The British are the way they are...

Here's a hilariously written article that I chanced upon recently. It's about how Londoners welcome the summer after a cold spell of winter. And how they get crazy if the summer gets too oppressive (which is something we Indians are regularly used to.)

I'll quote the lines which were highlighted in the original article - they'll give you an idea about the article. A good two lines surely - at least they made me read the article.

"The British are the way they are because our climate is damp, dour and undemonstrative"

"If we consistently had summers like they have in Rio, we wouldn't just grow bananas, we'd go bananas"

On the Look Out

I always maintained that watching English movie trailers is a fantastic way to pass your time. Regardless of whether the movie is good or not, trailers are always 100% entertainment. The Apple Trailers website is a cool place to get to see a lot of trailers. Posted on my entertainment blog are a few which caught my eye when I visited the site for the first time yesterday.

Kid

Kid

Smiles back at me

Aloo chaat in hand

Watching cars pass by.

Inhaling fumes all day

As he dishes out his fare

To hungry wayfarers.

His smile is real

But his life is not.
















(written during my Kolkata trip in June 2008)

The Need To Live

Dementia.

Cancer.

Angioplasty.

Paralysis.

Stroke.
‘She is bedridden for a year.’

‘But it is good that he did not suffer too much.’

‘Which hospital?’

‘Visiting hours?’

‘Her eyes were completely blank.

She didn’t even notice that we were there.’
In a city of ten million people,

Death is a daily occurrence.

But every so often,

A child is born.

And all one needs

To restore the will to live

Is to stare with wonder

At the smile of a child.








(written 24th June 2008, during my Kolkata trip)

Haiku

Here are two samples of Haiku that I came up with - the first one is inspired by a prayer book that I read.

**

Bring me to that moment
where I am at peace.
And let me remain there.
**

I found the secret of living -
In one go,
let it all go.
**

Toothpaste

The sight of the twisted toothpaste at my friend’s place reminded me of my mom. By habit, I always follow instructions while squeezing paste out of a tube – "squeeze from bottom upwards". This results in the tube always having a uniform shape. However, back when I was in school and had just started having my own room and toilet, there were days when my mom would use my tube of paste. And on those days, the effect on the toothpaste tube would be devastatingly different. It would look stricken by some disease, with many contortions here and there. In one day, my mom would distort all my efforts at uniformity.

I tried to bear with my mom’s habit at first. But later, I took a strict stand – if she was to use my paste, she would have to use it my way. After repeated reminders, my mom finally learned to use toothpaste in my fashion.

That was years ago. I now wonder how my mom would have felt when her little child, who she had taught to walk, eat, talk, even brush, started scolding her about the proper usage of a toothpaste.
















PS: This pic came up in Google Images when I searched for "toothpaste". I just had to post it. I thought that the following caption would create a nice connection with the above post:
"With its' twists and turns, life goes on..."

Memories Pops Out of Nowhere

On my visit to Kolkata,

Memories pop out of nowhere.

One day,

Car stuck at random intersection.

Tap at car window -

Hawker selling fare,

Sweet fruit called 'Aash Phol'.

As kids, we would spend afternoons

Devising ingeneous strategies

To bring these fruits

Down to earth.

'Fruits' of our labour,

Eh?

Of another summer holiday

Long gone past.

Another day,

An expert driver

Takes us through

The winding roads

Of a short-cut.

I read the signs

And I notice

The name of the road -

Gorfa.

A friend lived there,

A friend with similar tastes

In music and life.

He would always invite me home

But I never went

Giving one excuse or the other.

That day

I crossed his street

For the first time.

But our paths do not cross anymore

And probably never will -

But who knows?

Stumbling upon some Haiku

A book put up on the exhibit section at our library caught my attention. So I picked it up and read the blurb at the back. It was as follows:

Natsume Soseki’s Kusamakura follows its nameless young artist-narrator on a meandering walking tour of the mountains. At the inn at a hot spring resort, he has a series of mysterious encounters with Nami, the lovely young daughter of the establishment. Nami, or “beauty,” is the center of this elegant novel, the still point around which the artist moves and the enigmatic subject of Soseki’s word painting. In the author’s words, Kusamakura is “a haiku-style novel, that lives through beauty.” Written at a time when Japan was opening its doors to the rest of the world, Kusamakura turns inward, to the pristine mountain idyll and the taciturn lyricism of its courtship scenes, enshrining the essence of old Japan in a work of enchanting literary nostalgia.

It seemed interesting, so I flipped through to see if I could find some interesting Haiku.

I found the following:

Shaking down the stars
out of the spring night, she wears
them bright in her hair.


New-washed hair, perhaps
dampened by moisture from the clouds
of this night of spring.


Poem upon poem
wandering here and there
in the spring moonlight.


Now at last the spring
draws swiftly to its finish.
How alone I am.

.. and this poem, which struck a different note.

As the autumn's dew
that lies a moment on the tips
of the seeding grass,
so do I know that I too must
fade and be gone from this brief world.
( - attributed to poet other than author of the book)

I found the poems appealing and decided to share them. Then I looked at the book-cover and felt that it did justice to the book - poetry is but natural when one sees beauty.



PS: If anyone is interested, here's a book review.

Mathematical Biologist

While going through a book for my research, I found the following worth sharing. (From the section on Mathematical Biology, from "Virus Dynamics" - Nowak and May, Oxford University Press)

There is a shepherd and a flock of sheep. A man comes by and asks, 'If I guess the correct number of sheep in your flock can I have one?' The shephard says, 'Please try.' The man says '83.' The shepherd is amazed; it is the correct number. The man picks up a sheep and walks away. The shepherd shouts, 'Hang on. If I guess your profession, can I have my sheep back?' The man says, 'Please try.' The shepherd says, 'Mathematical biologist.' The man is amazed, 'How did you know?' 'Because you picked up my dog.'

The Joys of Living Alone

So this is what it feels like -

Finally, I am alone at home.
And yes,
I was looking forward to it.

They say,
Change is good,
And that's what I want out of this,
- this solitary, home-alone phase of mine.

Phone lines are open.
And for once,
so are chat lines.
But these are not habits of mine.
...
Time to form new habits, eh?

The pen beckons
and this is created...
but this,
- it lacks the joy,
the frustration,
the repetition,
the spontaneity,
the reality and
the all-sense-pervading feeling
of dealing with a person in real-life.

Is it just me
that I feel like this?

Or maybe I am just too impatient with the pen.

Tribute to a Fellow Blogger

DD started blogging sometime after I started my blog. I have been following his blog ever since. Being a musician, he writes about music on several occasions. Frankly I do not enjoy those posts much.

But sometimes, DD writes candidly about his life, his feelings and his emotions. In many of those, I have found that he has voiced sentiments similar to mine. I however, have never gone on to voice my feelings so openly on my blog. Maybe that's why I identify so much with his writings.

Keep writing DD... Salutations to you.

Here are some excerpts from posts that really "struck a chord".

Words
... grad school matures oneself at least by a decade. May be a decade is an exaggeration, but it does transform you. With thoughts only concentrating on problems, especially algorithms and learning problems in our case, our minds are pure, getting purer.

February 2008
"My life has suddenly become empty for a few reasons. Since at times the void is getting unbearable, I am trying to spend most of my time at work, with friends or at least near people. I never estimated that living alone can get this painful"....
"Think much before you decide to do a PhD friends, it is a huge sacrifice to make for the prime years of your youth." ... "Not many can endure these long years of excruciating pain. You either do it for yourself, for someone else or pretend that you are doing it for someone else. For me, it has now become the first, and it is becoming harder every day."

But the best part is the discussion held through the comments. At the end of a dialogue between people who faced similar problems, some solutions come out.

Gloom
"I was up till morning struggling on my bed, turning from one side to another praying to the gods to bless me with some sleep. Because my prayers come in most selfish occasions, they don't pay me any heed...."

A Few Good Movies

Over the past few months, I got the chance to watch a few good movies. In these movies, some particular scenes were particularly memorable. I'll relate a few of them here.

#1. Shall We Dance

The small monologue by Susan Sarandon (Mrs Clark) about "witness to our lives" towards the end of the following conversation appealed to me, as it did to others. For sake of putting context to the conversation, you may assume that this is a conversation between two friends - a man and a woman, where both of them are facing crises in their married/romantic lives, and where none have known each other for too long. Also, I shall have to concede that reading the script is nowhere near Sarandon speaking those lines in the movie.

I got the transcript of the conversation at this website, albeit after much Google searching.

Mrs Clark : are u a married man, Mr. Devine?

Mr. Devine : i was

Mrs Clark : oh what happened?

Mr. Devine : unfaithful

Mrs Clark : she hired a detective?

Mr. Devine : no no no ... when she found out. i was too far gone, so..

Mrs Clark : you are on a strange journey to redemption, Mr. Devine

Mr. Devine : and a very long one, Mrs Clark

Mrs Clark : all the promises that we make and we break
why is it, do you think, that people get married?

Mr. Devine : passion

Mrs Clark : no

Mr. Devine : that's interesting. because i would've taken you for a romantic...
why, then?

Mrs Clark : because we need a witness to our lives. there's a billion people on the
planet. i mean, what does any one life really mean? but in a marriage,
you are promising to care about everything. the good things, the bad
things the terrible things, the mundane things.. all of it, all the time,every day.

you're saying, "your life will not go unnoticed, because i will notice it."
"your life will not go unwitnessed, because i will be your witness."

you can quote me on that, if you like.

Mr. Devine : sure, i will.

#2. A Few Good Men

A military drill at the beginning of the movie was awesome. You can watch it below. Overall, the movie is great and served as a source of inspiration to me when I was badly needing it.

#3. Dead Man Walking

No particular scene from the movie. But I have to give it to them for handling such a depressing subject (portraying the feelings and fears of a man on death row), and still being able to show a ray of hope at the end.

Later, when I remembered another favourite movie of mine (Shawshank Redemption), I was forced to draw some parallels between the two movies.

Life is Unfair

It's unfair how well i cook sometimes.

The other day, i was studying for my exams at home. I decided that I should cook something for lunch. Now I had recently improvised a very easy-to-cook recipe for rajma. So that's what I decided to prepare.

As it happened, when the time to eat it came, I was the only one hungry. So I decided to dig in alone. Initial tasting showed that the fare needed additional spicing. Sergeant pepper always comes in handy at these moments. And then I added something which proved to be the magic ingredient - Maggi Hot and Sweet Tomato Sauce.

After that... Well, I have no words to describe the moments that ensued.

***

On a previous occasion, while eating burgers, P had mentioned that eating is best enjoyed when the mouth is completely full. According to him, the feeling of having all of one's taste buds activated simultaneously leads to pure gastronomic bliss.

On the day of the world's best rajma, I too tried this method of ingestion. I have to concur that P was correct.

***

That day, at the end of the meal, I had a feeling that usually occurred on the rare occasions of having good food in the hostel mess. On those good-food days, I kept thinking how great it would be if I could eat like a camel. That way, I would be able to eat unlimited portions of food and stock up so as to avoid the "detestable" fare dished out on other days.

But alas! Life was unfair then.

And so it is till now.

Burp!

***

PS: The recipe for rajma is originally from here. However, there are few major modifications that I use:-

• Instead of taking uncooked rajma, soaking it overnight and boiling it, I buy tinned "Kidney Beans" which are immmediately ready for use. Also since the rajma is almost pre-boiled, no need to use the pressure cooker.
  
• Instead of taking the trouble of chopping onions, I add a whole packet of frozen "Onions and Peppers Mix". The peppers (of the green pepper kind) also add to the taste and crunch of the dish.
• ... continuing in the same tradition, tinned "Diced Tomatoes" instead of tomato puree.
  

A day of Song and Video

My lab-mate A introduced me to the following song, which I promptly fell in love with. I have been listening to it for some time now.


So I searched it's video on YouTube to see whether the video was as good as the song. Which it was not. However YouTube threw up the following parody of the song, which I thought was absolutely fantastic. Enjoy:


Then again, while searching on YouTube, I found some videos which were as good as their songs. So enjoy them too.

1. Closer by Travis. (unfortunately this does not allow embedding of the video)
2. New Shoes by Paolo Nutini
   

Haiku

There was a poetry submission contest for Virginia Tech's grad handbook. They specifically stated that "ideal poems would be haikus, 3 lines of 5, 7, and 5 syllables."

I found out a little about Haikus and read some at http://www.toyomasu.com/haiku/#akutagawa.

Then I went on to write my first three Haikus.

1.
Simple tea
with friend by side
smells better.

2.
Words clash.
Then eyes meet.
Smile wins.

3.
My new friends
meet old friend.
River and ocean.

Song Picks

Here are two highly recommended Harry Belafonte songs -

1. "There's a Hole in My Bucket" is slow, sweet and really makes one laugh.
2. "Jamaica Farewell" is a classic. Added on Dad's request.
   

SeeqPod - Playable Search

PS: Those subscribed by RSS might not get to see the embedded Seeqpod player above. Visit the blog to access the media.

Demanded With Love

I had the following conversation recently. In it, I received an unusual request. Actually it was more of a demand.

Initially, I was taken aback by the request. But I understood that only a person who really loved you could make such a request.

Read the conversation to find out.

NOTE: The conversation was in Bengali so I am firstly reproducing it verbatim in the mother-tongue. On request, my father translated it into English too. You will find the English version below.

***

THE CONVERSATION

me: recently shorir ta khub ekta bhalo thakche naa

didi: chi chi chi.. baaje desh. ekebaare baaje desh. sustho shobol chele-ke niye rugno kore dicche. ami bolchi kriti... tumi ekkhoni phire esho.

me: hee-hee-hee

d: naa shotyi kotha.... by the way, jaano ekhon ami 72.

me: (ami mone mone bhabi je 72-er ulto hocche amar boyesh... kintu naa, amar boyesh to 27-o naa)

didi: (continuing) oboshyo ami not the least bit sad about that. haan ei komor-e byatha, paaye byatha ei gulo beshi holey tokhon kharaap laage.

m: ki je bolo didi.. tumi 72 hotei paaro naa... onek onek kom... anyways amaar khobor shunecho ki? june-e india aschi... tokhon dekha korbo tomar sathe..

d: haan shei khobor taa peyechi tomaar maa'r kaache... maa khub excited hoben. ekmatro chele bole kotha... amader barite ele tomaake alu-bhaat-e khawaabo... jeta tumi eto gorbito hoye tomar okhaner shob bondhuder kaalkei khaiyeccho.. shotyi kriti, tumi odbhut chele botey.. lok dekey alu-bhaate khawaao...

me and d: ha ha ha

d: accha shono to kriti.. ami bhabchi tumi june maash-e koyek din-er jonno ashbe.. ek du baar amaader sathe dekhao korbe.. abaar jei ke shei... abar shei phone-er opekkha... aar dekha petey gele ek bochor wait kora...

naa... tumi ebaar eshe amar sathe dekha koro naa...

me: maane?

d: naa tumi amar sathe dekha koro naa. ei tumi chole jawaar pore amar prothom-e khub dukkho hoyechilo.. keno kriti chole gelo USA-te. o ekdom theek kore nii... tarpor ekhon aste aste obhyesh hoye geche..

aar abar tumi dekha kore USA pherot choley jaabe... abar shei shuru theke obhyesh korte hobe..

naa tumi amar sathe ebaar dekha korbe naa..

me: accha theek ache korbo naa

d: naa koro naa.. taai bhalo... accha kriti, tumi jodi phire porashona shesh kore India pherot asho jeta ami 100% sure je tumi phirbe naa, tumi aar koto bochor-e phirbe?

me: aar-o 4.5 theke 5 bochor...

d: paaaanch bochor? ho ho ho.. taa holey to totodin-e tomaar didi chobi hoye jaabe..

me: ha ha ha

d: naa eta ami sure. tomar dada oboshyo eeya boro ekta frame kore amar bhalo chobi lagaben... jokhon taar bou shundori chilo

me and d: ho ho ho ho

***

THE TRANSLATED VERSION

me: didi, I am not keeping all that well lately.

didi: Tsk...Tsk...Tsk...I am not at all surprised. Simply awful country you have decided to go and do your Ph.D. in, simply awful. Look they are making a healthy person sick. I am telling you again. Come back as soon as you can, when you still have a chance.

me: hee...hee...hee

didi: don't snigger like that; I have given you a very good piece of advice. By the way, you know I am running 72?

me: (I mentally calculate that if I interchange the digits of her age, I get my age... 27... Oops... I am not even 27.)

didi: (continuing) ...except when I get the occasional joint aches and pains, that’s when I do feel a bit down in the dumps.

me: Come on, didi, you cannot be 72. you are years younger. Anyway, I am coming to India, when we can meet, just like old times.

didi: I have got the good news from your mother, who is naturally very excited about it. I have decided that when you come, I shall treat you to parboiled rice and mashed potatoes, just like you seem to entertain your guests with in the USA. You really are the limit, Kriti, and the funny thing is that your friends seem to like the stuff, according to you. I really can’t understand it at all.

me and didi: ha ha ha

d: now, seriously, though, Kriti... I know that when you will come for your short trip in June you will probably visit us a few times, we will more than likely relive the old times, then you will have to go back to the states...back to square one ...the same old yahoo/Google talk routine...and then wait another 12 months or so before we meet again ...no, I am beginning to think that we better not meet when you come home...

me: what do you mean didi?

d: we will have grown accustomed to your presence during your stay in June/July... suddenly, you will have to pack up and leave...to go back to the USA...then we in Cal will have to again start living without you being in our midst...no. don’t meet me this time when you come home.

me: OK, if that’s the way feel, I shall make it a point not to meet you in June.

d: No, please don’t... that will be far better...but tell me Kriti ,if you do come back to India after completing your course – I am of course 100% sure that you won’t come back to settle in India -how many years will that be?

me: another 4.5 to 5 years

d: fiiiive more years... ho ho ho... By then your didi will be a photograph on the wall

me: ha ha ha...

d: No I am dead sure... Of course your dada will put up a photo from much younger days, when his wife was far better looking than now... You can’t blame him, poor thing...

d and me: ho ho ho ho

***

PS: If anyone wants some short pieces in Bengali/Hindi translated into English, contact me. I'll request my father to do the translation. And he usually enjoys it quite a lot.

Inspiration

At this moment, I am hoping that this will inspire me...Hobbes: Do you have an idea for your story yet?
Calvin: No, I'm waiting for inspiration.
C: You can't just turn on creativity like a faucet. You have to be in the right mood.
H: What mood is that?
C: Last-minute panic.

(Bill Watterson: The Calvin and Hobbes Tenth Anniversary Book)

Seeq and Ye Shall Find (The Beatles)

Listening to music on Seeqpod, a recent favourite pastime of mine.

"I'll listen to the Beatles today."
I search on Seeqpod, add to playlist, add, add, add...
Many songs heard before, many new... Good! Good!
I listen while working. Arranging papers etc. Standing up.

"Hey what's this song? Doesn't seem Beatles...
But it's peppy. I listen listen..."

Advisory: You listen with good headphone or stereo system.

Me tapping feet, jiving body. "Oye. Take care, this = workplace.
But what the heck...
Hey this is good.
Never heard it before."
I tap tap. Jive. Jive. (Decently)

"Hey lyrics meaningful too...
Search Search. Wiki. Wiki.
Oh! this (Within You Without You) is Beatles music."
I search more.

Lyrics meaningful too. You read. Read. While listening.

ARTIST: The Beatles
TITLE: Within You Without You

We were talking
About the space between us all
And the people
Who hide themselves behind a wall
Of illusion
Never glimpse the truth
Then it's far too late
When they pass away

We were talking
About the love we all could share
When we find it
To try our best to hold it there
With our love, with our love
We could save the world, if they only knew

Try to realize it's all within yourself
No one else can make you change
And to see you're really only very small
And life flows on within you and without you

We were talking
About the love that's gone so cold
And the people
Who gain the world and lose their soul
They don't know
They can't see
Are you one of them

When you've seen beyond yourself
Then you may find, peace of mind is waiting there
And the time will come when you see we're all one
And life flows on within you and without you

I read more.

"Mashup of the song created later by famous artist.
What's mashup - some sort of remix?"
I search search. Wiki. Wiki.

"Mashup = music of one song mixed with lyrics (a capella) of another...
But the version I am liking = by ATOM. Who's that?
Google search: Website containing more remixes by ATOM.
May be good listen for later and for dance nights."

Original song (very slow):


Video of Mashup (for Blog decoration):

PS: Wonder whether my Boss at previous workplace has listened to this. And what he has to say about the remix.

Growing Up Again

“You think you got into the team because of your abilities? Think again. The list was made by us and sent to the Gymkhana.”

“I always told you that this guy (referring to me) was not up to it. We should never have put his name on the list.”

“You cannot leave the post just because you want to. The Hall gave you the post... and you better live up to the name of the Hall.”

“We don’t tolerate any attitude. If we say so, not a single person in the Hall will talk to you. How would you like that?”

“If you can’t do it, quit. People will curse you for a few days and then they will forget it.”

“Your first priority is academics, you say? Then why the hell did you take up the post? I had warned you earlier...”

“Kid, I believe in you. You can do it.”

---

The first year in the Senior Hostel was a confusing and trying one. My extra-curricular ambitions had overlapped with the political ambitions of the Hall. And both of these bulldozed any academics ambitions that I might have had.

I had to make some choices then – the one between academics and extra-curricular being of foremost importance.

Yet, I was not ready to make a choice. I was too afraid and tried to keep one foot in each boat.

My seniors, like all seniors, tried to help me. They counselled, they advised; when they saw it was no use being soft, they were tough and unforgiving.

Unfortunately, I did not know whose advice to listen to. I wanted to win everyone’s heart with my actions and behaviour. I was always reminded of my years at junior school, where all the teachers adored me. But however much I tried, I could not find that loving care and guidance in my seniors’ behaviour towards me.

---

It took me some time to realize that I would need to earn that love.

I learnt that I needed to prioritize – not just for my own good, but for others too. My choices would affect the ambitions the others; and for this alone, I needed to act responsibly.

I learnt a lot of life from my seniors. The learning was tough but it was a part of growing up that was necessary for me. That time, I was afraid to discuss such stuff with too many people. But now, a good many years have passed. On my side, a sense of love and respect lingers on for my seniors. They too will have overlooked (or will overlook, in the future) my many flaws.

So now is a good time to write about the problems I used to face then. But the main reason why I write about those times is that currently I am in another phase of learning – another necessary learning curve. As some of you might have guessed, right now is not the correct time to dwell on the details. And to those of you who know, and are helping me on the way, I just have one thing to say – thanks.