a very happy christmas to you all. hope you have a lovely year ahead of you. In two more days I am off to India with a few friends of mine for almost a month and will be back only on the 24th of January. I hope to keep you all updated till then, but otherwise, have a fantastic new years too and enjoy yourselves.
1 shot of tequila
play that funky music (wild cherry)
1 more shot of tequila
who's gonna sing? (the prototypes)
1 more shot of tequila
that thing you do (the wonders)
1 shot of saki (??)
kiss (prince)
1 last shot of tequila
place your hands (reef)
a good night
wake up
sleep
wake up
eat
sleep
wake up
yawn
eat
sleep
wake up
panic
yawn
eat
sleep
Not to touch the earth
Not to see the sun
Nothing left to do, but
Run, run, run
Lets run
Lets run
House upon the hill
Moon is lying still
Shadows of the trees
Witnessing the wild breeze
Cmon baby run with me
Lets run
Run with me
Run with me
Run with me
Lets run
The mansion is warm, at the top of the hill
Rich are the rooms and the comforts there
Red are the arms of luxuriant chairs
And you wont know a thing till you get inside
Dead presidents corpse in the drivers car
The engine runs on glue and tar
Come on along, not goin very far
To the east to meet the czar
Run with me
Run with me
Run with me
Lets run
Whoa!
Some outlaws lived by the side of a lake
The ministers daughters in love with the snake
Who lives in a well by the side of the road
Wake up, girl, were almost home
Ya, cmon!
We should see the gates by mornin
We should be inside the evenin
Sun, sun, sun
Burn, burn, burn
Soon, soon, soon
Moon, moon, moon
I will get you
Soon!, soon!, soon!
I am the lizard king
I can do anything
1) You can't lick your own elbow (copyright: Sara)
2) There are many other places on your body you can't lick (not that I have tried)
3) If you plug your nose and your mouth and then sneeze, will it come out of your ears or eyes?
4) Most PhD laboratories are in the basement- Why? : We the students form the foundations of research, and we are also at the bottom of the food chain.
5) The notion that teeth dissolve in coke is false. I would be toothless by now.
6) Biscuits with ginger in them are called Ginger bread, but biscuits with chocolate are called chocolate cookies.
7) Are people who are afraid of Santa Claus called 'Claustrophobic'?
8) I don't have a music section in my journal (thank you aarti)
9) Chuck Norris is always on top during sex because Chuck Norris never fucks up.
10) Online encyclopedia wikipedia is available in 250 languages!
Dwight's back. Even if its for a week, its good to have him here. Catching up is good fun sometimes. He got us some really cool gifts too, so it is definitely good to have him back. So, I got a new T-shirt (from Jamiaca) and a big pack of cigs. I shall survive till christmas for sure. Then I should try and quit.
Besides that what happened today. John treated us for a fantastic dinner at the Thai Edge. Thai food is pretty similar to Indian food in terms of spices and hence I totally love it. That was our christmas meal. We had some crackers too to turn on the festive spirit. I got a silly christmas hat and a weird looking animal, which we could not decide on. It was a monkey/sheep/dog thingy. I am not going to save that.
Then I went back to the lab for a while and finally am home. I wanna sleep, am pretty starved of it. Not that sleeping is what I really wanna do. But then you can't always get what you want. Tomorrow is another day.
What did I do?
Friday:
Woke up at 6:30
Boring meeting
Good food
Got pissed
Saturday
Slept
Slept some more
Worked a little
sobered up
good food
got pissed
Sunday
Slept
Slept some more
Went to the city
Didn't buy anything
good food (yet again)
Watch 'the office' till 3 at night
Monday
Woke up at 7
wished i was in bed
Still wishing I was in bed
Moral: when you are pissed, all food tastes good
I know that it's been a long time coming, but here are the pictures finally. It was a crazy trip with lots of unusual and uncanny experiences. But as the pictures will prove, it was really pretty and somehow that makes up for everything. One thing is for sure, being an atmospheric chemist is hard work, but someone's gotta do it.
I have been back from Cape Verde for a week now and finally I have enough time to get around telling you about all the fun I had. (lucky you!) But before I get around to figuring out how to show you the millions of pictures which I took during my three weeks there, there are more important things to talk about.
Firstly, for those of you who knew Rani the dog, she has been buried at the farmhouse in Pune. Mom and dad did this personally and when I get back to India, on the 28th of December, you are more than welcome to join me to the farmhouse. She was a real friend.
Our trip to India is fixed. We are leaving on the 27th from UK and will be reaching India on the 28th during the day. I hope the trip is going to be as much fun as I am dreaming right now. We are planning to go to Goa and sit by the beach for a few days before going down south to Kerela and having a good time down there. Kerela is a part of the country I have never been to and am looking forward to it myself. Goa, that's the place I want to settle down finally. When I am 60 and if I am alive, I might buy myself a small shack there and sell weed to make some money. But otherwise prawns and beer will have to do.
Getting back to the real world where you get arrested if you do try to sell weed, there are so many things that have been happening since I had gone to Cape Verde. First of all, the war in Iraq is still going on. One would have thought that after Vietnam and Afghanistan (not the US debacle, but the USSR one) would serve as a lesson to the leaders of the world. Apparently history lessons are not important if you want to be the president of a country. Shit happens, but shit happens again and again. The past month has seen some of the bloodiest times in Iraqi history. Who is to blame? The entire country is on the brink of civil war. Is this really better than the situation under Saddam? Which is the lesser of two evils? And who are we to judge? People like to believe that they are going to be saviours of the world. That explains that some of the biggest hits in Hollywood have been films showing a bunch of Americans saving the world. But in real life, does it work that way too? Since the US was losing the war in Iraq and things were getting out of hand, bush played his last card. Saddam is to be hanged. What is this doesn't work either? Please read this blog by riverbend if you have some time.
Rani, our dog, passed away yesterday. It was cancer. I didn't get to say goodbye.
In less than a week I will be back in Leeds. I can't believe how fast time has gone by. I quite like this place, it does grow on you. I do wanna stay back for some more time. The weather is lovely, work is going well and have made a few nice friends here already. Will post more when I get back to the city with wireless internet and no sun.
I am in Cape Verde and I like it. The sun is shining, the weather is pleasant and the work is going well... can't complain at all. More updates when I get back to a place with proper internet.
Cabo Verde = Green Coasts, but it is not green. It is brownish red. If they wanted to do a Mars Hoax, like the famously accepted Moon Hoax, this is the place they would come to.
Fish here is good.
Q: Why are elephants scared of mice?
A: Because, like my grandmother, they don't like mice in their trunks.
You might want to know that Elephants are not scared of mice.
And watch the ad on this page. It's well funny.
Finally as promised I have uploaded the pictures from my trip to Roscoff. It was a fantastic trip and I had a great time there. Can't say that I am unhappy to be back though. Staying in France, working like a dog, staying mostly in a dog house (see the pictures for more information) does take a lot out of you. But the people were great fun, so I do miss having them around a little.
So, I don't have a phone. The entire mobile industry seems to be against me. But, on the 19th, I shall have one for sure.... and will be able to keep my old number.
Till then, it's back to work
So well, I got a phone.
Not for too long though. And the saga continues...
Noopster went to the shop immediately after coming abck to Leeds and got a super cool phone. Obviously not as cool as the first one but cool nonetheless. And then started the long story.
First I got out of the shop and it was the wrong colour... they gave me Plum. Do I look like I would ever own anything plum in colour? So, I go back in and get it changed to black. That was my second time in the shop.
I wanted to transfer my number onto the new cell, so I call the company, 3, and ask them to transfer my number from the old phone onto the new one. But apparently you can't transfer the number within the company. You have to go to another network to get it back onto the same network.
Daft?
So I get angry and go back to the shop and say, "Dude, you told me I could shift my number, but I can't" He says.."sorry". So I am like, I don't want your phone and return. Third time in the shop.
Now I come back and look for other phones and after 2 hours of searching for other networks, I realise that the phone I got was the best with the cheapest offers and the maximum offers.
Dogh!!
So, I go back there, for the fourth time, "Please can I cancel my cancellation?" He says..."No". So I apply for another contract, which is rejected. So, I have a sim card, but no phone. And I lost the best offer I could get. I am to go there on Thursday and hopefully I will have a phone again.
Will Anoop manage to get a phone and can he start making waves again? Wait and watch.
PS: My ego is shattered and embarrassment is onto another level.
Finally I am back. Back from the land of cheese, wine, cider and sea food. Back to what suits me better, curries and beer. But it was a fantastic trip really. Had a great time with everyone in Roscoff and honestly a part of me was kind of sad that I had to leave. But what is good to know is that the good times are not really going to stop now and the future has a lot to look forward to.
One thing I discovered during my Roscoff trip is that my neck is disappearing. Laugh your brains out, but it is happening. Maybe its my terrible posture which is making me hunch like a 80 year or with no spinal chord, but it's going for sure. Soon I am going to have no neck whasoever.
Then there was the story of the phone. Where do I really start with that? If you know me at all, you must have seen my phone. A lil unorthodox but way cool nonetheless. And then it was time for it to say goodbye. Here is something I wrote to a friend about it:
You must be wondering why I got a new phone. After all my supercool phone was one of the loves of my life eh? Well.. as it happens, phones and water do not go very well. That's fact number 1. But fact 2 is even more important and it says that if the water is salty, then effect of fact 1 is much more enhanced. Now there is a third fact which says that there is water in the sea, and this water is salty. Now if you take all the three facts, viz fact 1, fact 2 and fact 3 and do some slow computation in a brain like mine (small brain) then you realise that you have screwed the phone. But being a small brain, and the processing power so slow, you realise the effects of fact 1, fact 2 and fact 3 only after action 1, 2 and 3 have taken place. To know
what is action 1, 2 and 3 please refer to appendix A.
Appendix A:
Action 1 : Anoop goes to align a mirror in order to get his instrument working and make some measurements while dreaming about the nobel prize (which is a lie since secretly he's dreaming about beer and babes)
Action 2: Mirror being located on an island, Anoop has to go wading outside in the sea. Please remember fact 3 at this point. He has to take a mobile with him to talk to the people controlling the telescope. He places it in a wetbag which is designed to keep things dry.
Action 3: Wetbag which has the mobile is a fake wetbag... and it ends up being a 'wet bag' with wet things inside.. I may have to remind you that 'wet' means coming in contact with a liquid, water in this case. Please think of fact 1 and 2 at this juncture.
So that was the story of my phone... may peace be with it.
Day before, the 2006 IG nobel prizes were announced. As I had mentioned sometime earlier, IG nobel are the equivalent of the nobel given to the most improbable research that has taken place. This years winner was a teen repellent. Which is basically to be used to repel any teens when you are feeling as old as me. The reason I feel old right now is that the new academic year started in September. And, I demonstrated my first class this year yesterday. I came out feeling all depressed since all the undergrads are starting to look like kids.
But to lift my spirits was the other IG nobel prize which was a research done by an Israeli group trying to prove that you can stop hiccups by simulated rectal massage, which basically means, to stop hiccups, please put a finger up your ass. Science never stops entertaining does it?
Please check Improb for more details about the IGs.
Just in case you didn't know, aligning a mirror a few kilometers away is a difficult job to do. You want light to come back from where you send it, and when the mirror is that far away, any small movement can make a massive difference.
So there I was, on one leg and one hand, holding the mirror upside down when it was perfectly aligned. Now, if you want it to stay that way for a long time, you need to fix it.
Note to self: Fixing something when you are standing on one leg and one hand is not an easy job.
But its entertaining nonetheless.
So, an hour later, we had some light coming back and I did manage not to tape myself along with the mirror. So now things are working, I am recovering from this cold and fever that I caught from swimming in the cold sea for days together and the cider still tastes as good as it did earlier.
So, soon I will be returning to Leeds to the comfortable little flat, mind you, only if the reflector does not kill me by then.
| Just a small little clip made from pictures that were taken here during the RHaMBLe campaign. We've had a fantastic time here so far, and with the last week to go, things only look like they are going to get better. There are several stories to tell, but let them wait till I get back, hopefully alive. | |
| So, another week has gone by in France and what has happened? Well... several things to start with. We had a tv crew here which came to see the 'exciting new research' which we are doing here. And they made a nice little report out of it. Apparently it was shown on national television here and in UK. I don't have the BBC version of it, so if you know any French, you might want to have a look at this. | |
I'm alive!
and I'm sorry for not being in touch, but I have been super busy here with the field campaign. Busy doing what you ask?
1) Going on nice boat rides and feeling the wind in my hair as I am about to fall off into the cold water
2) Climbing rocks to find a place to put the retro-reflectors (a part of the instrument).
3) Sitting by the coast and watching beautiful sunsets everyday and wishing this campaign never ends.
4) Wishing I had wireless internet available
5) Doing some work (just incase my supervisor is reading this too)
But it's been great, having a fantastic time in France eating lovely crepes and drinking good alcohol. I have even started liking cider... yes Dwight... I do like it now. There are a million pictures to put up and a gazillion stories to tell, but all in good time my friends. And also when I get proper internet and have little to do, in short when I go back to the lab ( I am going to get fired)
So till soon, enjoy your month!
PS: The dawg house is where I am put up right now, will explain more soon.
I'm off. Tonight I go to London and then in the morning I am flying away to France. A new country for a good month, new experiences, new people and new beer.
Lets see how things turn out... to find out more... keep watching this space...;)
In a couple of weeks I will be in France on a field campaign. I'm going to be in Roscoff for more than a month. It's funny how once you settle down in a place, it's time to start moving again. I like it though, you get to see new places and meet new people. Also it fits in well with my aim of trying to understand chemistry in different parts of the world. I don't think I would be able to a PhD in chemistry where I have to sit in the lad trying to solve a problem.
I don't mean it in a nasty way coz some of the best times I have had have been in the lab. But at this juncture in my life, I want to move around, see the world and if I can solve some questions while I am at it, then why not eh?
I found this song which is based on doing a PhD... it's quite cool. It's been made by the same guys who write the Pile Higher and Deeper (PhD) comics. You should have a look at them some time, they are really funny.
So it's been two and a half weeks since I ordered the Mac, and it's finally here. My Chinese brothers who came across the seas on a rowing boat deserve their kudos. But for now, I am in love.
When I bought the Mac, one reason I had stated was that it was beautiful. Well, it's not just beautiful but it's stunning, gorgeous and really really sexy. And I don't know how to operate it for nuts.
There are so many things which are completely different from windows and will take me time to explore. This obviously means that I need to spend a lot of time with it, which is not a bad thing. I am leaving for a field trip soon and this is what shall keep me company during the entire month that I am away. Yesterday I watched my first film on it... Sideways, which is a pleasant comedy which definitely deserves one watch.
Yesterday when it came in, I felt like a little kid at Christmas. You should ask Dwight about my reactions and simple and plain joy on my face. I was happy and am still very very happy. It's been the biggest investment which I have made on my own and so far it seems totally worth it. I will put up all the pictures soon, and will upload them from my new Mac
If you have ever watched cricket you will know that Pakistan are a pretty good team. Also they have the most entertaining captain of all. He's this overweight lazy lethargic man who moves like an elephant. Inzamam-ul-Haq is a charismatic leader, but I hope the other players don't follow his lead on the pitch.
In his last game he lost his balance trying to play a shot and fell over because of his excess weight.
Yesterday I read something that some commentator said about him, which made me laugh. Here's to Inzy... the funniest captain.
"Inzy is strolling up and down the pitch like a large animal that has just been shot in the buttocks with a tranquiliser dart."
TMS commentators' take on Inzamam-ul-Haq as he fields.
This is a question that has been asked about a million times ever since I decided to buy the MacBook. Many people thought I was being foolish spending so much money on a system I have never worked on before. So why exactly am I planning to buy one?
There are things which completely change the world. Some of them change it for the good. And being a part of this is the main reason why I am buying a Mac. They came around years ago when I was just born. Started from a small garage Apple developed into a million dollar company in a few years. And in these few years, they have managed to change the way people function, people communicate, people live.
I like the founder of Apple. Steve Jobs was one of the founders of the company which fired him later. A true visionary, a man with great hunger, a person who loves what he does. In life it is important to look in the right directions, and to have a role model like Steve wouldn't be too bad for anyone.
My love with Mac started when I saw this film called Pirates of the Silicon Valley. It was this completely intriguing film about the war between Microsoft and Apple. Though Microsoft eventually wins the war, Apple did manage to win my heart.
It is important to keep learning something new all the time. I have been working with Windows for years now. So it was time to take on a new challenge. Apple seems like a small step to take and possibly the first step too. I want to learn more about programs, so that I can understand in detail about what is happening. But before I switch onto Linux or Unix, I need to get a little more confidence.
So why not a Mac?
It's my way of trying to stay hungry and foolish.
This is a speech given by Steve Jobs in 2005 for the Stanford Commencement. Listen to it if you have some time.
So, the computer is still not here and I won't spend any more time talking about it lest I shall get depressed and angry.
So what have I been doing?
Writing programs, helping pack up the instrument which is soon to go to France, making travel arrangements, booking hotels, looking for a place to house the instrument in and writing reports.
No science.
It's bloody frustrating.
So I had ordered the apple on the 19th. And they said that the estimated arrival date is on the 8th of August. But inside I have been praying that it gets here before that time. And this hope, this terrible hope, this bloody hope has kept me awake at nights going on the website and saying.. TRACK APPLE
| Date | Place | Estimated arrival |
| 30 jul 06 | flight departed Asus Alpha, Shanghai | 03 aug 06 |
| 29 jul 06 | Flight Booked Kuehne & Nagel Shanghai | |
| 28 jul 06 | handover at supplier Asus Alpha, Shanghai | 07 aug 06 |
| 28 jul 06 | Picking confirmed, EDI received Asus Alpha, Shanghai | |
| 28 jul 06 | Departed from source Asus Alpha, Shanghai | 03 aug 06 |
| 28 jul 06 | Consignment Booking received from supplier Asus Alpha, Shanghai | 07 aug 06 |
There are times when you wake up in the morning and feel completely depressed. This happened to me a couple of days ago. I don't normally get down easily, but suddenly you wake up and you hate the world. And that is what really led to the 'depressing' poem early on. Sometimes you want to sit back and contemplate about what direction your life is heading in. And if this is the right direction. Academically I couldn't be happier but personal life is a whole new ball game isn't it? But it helps to have a few good friends around whom you can chat with and not worry about what they think of you.
But noopman is back. I feel rejuvenated again and ready to take on anything that is thrown at me. The one thing that helped was saying exactly what I felt. To let you everything without worrying about the consequences. Also what is brilliant is the fact that I have booked my tickets to India.
I will be going home after a year and a half and some friends from here will be coming along for that. The trip sounds really exciting with lots of traveling, food and sleep. Can't hardly wait.
what goes on does not affect me
me, the one who is separated
me, the one who is not a part
detached from routine happenings
me a rebel
a rebel who is lost
a rebel once inspired
a rebel now defeated
I did it. I bought an apple MacBook. I feel totally icool. It is going to be delivered in a few days and I am already dying out of enthusiasm. It cost me a lot of money, more than I have, but then you live only once don't you? 
I have decided to buy a laptop. The problem with that is buying the software. I would never have problems if I didn't want to go legit. The thing is, I want to buy a Mac and hence will have to buy programs which go on with it. But since I have been using windows till now, I want to have windows running on it too. Apparently you can do that now. But you need programs for both.
How does a student afford this? It's just not possible to buy programs for both the systems. Heck it's not possible to buy them for one system. A pack of office costs a hundred pounds. Some other software which I cannot live without will cost another 100 more, and so on. In the end, the software will end up costing as much as the laptop itself. I could just as easily go and buy illegal software and work with them happily. But if you want to buy legal ones you have to pay out of your nose. How do they expect students to do this? I am going to buy an apple, and I guess I will use some illegal software with it.
I've managed to put up a few selected pictures from the party from our house. As I said last time, it was pretty crazy a party. You will see just why. But the house has recovered pretty well right now. Dwight will be staying with us for a couple of months when Roisin is going to be traveling through Niger for some field campaigns. Malaria and typhoid await her and hopefully some interesting scientific results too.
I spoke to Bashar today. He wasn't doing too well. He is in Lebanon at the moment and well, things are not going too well right now. Israel has declared war on Lebanon and is attacking them as I write this. It's a pity that countries have to resort to war to solve crisis. I understand that war is how the best luxuries which we enjoy have evolved, but I am sure there must be a better way.
I hope things change soon.
To start off, the Bombay blasts...
I was in Bombay the last time the blasts took place. Luckily I am alive and so are all my friends, but many were not lucky. That was way back in 2003 when I had written a small piece about it. And it has happened again. The difference is that I am not in Bombay. Luckily all my friends and family are ok, but it does make your blood boil. Who did it? why? These are questions still unanswered. There are people feeling oppressed and this is how they show their dissent. Not very clever since the large scale righteous murderers like Bush and Blair only get more supporters. Non-violence is still the best way to fight, use politics to defeat politics. But killing more innocent people when you have gone through the same pain does not make sense to me.
I haven't written for a long time and my life has been going on pretty smoothly. I was far away from any life threatening situations living happily in my new home. I feel guilty. But not enough to enjoy my life here.
We had a house warming party last weekend which turned out to be a total success. It was one of the biggest parties I have been to with more than 60 people turning out. Cleaning the next day was difficult. But if you are going to celebrate, celebrate big eh? Pictures are again in the waiting line. Will put them up sometime soon.
We have moved into the new house and I love it. The first two days have been mostly working in the house to make I more homely and trust me, it takes a lot of work. We have been shopping for things to make the house look pretty, and also buying lots of things which were missing in the house. Now we have a TV, a table to put it on, enough light in the rooms, enough storage space. All we need is a foosball table and another fridge and we will be all set.
I need to post up a few pictures of the new place and will do so in the next few days. The reason for not doing so is that I have managed to break my camera and need to get it repaired.
It's time to move again! Three years, three new cities but this time round I am moving to the same city. Just a different flat with different mates. So now it's time to be nostalgic. Anyone with a weak heart stop reading right now!
So, what have I done in the last one year at Leodis Residences at the University of Leeds? In two words 'had fun'. It's been a fantastic experience staying here with Bernard and Dwight. We have had crazy times here, got drunk innumerable times and enjoyed each and every day to it's fullest. We have had so many people coming over everyday too, I can hardly remember any day when it was just us having dinner alone. It's been a party flat and that's one thing I will definitely miss about it.
The new flat... it's a proper house. No more student accommodation. No more pretty girls flashing you, no more dancing across the flats, no more coming back form parties and waking everyone up , no more exam cramming, no more eating food with tens of people over, no more coming to the flat and not knowing if it's the right one as everyone looks different, no more spontaneous parties, no more deep conversations about the future, no more being a kiddo. It's time to grow up.
Or is it?
Lets wait and see.
The Australian army as been called upon to stop the march of the Cane toads from the western part of Australia. Huh?
Well.. the cane toads are venomous toads which can kill animals as big as the crocodile within minutes. And believe it or not, they are not native to the continent with the highest number of poisonous creatures in the world. They were imported from Hawaii to stop the growth of the Cane Beetles which were plaguing the country in the 1930s.
Never mess with Nature eh? Finally Australia made some news on the BBC though.
Past few days I have been watching the World at War series made by BBC some time ago. It shows shocking footage from the World War II. I am glad I wasn't alive during that time. But it seems that we are going towards the same age with the international community getting uneasy again. I hope we stop fighting soon.
I had a long conversation about wars with Kate and Alison today. I was arguing that wars, as terrible as they are, will never be able to stop and aiming for an ideal world is unfortunately futile. Cynical as it seems, power is what people want, and through wars will we able to invent things which change the world. Necessity is the mother of invention they say.
The two girls didn't agree.
It's been a long time since I have written anything. There have been a few things keeping me busy.
First and foremost, the World Cup has started! So this means there is lots of football on TV and helps pass my evenings very well. England has won it's first two game and though the performance has been rather disappointing at times, the potential is there to see.
Then there has been lots of work going on in the lab. I have been doing some programming in Visual Basic which seems to be going on pretty well right now.
And finally the departure of my flatmates. Bernard left today morning and Mark will be leaving tomorrow. Thankfully Dwight is going to be coming back pretty soon, but right now, the flat is like a ghost paradise. But it does give me a chance to get some reading done. I have almost finished reading The Lord of the Rings.
This is all till something exciting comes up. And yes, my foot is much better, now I can hobble about pretty quickly.
The spectrometer, which is a part of the instrument I am working with is acting really weird. Today it ate up a few lines which are supposed to be there. I have no idea what is happening but hopefully the evil spirit would have left the dungeons of my lab and traveled to happier places. (extremely scientific reasoning eh?)
Bernard is going to leave in a few days. If you have no idea whom I am talking about, Bernard is one of my flatmates this year. It has been fantastic living with him and Dwight. I am going to miss them a lot. It is totally weird how you make such good friends with people and then you have to move on all of a sudden. But well.. no crying here. Dwight is going to stay with us in the new flat for a few months at least and I am sure that staying with Rose and Mick is going to be great fun too.
Also, thank you for the kind comments on my new hair cut. May your hair turn like mine. Who was the one with the last comment, that was funny stuff?
Yes. I chopped it all off. I'm not bald, but pretty close to it. It's summer here if you can say so and hence I decided to get into the mood and encourage the sun if my existence has any impact (I'm guessing not).
But its fantastic how a hair cut can make you look like a completely different person. People have good hair days and bad hair days. I have a bad hair life! But everytime I go to the barber, I present them with a challenge at least.
It's surprising how much time and money one tends to spend on his/her hair. All the shampoo, conditioner, gel, wax, oil and what not. And then combing it for ages setting it right. It can make a difference, it does make you feel better about yourself really.
I have heard that beer is really good for your hair.
I like the idea.
It's not the metatarsal!
I did my ankle really bad though. Can't even walk on it. It was daft accident too; so along with the agonising pain, there was terrible embarrassment to deal with. But now there is no excitement for a couple of weeks at least.
As a part of Roisin's birthday gift, we had bought her a ticket to see Rodrigo and Gabriela's live gig. It was a pleasant change of music which was a mix of metal and Mexican beats. Their story is quite fascinating. Take some time to go and visit their site.
Also after a long time I played football today. We were playing for almost 3 hours with different groups of players and it was fantastic fun really. I don't like growing up and having less time to do things which really do interest you.
And after months of this website being static, I have finally added in a new page. And this time I shall shut up completely and let you guys write. Yes, it's a guestbook where you can say what you want about anything you want. Just try and keep it for a family audience..;)
A picture from their website
Way too much free time?
As you must have read earlier, I am terrible at languages. I do not consider them anything more than a tool of communication. My vocabulary leaves a lot to be desired and I spell abominably. As long as you understand what I am saying and I understand what I am saying, that's all I really care about.
But then, unfortunately the world does not revolve around me and mostly it doesn't even care what I think. A proof for this is the Apostrophe protection society. These people have come together to protect the apostrophe ('). Why? Well, visit them and figure it out. More than half a million people have done it already!
On other more serious notes, the medical students, who were against the quota system (read the earlier article on reservation of seats in all universities in India), had a meeting with the Prime Minister of the country. The PM assured them that this step will not degrade the education system and also there was a grand plan to expand the number of universities so that there would be no shortage of seats in the future.
Why don't they do that before declaring the reservations? And since when does quantity reflect quality? It is atrocious that a learned man like Manmohan Singh can also be bent to such depths by political pressure. How can anyone now reassure the despondent students who are losing complete hope in the country?
I was speaking to a friend at home and all she could say was that she wanted to leave the country and that how her children would have more chances of success overseas. I do not agree, but the education system back home does leave a lot to your imagination and unfortunately it seems to be going in the wrong direction.
Some of you might be aware about the turmoil that the Indian education system is going through at present. If you don't here's a brief description about what's happening.
The Indian government wants to introduce a 50% reservation in all colleges for the lower castes. Caste system is the basis through which millions of Hindus were denied educational opportunities and were left to do menial jobs. So to help them in the future, the government has righteously declared of providing them the opportunities, no questions asked as long as you have the right surname.
But does it make sense?
Indian government fervently denies the existence of the caste system in the country in the 21st century. It says that all the people in the country are equal and hence should not be differentiated under any circumstances. But then, isn't the introduction of this new law discrimination?
I understand that 'what were then lower castes' need help or alleviation (a word used commonly by the government) but then shouldn't this be on economical basis rather than according to your surname? Opportunities in the present world are according to the amount of money a person has and that cannot be denied. I would understand if the poor students get a chance to further their education through scholarships and such other options. This step by the government does not make too much sense to me. Finally it is going to be the 'rich lower castes', with enough money to access all facilities, which will end up taking all the reserved seats. This is going to lead to a lower grade of system where the brightest students are not given a chance to shine.
There is a huge exodus of bright (and rich) students from India and the reason is the narrow minded laws made by the people in charge. A country with so much potential is being blocked by squinted leaders. We need another great leader, one with vision as Gandhi?
(OBC- other backward castes)
The monopoly that was given to me on 21st has been used a lot already. I have discovered that I make a terrible businessman. Thankfully I didn't try and go into that profession. The first game I was bankrupt within 15 minutes, the second one took 30 minutes and so on. I seem to be improving but thankfully it isn't real money.
But I have also discovered that my math is pertty good. I can calculate how much money goes where within seconds, but all the money seems to be going away from me.
Since we are talking numbers, I was completely surprised to know that 1500 people have visited this site already. It's been only a couple of months old and doesn't have too many interesting things. I have also been spammed on this stie 28 times. But what is more astonishing is the fact that 800 people have revisited the site.
There is only a fortnight to go for the Fifa world cup now. It is going to be a wonderful experience and I am sooo glad that I am in England, the country which invented the game (or at least started it in a professional manner). The atmosphere here is already starting to feel electric, the pubs are buzzing with football talk, all the radios are talking about the game and even the TV shows replays of Rooney getting injured. But they have a new wild card in Theo Walcott and of course the new Newcastle legend Micheal Owen.
I hope England win this one.
Yes. Thank you all for your good wishes, but I am not too glad to be turning old. But I can't complain at all really. I had a fantastic birthday, one of my best ever. We had a nice little party here and some of my friends came from all over. In the end the party which started only with 5 people had about 40 people getting completely drunk and having a fantastic time.
Mikael was at his best making some lipsmacking cocktails which were well appreciated. Kate and made some lovely cake which had three candles on it signifying my mental age. Everyone had come reinforced with lots more alcohol so the party never ran dry. After drinking lots and playing a lot of pool while chatting away, we decided to carry it on to a club. There was a jazzy band playing there which only made us move our bodies. And hence after about 3 hours of dancing, we could not help but retire to our appartment and continue the there.
Sunday was spent trying to recover and still dreaming about the party. But Maite was really nice and I got lots of cake to eat and get over the drunkardness. I hardly got any sleep having touched the bed only by 8 in the morning. But it was still a night which I will never forget.
I have managed to put up some pictures, but will keep adding more soon. There are lots to be shown. Hope you all had a good night too, and for everyone who missed it, well... we are gonna have to make up for it.... ;)
Also how could I forget the gifts? I got some really interesting gifts right from monopoly for some nerdy nights to a pair of boobs for some even more nerdy nights. They even come with a caution sign saying not for children under three. Ohter gifts included lots of alcohol and a calvin and hobbes book too. And yes... how can I forget the music that was bestowed upon me? The Doors, Bob Dylan and the Gorillaz were some of them. Of all the cards, one sent by renuka was really cool.
Again thank you!
Yet again the US government rejects all the scientific studies saying that there is no proof for global warming. They say that climate change is taking place, but we do not know as yet whether it is going to have any serious impacts or not. It is funny how the US government cannot be blind to the injustice that was going on under Saddam's rule, but is completely blind to the havoc that they might be causing! But then, maybe they are right and 99% of the world is wrong. But I would rather take my chances with the rest of the world and try and make some positive changes.
Not all changes seem to be positive though. The carbon trading that was introduced seems to have backfired. The power companies in UK have made a 2 billion dollar profit from carbon trading. They do not seem to be inclined to use this for environmental benifits. A nice staff lounge with a swimming pool does seem like a pretty good idea.
But inspite of millions of people shouting, the ice caps melting, the deserts marching forward, the life destroying hurricanes and all that jazz, president Bush and his government do not listen. Are they looking at the positive side of global warming?
Yeah, I must confess it.
I love playing cards. In fact, over the past weekend I have played about 7 hours of cards. It is fantastic fun really. I mean, they are so simple, just 13 cards, nothing great about them, but... once mixed with a few friends, maybe a few drinks, it is just fantastic fun!!
I am already in debt. But fortunately we are not playing with money but with keeping healthy. Apparently I have to run 11.84 miles already. At least it will give me a chance to lose all the fat that I am collecting (at least somewhere I am well prosperous).
My neck has been killing me. Maybe I slept funny or something, but it hurts like crazy. I am turning 24 in a few days, but feel like 60 already. 11.84 miles will do me good.
PS: 1 mile = 1.6 kilometers... and the distance does not reduce if you convert it
Arranged weddings are one of the biggest businesses in the country from which I come. I don't understand them really. I mean, you meet a person, see how well he is doing in life, see his face, have a coffee or two and then suddenly you find yourself in his house after promising him the rest of your life!
Two of my friends recently got engaged through this system. I will never be able to understand why? I mean, even in the 21st century there are people who believe in marrying within your community when it has been proven really well that inbreeding within a small race can cause a decline in a the children's ability to think. In short, you keep doing that and your children are going to be mentally handicapped.
I know people who have had boyfriends/girlfriends and then when it's time to get married, they chicken out and give in to their parents. The excuse is: Why cause parents so much trouble. Why??... because you have a life to live!
I know marrying a person you love will not ensure a happy married life and it is as people say, a whole new ballgame, but it does give you better odds to get through it doesn't it?
Then why do people have arranged weddings? Because it is easy. You ask your parents to find you a person, and if anything goes wrong you can always say that things weren't in your hand. If things go well... then why complain at all? Secondly it makes your parents happy. People like to be in control, and hence your parents are happy to be in control of your life. And well... maybe you will learn to love the person. Or rather, learn to live with the person.
I don't like arranged weddings at all, if someone can give me a reason why they are better, I would love to hear it.
This is a slightly more serious blog than normal. And the reason is what once divided the world into two. The capitalist states and the cimmunist states were at the biggest war in the history of mankind, and thankfully they stopped before the destruction of mankind.
In the local elections in which took place recently in India, the communist party won half the seats. The reason is the poor people's unrest. They are getting opressed with the capital government and look for reprive where ever possible. And in this case, it's the 'people's party'. 
I personally don't think communism is viable. The basis of it is very very weak. It assumes that everyone should work for the betterment of the human race and hence not be selfish. Work for the state and not for yourself. I don't understand. It is human nature to be greedy. Relying on morals to improve a race can be very dangerous. And of course it has been shown to be not true. Though the ideals were set by a good man, the people following him had their own greed which they could not overcome and so the USSR didn't stand at all. An early rise is seen by the people who have suffered under the opperssive capitalist rule. But once a new generation comes in, they do not have the patriotism and will work only for their benifit.
To me it makes sense that when a preson works for himself, to improve himself, he does his best. And when everyone do their best together the entire race will do their best. Of course the poor ones will get hurt. But isn't that the rule of nature? Survival of the fittest? I know that the only thing that separates us from other animals is the compassion we can show and act on. I agree that it should be there ingrained within out minds. But compassion as a way of life, that will never work.
We are finally humans, we will have feelings which are known to exist. We will feel sad, jealous, hurt, happy and so on. To say that we are above it is not only wrong, but also a crime against yourself.
What? Huh? Am i dreaming, am I awake? Is it night? am I even freaking alive?
Picture this:
I am sleeping, dreaming of things which shall not be mentioned here, and suddenly there is a friend of mine on the phone at 5:30 in the morning telling me that one of my best friends from Pune is getting married and that she has already been engaged!! And the thing is that I know nothing about this. i was totally shocked to say the least. I am really mad that I missed out on all the good celebrations and the food.
But jokes apart, when one of your best friends doesn't invite your for her wedding, do you smack her in the face with a shovel or hit her hard on the head with a baseball bat?
Work is going on pretty well right now, and also planning for my birthday party has started on the side.
I got a mail from microsoft saying my copy of windows is illegal. I need to buy a new one for about a 100 pounds. Maybe I should, considering that I have never paid for any software in my life. It's getting difficult to pirate things now.
But, I also managed to download two music albums legally. For the first time in my life, I paid to download music. Apple iTunes is a fantastic software, and I don't mind paying to get music from there. I bought two alumbs by Gorillaz. They are pretty good.
Yesterday we went for a play in which two of our friends were playing music and dancing a little. Roisin and Hannah did a really good job and we learnt a lot about the Irish culture there.
I was speaking to Ani yesterday. All that we could really talk about was getting back in Pune with the entire gang together for a new year's celebration. I haven't seen him for two years now, and it has been about that time for most of my friends. I really can't wait to go back and have a few beers with everyone.
It is funny how old friends will always stay your best friends. You might change a lot over the years, but when you all meet up, then the years in between don't matter at all. You travel back and so does everyone else.
Its important to stay in touch.
Natasha, from Barbados, has graced us with her presence in Leeds for about a week. We have had awesome fun with her. She is the only non-japanese person I know who has taken more pictures than Rahul. Unfortunately she has to leave now. And though it is going to make Dwight, my flatmate, the most unhappy (as they are seeing each other), we will all miss having her bubbly self around. Pictures are in need here and I'll put them up as soon as I can.
This Alex, Dwight, Natasha and me
Today was the first day I spent completely alone in the lab. It is kinda freaky. I mean you get a lot of work done, but then, you can't have any conversations which lead to more thinking. I am not complaining right now since I still have a lot to do on my own before I need to start thinking of ideas to change the things around me.
Tomorrow I will be going to Leicester for a conference. Have to wake up at 6 in the morning. I didn't know that there was 6 in the morning. I like sleeping late. Those last few hours are the most important part of the sleep aren't they?
I have had such a lazy day today. After months together I finally decided to take the weekend off. So this Sunday has been spent lying in bed, reading books and doing nothing in particular.
Alfonso left yesterday to go to California and from now on I will be the only person in the lab. I hope I can stay motivated, but considering the amount of work left to do, it shouldn't really be a problem.
About 50 years after the Americans became the first to land on the moon (even though some don't believe it) they might become the first to send a man to Mars too.
Now, Mars is a little trickier than Moon. First of all, it is much further away. That makes the mission much longer and hence logistically much more difficult. But also, Mars has an atmosphere. But it doesn't have one of the top stabilised layers called the Stratosphere. This means that the atmosphere is much more turbulent there. So landing can be very very difficult. In 2012 Nasa plans to send a spacecraft there to study the top layer so that the landing procedure, atomspheric conditions can be well understood. This might cost about 500 million!! Is it worth it?
Yesterday a very young girl told us that science is nothing but being nosy. But is it worth spending 500 million just being nosy when there are millions of people going hungry?
I would say yes. Because, even one day of war in Iraq costs the americans a billion dollars. So, if you think of it, going to Mars and trying to find something useful for the human race is worth only half a day in Iraq. Science is not costly is it?
I went jogging yesterday with Mickeal. After running about 5 miles or so, he said something which I totally agreed with. 'Body is like a dog, after doing something it needs a treat'. In our case it was just a beer nothing else....;)
Was wroking in the lab all day today. The new lab is nearing completion slowly. It is looking really good right now. Pity I won't have too much work in there.
Welcome!! This is the new blog. All the old writings are in one of the archives. And now you can write here too. I am tempted to moderate them, but I'll have good faith in you all and not start off by doing so.
This has all taken a lot of hard work. But I like this end product. It means that I need not worry about making any more new pages for the journal.
That's all for today. Hope you are bored enough.
