Hold that thought!

A friend of mine (who begged to remain anonymous) said to me "when I was in school I decided to take up science - because by doing science you actually contribute to the total amount of human knowledge. With humanities, you don't - maybe to the beauty of the world or whatever, but not to knowledge, and with management, you contribute absolutely nothing!"

So, all you geeks out there surviving on phdcomics, now you know..

:-)

Cowardly Cops

A friend and I were travelling by 23C recently on our was to Besant Nagar. As we got into the bus at the IIT stop, two(obviously drunk) guys sped past the bus on a bike yelling and screaming at the bus driver. The driver kept trying to lose them - by either going slower or faster but these guys kept up with the bus and kept screaming. Apparently, this has been going on from Saidapet. Finally, the driver stopped the bus at the Madya Kailash signal.

There were 3 cops at signal - it was sunday evening and they were doing what cops do best on sunday evening - torture inncoent college students regarding lack of various papers and so make huge sums of money in the process. The driver stoped right next to them and tried telling them about the two guys. One cop was on the phone and didn't realise that the driver was talking to him until he caught me waving frantically to him he trotted over to see what was going on and when he found out he came back to his original place, a completely bored expression on his face. The second cop - an old cop, listen to the driver and then walked away, and the third cop was in the corner 'potty kadai' smoking!!!!!

They were completely unconcerned. Why should they listen to what the driver has to say, was their attitude? After all, the driver has no money to hand over as a bribe.. he has no influence, he can't get them a promotion! And helping him, would probably mean, they'll catch a lesser number of students and lesser bribes!

Yuck!

Recently, a friend of mine was caught "speeding" (read: 40 km/hr) at 11 in the night. The cops caught him and because there was a girl(another friend o mine) with him, they started giving him ahard time and demanded he pay them 8000Rs. They kept at it until the girl remarked, "this is ridiculous, lets call your dad". Then they backed off, since the dad was a respectable gentleman who's sure to be influential.

And this other friend of mine, who's doing journalism, tells me that even if he's caught breaking traffic rules (going the wrong way in a one way lane, for example), the cops don't do anything further. They just let him go. Which, if you ask me, is as cowardly as they can get!

This city's policemen disgust me no end!

I wonder if there's something I can do about it - at least the Madya Kailash incident since I witnessed it first hand. If you guys can think of anything, let me know..

Words! Words! Words!

Don't you love them? They way they sound when you say them out aloud? The taste they leave behind? The way they mean something different in every context? The power they give you?

Don't you love learning a new word? I remember the first time I chanced upon a new word. I must've been 8. Maybe 9. I was looking up something in our tattered Chambers' and I saw 'quintessence' on top. The word caught my eye and I looked it up. It was beautiful. Chambers also gives you the origin of the word - it's roots. I won't spoil it for you. Look it up yourself. In a dictionary - don't google it. Googling, for some reason takes away the beauty of words. You can never do the "on the way to the dictionary" thing.

My dad, when he is super bored, and had no new books to read, opens the dictionary and looks up words - their meaning, the story behind them.. It might sound geeky, but I can totally relate to that. I'd like to do that too!!

But, you know, at the end of the day, it's not the words you use that counts. It's how you use them that really matters. Sadly, few people get that.

Take Chicken Little for example. I believe (and I'm sure once you read her blog, you'll agree) that her language is extremely powerful! She doesn't write about anything powerful or deep, mind you. She writes about college, relationships, friends, studies - stuff everyone goes through. She doesn't use big words either. She uses simple, everyday, what you-and-i-will-use words. And yet, her posts are powerful. She has a way with them words.

Or take Roshan George. He has, by far, the biggest vocabulary among anyone I know. His vocabulary is even better than my dad's (yes appa, it is and you know it!), but you hardly find him flaunting his words. He learns these words and waits to use them. He threw this word at me the other day and I went all blank and he said "I've been waiting to use it ever since I was a kid. Try it somtime." I promptly forgot the word.

Me, I'm not so good with the vocabulary. I forget things. I don't remember words easily. They slip through my mind. I envy Roshan George very much. But I envy Chicken Little more. Because while Roshan knows the words, Chicken knows how to use them. And that's what really counts.

P.S: Roshan writes pretty well too. Much better than me at any rate. Loads better.

@ Roshan and Chicken: Sorry guys, the post isn't aimed at either of you. I just used you as examples.

This tag like thingy

It's Roshan's fault this time. Pass on the hate, he says. Very well, I shall.

"..too long; we've got to move on."

Here's how it works:

1.Grab the nearest book.
2.Open it to page 56.
3.Find the fifth sentence.
4.Post the text of the sentence in your journal along with these instructions.

I was at my desk with my bookshelf behind me. First book from the right, he said. I took the first book from the right. It happened to be Issac Asimov's The rest of the Robots. Collecion of short stories which never got published as a book. This one's from Victory Unintentional.

Apart from that, I apologize for my long absence. I had - you guessed it - exams! And app work. More exams and more app work beckon. Wish me luck, people!

Sabbath day

Well, since I liked the response I got when I told everyone, I thought I might as well post it:

Today, sunday the 19th october, I had my Atmoic and Molecular physics quiz.

There. I said it. The funny part being, we picked a sunday. The prof wasn't too happy with it. Why would he be? He has to come to work on a sunday!. But we clearly told him that we don't have another date to spare. It was now or never. So he picked now. He needs to grade us, you see.

Ah well, says something about wannabe nerds, doesn't it?

So morning I wrote the exam. Afternoon I slept. Tonight I will write record.

In other news, my Toefl results came out. Apparently, my english is good - I know how to read, understand, speak and write english. Well, that's what they said. If you have a problem with that, you may pick a fight with ETS.

As cute as it gets.

Got my first intro to 55 from Pseudo here.

Anyway, decided to write one myself. A '55' is a story which is written in less than 55 words. So here goes:

Her mind wandered as usual. She smiles to herself as she thinks of the previous evening. Dinner was perfect. Her phone suddenly vibrates. She checks it under the desk. A message - 'Stop thinking of me and concentrate on class :-) '. She couldn't help grinning as she continued copying down what was on the board.

Oh, I know that's so-cute-it-makes-you-puke-ish and who-does-that-anyway-ish, but hey, it's my first attempt, so be nice, okay?
Oh and you guys should try a 55 as well!

My third :-)

My little brother(nice chap - brought me baccarwadi's (which is all I could think of all day since I let myself have one. It's one of those Ruffles lays things -No one can eat just one fits right! :-) )) told me last week to expect a tag. Too bad for him I had been tagged simultaneously by the same person. I see he hasn't done his bit though.. Anyway, here I go:

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.

RULE #2 Tag 6 people to do this quiz and those who are tagged cannot refuse. These people must state who they were tagged by and cannot tag the person whom they were tagged by continue this game by sending it to other people.

1. If your lover betrayed you, what will your reaction be?
Knowing me, denial.. Until someone kicks me nice and hard!

2. If you can have a dream come true, what would it be?
To be the queen of the world!! :-D

3. Whose butt would you like to kick?
A certain pumpkin's!

4. What would you do with a billion dollars?
Buy a yatch! Travel the world in style!

5. Will you fall in love with your best friend?
Ewwwwwww... No, really. If you know m best-friend, you won't even ask!

6. Which is more blessed: loving someone or being loved by someone?
Assuming, I'll have to choose, I'll say, being loved. The other hurts!

7. How long do you intend to wait for someone you love?
If they love me back - forever. If they don't - maybe a day! Maybe.

8. If the person you secretly like is attached, what will you do?
Sigh over his gtalk icon in secret! ;-)

9. If you could root for one social cause, what would it be?
Global warming! Though i dunno how 'social' that is!

10. What takes you down the fastest?
Cramps! A thousand times over. Literally!

11. Where do you see yourself in 10 years time?
10 years.. Um. Married? Kids? Oh, and a world reknown scientist waiting for the Nobel, of course!

12. What’s your fear?
Monsters under my bed!

13. What kind of person do you think the person who tagged you is?
A great kid! My fav. blogger friend!!

14. Would you rather be single and rich or married and poor?
Um. That would depend on who I'm married to, of course. What if I get to marry Prince William or something?

15. What’s the first thing you do wen you wake up?
Yell at whoever wakes me up! *sheepish grin* Sowwie!

16. If you fall in love with two people simultaneously who will you pick?
The one who loves me back. In case both do, I'll toss a coin! Coins don't lie! :-)

17. Would you give all in a relationship?
Depends on how old the relationship is and how serious it is!

18. Would you forgive and forget someone no matter how horrible a thing he has done?
Um. Yeah, I've been known (infamously) to be very forgiving.

19. Do you prefer being single or in a relationship?
Oh, it can be fun both ways! I don't really care. As long as I'm not in a love triangle or something, I guess!

20. List of 6 people to tag:
Aarti - cause she loves tags.
Mathika - cause she gave me my first ever tag.
Vinod - cause he needs a reson to blog.
Rabia, Roshan - cause I want to know their answers to a few of these questions.
Satyaki - cause if I don't think anyone else gives him tags.

Nsoy! :-)

Footnote: Aquila is a sweet kid as well, considering she showed Ajay where one might obtain the said baccarwadis and Sharmila is 'ze best' cause she introduced me to them!

The list

I had compiled a list of movies-to-watch-when-you're-feeling-bored-cause-you-gotta-watch-them-before-you-die-else-your-life-had-no-meaning sometime back, but never got around to posting it.. and then of course, I forgot all about it. Recently, Aquila had asked me to suggest a movie, and I remembered the list. I took it out, dusted it, and now i'm putting it up. I haven't seen some(say, 30%) of the movies myself, so dont blame me if you don't like it - just know that whoever recommended it did so strongly! All additions are always welcome. Happy watching! :-)

The serious ones

1.Mississipi burning
2.The deer hunter
3.Dead man walking
4.Scent of a woman
5.The bridges of Madison country
6.Flags of our fathers
7.Leaving las vegas
8.Syriana
9.Traffic
10.Cast away
11.Apocalypse now
12.The French connection
13.The swashank redemption
14.Lost in translation
15.Schindler’s list
16.Million dollar baby
17.Crash
18.Blood diamond
19.Arlington Road
20.One flew over the cuckoo’s nest
21.The aviator
22.Life is beautiful
23.Dangerous minds
24.Saving private Ryan
25.Road to Perdition
26.The deep end of ocean
27.A few good men


The not so serious ones

1.Good will hunting
2.Wag the dog
3.As good as it gets
4.Ocean’s eleven
5.My best friend’s wedding
6.Notting hill
7.Music and lyrics
8.Little Miss Sunshine
9. Seabiscuit
10.The greatest game ever played
11.Father of the bride
12.Starsky and Hutch
13.Hitch
14.Forrest gump
15.One fine day
16.Pretty woman
17.Pirates of the Carribeans
18.True lies
19.Erin Brochovich
20.The terminal
21.About a boy
22.August rush
23.Love actually



As kids

1.Finding Nemo
2.Ice Age 1 and 2
3.Madagascar
4.Parent trap
5.Lion king
6.Dunston Checks in
7.Liar Liar
8.Prince of Egypt
9.Baby’s day out


The classics

1.An American in Paris
2.Sound of music
3.Roman holiday
4.Star wars – the whole series
5.My fair lady
6.How to steal a million dollars
7.Sabrina
8.Charade
9.The good, the bad and the ugly
10.Benhur
11.For a few dollars more
12.for a fistful of dollars
13.Once upon a time in the west
14.Unforgiven
15.Mackenna's gold
16.Godfather
17.Casablanca
18.The bicycle thief

I'm a... WHAT?

Scene one(Temashek hall, NUS - my room): Aquila's gtalking and I'm sipping the Raspberry Vodka I split with her. The vodka's getting to me, I guess. I turn to her and go, "doesn't all this feel nice and grown-up. Sitting in a different country, chatting with your best friend and drinking pink-colour alcohol? Like your childhood dream?" She turns back and smiles.
Half and hour later:
Aquila: Do you still feel on top of the world?
Me: No!

Scene 2 (Fruit shop, Anna Nagar): I'm meeting two of my school friends - Banu and Archana - after four years. We haven't met or spoken since school, but we used to be pretty close then. I called them on an impulse and we decided to meet.
Archana: So, what you planning to do next?
Me: PhD, hopefully.
Banu: But won't that take a long time?
Me: 5 years, if I'm luck (yes, I think of Mike Slakenerny and smile!)
Archana: So, when you planning to get married??
Me: M-M-mmarried?
Banu: Yeah..
Me: After that I guess.. Why? When you guys planning to get married?
Archana: In another year or two I guess.. They're looking out.
Me: Looking out??? But that's so... grown up!

Scene 3 (I'm having a messaging conversation with a 'friend*'). Friend sends me a message "... so, we suspected my girlfriend was pregnant and I had to got her a test.."
Me: ??????????????????????????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

* I'm obviously not gonna tell you who I'm talking about, so don't even bother asking!


Scene 4 (Bakkiya's house): We're sipping juice and listening to her describe labour pains and how great it is (yeah, you heard me right the first time)! Sug is listening. Soumya and I look at each other. Um, but this is what adults - older women talk about! Not.. not us!!!

Scene 5 (On the phone): A friend is telling me about his taxes and arrears. I go "Ha, ha, you have arrears". I hear a frown which conveys 'grow up already'. I try to cover up with "It sounds so.. you know.. grown up. It's what parents do!!". It does!

Scene 6 (Suganya's wedding): Some dude goes "I welcome Mr.Allen and Mrs. Suganya Princess". Mrs???????

Scene 7 (In the car): Archana goes "do you know we are over age for all sports training camps in the city? Everyone tells us 'we'll let you know if we start a senior batch!'" We are??

Scene 8 (last night, outside my gate): We're returning from Soumya's sister's wedding. Divvya (for those of you who don't know, Divvya is my oldest friend. We've been 'best-friends' since 2nd standard) was dropping me home. It was around 11.30 in the night. I was the last one to be dropped, as usual (It's because I live the closest to her place. Plus I'm good with directions). I had to keep going 'turn left, go right, go straight' since Deena's house.
Finally we entered my colony. I said "you're supposed to know this place.. you grew up here!!"
She goes "yeah, I know"
But to irritate her I continued "take a right here".
"I know"
"Left"
"I know"
"Go straight."
I get a glare.
(At my road) "Turn right"
"Hello? I know!!!!"
"First house on the left."
"Oh, apadingala (Is that so)?? I didn't know.."

We both laughed as I got out of the car and she waited till I got into the house before leaving - like her dad and granddad used to do the many times they dropped me over the past 15 years. I thought of 15 years ago when I actually didn't know her house and went searching for it with my maid on Diwali day. She came back home with me that day and it's been 15 years since then. But it seems like just yesterday. Not that I mind the drop-you-off-post-11-and-make-sure-you're-in-before-i-take-off thing. It kinda feels nice.
(Who am I kidding?)
It feels real good and all.. well, grown up.

Maybe, just maybe, being grown up isn't so bad after all! :-)

Fling! BANG!... Ooops!

Everyone's done a post on LHC. Why should I be out of the loop??

Today, while walking down the down, I happened to overhear two girls talking about the LHC:
Girl 1: So, if this experiment went wrong, yesterday is the last day of earth.
Girl 2: (Shocked) Oh no!
Girl 1: But thankfully, the experiment didn't went wrong, so it's okay.

Anyway, apart from telling us what exactly our government spends half our education budget on, and the state of english in IIT (I told you so!), it also gives us a slight idea of exactly how uninformed the people around us are about the LHC!

My at.mol prof told us on tuesday "So, in the event that the rumour about micro blackholes being created and sucking us all in is true, we shall not meet on monday. But I can pretty reasonably assure you that that will not happen. So, be on time."

One of those times, when you forgot your physics and wished for blackholes. Especially since we have an assignment due monday!

Ah, well, C'est la vie.

I sent this link to most of you. Got it from Ajay's status message. Apparently, most of you have already seen it. In case you haven't:

http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=j50ZssEojtM

It's not completely true. But funny nevertheless.

Apparently, Hawking has a bet for $100 that the Higg's boson will not be discovered. Which is not so good, actually. The search for it will still be on, and they'll just end up building a bigger accelerator and spending more money. Starving millions, anyone?

The latest addiction!

Okay, I admit it. I really am addicted to phdcomics. Just that the strip is so damn funny!!! Take this one for example:




And this, strangely is not even one of the more popular ones.. But you must've seen the others. This one is just my personal favorite.

Anyway, I went into the archives and started reading all the ones written long ago - some 1000 odd strips and I'm proud to say that yesterday, I finally finished reading all of them! Now I'm an expert. Almost. :-)

P.S: Mike is my fav. character. Who's yours?

The poll

Just out of curiosity, how come no one's voting on the poll. Just wondering.. Just 3 votes so far and I - accd to sitemeter - have about 10 visitors a day. Oh, and does anyone know how to change the font colour. It is difficult to read, I agree. And this is also a 'I-just-wanted-to-post-but-didn't-know-what-to-post-on' post.

In other news, I have started swimming again - after 5 years. And it is true what they say - you can never forget how to swim!

Enga area.. ulla varadhae!

Before I begin,
Happy birthday, Madras!

A long promised post. I must say that the repeated requests for it flattered me no end and I wanted to do justice to it! Hence I took a long time and decided to post it on August 22nd - for what better day??

I’m not gonna give you people a list of reasons we love this place. Enough blogs have them. Or open the supplements today. All of them will carry popular opinions which will, I’m sure include filter kaapi, podimas, beach road, mount road, ranganathan street, spencers(for Gawd knows what reason), Anna nagar tower, etc.. I, however, am gonna merely state and refute or reinstate popular opinions, giving credit where it is due.

So what is so great about this place, you ask? After all, it has been voted as being the hottest, most conservative, boring, and most under-developed among the metros! A desert - in short. Chennai autos are infamous throughout the country and the city is definitely not known for its night-life, hot chicks or guys! There are exactly two big malls and Chennai people do not know how to dress and those who do, find it too expensive to maintain it! The city dwellers refuse to learn hindi, thus making it difficult for the rest of the country to come down for a visit and what's there by way of sight-seeing anyway? The city has a rainy season of two-weeks and is eternally on the verge of a water-shortage. The politicians are again infamous throughout the country (who doesn't know Jayalalitha? - who studied in Church Park, btw..)and the people are uninteresting and stupid. Most importantly, according to my friend, "It didn't even have a McD till 3 months ago, and Madrasi food sucks!" and the beach is of course, as dirty as it gets!

Okay, now that I've written all the points which people keep throwing at me, let me start by refuting them one by one.

First of all, this place is not a desert. As my sister put it 'The only thing you don't get in T.Nagar is an aeroplane'.

Yes it is hot, I'm sorry about that - but has anyone ever noticed that it is hot for precisely 3 months a year? The rest of the year, I am cursing the hostel administrators every morning for not having a geyser!

And yup, most people are conservative, but that is just about the way they live their lives and the way their children live theirs! They let everyone else be. Chennites are among those who do not pass judgement easily, believe it or not. We're more open minded than B'loreans or Delhites in the sense that, in either of those places, you need to be 'cool' and 'hep'. You can't be who you are the way you want to be. You need to fake it and pretend just to fit in - something neither I, nor anyone I know had to do in Chennai. It's a city of extremes and weirdly, the extremes get along very well. Here, it is common to find a pardha cladding muslim be best friends with one who sports the minis and halters.

The autos are irritating, but be a sport about it, won't you? Walk! Nothing feels as good as a long walk. Just trust me on this one. And if you hate your feet, take the public transport. Apparently, Chennai is one of the few cities which is very wll connected by public transport! (If anyone has a contention here, they can contact Mr. Ipe Job, who, by the way, spent his entire childhood elsewhere).

And as for the nightlife, we do have our fair share of clubs and discos and pubs. What we also have is more than our fair share of Sabhas and Concert halls and Theatre/Rock fests! *Allow me a huge grin here, will you?*

Two big malls and one McD – forgive me, but I’m kinda proud we haven’t yet succumbed to the US based MNCs who drive our men out of business!

The hindi bit, again something I’m proud of, but that has a whole post dedicated to it. Besides, did you know that you didn’t need to know Tamil at all to survive here? Ask my friend Anisha – she was born in Chennai, lived here all her life, her mother-tongue is tamil, she studied tamil in school till the 8th and she still can’t frame a proper sentence in it! Why? Because she doesn’t need to!
In fact, apart from her, I have exactly, *counts* 5 tamilian friends. No, 6, but the 6th is the same as Anisha - can’t speak tam for nuts! I’m talking about people born and brought up in Chennai, of course. It is expected I should know many more… but weirdly I don’t! *grins* Cosmopolitan, eh?

The city, though has always been on the verge of water-shortage, never actually was! 5 successive years of failed monsoon and I didn’t have to miss a single bath. Compare this with the west, where one failed monsoon and they’re already worried to death!

I dunno what they mean when they say ‘Madarasi food’, but I’ll say one thing – we make the best god dammed sandwiches EVER! (If you don’t know what I’m talking about, please please go to Alsa mall the next time you’re free!
Oh, and one thing non-south Indians should know – idly doesn’t taste the least bit like how you get it in restaurants – I dunno why, but home idlys feel and taste very different!

Hot chicks, dreamy guys – well, you got me there. Er.. * scratches head*. All I can say is Madhavan, Siddharth, Shriya, anyone?? *sheepish grin*

Oh, the sight-seeing bit *chuckles* (bet no one else got the joke anyway!), well.. apart from the beaches (check ‘em all out!), I have on my platter Dakshin Chitra, 3 amusement parks, Mahabs, Crocodile bank (it’s really cool, trust you me!), Vandalur zoo (It’s almost as good as the Singapore one. Almost), etc.. (Remind me to put up a long list at some point of time in life.

As for the uninteresting and stupid people bit, well.. off the top of my head – Indira Nooyi, A.R Rahman, Kalam (well, he studied in MIT – that counts), C.V.Raman, Chandrashekar, Vishvanathan Anand, etc..

So yes, there I refute all the statements ever thrown. If you have anymore, bring ‘em on!

Oh, and also, let me mention that no one can stay in this city for more than 4 years without falling in love with it, apparently. Ask my MCC friends – Unni Nair, Sai Krishna, Satyaki Roy, Prashant Ipe Job, Shannon Peter to name a few..
They constantly surprise me with they proclaimations! Stuff even I wouldn’t dream of saying. Like Unni saying he’ll do anything to settle down in Chennai! Or Satyaki (this guy swore he would never return to Chennai once he was done with MCC) pinging me to let me know that he was returning to ‘his favourite city’ the next day. And Pipe (dude could never stop talking about UP when he landed here) having an argument with me – ME – about the afore mentioned transport thing. And Shannon (sigh, you gotta meet him – no word would do justice here) calling me up the night before an exam to argue about how Chennai is the safest city on the planet. Yes, I said argue. I didn’t agree with him of course!


Last year, same day, I sent a message to all my friends wishing them. I don't have a copy of the message, so I can't quote it verbatim, but here's what I remember of it: "I'm looking out of my window and all I can see is a vast expanse of green trees and shrubs against a light blue and pink and purple sky dotted with white clouds. A few coconut trees are popping out of the green mass and swaying to the wind. In a distance is a solitary building - the tidal park with it's lights coming on! And all this, bang in the centre of the city! Where else, but here?”

That message still holds.

We love you, Madras!!!! :-)

With friends like this...

Have you ever come across a pair of friends you envy - envy, cause you never had a friend like that? A pair who make you wanna lean against the door and smile? A pair you're not a part of, and though you'd love to be, you do not want to even peep into their world in case you destroy the balance? The kind of friends you read about in books, and are talked about in movies - and all this while you thought that that kind did not exist and when you realise they do, you suddenly feel lonely - lonely like never before.. and happy - happy, cause, to re-quote Aquila's blog title "it's a wonderful world indeed which contains something so beautiful!

( To answer your questions, yes I am thinking of certain two people, and no, I'm not gonna tell you who it is!)

My second tag

So soumya tagged me.. Visit her blog page sometime. She updates it more regularly than anyone else i know. The tag itself is simple. You just answer some 30-3 questions. Here goes:

1. What's your latest addiction?
Coffee. Can't live without it anymore!

2. What are you listening to?
Some stupid song which plays everytime I visit soumya's blog. (P.S: Girl, how do i turn it off??)

3. How late did you stay up last night and why?
Um. 3 o clock in the morning.(Dad, if you're reading this, DO NOT freak). We having having a heart to heart thingy follwed by two phone calls (I was returning them).

4. Who were you with last Friday night?
My classmates and my juniors (Dept. freshies!)

5. Do you think you will be in a relationship 3 months from now?
Well, one hopes.. :-)

6. When is the next time you'll see your close friends?
In a few mins.. Someone's sure to knock on my door, calling me for dinner!

7. What were you doing this morning at 7am?
Sleeping, of course!!

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

9. What was the reason you last cried?
Lemme see.. I guess it was when a friend of mine yelled at me in public.

10. Have you ever talked to someone when they were high?
Oh, yes!!!!

11. What's the fifth text in your inbox say?
It says "what happened". Go figure. :-)


12. Where was the last coffee shop you [went to]?
CCD, of course. One week ago.

13. What's your outfit right now?
PJs

[No 14 and 15]

16. What were you doing at 11pm last night?
Having the aforementioned heart-to-heart

17. Who was the last person you talked to last night before bed?
Um. Jenita and Shravini. Wished them goodnight.

18. Will you be driving in a year?
Unless I have an accident, yeah!

19. Is there anything that you are craving right now?
The beach. (No idea why..)

20. When did your last hug take place?
Last night. I burst into Ranjini's room saying "I need a hug" right after a horrible GRE test!

[No 21 either.]

22. Have you ever started a sentence with "No offense, but..."?
Of course... Many many times. But usually, as a semi-joke.

23. Do you drink tea?
Occasionally. When there's no coffee. [Coffee rocks! :-) ]

24. Have you ever been arrested?
Nope.

25. Have you rode in someone else's car today?
Didn't leave the hostel today (yeah, yeah.. I know. Sad life et al.)

26. Have you made a mistake this past week?
Maybe. I wouldn't know yet.

27. Who was the last person you texted?
Vinod, I think.

28. Are you happy with your life right now?
With GRE next week, how could I be?? ;-(

29. In the past 72 hours have you been under the influence?
Um. "The" influence? Nope.

30. What's the connection between you and the last person you texted?
I'll stick with the "best friend's best friend". It's more interesting than 'friend' at any rate.


So I tag everyone who's on my blog roll!

One jobless optics class..

So yesterday we were studying the Drude model in Cond. Mat. (I can see all of you going "eh? what?") and in the next class - which happened to be optics - Debo and I came up with a poem which is bokka (to know the meaning of the word ask a bong near you) to say the least!

This is what Debo had to say:

Drude the dude,
See, i don't mean to be rude,
But your model is so crude,
For mankind it's no good,
Cv and are wearing a hood,
I'm sorry to say that this'll be definitely be rejected by Sarika's Sood*!

So I replied with:

Hey Debo, this is Drude,
Just wanna tell you that I'm in no mood,
To listen to you be so prude,
I think your humour is better when it's lewd,
So stop putting pseud!

Now you know what IITians do in class! :-)


* Sood is a prof in IISc. under whom Sarika did her summer internship.

And once again - goodbye!

The following is an excerpt from a mail I meant to send a year ago(31/5/07 to be exact), but never did! I found it in the drafts today, while looking for something else, and I just thought I'll put it in. It describes a feeling I was to experience many times over in the following year:


You know that feeling you get when you see a friend off? You see her getting into the bus and take up a seat. She looks out at you from the window and smiles and waves. You smile back and keep waving till the bus turns around the corner. Then you turn around and start walking. The road suddenly looks both beautiful and empty. You have a smile on your face but you feel lonely.. Why am i typing this? Because i just saw Madhu off on her JNC shuttle and I wanted to get the feeling while it still was there. Sure there's another shuttle I can catch in another two hours but life - my work would've caught up with me by then. I would no longer want to get into the bus.. I'll meet her, maybe, this weekend, but the moment would be long gone. But, years later when I look back and ponder upon what our friendship was all about, it is this moment that i will think of. It is that feeling - a sudden loss of safety, a sense of loneliness - that I will remember.

And now, a year later, I've done that over and over again. Endless times. Now-a-days, it's with a "I dunno when I'll see you next, so I'll see you when I'll see you" - to close/best friends from school going abroad, to cousins leaving to different places, to classmates from college who work in different parts of the world, to friends I met during the summer during my internship... the list is endless!

There is no escape of course - the goodbyes must be said, the hugs must be given and you must watch them as they turn and disappear out of sight - perhaps forever!

For Thine is the Kingdom

God - Possibly the most discussed topic ever. No, that would be food (three times a day per person min.). Well, alright, the second most discussed topic ever..

The fact that I'm an atheist has invited it's share of shocked expressions as I grew up. I still remember our valedictory lunch when all of us were sitting around a table in Mainland China - dressed in our saris and feeling all grown up - when Rabia suddenly remarked "Oh, but Chitra doesn't believe in God!".
"What?" - A general cry and shocked expressions all around followed by a discussion on God and Religion where everyone else agreed that 'God invented man but man invented religion'(quite profound for a 16 yr old, come to think of it).

That being the first time I had openly admitted to being an atheist, it was also the first time I had to put up with such a reaction. Also I came from a very Christiany Christian school - you know, prayers 4 times a day, teacher making fun of Durga's multiple hands during a history lesson, Darwin bashing during a bio lesson, scripture verses competitions, no bangles/bindi, plain sari for the valedictory(though, I have to admit, that looks very pretty), arguments on the big bang theory, the choir singing only religious songs - heck! the rock band played only religious songs!, etc.. you get the picture.
At the end of it all, I was sick of the whole thing. Sick of having a religion being pushed upon me and having to defend my beliefs.

I was also a very confused kid as I grew up. I don't come from a particularly religious family. There was the usual temple visits every birthday and every summer and pray to God on religious holidays thing, but I wasn't brought up on stories of Hindu mythology(things I pester my classmates at IIT for now!) - my dad used to tell me stories of the wars and the rise and fall of civilisations and dynasties - facts, not fiction, mind you.

Maybe that was what got me interested in Science - it dealt with hardcore facts. You got to verify everything. In religion on the other hand, you gotta trust blindly - something which never appealed to me. It was tempting, mind you. I mean, imagine putting all your trust and troubles and burdens and duties on someone else and believing that it'll all be taken care of! I would give a lot to be able to do that, but I know I never can.

It, somehow, doesn't seem right!

When my sister and I had our little accident, my mom prayed to some temple somewhere down south and said she'll do an 'archanai' there if we get better. We did and now she wants to go. She thinks my dad and I were sniggering at her when she told us this, but we weren't. Well, I can't speak for him, but I, for one, have never been against anyone else's blind faith. Just because I like to lead a life where I believe I and I alone am responsible for everything I do, doesn't mean I expect everyone else to do the same! Which is why it irritates me when others come and try to convince me that there does exist a God. Why do they do that? If they can accept that Hindus believe in Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, the Muslims in Allah and the Christians in Jesus Christ, why can't they let me believe in none? Why is it impertinent that I believe in someone whoever he/she be?

Though I'm being a tad unfair in making the previous statement. People accept the other religions because of religious harmony but they don't stop trying to convince the others to accept their own. I can understand that. What I can't stand is when someone pushes their beliefs upon you. Like Mrs. Rajan in school who made fun of Kali when we were studying about Durga Pooja in Social studies (I was 8 and I wasn't pleased with what was happening - if I had been older, I guess I would've protested, but then again she wouldn't have made such a statement to a bunch of 16 year olds - which just makes me lose all respect for her, but that's besides the point..). Or that lady who came home and gave my mom, who politely asked her what she did, a nice long lecture on how Christianity is the best and my mom should come for some meeting somewhere (I couldn't control my laughter and walked out of the room soon enough), or my aunt(who I love a lot and would die for her and so shouldn't put her name along with the others, but, hey, it's just an example) who tries to convince me to attend 'Art of living classes' - something, Chicken Little will assure you I don't need, since acc. to her I can be happy in a jail - whatever that means!

Another thing which always struck me as strange was the way girls are usually either firm believers or atheist. They dislike being an 'agnostic' for a long time, while that seems the popular choice with guys!! Of course, I will discount the masses who claim they are an agnostic because "they believe in God - some God, no name, but a supreme power" (to such people, I would suggest that they please go look up the dictionary meaning of the word and not be ashamed of believing in a supreme power. Trust me, there's nothing 'cool' about being an agnostic or a atheist!).

There's another category of people - my favorite - the ones who believe in God thanks to Pascal's wager argument ! Smart people, they are.. but it does seem like cheating, doesn't it? And if there is a God who knows all and controls all, won't he know exactly what these people are getting at? Ah, well..

Whatever works for them!

The night before the wedding.

One evening Marilla, coming in from the orchard with a basket of apples, found Anne sitting along by the east window in the twilight, crying bitterly.

"Whatever's the matter now, Anne?" she asked.

"It's about Diana," sobbed Anne luxuriously. "I love Diana so, Marilla. I cannot ever live without her. But I know very well when we grow up that Diana will get married and go away and leave me. And oh, what shall I do? I hate her husband--I just hate him furiously. I've been imagining it all out--the wedding and everything--Diana dressed in snowy garments, with a veil, and looking as beautiful and regal as a queen; and me the bridesmaid, with a lovely dress too, and puffed sleeves, but with a breaking heart hid beneath my smiling face. And then bidding Diana goodbye-e-e--" Here Anne broke down entirely and wept with increasing bitterness.

- Anne(12) in Anne of Green Gables


"It's all pretty much as I used to imagine it long ago, when I wept over your inevitable marriage and our consequent parting," she laughed. "You are the bride of my dreams, Diana, with the `lovely misty veil'; and I am YOUR bridesmaid. But, alas! I haven't the puffed sleeves -- though these short lace ones are even prettier. Neither is my heart wholly breaking nor do I exactly hate Fred."

- Anne(21) in Anne of the Island

The narrative - Part 1

Here is a very brief (by my standards) report of my recent trip to Singapore. Popular demands et al..

Characters you will meet during the course of this narative:

1) Ranjini: (a.k.a assie) She's a classmate of mine. A total nutcase/genius/idiot/sweetheart - you get the picture. She denies the obvious very vehemently. Both of us travelled to and fro together. She can be fun when she's not scared of the little beetle on my head or a water tank or, i dunno.. the skyline!

2) Aquila: My soulmate ;-) Well, the only other girl in India to be doing a master's in physics, have a blog, 2 friends from col., go through a make-over, read the way books should be read, etc.. If you know any other, we'll be happy if you could let us know!

3)Sharmila: Aquila's classmate (they're from Pune university). A complete sweetheart. The only sensible and responsible person among the lot of us - hence she gets stuck with handling our finances, tickets and p.o.a wherever we go. Oh and she knows moonwalking! But that's a tale of it's own..

4) Tanya: A girl from Delhi. One of those who remind you not to go by first impressions. Sweet, cheerful, bubbling with life, confidant, etc.. - a typical Delhi girl! Except she's smart too!

5,6,7) Siddharth, Soumalya, Veeresh: Three guys from my class. I will say no more. Read on and form your own opinions :-)

8) Sandip: Aquila's classmate. Obbessed with photography. Has been known to take a minimum of 1000 photographs in one day. And no, I'm not exaggerating. Oh, Veeresh like taking photos too, but Sandip takes the cake.

9) Rakhi: A PhD student from IIT-M. Helped us settle in and gave us murruku everytime we visited her. :-)

10) Sharon, Minrui, Binni, Yilin, Zhi Han: People in my lab. But more about them as the tale proceeds.

11) Dr.Sow: My guide. (Yeah, I admit his name should've been first conventionally, but heck, you guys don't wanna hear about my work in the lab, do you??)



The story:

Ranjini and I arrive at the Changi airport and are picked up by my brother. I guess he convinced the taxi driver that he knows the town well, cause we had to pay barely $20, while my friends paid $35! Guess the autos in B'lore and the taxis there don't really differ much!

We reached Temashek hall (our home for 6 weeks) at 9 in the morning. We went to the chap who was incharge of giving us the keys(correction: transponder) to our rooms only to be told by this lady (maid? wife? daughter?) that he was still sleeping!! We insisted that he be woken up, and he came out all grumpy and grouchy (it was only later that we found out that that's how he normally looks; even when he's telling jokes about how there are two sesons in S'pore: hot and very hot (you can roll your eyes all you want - i was forced to laugh politely)). He gave us the transponder and explained how it works. I never did get why they had to use something like that! What's wrong with a normal key?? Esp since they made us pay 42$ if anything happened to it!

To be continued..