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.