Summer symphony

The children wait in the heat, eyes looking up towards heavens for some relief. The air is almost solid, heavy, making it difficult to breathe. The anticipation is almost as unbearable as those beads of sweat that stubbornly trace their way across the skin. No relief in sight.

Brown eyes gaze up at the blindingly white, unrelenting sky. Dense atmosphere sits heavy on the heart, while the ground below cracks as you walk on it. Silently, they beseech the gods, and wait.

Then they see the signs. The sun hides, as the earth senses help is on the way. The air, hanging so still earlier, gains fluidity, and whispers conspiratorially, taunting without promising. The dust wakes up and joins in, and as if marking its presence, pigments the sky yellow. The stage is set, and all await the arrival of the whimsical star of the show.

And then, without warning, they descend. They can't be contained, just as the schoolkids can't be. They dash out to welcome the outpour. The sky thunders, and lets itself loose. The earth sighs in relief, redolent of innocent happiness. The parched cracks dissolve, as does the heaviness in the air. The thunder punctuates the children's laughter, as their mothers keep vigil from the safe, dry quarters. The rhythm, soft at first, embarks on the crescendo. The firmament moves through shades of blue, growing deeper, till it reaches midnight blue at the climax. Midnight blue, with occasional silver linings. The symphony's notes splash over the strings of the soul as the heavens keep track of the cadence. And as the children jump into puddles of joy the tempo starts to decrease. The orchestra moves towards the conclusion of the performance, the children reluctantly head back to warmth.

And then the clouds part company, with a promise to come back next summer.

Check this out

Saw this blog, made by a friend. If you're not in Goa, spread awareness. Do your bit.

Cheers,

Pranshu

Diwali eve 2009

Deal with five-digit number of files from 9 30 to 5 30. Get a sore throat in the night spent battling with cockroaches. Freeze in the super-cool office. Rush through breakfast and lunch. Comment out little and big pieces of code to make it run in the available memory, in 21st century. Hunt around desperately for a Motorola charger for a phone that doesn't charge when hooked up to a comp. Not wish a friend on her birthday. Note her number down on the same page as a self-devised algorithm. Chat with mom, instead of talk.

Not realize its 'Chhoti Diwali' until a teammate wishes you while he's leaving office.

Waiting for a miracle :)

Happy Diwali!

Twitter

So, I just joined Twitter. And well, I was a little bored in office today. This, the thing that was not supposed to take a lot of my time, took a lot of my time.

Anyhoo, here I'd like to thank boo for getting me started, and also supplying me the tools with which I could make this on a photoshop devoid comp (without of course actually making the profiles these pics mention.)

And Dhruv D for the idea behind the Dolly-Tom coupling :) (check here to get to know what I'm saying)

And I'd also like to opportunity to virtual-yell at boo for letting me go on with this. Sheesh!!! :|

Oh well, I'd also like to thank mozilla and firebug. You're the best <3 Yeah and paint too.

I suppose I should probably thank JK Rowling too here. All the characters mentioned (Except Chuck Norris and Rajnikanth) are created by her, so banta hai.

Like I said, it took me a lot of time, so you better appreciate it. Else I'll get Voldie to write avada kevadra as a reply to you on twitter. (Yes I'm exhausted.)

[edit: CLICK ON THE PICS, ONLY THEN WOULD THIS MAKE SENSE.]

 

YAY!

This link is the first result on google if you search for my full name.

YAY!!!

Google PageRank _/\_

Thank you all whose blogs/webpages link to mine. (If you're wondering why I said this, check up the PageRank algo.) And all the people who have their links mentioned here, your PageRank increased too!!!! :D

Now kindly get back to things more worthwhile :)

Of lizards and paranoia

My roomie is on a vacation with family, which leaves me here alone. And today, while I was out for lunch, a lizard decided to hang out in my room.

So I come back, and I see this ugly big fat huge gross reptile on my wall. And as is my natural inclination to all things scaly and reptiley, I freak out.

I called up GV, who in the middle of catching his breath, in the middle of laughing really hard, asked me to get an egg shell, or onion shell, as those generally are considered effective in shooing lizards away. I muster some courage, and enter my room. The lizard senses my presence. It starts moving around on the wall, as it had probably realized that it had intruded upon my territory. And gets me thinking of an exit route if in case it decides to change planes and come on to the floor. Luckily it doesn't.

I dare to sit on my bed, get the laptop working and go online. I ping Sharan, who suggests yelling 'SHOO!' at the top of my voice. I yell (not at the top of my voice, my landlord's daughters no likey yelling) - nothing doing. It starts retreating into a crevice. Good sign, I think. I use the fundae I've learnt at PS, and send an SOS through my facebook account to my social network. I very soon realize this was not going to help. The lizard now is in a no-conflict zone, but the enemy still lurks about.

So, not knowing what to do, and acutely missing the roomie who at least can overcome the fear, I decide to let the lizard assume I'm very dangerous, but I still will grant it its life if it just shooes away from my territory. And hence I just go spend some time walking about and soothing my nerves on the terrace adjoining the room, hoping I won't have to make acquaintances with its family members.

This happened about an hour back, and so far the lizard has not come back. I can only hope the night comes and goes peacefully, with no more intrusions. Amen.

Traffic in the Sky - Part Two.

So I sat thinking, not realizing when I'd switched my radio set on.

There's traffic in the sky
and it doesn't seem to be getting much better
There's kids playing games on the pavement
Drawing waves on the pavement
mm hm

He should've come back by now, I thought. There seemed to be nobody outside at this time. Well, who would be, when it pours like it does here.

Shadows of the planes on the pavement
mm hm
It's enough to make me cry
But that don't seem like it could make it feel better
Maybe it's a dream and if I scream
it will burst at the seams and
this whole place will fall into pieces
and then they'd say...

So I sat again. Pacing around the room won't really help now, would it. I figured I'd go make some tea, strong with not too much sugar. The way he always likes it. He'd appreciate that more than just finding me waiting here, I thought. It's not like him to be late.

Well how could we have known?
I'll tell them it's not so hard to tell
na na na
if you keep adding stones
soon the water will be lost in the well
mm hm

There are times when I wish i weren't this short. I could hardly pick stuff up from the upper shelf. I made a mental note of telling him to keep things I might need somewhere I can reach, at least before he leaves home.

Puzzle pieces in the ground
but no one ever seems to be digging
Instead they're looking up towards the heavens
with their eyes on the heavens
mm hm
the shadows on the way to the heavens
mm hm

So I sat again, after keeping the tray with my cup of tea in front of me. It was still thundering, and I could hear the raindrops strike my glass window. His car might have broken down. Cellphone signals are anyway not something you could trust on days like these.

Everything momentarily brightened up, there was lightening outside. The lightening was followed by a loud clap of thunder.

It's enough to make me sigh
but that don't seem like it would make it feel better
The answers could be found
we could learn from digging down
But no one ever seems to be digging
Instead they'll say...

I finished my tea, and checked the pendulum clock we had got last year on my birthday. He should've come back hours ago. Power had gone ages back, and now the inverter too showed signs of going bust. I tried calling him up, but couldn't reach him.

I went to the window and looked outside. I must ask him to get the garage roof repaired, it would soon give way, if these heavy rains persist. Still no sign.

Well how could we have known?
I'll tell them it's not so hard to tell
na na na
If you keep adding stones
soon the water will be lost in the well
well, well...

My neighbour dropped by. So I went and made more tea, this time without too many problems. We had a polite conversation, and then before leaving she told me to go to sleep, and not keep on waiting. In any case, he has a key, she said.

Words of wisdom all around
but no one ever seems to listen
They talk about their plans on the paper
Building up from the pavement
mm hm
there're shadows from the scrapers on the pavement
mm hm
It's enough to make me sigh

I couldn't sleep, not with him somewhere outside in this torrential nightmare. I picked up a magazine, one of the many he had subscribed to, and liked reading.

but that don't seem like it would make it feel better
The words are all around
but the words are only sounds
and no one ever seems to listen
Instead they'll say...

So I sat down with the magazine, and started reading it. I didn't follow much of it, it was too technical for my taste. And then I got up to open the door, as I'd heard someone knocking it.

Well how could we have known?
I'll tell them it's really not so hard to tell
na na na
If you keep adding stones
soon the water will be lost in the well
lost in the well

So, you know where he is, I asked the gentleman who I had opened the door for, and subsequently made more tea for, when I thought it was safe to ask him that. I quite liked his demeanour, he was not one of those bossy people you meet so often these days. Besides, I quite liked his suit too, coloured an understated shade of grey.

Well how could we have known?
I'll tell them it's really not so hard to tell
na na na
If you keep adding stones
soon the water will be lost in the well
well, well.

He wasn't coming back, the grey-suited gentleman told me.

it's really not so hard to tell.

Traffic in the sky

There's traffic in the sky
and it doesn't seem to be getting much better
There's kids playing games on the pavement
Drawing waves on the pavement
mm hm
Shadows of the planes on the pavement
mm hm
It's enough to make me cry
But that don't seem like it could make it feel better
Maybe it's a dream and if I scream
it will burst at the seams and
this whole place will fall into pieces
and then they'd say...

Well how could we have known?
I'll tell them it's not so hard to tell
na na na
if you keep adding stones
soon the water will be lost in the well
mm hm

Puzzle pieces in the ground
but no one ever seems to be digging
Instead they're looking up towards the heavens
with their eyes on the heavens
mm hm
the shadows on the way to the heavens
mm hm
It's enough to make me sigh
but that don't seem like it would make it feel better
The answers could be found
we could learn from digging down
But no one ever seems to be digging
Instead they'll say...

Well how could we have known?
I'll tell them it's not so hard to tell
na na na
If you keep adding stones
soon the water will be lost in the well
well, well...

Words of wisdom all around
but no one ever seems to listen
They talk about their plans on the paper
Building up from the pavement
mm hm
there're shadows from the scrapers on the pavement
mm hm
It's enough to make me sigh
but that don't seem like it would make it feel better
The words are all around
but the words are only sounds
and no one ever seems to listen
Instead they'll say...

Well how could we have known?
I'll tell them it's really not so hard to tell
na na na
If you keep adding stones
soon the water will be lost in the well
lost in the well

Well how could we have known?
I'll tell them it's really not so hard to tell
na na na
If you keep adding stones
soon the water will be lost in the well
well, well.
it's really not so hard to tell.

IT'S COMING! IT'S COMING!!!!

(next up: swine flu)

PS. No, I'm not trying to usurp Bing as *the* cartoon-maker.

Bangalore Ahoy!

Been about two weeks since I landed here. I've ignored this little page on the world wide web for quite some time, and finally free time and boredom and a will to write coincide with availability of internet. (Sexy internet, btw!)

Well, so yes, I'm doing my PS-II at HP Labs India, Bangalore, and thus will be putting up here till December 11th at least. Now, since I am actually staying in the city this time around, and not a random place like Electronic City last year, well, a few things did catch my eye, some amusing, the other rather trying.

Anyway, in no particular order, here are the TOP 5 observations about B'lore (or B'luru, if you prefer your cities new-name abbreviated.)

1. It IS a cosmo, and very much so. Unless you are living in weird places like e-city and the like. You'll probably hear more Hindi in B'lore malls than those in Delhi ("Hindi's so unfashionable, na?" - 'Delhi-chick', circa 2000)

2. Keeping PG's is one of the best ways in Bangalore to mint money. All you need is lots of plywood, 6 single beds, two rooms and an axe. Well, maybe 12 half-mattresses and half-pillows too, one each for the people you'll accommodate in this space. It would fetch more money if you could arrange for a loo nearby as well.

3.

• There is no concept of a meter when it comes to auto-rickshaws, unless you get exceptionally lucky. The Bangalorean autos even leave their yellow-green counterparts in Delhi far behind in this race. Highly impartial, the 'one-and-half-times-meter' rule applies to all at night, Kannadiga or not.
• Buses ROCK! Unless of course you are travelling at night to Electronic city which is when you'll have to deal with rather obstinate and drunk gentlemen.

4. Quite a lot of roads here have their lengths measured. I mean, there is a 100 ft. road, and then I know of two 80 ft. roads, one each in Koramangala and Indiranagar. And probably only Bangalore has roads this proud of their lengths. I can only wish they increase the width of the roads, they somehow do not fit into the whole idea of Bangalore being this big and totally cool city.

Also, there are a lot of Crosses and Mains out here, and (I think) they are supposed to be perpendicular to each other; and a place which has in its address nth Cross and mth Main, need not be at the cross section of these two roads. I guess the city-planners didn't like Cartesian Geometry much.

5. The song 'If you come today', immortalised by Rajkumar (I apologize if I got the spelling wrong) is still in vogue here. Maybe not at malls (where they play Hindi songs, surprise surprise!) but surely at laundries, and sandwich shops etc. Timeless classic, one would believe.


So long, will get back with more later.

Adios.

Pure Sport.

SPREE is here!!!!

:D

http://www.bits-spree.org

Bhande phir se kali kara lo..!

Yes. Quark 2008 might be over, but the marketing, err... thread still lives. So well, one fine day Nimit Mehra (who if you remember was the head of the Marketing and Specials Committee, if you've read my previous post - http://myblog-pranshu.blogspot.com/2008/01/bhande-kali-kara-lo.html. Or if you just know about Q08's structure.)

This story involves me aka Pranshu Sharma aka Akhil Mehta, Tillu aka Akhil Mehta, Sanso aka Sanskriti aka pseudo-Akhil Mehta, Angad Single aka Angad Singh Gill, and The BOSS aka Nimit Mehra aka Akhil Mehta.

Wait, where was I? Yeah. Nimit decides we'll have a trip to celebrate the awesomeness of the best committee BITS has ever had. So he very conveniently tells me to make the plan. Arambol is cancelled, Vagator is our venue. Next, I am instructed to book a cab. So after calling up 8 cab bookers and leaving out the ones who were already booked, didn't pick up their phones, decided to fleece us, I finalized a guy, and so after a bit of bargaining, we had a cab.

All systems go, you might think.

Oh oh. This is gonna be a REAL LONG post. And on Tillu's recommendation:

PS. Do chicken daale tandoor mein, dono zinda the, ladne lag gaye (the joke with which it all started. :') ) Which song was playing in the background?

Ta tananana tandoori fights tandoori fights!

PPS. Do chicken daale tandoor mein, dono weight loss program mein enroll ho gaye. (Tillu's joke, words might have been changed a bit.) Which song was playing in the background?

Ta tananana tandoori diets, tandoori diets. (Note: this isn't a regular tandoori joke, as the joke doesnt end with -ites. But it is an interesting variation.)

Good. Now that Nimit and Tillu cannot avoid reading these jokes, lets begin with the story.

So the story starts with the five of us starting off from the campus without any money. Not too much, that is. All except Sanso. So then we went, on our way, with one customary rendition of Bhande Kali in that same soul-stirring voice, through Tillu's phone. And then we clicked pics, and found an ATM. The ATM didn't work. So we found another. Angad, Nimit and I took some money out, and made TIllu realize he needed money too.

Sanso and Gill then bought chips and Frooti etc while the cab was getting its tank filled with petrol. We started off, which is when we realized we had no straws to help us drink up our Frooti. Result:

Right. So after our Frooti adventures (I didn't have any, I never do. Wonder what happened to the pack they got for me.) Gill enusred his shirt got its share of Frooti too. Anyway, so without any more major mishaps we reached Vagator. Which is where I figured the plan was to climb up the fort, trek more like. My argument was this: I wasn't wearing my shoes (and instead slip-ons, pretty ones at that) because I saw Tillu in bathroom slippers. Apparently he didn't know about this part of the plan either, as was obvious from his comment when he saw the hill rising above us, "Yeh chadhna hai kya?"

Well, so we began the climb, well, began with beginning with the climb. We didn't realize we'd spend more time clicking pictures of ourselves, the scenery, ourselves+scenery, ourselves clicking pics of ourselves that we'd actually spend climbing up, and getting done with it. Proper photoshoot, it was, what with Gill being with us!

And then we reached the fort, where we clicked more pics. A little less walking, a little more clicking seemed to be the mantra of the day. And as soon as you thought things were geting mundane, Tillu saves the day with "Arre! Look! I'm wearing different chappals!"

And so we reached the fort, and looked at what was awaiting us. Brilliant blue with foamy white galloping across it, only to recede after it met the beige of the sand, all of this under the sun shining oh so brightly. (The last was more uncomfortable than beautiful, but you get the point.)

Then after a few more photos, Gill's camera's battery died, which is when we decided to get back to the beach. Now, how, was a tricky question. Just climb down the hill and get to the beach the quickest way, or go back the way we came to remain safe, and not risk slipping and falling down and breaking a few crowns.

Gill and Sanso (ones with sensible footwear) took the first path, while Nimit shepherded me and Tillu through the safe way.

Now this is where Tillu and I had our near-death experience, which almost killed us.

We walked up to the fort, and then we walked down to the road. Tillu slipped twice I think in this leg of the journey. Then we walked to a shop where we bought and drank water, which made Tillu make this obsedvation: "I was really dehydrated. Look, in fact, I've started to sweat now!"

And then we resumed our journey. And oh, earlier we had called the cabwala and told him to meet us at the beach, so we did not have a cab to take us there. Anyway, we then followed Nimit, who took us in this resort, which we circumambulated, only from inside. So we then walked down the innumerable stairs, with the Jamun trees doing their best to provide us with some shade, but falling short. And then we walked towards a spa when Sanso called up to ask us what the hell was taking us so long, after the driver had called up to tell us "Main bus ke paas rukela hai".

So with red faces, and no breath to spare, forcing our legs to go on, we followed Nimit, who then opened a rickety creaky gate, that led to the beach from the resort, and looked at us with his best triumphant look on his face.

To which I replied, "Kya ukhaad liya?" (and that was all me or Tillu could say then.)

And now not wearing shoes really killed me. You see, there was sand all over, and it isn't exactly cool fifteen minutes past noon. And so, with last remaining drag of energy, I ran across the beach, hoping I'd get away with just blisters on my feet, and not serious burns. Tillu wasn't very amused, he wanted to hit the beach. And I wanted to hit him, which I think I did.

Then we went and ate at Mango Tree, which our cabbie called the foreigners' place. Ad then we came back to Vagator, and decided to get to the rocks, go as close to the sea (safely) as we could. Which is when serious doubts about Tillu's state of mind crept in. Lack of sleep and overdose of food coupled with the long walk had made him very, well, confused about a lot of things in life. One of these things was climbing up on rocks on a beach.

Anyway, Tillu got by with a little help from his friends, and was fine. I sang Live forever by Oasis rather tunelessly to myself, and then decided to join Sanskriti, Angad, Tillu and Nimit there, thought I'd wet my feet for some time.

After careful calculation of the distance and depth of the gap between the rock I was currently on and the one I intended to be on, including the factor of slipperiness of each rock in question, for each set of such rocks I had to encounter, I finally reached these guys. And then I almost got swept off my feet once, and I don't mean it in a nice way, more with scary undertones. And then I didn't wanna go back, though the high tide kinda made it rather difficult for us(and even more so for Tillu) to get back to the beach. I had just finished commenting upon how I managed fine with my dainty slipons, when I fell with a thud and just about escaped hurting my back. (In my defence, it wasn't becuase of my slipons as I had them in my hand then, to avoid getting them soaked.)

Also, Tillu fell there too.

While we were on our way to Panjim, Lita called up! I mean, it just isn't a marketing trip wihtout Lita's input. And for a refreshing change, she actually laughed at my tandoori jokes! :') TIllu joined in too, with the diets version mentioned above. So we all talked to her, and after we had made enough fun of her and her Hindi ("Mera ghar bahut badi hai", for example) we finally let her get to her business. And then Nimit got senti. (Also, I think I heard a faint 'love you' before he kept the phone! :D ) So began reminiscence of the trips this committee went on, the friends we made, the people we bullied, the chores we did, the cash we barganied hard to save, the amazing times we had, on our actual 'Marketing' trip, trip to Vasco to get informals' goodies, trip to Panjim to get more goodies plus get some errands done, and the the trip to Colva, made immortal by Tillu's "Bhaiyya kheer nahin mangwayi."

Anyway, we went back on our way to Panjim, where we went to an undisclosed heaven of all things baked! Though the Opera Fantasy (forgot the actual name) wasn't that great. Bose speakers playing Paper Planes, while you experience chocolate melting in your mouth! Oh, and the Gelatos must be mentioned, especially Melon that Sanskriti took.

And then we came back, after our rather eventful journey, that even included a near-death experience, which, mind you, almost killed me. Did our hisaab-kitaab in front of my hostel, CH4, where Tillu was in grave danger of being caught asleep in front of a Girls' hostel and getting DISCOed.

And that's all, folks. That was how Marketing trip 2 went. As brilliant as any of the other trips we've had. Brilliant buncha hooligans, we were. Even the rather 'sane' ones like Pratik, who couldn't come. And I'll end here now, else Nimit will get super senti and maybe even cry like a baby.

Adios.

Last pic - courtesy Angad Singh Gill

Politics Shmolitics

'L K Advani for PM' all over the internet. Congress and their 'Jai Ho' mantra all over the media. Talks of a 'Fourth front'. Pawar pulling out of a rally at the eleventh hour. Everyone going all out to grab the vote bank's attention, and hope that converts into votes.

You know, all this talk about youngsters going and voting, it makes sense at a certain level. Voting is a fundamental right, and that unless you contribute to the process, things really would not change. I checked out www.jaagore.com too, lots of college mates are totally into the mode of voting for the right candidate, being a part of the process etc etc.

I agree, voting is vital. But then again, we don't really have a lot of choices. Sounds odd, given the number of parties plus independent candidates we have in the country. But then again, voting for these independent candidates won't really give you a government you want in the Parliament.

There's the NDA, with their 'we'll do anything to get the Hindu votes' agenda. Then there is the UPA, who are all about 'we'll do anything to get minority votes' plus their India Shining part 2 (better known 'Jai Ho') campaign. Then there is this something called the 'Third front', most of which is the Left parties, who believe in 'we'll never let anyone grow, all of us will be equally backward.'

Latest I've heard is about a 'Fourth Front', consisting of regional parties going big, like RJD, LJP etc.

I might sound cynical, but really, do we have a choice? What matters when you decide who runs the country, is numbers in the Lok Sabha. You might vote for a guy who you trust will work, he might win the seat too. But ultimately, the party he belongs to needs to win. And most, if not all, of the MPs from this party/alliance need to be progressive, and actually get some work done around here.

Every citizen has ONE vote. If say I like the Prime Ministerial candidate of party X, but I think that the candidate from party Y would make a better MP than the guy from X, how do I decide? X needs numbers to reign, the region needs the guy from party Y. What had happened five years back, was that no one party/major alliance got the people's nod. And so the UPA was formed, which (lo and behold!) had the Left front and the Congress working together. Last minute manipulations, buying, compromises and hiding of MPs was what it took to make the government.

Yes, the turnout makes a resounding statement in states like J&K, where the courage of the people shows in the voting turnout. Yes, it makes everyone sit up and notice that the citizens of India are aware of their rights, and demand progress. But it really doesn't go beyond the symbolism, does it?

General Elections are here. Soon enough we'll be sitting in front of the television, listening to experts rattle on about how a particular region is the vote bank of a particular person/party, and forget in the calculations that we are the people who make up some or the other vote bank.

Unless and until EVERYONE in the country gets over the fundamental divides (minority issues, caste issues) we will have to stick with leaders who will continue manipulating us, using these weaknesses to get to the coveted kursi. And that is something nearly impossible, kinda like a vicious circle.

Well, I hereby end this rather loosely-written post on The Great Indian Dance of Democracy (I think a channel's used this line, not sure.) Hope it made some sense.

New New!

Got bored of the old colour, I mean, the looks of the blog weren't changed since it was created, that is about 4 5 years ago.

A little less of black & white in this scheme, and a little more of beige and earthy tones. As is rather obvious, if I might add.

Content still covers every end of the spectrum and everything that lies in between.

And now I really will get back to my project. No more AOE, no more distractions.

Cya!

Blogger's Block

Not the first time I've experienced this. Kinda similar to Writer's Block, which plagues many world-wide.

Now, come to think of it, Blogger's Block, is just a specialized term for Writer's Block. When do people not write? Sometimes there's no will. Sometimes there's no content. Sometimes you have an idea, but can not find words to convey it. Writer's Block typically is the last scenario (at least for me), though sometimes there really is no content either.

Pretty weird, and rather inconvenient, this Block business. For example, I am walking on a street, and the streetlight just shuts - like it toggles whenever someone walks close to it, and the feeble orange glow it was emanating vanishes. And then I see the moonlight spreading its milky silver all over the place. I pause, and look around for some ten seconds. A brilliant line comes to my head, potent enough to paint an image in the listener/reader's mind.

So I come back, late night, feel like writing, putting the image in the head into words. When the words fail me. I have that one line (if I'm lucky), but no beginning and end, no idea how to construct an envelope of words, that would get the message through. (Not exactly the best pun in the world, blame the Block.)

Or when you see a silhouette of a boat between two islands, as the sun moves westwards. Or when you see a dog trying to figure out why keechad is fun for humans on Holi. Or when you just sit and shut your eyes, and feel the breeze going past you. Words that are there in your head, just refuse to come out.

Blocks really suck. :|

...It was just another night

The light was leaving

In the west it was blue

The children's laughter sang

And skipping just like the stones they threw

Their voices echoed across the way

Its getting late

It was just another night

With a sunset

And a moonrise not so far behind

To give us just enough light

To lay down underneath the stars

Listen to papas translations

Of the stories across the sky

We drew our own constellations

The west winds often last too long

The wind may calm down

Nothing ever feels the same

Sheltered under the Kamani tree

Waiting for the passing rain

Clouds keep moving to uncover the scene

Stars above us chasing the day away

To find the stories that we sometimes need

Listen close enough, all else fades

Fades away

It was just another night

With a sunset

And a moonrise not so far behind

To give us just enough light

To lay down underneath the stars

Listen to all the translations

Of the stories across the sky

We drew our own constellations

A big THANK YOU to Jack Johnson! :)

Untitled, part two.

Hope. Catch 22. Despair. Loneliness. Conscience. Frustration. Disillusionment. Hurt. Apathy. Indifference. Introspection. Tiredness. Frivolity. Coming clean. Alternatives. Reassurance. Support. Euphemism. Realization. Denial. Sadness. Numbness. Refusal.

Survival.

Life.

"God made weed, Man made booze": Girls' Day Out.

... AN UNEXPECTEDLY DIFFERENT POST.

There was a trip to Palolem Beach (South Goa) organized for 2006 batch girls yesterday, that is 26th January. Now well, you know the reason for part of the title, and for the first part, read on.

We were supposed to leave at 8:30 AM. But given that many of us woke up at around that time, we left at 10:30 AM, and as we were sitting in the bus we realized that the '35' seater was well, a 31-seater. Anyway, we got 5 stools or something and the journey was fun. It made me realize that no matter how much times change, somethings just remain the same. Like the set of songs you use while playing Antakshari hasn't incorporated a lot of new songs. 'Na na karte pyar tumhi se..' WILL be a. sung and b. followed by 'Thande thande paani se..'

We reached Palolem at around 11:45. So then began woos that quickly turned into ow's, as the sun suddenly made its presence felt.. And then we started to find a spot where we could cut the cake (yes we had a cake, and it was delicious :| ) And so we started cheering for glory and CH4/GH4(J), as we couldn't find amy other subject matter to cheer about, nor was it anyone's birthday, while we frantically slapped sunscreen on to ourselves.

So after all the cake-cutting and eating and wiping-our-hands-clean, we all decided to split up for lunch and then meet up at 3 again. So me, Juthika, Madhura, Tvisha, Sanskriti and Saniya went our way to Cube, this shack with lotsa blackboards with funky stuff written on 'em. After a few non-alcoholic beverages, Sanskriti and Saniya decided to go kayaking. If you didn't hear what she said next, you'd think Saniya went kayaking for about 2 minutes. Well, she had come back as the guy had started asking her about her insurance details, and (this would sound familiar to BITSians), she was going out in the ocean on her own risk and responsibility.

So for the next 45 minutes we watched Sanso transform from a human figure in a kayak, to an orange speck beyond the horizon. (Technically, we couldn't see the orange speck after she 'crossed' horizon.) And then we went wood-oven-pizza hunting, and landed at La Pizzeria, where we were asked what we meant when we ordered for 'Coke'.

After a rather-insipid pasta and a good pizza, we went shopping. (Now I know why I stopped feeling hungry! :P ) So we went into a shop, came out and went into another, tried stuff out and occasionally bought something. Somewhere, we split into two groups of 3 each, with me, Maddie and Saniya together. "Oh! That is SO cute" to "not worth the price" was the general flow of the conversation, when we couldn't manage to strike a deal. Anyway, Maddie bought a dress and a skirt, I bought a kurti and a top, and Saniya too bought a dress.

During our little shopping spree, Preeti had called Maddie up and minced no words (in a nice way) when she had said that we would all meet up at 4, and then take a group pic and then leave by 5. So at around 3:30, when we were done with shopping (we ran out of shops), we made our way back to the beach, and started walking towards the river and the island. Me and Saniya collected shells on the way, and I noticed that the species of molluscs with snake-like pattern on their shells is pretty common at that stretch.

So we walked towards the other end, and the sun's reflection on the wet sand preceded us. The blue, the white and the golden hues all came together to make that one walk thoroughly fulfilling. The characteristic patterns rivulets made on the silt they carried all the way down, the boisterous flow of the water towards the sea, against you as you walk across, and then finally the green and calm of the rather secluded part of the beach. Nature really fills you up with sheer, innocent happiness :)

Also, we can safely say that we crossed a sea and a river to reach an island :P

Then we went back to where everyone was supposed to assemble, and got a group pic taken (a foreigner wanted to click us too :| ), and then we left for the bus. (Not before Sanskriti had a mini-adventure of her own :P)

Amazing trip, and the best beach I've been to. And a long post... :|

Oh, by the way, the first part of the title? Well, I saw a tee shirt that said 'God made weed, Man made booze. You decide who's better', which I was planning on buying for a friend. Thanks for reading :P

Blog-Post

This is a blog-post.

This is a blog-post written on a blog which wasn't updated since Sept 10th.

This is a blog-post written on a blog which wasn't updated since Sept 10th, until just about now.

This is a blog-post written on a blog which wasn't updated since Sept 10th, until just about now, with 'now' defined to be the time you see next to the title.

This is a blog-post written on a blog which wasn't updated since Sept 10th, until just about now, with 'now' defined to be the time you see next to the title, where the title tells you that this is a blog post.

This is a blog-post written on a blog which wasn't updated since Sept 10th, until just about now, with 'now' defined to be the time you see next to the title, where the title tells you that this is a blog post, well, about updates.

This is a blog-post written on a blog which wasn't updated since Sept 10th, until just about now, with 'now' defined to be the time you see next to the title, where the title tells you that this is a blog post, well, about updates that need not pertain to my life.

This is a blog-post written on a blog which wasn't updated since Sept 10th, until just about now, with 'now' defined to bes the time you see next to the title, where the title tells you that this is a blog post, well, about updates that need not pertain to my life, or anyone else's in general.

This is a blog-post written on a blog which wasn't updated since Sept 10th, until just about now, with 'now' defined to be the time you see next to the title, where the title tells you that this is a blog post, well, about updates that need not pertain to my life, or anyone else's in general; though it may contain information about something you might be interested in.

Or maybe not.

:)

(edit: the time actually comes at the end of the post :P well, whaddya know!)