The one with the chrome grille

Exams are done. Another semester has passed. I’m four months older, but I have no idea how much wiser I am for it. Actually, I’d say I am considerably wiser. This has been one very busy sem, so if anything I’ve learned that things do not get easier with time :D

I read this article about the Fiat Linea today. Fiat will launch it sometime early next year. It will go head to head with the Honda City, Ford Fiesta, Maruti SX4 et al. And honestly, I think it’s the best looking car in its segment. There’s something about Italian cars. They’re beautiful. No other words. Just beautiful. Even the ones that aren’t easy on the eye will end up grabbing your attention. I guess it’s in their blood. The Italians have been masters of aesthetics and proportions ever since da Vinci put brush to canvas. You’ll never see something as radical as a Swift or as boring as a Corolla roll off an Italian assembly line. (Even the really boxy ones like the Fiat 124/Premier 118 have some redeeming qualities. They look noble and imposing from some angles) It’s another matter that until recently all those pretty Italian cars would break down at a moment’s notice. But they’ve been getting better all through this decade, which is a good thing. Art that you can live with.

One thing that struck me about the Linea is the fake chrome grille. Very few modern cars can actually pull off a full chrome grille. Some do away with the grille all together (A-Star, Spark), some have a barely-there grille (new Fiesta). Most have chrome bordering a black/body colour grille. But chrome on the Linea looks elegant, not overdone.

It reminds me of our car back home. We have a Premier Padmini/Fiat 1100-D. When it was launched back in the ‘60s it had a full chrome grille too. I love that car. Just thinking about it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy and nostalgic. The fact is that older cars have soul. Some quirks that you get used to, that make them more endearing.

Call me old-fashioned, but I’d much rather have a column-shift than a floor-shift. You can actually feel the gears in this car slot into place, instead of the slick-but-vague feedback an 800 gives you (and I can’t really compare it with anything else, since these are the only two cars I’ve driven) Yes, it is very underpowered. But how fast are you going to go in the city anyway? You barely floor the accelerator and you’re already at the next signal. Or there’s some fool cow on the road. Plus, the engine’s simple enough that pretty much any mechanic anywhere can fix it. And it’s much safer than half the vehicles on the road. I don’t see any reason why I should get a new car.

In other news, I’m reading the compulsive confessor’s book right now. It’s very light and breezy, like her blog. And I like that the protagonist doesn’t refer to herself in the plural in the chapter title, the way eM does in her blog. I guess we all do that from time to time. It just seems more flattering to refer to yourself in the plural. (Note to self: If I do write a book as well, I can’t title the chapters “The one with…” I need to come up with something new)

My ticket back home is still in RAC. Hope it gets confirmed soon. Fingers crossed!

The one with the background music

The semester is winding to an end, and I’ll be back home in exactly six days. And the weather is just as glorious as ever. In fact, it’s even colder now and I’m starting to appreciate things I didn’t mention in my other post about the winter. Like even though the water coming out of the geyser can be scalding, it’s actually better this way. Or that concrete is a reasonably good insulator (Okay, fine. There’s nothing romantic about the temperature going below 10°C at night. Happy?)

Really, there’s very little to upset me right now. Yes, my exams are going on. And yes, there is that extremely crazy terrorist attack on Bombay (which seemed to have ended, but not quite) But then, exams are a part of life when you’re a student. And as far as Bombay goes, well, just remember that far more people die on the road in that very same city every year. I mean, yes it is a despicable act. But how many of your freedoms are you willing to forego in the long run, to defend yourself from something that may or may not happen? Remember that at the end of the day most people are living longer, healthier and happier lives on an average. If you live in urban India you’ve got a better chance of developing diabetes than of dying in a terrorist attack. What do you say about that?

All I’m saying is that let’s not go overboard here. Yes, we need to take some action. Yes, we can’t let this keep happening. But tackling terrorism needs a change in the whole system, a change in people’s mindset. Cursing the terrorists and then promptly forgetting everything about it when the crisis blows over won’t cut it anymore. And since my blog isn’t the place to talk about this kind of stuff, I’ll stop here.

I watched Casino Royale again last week. And ever since, I’ve been compulsively listening to the title song, “You Know My Name”. Hell, I’ve even made the chorus of the song my ringtone. I’ve realized that what life really needs is background music. I guess every blogger must’ve been tagged at least once to make a soundtrack for his/her life. But just think how cool it would be if you could have the Mission Impossible theme playing while you work on a tough paper. And then have the Ode to Joy play after you hand in your answer sheet and walk out of the exam hall. “Danger Zone” when you’re stuck in rush hour traffic. Think of the possibilities!

Maybe all those iPod junkies have the right idea. Create your own mood wherever you go. And with the insanely huge memories that these portable players can have, it isn’t bloody difficult. And they have earphones, so that what’s in your head stays in your head. (Now I know what I want for my next birthday!)

Hopefully, I’ll squeeze in another post before I go back home. But if I don’t, this is my last post of the year from Pune! (And that’s what you should do with life itself. Make the little things seem big so you actually want to do them :D)

The one with the rest of my life

It's always fun to talk to Undefeated. She gives me perspective, and she claims I give her perspective as well (you'd think we were a couple of giant mirrors. Okay, one average-sized and one small mirror. Don't tell her though. She's touchy about her lack of "tallness" :D)

Anyway, there's this one thing I told her on Sunday that's coming back to haunt me.

"In six months, you're going to have to face the rest of your life"

She graduates in April and she's not quite sure what to do next. But the reason it's coming back to haunt me is this. I can't believe I was still in school only three years ago. It almost feels like it happened in another lifetime. But more importantly, when I graduate in three years will I be ready to face the rest of my life? I mean, all my life I've been trapped in this cocoon. I haven't ever had to go out and fight for myself or live in the real world, so to speak. And when I chose to do an integrated Master's program, I bought myself more time in an idealized world, where everything works (for the most part) and life is cushy.

My capacity to fight on, to try and hold on to the past surprises me. Scares me, actually. The only reason I've stopped going to my old school to meet my teachers is that the school itself has changed so much. It's like some monstrosity that hires out its premises for "coaching classes" and does whatever it can to get corporate funding. The only people I'm really close to outside my family are people I've known from school. Granted, it's probably my fault for not getting to know the people here in college better, but I don't know how to proceed when this is what my roommate has to say about me (check out the comments as well). And yes, a substantial portion of the time I spend on the phone is with a girl I'm supposedly over. (I don't know for sure if I am, so don't ask)

I don't know. Maybe this post isn't so much about the rest of my life as it is about the things I'm afraid of in the present. Maybe exam season, and the weather are getting to me. Maybe I just need to blow off some steam. I'm gonna go get a double shot of espresso and play darts.

The one with the maroon lampposts

I apologise for an earlier post where I said there was no way that the development work for the Commonwealth Youth Games would be completed as scheduled. As it turned out it did happen as per schedule, and now the road outside my hostel is a smooth, wide 4-laner. Sweet!

What’s even better is that they’ve put up new lampposts and benches on the pavement. These aren’t your run-of-the-mill silver lampposts, or flat benches. No sir, the lamps have pseudo-wrought metalwork, and the benches have curved metal armrests. Also, this road is filled with Central Govt. establishments, whose compound walls have all been painted brick-red very recently. Plus it’s a very green part of the city and not too many people live here. The result is a road that's so much easier on the eyes. I daresay it even looks faintly colonial. However, the lampposts have been painted maroon and that just looks wrong.

It’s fun to sit on one of these benches and watch traffic whizz by, watch the sun set, the sky slowly fade to darkness, feel the chill of the evening creep up on you, try to recognise the constellations overhead (I was interested in astronomy while I was in school). Later in the evening, you put on a sweater, fold your arms across your chest to keep your hands warm and keep watching. You see everything, and yet you see nothing. When I’m sitting on a bench and watching is when the loneliness really hits me. I mean, I can totally picture me there with a girl, both of us in warm-ish clothing, my arm over her shoulder, sitting on one of these benches. It kinda makes sense that Valentine’s day is in February. The romance of the past three cold months needs dramatic release, and that’s exactly what happens. (By that logic, there should be another Valentine’s day in August for the Southern hemisphere. Wonder if anybody else has thought of that…)

As far as I’m concerned, winter is most definitely the most romantic season of all. I like the crisp air in my nostrils when I step out in the morning, the clear skies at night, the warm clothing. Mostly the clothing. Personally, I find sport jackets and overcoats sexy, sweaters laidback, and sweatshirts casual without trying too hard. Plus, it never goes below 20°C in Madras, so any kind of cold weather is exotic! (Although technically it can’t be winter when the maximum temperature is around 30°C, can it? That’s what the weather is like in Pune now. Weird.)

There’s something very captivating about the idea of caressing a hot latte in your hands on a cold evening, maybe even making it Irish to deal with the weather. I haven’t been able to shake it out of my head all week (and the milky crap they serve in the canteen doesn’t help matters) It’s been nearly a month since I last went to a coffee shop, and I guess it shows :D And of course, ice cream doesn’t ever taste as good as it does on a cold night. Neither does soup. Mmmm, noodle soup [Note: Friends reference ;) ]…

Really, the only thing that can mess up cold weather for me is the cold virus. And being the virus magnet that I am, I’ve caught my third cold in as many months. You might say I deserve it for my late-night ice cream runs. But I don’t care. Ice cream on a cold night is just too good to pass up!

The one with the stretchable time

The words just don't seem to flow these days. Verbal constipation, of sorts. So I'm just going to write about random things that have been happening to me, and you'd better like it.

Although to be honest, not many random things happen to me. My life is just too organized and set in its ways for random things to happen. So scratch that, I'm just going to write about things that have been happening here.

First and foremost, Chitra gave me the first six seasons of Scrubs while I was in Madras a couple of weeks back (Bless the LAN in IIT-M!) And another friend over here in Pune gave me the first 9 seasons of Friends (I don't particularly like the 10th season. It has a very rushed feel to it, making it very obvious that they were wrapping up the series)

Anyway, after watching over 100 episodes of one and all 236 of the other, I'd have to say Scrubs seems the more "natural" show. With Friends, it always seems as if one character is setting the other up for a joke. Whereas in Scrubs the comedy, even though it's more over-the-top, seems to flow more naturally. (Okay, I watch too many sitcoms. Happy?)

My institute hosted a conference last week, on "Trends in Modern Biology" We had scientists who'd come in from SOKENDAI Japan, TIFR and other places in and around Pune. I was a volunteer at the event, and I went to the airportto receive some of the delegates. After we'd introduced ourselves, one of the delegates said "Hira means diamond, doesn't it? I feel very rich here!" Her name was Hirata :-)

It wasn't all positive though. When we said we'd send them a car sometime around 8 the next morning, the leader of the delegation said "Sometime around 8? Indian time!" And they all laughed. So, yes, the whole world knows about Indian Stretchable Time. Remember that the next time you fix an appointment with someone abroad.

The conference itself was fun. Although some lectures were kinda technical and filled with jargon, it was pretty easy to follow for the most part. Plus all our lectures had been cancelled, which was even better. The flip side however is that I'm working both today and tomorrow. Even though officially both days are holidays. It's a low blow, but then again it isn't as though anybody in the hostel had planned something big for Deepavali. An atom bomb at 3 am to wake up all the poor souls who imagined they'd get some rest. That sounds about right ;-)

And on that note, I shall be off. Have a safe Deepavali!

Note: Since I'm just that much of a Friends nut, all posts till the new year will have titles like episodes of the show. Love it or leave it :-P

...where we try to slip back into the blogosphere silently

I realize I've been M.I.A. for over three weeks. Many apologies. I don't have an excuse of any kind, except maybe blogger's block. But I'm back, and I'm not gonna disappear again without giving you a heads-up.

Since I'm not one to do anything with a bang, least of all a comeback, I'm doing the tag I was tagged with twice, by pseudo and sia. However, since I'm not a big fan of tags I'm not tagging anyone else. This tag dies with me!

The rules for the tag are:

RULE #1 People who have been tagged must write their answers on their blogs and replace any question that they dislike with a new question formulated by themselves.

1. If your lover betrayed you, what will your reaction be?

Denial, I guess. Of her betrayal, and of our relationship. If she's truly sorry, I might take her back.

2. If you can have a dream come true, what would it be?

Dunno, probably one where I beat Schumacher in a Ferrari on a wet track!

3. Whose butt would you like to kick?

A lot of people I know, but I don't want to name names. Plus hooligans with those tricked out exhaust pipes that sound like they're driving a piece of heavy machinery.

4. What would you do with a billion dollars?

Buy my own Formula 1 team! And use what's left over for research into alternate fuels.

5. Will you fall in love with your best friend?

I already did, sort of. And it's a very tricky situation when that happens.

6. Which is more blessed: loving someone or being loved by someone?

Being loved, of course. As long as it's not some weirdo stalker-type. I'm not gonna be a martyr for love!

7. How long do you intend to wait for someone you love?

Till the seas curdle over and the sky falls on my head (hey, if I'm gonna be a martyr I'm gonna do it right!)

8. If the person you secretly like is attached, what will you do?

Walk away, with "Raindrops keep falling on my head" playing in the background. (yep, I'm one for filmy situations!)

9. If you could root for one social cause, what would it be?

Rational education for everyone. Everything else would fall in place if people could just think.

10. What takes you down the fastest?

Emotional pain. Whether it happens to me or anybody else.

11. Where do you see yourself in 10 years time?

I hope its in some sort of career related to science and the media. And hopefully in a relationship of some sort

12. What’s your fear?

Being told that all of my self-doubts are actually true.

13. What kind of person do you think the person who tagged you is?

(Considering that I've been tagged twice and I know pseudo personally, I'm just going to write about sia) Peppy, vibrant and wants to speak her mind. At least that's what she's like in the blogosphere.

14. Would you rather be single and rich or married and poor?

depends on how rich is rich and how poor is poor... :D

15. What’s the first thing you do when you wake up?

Lie in bed silently cursing the fact that I have to wake up.

16. If you fall in love with two people simultaneously who will you pick?

Somewhat unlikely, but everything else being equal it'd have to be the one I can connect with better.

17. Would you give all in a relationship?
Totally. Eventually, you find out that that's the only way.
18. Would you forgive and forget someone no matter how horrible a thing he has done?

I might forgive, I probably won't forget. I would most likely try to block the whole thing frm my memory.

19. Do you prefer being single or in a relationship?

A relationship for sure. I'm needy! :D

And that's all for now. I'll be back soon at a computer near you!

'tis the season...

Exam season is here again. Funnily, this has been a semester of mini-seasons. Late August was the season for clubs. The last two weeks were cold season. And no, that wasn't just me. Nearly 10 % of my classmates had colds, coughs, sneezes, sore throats and the like. What can I say, misery loves company. And so does the cold virus.

Of course the flip side to exam season is that I get to go back to Madras once they're over. I get the first week of October off. So, yay! It's a pity that good things come in small packages, but a week is better than nothing at all. The bigger pity is that my first exam is tomorrow.

The other good thing is that because I've started specializing this year, I only have 4 papers this semester. And probably no more than 5 papers in any semester till I graduate (evil laughter) That feels good. I haven't done the evil laughter bit for quite some time now :)

In other news, Vodafone is acting up again. For some reason I can't call non-Vodafone numbers between 8 and 10 pm. And that sucks because that's when I do most of my calling. The worst part is that I can't even call the Vodafone helpline and blast them, because calls won't go through to them even! Am I the only one with Vodafone woes? (BTW, the only reason I'm not switching networks is that Airtel's connectivity is bad in my area, and Idea's customer service is worse than Vodafone)

I suppose the right thing to say now is that you'll hear from me once I get back to Madras. But that would be a lie. I'm pretty sure that my portions are going to frustrate me, and that I'll get bored often enough to write at least two more posts here before I leave. Watch this space!

Things I have realized in the past week:

Colds suck: Okay, this isn't a new realization but I’ve had a particularly persistent cold all of this week. And it didn’t respond very well to the regular cold treatments (Coldarin, strepsils, steam inhalation…the works) And waking up with a blocked nose, scratchy throat and pounding headache isn’t pleasant at the best of times. It’s worse when the weather is wet.

Climate change is real: Not that I needed any more evidence (Al Gore did a brilliant job of scaring me with An Inconvenient Truth) but this is the wettest weather that Pune’s had in September as far as I can remember. Granted I’ve only had two years experience to go by, but still it shouldn’t be this cloudy and damp in September!

There’s no way the CYG will go as per schedule: Pune is the host of the 3rd Commonwealth Youth Games. And as would be expected they put up countdown clocks in different places across the city. Now there’s less than a month to go. Plenty of roads need to be widened and re-laid. And other support infrastructure stinks. For all my misgivings about Pune, I want them to put up a good show, since the stuff they build now will serve the city for some time. And yes, the rain is certainly not helping.

It’s very easy to go into a blue mood: Normally I’m the wet-weather fan. I’d love nothing more than to walk in the rain and get soaked. But a week of cloudy skies just doesn’t cut it. Hell, I’ve even gone to starting my conversation over the phone with “It’s still overcast here”

You always need someone who’ll make you feel like a million bucks: Especially when aforementioned blue moods strike. Somebody who’s close enough to have an interest in your well being. The last thing you need when you’re feeling down is flattery (the last thing I need, at any rate) It’s amazing how a kind word can drive the blahs away.


I have no right to impose the crap in my life on to anyone else: Least of all on to somebody reading this blog. I’ve written about this before already (Incidentally, that’s why I haven’t posted anything new in here for nearly two weeks)

Downloading torrents isn’t as great as it ought to be: For one, it’s hard to find a good torrent client for Mac. For another, it’s pretty slow. Direct downloads are so much faster right now. And the worst part is that there’s no net in my hostel, so I have to do all my downloading by Wi-Fi.

I need B cups: According to a men-only quiz I took on Facebook, I would need a B-cup bra. Not that I ever asked, but it’s good to know :-P
Incidentally, by a show of comments, how many of you actually like the “new” Facebook? I don’t particularly like the tabbed separation of your profile contents. But that’s just me.

And latest realization: No matter how self-involved it seems, it's fun to link back to your own posts!

What are they feeding you?

It's the season for clubs here! No, neither night, nor Old Fellows'. I'm talking about those associations that every college has. For dramatics, speaking, art, sports etc. etc. etc.

See, for the last two years we didn't have the numbers or the space for any kind of club activities. (Remember, new institute) Now that we have the space (sort of) and the numbers (again, sort of), clubs are coming up like toadstools after a rainy night. It's nice to see some extra curricular activity happening here for a change. After all, too much science never did anyone any good.

I believe that now I'm officially addicted to Scrubs. I've got around a hundred episodes downloaded so far, and I must've seen all the ones I downloaded at least twice so far. All within the space of two weeks, mind you. (That's good use of a widescreen laptop, in my opinion :D) I guess what makes Scrubs so appealing is the fantasies. They're all so totally over-the-top that you have to drop everything and watch. Like the stand-up sequences in Seinfeld. Or Phoebe's songs on Friends.

Gotta run now. I have to send in my proposal for a quiz club today, or I may for ever hold my peace (actually, until the next sem. But this sounds cooler, don't it?)

P.S. I just noticed that ymitif is 50 posts old. Yay!

More new vistas

Tata launched the new Indica yesterday. It's called the Indica Vista. (Feel free to groan, or retch, as you see fit) That means Slow start up, frequent stalling and it's gonna be a resource hog like nothing before. And people across the board will want the old version to come back. Oh, wait, sorry. We're talking about Tata here, not Microsoft :D

But seriously, when it comes to car names, why would you give it a name as blah as "vista"? Especially given the kind of bad images that the name "vista" brings up? Judging by the design, Tata wants it to be an aspirational family hatchback, if I'm not mistaken. And it will cost more than a lakh over the current Indica. Why vista, then? Why?! Automotive forums are already filling up with jokes about how the car will need more RAM and crash more often.

About the car itself, well, meh. The design is no great shakes. It looks like a blend of a European and Korean hatch in profile, but the front is bad. Finally, there's a front end that looks worse than the Swift. Honestly, what's with the swoopy, slash headlights? And the angled grille? It just looks jarring, if anything.

Thing is, I'm a big fan of the old Indica's design. It looks cute and hides its bulk well (admit it, the Indica is the most spacious hatch in its price range) The new car just doesn't look right, somehow. But hey, that's just my opinion. Judge for yourself.

Little boxes, little boxes...

Ever realize how easy it is to fall back on your identities? The boxes other people put you into. Right now, the ones I choose to fall into are bio-geek, non-jock, tamil. Never mind the fact that I just met a couple of 1st year students discussing families of fungi to pass time, I took up running and making a conscious effort to get into shape. And that it’s been over 5 years since I wrote a full sentence in tamil.

Why do I choose to fall into these boxes? It’s simple. Bio-geek means I don’t have to be particularly bothered about my physics grades, or anything my physicist batchmates say in general. Non-jock means I don’t have to try to play football and look stupid. And tamil means I don’t have to pretend to enjoy, well.. anything “northie”. I know, it makes me sound like a wuss of the first order. But that’s what you do in the face of change. Go with the tide. Go against the tide strong enough that you look eccentric, but people follow you anyway. Or box yourself in, hiding, hoping it all goes away. Hey, I’m cancerian. That’s what I have my shell for. To hide in.

AV, you wanted to know about the “back to Pune blues”? Here they are.

In other news, a new batch of students have joined my institute. It’s a little scary that so many of them look like they’re straight out of the classic nerd mould. You know, thick-rimmed glasses, awkward build drooping shoulders. The works. Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe as a percentage of the batch they’re not very much more. Damn, I hope I’m wrong.

Tagged again

Chitra tagged me. And since I was just bored enough to do it, I did. There are 30 - 3 questions in the tag. I'd like to know who came up with them first...

1. What's your latest addiction?
Chocolate chip cookies. Just rediscovered the addiction, actually

2. What are you listening to?
Kangal irandal from Subramaniapuram. The tune is simply fantastic.

3. How late did you stay up last night and why?
Midnight. I was supposed to keep tabs on a friend, and fell asleep on the job :(

4. Who were you with last Friday night?
Technically, alone. My roommate doesn’t count, cos I see him every night.

5. Do you think you will be in a relationship 3 months from now?
Unlikely, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed :)

6. When is the next time you'll see your close friends?
Probably around October. (That reminds me, I really have to go book my ticket to Madras)

7. What were you doing this morning at 7am?
Sitting up groggily, trying to shake the sleep out of my eyes

8. What radio station do you listen to the most?
92.7 F.M.

9. What was the reason you last cried?
It must’ve been over a year back. I’m kinda sketchy about the reason, though

10. Have you ever talked to someone when they were high?
Yeah, unfortunately.

11. What's the fifth text in your inbox say?
“Processing request for a refill of INR 100.0. Please pay to retailer” :)


12. Where was the last coffee shop you went to?
Coffee Day in IIT-M, about two weeks back

13. What's your outfit right now?
A polo and sweat pants

[No 14 and 15]

16. What were you doing at 11pm last night?
Watching Scary Movie 3 (yeah, yeah. Think what you will)

17. Who was the last person you talked to last night before bed?
Arpit. I needed some software for Albus (Yes, I'm going to work Albus into as many posts as I can)

18. Will you be driving in a year?
I already have my licence, if that’s what you’re asking…

19. Is there anything that you are craving right now?
Right now, no. But I woke up this morning wanting some of Mithali's delicious garlic bread.

20. When did your last hug take place?
August 1st, with dad and mum just before I boarded the train to Pune.

[No 21 either.]

22. Have you ever started a sentence with "No offense, but..."?
Occasionally, yeah.

23. Do you drink tea?
Yes. Black with no sugar and just a hint of lime. Chai is just too sweet.

24. Have you ever been arrested?
No. And I don’t intend to be.

25. Have you rode in someone else's car today?
No

26. Have you made a mistake this past week?
Not that I know of.

27. Who was the last person you texted?
AV

28. Are you happy with your life right now?
Well, not over-the-top happy. But I’m content with my life right now.

29. In the past 72 hours have you been under the influence?
No. Nobody good to drink with here :D

30. What's the connection between you and the last person you texted?
Best friend’s sister. Plus counselor, when she has the time.

I'm not tagging anyone. Take it up if it looks interesting.

In the last 48 hours

It’s funny how I find myself thinking, nay ruminating, a lot more now that I’m down with a cold. It’s almost as if my thoughts were escaping out my nose and the only way to stop them was to partially block the exit with snot. Yep, it’s gross. Why should I be the only one who’s gonna be miserable today?

I was looking through some notes that I made in my journal some time ago and I came across a piece I didn’t complete. The gist of what I wrote before I stopped is this: the worst fate that can befall a person is not thinking. Now though, I’m not so sure it’d be all that bad. It’s very easy to fall into the trap of aimless wondering, which could lead to self doubt, or worse. By the way, I can’t quite remember why I didn’t finish writing that. Maybe the strain of thinking about thinking was too much for me.

It’s been another wet weekend here in Pune. Miserably wet, if you don’t like the rain. Or are sick. Thankfully, the rain hasn’t been too heavy, because we really could do without new potholes. In fact, in 2007 the condition of the roads was actually an issue during the Municipal elections. Every newspaper had articles about potholes almost every day, including the gossip rags *cough* Times of India *cough*
The fact that the rain isn’t particularly heavy now is a cause for concern. I haven’t looked at the official data, but the general consensus is that the monsoons are starting earlier, pouring heavier in June and August, less in July and less rainfall overall. Commentators have also said that the unique geography of the Indian sub-continent has shielded us from the effects of climate change. But maybe there’s only so much that the Himalayas can do when everything else changes.

And to wind up, fun cold fact. The reason your phlegm is yellow when you have a cold is because bacteria that are normally under control in your nose have a surfeit of snot to gorge on. And the reason that there’s a surfeit in the first place is because that’s how the cold virus gets around.

....

Go, navigate away from this page. I have a conscience. I can’t willfully gross you out more than this.

Update 11/8/08: As it turned out, yesterday was pretty wet with landslides on the Pune-Bombay Expressway. And there's more rain expected later this week. Plus, my cold wasn't all that bad today, but it's still fun to think I can gross people out :D

The era of Albus

Exactly eight days back I got a new laptop. Yes, I’ve put the old Toshiba to rest. For now, that is. I think my dad’s thinking of patching it up and using it now. After all, it was a pretty solid laptop. Four years and no hiccups, except for a battery that conked off in late 2006. And it was pretty decently specced for a late 2003 model.

Anyway, this post isn’t to remember things past. It’s to look to the future. And the future is… wait for it… a little more…here goes…

An Apple MacBook!!!

Allow me to indulge myself for now. I won’t get all geeky and fill the page with processor speeds and amounts of memory and compare it to other laptops. Although, in case you're interested, the spec sheet is over here. (Mine's the MB403LL/A)Suffice to say that it looks brilliant, it’s great to use, I don’t have to worry about Windows viruses (ha!). And that I got it on a student’s discount (you might be able to as well. Check this out)

Yes, it’s been smooth sailing so far. Until the day before yesterday, that is. An upstart second-year student came up to me, asked me about my laptop (I’m thinking of calling it Albus, cos it’s white. Maybe Niveus… hmmm…)

Anyway, he asked me how much I paid for it. And then when I told him, the lousy bugger tells me he paid 4k less for the same model. I mean WTF!!!

And that brings me to a very sobering fact. No matter what you do and how cocky you feel about it, there will always be some upstart who goes one better.

End of story. Class dismissed.

P.S. I missed watching the opening ceremony of the Olympics cos I was watching old episodes of Scrubs on Albus (Albus it is). But I’ll make it a point to watch the closing ceremony.

P.P.S. Just because I named my laptop Albus doesn’t mean I’m some kind of Harry Potter nut. And to clarify, I wouldn’t name it Voldemort if it were black. Nor Sirius. (Note to self: STOP!!!)

And all good things...

...must come to an end. In a week's time I'll be off to Pune again. And I've never wanted to not go back more than I have now.

This has probably been the best vacation ever. Or, at least, in the last three years. To start off, I had a really good first month. Lazing around, sleeping late, waking late... the works. Then, my cousin lent me his old bike, which meant freedom! Or as much freedom as you can get on a 9 year old, 100cc bike. A bike that was in a pretty awful state of tune when I first got it.Still, it beats haggling with auto drivers so I'm not complaining.

Then I joined this theatre company. And boy, has it been the ride of a lifetime. The hours are pretty strenuous, and I didn't get to learn too much on the production and tech side of things (which is what I joined them for in the first place). I was working backstage for a few shows they staged in Madras. And let me tell you, when you listen to the applause from the audience at the end of a good show, there's no better feeling. All the running around, things getting lost at the last minute, people yelling, deadlines not being met...none of it matters during that moment. You're exhausted after 3 shows in two days, but you're also elated and the effort seems to be worth it after all. And that high is something you keep working towards, as Flighty told me today. It's very hard to walk away from theatre, no matter in what way you're involved, she said.

The company as such is pretty young. It's only in it's fifth year. And the oldest person who's a regular employee is 31. I didn't have to try very hard to fit in. And most importantly, there's Flighty. I swear, I think we'd have a chance, IF ONLY I DIDN'T HAVE TO GO BACK TO PUNE!!!!

Anyway, the inevitable must be faced. I just booked my return ticket to Pune today. My project this sem will have to be an especially good one to get me out of the deep blue funk that I will be in when I get off that train :(

Sigh. It was a good summer.

The top five useless accessories on public transport...

#5: Chevy, Dodge and Chrysler badges on Bajaj autos (Pune) I'm not kidding

#4: Stickers on autos that say "OK" (Bangalore). OK followed by the owner's name, current year, "good", "Super" whatever.Holographic stickers, at that

#3: Super weird grilles on Premier Padmini taxis (Bombay) I don't think I saw a single taxi with the standard fake-chrome grille the last time I was there.

#2: LEDs and Neon interior lights in taxis (again, Bombay) As a British car magazine spoke of a certain car model. "The lights give it all the subtlety of a Soho sex shop" ;-)

And the most useless accessory seen on public transport in India is...

Fare meters in autos (Madras)
They're never bloody used!

All my bags are packed...

I copied "Leaving on a Jet Plane" from Vod a few days ago, and now I can't get the song out of my head. Hence the lame title. Incidentally, Vod has actually left on a jet plane. And he's actually not sure when he'll be back again. Maybe it's not such a lame title after all then.

Got back from a trip to Bangalore this morning. It's nice to get away from the city for a couple of days. It's even nicer when it's all on the Central government's expense! The catch was that I had to sit in an auditorium and listen to THREE organic chemists speak, interspersed with biopics of two physicists. It's then that you realize what a bum deal biology gets in this country. The only science that gets less focus is Math. But then again, since physics owes a great deal to math, math does get some reflected attention. So it's just bio. And I've had to listen to physicists tell me how confusing bio is and how logical physics is for the last two years. Sigh.
It wasn't half bad, though. Only one of the lectures was really bad. Most people either gave up trying to listen, or fell asleep outright. The highlight must've been the time when the third speaker made a rocket in the auditorium. Using a bubble top water can and methanol. Really.

It was a fun outing otherwise. I met pseudo and Lioness after a whole year.Lioness hasn't actually changed very much. But pseudo has, or seems to have, rather. Maybe it's because I've gotten to know her so much better over the last one year. She doesn't seem like the self-conscious, slightly inhibited girl I met last May. More like one of the select group of people I'd like to have with me in front of my fireplace. If I had a house with a fireplace, that is :)

In other news, the last two weeks have been pretty hectic. I've been volunteering in a theatre company here in Madras. There have been a spate of birthdays. soupy, estarra, pseudo and Chitra, to name a few. Oh, and mine as well. Appropriate changes have been made to the blog since.

That's all about me for now. I'm gonna return to observing and commenting for the next few posts.

And miles to go...

As you probably know by now, trains have a special place with me. Sometimes they infuriate me. Sometimes I get a pleasant surprise. But they will always be there, as unshakable as the main building of Egmore station. And nearly as old :D (Chennai Egmore turned 100 this month)

Railway stations are a different matter, though. I'm always at my most philosophical mood when I'm in a railway station. Think about it. Unless you're in a tearing hurry to do something once you get to your destination, there's no need to worry while you wait for a train. And even if you do worry, there's nothing you can do. The train will arrive when it does. Your luggage is safe with you. And you probably won't fall sick because of that coffee you just bought from the vendor on the platform. So just sit back, relax and watch as the rest of the human race files past.

It's an attitude that helped me a lot when "disaster" struck last June. There was flooding in Bombay then (as there is every summer) and my train to go back home from Pune was held up between VT and Kalyan. There wasn't much news coming from the enquiry counter, it was raining and I had two big suitcases with me. So I couldn't go out, I couldn't move around freely and I had no bloody idea when the train would get there (7 hours later, as it turned out). And that's when a calm, laid back attitude helps.

But I digress. I've always had a special attachment to the station in Udumalaipettai (Udt from here on). Udt is my mum's hometown. The station there is one of those classic small town stations. Two platforms, concrete benches, an inadequate asbestos roof over the platforms.

And a metre gauge track. Yeah. That means trouble for the time being. The railways is on a drive to convert metre gauge tracks to broad gauge, and is going about it piecemeal, at it's own pace. The line on which this station stands used to have trains that went all the way to Rameswaram. Now Coimbatore is completely broad gauge, And I believe there's no metre gauge line between Dindigul and Madurai. So there's a small island of metre gauge track between Dindigul and Palghat. To make sense of what I'm talking about, look here. (the map's a little outdated, I think)

Since it's such a small stretch, there's very little traffic on this line. Only ten trains pass through Udt. Both directions put together. That's really sad. Trains here hardly ever run on time. Since they are so unreliable, most people don't bother taking a train. Why would they? The roads out of Udt are pretty decent. And even State Transport buses here have colour TVs and DVD players (to play cheesy Tamil flicks). There's no reason for anyone to take the train . And that means the railways has even less reason to be punctual or improve services. The only people who take these trains now are the ones who seek nostalgia or have a lot of luggage.

It doesn't even feel like a real railway station anymore. The signalling system is antiquated. People gather there in the evening like it's a park of some sort. And the track is rusting over. Really. There's a fine brown coat on top of the rails. You probably won't find a finer example of a living museum.

Yet, the station lives on. And I'll never forget it. Not least for its ability to throw up some of the most beautiful sunsets. Orange light, sculpted exquisitely,yet softened by layers of clouds. Lush green trees, mostly coconut palms, provide a fitting foreground. It's a sight worth killing for. And something a 2Mpx camera phone can never do justice to.

A small town railway station...

This is a small photo feature. The post will follow.


The signboard that welcomes you to the "poor man's Ooty"


They don't see too much movement of people here


Two platforms for the metre gauge track. No 9 3/4 here!

The Signal operator's post. Wise old men of the town sit outside. Udumalai is a pretty windy place. It's near the Palghat pass, so it gets pretty windy, especially now that the SW monsoon is in. And that makes open spaces like this a great place to spend an evening.

Only 10 trains pass by in one day. Both ways put together.


People board the last but one train of the day. This one's headed to Podanur (a suburb of Coimbatore). Trains on this line go to Podanur or Palakkad/Palghat to the north and Dindigul to the south. That's it. Lines further down in both directions are broad gauge.

This platform stall wasn't here the last time I came by (which was over two years ago). Will it be here the next time around? I guess so. It's more like a pottikadai now. There's rampant tresspassing. People going from one side of town to the other just enter the station and walk across the tracks. Guess there's not much the authorities can do.

This is a nothing post

The title says it all. I know that I've been very lazy updating this blog. Even though I haven't been doing anything that kept me too busy to update. Neither have I done too little, so that there's nothing to talk about. I feel like I ought to be blacklisted for it.

Anyway, this is a nothing post. It's just to tell you that I'm going to my grandmother's place for ten days, and I won't be going online for the aforementioned period of time (I can still do legalese. Sweet!) My gran lives in a small town near Coimbatore, which is rapidly losing it's small town charm. So I want to soak in as much as I can over the next few days. eternal dreamer and firefoxcub, I'm sorry I haven't written anything about Pondicherry. I will once I get back home. And ffc, you can tell your friend that the weather's pretty good, so it's worth a trip now. Just watch out for the occasional spell of rain.

That's all for now. This has been ess.

It's like I'm back in school

I'm probably one of the biggest advocates of slowing down. I really think that we ought to stop taking ourselves and our lives so seriously. On a side note, I think Slow food International is an organisation after my own heart.

However, in the last two weeks, I've seen my philosophy take a beating. I've been at home. And I have to say, lazing at home isn't all that it was cracked up to be. I mean, I've spent the last three days at home. And I'm already bored out of my wits.

In fact, I had this whole post about how great it would be to slow down, stop by to smell the flowers and admire the sunset written and ready. But now, it's just too sickening to read. Like icing that's so sweet, you can't possibly finish the one slice of cake in you hand, leave alone ask for another one.

I really need something new to pep myself up. to get my pulse racing. And no, Need For Speed isn't the answer, however hard that may be to digest. I'm not sure how I'll pull through these vacations. But I guess I'll be the wiser for it. Don't ask me how.

It's the classic school vacation dilemma. I remember that a vacation before 9th standard (9th is when the board exam/entrance test/college admission whirlwind officially begins) meant lazing in front of the TV and putting on weight. In fact, one of my profs told me that that was precisely what he did during his undergrad vacations. It's a dilemma because you go into a vacation with so many resolutions (start exercising, go on a diet, write regularly in journal. And for the really adventurous, eradicate poverty! Although none of these were on my list as a school kid) And none of them happen. It's like a re-run of what happens on the morning of Jan 1st. A dozen resolutions are made. And bam, nothing happens on the next morning. Everything goes back to the way they used to be.

It's sad, but it's true. There are two barriers that cannot be broken. One being the speed of light, and the other being January 2nd. I'm not so sure about the speed of light, though ;)

Other news is that I'm going on a trip to Pondicherry this weekend, with old school friends. It should be fun. And since I really don't think I've got another post in me before that, I'll see you sometime after monday.

Until then, as that ridiculous Motorola ad goes, "chiao"

It's not so bad, it's not so bad....

There's a theory that bloggers blog only when they're stressed, or if things aren't going well in real life.

If you look at a blog as an extension of a journal or a personal diary, it makes sense. People keep journals to put feelings, emotions, events that they feel are important, in words. And the human mind has evolved in such a way that fear and threat evoke a greater response than joy or appreciation. In any case, most of us find the simple joys of life to be fleeting and insignificant in the long run. Whereas the fear and the pain live after their usefulness has vanished (like the evil that men do, in Mark Antony's speech)

It's only natural. How many times have parents evoked the fear of a bogeyman? And even after they grow up, a lot of people are still afraid of the dark (regardless of bogeymen) And how many preteens have a genuine fear of the other sex? Agreed, preteens do tend to gang up in groups of their own sex. And that leads to much awkwardness as they fumble their way in interactions with the other sex. But talk to preteens about cooties or some such, and you've effectively thrown a spanner in their works. And delayed any "normal" interaction considerably.

The point is that as people we are prone to thinking negatively. And we are prone to suggestion. Auto-suggestion, in particular. It's very easy to fall into a trap of saying your life sucks, just because of one minor hitch (I've been guilty of that crime so many times in the past that I've lost count) And bloggers, with their active imagination and their ability to weave words into exquisite tapestries of prose, are all the more susceptible to blue spells. Blue spells that churn up their creativity and bring out bitter, if beautiful, prose.

I know for a fact that some people blog just to get their worries and frustration out into the open. The therapeutic value of such activity is open to debate. Personally, I think that these are trying times that we live in. We really don't need any more bitterness. I just have a small request to anyone who read this. Whenever you're feeling down, bitter, broken, try and force yourself to think happy thoughts. Or recollect pleasant memories. Whatever it takes to get over a bitter spell without any brooding, or resorting to artificial stimulants. Both you and the world will be better for it.

Boulevard of broken dreams

This is a stolen tag. Stole it from here. It's good fun. You really should try it if you feel as jobless as I do this Sunday afternoon.

Rules of the tag: Turn on your music player on shuffle mode. Change the song for each new question. Write down the title of the song that appears as the answer for the question. Once you answer all the questions, give yourself a pat on the back and go do something useful :P

Here goes...

If someone says "Is this okay?" you say...
Part-time lover -Stevie Wonder
say what???

What would best describe your personality?
Kannaal pesum pennae - Mozhi
boy, this puts clownfish in a whole new perspective!

What do you like in a girl?
Have a nice day - Bon Jovi
dunno, guess that means good manners?

How do you feel today?
American Idiot - Green Day
okaaaaay

What is your life's purpose?
Fight Scene music - The Matrix OST (Don't know what the song is called)
Haha, yes. I am The One and I will liberate the world from evil machines. Not.

What is your motto?
Every breath you take - The Police
whaaaat? I'm not a stalker. I'm not!

What do your friends think about you?
Here I am - Bryan Adams
Yeah, and never willing to leave. Total stick-in-the-mud. That's what they'd say :P

What do you think of your parents?
You'd be so nice to come home to - Frank Sinatra
It's true. Maybe not in the same sense that Frank meant it, but it's true.

What do you think about very often?
The Ketchup song - Las Tomatinas
Oh yeah. goes great with anything. Ketchup and fries, mmmmm...

What is 2 + 2?
My name is - Eminem
so THAT'S what ess means!

What do you think of your best friend?
Mambo No. 5 - Lou Bega
I'm speechless.

What do you think of the person you like?
Mission Impossible theme - Adam Clayton
Fair enough. That's how it is for most people, most of the time.

What is your life story?
Beautiful dreamer - Frank Sinatra and Lawrence Tibbett
It sure beats bio-nerd!

What do you want to be when you grow up?
Pirates of the Caribbean End credits
If that means being Johnny Depp, I don't mind!

What do you think when you see the person you like?
Ebony and Ivory - Stevie Wonder
hmmmmm...

What do your parents think of you?
All rise - Blue
Haha. I swear, they'd knight me if they could!

What will you dance to at your wedding?
We will rock you - 5ive
We will. We totally will :)

What will they play at your funeral?
Tubthumping - Chumba Wamba
You're never gonna keep me down? At a funeral? Hope that doesn't mean I'll come back from the dead or something...

What is your hobby/interest?
Goldeneye - Tina Turner
shoot, the secret's out. So yeah, in my free time, I'm on Her majesty's secret service.

What is your biggest secret?
Stan - Eminem feat. Dido
yes, I went through an Eminem phase midway through my teens. And now I'm ashamed.

What do you think of your friends?
The Cup of Life - Ricky Martin
uh, unless it means me sitting with my friends with coffee cups, this makes no sense!

What will you post this as?
Boulevard of broken dreams - Green Day
and so I shall!

I'm not gonna tag anyone with this. Try it if it looks like fun to you. And it is, believe me.

Facultatively myself

Facultative.

It's a nice word. It's a very neat way of saying "I do as I please", and sounding smart while you're at it. Not many words can accomplish both, without making you sound condescending as well. And that's a bad combination. Rebellious, smart-alecky and talking down to people.

I first came across the word in the 11th standard, when we had a class about facultative anaerobes. These are bacteria that normally grow in low-oxygen conditions (like what you'd find in the centre of a compost pit/rotting carcass. They're the ones that are usually responsible for the "aroma") But they'll grow just fine even if they're kept in open air.

I brought it up because I've been using this word quite often. Usually to describe myself. It goes something like this:

*Facultatively non-vegetarian: I eat vegetarian stuff mostly. But I can live almost entirely on meat if I need to. As I did for the one week I was in Argentina. People there live pretty much on beef and pork. And if you don't eat that, your options are Boiled pumpkin/potato/carrot. yum :P

*Facultatively religious: If there's a homam at 3 a.m. , feel free to start without me. However, if it's at an earthly time, and there's prasadam to be had, count me in! But no, I've decided to stop being so hypocritical. I'm gonna stick to being agnostic for the time being.

*Facultatively Victorian: I'm the sort of guy who'll open doors, walk on the outer side of the pavement, and go right up to the footstep of the girl's house. But when money comes into play, we'll probably go dutch (as someone just found out today!)

*Facultatively pacifist: I won't go around with a chip on my shoulder. I don't go out looking for fights. In fact back in primary school, I would go around trying to stop fights. But a month back, i told eternal dreamer that I'd fight her for soupy, so...

So, yeah. I can be a little contradicting at times. I guess we all are in some way or another.

I don't think

Strangely enough, it's true. I believe the last organized thought that crossed my mind is how much of a chance Vijay Mallya's team had of winning the race last Sunday. And that thought crossed my mind at around 3 p.m. on Sunday.

It feels really weird. I mean, it was less than two weeks back that I was discussing the immune system with my classmates before the exam. A week after that, I was criticizing Chinese food. But now, the last four days are just a haze. Between old issues of MAD magazine, re-runs of the Simpsons and geeky-cool apps on Facebook, time just flies by.

Wow. I really might end up not doing anything productive this summer. Scary.

One thing that has changed since the last time that I was home is that computer usage has gone up. Tremendously. It's almost as if one system isn't enough for the three of us anymore. And my mum taught me a couple of tricks on MS Word the other day. It's a moment of reckoning when that happens. On the one hand, it's your mother. Someone who you've looked up to nearly all your life. On the other hand... the tech-y stuff is my turf! It's kinda like me making a better dosai than her (she makes the best ghee dosais. Period) Or me giving the car a better tune-up than dad (Right now, I'm very very far from being even a halfway-decent mechanic)

Hmmm, that's an idea for this summer. Make a better dosai, and sharpen my mechanic skills.

I'll do it!!!
Once lounging around at home goes out-of-fashion, that is :D

The dawn of a new vacation

So, finally, it's done. After an awful, AWFUL train journey (during which I swore thrice that this was going to be my final journey by sleeper class) I made it back home on Friday. I've been lounging around at home all of yesterday. Settling into the summer vacation spirit, so to speak. Come on, it's simply too hot to do anything else now in Madras.

But yeah, the point is that I've decided to take things easy this summer. The last two summers have been hectic. 2006 was entrance exam season. 2007, well, I was suckered into doing a project at IIT, Madras. Granted it was in Madras, and my friends were in town, but IIT is a world away from the city itself. All the utilities actually work, there are no power failures at night, and there's no one over there that I know.

So, yes. The summer of 2008 is going to be like one of those school vacations. 2 months. At home most of the time. Meeting up with friends. And thankfully, no holiday homework. I got off to a pretty good start too. I haven't done anything remotely constructive in the last two days. I've been watching loads of episodes of "Mind your language" (Moser Baer's got these cut price CDs of old episodes.)

So let's see. Maybe I'll be fortunate enough to actually do nothing worthwhile this summer. It looks like other people are having trouble, though

Fingers crossed. Hope it's a good summer

All I want to do is be more like me.

I spoke to Undefeated yesterday, after what must be ages. She told me how she felt really constrained and unhappy doing science. She's also a biology undergrad, studying in Madras. Apparently she took up science not out of wholehearted involvement, but because her parents wanted her to join the Phy, Chem, Bio, Math group (also known as Group 1 in most schools in Madras. As if other streams are inferior). It seemed like a good idea at the time, and that set her on course to do a degree in zoology.

That's a problem we have as students here in India. Whenever a decision is made regarding our studies it's hardly ever our own. Other people have expectations that we have to put up with, live with. Sometimes even sacrifice everything else for it. Remember Alok in "Five point someone" and how he had to give up his painting, just so that he could get into IIT and get a high paying job? That's the weight of expectations (Although it could get a lot worse. Check this out. And the students like the friggin' routine and stress. Masochists.)

Everybody has an opinion on what you should do. Uncles, aunts, grandparents and the neighbour of your twice removed cousin who lives halfway across the country. They all think they've got a right to tell you how to run your life. And why not, considering how all of them are experts. Not only on which courses are best suited for you and which colleges would suit your temperament, but also of job trends when you pass out of college 3 or 4 years down the line. Sheesh.

And when you go against their "wishes", they get sulky and act as if you've committed the gravest mistake of your life. "What will happen to your future?" will be the starting lines. Boys will get the additional chorus of, "Who will give their girls in marriage to you if don't work in IT/finance/are posted overseas?" No less than three people in my family told me I was making a huge mistake when I dropped engineering for science. Never mind the fact that I'd done extremely well in biology towards the end of my school life, and the fact that I know I'd never have cut it in engineering.

Even today I have to lie to my relatives about how I have my heart set on a job in the pharma industry. When I have absolutely no idea of what to do after this degree. Hell, there was this first year student who came up to me and said, "Why didn't you take up medicine? You're so good in biology". What the hell does it matter to him?! I should've slapped that jackass then and there. (Although slapping can have pretty ugly consequences, as Bhajji has proved so convincingly)

That's why I'm so full of admiration for people like AV and eM who've decided to take charge of their own lives, and to hell with the consequences. Sure, the road forward will be tough. But once you reach out and do what you set out to do, it will be yours forever. And then you can wave your victory in the faces of the naysayers.

That's what I have to say to you, Undefeated. I'm happy you've found something you really like doing (she works in an NGO after college hours). But be sure that what you're getting out of it is what you want. After all, you don't want the naysayers to go, "I told you so". And you also don't want to do too much too fast :)

As Chinese as chop suey

It's done. My exams are over. And I have emerged unscathed (more or less, anyway). I've successfully completed two years of undergrad now. Two years, no arrears. 'nuff said.

As a celebration of sorts, I went out to dinner at this little restaurant near my hostel. It's one of those small, by-the-wayside places where the food is a little overpriced (like everything else in Pune) and the quality of the stuff is passable. Since I was feeling a little adventurous last night, I ordered a bowl of "Veg Schezwan noodles"

Now if you've ever eaten in one of those by-the-wayside places, you know that the stuff they make really well are the local dishes. This place I went to makes pretty good vada-paav, for instance (although it's not the best I've had). Other Indian dishes range from decent to passable to not particularly good. And then there's "Chinese".

Any stereotypical Indian eatery worth its salt, pepper and haldi will have fried rice and noodles, at least, on the menu. The more show off-y ones have three types of each. "Hakka" which is fried and lightly drizzled with soy sauce. "Schezwan" which has red food colour and a slightly tangy taste. And "Singapore" (no, really) which is drenched in soy sauce. Also, anything dipped in cornstarch paste and fried becomes "Manchurian". I mean, but anything. Paneer Manchurian, anyone? This place I went to has it.

What all these dishes have in common is that they swim in oil. They are full of empty calories and MSG. They have far more capsicum and spring onions than would be advisable. But considering that the man on the street knows nothing about real Chinese food (neither do I, but I know it's not supposed to be this oily or spicy) all of it sells reasonably well. Hell, some places even have "Jain Chinese", without garlic and onions. Top that.

However dinner wasn't too bad, on the whole. I guess it's okay if you want to indulge yourself once in a way, without spending too much. But what worries me is the way we've bastardised Chinese food beyond recognition. I shiver to think about what the Chinese might've done to Paneer Butter masala and ghee roast dosais.

Tofu butter masala? Urgh.

Factoid: Chop suey isn't Chinese. It was popularised in the US and there is nothing exactly like it in China.

Tagged

Moo tagged me, poor unsuspecting me, to come up with a soundtrack for my life. And since I was jobless (okay, studying. Same difference :P) I've come up with a list. At the end of my list are the names of people I tag. If I've tagged you and you don't have a blog, mail your list to me and I'll post it here. Here goes

Rules of the tag : Various situations are given. You have to come up with a song (or set of songs) that aptly describe the particular situation in your life.

Your Life: The Soundtrack
(Note: Ideally, it'll mostly be a mix of Tamil and English songs. But I've included English substitutes for tamil songs. To give it a more "international" flavour. After all, the blogosphere has no boundaries. Now that that's out of the way...)

Opening credits: Balleilakka - Sivaji the Boss (or) the Star Wars theme
Waking up: I Got You (I Feel Good) - James Brown
Typical Day: Ambalaikkum velai, Pombalaikkum velai - Avvai Shanmugi (or) Livin' for the city - Stevie Wonder
First date: Manjal Veiyil - Vettaiyaadu Vilayaadu (no substitutes)
Falling in love: Unnale Unnale (or) Some Enchanted Evening - Frank Sinatra
Love Scene: Can you feel the love tonight? - Elton John (or) Vaseegara - Minnale (That's the tamil original of Zara Zara from RHTDM )
Breaking up: Ninaipathellam nadanthuvittaal - Nenjil oru aalayam (no substitutes)
Getting back together: Baby can I hold you? - Ronan Keating (or) New York Nagaram - Sillunu oru kaadhal
Fight scene: Karka Karka - Vettaiyaadu Vilayaadu (or) Beat it - Michael Jackson
Secret love: Part-time lover - Stevie Wonder
Mental breakdown: Numb - Linkin Park
Driving: I can't get no satisfaction - Rolling Stones (let's face it, most of my driving will be in city traffic)/ Raja kaiya vechha - Aboorva Sagotharargal
Learning a lesson: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly theme
Deep thought: Yesterday - the Beatles
Flashback: That's the way it is- Celine Dion
Partying: The Schumacher song - DJ Visage
Happy Dance: I like to move it - Madagascar OST
Regretting: If Tomorrow never comes - Ronan Keating
Long night alone: Show me the meaning - Backstreet Boys (I know, I know. The rest of their music is still not cool)
Closing credits: Main aisa kyun hoon - Lakshya

Now, I tag
1) Estarra. You've already made so many lists of songs on your blog. This should be a piece of cake.
2) Gaya. And the list had better not include you saying doink, glug or sip sip mein boing boing.
3) Pseudo Intellectual. This should be interesting :)
4) Soupy. Put that 5GB of music on your hard drive to good use
5)Eternal Dreamer. Assuming you still have time for this sort of thing.
6) ClunkiestAtol.
7) Anyone else who's just read this post and is feeling jobless at the moment.

Other news. My final exams start on saturday and go on till next thursday. So wish me luck. Hopefully I'll be back next month with my sense of humour still intact.

Until then, this has been ess.

Over and out.

It's Sunday! It's God's day!

To be able to:

* hit the snooze button, something you never do during the rest of the week.
* look at your alarm clock with one half-open eye
* decide that finally it's time to get out of bed. Half an hour after the alarm went off, that is.
* do a yawn-cum-stretch-cum-toe-touch that lasts a whole ten seconds.
* smack your lips, partly in anticipation of the day ahead, partly because you can't think of anything else to do then
* slowly amble along to the bathroom
* trip yourself over THRICE on the way. And yet, not fall over.
* make a Joey-eyed, "How you doin'?" look at yourself in the mirror, while you're brushing your teeth
* walk back to your room with a spring in your step, after having successfully made a pass at yourself. That too when you're not fully awake. [if only it were that easy with women :(]
* walk to the mess, bleary-eyed and with bad hair.
* encounter half a dozen similarly bleary-eyed faces. Which have bad hair, to boot.
* look disdainfully at the one nerd who shows up bathed and shaved and neat.
* wolf down the oiliest pooris you've ever seen. Even as the hypochondriac in you is screaming "Cholesterol! Stroke!! Heart disease!!!"
* read the editorials, special celebrity columns and funnies at your own leisure. From three different newspapers, no less.
* eagerly read your horoscope and predictions for the next week. Laugh it off the very next instant.
* watch (with a superior smirk) as the other guys fight over the sports section.
* walk back to your room and look, with loads of loathing, at the pile of laundry that needs to be done
* look with even more loathing at the portions for your test the next day.
* decide that laundry is the lesser evil after all. (and a muse of sorts, if the old posts are anything to go by)

To be able to do everything in that list within the generous time-frame of two and a half hours.

The simple joys of a sunday morning :)

Lather, rinse, repeat... as needed

Ever had one of those very "blah" days, when time seems to stand still? It's as if the whole world is half-awake and waiting for coffee. Or like a dog in the summer heat, can't be forced out of the shade. Maybe like a snail on valium, slithering by at its own pace. Perhaps a Ferrari retrofitted with a Maruti 800 engine. (No, that's too fast. Even if the car doesn't move fast, it'll look fast.)

Alright, I have officially run out of similes (metaphors? Someone help me here) to describe how slow this day is. But anyway, today didn't get off to a particularly great start either. For one, we were supposed to have a bio lecture this morning. So, a bunch of us got up early (okay, 8am. That's early!) and went to class very briskly. The prof says that the class has been re-scheduled for 2:30 pm. Argh! And he actually got us out of our rooms on what must be the slowest day of the year, just so that we know we didn't have to get out.

So, rather than go back to the hostel, I've been sitting here and surfing blogs. estarra completely floored me with this one. And now I can't wait to get back home. Damn. I dare anyone to read that post and tell me that Madras isn't the greatest place on earth. (Of course, you shouldn't pass any judgement if you haven't been to the city. What the hell do you know about my city if you haven't been there?!)

Anyway, this is just a random 20-minute post. (yes, I don't type very fast. And the internet in these parts is notoriously unreliable). I'm trying to work on spontaneity here. Plus, I'm also going through a bit of an existential crisis. Not about myself. It's about the blog. Should it remain a place for random scribbling? witty prose? articles? commentary? Or do I just go with the flow and post everything that comes to my mind, and to hell with categories.

Confused, puzzled, worried am I

And btw, no prizes for guessing where the title of this post comes from.

I'm no superman

Well, the blues have been held off for now. All the tips I received after my last post were pretty useful. Thank YOU! (trying high pressure sales pitch to keep you hooked to ymitif :D)

Anyway, the quick fix was to yell randomly and incoherently in public. Ok, it wasn't incoherent. And it wasn't random. I mooed. Yes, the sound that cows make. Moo. At a person who was walking down the road minding his own business. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him turn around and look at me. I didn't turn back to look at him, but I imagine he had a "What DID you say?" look in his eyes. *snicker

And honestly, I've never felt more alive in my life. What this means is that Gaya has found a brilliant and quick solution for depression. Something that could sink Prozac and their ilk forever. Or it means that I'm as much in need of help as she is. Your call.

The final solution was 3 hour sessions of sitcoms. How I met your mother on saturday and sunday. Scrubs on monday. I know, I know, it wasn't the most constructive thing to do (mum would've had my head. If this were the run up to the board exams, that is :D)

Point is, there's nothing that makes me feel better than comedy. Whether it's a sitcom, stand-up comedy, cartoons (and I mean the classics from the '40s and '50s), it doesn't matter. It's about being able to see the flip side, the funny side, that matters. I'm sure that applies to a sizeable number of people. Yet, for some reason there's no decent humour in Indian language television

Think about it. The closest thing we had to a sitcom in tamil was "Veetukku Veedu Looty". and they ruined that as well with "VVL-2", before finally killing it off. And I suppose those mini-series by Kovai Anuradha also count. The rest of the so-called comedy shows are just plain rubbish. (Ok, ok. I'll stop. Not going into another rant here.

I was just wondering if I should start another blog for my more "profound" wonderings. Somehow, I don't think posts like Just call me clownfish and Coolness belong in the same place. I'm not sure what I should do. What do you think? Put down your ayes and nays in the comments :)

P.S.
But I can't do this all on my own
I'm no superman
:D

Nobody said it was easy

The blues.
They are back.
And they're not going away without a fight.

Unfortunately, that's not the tagline of a new flick "coming soon to a theatre near you!" They stare me in the face everytime I look in a mirror. They're there everytime I sit down to study. It's as if my life is some bizzare Ujala ad. Everywhere I look, it's blue. (Naalu sottu thaane! pfft.)

I'm not quite sure how they started this time. But they've been around for nearly a week now. It's pretty bad. Look, I couldn't even come up with a decent title for this post. Had to rip off lines from "The Scientist" Not good.

I've spoken to atleast three different people about it. And I've come up with very interesting responses. estarra told me to go get myself coffee, do something nice, something to make myself feel better 'cause goodness knows you deserve it. Aww, sweetie. Thanks. That really made my day. But it didn't lift me enough to make me feel better. Although the coffee did help :)

(note: I use strong, black, sugarless coffee as a pick-me-up. Not espresso, since I can't make it myself, and there's no decent place for espresso near my hostel. And Mithali "can't understand for the life of me, how that works")

Anyway, coming back to le bleu mood, Dad told me to try out his breathing exercises. Apparently they really help him calm down and focus. They just made me sleepy. Dad, I'm not running you down. I'm just saying that maybe it doesn't work for me.

And the third person I spoke to drowned me in HER sorrows. So not much help there. Although I hope I made her feel better.

Sigh. Anyway, I've got a load of work for this weekend. Chem reports, phy reports, bio test and chem practical exam on monday. And I just want to walk away from it all. Which is the sort of attitude that leads to posts like this one. No aim, no direction. Just a reflection of the past, but without any lessons learned.

SOS!!!Tell me! Does anyone out there have suggestions on how to get past this deep blue funk and actually get some work done? 'Cause I sure as hell could use a little help here. And no, scaring myself with the consequences doesn't work. It just pushes me into a, "Oh no, I'm gonna flunk. And there's no escape" mood. Which is worse, as you'd agree.

Sigh. The blues. Hope I'll have a less self obsessed post next time. And I may be going to look at the Science Express tomorrow [the scientist lives on :)] Hope that goes well.

BTW, listening to "Yellow" by Coldplay doesn't help. I thought mixing the colours would turn things green(go!go!go!)

P.S. You know ess is in trouble when he starts trying to end posts with horrible PJs

Cuppa of life

The setting: Cafe Coffee Day on Junglee Maharaj Road. Approximately 8:30 in the evening.

You're sitting at the table by the window.You picked that table because you thought it would be fun to watch the traffic at that time of the day. Unfortunately, that isn't working out too well, since it's dark outside and most of what you see in the window is a reflection of whatever's happening inside the coffee shop.

As you sit there silently cursing the wave theory of light, you suddenly notice that your cycle, standing on the other side of the glass window, is being lit up by the soft lighting from within the coffee shop. You notice just how good your cycle looks from this angle. A wash and a few dabs of touch-up paint, and it'd be worthy of a glossy print ad. You smile and make a mental note to wash your cycle the next day.

Just then, two women in their mid-twenties walk in. They take up the table that's right in front of yours. The cuter looking one's wearing capris. As you slyly check out her calves, your coffee comes in. It looks so very inviting and delicious. The coffee, that is. Although the calves don't look too bad either :D

You inhale, taking in that subtle yet invigorating aroma of cold coffee laced with chocolate sauce. Ahh. You pity all the people who don't drink coffee. Thankfully, you reason, it doesn't include most of your friends. It then hits you just how alone you are right at this moment. Just you and your coffee. With your cycle looking at you indifferently, from outside.

You take a sip of the coffee. It's not nearly as cold as you'd like it. Actually, it's not cold at all. Just slightly below room temperature. And it's not very chocolate-y either.Urgh. You decide you're not going to tip the waiter at all this time.

Ahead, the women are talking about how the not-nearly-as-cute one's going through a break up. Your own failed relationship stares you in the face, almost as if it happened just yesterday. And that reminds of your first coffee at CCD, which you split with your ex. That one was perfect. And not just because she was there with you. It makes you detest the one that's in your hand right now even more. You sigh and push yourself further into the chair. Which doesn't help much, since it's a cane chair and has very little give.

Your eyes drift onto the plasma screen on the opposite wall. They're playing "Soni de nakhre", that utterly ridiculous song from Partner. Govinda's on his back, waving his arms around like a beached octopus. For some reason, there's no sound. You find that, surprisingly, the video's much more palatable without the music.

Your phone buzzes. It's one of your closest friends, telling you how much she liked your latest piece of writing. You smile a contented smile, happy in the knowledge that no matter what, the people who really matter in your life are never far away. And just ahead the women are talking about how it's almost impossible to still remain friends after a break up. It makes your smile that much more smug, since that closest friend in question happens to be your ex.

And it's that moment. That moment with the not-upto-par coffee in your right hand. The phone in your left hand. The women talking about relationships in front. Govinda, Katrina and Salman dancing to no music on the TV. And you cycle still looking at you without any emotion. That moment seems so perfect, you wish you had a Pensieve to capture it and savour it later.

Another atypical evening in the life of ess.

P.S. Okay, I'll admit it's not great writing. But this entry's more about picturisation. It's about evoking mental imagery (and some such crap). So if you didn't like it, it's not my fault. Your imagination doesn't stack up :P

P.P.S. If I tweak it a little, change the description of the coffee to something more positive and make the last line "Another satisfied customer at Cafe Coffee Day", wouldn't this make a great ad? What am I still doing in biology?

Just call me "clownfish"

Was reading about clownfish today. I found some interesting facts about them. For one, they're one of the few animals that aren't affected by stinging sea anemones. For another, they start their lives as males. As they age, the largest male in the group becomes a female.


Why is that important, you ask? Well, I get the feeling that slowly I'm turning into a woman. And it's not like there's a lack of evidence:

+ I found myself debating with a friend on the merits of winter care lotion versus 'saada' moisturizer.
+I well up during the episode of FRIENDS when Ross and Rachel break up. Every single time I watch it.
+I actually told someone, "It's not what you said, it's the way you said it that hurts".
+I could relate to this post by eM and why it'd be weird for a woman.
+I don't think swearing or being boorish in public is acceptable in the least.
+I tend to ruminate a lot over past relationship(not plural)/crushes. Often, I end up blaming myself for why things didn't pan out.
+Nearly all my friends, and most people who read this blog, are women. No, it's not a boast. I've been asked by a lot of people why that's so. And it's a little weird everytime that happens.
+I go through periodic spells of blue moods. here and here. Notice that they're almost exactly 2 months apart.
+I don't give a whit about cricket (although that doesn't prove anything. pseudo is as cricket-crazy as any guy I've met. And that one isn't the only post about cricket she's written.)


Sometimes the only things I have to remind myself that I still am a guy are the stubble on my face, and the fact that I can pee standing up. It's not fair. Men come under attack from so many sides. If it's not feminists, then it's hard-to-please gfs/wives (haven't got that problem as yet). And if it's not them, it's scientists telling us how fragile the Y-chromosome is and how it keeps accumulating mutations and how men as we know them may not exist after a few hundred generations. It's bloody pissing off.


I'm not quite sure why I put this post up, considering that most of my readership is young and female. Considering that it's kinda obliquely sexist. I don't know, some things just get to you after a while. Although in some ways it's kinda cool being the only guy I know with more female friends than male :)

The ultimate soapbox

This is the article I wrote on blogging for the college mag. I promised that I'd put it up here. So, here it is, no changes, no cuts, no censoring :)

Blogs, or “weblogs”, are the new buzzword in communication. And blogging is an amazingly large phenomenon. Don’t believe me? Sample this: I did a Google search for the term “Microsoft”, and I got around 980,000,000 results. A search for the term “blog” returned over 2,200,000,000 results. And according to a recent survey, there are over 400,000 registered bloggers in India alone. That’s how big it is.

Now that I’ve got your attention, here’s a little history. Blogs have been around for some time now. The very first one (called links.net) was started by Justin Hall in 1994. But the blogging boom really took off only after Pyra Labs launched Blogger.com in 1999. Blogger.com (now owned by Google) is a blog hosting space. When it was launched it let people who knew very little about HTML coding create blogs for the first time. And as it turned out, everybody’s got a lot to say.

Different flavours
Broadly, blogs fall in three major categories. The first and most common is the personal blog. These blogs are about the author’s personal/professional lives, their hobbies and the like. The more popular authors write wittily and usually have a dedicated fan following.

The second category is the social commentary blog. The authors write about social/political events in their region and their analysis of what happened. These blogs can be very influential. In fact it is said that some of them had a major influence on the voting patterns during the 2004 US Presidential election.

The third category is the review blog. The authors review gadgets, software, books, movies, restaurants, tourist spots… you name it. Often, these blogs include local information that you won’t find even in the manufacturer’s official website. Although some of these blogs can be biased, the better ones give you a neutral, authoritative overview of what’s being reviewed.

Emerging categories include the PR blog, which complements an organization’s official website. Also you’ve got photo blogs, video blogs (or vlogs), news blogs… it’s a full house out there. Blogs are a great source of information and entertainment if you choose wisely.

The way I see it
I’m rather passionate about blogging, since I think it’s a great way to say whatever it is that you want to say. The ultimate soap-box for everybody’s opinion. And recently, I’ve started a blog of my own. It’s a personal blog. I don’t think I’m mature enough for social commentary, and not knowledgeable enough about anything to do a review J I find blogging to be very satisfying for many reasons. First, it’s the anonymity that the internet gives you. That means I can write about things that are close to my heart and not have people tell me, “You’ve talked about it (whatever it is)for the umpteenth time. Will you please just shut up?” Secondly, it’s a great feeling when someone you don’t know writes a positive comment on your blog. It means someone cares about what you think enough to tell you how they feel about it too. And thirdly it’s a challenge for me to top my previous post every time I write a new one. I’d like to think that my writing has improved since the time I started blogging regularly.

There are some clarifications I must add here. One, the ‘net is not truly anonymous. A fellow blogger told me about the time someone put an IP trace on him, and had information about all the sites that my friend had visited. Stalkers, either online or in the real world, are a threat for the more popular bloggers. Also, blogging can be fairly addictive. The whole process of writing all those little details and following up on comments can very easily wreck your routine if you don’t have the self control for it.

Now, if you think you have something to say that the world should know about, and if I haven’t scared you off blogging yet, you should start a blog of your own. I’d recommend using an established blog hosting space like Blogger.com or WordPress.com. Both have very clear, step-by-step instructions on how to create a blog. They also have comprehensive FAQ sections, which should help clear most doubts that you may have about blogging.
And finally, here are handy webpages on the facts of life – for bloggers! http://simonworld.mu.nu/archives/037779.php
http://www.writerswrite.com/journal/jul02/gak16.htm

Welcome to the blogosphere! It’s a wonderful place. I hope I’ll see you around!
(atlthough if you're reading this, the last line is pretty pointless)