Percepts

Ode to Paul Scholes

2011-06-03T10:09:00.004-04:00

Paul Scholes announced his retirement from professional football earlier this week. He was one of the best footballers around and certainly the best in his position during the modern era. A role model both on and off the field. Here is a recent interview he gave to BBC. He is a quiet camera shy person with modesty and humility rarely found in people of his trade. I find that astonishing for someone with an amazing-out-of-this-world-fantabulous talent. I recently read that United fans wear a t-shirt in his honor that reads "Get up, go to work, play the game, get showered, go home" which is exactly what he did for 17 years he played for United. He was never in the news for non-football reasons! He played during an era where United dominated English football and he commanded a starting position pretty much all through when he was fit. More than one manager has said that he was/would have been the first name on their team sheet and anyone who has trained with him regards him as the best footballer. He will be sorely missed not just by Manchester United fans but by football fans everywhere. I am a huge huge fan and I was really sad when I heard the news. All I want to say is:

Thank you Paul Scholes

for your tackles and your goals

You were absolute class

perfect weight on every pass

even the ones you played on a hunch

and boy your shots packed a punch!

Never before and never since

Oh ginger ninja, Oh ginger prince

will we see a midfielder so pure

and of that I am sure!

And its Summer again!

2011-05-29T16:48:00.004-04:00

I am so happy that after all the snow, freezing temperatures & rain, the weather is finally awesome! A long weekend in this part of the world. We didn't plan any trips for this weekend since A had some work. But the weekend has been fun, and we have been enjoying the great weather. On Friday night, we went out to eat in one of the Italian restaurants in the area. They had outdoor seating, it was just so nice to sit out and dine. Yesterday, we went on a short hike, and then went to see 'Chalo Dilli' in the evening. Quite liked the movie, lots of laughs and, as usual, Vinay Pathak was awesome. I think Lara Dutta acted well too.

Since the weather is going to be good over the next few months, we got some balcony furniture. I also bought some plants & flowers. I got petunias and begonias, and am trying to grow tomatoes, hot peppers, cilantro and mint. Really excited! The flowers look so beautiful, just love admiring them every time I look out!! I plan to make more additions in June & July.

We went on a vacation to India for 3 weeks in March-April. Overall, the trip was great. We went to Chennai first, met all my relatives and attended my cousin's engagement. It was good to attend a function in India after a long time and to meet everyone. Then we went on a trip to Coorg with my parents. Had a fabulous time there with them. After Coorg, we went to Udaipur. Udaipur is such a beautiful city. This was my 3rd trip there but the first time that I got to spend some quality time there with everyone and visiting places. All the lakes and the Aravallis, just beautiful. We went around the city a lot. Also went and stayed in a palace turned resort a little outside of the city with A's friends. I had close to a 1000 pictures at the end of our trip. An interesting and mostly fun trip, spent quality time with family and friends, but at the end of the 3 weeks, I wanted to come back to our life here.

So here we are, back to our jobs and routine. Work has been busy for us. Really can't believe it that it has been a month & a half since we got back. Looking forward to the rest of the summer..

Petunias in our balcony..

2011-05-29T16:44:00.003-04:00

Tongue tied & twisted

2011-02-13T00:22:00.003-05:00

It is sad when this happens, especially with people with whom you think conversation should be easy & natural. You are staring blankly at someone and absolutely no words come out. You can barely have a conversation lasting more than a couple of minutes over the phone. The silence is uncomfortable but so is the small talk. Jeez. How do you deal with such distances?

Winter Wonderland..

2011-01-07T11:09:00.006-05:00

I have been meaning to write for the longest time now but never got around to doing it. And it's already 2011. I am excited about this new year. I actually have a set of resolutions for this year, a first for me!

The second half of last year was an emotional roller-coaster. Without getting into the specifics, let me just say that I had been extremely touchy. Hopefully, I am through that phase and am more in control of my emotions now.

Besides all that, we moved into a lovely new place. It's funny how we think ourselves to be one way or the other, only to realize later we were probably never that way in the first place. Or maybe we just change over time. I used to believe that after living in one place for years, I would hate moving to a new place and settle down all over again. I always knew that A was more flexible and adapted to new situations fast but I think I surprised myself this time. I absolutely love our new place and it's been great fun exploring new things here together with A. Think I am more open to bigger moves now..

Our customary camping trip was to Maine end of summer last year. Really, Bar Harbor - Maine, has got to be one of the most beautiful places I have been to within the United States. Loved it. Reminded both of us of St. John, USVI.

And thanksgiving of last year was a fabulous break. We got other with all of A's cousins and their families. Hope we continue this new tradition over the years. It really inspired me to organize something like that with my cousins. It will be awesome fun.

Here's hoping this year is fantastic for everyone!

Random Thoughts...

2010-07-28T19:53:00.004-04:00

It's been a while since I posted. Time has been flying by really fast. Busy work weeks, busy weekends - sometimes, I am really happy that there's so much activity and at other times, I just want to stop and freeze the moment or the hour or the day!

We enjoyed South Africa - the football matches, the people, Kruger, the countryside and all the driving. I'm so glad we went, even with all the last minute confusion. I don't see us doing such a trip again anytime in the near future, this was our chance, and I'm happy we took it. On our flight to Jo'burg, I got into a conversation with this American lady, middle-aged, who was travelling to South Africa, with her husband and two grown-up sons. They were to see a couple of matches, visit Kruger, and then travel to Namibia. She talked about how she and her husband had traveled quite a bit before they had kids, and that they had liked it so much, that when they had kids, they started making trips with them. She parted with some advice, 'Continue to work really hard, so you can travel to all these great places!'. I loved her enthusiasm and it gave me a lot of hope for the future, not just about travel but life in general..

So glad it's Friday tomorrow! Really looking forward to the weekend. I am hoping for a quiet one at home........

The story of 2600 km on the road, 7 goals, vuvuzelas and the wild..

2010-07-04T21:41:00.005-04:00

Finally, I can put a big tick on my list of things-to-do-before-I-die, attend a World Cup ... Check!!

The missus and I visited South Africa last week for the football World Cup. The planning for this trip started in June 2009, when we applied for the match tickets, though I must really thank Challa for applying for the tickets for us. We did most of our planning, arrangement for accommodation etc. in December and from then on it was a wait, a long long wait but it was totally worth it.

Our trip started with a long hike to JFK (not amongst my favorite airports) , followed by a flight half-way round the globe to Johannesburg or Jozi as the locals call it, the financial capital of the rainbow nation, South Africa. The airport was alive with World Cup fever - banners, sculptures, FIFA help-desks and a general buzz (though I have to admit that it could have just been me getting high seeing all the FIFA stuff :-)). Given our apprehension about the city, we decided to take the complimentary ride from the airport to our hotel. It was a small guest-house called Dove's Nest close to the airport. In the night, the place seemed secluded and the sliding metal doors behind the glass doors in our room didn't do much to ease our qualms and we were happy that we were leaving early next day. The place looked a lot better during the day though.

The next morning, we took a ride from the hotel to the airport, rented a car, a GPS, picked up some snacks and, most importantly, our match tickets! We then started for Kruger National Park, some 600 km from Johannesburg. After getting lost and driving around for a hour, including driving through some townships, we were finally on N1, a freeway from Johannesburg to Kruger. From then on it was a smooth and a very scenic drive all the way to the Letaba rest camp in Kruger, though we made it only a hour before the gates closed! :-) On the way to our rest camp, we saw African elephants, wild buffaloes, impalas and some birds.

We checked in, registered for a night game-drive and headed to our hut. It was a very nice and cozy room, our favorite accommodation in this trip. We dumped our stuff, grabbed a quick bite at the restaurant and headed for the game drive. We saw a hyena, hippos, elephants, impalas, scrub and spring hare. It was pretty cool to be out in the jungle in the dark. We had seen two of the big five and the rest of the stay in Kruger was about hoping to catch a glimpse of a lion or a leopard but our quest was unsuccessful. We did get to see zebras, more buffaloes, elephants, hippos, kudus, impalas, some birds like the yellow-billed hornbill, the Kori Bustard and the yellow-billed stork but, sadly, no big cats.

After spending the night in the not so impressive (We were really spoilt by the Letaba!) Punda Maria rest camp, we were on our way back to Jozi for the match between Argentina and Mexico in the Soccer City Stadium. We met up with Challa for this game. We reached the stadium a good 2 hours before kick-off to soak in the atmosphere. As the stadium slowly started to fill up to its full capacity (around 85,000 that day), we saw the teams warm up and El Diego showing-off. By the time the match started, the stadium was jam-packed and vuvuzelas were at their loudest and a bunch of Argentina fans were playing a nice rhythm on the drums that continued throughout the match. The match itself had everything - Messi(ah) playing, great goals (Tevez's second and Hernandez's), controversy (Tevez's first) and good overall play. We thoroughly enjoyed it! It was full paisa wasool and then some!

The next day we drove to Durban for the game between Netherlands (I tipped them for the title before the world cup began and boy, am I close to getting it right!) and Slovakia. I had full plans of face painting and the like but we got delayed on the way and just about made it to the game. The drive from Jozi to Durban was even more scenic than the one to Kruger. The South African countryside is just amazing to drive through! The Moses Mabhida stadium at Durban is smaller than Soccer City but it was packed when we got there (64000 people). The atmosphere was much better in Durban but that could have been because Netherlands were playing and the Dutch had an enormous following in South Africa. Our seats were also much better for this game and we had a great time. Robben scored a scorcher (ok, a bit of an exaggeration is allowed, it's the world cup!), Kuyt made a goal for Sneijder after showing some good skill and Slovakia scored from a penalty. We could, actually, see the guy being tripped, that's how close our seats were :). After the game, we were starved for some desi food, so did a take-out from the Pavilion, a huge mall close to our B & B, and made it back in time to watch the Brazil vs Chile game on TV.

After the hectic first four days, we took it easy in Durban, the day after the match. After a really good breakfast served by our hosts, we went to the UShaka Marine World. It was designed to look like a shipwreck and is by far, the best aquarium we have visited. We also saw some tarantulas, snakes, pythons, lizards and other creepy creatures in an exclusive section there. I was totally kicked though after a while the missus wanted to get out :-). After UShaka, we walked along the beach for a while, stopped by the FIFA fan fest and then left for Wilson's Wharf. At Wilson's Wharf, we tried the bunny chow! A popular dish made by the Indians in Durban, it is an unsliced loaf of bread, scooped out from the center and stuffed with veggies or meat. It tasted good, nothing exceptional though, but then it's all part of the experience! We got back in time for the Portugal vs Spain game.

On our last day in South Africa, we stopped by the Nelson Mandela Square in Sandton, the fancy side of town in Jo'burg, for lunch, saw a SONY 3D TV presentation (Shakira in 3D looks hotter than on a flat 2D TV!;-)) and then headed to the airport. The flight back felt like we were traveling in a state transport bus, sitting on the last seat and on a really bumpy road! So, after a really looong and bumpy 18 hours journey, we got back home! It was quite an experience, this trip. But a great one, both of us came back wanting to go back for more. Some day, we hope to go back to South Africa to see Cape Town and to spend more time at Kruger..

Summer time..yay!

2010-05-30T01:00:00.002-04:00

Kicking it

2010-05-21T19:18:00.001-04:00

I saw the movie Kicking it directed by Susan Koch and Jeff Werner recently. It is a documentary that focuses on experiences of 6 homeless people from Afghanistan, Kenya, Ireland, Russia, Spain and USA and how a football/soccer world cup for the homeless changed their lives. I would VERY STRONGLY recommend watching it (for those with Netflix subscription, it is available for instant viewing). I have to admit, I chose to watch it only because it was about football and I was looking for ways to kill time while waiting for my flight but that should take nothing away from the movie. It is one of the most touching and inspirational documentaries I have come across.

A few statements made by the characters in the movie have stuck with me-

The Ireland keeper: "Everyone has some good in them, I want people to see the good in me".

The motto of the Russian team: "Shut up and play", everyone has something to complain about in life but on the pitch we believe in "shut up and play". I will remember this one the next time I am cribbing about something.

There are numerous others but I couldn't possibly say more without spoiling the movie, in case anyone plans to watch it. Every player in this movie is in the world cup for a different reason but at some level everyone wants to just prove it to themselves and be able to believe in themselves. Truly truly amazing movie, it just helps you appreciate everything in your life a bit more!

The Blue Mug : A Review

2010-04-25T12:26:00.006-04:00

We caught the Blue Mug play last night, our first experience with Indian theatre. The play stars Konkona Sen Sharma, Rajat Kapoor, Vinay Pathak, Ranvir Shorey, Sheeba Chaddha and Munish Bharadwaj. The play was about memories and what we make of them.

The play starts with the actors (Rajat Kapoor, Vinay Pathak, Ranvir Shorey, Sheeba Chaddha) recounting some of their childhood memories and other memories through life, some funny and others sad. These monologues were interspersed with dialogues between a doctor (Konkona Sen) and her patient (Ranvir Shorey) who had no memories after the age of 21. The doctor-patient exchange was very sad and funny at the same time. All the actors were brilliant and did a great job on stage.

The way the play ended was a little disappointing to me. Also, I found it a little hard to keep my attention focused on the play for the entire 75 minutes, I found myself drifting back and forth but this has happened before with other plays and musicals that we have been to and may not have had anything to do with this one in particular. A, on the other hand, did not find anything lacking in the play and enjoyed it right through. Both of us did feel that Konkona's role in the play wasn't really meaty and would have liked to see her in a role more substantial.

All that said, it was awesome to see all these actors up so close, especially Konkona Sen!

Yummy Mango Icecream!

2010-04-11T11:51:00.002-04:00

I tried this really simple mango ice-cream recipe yesterday for a get together. It came out really well and the beauty of it was that it was such an effortless preparation!

http://showmethecurry.com/desserts/mango-ice-cream-recipe.html

Thank you Show me the Curry!!!

Daggett Lake, Lake George & the family..

2010-03-27T17:38:00.008-04:00

Another very memorable camping trip, this time with family. Both A & I had our parents visiting us last summer. In an effort to bring everyone together, we planned this trip to Lake George. We found a nice campground in the Adirondacks, with a private lake, and very close to Lake George.

So, we booked a tentsite for A's sis and us, and a cottage with two rooms & a very comfortable loft. The rooms, for the folks, and the loft for my brother and niece.

Day 1: Reached the campground, early enough to pitch our tent and to get the campfire and grill going. It was a really nice evening, sitting there with everyone, chatting & enjoying the awesome burgers & paneer that A grilled. It was the first camping experience for the parents and my niece, and I think all of them enjoyed it!

Day 2: The campground had a hiking trail. So we got everyone moving on that one! The hike took us around 4 hours. My mil and niece surprised everyone! Mil took the lead and marched on. The little one didn't get tired till the very end of the hike and happily chirped away. We got back to the cottage for a few hours and then headed out to Lake George. In the night, everyone was all ready for another barbecue but unfortunately, it rained and we had to stay in!

Day 3: My folks and bro left early. The rest of us stuck around, went back for better views of Lake George, had lunch there, and headed back home later in the day.

In spite of some of the awkward silences, the fact that my sil couldn't make it because of work, the hour or so that we spent trying to get back to the hiking trail after getting lost somewhere towards the end of the hike, the rain on the 2nd night and the fact that it was a little cold because we were out camping some two weeks before the season officially started, it was still a great trip and I'm glad we decided to go for it with everyone together.

Vermont

2010-03-19T07:19:00.009-04:00

A camping trip has almost become a summer tradition for us. Pitching tents, barbecues, a hike, awesome views, lots of driving, friends, family and loads of fun! Although each trip has been great and different in its own way, Vermont and Lake George (which I will write about in a different post) have, by far, been the best.

We went to Vermont a couple of years ago with friends. Long weekend, so we had 3-4 days for the trip. Drove all the way upto a certain point, I forget where exactly we had to board the Lake Champlain ferry, car and everything. The views of the lake and the surrounding areas were beautiful.

We also stopped by the Ben & Jerry's ice-cream factory before heading to the campsite.

Checked in to the campsite, pitched tents, had the campfire going and the works! The next day, we went on a really long hike up Mt. Mansfield, the highest mountain in Vermont.

I think the hike took us pretty much most of the day, if I remember it right. I don't remember if we stayed another day, if we did, we just chilled out at the campsite. The state park was really nice, with a little beach & picnic area.

Looking forward to the summer!

Your daily dose of internet cricket goodness

2010-03-16T21:17:00.001-04:00

This is my friend's blog, something that he started as an experiment. Take a look!

St. John - US Virgin Islands

2010-02-26T13:28:00.009-05:00

Four-day trip to America's Caribbean, US Virgin Islands. Short trip (which is becoming a feature of most of our vacations..) but what an incredibly beautiful place!

Day 1 - Reached St. Thomas and took the ferry to St. John. Rented our car at St. John, got essential groceries and checked in to our studio at Estate Concordia. A loved the Grand Vitara and the drive up the winding roads! Took the day just to chill, and get used to the place. Awesome location of the studios, up a little hill and so close to the beach. We loved the studios, they were exactly what we had wanted, not fancy and close to the mountains and the sea.We tried the Concordia Cafe for dinner. Few vegetarian options as usual, but we loved their tofu.

Day 2 - Salt Pond Bay beach and a very dry & hot hike up Ram's Head trail but we enjoyed ourselves thoroughly nevertheless. Since we had a kitchen in the studio, and we had stocked up on basic groceries, we managed breakfasts and lunches in the studio, and went out for dinners. In the evening, we drove to the Maho Bay campsite, and had dinner at their cafe. More tofu. Also watched a glass blowing demonstration there.

Day 3 - Got rained out for the first few hours of the day. Then headed out to the Annaberg Sugar Plantation ruins, Trunk bay and Maho bay beaches. Also went on a long drive from one end of the island to the other. Finally, dinner at the Shipwreck Landing restaurant. We absolutely LOVED this place, easily the best place we ate at while we there.

Day 4 - Late in the morning, we took the ferry back to St. Thomas and flew back home!

Aranyawas, Ranakpur Jain temple and Maharani Bagh

2010-02-25T21:23:00.016-05:00

Snowed in today, again! I spent a considerable amount of time today, catching up on some travel research and reading some travelogues. I think I am going to start documenting our travels from here on. What I want to do first though is to write about some interesting trips that we have already taken, before I forget all the details.

A while ago, thanks to a couple of A's bacchpan ke saathis, we were booked into this place called Aranyawas in Ranakpur, some 90 kms away from Udaipur, Rajasthan. Cottages, cabins and rooms tucked away in the mountainside. It wasn't fancy, very rustic, yet charming. Wish we had stayed there longer than a night. Nothing can beat the awesome poha and chai that we were served in the morning, while sitting outside, taking in the beauty of the suroundings.

On the following day, we went to the famous Ranakpur Jain temple, a beautiful marble temple, dedicated to the first Tirthankar, Adinatha.

After spending a few hours at the temple, we headed to Maharani Bagh, a place recommended by A's brother, for lunch. The food and the place as such, were just great. Freshly made makki ki rotis were out of the world (see below, left). I hope we can go back there again, and maybe stay there for longer.

Some Mardi Gras Cheer..

2010-02-16T17:58:00.003-05:00

I got back to work today.

Our activities committee had organized this small party to mark Mardi Gras day. Purple, green and gold colors and a big slice of King cak e.

To SS, with Love

2010-02-10T14:35:00.000-05:00

It's been five days since we heard that you are no longer with us. I was outside shopping, when I got the call from R. After that, everything went blurry. Nothing was making sense and the tears wouldn't stop flowing. Now, I think I have accepted it as something that cannot be changed or undone and have stopped replaying what might have happened in my mind. I still have trouble sleeping at nights and I insist that A sleeps after I have fallen asleep, but I will be ok in a while. Everybody is scrambling around to make sure that you reach your parents as soon as possible. It's been hard, you know, trying to focus on what needs to be done and controlling emotions at the same time. I think everyone is going back and forth.

Yesterday, I finally plucked up the courage to speak to your parents. I think my words sounded really shallow. Nothing that anyone says can make it any easier for them. Your father and sister were uncontrollable. I could not say anything to pacify them. Your mother said that she didn't want to cry atleast for your sake, because you had never liked people to cry and get emotional. But I think she broke down at the end of our conversation. I shudder at the thought of what's going to happen when they see you. I will pray..

The last few days, I have been thinking about you all the time. About the time we spent together during our childhood, when we were growing up, when I lived with your family for a year or so, college years and, finally, when all of us came here together to this country. I think my earliest memory of you is playing 'Ram-Lakshman-Sita' with you and V at Kodam. And 'Bon-Bon' candies! A starting laughing when I told him about this. I, actually, googled and showed him that there were, indeed, candies called 'Bon-Bon' when we were kids. A says it must have been a Madrasi candy...bah! Anyway, this was in Nungam. All the kids wanted this candy, we used to love them. I guess, V always got to pick what he wanted since he was the youngest. So, that left you, R and me. I don't know what the older kids were upto. Both of us picked the candy of choice, and saved the wrappers. When R came along, we gave her some other candies wrapped up in Bon-Bon wrappers!!! She was so mad at us when she found out! And I have some vague memories of all of us playing at the Gill Nagar house as well.

No family gathering is going to be the same again, without you. I will always remember the fun we used to have during festivals, especially Diwali. Getting together in one house, getting up early for the oil-bath and crackers afterward. WWF (you and V were so much into it), Super Mario, Formula One talk, all the leg-pulling, these are just few of the things that I will always associate with you. All the weekends, during college years, that I spent with you and the others.

And when we came here - we shared something special, didn't we? Atleast the first couple of years, when all of us would take the time to call each other up and have those long conference calls. And the trips - Niagara, Atlanta - they were so special. Can never forget them, especially Niagara. You drove all the way and back, and laughed at R & me, when we took the wheel for a few miles. You said we drove too slow. I am a lot better now, you know. No trip with everyone is going to be the same again.

I am also feeling a lot of guilt. That I didn't make more time for you. Or anybody else. I have been so wrapped up in my own little life, always postponing making calls, taking people for granted, thinking that they will always be there. And to think we met you just over a month back. Meeting you after so long had made me feel so good, and I wanted all of us to get together soon. Like old times. But you are gone....just like that.

I miss you too much. RIP, SS.

MSMT 2.0

2010-02-04T21:23:00.005-05:00

I guess this sums up what many of us felt about this version of Mile Sur Mera Tumhara..

Mile Sur Mera Tomorrow? Fail

Wonderful Weekends

2010-01-31T14:25:00.005-05:00

We had a great time last weekend - an old friend, a day trip out of town, some awesome food and drink and a lovely surprise!

I have to write about this place called El Serrano that serves great Latin American food. We found it last year on one of our weekend getaways and we loved it so much that we had decided that we would go back, even if it meant driving more than a hundred miles for a meal. SO, we went back, exactly a year after and it didn't disappoint. But after trying it both for dinner and lunch, I would say dinner there is something else altogether. The adjoining tapas restaurant Culturas seems interesting too.

We also stopped by this little town called New Hope, not exactly a very happening place, atleast not this time of the year but it was quaint and it was really nice walking by the little antique shops. We were told that it is more lively during the summer and has a decent nightlife. This town reminded me of Woodstock, another place we stopped by for a few hours last year. We had to take a picture of this guy there..

A New Hope

2010-01-27T21:48:00.003-05:00

Already an entire month into the new year!

Ice Skating is funnn!

2010-01-05T22:12:00.001-05:00

And so much easier than skiing! Definitely going back to the rink soon.

Haagen Dazs ne hag diya (it crapped)

2009-12-15T11:45:00.001-05:00

I have never really been a big fan of Haagen Dazs or ice-creams in general for that matter so when my cousin sent me a forward with a subject "I am never buying Haagen Dazs again!!!" my first reaction was that doesn't affect me I anyway don't buy Haagen Dazs. I was in for a rude shock when I read the e-mail though. It contained two links:

http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/randomaccess/entry/sorry_indians_not_allowed1

http://shreykhetarpal.blogspot.com/2009/12/does-haagen-dazs-not-need-indian.html

Apparently, they opened a franchise in Delhi and then went on to do a preview only for people who carried a non-Indian passport. Here is the banner

The owner of the franchise is an Indian which makes it even more enraging. We were upset about Indians being discriminated against in Australia ... this is the national capital!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-26T20:53:00.003-05:00

Dal-Baati, Chaach and Mango milkshake........we had a good thanksgiving.

Dilemma over the Kapoors!

2009-11-26T00:08:00.002-05:00

RK or SK? When a friend asked me this question (even if it was in jest), I couldn't come up with a definitive answer. Such confusion!! I really like both of them, loved RK in Wake Up Sid and really have had a soft corner for the other Kapoor for a while now. Sigh!

I remember those times when the only actor name that I really cared about was SRK's, considered myself a true fan, saw all his movies, serials, knew all his movie songs, had a huge poster of his on the wall of my room and watched DDLJ atleast a dozen times. I didn't care that he wasn't the best looking actor in Bollywood, that half the people I knew couldn't stand him, that he really overacted at times and, later, upon learning that I had been a big fan of his, that the husband cracked jokes about him & Karan Johar and a certain Lux advertisement that I have never seen. I really don't know what it was about him. I don't feel the same now but then again, I don't feel the same about any of them actors.

Since I can't make up my mind, I will let my affections vacillate between the two of them Kapoors. What times, I say!

Vacation Cravings..

2009-11-25T09:18:00.003-05:00

..are satisfied. Books, movies, occasional trips outside, two mile walk-runs, food,.......it's bliss.

I can't believe that it's already day 5 of my break. A much needed break and I'm loving it. For once, we are not rushing out the door to catch a flight or to make that road trip (not that I don't enjoy those vacations but I always need some extra time after to recover) or have chores lined up. For so long now, I have been craving for such a vacation with no major plans, mostly chilling with books.

For the first time in years, I read a book like I used to during school summer vacations back home in India. And I'm so kicked about it. I could concentrate on a book (without other thoughts floating around in my head) and complete it within a day, without falling asleep after reading two pages of it. I spent considerable time at a local book store a couple of days ago, remembered my Landmark days and came back with a few books that I have been meaning to read (Unaccustomed Earth - Jhumpa Lahiri, A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini and The White Tiger - Aravind Adiga). I finished the Lahiri book. Though I liked it, it left me feeling wistful just like the Namesake movie had. I will be going to a couple of other bookstores soon. A wants me to get Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh and I want to get some Chetan Bhagat books as well. I haven't read him at all and want to know what the hype is about, atleast before the movie is out.

Goodbyes are always hard..

2009-11-20T15:46:00.002-05:00

*sigh*

And now I start another chapter of my life.

Goodbye 2009

2009-11-16T23:00:00.004-05:00

2009 has been a very eventful year for us...a mixed bag, started off on a not so bright note, got better through the months and it looks like it is ending well. Nevertheless, I can hardly wait for it to get over and to welcome the new year in. Yay to 2010!!! And yes, I am pretty much hogging the space out here. To those who do read this blog and are expecting a post from A,...I think he's going to keep up his earlier posting frequency of a couple of times a year. Crunch times at work only allow for several hours of soccer every weekend and managing soccer clubs on Wii FIFA post-dinner every night. No time for blogging for the busy man. As you have probably realized, I'm the one with all the extra time.

In the past, I have thought about what we have done in a year, where we went, whom we met, activities and the like. This is the first time ever that I have thought about what I have learnt over a year that's gone by. Quite an eye-opening year. Thinking about all this has for some reason reminded me of the self-improvement books that my Dad used to get me when I was a kid, hoping fervently that I would turn out ok :-). I'm putting it down here because I feel like it and hoping that I don't have to keep reading what I have written to remember it in the future.

* I cannot demand anything out of my life. I cannot just stop and say ... "enough!"..., I have to keep going, putting in my bit towards whatever I want to achieve and believing that everything will make sense in due course of time.

* Things do have a wonderful way of falling into place.

* I have to stop being such an incessant worrier........ and have to learn to cope with stress. I cannot let it get to me.

* I was very lucky to have A and my parents by my side, walking with me at every step through my first real crisis as an adult (I am not talking anything big here but not something that can be ignored either).

* It is important to spend quality time with our families. I didn't realize that I can still get extreme bouts of home-sickness.

* I lost my paternal grandmother this year. I could not meet her before she passed away. Wherever she is, I hope she knows that I will always be grateful.

* My maternal grandfather was a far more interesting person than anybody in the family today. Someday, I will read and try to understand his books.

* I don't obsess with depths in friendships anymore. I am, finally, capable of appreciating and enjoying all levels of friendship without feeling superficial about them in my head.

* While a career may not mean everything to me, it does have major significance in my life. It keeps me sane. I might feel differently about it later perhaps.

* The Sun is the boss! No, really. I keep our blinds up in the living room. The moment I see the sun out, I grab a book and run down, to soak up the sun and to synthesize the big D.

* I am more careful about what we eat now, thanks to both mums and, ofcourse, K ben. My kitchen is more organized. I have stocked up on the badam, sesame seeds, flax seeds and quinoa. Curd made at home tastes better and I don't buy the "desi" yogurt from the local Indian stores any more.

Here's to 2010, it's right around the corner.

The perfect blackout!

2009-11-11T22:03:00.005-05:00

Our latest love..cupcakes from Crumbs. I'm happy to write that A is as crazy about them as I am. Their bestest cupcake (atleast our favourite out of the ones we have tried) is the Blackout, followed by the Cappuccino cupcake. Must try!

What's Your Raashee?

2009-11-03T17:07:00.010-05:00

No..this post is not about the movie. We did watch the movie and well, even my love for Priyanka Chopra, could not make the 3 plus hours and the innumerable songs any easier to bear. This one has been brewing in my head for a while now. A sleepy me picked up Linda Goodman's Sun Signs from our bookshelf, first thing on Sunday morning. Triggers-

1. N, X & Y are having coffee and discussing something.
Z (enters the room..) : Whoa! Nice to see N talk!!
N rolls her eyes, smiles, continues conversation.

2. J: So tell me about you & A..how different/similar are you guys?

N: J..we are quite different, A is not as quiet as I am... for one.

J (smirks..): N..you are not quiet!

N: No?? Ok..maybe in a big crowd or with new people?

J (thinking back,..searching old memories): Hmm..maybe..

3. R: No.. you cannot be a Leo! You don't seem like one at all!! Leos love attention. I can't stand Leos.

N: Sorry but I am a Leo...a quiet one.

*Sigh*

So I went and read some Linda Goodman. Few lines from her book that I want to bring up here-

1. There are no introverted Leos. There are only Leos who pretend to be introverts.

2. You may find a few lions who keep their ruling Sun dimmed and go about being strong, dignified and determined quietly. Don't let that soft purr fool you.

3. Leo is a fiercely loyal friend, a just but powerful enemy, creative and original, strong and vital - whether he's a quiet or a flamboyant lion, for there are both kinds.

So there. I am a Leo, the quieter kind.

For those who are interested in such matters, there is such a thing as the moon sign. And mine happens to be Cancer. That explains a lot.

I promised A a year or so back that I will not dwell on such matters for too long. So end of post. There you go, a post entirely about "my zodiac" and "me",..who needs more proof that I am, indeed, a Leo? :-)

Our first Halloween pumpkin

2009-10-29T22:20:00.008-04:00

Inspired by the pumpkin carving pictures on FB, we made our first attempt at it.

Where is my award?

2009-10-28T18:29:00.006-04:00

Angry, frustrated, emotional........I'm all of that and more. It's getting harder by the day.

New York City..

2009-10-26T21:34:00.016-04:00

After so many years of indifference towards it, I have to admit that I have started to develop a sort of love for the city. Not so much to want to live there but enough to want to go there every now and then.

Snapshots of another interesting weekend..

I have had my fill for now.

The Mrs. has been baptized!

2009-10-26T20:04:00.001-04:00

It's taken 5 years of goading, urging and at times offering to watch chick flicks in return but it has finally happened. I have seen an entire Manchester United match with N while she was equally engrossed in the match. We went to watch the Liverpool Vs United match at Nevada Smiths yesterday and though the result (of the match) was not quite what I was hoping for, the reaction of the Mrs. was brilliant. In her own words - "I was stuck in a sports bar with no distractions so had to watch the match and I really liked it. We should come here again for other games and next time we come I want to wear a United jersey." And that's not all, as the game wore on, I saw her clapping at good tackles, sighing at near misses and here is the icing on the cake, she sang and clapped her hands to - "If you hate the bloody scousers clap your hands, if you hate the bloody scousers clap your hands, if you really %^&*^& hate them, if you really %^&*&#$ hate them, if you really %^&%*&^ hate them clap your hands", both during and after the game. And now, with my heart filled with joy, teary eyes and choked throat I can finally say, the Mrs. has been baptized!

Disclaimer: The author may have twisted some facts for dramatization.

Shava-shava from Iceland

2009-10-19T22:48:00.001-04:00

My sister was in Iceland a few weekends ago (she highly recommends the place). During our "How was Iceland?" chat she happened to mention a small fact - Iceland has Bollywood dancing schools. Now, like any good bollywood movie watching Samaritan, I was very intrigued by this. After all, what in the world has Iceland got to do with Bollywood and vice-versa? So I went to the so called "Solomon, The wise" of the modern world, google baba and put in "Iceland dancers Bollywood" as keywords and voila; I had the link to "From Russia with Long Legs" on India Today. I always wondered how these Bollywood directors get firang dancers. Apparently, it's a blooming business with multiple agencies amicably dividing up the world map and choosing their area for recruitment. Who would have thought?

Weekend Highlights

2009-10-19T20:38:00.005-04:00

Diwali-potlucks-pakodas-diyas-rava idlis-peanut chutney-lemon rice-puran polis-mithai-Forgetting Sarah Marshall-J-NYC-5th Avenue-Saks-Tiffany & Co. (no..I didn't buy anything there)-Top of the rock-Chinese Mirch-MoMA design store-lots of walking-catching up with J after ten years-bad weather-trying out Chanel and Cartier perfumes-hearing J say "we smell more expensive than we are":-)-St.Patrick's Cathedral-remembering good old college days-exhausted at the end of it yet feeling nice.

So near and yet so far!

2009-10-14T18:43:00.001-04:00

The wait is just getting painful and frustrating or painfully frustrating..whatever!

The Fab Faux

2009-10-11T11:08:00.005-04:00

We went for the Fab faux concert ( A New York City based Beatles tribute band) yesterday. Initially, it was a little weird to be sitting and watching them perform.......and I kept comparing them to the Strawberry Fields, another tribute band whose concert I had attended a few years back. But slowly, I got into the groove of the music and started enjoying it. They were really good, some of the songs - I am the Walrus, Here comes the sun, Come together and Penny Lane, amongst others were performed beautifully. Overall, both of us had fun..and we came back home humming our favourite numbers and wishing that it had lasted a little longer.

Birthdays and Celebrations

2009-10-05T21:07:00.018-04:00

I love celebrating birthdays, festivals and all happy occasions. For my birthday this year, we went for dinner to Pithari, the Greek restaurant in HP. I liked the place and the blue. Our only crib was with the large portions that they served. I might never forget this birthday. 3 days before it, A & I had the most nasty fall down the steps of NY Penn station and I lost my most favourite earrings that night.

A's birthday was on a Sunday. Birthday weekends are fun. There's so much more that you can do. On Saturday night, bro, sil & niece dropped in. There was garlic bread and tomato soup, the pasta that I overcooked, blackforest cake from Hotbreads and wine. We had a good time. On Sunday, we left early to have brunch at Cornelia Street Cafe in NYC (Thanks D & R - we love the place) and then spent the rest of the day at the Museum of Natural History. Everything was great but for the weather....rainy day! Need for Speed was his birthday gift. ..we have been at it since that day. Surprise surprise, I am enjoying it too!

Fun in the Sun

2009-10-05T20:57:00.004-04:00

Beautiful beautiful day. Only recently started using the front entrance of our home. This is where I have all my sun sessions, read (finally got around to doing it!), listen to music and, essentially, have my "alone" time since A hardly ever comes down here. The intention or the need to have any time alone has never really cropped up but now that I have it, I'm savoring it. So, after devouring half a Crumbs Cappuccino cupcake, the New Yorker in my hand and the sun shining down brightly at me, I'm sitting here thinking of the Fab Faux, Diwali, J's visit........I'm happy.

My PhD in numbers

2008-10-02T14:27:00.007-04:00

0 - number of people (me included) who thought I will do a PhD
1 - number of years in grad school before I decided on a PhD
2 - number of papers published so far
2 - also the number of trips made back to India
3 - number of years I was a TA
3 - also the number of specific aims in the thesis
4 - number of years it took me to finish
4 - also the number of pscyhophysical experiments conducted
5 - total number of completed studies I was involved with
6 - number of semesters it took to finish coursework
7 - number of intramural soccer seasons I have played in
8 - a number I couldn't relate to anything in my PhD
9 - number of conference abstracts published so far
10 - hourly rate at which subjects were paid
11 - number of months it took to finish PhD after proposal defense
28 - number of subjects that participated in the studies
35 - number of course credits completed
38 - number of research credits completed
159 - number of pages in the dissertation
400 - roughly the number of hours spent on running experiments

I apologize to the other numbers that didn't get a mention but were just as important, like the number of soccer games I followed while in lab, number of soccer games I didn't watch because I was in lab, number of coffees I drank while in lab, to name a few.

3-D illusion: Rolling eyes & nose-ring on hollow mask

2008-07-07T15:09:00.002-04:00

This was due a long time ago.
Its an illusion created by my advisor for the Best Illusion of the Year 2008 competition and it eventually won the third prize.

The Beckham Story

2007-01-12T11:35:00.000-05:00

Arguably the best, when it comes to dead ball situations on a football field and with an ability to drop the ball on a players head in the penalty area from almost any part of the field, a product of the Manchester United youth academy. A guy who was a default selection in Sir Alex Ferguson's side, the captain of the national team. Not to mention the most celebrated football face in the world, the only football player to have his posters on the walls of people who couldn't tell what position he played on the field.

Then something went wrong, his celebrity image got to his head the performance started to drop (though still better than most on the dead ball), the attitude changed and then came the final nail in the coffin, the dressing room boot in the face incident with Ferguson. He was sold to Real Madrid for 25 million pounds, a good deal for both clubs. Man Utd got the money, and Real Madrid got a useful player with a iconic image in Asia and rest of the world. They got what they wanted the most, an improved fan base outside of Europe. The only loser in the whole deal, David Robert Joseph Beckham.

Though, no one imagined it would be so bad. Real Madrid is a big club and is always among the trophies, but for some reason after Beckham arrived, they have failed to win a single trophy in three season, have seen six coaches and I think two (may be three) presidents. To make matters worse he hasn't started regularly for the club for the past two seasons, and now he was even dropped from the bench under the latest coach. His performance for England started to go down, at Euro 2004 in Greece he said his fitness level have gone down because there are not enough training sessions at Real (duh!!! Even a kindergarten kid can come up with better excuses). He was disappointing in the world cup as well, resigned from captaincy and then dropped from the national team. Now he is dropped from the club team and in yet another "making the sport more popular" move he is being sold to LA Galaxy where he would earn a whopping 70,000 pounds a DAY.

A real sad state of affairs for a player who was part of the treble winning side for United and was one of the more promising player for England.

To sum up he started as a football player who enjoyed a celebrity status, but is ending his career as a celebrity who can also play football.

Steve Waugh on winning and role of a leader - Always inspirational.

2006-11-10T08:58:00.000-05:00

This is an excerpt from Steve Waugh's autobiography, his thoughts after the record breaking winning streak in test matches.

"To win so many in a row we must have been doing something right. Winning at test level requires an ability to handle pressure for sustained periods at a time and more consistently than your opponents. You have to seize the moment before it presents itself, which comes back to being able to recognize when that moment is upon you. You have to know when to retreat and stem the damage, and when to up the intensity as you sense weakness in your adversary. Each team member must know his game and prepare accordingly, with bowlers generally tapering off leading into a big game while the batsmen tend to up the tempo. The captain has to pull together 10 different individuals with contrasting personalities and character traits and get them all going in the same direction by treating them equally but differently. He also has to keep the team's reserves energized and filled with a sense of being part of the big picture. He must build morale in a way that leads to everyone believing in each other, even when those outside the team have doubts, and empower players to get outside of their comfort zone to fulfil not just their obvious potential, but also to awaken the dormant skills they might not even know about. He has to strive to continually improve his own game by recharging the batteries, clearing the mind, improving physical fitness to strengthen the body and maintaining the technique to ensure consistency, while also massaging and suppressing egos that may otherwise cause damage to the karma of the team. No one can rest on their laurels - the hunger has to be real and the intent clear."

Need I say any more about the man's thought process and man-management skills. I finished reading the autobiography long ago, and I have to admit he is the greatest of them all. The ultimate sporting idol.

For the Computer Geeks

2006-10-05T12:39:00.000-04:00

This quote was part of the signature of one of the matlab toolbox developers.

"Debugging is twice as hard as writing the code in the first place.Therefore, if you write the code as cleverly as possible, you are, by definition, not smart enough to debug it." - Brian W. Kernighan

A more professional Spam

2006-09-21T10:45:00.000-04:00

Got this mail today,

Barr.Bernett Stevenson.(Esq.)
For B.Stevenson Chambers & Advocates
Tel : + 44-702-4060982

Good day,

I am Barrister Bernett Stevenson personal Attorney to Ronald Lake and
Joyce Lake who used to work with Frank Howard Allen Realtors. On the
31st of January 2000, my client and his wife were involved in a Plane
Crash (Alaska Airlines Flight 261) all passengers unfortunately lost their
lives, since then I have made several enquiries to locate any of my
clientÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s extended relatives but this proved unsuccessful.

You can read more about there death on this website below:

http://archives.cnn.com/2000/US/02/01/alaska.airlines.list/

After all these several unsuccessful attempts, since it's not
compulsory that the next-of-kin must be a blood relation to the deceased, hence
I contacted you because you are from the same country with my late
client, Be informed that a next-of-kin can be anybody, friends or
organization.

Presently, the Bank where the deceased (my client) had a Deposit valued
at US$21, 437, 000.00 Million issued me a notice to provide the
next-of-kin to my client to receive its benefit or have the account
confiscated, so I have contacted you to assist me in repatriating this benefit
left behind by my client before they get confiscated or declared
unserviceable by the Bank.

To this effect, I now seek your consent to present you to the Bank as
the next of kin of the deceased (my Client) so that the proceeds of this
Deposit valued at US$21, 437, 000.00 Million can be paid to you and
then you and I can share the money; 50% to me and 40% to you, while 10%
should be given to any Orphanage Home.

I guarantee that this will be executed under a legitimate arrangement
that will protect you from any breach of the law. Please get in touch
with me viaE-mail:bernett002@yahoo.co.uk with the below details
immediately you acknowledge the good receipt of this message.

Full Name:
Full Address:
Telephone Number:
Fax Number:
Mobile Number:
Private Email:
Age:
Occupation:
Country of Origin:
Sex:
Marital Status:

Your prompt response is highly imperative.

Yours sincerely,

Bar. Bernett Stevenson (Esq.)

Any takers???

The most inspiring speech ever

2006-03-21T12:44:00.000-05:00

I am sure most of you have read this speech by Steve Jobs, which he gave at Stanford University. Read it if you haven't. I read it sometime last year, came across it again today. I really like the connecting the dots story, I can almost relate to it. It is like the hindsight quote on my blog, you can connect the dots only looking back.

"Stay hungry. Stay foolsih".

Is it inevitable?

2006-03-17T16:16:00.000-05:00

Last Sunday I went to drop challa to the airport, he walked in to a duty free shop and the lady at the front desk said I couldn't walk in since I wasn't traveling. I waited outside and had a small chat with the lady. She must have been about 65 years old or so. Here is how the conversation went,

Lady: Are you his brother?
Me: No, he is friend of mine
Lady: You from India though?
Me: Yes, and where are you from?
Lady: I am from Denmark. When did you come to US?
Me: About 2 years, not so long ago. How about you?
Lady: Oh! I came here a long time ago, I came here around 1960 for my bachelors. Never went back. You can't go back after you come here.
Me: Why would you say so?
Lady: I wanted to go back, but you get caught in two worlds. You want the freedom, your own country. When you are here you want to go back and when you get back you want to come here. You get caught in between, you can almost never make up your mind.
Me: Hmm, may be!!

And then challa came back, so had to leave.

What scares me is the way she spoke, there was almost an air of inevitability about it. At this point of time I am not thinking about when to go back, simply because it's just too far ahead in time to plan, I am just concentrating on my PhD.

But like I said, the lady almost made it sound like its a decision that's already been made, its inevitable, is it?

Ever talked to a corpse head, had a bullet through your brain ...

2006-03-16T16:12:00.000-05:00

Those are just some of the dreams that I have had over the last year or so.

- A man who was switching personality between neville (my friend and roommate) and Bruce Willis along with another huge guy were after my life, of course I killed the puny neville and just as I was about to kill this huge guy he pulled out his gun and shot me down and I swear to god I had a distinct feeling of my brain leaking out as I collapsed, it was almost real. Next thing, I woke up.

- I was talking to head who later told me he died because the jaggery I used to make some sweet in a party I threw at my place had poison in it.

- Ben the dude who lives in the apartment below us and is terribly pissed with us for making too much noise once came up to our door and forgot what he wanted to say.

- my house maid in banglore yelled at me for not cleaning up my closet.

- I was dreaming and was at a really weird place, but then in my dream this is what my thought process went - "what am I doing here, I need to wake up Nithya" :(, for people who don't know her, she is a big bully and I am gonna get my butt kicked for writing this.

These are the only things that I can come up with right now or in other words my computer is free now, need to go have a look at the results.

Ramble on

2006-03-16T15:57:00.000-05:00

This is something what I do as a full time job, ramble on without making any sense. An (f)art I learnt back in the IIT days. But that is besides the point, which makes this whole post an oxymoron coz the idea is not to make a point. Ever seen Monty Python, I so much relate to them. For the past few months it's been a craze in my house, some of my jobless friends and me have been ruined if I may call it. "You know what I mean, eh? Nudge, nudge, wink, wink, say no more"

And now for something comletely different, the bug at the back of my house tripped over a rice grain and broke his leg.

P.S. I apologize for such a horrible post, but someone else is running my experiment on the other computer and I have nothing else to do.

The title should have been general updates

2006-02-28T16:37:00.000-05:00

Its been a long time since I have written anything. Ideally, its a general update time. I have no enthu to write anything now, but I will leave you with a couple of pics that I saw on yahoo mail homepage.

Funny quote of the day

2005-12-13T12:45:00.000-05:00

I read this quote by Alfred Hitchcock today morning,

"The length of a film should be directly related to the endurance of the human bladder."

I completely agree (from my own experiences and really bad ones at times :( ), specially with the theatres being air-conditioned and them providing huge glasses of cokes.

RU Stressed?

2005-12-01T13:39:00.000-05:00

I got a mail today by that subject which was addressed to all the graduate students at Rutgers. I ignored it the first time (of course coz I am not stressed) but then my department secretary forward the same mail to every one in the department. Seeing the same mail again pushed my stress levels over the edge and I decided to read the mail. Here is what it read,

"listen to music, kick box, and learn about healthy ways to manage your stress."

I didn't know kick boxing was a healthy way to manage stress. Beware people I might just kick box next time you stress me out.

"Stand up for something otherwise you'll end up falling for everything" - Steve Waugh

2005-11-25T17:42:00.000-05:00

This what Steve Waugh said when asked about his motto in life. I have always been a great admirer of Steve Waugh. He is by far my favorite sportsman (even though I am not particularly fond of cricket as a game), Aggasi comes a close second.

This post is not about Steve Waugh's achievements in the cricketing or non-cricketing world. Its about his attitude. He made a carrier out of proving people wrong and getting through the hard times so he could enjoy the good times. In his own words, "I played my best cricket when it was backs against the wall, when someone said I couldn't do it". For all his arrogance on the field, he is very humble and honest man off the field and is the first one to raise his hand and say my bad.

I for one love this person and his never say die spirit. He is my sporting idol.

Bitching about teachers and grades - on the wrong side today

2005-10-14T12:20:00.000-04:00

I walked in to my lab with a bunch of loud students walking behind me. I could not have cared the least bit and that's what I did. But as it turns out, they had come to collect the graded homework that I put outside my lab for the students to pick it up. They start looking for their assignments and here are some of the comments

- "STAPLE in bold letters, dude he cut points for no staples, he is f%^&ing gay man" (for those of you interested I did not cut points for staples and I am not gay and for those who were more concerned about the second part of the clarification - hey, how you doin' ;).

-" two 16's in a row, dude this guy is tough, the son of a b&*%$h"

-"you better not say that, I put a 75"

These are the only ones that I distinctly remember among all the "what the f$%^k this" and "f$%^*&g shit" and "look at this dude" and all other bitching.

I don't know if they didn't know I was inside or they just didn't care but it was very amusing to hear the same things I used to say about all the ba$%^^&d profs back in IIT when ever I got my grades back.

Puskas on sale

2005-10-12T12:07:00.000-04:00

I read this article on soccernet about how Ferenc Puskas, the great Hungarian footballer, (in fact one of the greatest to have ever played the game) has to sell the mementos he earned over his career to pay for his medical expenses. The website reads "Ferenc Puskas is to sell more than 100 personal mementos of his illustrious soccer career at a British auction next month". He is an Alzheimer patient. I am appalled at the handling of this whole thing by the Hungarian government who have not done anything to help him out, despite of the fact that Puskas is by far the most celebrated sports person from the country. The FIFA is putting some bureaucratic crap about the whole issue. The FIFA president Blatter said: "We have already taken the decision to make a donation to Ferenc and Elizabeth Puskas. The only matter that is yet to be finalized is the amount". When are they going to finalize the amount? After he has sold all his medals? Some of the items mentioned include the Golden Boot awarded to him for his world record goals tally, his 1954 World Cup runners-up medal and a shirt signed by Pele. Anyone who plays any sport would know how much all of them meant to him, its a different thing all together that because of his condition he probably does not appreciate or even recognize them as his.

I believe there was a charity game organized by the Football Association of Hungary between Puskas XI and Real Madrid (a club he played for while he was still at his best) at Budapest to raise money for him. Here are some of the figures from that match -

The money raised and given to Puskas' family - 7000 pounds
The money Real Madrid charged to make an appearance for that game - 892,000 pounds.

I can't believe Real Madrid actually charged for appearing in a charity game for one of their former players. It disgusts me, I hate them more than ever now. The most (it would still be shameful and disgusting considering the amount of money they have) they could ask for was a travel expense. They made money out of it - disgusting!!!

I hope someone steps forward to aid him and his family. I don't know what all the rich clubs are doing? I am not willing to believe the only way a once reverred football star can save himself is by selling his mementos, where is the humanity people? I tried looking for some links where donations could be made, I couldn't find one. If someone else finds one, please let me know.

Mac power

2005-10-05T11:02:00.000-04:00

I am working on my lab's Mac iBook today since my advisor is running my experiment on the PC that I normally use. This thing is one of the sleekest babies I have seen around. I just love the look and feel of it, if I were all comfortable with the OS I would have bought one myself. I have no idea why Macs are so popular among the faculty members and not so popular among students who prefer a PC or some geeks might want linux. Would anyone care to tell me?

In other news

2005-10-03T01:50:00.000-04:00

I had to teach my first class as a TA last week. The prof. was away to some conference and he told me to take the class and of course told me what was I supposed to teach. I was to solve a couple of numericals and teach them some basic fundamentals chemical thermodynamics. The numericals were pretty straight forward, defining a system boundary and determining flow rates.

The night before I was a bit nervous, understandably, coz for one my oratory skills are not something I am very proud of (at times they have been appalling) and two the class strength is about 112. I am sure even a reasonably good orator would be bit nervous if he had to talk to a large audience like this. Luckily for me, it was an early morning class and more than half the students would decide to skip the class so once that part was out of the way and given the fact that subject matter was fairly simple I was gaining confidence. I walked into the class early with a customary coffee cup and The Daily Targum (Rutger's newspaper) with the comic's page open. The liquid kid classics was really funny, I remember (for the uneducated, liquid kid classics is one of the comic strip popular in Rutgers and it's dark humor at its very best). I took the seat by the front desk, for the first time on the other side of it and waited for my students to walk in. I think it was the chair, the feeling of responsibility as a teacher (though very irrelevant in this case), the student who walked up to me and asked a doubt before the class, the maintenance guy who arranged for the visual aid equipments for me (though I did not need one, I used the chalk board), the whole feeling of being on the other side of the front desk that made it all seem so easy now. I wasn't worried or nervous a bit. I just went about the lecture as if it were the most natural thing for me to do. I tried a few things like getting the students involved, make them laugh, at times it worked, other times it didn't. Over all I felt nice about it.

I want to teach in a school sometime and now I am more certain I will do it.

There is a neuron in my brain that fires just for you.

2005-10-03T00:58:00.000-04:00

No, this is NOT some geek's way of getting all mushy with his babe. This is actually what happens in human brain. Last week at my lab meeting I came across a very interesting article published in nature (courtesy, my advisor who happen to discuss it ). Here is a news article that talks about it. The title of the article reads "Jennifer Anniston strikes a nerve", she can strike a lot more things though, I have to say :).

The article is about how a few scientist at UCLA, MIT and a couple of other places got together conducted this research on some of the epileptic patients. The reason for choosing epileptic patients being none other than the fact that these patients already had electrodes planted in their brain as part of their treatment and they could use these electrodes for their single neuron recording. Ok I realize this is getting too technical, so I will cut the long story short.

They found that high up (in the hippocampus, for those interested) in the brain's hierarchical structure there are neurons that fire (that is to say that they recognize) every time they are shown pictures of famous personalities or places. In fact, the very same neurons fire even when you are just shown the name of the person/place and not the picture. Essentially, these neurons recognize the concept of a person/place. I am not educated enough to know all the implications of this, but I was totally amused at the way the concept of a person is laid out in your brain, the way memory is laid out and coded. I know for sure there are different areas for language and face processing or recognition which contain millions of neurons, but as you go higher up in the hierarchy, the information is integrated and all it takes is one firing neuron to conceptualize a personality. Intriguing, ain't it?

The National Anthem

2005-09-18T17:03:00.000-04:00

I found this video of the National Anthem a couple of months ago on the Government of India website. I really liked it, thought I will share it with you.

The weirdest dream

2005-09-15T23:10:00.000-04:00

Disclaimer: People with weak heart or the ones who think I am from this earth, please do not read beyond this line.

Still reading aren't you ... I knew it, it always works. This is what I call reverse psychology.

So I had a dream last night, a weird one at that. Here is how it goes, I am walking around in my house (back in Udaipur) near the main entrance when one corpse with a bald head walks up to me. He must be about 12 years when he died. He starts making some small talk and since I hate any small talk I start beating him up. Of course as expected nothing happens, so pick up a stick and hit him hard on his head. The next thing I know is his head comes off (No blood, I don't see gory stuff in my dreams I am sane guy). The corpse doesn't seem to get the idea and continues making small talk. I get even more angry and start hitting him harder, of course not to bleed him (No gory stuff, remember!!). After a while I give up and get involved in a conversation with him. I pick the head up in my hand we continue talking as I walk. I ask him so how did you die and what are you doing here. It turns out, I had thrown some vague party some time and there was a jaggery dish in it. That jaggery was poisoned and that is how he died. I am like, dude I never threw such a party and he is like I am telling you there was such a party. All the while I am calmly walking down the road with a corpse head in my hand. If this was weird, wait till you listen to what happened next. In my dream I realize that I am watching a dream but the feeling is so bloody real that I end up thinking may be in my past life I must have done it and how I should wake up and go google, yes GOOGLE for all the jaggery poison cases in Udaipur. As I am contemplating getting up and turning on my computer and all in my dream, the usual happens, my alarm goes off.

Now that I have been bold enough to put this psycho side of me on my blog, I might as well take your opinion on it. What do you think was the weirdest part,

a) Me talking the corpse head and walking around calmly.

b) Jaggery poisoning

c) Me dreaming of googling jaggery poisoning

d) Me actually putting this up on the blog - which is another way of telling me "you psycho bitch take this off the blog right now or I am calling the docs/cops (whom ever you trust more, I don't like to influence people's belief).

The Month that was ...

2005-09-12T20:41:00.000-04:00

Its been a really long time since I have come to this side of the world. There were a lot of times when I felt like writing, like after I attended the worst of them all concert, the one by Coldplay. I still feel guilty about taking a couple of my friends there. It was their first concert and they must sure be hating me for it. Though the one thing that I knew for sure about them has been proved without a shadow of a doubt now, which is that, they are very forgiving and kind hearted - proof: I am still alive with all my bones intact.

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Second occasion when I felt like writing was when I was following a England - Wales world cup qualifying game on soccernet. The guy who writes that thing has got a really wild and totally happening sense of humor. On that day I actually did write something, but for some stupid reason everything was deleted before I could publish it. I wont go into the details but I will just tell you that I use windows, I guess that explains everything.

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Before I go ahead and give the most shocking news to most of my friends I want to just bow down to Agassi. I think he is just amazing, at age 35 he is totally rocking the tennis arena. I agree with Federer being the best and all, but Agassi is not about being the best player on the court or about winning. He is about being the epitome of sportsmanship, as I read somewhere "He does not deny his age, he just defies it". He is a true legend and my favorite tennis player of all time and pretty close to being the best sports person, though I still rate Steve Waugh as the best. I felt sad that he lost (though it was expected), but I am just happy he is still playing.

Now to the shocking news. Yesterday I was at a close to five hour long carnatic concert by none other than Dr. K. Yesudas. Yes, you read it right. I was at a Carnatic Music Concert. A month ago Dalal told me about this concert and I was like let me just go there and see what's it all about, its only 10$. Yes I agree that was cheap, but that was indeed my thought process since I have almost next to nothing knowledge of Carnatic music. I listen to a few instrumental pieces here and there, that's it. There was a lot of drama there though, with flight delays, lost instruments, fire alarm before the concert got on the way. Almost an hour and half late, and for the impatient me I took it pretty well. But once it got started, it was just out of the world experience. I don't know the intricacies of the raagas and even though I got some gyaan from mostly Dalal and bit from Nithya, I would say I was ignorant. In spite of my ignorance the music was just mind blowing, that guy (no offense to Dr. Yesudas) has amazing control over his voice box, what range and what modulation. I was just awe struck for 5 hours, the time just flew. Total bliss and when he played the Raagam Thanam Pallavi it was ecstatic. As Dalal rightly put, it was like Floyd playing Shine on you Crazy Diamond live. Those of you who follow Floyd would know the feeling. I could just go on and on, but I would end it with one other thing that I was amused by apart from his music. For his age and fame, Yesudas has a very simple almost child like sense of humor and I was really impressed with that. Hopefully, I will get to see some more carnatic concerts, a kacheri (I don't know if that's how its spelt) at chennai would be amazing. Its like the Woodstock of carnatic music.

Simple pleasures of Life

2005-08-11T14:53:00.000-04:00

A chilled starbucks coffee mint mocha on a hot summer day after lunch. The mint and the coffee ...mmm ecstasy is the only word.

Chelsea Vs AC Milan

2005-08-07T17:57:00.000-04:00

Last Sunday I was at the Giant Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ watching a game between two of the bigger European clubs, Chelsea and AC Milan. We (Dandekar and me) got amazing seats right behind the goal on the lower tier and we could see some great near the goal action.

AC Milan is an awesome Italian side with even more awesome striker Shevchenko (I proudly own and wore his jersey that day, thanks Challa) and the greatest of them all defenders Paolo Maldini. Sadly enough they decided to leave Sheva out of the tour and not to play Maldini in that game. Though I saw him preparing for the game and then signing some autographs for the fans. To make it worse they did not play Kaka in the midfield. But more than just a saving grace was Pirlo, amazing throughout the game in the midfield and so was Cafu at the back with his deceptive but incisive runs. Later on in the second half, Rui Costa came in and showed some tricks and scored an awesome goal. A delicate chip/shot on the turn looping over the goalie and dipping into the far post. Vieri, their latest signing, on the other hand was completely out of sorts and ineffective.

For Chelsea, they were nice and played almost all their big stars including their latest signing SWP. Jose Mourhino was dressed like a joker in some clumsy tracks and a T-shirt instead of his usual formal suit. Drogba was the only one who provided some spark in the game which was otherwise played with very little competitive spirit what so ever. He scored an impressive solo though he was lucky to have the ball bounce of Nesta onto him and then straight in his path past Nesta with only the goalie to beat. The burst of pace after he collected the long ball from Tiago (I think) to beat Gattuso was impressive to say the least.

The Highs:

1. Some really cool and fast passing moves by AC Milan in front of the goal. The only reason they did not score was because they delayed the shot trying to be too cute in front of the goal.
2. An amazing run by Joe Cole on the break. Though it came to nothing as Damien Duff (or was it Goodjhonson) goofed up a simple pass.
3. The warm up session for Chelsea between Joe Cole, Duff, Lampard, Crespo, Goodjhonson. They played some amazing fakes and one touch passes to warm for the game, even though they were all pre-decided moves, they looked really amazing, particularly because of the pace at which they were doing it.

It was a dream come true. The whole atmosphere at the start was amazing as they played the anthem for the clubs before the game and how they all came out of the tunnel (well it was hardly a tunnel) with the kids from the local soccer clubs leading the way and how they all lined up for the photograph, the exchange of flags, the shake of hands, the feeling is just amazing. Would like to see a Champions League and a Premier League game at least once in my life. I wonder what the players feel as they come out of the tunnel.

On a similar note, I will be doing something similar things though at a very small level. I will be playing football at a semi-professional level this season. The first game being on the 16th of September, though we are playing a practice game this Sunday against the German-American Kickers. I am really excited about it. Its been a long cherished dream.

I, a universe of atoms, an atom in the universe

2005-08-01T12:34:00.000-04:00

"I stand at the seashore alone and start to think. There are rushing waves, mountains of molecules, each stupidly minding its own business, trillions apart yet forming white surf in unison. Ages on ages before any eyes could see, year after year thunderously pounding the shore as now. For whom for what on a dead planet with no life to entertain. Never at rest, tortured by energy; wasted prodigiously by the Sun, poured into space, its might makes the sea roar. Deep in the sea all molecules repeat the patterns of one another till complex new ones are found. They make others like themselves and a new dance starts. Growing in size and complexity, living things, masses of atoms, DNA, proteins dancing a pattern ever more intricate. Out of the cradle onto the dry land, here it is standing, atoms with consciousness, matter with curiosity, stands at the sea, wonders at wondering, I , a universe of atoms an atom in the universe."

RICHARD FEYNMAN

Recommended reading - The Emerging Mind by V. S. Ramachandran

The art of writing a testimonial or the lack of it

2005-07-25T15:13:00.000-04:00

Most of us have at least read if not written a testimonial (as orkut calls it or "describe me" or "lines about me" or "words about me" ... you get the picture right?) on at least one person. It is usually eulogic which is understandable, no one likes to be criticized in public. It is witty at times or about good moments you had with the person blah blah. So far so good, but wait, what I fail to understand is how most of them sounds exactly the same. Here is how a typical testimonial would go,

"He/She is a very sweet (sweeeeet , if a girl is writing it) person. Very understanding, smart, independent, has a good sense of humor, kind hearted. You would always see a smile on his/her face, makes the people around him feel comfortable" and other such cliched adjectives/adjective phrases. These adjectives seem to find their way in to the testimonials specially if one is writing about someone of the opposite sex, with the adjectives chosen depending on the sex. So you will have "She is a very sweet girl" changed to "He is a very simple guy" or something to that effect. Its like a prof. writing a recommendation where he has to say that such and such has excellent communication skills, out of the world analytical abilities (like all of Einstein's brain was transferred to him) etc etc.

I don't know about when you write it, but when some one reads it, the whole thing sounds so bloody made up. So cloyingly sweet that its repulsive. I hate it, I am sure you could write something better that does not sound made up. But then its just my opinion, may be others like it that way.

General Updates

2005-07-22T22:53:00.000-04:00

This will not be an update to most of the people who read this blog. They already know what has been happening; none the less I will write it here for the sake of writing.

- now I am certified to run experiments that involve human subjects and now that my stimuli is almost ready I shall be conducting my first experiment soon

- I was just offered a TA by my department. phew!!! that takes off a lot of tension. Actually on second thoughts, it should be a good experience. Some day (when I am rich enough), I would like to teach in a school.

- I might be going to California for Rakhi (Aug, 19) to meet all my cousins, looking forward to that.

- I am being tried for a football team that is gonna play in a semi-professional league. If I make it in to this team, it will be like a dream come true.

The rise, the fall and the twist and turns

2005-07-17T18:00:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, I was at the six flags, an amusement park known for its amazing roller-coasters. It was an out of the world experience, if you are a roller-coaster freak than this is the place to be. The feeling when you are going down is just amazing. The first ride (nitro is the name) had an amazing fall and a speed of 80 miles an hour. Ain't that amazing, I won't go into the details of each one, but let me just say that I was here, here, here, here, here and here.

Another ride that I really liked was the free fall. It was only a 2.5-3 second free fall, but its worth it. I want to try sky diving sometime, hopefully my chance will come soon.

Ingenious swear phrases and words

2005-07-15T11:42:00.000-04:00

Swear phrases and words are part of everyone's vocabulary. Some use mild ones (specially girls) and other's use really offensive ones. Based on the world survey conducted by the ACB magazine on swearing (no ACB is not the Australian Cricket Board, they would be surveying sledging) in 1999, the swearing rate (measured in Beeps, SI unit, defined as number of beep sounds you would hear in a minute in case the sentence were played to your folks) is highest among student community typically high school or upwards students. It is a whopping 5 words compared to the world average of .5 words. Interestingly on an average a student knows atleast one swear phrase or word in atleast 3 more languages other than the ones he understands. Even more surprising is the fact that he (or she in some cases) will get the exact pronounciation.

I have been part of this so called all swearing student community for the last 6 years (with a one year break of course) and needless to say that the naive me has been exposed to a lot of swear words and phrases during this time. Below is a rather incomplete list of amusing swear words, please feel free to add ingenious not so offensive swears.

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f$%^tard = f#$%ing retard

bitch born bastard = poetic way of calling some one son of a bitch, note the alliteration

mother bitch - doesn't make sense but sounds pretty cool

constipated asshole (my current fav)

you gonna die of constipation

you unwashed unwiped asshole since dark ages

pansy gay ass m$%^er f^&*er or pansy gay ass or pansy ass or gay ass or any other combination you can think of

P.S. - I just realized that Beeps is a very subjective unit since some parents would mind even the word "shit" in their children's dictionary while others would be fine even with a lot more offensive words.

Camping at White Mountains, New Hampshire

2005-07-09T23:22:00.000-04:00

Last weekend I went for camping at the White Mountains in New Hampshire. It was an amazing experience. Something I would like to do more often. Here are the highlights of the trip.

Highs:
1. The drive from Boston to White Mountains once we entered the White Mountains Forest Area. It was really pretty.

2. The first day hike to the Arethusa Falls. The hike till there wasn't great, but the trek up to the top of the falls was really cool. The feeling when we sat on the edge of the rock was really amazing. Staring down the cliff, with a 200ft straight fall was out of world.

3. The campfire and the smirnoff with everyone generally talking. Learned some cool fundaes on a spider like creature from Stephan.

4. This was best part of the whole camping trip. A 4.2 mile hike to the top of the Mt. Washington, the highest peak in the north eastern part of US. It is arnd 6,400 ft high. Took us 4.5 hrs to get up and the whole day for the complete trip. It was the first time I had hiked so much and it was out of world. As dalal would put it "Its the most amazing thing, man".

5. Relatively not so great, but the fireworks on the eve of 4th July in the little town called Littleton. There was a kid (4 yrs old) who was diving around every time a fire cracker burst as if it was a bomb next to him was really cute. He would actually do a half-squat and wait in anticipation for the fire cracker to burst.

Lows:
1. Some people getting senti over nothing

2. The cold with only a bedsheet on me. It made me sleep in the car on the second night; to make matters worse dandekar also decided to sleep in the car.

3. Reaching the top of Mt. Washington only to see a railway line and a road leading till there and thousands of people all over the place. The commercialization of the place really put me off.

Over all, I had a great time, one of the trips I have enjoyed the most. Last time I enjoyed a trip like this was when I went to Kodai with my wingmates. Those were the days!!! I shall be uploading the pictures of this trip soon.

I was open minded but the doctor stapled it up

2005-06-25T09:37:00.000-04:00

cntd ...

walking towards Sonny Werblin wiping the blood with the kerchief, asking people if it has stopped bleeding.

junta: its still bleeding man, just press it. Hold it tight.

we reach Sonny Werblin,

kane: aa!! aa!! (ogling at the girl at reception desk) excuse me, he is got injured. Do you have a first aid kit.
Hot Girl or may be semi hot (I don't remember, I had a head injury): James (I don't exactly remember the name) we need you at the front desk, medical emergency (speaking in to the micro phone).
me: I will go wash up and come, there is blood all over.
HG: no no, you go sit there, they will come here.

James comes and starts following some basket ball hunk (I don't know for what)
junta: excuse me, the injured guy is here.
James: Hey, you have got a big one.

lots of people around me, looking at me like I am some freak of nature

Senior Medical in-charge: Call the bloody EMS,
me: Will I need the stitches?
everyone in chorus: yes, you have got a nice one.
Senior Medical in-charge: May be you can get some sympathy points with girls
James: No, his hair will cover it. May be you can shave it off.
me (always proud of my hair): NO!! It's not worth it. I will score any ways.

Some one: The EMS will be here soon.

EMS comes,

EMS1: woah!! its a nice deep one. Asks me all the cliched questions, did you faint?, Do you feel dizzy? How many fingers? What is today's date, day? Name of the president? Why do you go to school (ooh, that's a tricky question)?

EMS2 along with me is working on wiping the blood off my face. Then puts a bandage around my head and we are ready to go to the hospital.

junta(in big doubt over medical insurance): Never mind, a friend of our is coming and then we will take him to the hospital.
EMS: When will he come, there is a small window of time within you have to get the stitches. If you leave it open too long, then you cant do anything.

Thats the most ridiculous thing I have heard. As it turned out, it was about three hours before I could get the stitches. Small window of time indeed.

SMI: No matter how much it costs you have to get stitches done, its too big a gash.
me: k, lets go then.

first time in the ambulance, kane proudly sits in front
reach the St. Peter's Hospital. EMS guy almost yells at me and makes me sit in the wheel chair.

I take a nice ride to the emergency and get done with all the formalities.

Sitting in the wait room to be called by the doc. After sitting for about 20 mins, I hear my name. By then dandekar and dalal had arrived. Dandekar told me dalal was all psyched up, but he refused and refuses to give me that psyched up look. I would give anything to see that look on dalal's face.

Author's note: I am getting bored writing this, I am just gonna finish it up.

I reach the place where doc is going to treat me, she comes there after another half an hour asks me the same cliched questions and then she plays a funny game to check my hand to eye coordination. Then she asked me if I would like a local anesthesia or would just take three metal staples and get done with it. I gave her a perplexed look, so she explained that at times anesthesia can me more painful. The way she described it, I wasn't left with much of a choice. I chose to be stapled. When she first mentioned the word stapler with the action and sound, I couldn't quite believe it. She described it more like a paper stapler. I thought she was trying to be funny. But, my worst fears were realized when the thing actually came. It was pretty much like a paper stapler. "Ok, it can't possibly have metal pins" was the thought that crossed my mind. I didn't find out the truth till she actually stapled my scalp and kane took a picture (the one he is very proud of). They were indeed three metal pins.

On our way back we decided to go to the desi store, while I was still blood stained. I was scared people will get all psyched and I will get all sorts of weird looks, but all went smooth but for one small kid who noticed it and pointed it out to his mom.

A gash in the head and three stitches later - an account of things as they happened

2005-06-24T11:43:00.000-04:00

tring tring!!!
me: haan, bhai bol
bhai: cricket khelne ko aa raha hai kya, 5:30 baje?
me: kitne log hein?
bhai: 8 log aa rahe hein
me: theek hai bhai, mein bhi aata hai, bye.
bhai: bye

Dire Straits playing on launch cast, oh!! its 5:30 pm, set the comp. to hibernate. Pack my bag, and leave the lab. Where is dandekar, call him. Oh!! There he is ...

me: chal lab jaate hein, i have to put my bag
dandekar: why man? (in his usual crying baby way)
kane(without thinking): shut up!! (now after thinking), why do you want to go to his lab
me: i want to put this laptop there, its not mine, don't want to take any risk
kane(without thinking again): shut up man!!! You are gonna be right there and its not even yours.
me: that's why i wanna be extra careful, don't want it around when we are playing cricket
dandekar: i have to go back to my lab again bitch!!! (as usual doesn't make sense but cries as usual)

n voices along with mine, split the team man. dandekar and varun start picking.

me and raghu trying to show off some non existent soccer skills, by kicking a tennis ball on the wall (this wont me the last thing I hit on the wall for the day, but little did I know then), trying to take some volleys.

raghu(after missing a volley): shit man!!! (in total disappointment, like this was the first time he ever miss a volley)

teams are split, I am on the fielding side.

me: who all are in my team, rather whose time am I on
dandekar(making a worst attempt at humor): that's much better.

Would you believe if I said, he actually thinks the "game" of cricket is an art form. :-))

kirit: its you, varun, VT and me.
me: k

start fielding at my usual cover + point position (why did I ever move from there). First over kirit bowling, nothing to do. Not even one ball came to me ... so far so good.

next over varun bowling, I take his place in fielding. its too sunny, sun straight in my eye. Don't like it, envious of VT's place in the shade. Next over, the ball tossed to me, I ball my stupid off spinners though not without putting the pseude of going cross round the wicket. Next VT is gonna bowl, cool I can take his place in the shade without looking cheap (big grin).

VT first ball, kane moves away, gives himself room, hits a ugly cross batted hoick over long off.

Here is what went through my mind then

Fruit ball, its going all the way, take a few steps in front just to show I was looking to catch it.
oh no!! The ball is dying, I can actually catch it, hop hop ... THUD!!!! a sound of my skull hitting the wall.

me: woah!! How did that happen
junta: you ok?

everyone concerned but for kane who was still standing proud of his ugly slog (later he claimed he didn't realize I hit the wall, I can bet the guy on the 5th floor of the building thought it was an earthquake (Richter scale ), with the building shaking)

me: yeah i am good (still ruffling my hair)
me: oh no wait!! its bleeding, its bleeding.
junta: oh shit that's bad
me: how bad is it
kane(now over his ugly slog): lets go to sonny werblin
me: does any one have a kerchief or something
dandekar: yeah take this (first act of kindness from the baby, I feel proud)
me(wiping a lot of blood): am sorry about this boy (referring to the kerchief)
dandekar: that's k man (like he had donated a kidney to me or something)
me: hey we left our cells and key chains there
dandekar: I will get it, oh bhai already got it, cool

wiping the blood as we walk towards the rec center .....

****************** This is long enough******************
Will continue the account of Sonny Werblin and the hospital in the next post along with pictures, till then adios amigos.

P.S. The accounts is of course not verbatim, but as I remember it.

Its in the voice

2005-06-22T20:26:00.000-04:00

I went to my lab the other day, strangely the door was closed. I walked in to find my lab mate on the phone. She was talking in chinese, but the way she was speaking I knew she was talking some one she had a lot of love for, some one she looked up to. I didn't understand a word of it, but it was so obvious from her voice. Later she told me it was her boy friend.

I gave it a thought and realized that not only emotions but our internal image of the person, how much we respect him as a person, how we rate him intellectually, emotionally are all very very evident from the way we speak to him. If you hear two people talking its very easy to find out how comfortable they are with each other without even knowing the language they are speaking or looking at their expressions. The voice in fact depicts the emotions of the person speaking just as well as his expressions apart from all these.

But for some strange reason, the emotions et. al. in the voice always seem to play the second fiddle, when we speak ... what an irony.

Next time I meet a girl, I will say "I heard it in your voice" instead of "I saw it in your eyes" :-). It will probably be the last time I see that girl though. Such is life, not a fair place I say!!!

Murder by Numbers

2005-06-09T13:01:00.000-04:00

I was listening to my station on launch cast as usual and I heard this song which sounds like a Police song (Sting's voice to be precise). So, I checked out the title of the song (I was right about the artiste) and listened to the lyrics more carefully. They took me by surprise, so I looked for lyrics on the net and indeed for a Police song they were quite surprising. I know the Police are known to have weird themes for their songs, but this one is way off even for a Police song. Here is what the song says,

Once that you've decided on a killing
First you make a stone of your heart
And if you find that your hands are still willing
Then you can turn a murder into art

There really isn't any need for bloodshed
You just do it with a little more finesse
If you can slip a tablet into someone's coffee
Then it avoids an awful lot of mess

It's murder by numbers, one, two, three
It's as easy to learn as your ABC
Murder by numbers, one, two, three
It's as easy to learn as your ABC

Now if you have a taste for this experience
And you're flushed with your very first success
Then you must try a twosome or a threesome
And you'll find your conscience bothers you much less

Because murder is like anything you take to
It's a habit-forming need for more and more
You can bump off every member of your family
And anybody else you find a bore

Because it's murder by numbers, one, two, three
It's as easy to learn as your ABC
Murder by numbers, one, two, three
It's as easy to learn as your ABC

Now you can join the ranks of the illustrious
In history's great dark hall of fame
All our greatest killers were industrious
At least the ones that we all know by name

But you can reach the top of your profession
If you become the leader of the land
For murder is the sport of the elected
And you don't need to lift a finger of your hand

Because it's murder by numbers, one, two, three
It's as easy to learn as your ABC
Murder by numbers, one, two, three
It's as easy to learn as your A, B, C, D, E

Incidentally, there is a movie by the same title released in 2002, starring Sandra Bullock, Ben Chaplin, Ryan Gosling. Its about two high school students planning a perfect murder and then playing mind games with a seasoned homicide detective. This song is not part of the soundtrack for the movie, weird ain't it? Just to add to all this trivia (if I may call it), number of the beast by Iron Maiden is part of the soundtrack.

East is not where I see

2005-06-03T10:42:00.000-04:00

I was sitting in my lab yesterday, when one of my colleagues called me and asked me if I would be one of the subjects for her experiment. For those unfamiliar with what I do, let me tell you, I aspire to become a human vision scientist. That's what my colleague called me as she was telling me about her experiment, need less to say I liked the term, so henceforth I shall use it when ever I can :-).

Getting back to the experiment, it was a simple one, I was to detect motion in different directions. To my utter surprise, the results showed that I am really bad at detecting motion towards east (towards the right) compared to other directions. Usually humans are better at detecting motion in the four major directions (i.e. north (up), south, east, west) and not so good with motion in the intermediate directions (north-east etc.). I am worst in the east direction, I don't know for what reasons, though. One week into my research in this lab and I found out this, I don't know what all I will find out as I finish my PhD. I have my fingers crossed.