week filled with trains, rocks, snowfall, snow, skis and fireplaces. Snowfall is breathtakingly beautiful, snow simply amazing! Rock climbing is a little scarier than I thought but as much fun. Skiing is a lot more hard work than I'd ever imagined! But once you learn enough to be able to zoom down the slope fast enough to get the feel of a free fall, there are few things better. Presenting some random snapshots of the week.
Whether they were coming back from lunch, dinner, skiing or a short 5 minute stroll in the sun, the moment anyone entered the room they made a beeline for the fireplace. A small stove kind of a thing that ran on gas, it was a life saver! Frozen body parts, frozen gloves, wet socks, damp shoes, there was nothing it couldn't set right. I'm sure none of us have looked at God with as much devotion and hope! And even incidents like someone's shoe catching fire could do nothing to lessen it. I dried and re-dried Anjali's gloves so much that they shrank a couple of sizes at least. Varun and I had planned on giving one glove each to our respective kids so that if they ever meet at Kumbh Mela... But Anjali liked the shrunk version so much, she took them away :(
It amazing how one snowfall can turn a barren mountainside into a thriving market! Suddenly there were shops, snow mobiles, snow carts, yaks and scores of instructors. What was more surprising was the number of tourists that suddenly sprang up to meet the supply. Oh how I envy people who can turn up in Manali on a Thursday, on barely a day's notice! Took a short yak ride up the mountain, my yak being uncharacteristically reluctant to climb. I wonder why. Also slid down the mountain sitting inside a truck's tube. Reminded me how much fun simple things can be. Also discovered that the inside portion of a truck's tube is not as spacious as one would like it to be.
Chandigarh. Never seen a city so obsessed with cleanliness. Even the railway station is clean. The lady in charge of the waiting room actually drove us and our baggage out so that the room could be cleaned. Waiting rooms are meant to be cleaned. That people use it for waiting is only incidental, a nuisance at best. The platform cleaner was no better. Neither we nor our baggage came up to his standards of cleanliness and so we all got doused with water. He would have scrubbed us too if only we'd let him! Only when I landed at Lucknow station and was welcomed by a cow and the accompanying smells did those little inconveniences seem worth it.
Whether they were coming back from lunch, dinner, skiing or a short 5 minute stroll in the sun, the moment anyone entered the room they made a beeline for the fireplace. A small stove kind of a thing that ran on gas, it was a life saver! Frozen body parts, frozen gloves, wet socks, damp shoes, there was nothing it couldn't set right. I'm sure none of us have looked at God with as much devotion and hope! And even incidents like someone's shoe catching fire could do nothing to lessen it. I dried and re-dried Anjali's gloves so much that they shrank a couple of sizes at least. Varun and I had planned on giving one glove each to our respective kids so that if they ever meet at Kumbh Mela... But Anjali liked the shrunk version so much, she took them away :(
It amazing how one snowfall can turn a barren mountainside into a thriving market! Suddenly there were shops, snow mobiles, snow carts, yaks and scores of instructors. What was more surprising was the number of tourists that suddenly sprang up to meet the supply. Oh how I envy people who can turn up in Manali on a Thursday, on barely a day's notice! Took a short yak ride up the mountain, my yak being uncharacteristically reluctant to climb. I wonder why. Also slid down the mountain sitting inside a truck's tube. Reminded me how much fun simple things can be. Also discovered that the inside portion of a truck's tube is not as spacious as one would like it to be.
Chandigarh. Never seen a city so obsessed with cleanliness. Even the railway station is clean. The lady in charge of the waiting room actually drove us and our baggage out so that the room could be cleaned. Waiting rooms are meant to be cleaned. That people use it for waiting is only incidental, a nuisance at best. The platform cleaner was no better. Neither we nor our baggage came up to his standards of cleanliness and so we all got doused with water. He would have scrubbed us too if only we'd let him! Only when I landed at Lucknow station and was welcomed by a cow and the accompanying smells did those little inconveniences seem worth it.
Saturday, March 11, 2006
To the kind soul who had wandered this far,
This post consists solely of the ramblings of someone who has not written in some time and will not be able to for some more. So if you are looking for coherence, meaning or anything remotely interesting, please look elsewhere.
Wait. Wait... I changed my mind. Feeling too lazy to ramble so just the highlights.
a) The weather is just glorious!
b) My guide took us out to lunch yesterday. Amazing food!
c) I finally rode a motorcycle here!! Refer to a) for the weather conditions. A couple of rounds of the academic area with a friend sitting behind and I didn't fall or stop! The only blemish on my record was that I followed a cycle-rickshaw wala for some time, too scared to overtake. A high speed ride as the pillion rider and I was wishing I could break my legs just to get a bike inside! Okay I rambled, but this is special!
d) I leave today for a week long skiing trip to Manali! Finally!! My first look at snow... Reminds me of a couple of twenty somethings who were seeing the sea for the first time. Their independent first reactions were - "The water is so salty"! I hope I have something better to say!
This post consists solely of the ramblings of someone who has not written in some time and will not be able to for some more. So if you are looking for coherence, meaning or anything remotely interesting, please look elsewhere.
Wait. Wait... I changed my mind. Feeling too lazy to ramble so just the highlights.
a) The weather is just glorious!
b) My guide took us out to lunch yesterday. Amazing food!
c) I finally rode a motorcycle here!! Refer to a) for the weather conditions. A couple of rounds of the academic area with a friend sitting behind and I didn't fall or stop! The only blemish on my record was that I followed a cycle-rickshaw wala for some time, too scared to overtake. A high speed ride as the pillion rider and I was wishing I could break my legs just to get a bike inside! Okay I rambled, but this is special!
d) I leave today for a week long skiing trip to Manali! Finally!! My first look at snow... Reminds me of a couple of twenty somethings who were seeing the sea for the first time. Their independent first reactions were - "The water is so salty"! I hope I have something better to say!
Sunday, February 26, 2006
And 12 days later, I'm back! How much disciple does that imply? Some, but nowhere near enough. And I've come up with an explanation for its absence. Even after taking into account the prescribed dosage of movies/books/bulla, there are two kinds of people in this world - those who count every minute and those who don't. And I am the queen of the latter! I never say no to anything - be it being the 13th girl in a basketball game (which is 5 a side game), or being the one to go early and stand in the queue in a theater, or watching a movie for a second time within the span of a month. You name it, I'm your girl! The thing is, I don't feel I am wasting time, I feel I should feel I am wasting time. I've been pondering about the possibility of attaching artificial value to my time. 'Cause people will value your time only if you do. So the next time you want someone to go to the flower show with you, I'm going to be too busy! Even though I may have nothing better to do and might be dying to go there myself.
An observation on the counting class (Ha! That's one name I remember from my Computational Complexity class!). They do use some of the minutes they count, but in general they seem satisfied with the count of minutes they have not spent doing something light/enjoyable/pointless, and don't bother too much about what they actually spend that saved time on.
An observation on the counting class (Ha! That's one name I remember from my Computational Complexity class!). They do use some of the minutes they count, but in general they seem satisfied with the count of minutes they have not spent doing something light/enjoyable/pointless, and don't bother too much about what they actually spend that saved time on.
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
The frequency of posts on my blog is directly proportional to the discipline in my life. If I am in one of my eat-watch movie-sleep cycles, you are unlikely to be treated to a peak into my life. 'Cos believe it or not, it takes time on my hands and space in my head to come up with this rubbish. Whereas if I am in my eat-work-watch movie-play-sleep cycle, I am more likely to be hit by an idea or an incident. And that is when this blog comes to life.
This post? Is an indication of an attempted transition from the former cycle to the latter. Hoping to be back here sometime soon!
This post? Is an indication of an attempted transition from the former cycle to the latter. Hoping to be back here sometime soon!
Thursday, January 26, 2006
Dame Falls-A-Lot. Yeah, sounds nice, suite me to a tee, think I am going to make it my name. (Minus the dashes, in case you were wondering). And before you accuse me of having delusions of grandeur, let me state that if Phoebe (Buffey, of course) can be Princess Consuela Bananahammock, I can certainly be a Dame. And before you accuse me of being addicted to a T.V. series, I admit I am. I only stopped watching F.R.I.E.N.D.S when I could mouth the dialogues with the characters. I am getting addicted to another series, but that is material for another post.
Coming back to the topic. These past months, I've been falling. A lot. Well, no, that's not entirely true. I've been having weird, embarrassing accidents and getting stitched up a lot. (But Dame Gets-Stitched-A-Lot is not as cool, with or without the dashes). A stitched upper lip, a stiff index finger that I can't bend a month after the stitches came off, a grazed palm that cannot be bandaged, that forces me offer two fingers as a handshake, a sprained shoulder that can "act up" whether I am playing badminton or tug of war or sleeping... life's been a bed of rose bushes minus the roses. With a birthday coming up and my loving friends on a mass recruitment drive to find people to "pick me and kick me", the bushes are likely to be devoid of roses, atleast in the foreseeable future.
Coming back to the topic. These past months, I've been falling. A lot. Well, no, that's not entirely true. I've been having weird, embarrassing accidents and getting stitched up a lot. (But Dame Gets-Stitched-A-Lot is not as cool, with or without the dashes). A stitched upper lip, a stiff index finger that I can't bend a month after the stitches came off, a grazed palm that cannot be bandaged, that forces me offer two fingers as a handshake, a sprained shoulder that can "act up" whether I am playing badminton or tug of war or sleeping... life's been a bed of rose bushes minus the roses. With a birthday coming up and my loving friends on a mass recruitment drive to find people to "pick me and kick me", the bushes are likely to be devoid of roses, atleast in the foreseeable future.
Tuesday, January 10, 2006
Saturday, January 07, 2006
Life generally consists (or is supposed to consist) of activities that add up to your future. You study for that exam, work for that pay packet, practice for that match, pass up the second helping of cake in the hope of getting into that dress. Anything done for the present in considered an indulgence. Be it that movie or book or game or chocolate. But sometimes there comes a moment that makes your present so profound that it becomes a part of you and thus of your future.
I watched Nayakan today. I have no words to describe the experience except to say it was one such moment.
I watched Nayakan today. I have no words to describe the experience except to say it was one such moment.
Tuesday, December 27, 2005
"If your girlfriend says she wants to talk to you at 5 in the morning and you don't have an alarm clock, you will of course stay up all night. That is the kind of passion you should have for sports", said Kapil Dev when he inaugurated the 41st Inter-IIT sports meet at Roorkee. Do I have that kind of passion? Err... well... no, or I would not still be struggling with my tosses and smashes. The lack of passion however did not stand in the way of a thoroughly enjoyable week spent at IIT Roorkee. There were so many firsts, I don't know where to begin.
It was the first time I was living with a gang of girls all younger to me. I was promptly christened "Super Amma" and was expected to take care of the lot. An expectation which I cruelly crushed on the very first day by losing the house keys. Singing, dancing (not me, of course), breaking the 10 o'clock "curfew", climbing over closed gates and running away from the pursuing watchman, imposing atrocious crushes on one another - we did it all!
It was the first time I had hot chocolate and it was love at first sip! We (I should not take all the credit) managed to finish their hot chocolate supply within two days of our arrival and had to spend the rest of our days licking our lips in memory.
It was the first time I saw hooting as it should not be. Dirty, personal and irrelevant, I'm sure it equally disturbed players of both sides. At times, it even seemed to have a life of its own, independent of the match. There was good hooting too, my favourite being
"Bombay/Delhi/... tum sangarsh karo
Hum tumhare saath hain
Tum hamare bete ho
Hum tumhare baap hain!"
which we adapted for girls matches as
"Bombay/Delhi/... tum sangarsh karo
Hum tumhare saath hain
Tum hamari bahuen ho
Hum tumhari saas hain!"
It was the first time I had 6 meals a day! Almost everyday. Three in the mess and three in the canteen. And at least half of them involved paneer/cheese. It's a wonder I didn't get to a stage where I could form the badminton doubles team all by myself!
Most importantly, it was the first time I participated in a tournament. Saw the pressure, the tension. Got nervous in my first tough match. Realized in the second that nervousness can be controlled. Played decently and we won the gold (!!), all thanks to a brilliant captain, a dedicated coach, and the super-patient and enthusiastic folks back home at Persistent who got me started.
All said and done, there is no place like Inter-IIT to motivate you. It shows you how far you have to go and makes you wish you were there yesterday!
It was the first time I was living with a gang of girls all younger to me. I was promptly christened "Super Amma" and was expected to take care of the lot. An expectation which I cruelly crushed on the very first day by losing the house keys. Singing, dancing (not me, of course), breaking the 10 o'clock "curfew", climbing over closed gates and running away from the pursuing watchman, imposing atrocious crushes on one another - we did it all!
It was the first time I had hot chocolate and it was love at first sip! We (I should not take all the credit) managed to finish their hot chocolate supply within two days of our arrival and had to spend the rest of our days licking our lips in memory.
It was the first time I saw hooting as it should not be. Dirty, personal and irrelevant, I'm sure it equally disturbed players of both sides. At times, it even seemed to have a life of its own, independent of the match. There was good hooting too, my favourite being
"Bombay/Delhi/... tum sangarsh karo
Hum tumhare saath hain
Tum hamare bete ho
Hum tumhare baap hain!"
which we adapted for girls matches as
"Bombay/Delhi/... tum sangarsh karo
Hum tumhare saath hain
Tum hamari bahuen ho
Hum tumhari saas hain!"
It was the first time I had 6 meals a day! Almost everyday. Three in the mess and three in the canteen. And at least half of them involved paneer/cheese. It's a wonder I didn't get to a stage where I could form the badminton doubles team all by myself!
Most importantly, it was the first time I participated in a tournament. Saw the pressure, the tension. Got nervous in my first tough match. Realized in the second that nervousness can be controlled. Played decently and we won the gold (!!), all thanks to a brilliant captain, a dedicated coach, and the super-patient and enthusiastic folks back home at Persistent who got me started.
All said and done, there is no place like Inter-IIT to motivate you. It shows you how far you have to go and makes you wish you were there yesterday!
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