Random Musing
Apollo-111 had CRASH-LANDED. To a bird's eye (though there was barely any sign of life in this forsaken place), it would have appeared like a speck on one of the infinite craters that mottled the surface. But, inside that speck hummed hundreds of thousands of tiny machines, that cocooned a fragile life - that of Neil Armstrong Jr. A hundred years after the first landing on the moon, all of the complicated calculations and complex engineering had apparently gone wrong. "It's not my turn to say, 'One small step on the moon is a giant leap for mankind'", thought Armstrong Jr. And THEN, it fell on him like a thunderbolt - was
HE the first man on the moon?
Scored Out
Shrutz here tagged me. And because we're playing tag, and someone's gotta keep score; I'll say no more, and tell you things about me, in order, score. (that's like.. umm... TWENTY secrets??!!) **Gulp**
- If I could hitch a ride on a time-machine; I'd pull the lever to "Past", wind the spring to "Medieval" and shoot for it. I've got a 'thing' for gore, it excites me.
- When I was younger, I'd read Shobha De, Maureen Dowd, and the likes; and secretly hope to write like them someday - a newspaper column, with my name on the top.
- I think I was about eight, and my dad decided I needed to get some 'art'. So he asked me to choose between classical dance/music and painting. I chose the latter, went for summer classes, discovered some weak talent, won a coupla' prizes, and then gave up. Now, when we visit museums, dad's shoving me to the art gallery, I'm longing to look at the swords and rifles.
- I've considered a variety of career options. But, more than ANYTHING, I used to want to be a journalist. Like my dad was. He once told me how he pelted stones at Indira Gandhi's convoy, in college; and then interviewed her a few years later, as a journo. THAT left me fascinated.
- I have a fetish for embroidering my OWN clothes. Especially geometric and floral patterns, with beads, sequins and mirrors thrown in for effect. So, if the needle seems to have faltered, and the design's a wee bit skewed, you have it - MY handiwork.
- I HATE Recipe books. That's because I don't like doing things the way they're supposed to be. A small amount of improvisation, and a little innovation can't harm!
- I used to fight TERRIBLY with my niece, who's thirteen years younger. Back in high school, I'd have my face permanently scarred. I'd snap at her, she'd lunge for me. But, I LOVE that kid!
- If you asked me to draw the first thing that came to my mind, it'll be a row of perfectly conical mountains, with the sun shining through their shoulders. A brook flowing at their feet, and a tiny village in the valley below. Huts without doors, a well, a cat, and a lehenga-choli clad girl, with a pot full of water.
- I like the 'Barney' songs. Of the "I love you, you love me; we are happy family" and the "Stop Kookaburra stop, Kookaburra leave some (berries) there for me" genre.
- The most recurrent dream I've ever had, is of a HUGE tiger chasing me into the woods. My heart's hammering so hard, that I can hear it in my ears (even in my sleep!). The way it ends, changes each time.
- Death doesn't scare me; but the thought of going blind does. I'm myopic, and I DREAD losing my eye-sight. It used to be very frightening, when they'd drip those drops in my eyes at the doc's and tell me to keep them shut for a while. I'd hear the news playing, people chattering, kids crying, cars screeching, but I couldn't SEE!
- I feel sorry for fish in aquariums. Boxed up in silly, transparent cases; fed with crappy protein; swimming in fouled water; taken away from their natural habitat and having to watch tight-faced weirdos stare at them all the time. They can't even reach out through bars and rattle the 'cage'. But, I wonder if they care.
- I used to borrow the 'Economic Times' from my classmate every Wednesday. To read Dilbert.
- I learnt up the 8086 microprocessor pin-diagram, by associating the pin functions with my class-mates having the corresponding roll number.
- In my twelfth-grade (Intermediate-II), I'd walk back home, with my head FULL of numbers. I'd calculate squares and cubes; and think of easier techniques for division. It used to be FUN!
- When I feel like 'Google'-ing things up; and I can't think of much else, I try "How to make explosives". Sometimes, I consider using a proxy server; because Anti-Terrorist Agencies might be watching. :P
- I believe a prayer always has to begin with a "Thank You". Thank You, God. For lizards, here in India, don't fly; rats don't fall off the ceiling and gnaw at my hair. Thank you, for not giving me eyes at the back of my head, or I'd be able to see the dog snapping while it's chasing me. Thank you for not giving me sweat glands on my upper palate, I don't like things too salty, especially when it's hot outside. And thank you for giving me the strength to wake up today, and hit the 'Snooze' button.
- A purr-fect day begins with a healthy breakfast. And the one that best suits my taste is good ol' Idli Sambar. I'd DIE for soft, steamed idlis with piping hot, heavenly-tasting sambar.
- I INVARIABLY forget milk boiling on the stove. It's like a curse. I HAVE to spill atleast THAT much, when I make myself some coffee.
- I enjoy chopping vegetables, but I'm CLUMSY at it. I can't remember the last time I did it, WITHOUT having some skin peeled off my fingers.
I think I'll pass the baton to:
- Abhijit - Been too idle with a burnt MoBo, but THAT's no excuse to stop blogging!
- Kiran - EnTranced, you say? You've been tagged nonetheless. :P So RUN!
- Vamsi - Let the CAT prep lie for a while, and chase it.
Pav Bhaji, Pani Puri and an Ice Gola later....
It's VERY early in the morning, right now. So early, that I can still taste the mint in my tooth-paste, and recall a few of the strange dreams that I had last night. It's SEVEN O'CLOCK. [Which I assure you, will NOT be the time of POSTING this]
What is it about a vacation, that's SO numb-ing? You don't hear the clock ticking!! You don't know it's the weekend until there are additional supplements with the newspaper, you don't know it's Christmas until they're showing 'The Grinch' on TV. And I think I'm beginning to love it - the blissful ignorance of the insanity that lies beyond. But, it won't be too long until I miss campus-life. To deliberately steal (maybe YANK) time out of an incredibly packed schedule for a silly B'wood movie, to scour the bottom of the potato-chips bag and salve the last crumbs, to try HARD and keep a straight-face in class when the Prof says something that's unimaginably stupid. What I DEFINITELY WILL NOT miss though, is the hapless glances at my watch, every minute, of each hour-long lecture. Maybe it's despair, but the tiny dial looks like a monster-clock to me, every time I take a peek at it. I TRY and PULL the minutes-hand down, so it runs faster. But I just keep getting tinier, and the hand gets bigger and heavier. It's SO huge now, that I'm hanging from it. Now I'm using my weight, but it just WON'T move! O..K... I think it just did, but there.. it's sprung back into place. Sigh!! Who says 'Time Flies'??
But it IS true, Time's an incredible rush! I'm in the middle of my winter vacation, fighting the bitter cold; I'm rummaging through assorted trash on my hard-disk; and here's what i found. A post (that never WAS posted!) that I wrote when the semester was 'young' - VERBATIM. :P
Just for the information of the precious few that form the 'elite' group of my patrons, I'm back on our sprawling(do i hear objections?), GREEN campus; after 10 weeks of internship at Lucent Technologies, Hyderabad (for the obscenely, inexplicably ignorant.. Lucent Tech. is an offshoot of the phamous Bell Labs - guess where the enigmatic, bipolar junction transistor came from?!) As is the case EVERY new academic year, it's that time of the year, when everything and everyone is scurrying hither and thither to get the neglected state of the NITW {(formerly known as RECW) - Deemed University} campus back into what civilization would call "habitable". To add to the melee is Campus Recruitment; that inevitable roller coaster ride, which every "about to step out into the big, bad world" fresher can take, without a paid ticket.
However, this post of mine is a chronologically ordered sequence of 'oeuvres', that were typed-in on my humble PC, in my now furnished room. The Internet is a luxury, in the jungle that I live in now. I've even had one of the fans(yeah, the antediluvian three-winged somethings, that read "Usha"/"Crompton Greaves" in most places) in my room start turning with loud complaints the first time I switched it on, and then, screech haltingly after which EVEN a sacrificial offering can't propitiate it!! Alright then.. here we go...
12th July, 2005 (Tuesday)
I finally have all my cartons lying on the not-so-clean floor of my new room, and my beloved PC hastily connected together atop a Hindu paper (today's edition!). I guess the whole place is screaming to be cleaned.. so all I'll say is that it's funny to be back here. I thought I'd cry when the train left the bustling Secunderabad station on Saturday; but before I knew it, Kazipet was here!! And, now...!!! It feels as great as ever..
15th July, 2005 (Friday)
It's been a PHENOMENAL day!! We had a couple of DREAM companies hiring today.. and I was on my 'Placement Co-ordinator' job - one that i took up for the sheer joy of finding people their IDEAL jobs and live through the excitement of the whole activity. And, all the doggedness that is a part of the package doesn't even hold a candle to the euphoria that greets you, each time a short-list is announced. It's amazing how suffused anyone could get, with JOY.. and it's contagious!! I thought I'd burst with happiness whenever I saw a face lit up by the brightest of smiles.
Unfortunately, that 'chronology' ended there. I think the rest of the placement season was spent in attending endless Pre-Placement Talks, and waiting for short-lists, with fingers-crossed, hoping that THAT 'deserving' friend of yours gets into THIS one! I forgot about the post, the campus came back to life, the cog got out of the mud, and the wheel set into motion...
NOW, all that has been stashed away, to be trodden upon, only when there's a need for a 'walk down Memory Lane' - a series of sepia-tinted pictures. I celebrated home-coming, by indulging in "Pav Bhaji, Pani Puri and an Ice Gola" at Abids. It's WONDERFUL to eat good food, makes me REALLY happy. :P I'm now back from a whirlwind tour of Mumbai, Nasik, Panchvati, et al. And I guess train journeys (down South, atleast), offer the same painting-style landscapes. Mountains (the Aravallis, this time), hills, rivers, fields, tiny huts... But, it IS fun, trying to make shapes out of the mountains; just like it is, to conjure stuff out of clouds. A herd of rhinoceroses, probability-distribution functions, a collection of party-hats, a blind giant, a pixie's ear...
What I took, to read on the journey, is a book titled "Miracles of the Gods - A Hard Look at the Supernatural" by Erich Von Daniken. If THAT name rings a bell, it's probably because you've either read, or heard of his other, rather popular book called 'Chariots of the Gods' - VERY interesting! I didn't have oppurtunity to savour more than fifty-pages of 'miracles', but I DID get to take a HARD look at the Preternatural, though. At Mumbai, that is. While I write..err..type this, I'm reminded of the pictures of Hyderabad, I'd once posted; claiming it to be THE most beautiful city. I admit I went overboard with the "beauty" bit, but I confirm that it STILL is one of the best cities to live in. Not too expensive, not too crowded, not too polluted, not too corrupt, not too dirty. However, Hyderabad DOES suffer some notoriety. Whatever it may be, nothing can beat the lassitude that ripples beneath the city's cover. You see vehicles rushing, people pushing; but the langour's there. Not noticeable, but VISIBLE. Mumbai on the other hand, seems to be in a perpetual hurry. Like a string of 'Old Cities' glued together. And, no discussion of the city can be complete without a reference to the sub-urban trains. It's like the Tantra T-shirt that reads: 'Indian Railways: Since 150 years - Bringing people closer than ever'. A PRESS of people!
There are a countless things/people that spring to my mind, when I think of the last five days. But, I think the most remarkable ones are just a handful:
- The cottages on the hills in Khandala, that you can see from the train. THE place to settle in, if you ever wanted to write a book.
- The tourist guide who called this place "Baandh-ra Ri-kala-ma-(na)-shun [Reculmination, I thought]". The board read 'Bandra Reclamation'. It's like calling a gentleman, a genital-man!!
- The kindly sabzi-mandi lady on the sub-urb train, who was carrying this HUGE wicker-basket of greens.
- The boat-ride to the Elephanta Caves: the Japanese tourist, the calm waters, Lionel Ritchie playing in the background.
- The kid at Sion Centre, who was trying to draw a red tilak on a street-dog's forehead, with a sketch-pen.
- A questionable 'shop' that read "Crazy Land Video Game, Police License No. 270/2001", and the unmistakable jingle of coins, and shuffling of stakes.
- Juhu Chowpatty, and the little girl who lost her parents in the crowd.
- The walk from the Gateway of India, to Churchgate; the 'Café Royal' and the cricket-match being played at 'The Oval'.
- The Godavari at Panchvati, and the children splashing about, in it.
