Me against the elements

It's been very windy and very rainy here for the past two days. And the weather is deliciously damp and wonderful....adrak-elaichi waali chai, anyone? :D

Cloud break. (The black speck is a leaf carried on the wind.)

The sky always mesmerizes me.
:)

(That white thing is my dupatta being whipped along the wind. And that's my hand trying to pull it away from the front of the lens but guess I didn't do that in time.)

(I clipped this camera cover to the clothesline with my clutcher. Weird inspiration: "Caught by a Butterfly" :D)

So I was trying to catch one of those fickle lightening flashes on the cam and after several missed chances and a lot of oops-there-goes-a-brilliant-photo-op-right-before-my-eyes types moments, I decided there was no point trying to do so. In one last desperate attempt, I said to the heavens : "Look, this is the last time I'm trying for today. There must be a lightening flash just as I press the capture button. And this is a warning."

I pressed the button, and voila! there was lightening. A brilliant hot copper-purple flash that spectacularly split apart the darkness and streaked across the dark ashen sky in a dazzling electric arc. A picture-perfect bolt.

The glitch? It flashed in the direction exactly opposite to where my camera was pointed for supposedly taking a pic of it. :(

Guess the next time I issue warnings to the heavens, it should be with all the necessary conditions attached. :|

I managed to capture just a scintillation.

(All pictures copyright me. Please do not use without permission and/or credits.)

Her Princess Dreams

Our local presswali’s daughters Beena and Puja got married recently. Beena’s a bit older than me and Puja is all of 11-12. Yeah, and she was wed off, though she will be staying with her mother only for a few more days. When I first heard this I did, but now I don’t really blame their mother as such. What else was she supposed to do- her husband walked out on them after a bout of heavy drinking once 7-8 years back and she doesn’t even know he is alive or not; she can hardly scrape some money together from her daily job of ironing people’s clothes and other such odd jobs here and there in a few houses. And she herself is a very frail, weak woman, having recently suffered multiple fractures while repairing their one-room shack. I guess she needed some anchorage- an assurance that someone will be there to look after her daughters if she’s dead and gone. There’s another reason as well. She couldn’t afford to organize two different wedding ceremonies, however unlavish, at two different points of time.

But will the girls really be ‘looked after’ as such? I wonder. From all that I know of Beena, she’s a very serious, very somber girl, already apparently weighed down by life. I haven’t seen her smile often. And she’s probably gone to just another small town and will have to keep on doing all that she did here, with the added cares of a household that she would be supposed to manage. And her husband will perhaps, a few years down the line, hang out with the village prostitutes, come back drunk and possibly walk out on their relation just like her father did.

God forbid, but if something like that happens, what about her princess dreams- you know, the kind where everybody gets to live happily ever after? It’s hard to believe that, but maybe her circumstances never allowed her to have any. Who knows.

Do you have a six-pack?

Overheard:

Dudette saunters into the supermarket. Browses the electronics section.

Sales guy at the counter: You looking for something, madam?

Dudette: Yes..er...are rechargeable batteries available?

Sales guy: Yeah, of course...

Dudette: Alrite. *long pause* Okay...so...do you have a six-pack?

Sales guy: What???

Dudette: Arre...a six-pack..I want a pack of six batteries.

Sales guy: Oh, okay.

:D I would consider it an amusing life if I came across such characters several times during a day at work.
Seriously, such people! I mean, that guy would really have been amused at some girl asking him if he had a six-pack...and the best part is, the dudette never had a clue what she had apparently spoken. :D

And there are other reasons why supermarket staffers lead interesting lives. There used to be these two young sales people at the Jaipur Shopper's Stop...the girl was usually on her shift in the ethnic wear section and whenever any of the people shopping wanted to see how a particular saree looked when worn, the girl would willingly oblige, call up the guy and then stand and twirl in front of the mirror while the guy tied the saree around her waist over her uniform, both of them exchanging coy glances in between.
:)

Like I said, there are several reasons that make shopping amusing. Got something to share?

Every darn post does not need a title

So today the 20 day long nightmare that were my Board exams ended. No it did not go as I intended. "Ace the boards" was something that I did in X, two years back, and it has featured on my new year to-do list for the past two years, but in a completely careless loop of procrastination, overestimation and underperformance, I'm far from what I meant to do. And I can never get there. At least not in the Boards.
All I have is consolation that I aced just two of the five exams.

And I'm shamelessly blogging about it. Can't help it. I have to let it out somehow.
I need not be so bitter, I know...but what else are you supposed to feel when something crucial that you had been meaning to do for so long does not come to pass, and all you have to blame is you? It's like, I have this endlessly repeating loop of causes and effects and could-have-beens and should-have-dones that has been running over in my head ever since February 29th and I'm sick of it. Bloody sick.
And I don't know what to do.

Anyways. There's a limit to pointless rants. I'll shut up.

And before I go back to making another fresh new study schedule for myself, hoping against hope it gets completed, I'll just post this tag that Nids wanted me to do.

Here goes:

• Describe your perfect Sunday morning?

Wake up sinfully late, indulge un-guiltily all day and not have an exam the entire week. (Yeah. I'm obsessed with exams and stuff these days.)
(AND I'm not specifying all the indulgence. :P )

• Favorite song of all time?

"Dekha Hai Aise Bhi" by Lucky Ali. If not the most, it's at least one of the faves. The lyrics are simple yet magical. And lyrics are always 90% of the reason why I like a particular song.

• How tall are you?

5"2'. That can hardly be called tall. :(

• If you could be successful at any job in the world, what would that job be?

Anchoring a travel show. No seriously, if I don't get to do that the universe will be deprived of something really worth it. *blows delicately at her fingernails*

• If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be?

Venice. Or Santorini. Or Beverly Hills. Yeah, Beverly Hills. There I could make a dazzling career out of being a gossip columnist if the travel show does not work out. :P

• If you could be someone else for a day, who would it be?

I don't know. Vanisha Mittal, maybe. Actually there would be no point in that. That entire day I would probably be thinking about having to be me the next. Question rejected. (IVAN says write "Condoleeza Rice." Duh.)

• If you have friends coming for supper what would you cook?

Adrak waali chai. Plus anything else, on demand. Only vegetarian stuff.

• What is your favorite word?

Serendipity. Any doubts?

• What makes you cry?

Certain random realizations that come uncalled-for.

• If you were an animal in the wild, what would you be?

A Koala. They sleep so much but nobody complains. :P

• If you could time travel to the past to correct any mistakes you feel you’ve made, would you?

Oh yeah! Multiple times, actually. And hopefully I won't make fresh mistakes while doing that.

• Do you believe that the cup is half empty or half full?

Half full. I would prefer full full though.

• What do you do for fun?

Read books on Advanced Quantum Physics. If you were naive enough to believe me, I should tell you I was kidding. Terrify all ye mortals by throwing hypothetical vases/ pointing hypothetical guns/ thwacking with hypothetical rolled newspapers :P

• Are you an outdoor or an indoor person?

Depends.

• Where do you see yourself in five years?

In some hostel room downing caffeine and cramming for a test. (Told ya I'm obsessed about exams...)

• What are you most proud of in your life?

Right now, nothing. Yeah you heard me right.

• When do you plan on getting married?

Not for quite a long time.

• Get the number or give the number?

Get the number first. To call or not call, that is the question.

• Romance or Kinky Sex?

Both. ;)

• How do you feel?

With the skin. Meissener's corpuscles and End bulbs of Krause and Ruffini, to be specific. But sometimes viscerally too, with the soul.

• What size shoe do you wear?

Four.

• What is your favorite clothing brand?

No permanent choices. Mango is good. But right now I'm kinda into FabIndia stuff :D

• Water or 100% Juice?

Water.

• T-Mobile, U.S. Cellular, Cingular/AT&T, or Sprint/Nextel?

BSNL. (Jai Hind!) :D

• Would you rather be hot or cold?

Cold! Deliciously cold.

• Would you rather lose an arm or a leg?

Agree with Nids. None of these.

• Favorite Place to Eat?

It varies...

• Opera, Musical, Concert, Play, Performance, or Other?

Concert. Not hard rock.

• Most Memorable Past?

Moments I've realized that it's wonderful to be in love. With life.

• Most embarrassing moment?

(You expect me to blurt it out here?? :O)

• If you had to pick one car, which would it be?

A ritzy orange Lamborghini Superleggera. Or the Lexus hybrid if I'm feeling 'green'.
:)

• Your favorite Disney Films?

So many of them....I loved all the Princess stuff... :)

• Why did the chicken cross the road?

All living organisms have an inbuilt genetic but environmentally influenced predisposition to go see what's on "the other side". :P In one word: curiosity.

• Do you support Paris?

Paris which?? Sarko's Paris or that Hotelwaali? :D

• Where is Waldo?

No idea. Nobody entrusted him to my care.

• Favorite element?

Platinum. With lots of diamonds thrown in :P

• What was your last thought?

What must have been the inspiration behind naming it Firefox...? (I'm doing this tag backwards.) :D

• Firefox, Internet Explorer, Netscape, or other?

Firefox.

• Who are you going to vote for ?

Haven't decided.

• Juice and crackers or milk and cookies?

Juice and crackers. OJ, to be specific.

• Which is worse? A bad laugh or a bad cough?

A bad laugh.

• Are you a cat or a dog person?

I'm not a cat. Or a "dog person". :D But I like animals. and 'feline' sounds better than 'canine'.

• Would you rather be blind or deaf?

None of these. This is not a question to be asked in the tone of "Would you have coffee or tea?" Wonder who started this tag. *shudder*

• Define yourself in three four words…

He-ah vi-iya me-ne mmay

(That's an artificial language. Google it up and decipher. Haha, I know how to waste people's time. The meaning in English might be an anticlimax. Maybe you expect something tantalizing. :P)
Awrite. I'll be gracious and tell you what to google up. The language is called Loxian.

• Do you eat cold cereal at night?

Don't have to, so I don't.

• What is your favorite TV show?

I don't have favorite shows, but I've liked Heroes, among a few others.

• Do you shower every single day?

Of course!

• Boat or bus?

Boat, if available. The question is pointless if you consider option #1 of question #5.

• What would you do if Michael Jackson asked you out?

Say "Wrong number, dude." and run walk off with dignity. :D (No offense, Nids!)

• What is your favorite food?

Now that's a very naive question. Lemme think...

• Do you read Harry potter books?

I did.

• If you could have one super human power what would you choose?

Ability to modify the space-time continuum. :D The ability to switch to any superhuman power as and when I wish. (Come on, that's allowed! :P )

• Have you had a beer in the last week?

No. Pathetic, yeah?

• Vitamin Water or Gatorade?

None.

• Favorite body part?

My own? Eyes.

• Flip flops or sandals?

Stilettos.

• What do you do on Fridays?

Nothing special. Think about what I wrote in the answer to question #1 maybe.

• Do you like bananas?

Kind of.


I decide to tag Sparkles, Arti di, Lemonade, Abhi, and Birdy. And you.

Shopping trips can be amusing for several reasons

(Got it? ) :D

Ingliss is so con-phyoo-jing, no? :P

A Polynesian Rhapsody

I was experimenting with a style I hadn't tried in poetry: experience projection. Describing through somebody else's eyes, not your own. Writing as how they would have felt in a given situation. And I came up with this, inspired by "Pioneers of the Pacific" a recent article in the National Geographic Magazine (Roff Smith and Stephen Alvarez, March 2008) about an ancient race of Native Pacific explorers who discovered and colonized almost all of the hundreds of then uninhabited, scattered Pacific islands east of Australia, including Fiji, Tahiti, Easter Island, Polynesia, starting 3000 years back. Their daring voyages in those ancient times have been equated to lunar landings of 1900s in terms of their relative boldness at the time they were undertaken.

They used to undertake long voyages on their hand-built and hand-rigged canoes (no fossil fuel power 3000 years ago :) ), searching for new islands to settle upon. It wasn't like they were forced to move, or that there was pressure on the land. They numbered only a few thousands and the islands were way too many, nearly 300 in Fiji alone. They did it all just for the sake of exploring new frontiers. Researchers now say that one of the reasons why they were able to undertake such long and daring voyages was that they went against the direction of generally prevailing wind currents, so that even if they did not discover any new land, they could just turn around and the wind would take them back where they started from.
Eventually, in a 1000 next years or so, their descendants perhaps reached South America also, eastward from Australia.

So I kind of got inspired from the concept and the wonderful photography in the article and wrote something. It captures a particular moment in the life of two of these people---a couple. The man is setting out on an indefinite voyage to the sea, not knowing when he will be able to return, and even if he will return or not---because after all it's going to be him against the ocean. Here is what his beloved says to him before he sets out.

Go forth, mariner
The blue stretches to infinity
Discover a new paradise
For the two of us...

May the gods guide your way,
The heavens steer you right
And when your spot new land
Marked by towering banks of cloud
Beyond the dusky horizon
And billowing fumes from boiling lava
Oozing into the ocean,
May the guardian spirits
Protect your canoe from the heat..

But if you do not find it
Ride the trade winds back home soon
I'll be waiting
In our moss-hung cave beneath the cliff
Obsidian will shimmer
Vivid tropical blossoms will sparkle
In my soul
Getting a whiff of
Your intoxicating scent of the sea
Paradise wherever you will be.

*Obsidian is a kind of beautiful natural volcanic glass used in that culture for making ornaments and stuff.

This collage was complied by me for the poem.



The text of the NGM article can be found here.
Pics courtesy Google Image Search, Corbis and Stephen Alvarez for NGM.
Poem (c) Sanyukta, March 2008.

Just a few pictures

Back home

Through the branches

Rainforest tangle in miniature

Cloudy

Buoyancy

Glisten

A little paradox

Paradox#2

Maybe tomorrow I will open up

Two is company, and three is crowd, ain't that what they say?

Hiding behind you

Picture quality is kinda low. Blame that on my pathetic 2MP phone. I was too lazy to go back downstairs from the rooftop and bring the cam.

T.G.I.F

Womanhood is a gift. Thank God I'm Female! :)

Happy Women's Day to us.

Why physics always reminds me of Rome

Yeah, life is generally good. Except that I kind of screwed up my Chem Board Exam paper. No it ain't that bad actually, but not as good as I wanted it to be. (And that, my readers, is the metaphor for life.)
(Gawd. I sound like Charlotte Bronte.) :D

Now next is physics and I'm taking no chances with it at least. But for how long can you keep appreciating the elegant nuances of subatomic particles and the intangible dynamics of semiconductor electronics? Not that I don't like studying stuff. But I'm wishing I had studied harder last year. Heck, even this last month.
And I increasingly feel I have more inclination towards literature, languages, history, myth, art, designing, ya know, stuff like that. Non-technical intellectuality. More human stuff.
Or Life Sciences. I could read biology day in and day out and not get tired of it. And I like all that. Yeah I know I'll have enough of even that in some med course (for which I'll have a fiz exam first. Argh.) I have enough of that supposed-to-study-stuff in bio even now.
But. I'm. Supposed. To. Mug. Fiz. Now.

On second thoughts, physics is kinda cool. And people hold science people (like, real science people. Researchers, scientists.) in more awe than they do designers/authors/historians. I mean, not as people, but their work in generally more respected, or should I say, considered more erudite. Or at least that's what I have observed. (Remember Vittoria Vetra, anybody? :D)
( I wouldn't mind being a physicist if that would, in addition, also make me as lean, as confident, and as smart as what she was portrayed to be. It's not like I'm particularly horrible. Glowing skin, check. Long black hair, check. Earthy features, maybe. "Raw sensuality"? Not for myself to judge :P But slender like that? I wish.
No seriously, I think she was pretty cool. Her whole character. And driving around Rome examining old churches for clues to a wild macabre treasure-hunt-like chase...and that too with a smart, macho, swimmer-physique, Harvard-brain guy (*sigh*) while an un-found Antimatter bomb is ticking away to total annihilation. That all would be totally my thing too. :D )

See? Started off talking about physics. Guess I gotta go back to my teeny-tiny atoms and nuclei doing that crazy decay-dance of theirs.

But who would ever believe that of all the people in the world (or now out of it :D), it was nobody else but Dan Brown who inspired me to study fizix with less hatred. :D At least for some time.