Reflections

Ode to 2011

2011-12-28T21:26:00.000-08:00

In just a few days, Anno Domini 2011 will give rise to Anno Domini 2012. And I would have gone a whole year without saying anything in this space. I have always imagined that this space was an essential part of my Alzheimer's collection, a carefully curated collection of stuff with the somewhat lofty goal of jolting me to lucidity, should I ever suffer from Alzheimer's (of course, I expect that

Embracing Plurality

2010-12-18T15:32:00.000-08:00

NOTE : This post was written during the height of the ground zero mosque controversy. Proponents of Park51 are at pains to explain that the people planning the mosque are very different from those who attacked the world trade center. Once the difference is acknowledged, it should no longer irk the sensitivities of those who suffered from the attack, they hope. In a previous Op-Ed in the New

Einzelkind

2010-11-15T12:03:00.000-08:00

I am an only child. I have zero brothers and zero sisters . There comes a time when you’ve been acquainted with someone for a significant amount of time when they will ask you how many siblings you have. And I have always wondered what anyone hopes to learn about me by the number and variety of siblings I have. Why are they so curious about precisely one half of my genetic make-up (nothing

Mostly water !!!

2010-08-28T18:49:00.000-07:00

On Aug 1st this year, I took up a resolution to eat only home-cooked food. I came to the disconcerting realization that having decided that all of vegetarianism in the US was either leaves, or cheese, I was constantly picking cheese. In turn, my body, totally supportive of that decision, had decided to store it. If my sins got carried over to my next several births, I’d be staring at several

Peepli Live

2010-08-26T17:26:00.000-07:00

There is a scene in Peepli Live. The entire media has descended upon Natha’s house. Politicians and government officials make frequent visits, each offering things other than what Natha’s family needs most. At one particular time, the entire family comes out and regards the scene in front of them. There’s a quizzical look on each character as they look over their courtyard. In that single frame,

Makeover

2010-08-16T07:35:00.000-07:00

Don't go away. I'm still writing the same ol stuff. Am trying to give my blog a makeover it truly needs. I have great dreams for my new template ( a whole day of surfing the net didn't really get me anywhere I might add). So... my dream has now changed. I do not promise astonishing results or better user friendliness or anything like that. Think of it as one of those haircuts you simply must

Besan ftw!

2010-08-14T09:41:00.000-07:00

For the past few days, I’ve been consumed by the need to write something about besan (or gram flour) – that yellow powder tucked away in the corner of the kitchen shelf (or pantry). < As an aside. I like the word pantry. Depending on my mood, the word “pantry” can evoke tendencies that hark back to the my childhood days of Enid Blyton. I imagine myself to be one of those boarding school kids

Love All

2010-08-04T15:42:00.000-07:00

America is a secular country. Secularism is absolute. It cannot vary in degrees. It cannot vary depending on the circumstance. There is nothing the government can do about the decision of some people to profess their faith, to gather peacefully and to practice their religion. And if those that gather there also attempt to reach out, to explain to others that they come there on good faith, that

Much Ado About “Nothing we didn’t already know”

2010-07-27T17:30:00.000-07:00

Confidential reports about the state of the war in Afghanistan was recently released by an organization called Wikileaks :- an organization devoted to whistle blowing (collecting and releasing documents that wikileaks feels the public ought to know). It headlined in 3 leading newspapers :- NyTimes, Guardian, Der Spiegel, while every other piece of news including Iran’s sudden “ Oh. Now that you

Not another friggin choice!

2010-07-25T08:04:00.000-07:00

Disclaimer : As usual, I'm 2 years behind on "what's-up-in-gizmo-land". But what the heck... my emotion is very current. So I read about these uber smart chaps who want to save the planet (whether they believe in climate change is beside the point), and they've come up with a way to help. http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-9937567-54.html So from now on, instead of having a million receipts in

Putting it simply!

2010-07-23T06:13:00.000-07:00

For US : The education system For India : Absolutely everything else!

the Amnesiac

2010-07-08T12:59:00.000-07:00

What did the great sages and scribes have in mind when they sat down and painstakingly chronicled the nature of human folly; when they etched it on papyrus and couched it in so grand a setting that the stories would be told to children for ages to come. Might they have been in awe of the possibility of imagination ? To experience an entire story as if it were he in that story, he in that

All's fair in bargaining and war

2010-06-30T14:39:00.000-07:00

It was going to be a full house in Ratham Veedhi , Madurai. Such days were few and far between and Gomathy Patti looked forward to them more than anyone else. She planned on waking up at 4 am in time to prepare an elaborate meal for everybody. She would spend most of the night awake for fear of getting up late. Cooking for several hungry kids, enthusiastic parents and uninvited guests that

Long Live USPS

2010-04-30T12:57:00.000-07:00

http://www.economist.com/business-finance/displaystory.cfm?story_id=15911952 What does US post office mean to me ? It means either junk mail (which you should absolutely ignore) and VERY IMPORTANT mail(which you must absolutely not ignore). It's odd that USPS sits so comfortably in this bimodality. To me, it means I have to go through all that junk mail, credit card offers, coupons, random

world wide waste

2010-04-25T19:32:00.001-07:00

A neuroscience professor once told me that the brain is a wonderful thing in that it cleverly managed to ignore much riff raff. And it was important that it did that. Paying attention to too much, storing all the information all the time is a ridiculously inefficient strategy since most information is worthless to the immediate goals of finding food and avoiding predator and the slightly more

Good night and good luck

2010-03-26T21:27:00.000-07:00

Have you ever seen a cat as it prepares to go to sleep? Most cats deem the "self" as the only thing worth any respect, and with jolly good reason. After stretching forwards and backwards fully, she will drop herself onto the napping area with a "plonk" of exquisite precision. If you have any experience with plonking, and I have plenty- with varying degrees of failure, you will know that the act

Google Care

2010-02-22T18:34:00.000-08:00

I slipped and twisted my ankle recently. In 24 years, I’ve never twisted my ankle. I’ve wantonly inserted my ankle into the spokes of my mom’s kinetic Honda once (I was just curious to know what would happen!!!), but never have I ever twisted my ankle. I should have realized the day I started training for the marathon, that an ankle twist was not too far away. As it turns out, I was trying to

Date-blindness

2009-11-25T21:18:00.000-08:00

In a perfectly funny world, this post would be about my messy love life describing a life where I might go on a series of dates with a series of odd men, discovering what I do not like and never really discovering love. In a perfectly funny world, this would be the stuff of sitcoms that would run season after season, making millionaires out of some very talented (and pretty) actors ( and

Name your price

2009-11-12T19:45:00.000-08:00

How much for the rain to not tease The sky's message, he whispers to the leaves Those words so dear That I barely hear Those frivolous plans of the starry seas How much for a month's calm breeze For the waves to flutter above my knees The dolphins must come and dance The shark be dismissed with glance And unto eternity, all the dark forces must freeze How much for a year's lease on peace ****

Manners and mannerisms

2009-09-10T16:58:00.000-07:00

I am not sure why Jane Austen never wrote a book titled manners and mannerisms. After all, she wrote pride & prejudice and sense & sensibility. In any case, I'm glad she didn't, because in this copyright observing, plagiarism fearing world, I can happily write a blogpost titled "manners and mannerisms."It will forever be beyond me why a certain republican congressman felt so compelled to call

The vice of lice

2009-08-11T09:47:00.000-07:00

When the bed bugs bit and the bed bugs boreMy skin retorted with red uproarMy insurance payKept the doctor awayCheaper and wiser is the daily apple of yore.

Wishlets

2009-08-04T18:35:00.000-07:00

There's a fountain at the very tip of the city of Pittsburgh. It's built at the confluence of 2 rivers- the allegheny and the monanghehala as it joins the Ohio river. If you went there at night, when the crowd has disappeared, when the sun has finished burning his calories, when the moon slyly begins to pretend, and the stars come out to gossip about the world in their own little cliques, you can

Farmer in the Dell

2009-07-31T21:22:00.001-07:00

The farmer in the Dellhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4ndeZMorUI&feature=relatedDid you ever see one of those offbeat movies that are supposedly about the human experience in the modern world ? No ? Well, then, come take a look at my life this past week. It all started when I decided that I was going to get the very best laptop I could afford with the 2000 dollars enrichment allowance that my

And then there was none

2009-07-24T11:05:00.000-07:00

I think I have enough evidence against the idea that all life on planet earth is based on ribonucleic acids (DNA, RNA). Before I go down this very heretical path, I must define "life" in as vague a way as possible. To me, a life-form is any being that selfishly schemes against other life-forms so that it, in turn, can either prolong its life, or reproduce and have the re-product ( I think that's

Tomorrow

2009-06-15T14:48:00.000-07:00

One midnight, I asked the starry seaIf once, she can make it be,That time rolls back his tapestrySo I might change a memory.I couldn’t tell then, what I can tell now with ageMy tears had barely smudged the page,My words were so red, so full of rage.If not a rainbow, could I colour life beige ?And so, I waited for the sun to saunter in the west,For fish to enjoy land and rest,But time went about

Love, eventually

2009-05-30T13:49:00.000-07:00

To me, one of the memorable scenes of "fiddler and the roof" is when Tevye asks Golde if she loved him. Golde is astonished by the question. She seems never to have considered it before. She thinks about everything that the two of them have gone through together- giving "washing your clothes" and "sharing your bed" amusingly equal weightage (would I wash your clothes if I did not love you ? would

Post Bush Era

2009-05-24T19:23:00.000-07:00

Rumour has it that there will be a time in the new feature when we will have to pay airlines to use their restroom up in the air. It is a pity that this is what our being a self-proclaimed-intelligent race has lead us to. Little did I know that I will start having fond memories of peeing in the bushes. Until now, I regarded it as a messy, prickly affair. Those who have experienced peeing in the

Taming the shrew

2009-04-18T09:58:00.000-07:00

I am reminded of my high school civics professor who was teaching us about the election commission. Civics classes used to be held thrice a week during the final periods; when the sun was too hot to bear and we were too distracted to listen. Yet we sat, quietly, most of the time lost in our own thoughts, because as chairman of the school, the professor couldn't be fooled. And none of us dared.

A lifetime of darkness

2009-04-11T19:54:00.000-07:00

I have fond memories of the days of the powercut. That's how I learnt my first swear word. "Damn it". That's what my dad would say when the power went off. I learnt it quickly. Subsequent power cuts would be greeted by me with an "ooph damn it". I didn't know then it was a bad word. By the time I realized it was inappropriate, I also knew it was cool, and so there was no warrant for not using

I do not solve Alzheimer's

2009-03-09T13:33:00.000-07:00

Apparently 4 years of undergraduate Biotechnology and as many years of people asking me what I wanted to do after college has not trained me enough to come up with a proper response.This is a typical conversation with a "genuine" stranger with a "borderline and passing" interest in what you are doing.So you're doing biotechnology is it ?Yes.So you're going to become like Kiran Majumdar of Biocon

Quiznos

2009-02-27T17:41:00.000-08:00

Quiznos is this sandwich place .... no it's a sub place. If I'm right they're called subs because the bread's shaped like submarines. No one calls 'em sandwiches anymore. In fact no one makes them out of those pretty square pieces of bread anymore. It's always subs.Anyway... so quiznos is this sub place that is located very strategically in my life. It's on the way from my lab to the bus stop.

To cut a long story short.....

2009-02-23T18:24:00.000-08:00

Once upon a time, in a land not too far away, so close that we are all sitting on it right now, there was a strange girl called Nature and her bff, a scatterbrain called Evolution. They never quite knew what to do with their lives and lived rather smugly in the knowledge that they had all the time in the world to figure it out. One day they woke up and decided to take a walk. And while they were

The tower of Babel

2009-01-25T10:49:00.000-08:00

About the time I arrived here, all ready to do some monkey brain fiddling, fannie mae and freddie mac had just been bailed out. There were murmurs of recession, a crisis, worse than last time and the time before that, financial and economic jargon that I had never bothered to include as part of my vocabulary. I just knew that they were ominous terms. After all, I had a job, the university was

slumdog millionaire

2009-01-24T16:42:00.000-08:00

When I chose to see slumdog millionaire, I felt certain it would disappoint. I feared that a screenplay scripted in english would handicap the film. Hearing sentences in english that ought really to be spoken in the native language often gives a movie an eerie quality. Since I've lived in India I've never been able to identify with many english-movie-made-in-english precisely because characters

Insomnia

2009-01-22T14:54:00.000-08:00

>> This was on Aug 30 2004, at another website. Funny. And it seems to like I haven't changed all that much in the past few years. I'm saying, thinking and feeling the same things and in the exact same way<< Not a lot of things make me lose my sleep. If I’ve had a productive day, and I feel tired enough, a long uninterrupted slumber is inevitable. But there are those days when try as I

Doubt

2009-01-06T19:22:00.000-08:00

Doubt is an essay of human character. It speaks of prejudices, suspicions and certainty without the burden of proof. In the eyes of the law one may be innocent until proven guilty. But for most humans convincing proof is not required; only suffficient doubt.The overbearing, inviolably certain, strong headed and firm willed Sister Aloysius suspects father Flynn of inappropriate behavior with the

The curious case of Wilbur and Orville

2009-01-04T12:24:00.000-08:00

I write this as I sit at Newark Liberty airport,waiting to get to Pittsburgh. It's been a long, crazy journey. Unfortunately,in these times, when anyone can afford to fly, when anyone can practise amateur terrorism, when any firm can buy two planes and call themselves an international carrier, my long crazy journey is probably not unique. It is becoming the fate of millions like me. Millions like

side - middul

2008-12-28T20:11:00.001-08:00

Blatantly staring at my face is the fact that I am getting closer and closer to being yesterday's generation. I share my parents' shock when I see high school kids walking around with cell phones. Parents give it to them to know where they are, I'm told. And I wonder- if not at home, school, if not at school, home, or maybe at a friend's home. Where else could they be ? Coffee day ? When I was at

wii

2008-12-18T18:02:00.000-08:00

I've never been much of a gamer. Is that a regret ? Read onBack in the days when I was vulnerable and "impressionable", the games pretty much sucked; at least the ones that I came to know of. They were the days when parents would ambitiously send their children to summer workshops and computer classes. MS Dos and LOGO were cool to know. Advanced classes would teach you microsoft office- editing

indifference

2008-12-01T15:31:00.000-08:00

When I walked into my office on monday, it was after thanksgiving. My body was sore from playing too much wii and waiting far long in airport lounges. I was glad I had urged myself to come to work, although I was feeling no guilt for plotting to leave as early as possible.How are you asked my office mate.It was after a long weekend. I assumed that this "how are you" was not just mere gesture. It

if they don't have bread, let them eat cake

2008-10-30T16:22:00.000-07:00

These past few days have been revealing in terms of what part of the sum total of my life experiences are because I am Indian. And while that has been interesting, it hasn't been strange in that I already expected that US is a different culture from a land half way across the globe. What's been strange is that, amidst these revelations, I occasionally realize that experiences that I thought were

its that simple!

2008-10-26T09:43:00.000-07:00

I have very simple advice to all the ministers and prime ministers and presidents battling it out, trying to do good for their nation (and for the world) and having to battle with those situations where doing good for a nation necessitates something bad for some other nation.When in doubt, go ask a sweet minded child. Admittedly, there are kids who have genetic predisposition to be devious.

these are a few of my ominous things....

2008-10-11T10:45:00.000-07:00

When someone begins a sentence with "there is a choice you can make here".It means "someone" knows you've already made a decision.They don't approve of it.They also know that their approval is somewhat important to you, at least as a vote of confidence, and by offering you a choice, they're trying to change your decision.However disheartening it is going to be to change your decision, its going

world news

2008-09-07T11:24:00.000-07:00

ya apparently all these things are happening in the world and i am very oblivious to it.its one thing to be aware and not be affected.which breeds too much tolerance, in turn giving all the "bad ppl" permission to do anything, coz ur going to get used to everything.i suppose death is something we still arent used to even though its been happening for as long as anything's been alive.i've always

meter mele hatthu roopayi

2008-06-15T03:16:00.000-07:00

Before I embark on my anecdotes about my encounters with the autowallahs, I must say Bangalore's autodrivers are the best mannered in the country. I refuse to listen to any statement to the contrary. However, I must also say that most of my anecdotes are going to sound like I don't like them at all. When in doubt refer to the opening lines above. They are the best mannered of them all.Right

Do not stand by my grave and weep;

2008-04-22T07:17:00.000-07:00

Do not stand at my grave and weep,I am not there, I do not sleep.I am in a thousand winds that blow,I am the softly falling snow.I am the gentle showers of rain,I am the fields of ripening grain.I am in the morning hush,I am in the graceful rushOf beautiful birds in circling flight,I am the starshine of the night.I am in the flowers that bloom,I am in a quiet room.I am in the birds that sing,I am

Autowallah series

2008-04-14T10:13:00.000-07:00

Over the last year I've been traveling around in bangalore autos a lot. On a bright, sunny day, they're fun people to ride with. I suppose it comes from sharing the same frustrations- bangalore's pathetic roads. I just realized that I have enough stories about them to write more than 1 post. (It's a nice inflated world I live in. Its not just that I am the centre of the universe that I live in.

Juno

2008-03-31T20:28:00.000-07:00

Juno!!! If I hadn't known better I would've thought it was some super action movie- like X- Men, or these new period based action flicks that come these days- I just don't find men in skirts all that sexy.In fact, not at all. But thanks to all the good things I've done in my past life I realized that Juno wasn't about an ancient hero/heroine but was a proper movie. Don't argue with me about what

a new day

2008-01-19T08:58:00.000-08:00

wouldn't it be nice, if every new day, we were really reborn ?if the innocence lost the previous day were restored ?if we could continue believing in our dreams, keeping the faith, without any of it marred by the disillusionments of the previous day ?if we could write off all the faults committed before, even if it meant that we would probably repeat them ?wouldn't your conscience then be the

Butterfly Huntress

2007-12-07T05:42:00.001-08:00

COMMON MORMONPapilio polytes COMMON EMIGRANTCatopsilia pomonaDANAID EGGFLYHypolimnas missipusTAWNY COASTERAcraea terpiscore(check out the proboscis)COMMON EVENING BROWNMelanitis ledaGIANT REDYEGangara thyrsisANGLED CASTORAriade ariadneSource : wikipedia

Bistability

2007-11-10T11:01:00.000-08:00

Before I say anything, I must mention that I have this new fancy for the phrase "baap re baap"I think it's an equivalent to the "!" ? Anyway, so i've started going about just trying to use that word. Now I can't create a post specially for it, so I'm putting it here. Have you every been to the cinema and come out thinking that the trailers were the best part ? Get ready for deja vu. Oh and this

hmm

2007-11-08T09:39:00.000-08:00

I'm in one of those ponderous moods today. Not the kind that frustrates me, or the kind that comes with a deep insight into the inner workings of the universe, but a general "what have i learnt in my life" summarizing sort of mood.Today I sort of realized that the things you want the most are things you have no control over. Weirdly enough you don't know it when you start wanting them. You think

pakkuvam

2007-10-26T05:35:00.000-07:00

Pakkuvam is a tamil word. It means earthly wisdom. When you understand things likenot everything has a happy endingfair is an unreal conceptof 5 puppies only 2 or 3 will live. that's the whole point of multiplying your chances. and even then you aren't guaranteed anything.santa does not exist.happiness is a state of mind.weird things like deep breathing do work, despite your pooh poohing it.Some

********************

2007-10-24T06:14:00.000-07:00

it is *f*itting that the word *f*rustration starts with a *f*rigging EFF!!!just trying out this new "let out your anger" approach.this woman draped in the choicest of silk and silver (when did clinical psychiatrists start getting *f*ashionable) taught me this on NDTV good times.don't think it worked.hmm!!!

being an advisee

2007-10-20T21:39:00.001-07:00

Hint no 1 - ValueEvery piece of advice is worth exactly what you paid for it. This is not a probabilistic rule. This is deterministic and irrefutable tangible fact.If you get free advice, it means you paid nothing for it. That in turn means it is worth nothing.Every piece of advice will only get you as much as you paid for it.Hint no 2 - Signal to noise ratios.Your signal is what you want. The

I'm famous!!!

2007-10-17T10:47:00.000-07:00

Every year since I was 4, we've celebrated the 10 day dusshera / the 9 day navratri very traditionally. It's one of my favourite festivals (also Diwali, but not so much since the advent of cable TV when the whole family from 4 corners of the world gather and watch some buckwaas programme together). Anyway, we celebrate navratri by making/doing the golu.See wikipedia's entry on goluAnyway, I've

castaway??? gimme a break

2007-10-14T09:42:00.000-07:00

There used to be a time when I had romantic notions about being castaway. I thought I'd be able to do a much better job of it than most people I know.See *this is how silly I really was*Now I am proud to say that I know different.Being castaway indeed. It'd drive me mad. I'd throw myself at any shark that came along.There was this extremely wise lady that I spoke to a long time ago. I was telling

two thoughts

2007-09-30T09:36:00.000-07:00

Disclaimer : This entry might be very very morbid. It is in now way a reflection of my current state of mind. My current state of mind is really *null and void*.I just like this poem that's all. I'll prolly like it in summer/winter/autumn spring just because it's a very very pretty poem. On a lighter note, I find men who are able to write poetry about feminine feelings very very gay. The poem's

puppies

2007-09-17T08:48:00.000-07:00

A dog littered in my garage a week back. I am now the proud caretakes of 5 gorgeous puppies. I don't have much work to do, because the mother (harried though she looks) takes very good care of 'em.Their names1) aqua2) mischief3) lightning4) spunk5) laserTruth be told, I dunno which of them are male and which are female.There's a Subramanya Bharathiyaar poemVeLLai niraThoru poonai..engaLL veettil

Friends, romans and countrymen! Hair ye, Hair ye.

2007-08-29T05:34:00.000-07:00

Have you ever looked at the shampoo ads ? The hair shown there is fake. It's made of acrylic or one of those polymers (yeah- polymers were big coupla decades ago. Everyone thought of them as wonder material. Until they were not only wondrous but were indomitable and immortal. They take forever and forever to degrade.) But anyway, those gals and nowadays metrosexual guys (I'm still warming up to

carpe diem

2007-08-12T09:43:00.001-07:00

nike mexico headquarters i rather like nike's slogan.JUST DO IT.it's what i need every morning along with coffee. one nice smack on my head that reminds me to not just sit there and think and ponder and wonder and what not, but to just get on with it and do it.PS :The real reason of this post ? I just wanted to upload an image and for some reason

the voice of my conscience

2007-08-11T06:27:00.000-07:00

I often find myself doing little soliloquies- talking to myself, scolding myself. I'm very clearly at home with the idea of a little homunculus within me that is always pushing me to do the right thing, daring me to overcome fears, prodding at my insecurities, rebuking me, goading me, generally being just very irritatingly righteous all the time. I swear I have it within me.Ask yourself, I've

in memoriam to auntie.

2007-07-25T21:36:00.001-07:00

She knew me while I was growing up -while I was melodramatically realizing that even Cinderalla did hard time in the cinders, that she didn't just jump rightaway to "happily ever after". In some ways, she was the reason I grew up at all.She taught me to use deodorants. She taught me to take care of pets- to bother about cleaning their bowl just as much as the other kitchen utensils. And she

the devil's dictionary

2007-07-18T07:48:00.000-07:00

it seems like a long time ago when i was sitting insanely cramming up words and their meanings to write the GRE.if only someone had told me about the devil's dictionary, i'd have had a lot more irreverant fun.here are some entries in Ambrose Bierce's devil's dictionary (copied from of course, wikipedia!!!)Abstainer A weak person who yields to the temptation of denying himself a pleasure. A total

ogden nash

2007-07-18T07:20:00.000-07:00

just love this whackpot of a guy.he takes the simply vagaries of everyday life as we go about believing ourselves to be very special and just gives us something to think about (which is... duh... we aren't that special really)like thisThe hunter crouches in his blind'Neath camouflage of every kindAnd conjures up a quacking noiseTo lend allure to his decoysThis grown-up man, with pluck and luckis

epiphany part 2 : cleaning day

2007-07-11T23:51:00.000-07:00

in the spirit of sequels- shrek 3, pirates 3, die hard 4, fantastic four (2???) et cetera et cetera et cetera, the new spirit that awakened within me in the light of my epiphany continues to walk around alive and kicking.which is why, today i find myself cleaning my room with a vengeance.when i say with vengeance, i mean with fm radio, with water, with marie biscuits, even a book (an

of mouse and mice

2007-07-10T08:34:00.000-07:00

i have always been a stickler for good english and completely lousy when it comes to anything computer related.y'day i had a bit of an epiphany. i realized that i couldn't do anything involving a routine. i manage to brush my teeth everyday, but that's only because my mouth stinks otherwise. but something like bathing, i generally have to push myself to do. eating, i often refuse to do for

terry bisson

2007-07-07T22:40:00.000-07:00

This is something that Terry Bisson wrote. Apparently, he's quite famous. I myself have been blissfully unaware of him until now. I came upon this script entirely by chance. I'm putting it up here to serve me as a reminder to read more of his stuff, which thankfully, is on the net on his site (i think). But for now I'm putting up his one act play here.this is legally wrong- putting up someone's

duping murphy

2007-06-24T23:27:00.000-07:00

Disclaimer: None of what is about to follow is scientific. I am aware that Physics, if given eyes to read this, and hands to wield a hammer with, will read this and beat me to pulp!!!I think there's a murphy's law that goes something like "only when you absolutely give up on something, do you get it"Ever lost a key ? You look everywhere, backtrack everything you did from when you last remember

:)

2007-06-22T22:26:00.000-07:00

dear myself,it's raining in bangalore.it's constantly drizzling and i love it. you can walk through a drizzle without really getting wet but by just being barely enveloped by the moisture. it's bangalore at it's very best.and i'm happy. not just coz it's raining, but coz it's the goodie lucky variety of rain. the kind that brings along yummy presents and gifts.ya, i'm happy :D :D :D (with all my

resurrection

2007-06-21T04:50:00.001-07:00

prenoteThis one, I uploaded online in May, 2005. I was writing at another site that time, and every single one of the writers there were having a dab at love stories. I kinda had to get on the bandwagon, and came up with this one. Am trying to clean up my desktop, and am recycling all the odd things I've written here and there. But this one, I really like. If i may say so myself, it smells

confession

2007-06-21T04:36:00.000-07:00

I do solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.The truth ? checkNothing but the truth ? check checkThe whole truth ? na uh!!!!(therein lies my form of deception)I'll talk but I won't say all.

noah's ark

2007-06-21T04:08:00.000-07:00

I've always loved the story of Noah's ark. I don't know how much of it is true, and I don't know how much of it is plain symbolic, and if it's symbolic, I haven't a clue regarding what it symbolizes. The idea of saving the few essential things so that life may continue is simply very appealing probably because, everything we do is somehow connected to avoiding death.Even today, the concept of

billboards and sachin tendulkar

2007-06-20T07:38:00.001-07:00

I was in chennai recently, and one of the things that strike you is the huge amount of hoardings everywhere you go. Every rooftop has a hoarding. The sides of every bridge have at least a dozen hoardings- hoardings of movie stars, and movies, saris and soaps, computers and mobile phones all cramming together, yelling at you for your attention. It's not just the number of them that hits you, but

beaches

2007-06-16T09:08:00.000-07:00

time : one week ago.I think I'll like long walks on the beach. I think I'll like walking aimlessly across the whole length with feet one moment knee deep in the waves, another moment ankle deep, and another moment no water at all.time : nowI *like* long walks on the beach. I actually did it- out there- in reality. Not in my head; not walking like some angelic vision; but actually, in the dirtiest

unfinished business

2007-06-10T06:14:00.000-07:00

i like making lists these days. nice long lists. so here's a list of stuff (odds and ends) that need doing. i'd like thing that i'll actually do these things (they absolutely have to be done) but no- i'll prolly look at this list and feel something in the zipcode as "ah! how pretty" and go right back to not having done 'em.1) fix camera. its ***** broken.2) get camera batteries and charger from

Movies

2007-05-29T19:00:00.000-07:00

Movies, especially the Indian variety, have the nicest of endings. Ten minutes before the climax, everything is chaos. The girl is almost going to get married to the villain who has through the most machiavellian of means managed to convince the girl that he is the one that she should be marrying and not her true love who only used her as a point of leverage to further his own self-interest. I

desire, destiny

2007-05-21T03:15:00.000-07:00

It's a strange habit with me. I tend to remember where I first came across a word. The word cul-de-sac for instance, I first saw in an english lesson about a cellist. The word "peculiar" , I read about in a story called "the peculiar horse". Humbug of course is from wizard of Oz- well- just to give you an idea.A senior of mine had written an article about herself in a school magazine, in which

urges

2007-04-19T05:44:00.000-07:00

1) a colouring book and a brand new set of crayons.2) apple pie and vanilla ice-cream.3) walk through a rainforest where the rain has just stopped.4) walk through a forest full of icicles.5) skate6) ice skate7) ice skate gracefully8) swim in a cove- a la enid blyton bookish9) start each day with "did you know that.... "10) start each day with someone else telling you "did you know that.... " and

simple question

2007-04-06T01:17:00.000-07:00

location : bangaloreillusion : paradiseconfusion: where is the rainfrustration frustration frustration.it's a simple question. where the hell is the rain. i mean, its not too much to ask.the roads are waiting for their annual supply of potholes for crying out loud.i am waiting simply to smell the air before it rains, and then, sneakily try and get wet, and then look at how green bangalore really

mommy dearest

2007-04-02T09:30:00.000-07:00

My mom's been an english teacher for 17 years now. She's loved every minute of it, every second of it. She even taught me for a coupla years. People ask me if I ever found it odd to sit and be taught by my own mom in class. I have to admit- i never did. And the credit goes entirely to her. She was very clear- in class she was a teacher. At home, she was my mother. There were other teachers who

hands

2007-03-26T08:41:00.000-07:00

there's all these things hanging and jutting out in a lotta weird ways from our bodies (or from the core of our bodies ?) and i'm wondering why i haven't put a lot of them to better use. my hands especially- i've never really used them for much. apart from the eating, cleaning, moving them while talking motions, haven't used them for anything.there's so much one can do with them- artily craftily

fruits

2007-03-19T06:53:00.000-07:00

how full of oneself does one have to be to come and write something about oneself each day. very.nvm... i ain't gonna pretend to be ashamed by it.right...i don't like too many fruits. ( and the phrase "too many" is subject to a very stringent interpretation by me and me alone )so ever since i've had the power to decide what i will and will not eat ( mom says that's since the age of 4 thereabouts)

apple pie

2007-03-17T09:48:00.000-07:00

they changed the apple pie at coffee day. i don't like it. grr!!!the apple pie at mc donald's at s'pore- mindblowing.its this thick crust. its this apple goo (goo- literally) inside. and it's so hot. and it's the one thing i'd just burn my tongue for.wonder what happened to em.but this new round over baked apple pie at ccd-nah *sticks tongue out*

2 poem/prose that i love.

2007-03-16T22:52:00.000-07:00

See- this is healthy advice. If you can pull it off- you're neither saint nor thief. you're just a MAN.If If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you; If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, But make allowance for their doubting too; If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

self help books

2007-03-16T22:13:00.000-07:00

what's with them.god.... i know i have the power to be extraordinary and all.its disgustingly patronizing to be told things that you already know.for once i want a book, that says its ok to be only ok. no need to be superlative. no need to be downright nincompoopish. just ok.in fact, who needs a book for that.ERGO, no need for self help books.QED*kadavule....*

hormones

2007-03-16T21:33:00.000-07:00

there comes a time when you realize that these little chemicals called hormones control everything you do. it's not the mind. it's not will power. it's not foresight. it's not rationale. it's not fate. it's not even god.it's hormones.which explains the whole myth that says when you laugh too much, you end up crying. i've never heard the reverse being said- but i'm guessing that's also true. i

raindrops and roses

2007-03-11T04:31:00.000-07:00

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens;Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens;Brown paper packages tied up with strings;These are a few of my favorite things. Cream-colored ponies and crisp apple strudels;Doorbells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles;Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings;These are a few of my favorite things.Girls in white dresses with blue

saying grace

2007-03-07T06:40:00.000-08:00

there's a song i was taught back at school.i wanna sing it now."did i remember, to thank you god for food we eat. did i remember, to thank you god for birds that sing. did i remember, to thank you god for everything. "thank you.

rain

2007-03-01T09:08:00.000-08:00

rain... i want rain... noooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww !!!*sigh*

mom

2007-03-01T08:58:00.000-08:00

i'm writing this knowing that my mom will never see this. she refuses to invade my privacy. i wouldn't allow it, she wouldn't think of it.but my mom's an integral part of my life more than she can ever imagine, more than i'll ever admit in front of her.you know she's a part of ur life, when the sound of her rubber chappals of her constant walking around from here to there (mostly its cleaning up

on ghosts

2007-02-28T08:17:00.001-08:00

sometimes we say things even though we don't believe it.and then we start believing it because its a lovely thing to have said.its like keeping a promise u never intended to keep.this is one of those.ghosts are supposed to be aftermaths of life, staying in as wisps of vapour because the fleshy bodied life wasn't exactly fulfilling. (this is the definition i'm gonna work with. any other definition

on fairness

2007-02-28T04:59:00.000-08:00

for the first time, i entered a heading before i started writing. generally, i don't think of a heading till the very end, and most of the time i wanna title it with words like "just" or even "...", or "chumma" or "simply".. well, you get the drift.okay, now that i've gotten that icky technical issue out of the way... fairness. its this highly over-rated, superbly magnified, confoundingly

cul de sac

2007-02-26T05:49:00.000-08:00

saying something in french (not that i know a lotta it, in fact i know precious little), makes a lotta things seem grander, bigger, maybe duly staler, maybe farther away so we can distance ourselves from it.what's the french word for "denial"- i'd like to use that a lot.but cul de sac (or more mundanely- dead end- trust the rotten english to come up with dead end)is this dead end place.and if u

favourite movie lines

2007-02-04T06:58:00.000-08:00

How jobless must I be if I'm sitting here on a sunday evening, googling favourite lines, copying and pasting, and annotating 'em. Very indeed !!!I've been meaning to do this in a while. A sorta database of some of my favourite movie *quasi-monologs*. Hopefully this list will expand. May my enthusiasm for watching what is often opined to be boring movies never cease.I love movies with dialogue.

On death, without exagerration.

2007-01-28T02:46:00.001-08:00

Note: I didn't write the poem below. But I did think it was a poem that I had to say something about. But read the poem first.It can't take a joke,find a star, make a bridge.It knows nothing about weaving, mining, farming,building ships, or baking cakes.In our planning for tomorrow,it has the final word,which is always beside the point.It can't even get the things donethat are part of its trade:

The happiness theory...

2007-01-21T18:53:00.000-08:00

In "illusions", there's a bit that goes something like this..."And what would you do, "the master said unto the multitude, "if God spoke directly to your face and said, 'I command that you be happy in the world, as long as you like', what would you do then?"That's one of my favourite lines. Simply, because its such a simple command.Fall in love- be happy.Smell the roses- be happy.Watch the

posterity

2007-01-02T18:34:00.000-08:00

oh and i'm quite liking this spontaneous writing thingie.i don't care who understands what i'm saying.i do.and maybe i'll show this to my grandchildren some day, and they'll know that granny was once a lil girl too.

yep- no changing reality

2007-01-02T18:28:00.000-08:00

something's gonna happen in a coupla hours.its inevitable.i don't want it to happen though.in real time, it's only gonna happen once.in my head, its already happening- so many variations of it.and then i'll go, and it'll almost not happen, but it will.and i'll have to see thru it, survive thru it, bloody well live thru it, and smile thru it.well- maybe it wont be so bad.maybe its just too many

!!!

2007-01-02T00:26:00.000-08:00

Pardon the cliched title and the even more cliched content of this entry.Its about new year resolutions.I've never made new year resolutions (yep, I labour under the illusion that I'm almost perfect, coz if you're absolutely perfect you can't really pass as a human being, so within that limititation, I'm as perfect as it gets.)And then I got older (which is very different from saying I grew up).