Life n Thoughts - Coherent & Chaotic

My Dear Lab

2010-03-18T16:51:00.001-05:00

My dear Lab,

These days are tricky. The weather was cold or rainy or both for the last five months in Chicago. All was well. Everyone was happy to be in. Everyone was grateful to escape the outside. Now it is changing. The sun is bright. The air is warm. I am no longer comfortable in my jacket. It is such a big problem. I could carry so much stuff in its pockets. People have come out. They look happy. They make too much noise in the quad. The snow is gone. The skate boards are out. The bicycles too. Time for more accidents, I guess. I hear that the leaves will be back soon. The flowers will be blooming as well. The winds from the lake will once again be pleasing, they say. But who wants fresh air! Picnic on the beach! Water scooters! Night cruises! Jobless morons! They watch the blue sky with flakes of white clouds. They bathe in the sunlight. They go on long drives in convertibles. They enjoy hikes in the mountains. They camp in the woods. I wonder who pays these people! Thank God not everyone is like them. There are still good and hard-working persons left. We don’t waste our time in such fruitless activities. Still, as I said, it gets tricky these days. With so many worthless people around, I get distracted. That is where you come in, my dearest sweet lab. You stand rock solid against the outside stupidity. You have no windows. You do not let the sun rays in. You do not let me have a feel of time. You guard the views of the sky, the trees and above all, the people having fun. You are my messiah. I love you.

Cricket and Others

2010-03-01T18:33:00.002-06:00

Known for its hot weather, hot food and hot women; no wonder India does not care about the winter sports. Well, any sports for that matter. Cricket? Well, that is almost a religion now. In the pie chart representing the effect of sports in India, I am pretty sure there will be only two classes; cricket and others. It is nothing new. We have more or less accepted the fact that this is the only game where we can command some respect. Then what makes me complain about the winter sports? When the national game of hockey is in shambles, I could hardly complain about skiing. However, there is a reason.

Did you know that India had 3 athletes in the winter Olympics held in Vancouver this year? Well, when you were busy watching the India-South Africa series, they were representing India in a global sports event. True, it is not really a priority for India. But would you let your athletes go to a stage like that without a uniform? Yes, they did not get even a uniform from the Indian government. The responsibility was taken up by local Indian crowd in Canada to supply them the uniform and raise funds for the contingent as reported by BBC and the Canadian media. Did you get to hear about it in the Indian media? If you did, please let me know.

Today all the money for sports in India is in cricket. Over a billion people going crazy over it obviously gives the corporate sector, which holds the money, the right reasons to sponsor cricket. Parties are thrown in the honor of the cricketers, awards announced and temples built. BCCI did a good job on sales and marketing capitalizing on the situation and went on to become the richest sports body in the world (F1, soccer, NBA all included). The achievement of cricket is commendable. But what about the ‘others’? The question has been put for quite some time now. Obviously BCCI won’t do anything. Neither will the corporate sector. The sports ministry, I do not know. The burden of moving politics is huge. I was wondering if the cricketers, who are getting paid in millions, will realize the value of the other sports. What if they appreciate the effort of their fellow-athletes who are in no way lesser in passion and dedication; but suffer because they chose the wrong sports in the wrong country? I guess they could do something about it. The nation watches them and follows them. Their lead could be crucial. They being the Gods of the religion of cricket probably should share responsibilities beyond their own field.

My Fantastic World

2010-02-21T16:02:00.010-06:00

“So what kind of books do you like?” Somebody asked me.

“Fantasies and science fiction”, out came the spontaneous answer.

This has happened several times. I just started to wonder why. I read all sorts of books and watch all genres of movies. But somehow it is this particular class that I enjoy the most. The reason, I think, is their imaginative power of creation.

Through my upbringing as a student of science and engineering or may be just as my natural instinct I am grown to see things as they are visible to the eye. Doing otherwise may often be termed as a lack of concentration. Think of a student who feels sorry for ‘x’ when he sees , as poor ‘x’ has to carry ‘y’ around or goes ‘shhhhhh’ spotting ‘9’ cowering in the basement as ‘7’ hunts for him in . Try that too often and you are standing on the bench the next moment or worse, kneeling down in front of the class. When I look at the table lamp in my living room right now, what I see is a funnel-shaped hood with a narrower circle on top joined to one below with bigger diameter by a whitish cloth tapered at a particular angle. A 60watt incandescent bulb glows inside adding approximately 0.6 cents per hour to my electricity bill. My brain is taxed to imagine that it is some sort of a oversized firefly that has a very bright head and at the moment is afraid and has hid its luminous body in its opaque whitish shell; if I am calm for some time and may be hum a soothing tune, it will first peep its head out and once confident of its safety, jump off the table to glide in the air flaunting its radiant wings. That sort of brain work doesn’t come naturally to me. That makes me wonder how people work with fantasy with such ease.

Fantasy stories were part of everyone’s childhood, mine being no exception. Indian stories with monsters and princes were captivating. The fact that the life of the monster was hidden in some other creature secretly locked somewhere was the best ingenuity I liked. (That just reminded me of the horcruxes; more on that later.) However, the one science fiction that I think really swept me away for the first time was the story of a robot and his kid master. I had an old wrist watch at home whose plastic cover on the dial could come off easily. I so wished that I could call my flying robot through that. I gave it a few tries too. Unfortunately, it didn’t work.

The next phase of my attachment to fantasies was dominated by Jules Verne. The journey started with the mysteries of The Mysterious Island. Thereon, the great writer never ceased to dazzle me with all the adventures, the visions and the thrills. Twenty Thousands Leagues under the Sea, From the Earth to the Moon, and Around the World in Eighty Days are to name just a few. The one that was closest to my heart though was Adrift in the Pacific. It is the story of survival and dominance by a group of school boys in a deserted island. I could identify myself with a character called Briant in the story. It is still one of the most enjoyed stories I have ever read. Probably the only story that supercedes it is that of Shankar in Chander Pahar. That is a gem by Bibhutibhusan Bandyopadhyay. I was lucky to follow up this superb story by another by the same author called Hira Manik Jwale. Another story that I still remember was named Chander Hasir Bandh Bhengeche. I read it in a puja edition of Anandamela. The author probably was Adrish Bardhan.

The most recent spate of fantasies will include the Lord of the Rings by Tolkien, the Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud, the exploits of Eragon in the stories by Christopher Paolini and of course the magic of Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling. What really astonishes me in all these stories is how the authors create a very different world with a different history and geography and society organized by a different set of rules meticulously put together to the last minute details. Tolkien and Paolini have created different races with their own habits, qualities and legends. They set their story in altogether different fantasy worlds with their own maps for guidance. Stroud and Rowling set the stories in our everyday world with an extra hidden layer of happenings. Stroud’s classification of supernatural creatures and the link between their and our world is a brilliant innovation. Rowling's creation though I think is by far the best. The Harry Potter series though generally termed as children literature has much drama, romance, politics, adventure and social messages to pass for any other genre. Coming back to fantasy, I am amazed how carefully Rowling has designed the magical world. It is so similar to our everyday life in terms of socio-political aspects, education, relationships, law and order but in every bit of it there is a magical twist. Read through her description of the ministry of magic or the hospital for magical remedies and you can immediately spot her brilliance. That attention to details is absolutely spellbounding. She painted a fine picture with words.

I lack that inspiration to extend my imagination beyond the mundane experiences. The science fiction and the fantasies probably satisfy the ineptitude of a realist.

Apple iPad - The Funny Side

2010-02-04T16:57:00.003-06:00

By now, all of you know about iPad. Yet another hyped product launch by Apple, yet another epitome of innovation and voila! You have a big iPhone-looking non-phone, I mean, iPad. The net is abuzz with speculations and analysis about this new device. Here are a few observations that were too funny not to blog about.

Firstly, Apple is not the first company to use iPad as a trademark. It turns out that Fujitsu, a Tokyo based company, launched a portable, touch-screen, Wi-Fi enabled device named iPad in 2002 though the intended market was different than the Apple iPad. Lengthening the list we have abrasive scrubbing pads for kitchen purposes, certain engines and motors made by Siemens and the padded bras by Canadian lingerie company Coconut Grove Pads. Hmmm, iPad has some history. The identity of the Apple iPad has also inspired the innovative minds. The following are arguably the best of the lot –

Kolkata Traffic Gyan

2010-01-12T18:17:00.003-06:00

Kolkata traffic is abundant with catchy phrases both in written and verbal forms. The rear of the trucks and the ubiquitous autos are especially generous in this regard. Starting from patriotic mera bharat mahan and aggressive buri nazar wale tera mu kala, dekhbi ar jolbi luchir moto fulbi it ranges to more philosophical ones like buri nazar wale tera bhi bhala ho; sukh sapane, shanti smasane. It is because they so frequently reminds everyone to blow horn that the drivers never stop honking. The ‘blow’ and ‘horn’ are often separated by a long gap. Second thought. Do they actually mean to ‘blow’ something else? I saw a truck speeding in the wrong lane gleefully sporting follow traffic rools. I wonder if the similarity of the wrong spelling with ‘fools’ is just a coincidence. The old tiner bus is still declaring panch o dosh takar khuchra hoibe na while the minimum fare has now gone up to five rupees. However, the one I found really unique could be the best example of what ‘out of place’ means. The north side Sealdah local compartment had a notice formally painted at its entrance urging you to observe silence.

California Zephyr - The Journey

2009-11-30T20:01:00.015-06:00

Train travel is rather unusual in the US with people always either driving or flying. However, given the time and the choice of a proper route, train travel in the US can be rewarding as I found out aboard the California Zephyr, arguably the best scenic train ride in the country.

Seven odd souls of us started from the Chicago Union Station. We took train # 5, California Zephyr, from Chicago to Emeryville, California. This journey was one of the best that I have ever made. We had reserved coach seats. Being students, it was hard to afford better accommodation. These seats were big and comfy. Pillows were supplied by the train attendant, so overall it was pretty nice. Sleeping in the seats was rather a problem on the first night, though we did manage to get some sleep. The second night was much better, may be the body got used to it. A light blanket helped as it got chilly during the nights.

The seats had big windows with curtains. However, we spent most of our time in the lounge car. It was the best there to enjoy the scenery. The first day was not very special. After the train departed exactly at 2pm from the Chicago Union Station, it cruised through the fall colors and the corn fields of Chicago and the surrounding area. The second day, the Zephyr reached Denver in the early morning. It had snowed the previous night and it was pretty cold. The train halts there for an hour and we took the opportunity to walk around. However, much to our dismay the station was bland. There was hardly any activity with no stalls whatsoever. That was so unlike an Indian station where you can find a whole new world, a different dynamics on its own. I guess the US train stations used to be like that during the golden days of the railways here before they died down with the expressways and the airways coming in.

The part of the trip that followed through the whole day was a delightful experience. If you love to see nature at its best, you cannot miss this part of the California Zephyr. The train gradually started its ascend into the Rocky mountains. As it gained height and emerged from one of the numerous short tunnels, the whole city of Denver could be seen at a distance. The trees on the snowy mountains painted a portrait that looked like the pencil sketch work of a fine artist. The view was amazing. During its course in the mountains, we went through the Moffat tunnel, 6.5miles long located at an altitude of 9500ft above the sea level.

Once past the Rockies, we once again entered an elegant exhibition of the fall colors in the gallery of the Colorado canyons. As we went through the Gore, the Byers and the Red Canyons breathtaking views unfolded in every other turn. I remember my friend joking that we are moving our heads like watching a tennis match to capture the views on both sides. The landscape started with yellow grasses at the bottom, followed by the grey or the red granites, topped with a layer of green pine trees embellished with a touch of white snow. We were also fortunate to spot a few bald eagles nesting in the high leafless trees.

When we entered the Glenwood Canyons, the snow was back. Hot sulfur springs could be seen at places which gave the name to our next stop, Glenwood Springs. What sets this canyon different is the presence of the spectacular stretch of the highway I-70. The highway comprising of a lot of tunnels and bridges were built at a staggering cost of 40 million USD per mile to preserve the beauty of the canyon. I guess very few places have to offer such a blend of natural beauty and engineering marvel.

The canyons ended in a rather flat landscape with smaller mesa mountains scattered around. This was the first time that we saw clear blue sky with copious sunlight. It led the way for a superb light and shadow effect all around us. The moon which was up after a little while only added to the spectacle.

We went through the lunar landscape to enter the glittering industrialized area of the Salt Lake City at night. The next morning, we were in the great basin of Utah and Nevada. It was a desert with dry land, short bushes, small hillocks and white salt marshes. The treeless snow clad mountains of the Sierra Nevada loomed at a distance. However, the real spectacle was in the sky. Long stripes of sirus clouds lit with the early sun rays, the rainbows and the stunning nacreous clouds soothed our minds at the day break. After crossing Reno, the train gained altitude quickly with shrap loops to reach the pine forests and the Truckee River in the Sierra Nevada. We tunneled through the summit of the Sierras to emerge to the sight of the Donner Lake. By now we had entered California. Once we were through the great hole, a 1659ft long tunnel through the toughest part of the Sierra, we descended fast to the marshy lands of California with a lot of birds. The great hole was dug by Chinese workers mostly by hand tools, progressing a few feet a day at most and often impeded by extreme weather conditions. We had to get off one station before Emeryville as the Bay Bridge was closed. We took a bus, which was included in the itinerary, to reach the downtown of San Francisco.

The trip was so enjoyable not just because of the views but also for the company. Taking such a long journey is boring if you are alone, especially at night. It is good to have a book or a deck of playing cards. However, being in a group of seven, we hardly had to think about how to spend time. It was a perfect trip.

Summary of the California Zephyr train trip –
Length – 2438 miles (3,924-km)
Duration – approx 52 hours
Frequency – daily (between Chicago, Illinois and Emeryville, California)
Accommodation – Coach seat (seats similar to the flight first-class), roomettes (sleeping berths but with very limited space for baggage), bedrooms
Amenities – Dining car with service of breakfast/lunch/dinner at affordable rates, Lounge car with big windows to enjoy the scenery and a snack bar, changing rooms in each car, checked baggage service
Scenic attractions –
• Rocky Mountains
• Sierra Nevadas
• Moffat Tunnel
• Colorado's Gore, Byers, Red and Glenwood Canyons
• Truckee River
• Donner Lake
Useful Link - http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer/Page/1241210579555/1237405732517

It's a long way to the pacific ...

2009-10-29T09:45:00.003-05:00

This is definitely last minute. A few hours to board the train and here comes my pre-journey write-up. However, if that makes you think that I was not preparing for trip, you are grossly mistaken. The map of the route, essential to-do lists for the train, the games, the food, the books, the direction printouts, the reviews of the salient points are all ready to accompany me on this would-be memorable trip. Train journeys, as I think of those in general in India, are anything but relaxing. Those who have been on the local and even not-so-local trains know what I mean. If you don’t, I will explain another day. That is a story in itself. However, I have been lucky to be on a few long distance train rides which were really pleasing. So I had a taste that train travel can be fun given a comfortable seating and an enjoyable company. However, this is much more than that.

We are going to take the California Zephyr, a 52 hour journey from Chicago to San Francisco. San Francisco is a great city in itself. But here, it is the road that leads there matters more than the destination itself. We will pass through the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Neveda, follow the Colorado River as it grows from a narrow spring to a more formidable river, pass through long tunnels and finally cruise along the pacific coast. If that doesn’t sound exciting to you, I don’t know what will!

When I told my roommate of this plan, he asked,”Are you crazy?” Well, I guess crazy I am. Not because I am taking this long journey but because yesterday I hunted the public library to find the only book I found online which deals with this particular journey titled “Zephyr: Tracking a Dream Across America” and also because today I am penning this write-up down just four hours before the train departs Chicago and my bags are still not packed.

The Regular Blogger

2009-07-09T17:02:00.003-05:00

Yeah, the name is a misnomer! As I find it extremely unpleasant to work on a perfect day with the right temperature in the comfort zone, bright and sunny with a comfortable breeze, my instinct naturally inclines to composing a blog post (read I am being very lazy today and decided to write an insignificant blog post where hardly anybody reaches up to reading this sentence).

The sense of not posting for ages was making me a bit uncomfortable. So I turned to google blog search to find some company. (I had nothing to write about so I took an easy way out to make the size of the post look worthwhile.) I searched for particular phrases to look for lazy bloggers like me.

"I have not posted for ages" - 37
"I have not posted for quite some time" - 43
"I have not posted for so long" - 2,113
"I have not posted for long time" - 4,450
"I have not posted for long" - 5,302
"I have not posted for a while" - 15,871
"I have been lazy" - 254,401
"I am so lazy" - 302,675
"I am lazy" - 1,325,293

Relieved that I am not the only lazy blogger and satisfied that at least you went through the post till the end, I put my pen down for the day.
(God! Somebody went through this whole post. Ah! I am definitely not the only person not working. Wait! You are not supposed to read this part.)

The Dog Years

2009-01-29T16:48:00.002-06:00

Long back, I had come across an article called ‘The Cat Years’ in the Readers’ Digest. It compared the adolescent and the early youth years of children as ‘cat’ years. It is the time when the children are alienated from their parents. The pampered kid days get over. Parents seem to be too old-fashioned, out of sync, non-compromising and frustratingly non-understanding. The way they do things makes no sense. They seem too uncool. The dependence and the appreciation are lost. This has a similarity with cats that, unlike dogs, never become completely dependent on their masters. Though they might return at times for food and shelter, they prefer to have an individual independence. The author of the article asks the parents not to worry too much about the children during the ‘cat’ years. It is all natural for the children of that particular age. He ends the write-up with a promise that the ‘dog’ years will be back. I think he was right.

Lately, I have discovered a renewed attachment to my parents. I have started to appreciate their efforts and sacrifices, may be for the first time truly in my life. I have heard my mom talk about how helpless she felt at times with my six-month-old brother and three-year-old me when my parents moved into a new town. My father’s office was 50km away from home and those were the days without telephone. How painfully she had discovered the fact that kids start crying when they hear another one cry. These days when I am irritated by kids crying in the flights, I wonder how my mother could cope with those times. Last March, when I was waiting for a friend near SFO, I saw a Korean mother desperately trying to control her two sons. They were running around, standing up on railings, shouting, laughing, jumping and were ready to do anything except listen to their mom. It reminded me of my mother again. She must have been in similar situations quite a few times. Then there were times when we didn’t want to go to the school, when we wouldn’t stop nagging, when we were adamant to get something impractical and just won’t listen to logic, and above all when we fell sick. It must have taken a lot of courage, patience and dedication just not to give up. That too without recognition. I doubt how many, if any, person has ever complimented my mom for raising her children the way she did.

However, in spite of her tremendous perseverance, she at least had someone to blindly depend on; my father. I guess he had none. The amount of responsibility he has borne for his family, even beyond the four of us, with such ease and elegance, it is unbelievable. We have hardly seen our father get angry. I have never seen him getting stressed. What’s most astounding is that I have never seen him get tired. Even today he is ten times as active as I am. His office work takes up close to twelve hours. He has to take care of the domestic needs, grocery shopping, car maintenance, accounts management and still doesn’t shirk away from his morning walk at six, remembers to polish his shoes and never fails to call up his father every other day. And as I mentioned earlier, he does all that seemingly without effort. He is always calm and never without a smile. And you can’t miss his intelligence and sincerity in everything he does. Surprisingly, somehow he still harbors a kid’s mind somewhere inside himself. He is not afraid to admit that he was wrong, doesn’t hesitate to ask questions if he needs to and sometimes burst into laughs so loud that we jump off our seats. People have their ideal personalities in life. But it is so difficult to be a Amartya Sen or a Vidyasagar or an Einstein. I will be happy if I can get close to being my father.

The funny aspect of this blog is that I am right now putting in front of the whole of the world to see what I can’t express to the persons I really owe everything to. It just feels so awkward and stupid to go to my parents and say that I am amazed and inspired by them everyday.

The Other Side

2008-11-23T17:12:00.003-06:00

Ever since she arrived at the city, Smriti has been fascinated by its charm. It defines why the US of A is called the melting pot of the world. As she was standing at the cross-section of 42nd and 10th, she once again appreciated the diverseness the city has to offer. The collection of people white, black, Hispanic, middle eastern, Indians, Chinese wearing formal suits, trendy jeans, baggy pants, funky t-shirts, traditional thobes, colorful sarees, beret caps, English hats with their hair swinging low, trimmed, spiked, colored, spiraled, tucked … The walk sign went on. The small world stepped on to the street absorbing Smrity in its course. She blended in the crowd of New York.

Smriti hated walking with ipods. She considered it an awful way of cutting oneself off from the world. Only fools walk listening to ipods. They don’t know how much life they are missing all around them. She was despising the white leads that ran from the side pocket of a Chinese girl and culminated into two soft tiny earbuds, when she spotted Alec.
“Hello Smriti!” greeted Alec, his long sharp face beaming with a hearty smile.
“Hi. How are you doing?”
“O, I am great. Thanks. What’s up? Walking around alone on Friday night? Still no friends in New York! Are you staying alone?” Alec worked in the same office with Smriti. He knew a bit about her.
“Oh no! I can’t imagine living alone. It would be so boring. I live with another girl. But she had to leave for her friend’s wedding this morning. She had invited me too but I couldn’t get a leave.” Smriti made a sad face, pulling her cheeks down, curling her lips and the eyes subtly wet. Alec couldn’t hide a smile; however promptly wiped it off.
“It must be hard to be away from your family.”
“Sometimes it is. But not always, if you have friends. In Mumbai, it was so much fun. I was there before coming to New York, you know that, right?” Alec had no idea but he dared not interrupt Smriti, who didn’t wait for his response either. “We were eleven people in our group. We all used to go crazy every other day. You can’t imagine office colleagues being like that. Chitchats, leg-pulling, movies, eating out, hunting the malls, beaches, chaats, long drives …” Smriti’s voice drifted. Alec opened his mouth to say something. “You don’t know what a chaat is, do you?” Alec swallowed whatever was coming out. “Don’t worry, I will make it and invite you to my place someday.”
“I am sure,” Alec faltered, unsure what an unknown Indian dish would be like, “it will be very good.”
“You bet. I made it for Kumar’s birthday. Everyone liked it. It was yummy! Kumar was a really nice guy. We packed everyone else to go to the movies every Friday. I love watching the first day first shows. And did I tell you about our Goa trip?” Smiriti with her eyes round and glowing continued, “It was awesome! And guess what happened there. I told you about Rahul, that lethargic idiot; he never used to talk much. We were celebrating New Year’s Eve on a beach and I asked him to sing. You should have seen his reaction. That was his worst nightmare. But I was stubborn and so were some others. We pressed him, coaxed him, abused him. And finally he gave up. He sang. And …”, she slightly swayed her head from side to side, “what a voice he had! We had no idea. It was breathtaking. I will show you the pics from our Goa trip one day. Oh! Actually there is one on my desk in the office. The whole gang. When I get overloaded with the work, I look at it. The spirit inside helps me keep going.”
Smriti paused as she relished the spirit once more.
Alec grabbed the chance. He spoke his eyes squinted, “Aaaaa …. You know what! I actually have a friend waiting at home and I am supposed to get back with a pizza in five minutes”, he kept his lips slightly pulled in and pressed together as he finished.
“I am sorry. I kept you waiting too long.”
“No problem. Now I know where I have to go when I have to relax in the office; to imbibe the great Indian spirit”, Alec smiled as his voice switched to a melodramatic tone in the last part of the sentence. Smirity giggled. “Catch you later.”
“See you.”

Smirity was at the verge of the sidewalk when he heard Alec calling from behind, “Hey Smriti”. She turned. “We are driving to Rochester tomorrow morning. Would you like to join us?” Alec screamed.
“I would love to.” She shouted back. There was no second thinking, she always loved going out. Alec held out a thumbs-up and hurried towards the pizza place. Smriti waved and turned back to cross the street.

No sooner had she stepped on the road, when a chill ran down her spine. There was an SUV with its beam light on headed straight for her. She hadn’t noticed that the walk sign was off. Her senses went numb. The muscles refused to move. Everything seemed distant. What remained was all but a blurred vision like a painting obfuscated by an upturned glass of water. The isolation from the outside somehow triggered her inner core. Her first fleeting memory, the jealousy for her neighbour’s talking doll, the excitement of receiving her first prize on stage, the pride on her first composed poetry, the agony of her best friend’s death, the shock of her first period, the sensation of her first kiss, the confidence in joining the first job, the satisfaction of buying her parents first gifts, the thrill of leaving her country brushed past her. All her momentous feelings, treasured and loathed alike, came pouring down on her as if someone had opened an over-packed cupboard.

It took her a few seconds to realize that she was actually still alive. The car had screeched to a halt few inches from her. She was safe, although shaken. She stepped aside. Now she could see the driver, a middle-aged gentleman, gazing at her muttering under his breath. As Smirity mumbled a thank-you, she couldn’t miss the look on his face, a strange amalgamation of alarm, rage, disgust and relief. Deaths and near-deaths have peculiar effects on human beings.

Her initial plans were to go back home and cook. But it was too late and the recent encounter had left her is a disarray. She took the easy refuge of the glittering Macdonalds on 8th street. By the time she collected her order from the counter, she had already spotted the only Indian in the store. To fully recover from the shock, she needed to talk and the guy at the corner table looked like the perfect companion for a little chitchat.
“Excuse me! Can I sit here?” The guy seemed lost in his thoughts. “Excuse me!”
He looked up, inspected her for a moment, then appearing utterly confused in face of this unforeseen predicament of a girl wishing to talk to him, replied, “Ahhh … I am expecting someone.”
She didn’t really believe that. It was a bit embarrassing too. But now she had no choice. She apologized and took a table by the street from where she could observe the passersby. She wished she could see someone familiar! She hadn’t even taken her first bite when she watched the guy at the corner table pick up his bag and leave. So he wasn’t actually waiting for anyone. He just avoided her. That didn’t make her feel good. As she pecked at the burger, she tried to concentrate more on the trip tomorrow. This would be her first trip outside New York. Alec was a nice guy, and it got to be fun. That worked. Her mood improved. She could feel the excitement and the liveliness creeping back into herself.

The Solitary Dinner

2008-11-16T00:51:00.003-06:00

“#1 please … no cheese and coke with no ice”. Sanjay now remembers the usual questions from the lady behind the counter. In fact he knows a lot more. He is accustomed to see this African American woman in her forties as he visits the Macdonald store at half past eleven at night every day. The store must have several other employees too but she is the only one at the counter during the hours Sanjay graces the store with his presence. After every customer, she would shout “Can I help next guest please?” in a very harsh tone which always makes him feel repulsive. As if to counter that, she always backs it up with a “Hi! How you doing?”, with a stretched ‘hiiiiiiii’, sporting an even more out-stretched smile on her face. Initially Sanjay had replied back, acknowledged her greetings and on several occasions thought that she actually recognized his face. Now he knows better. She does that to every customer. There is no special bond with a regular customer. She doesn’t even mind if you keep a straight face and go about business without any personal touch. To put it simply, she doesn’t care for Sanjay beyond the point he orders his regular #1. And he loves it that way.

It was a great respite when the company decided to move him to New York. Even though he lived alone in his tenth floor apartment in Bangalore, many of his college mates were in the city. They always had an excuse or the other to invite his attention. He could avert most of them with his often true and occasionally made up urgent assignments in the office. Eventually most of them stopped calling or contacting otherwise save for forwarding emails. Still a few persistent ones held on. New York saved him from them. Here nobody knows him. The liberty of anonymity is thrilling. Two guys live next door to him. Both are in their twenties. One has a shaved head, thick metal earrings and four rings on each hand, each ring engraved with a letter to make up the words ‘ZAAP’ on the left hand and ‘ZOOR’ on the right. The piercings through his eyebrows and the lower lip always give Sanjay a tingly feeling. Two huge dragon tattoos on both arms complements his sleeveless Harley-Davidson tee-shirts while an eagle medallion silver chain jingles around his neck. Sanjay is sure that the guy has guns, or knives at least, hidden somewhere in his heavy jeans and boots. The other guy is rather skinny and prefers an ordinary get-up. However, as if to make up for his otherwise highly ornamented friend’s shaved head, he did quite a bit of work with his hair style. He has a standard Mohican strip running down the middle of the scalp, the hairs converging into five separate specks pointing in five different directions. In addition, he has two supplementary narrow strips of hair running parallel on either side of the center one. Presumably, that wasn’t enough to match his friend’s charisma. So they were emblazoned with a motley collection of colors. It looks like papa rainbow is out taking a stroll with his baby rainbows.

So far, Sanjay has never exchanged a word with them. As he was moving in the first day, his neighbors eyed him once and immediately discarded the formally dressed, timid looking Indian as out of their league. Sanjay was relieved too. He would have hated a middle-aged Indian uncle walking to him with his mouth ajar enquiring about his whereabouts and the aunty asking, “beta, why don’t you have lunch with us today?” This was much better. On a few occasions he could not sleep due to the loud party music. But he can handle apathetic indifference better than unwelcome attention.

“#1, no cheese!” … Sanjay collected his order and walked straight to the table at the corner. He likes this particular table as he can sort of blend in with the store walls. In the office, he is really content in his separate cubicle. With his PC, the laptop, a comfortable revolving chair, a telephone, documents organized in folders and a dustbin, it is perfect for him. He has a calendar stuck on the wall with some important deadlines marked on it and another paper with a few necessary phone numbers like that of his immediate boss, the IT maintenance department, the pantry service, the internal mailing system and stuff like that. As he took his first bite off the burger after carefully spreading the fries on a napkin and squeezing out some ketchup on them, he wondered how people could keep functioning in a messy workplace. There isn’t a single male co-worker in his office, and here New York being no different from Bangalore, who he could bet would find a piece of document when needed. They would hunt through their pile of papers on the desk, fumble with their folders, haphazardly open and close the drawers, lift up their keyboards, look under the coffee cups and food packets from the past three days, eventually inside the dustbin, proclaiming without a cease that they had seen it but a few moments back before starting the whole cycle again, unless they remember that they have a soft copy and take a fresh print-out. The story with the more mysterious kind is different. Sanjay sighed. First of all, it is difficult to find a woman in her seat alone or find her at all, if she knows at least two other women on the floor. Secondly, if you do find her, it is a rare occasion that she is not on the phone. You have to endure the frustration as she would continue talking for another half an hour albeit with the courtesy to gesture an apology and signaling that she would be done in a minute, every five minutes. Once she is done, another round of verbal apology would follow with vocal and facial feats of acute emotions. Finally she would listen to you and if you are in the HR department, on most cases you would be, almost invariably she would direct you to someone else who would be the ‘right’ person to take care of your trouble. If it is another woman, expect similar treatment. Assuming that you have the ability to resist the compelling urge that is building up inside you to shout, to turn down a table, to punch someone hard, to pluck at your hair, to do something destructive in general, you might ultimately get to the right person. By the way, this right person might very well be the first lady you encountered because this i-am-not-the-right-person-to-do-your-job often goes in a cycle. Now that she is sure that she has to do the work, she would ask for a few details and would go about wandering in her computer screen figuring out what exactly to be done. In the meantime, you could concentrate on more interesting objects in the world, say for example, her friends, husband, kids or grandkids along with herself in a nice framed picture, the contents varying according to the age. The pets are also not very uncommon. You could comment on how beautiful, smart or cute someone looks, depending on as the case may be, faintly hoping that it might speed up whatever she is doing on her computer. Be careful though, the discussion might divert to when and where the picture was taken, how the person in the picture affects are life and accounts along similar lines unless you are cautious enough to pull it back in to the job at hand. Rather watch the twenty something birthday cards she received this year, her oversized or tiny little purse that goes with the color of her dress, the magazine peeping out from underneath or the uncapped nail-polish that she had reluctantly put away because of your interruption. If everything is sorted out that very day, consider it one of your luckiest. You should not forget to thank her for the enormous help lest you further mar the reputation of men as an ungrateful and callous breed.

Finished with the burger and killing the fries one at a time in an almost involuntary motion of his right hand, Sanjay drifted back to the last New Year party in his office. Parties always make him tensed. The prospect of socializing drives him nervous. He never knows what to say when he meets someone, known or unknown alike. As Sanjay remembered the girls in his office giggling and chatting in that party, he wondered how there can be so much to talk about when two persons see each other everyday and spend the better part of their day sitting almost next to each other. And then there were these resting breaks during the office. It is beyond his most deliberate comprehension why the girls are so keen to use the women’s room as their favourite meeting ground when there are obvious better choices around. Secrecy is something. But why bother! They will sooner or later spill the beans to their male counterparts. What’s the fun in the gossip if not enough people know it? Sanjay used to have his fair share too thanks to Dilip who shared his desk back in Bangalore. Whenever he started “Dude, have you heard …”, and he did start every other day, Sanjay knew a new story was coming his way. Who said gossiping was the domain for girls! They should be up for some serious competition.

“Excuse me! Can I sit here?” ….. “Excuse me!”

It is an Indian girl almost Sanjay’s age, wearing a jeans and a white shirt. She held the chair opposite to Sanjay’s in an angle and had almost landed her tray on the table. She has that cute warm appearance that doesn’t dazzle you but soothes your senses.

“Ahhh … I am expecting someone.”

“Oh! Sorry!” Half embarrassed, half surprised she made for a table next to the glass wall.

“How lame was that!” Sanjay mused dejected. He could have let her sit and talk for a few minutes, or could have left the entire table for her; he was going to leave anyway. All in the world, he had to say that he was expecting someone in a Macdonald store at midnight with a finished plate in front. Now that he will be leaving in a minute, what would she think about him! But then, who cares. What difference would it have made to talk to a girl for a few minutes? Sanjay shouldered his laptop, disposed of the leftovers and made his way to the front door carefully avoiding a look towards the girl. Tomorrow is Saturday, but he has got office.

Down the Memory Lane

2008-11-03T23:25:00.006-06:00

As I was mugging up another boring string of characters for my electromagnetic course, I was observing the pattern in which I memorize. I don’t know how interesting I can make this post to you, but it was interesting to analyze myself. Well, I imbibe things much the similar way you download a high quality graphics picture from the net. Initially, I get a blurry image which then gradually, if at all, becomes sharp and distinct. I scan the subject several times and these are the steps I guess I follow.
Step 1 is generally very crucial for me. I cannot remember things unless I know where I am going. Even if I try, as I did for one of the ‘probable’ questions in the test, I feel so uneasy with the progress. I actually went back and figured out what exactly was being accomplished with whatever deduction I was supposed to memorize.

Step 1 ultimately eases step 2. Once I know where I want to end up, I can dispose of the unnecessary portions and concentrate on nothing but the gist. That might not be good if you are studying literature, but that definitely helps studying scientific derivations that involve mathematical expressions running for pages. Specially when the exam is the next morning :P

Step 3 and 4 go in a cycle. As the name suggests, this step can vary a lot from person to person. I find it easier to memorize a list if I note down points in a particular order. Sometimes it helps if some words or their abbreviations rhyme. I find it obviously easier to remember a mathematical deduction that flows logically from one step to the next. This stupid course however had ‘logical’ steps which declare that using the previous equations we can ‘easily’ see that the result follows. Since those were not very easy, I had to look for patterns that relate the initial and the final form. If patterns in step 4 are not apparent I might need to revise step 3.

The more efficient step 4 is the less important becomes step 5. However, step 5 is always there since I have to memorize at least small bits of information even if I have done a great job with step 4.

Example 1 – Q. What are common chemical hazards? (This is a question from a different test.)
Ans. Fire Hazards, Explosions Hazards from incompatible chemicals, Extremely Toxic Chemicals, Lachrymators (substances that irritate the eyes and produce tears), Vesicants (substances that can blister and burn body tissues by contact with the skin or inhalation), Carcinogens (substances that produce cancer)
Memorizing. Step 1 is obvious here. Step 2 would be to note the key words – fire, explosion, toxic, lachrymator (eye irritation), vesicant (burn body tissue), carcinogen (cancer). Step 3 I would note that there are 6 points and arrange them alphabetically Carcinogen, Explosion, Fire, Lachrymator (…), Toxic, Vesicant (…). However this order didn’t suit me much; plus the words ‘lachrymator’ and ‘vesicant’ were new to me. So I arranged them like this Fire, Explosion (Group 1, explosion follows lighting a fire), Toxic, Carcinogen, Eye irritation, Tissue burn (Group 2, toxicity is like a superset; causing cancer, eye irritation, tissue burns are like subsets albeit not exactly and the last three are in alphabetical order). Next is step 5.

Example 2 – I have to memorize the following equations –Note that equation (1) and (3) and similarly (2) and (4) are dual of each other i.e. I interchange ‘mu’ and ‘epsilon’ to get one from the other. It is easier to remember the even-numbered equations. Also in the whole system, there are actually two units. One is and the other is . The rest is a combination of these two. So instead of remembering the whole forms, I would rather remember the two units and how they are used to generate the rest.

Also if there is an equation which says A gives B. I would notice the differences (delta_AB) between the two and remember A and delta_AB and then derive B using the two. There can be a lot more examples. I would be happy to know if you do it in a similar fashion or what other methods you use to memorize. I have one more test to go in this semester. I could use some help.

Mind Freed

2008-10-26T23:13:00.001-05:00

It is a bright summer day. The sun is blazing. It is hot, however thankfully not at all humid; a rare occurrence in this part of the globe, but still not something completely unforeseen. The boy is sitting under the huge tree, which by the way is the only object visible from there, other than the parched field all around it. There are still a few more months to go before the local farmers start tilling the land. The tree stands as a misfit to the whole scenario, like a protruding mole on an otherwise smooth skin. However, unlike being unwelcome as a mole, it is rather a bliss. It is the only refuge for a burnt soul in miles. Localites and strangers alike have availed this shelter since what seems like forever. Today, the boy sits quiet on an ancient root hair of the tree that has bulged out of the earth underneath, his eyes wandering on the vast emptiness in front. Nothing moves, save for the yellowish grass blades that flutter erratically in the wind. Suddenly a gust of air comes and lifts a bunch of dry leaves in a tiny whirlwind few inches above the ground; a minified exhibition of the power that the nature holds within. His mind goes free. The lack of motion, the sense of time standing still frees him from his thoughts. It seems like there is nothing to worry about. It is a moment that the world, with its mundane hassles, objectives and aspirations is completely forgotten.

The Subway Melody

2008-10-13T22:24:00.001-05:00

This Sunday, I was returning from yet another pointless solitary stroll in downtown. I went down the subway on the Jackson Boulevard. It was stuffy inside and I decided to take my coat off. Along with the coat, out came my ipod earphones. That is when I felt the melody in the air. There was an old Hispanic lady sitting behind a pillar. She was of medium build, wearing a red sweater, a bunch of keys dangling from her neck like a locket. An instrument case was neatly kept on the side and a battery powered music box was filling music to the otherwise bland station. She was playing what might be an improvised version of a violin. And … she was marvelous. I mean she was MARVELOUS. I don’t know whether it was because of my mood at that moment or just because she was too good, I felt like I could listen to that forever…. However (sigh!) it actually lasted too short, I believe not more than ten minutes by the standard watch. The next train rumbled in shattering the music on its way. I dropped two dollars in her kitty. She looked at me and smiled. A smile of gratitude. Little does she know, her music is worth much more than a few bucks.

Weird Offness!

2008-10-06T22:48:00.007-05:00

Well, I wasn't planning to make this post. Not after the puja and the excitement. But then, many posts are made on an impulse. It is one of them. My older blog ended in a similar note http://mumbaidays.blogspot.com/. It is the feeling of being off. It is odd. It is not like being sad or disheartened or worried or distressed. It is something I cannot describe in proper words. I am doing all regular stuff. I finished some pending work in the morning, got done with some puja stuff, had a very important meeting with my boss and our collaborator from a different university this afternoon. It all looks well; doesn't feel that way. I don't like anything I do and I can't do anything I like. To be more specific, I don't even know what I would like to do. 'I sometimes donot know what to do with myself'. Right now, I am grading a huge bundle of copies as a part of my TA assignment. It sucks. But somehow this boring repetitive job keeps my hapazard mind steady and it functions okay with ocassional breaks in youtube and blogger. Let me know if you have any suggestion to get rid of this. Be quick because I will be okay by tomorrow anyway. Somebody suggested that I am in love, which I assure you is a complete bullshit for the current situation! And don't suggest watching movies, right now no apetite for those.
This song is a good solace for me ...

http://www.esnips.com/doc/b0433ef9-85c2-44ff-874d-9b317e44b426/AkhilBandhu---Oi-Je-Aakasher-Gaay-Durer-Balaka

Oi je akasher gaai durer balaka bhese jaai
Ora basa bandhe na
Ora chanchal, ora uddam
Ora karo byathai kande na

The Y Factor

2008-09-20T23:12:00.003-05:00

I have always complained to my mom that she worries too much for me. Even when I was going to Mumbai for my job, she cried so much in the station. I was 22. I remember the person next to me, asking if it was the first time I was going out without my parents. I sighed and added that I had been in boarding schools since I was nine. The laws of affection defy logic. I just named it the Y factor.

My mom’s ultimate defense for all arguments has always been the age difference; that I would realize her point once I turn her age. As obvious, that ends the discussion. Since I never catch up with her age and I don’t remember arguments we had 24 years back, I was never able to pursue a single argument to my favor. So to understand the Y factor, I am supposed to have my own kids, which still is a distant future; at least it seems so. However, in this case, I sort of have a pre-hint. And it’s about my kid brother. He is just two and a half years younger than I am. Not a huge difference. But still I think of him as a kid. I find it hard to believe that he can manage everything on his own. My brother, who used to sit in my class with me in kindergarten rather than his own, who couldn’t finish even a single pack of ‘frooti’, who always sticks to me in a gathering, who has to explain all the new toys and comics he has amassed while I was away from home, who plays with his large collection of discarded plastic items, paper boxes and railway tickets, who innocently asks to lower my shoulder so that he can blissfully fall asleep every time we travel together in a bus or a train or a cab; well, whatever his age is, I find it difficult to visualize how he is attending a meeting or giving a presentation or arguing his case with his boss. It might seem odd to you. But for me, it’s really amazing! Deep down something within me doesn't want to accept that my little brother has actually grown up.

My Encounters with Rainy Days

2008-09-09T16:25:00.004-05:00

Time: Summer, 1987
Venue: Jhargram, Midnapore, West Bengal
Event: The raging storm. My dad didn’t return home from the office. He used to work 50km from where we lived and the storm had cut off road links. Powercut. We didn’t have a telephone. My little brother crying. Water streaming in under the doors and windows. I am putting a few rags in the gaps trying to stop the water.
Aftermath: Not much. All was well the next day. But I still remember that as my earliest encounter with a rainy day.

Time: June, 1990
Venue: Calcutta, Admission Test Hall of a school
Event: The last question asked to write a paragraph on ‘A Rainy Day’. I wrote just one sentence ‘I like rainy days’ :D
Aftermath: I had failed the exam.

Time: Summer, 1992
Venue: Purulia, West Bengal
Event: Our summer break was starting. My dad was taking me home. There was a heavy rain that day. We were afraid that the train which we were supposed to take might be cancelled. It might not seem to be a big deal now. But then, the prospect of not getting home in time was too overwhelming for a nine-year-old.
Aftermath: The train was not cancelled. It was late though. I could live with that. However, something terrible happened the same night. Two of our senior students along with one’s father drowned as their car ran into a river on a broken bridge.

Time: July, 1997
Venue: Calcutta, In front of Science City
Event: We (me, my younger brother and my mother) were waiting outside the Science City for a bus. Suddenly it started raining. It was literally a blinding rain. The buses were so crowded, we failed to get in. My mother was all tensed and crying, too scared to be there with her little children. We were not that little but then, moms are moms. She almost jumped in front of a car and asked for help. The person in the car was kind enough to give us a ride to our place on the EM bypass.
Aftermath: My mom had invited him to visit us later and had all plans to give him a royal treatment as a gratitude for the help. He never turned up. My mom still holds that help as a divine intervention.

Time: August, 2005
Venue: Mumbai
Event: As usual it was raining in Mumbai. We were 4 people getting back home from the office in an auto (the motorized 3-wheel vehicle). Over the journey, we had a vigorous discussion on how to enjoy the rain. We planned to relish the home-made pakoras sitting on the terrace, sipping on a hot cup of tea and watching the TV. As we were getting off at our destination, the driver mentioned that we were the lucky ones to enjoy a rainy day while he had to keep working. That led us burst into laughter. We mentioned to him that all our plans were just wishes. We were all new to Mumbai. We didn’t have a TV, no cooking arrangement; we didn’t even have beds to sleep on. We used to sleep on a cloth on the floor and wrapped ourselves up with another in case it got colder in the morning. The driver was embarrassed. I am not sure if he thought that he was the lucky one.
Aftermath: Nothing very remarkable about the incident but that day is one of the things very prominent in my memory.

Time: 25th July, 2005
Venue: Mumbai
Event: The infamous Mumbai rain. The office was called off early to let people get home. We ignored and left late. Stupid us! There was no transport on the road. Low areas were flooded. We waddled through the mess to get back home. There was a power cut and guess what could be worse! No water!!
Aftermath: The next few days were hell! The office was our best refuge. Details in http://mumbaidays.blogspot.com/2005/10/when-hell-broke-loose-mumbai-rain.html

Time: 8th September, 2008
Venue: Chicago
Event: The weather sucks though I am now used to it. Light drizzles continuing the whole of the day with occasional downpours. Somebody asked me to ‘enjoy the weather’. I thought it was sarcastic. Then added ‘with pakoras and chai’.
Aftermath: It made me miss the pakoras and chai and reminded me of the autoricksaw incident in Mumbai and then a lot of other events and eventually made me write this post.

New Semester : Old Whining

2008-08-27T14:53:00.001-05:00

The title says it all. The new semester, the same monster, has appeared again. And like all others, I hate the school to start. Classes, assignments, exams – the same old story of a student life. Add the extra TA load, sprinkle some careless advisor, lousy research spice to that and you got the standard graduate student life. Summer was good and not just because of the weather. Well, that just reminds me that I had a lot of fun this summer; went to several places, visited old friends and made new ones. As a side effect … I am broke; I mean I am badly broke. The bank account balance has almost dropped to null. I pay this semester’s tuition differential and the process is complete. Oh! No! I forgot about the credit card balance.

The Tech Blog

2008-08-01T20:37:00.005-05:00

As some of you might have noticed already, I created a new blog names 'Techie Titbits'. It is about technical titbits that I encounter over my journey through internet mostly and some others otherwise. It is not really about new breakthroughs or about never-seen-before information. It is several interesting and useful stuff put together.

Often these are issues that I had faced myself. I googled the problems, checked relevant forums or consulted offline resources to solve them. And then I thought, why not put them in one place so that others might be saved the pain of doing the same research. Also, I figured out that there were a few problems that I encountered more than one time. Specially related to coding. Say, how do you connect to a MySQL server using php? I once did some php coding and had figured it out. Recently, I was writing a new php code and I realized that my memory had failed me. So this blog is also like a archive for technical issues-solutions for me. Hope you enjoy it too.

Let me know if you have any suggestions. Anything related to the content, design or whatever. If you are having some technical issue recently, tell me about it too. I might help you solve it. Or if you already have the solution, I can post it here with due acknowledgment.

The Mammoth Caves

2008-07-22T22:56:00.005-05:00

365 miles of underground caves! Well, that definitely qualifies as ‘mammoth’. Initially used as an adjective for this huge natural wonder in central Kentucky has now become the name for the same. It is a natural formation of sandstone and limestone cut through by the water flowing underground to the Green River. It has seven layers of caves created during different time periods. At some places, the dimensions are pretty big. You could build a large hall out of it. And at places, you can barely walk straight. The dimensions differ due to different duration and speed of water flow.

The caves were used by the Native Americans to collect gypsum, which is still abundant in the caves. Mummified Native American bodies were found in the caves. Though these mummies were not as elaborate as the Egyptian ones and the bodies were rather preserved by the caves’ natural conditions. The caves were a prime source for nitrates in the nineteenth and early twentieth century before it turned mostly into a tourist attraction later on. Stephen Bishop, an African-American slave and a guide to the caves during the 1840s and 1850s, is credited to have made extensive maps of the cave, and named many of the cave's features.

However, I must say that the caves are rather featureless. Unless you are an archeologist or some other professional of that sort, you won’t find too much difference in different sections of the caves. There is underground life in the caves such as eyeless fishes and spiders. But they are insignificant. You have to be really watchful to get your eyes on them. The only part of the caves which has any sort of formation is the frozen niagra. It has beautiful arrangements of stalactites.

As for the guided cave tours, consider your physical condition. They might be strenuous if you are not fit because they often involve long walks. However, if you are fit, take the 6 hour wild cave tour (where you are supposed to have real expedition experience) and the frozen niagra tour. There is no point taking all the tours because, as I said earlier, the caves are not very different from one point to the other.

The national park also has some beautiful trails through the forest on the surface. You can also do some kayaking on the river. The camping grounds are decent and pretty cheap ($20/person/night). There is also a Mammoth Hotel with accommodation available. This was my first camping experience. It was pretty good. A tent, a temporary bed, some food, a few friends, man-made restrooms in the vicinity - it all made a perfect camping prospect. Getting the fire on (I mean the real fire, the camp fire) was a different story. It took us quite some effort to get a good fire. Remember, putting up a fire is not easy. We had to try so hard with our gas lighters, kerosene, dry woods bought from the near-by store, magnesium flares and a coal starter from walmart, I wonder how the early humans ever managed it.

The Road to the Park

Gypsum on the walls

I told you - it's big

Frozen Niagra

Stalactite Formation

Fatman's Misery

A trail

The Green River

The Deer in the dark

Down the winding caves

The tent and the camper

Along the trail

Typical Cave Wall

The Guide with a lamp used by early explorers

The Wine Story

2008-07-12T16:01:00.007-05:00

This is a short pictorial life-cycle of the grapes that finally make their way to our tastebuds via wine bottles.

The cradle – grape vines where they grow

Choice of the fittest – the grapes are hand picked for quality products (the man in the pic is the wine-maker)

Extorting the essence – the chosen grapes are crushed to relieve the juice within

Preparing for the preparation – the juice is kept at precise temperature for a precise duration before they are ready to be transferred to the barrels

Way to perfection – Most of their lifetime is spent in the barrels. They are kept there for years. The winemaker checks the quality from time to time till they are ready.

Expensive captives – Bottled wines. Beware of the cost.

The final frontier – Served to a rejoicing crowd

Santa Barbara - the small pretty town

2008-06-29T10:22:00.008-05:00

The first day, we went to a Mexican restaurant for lunch. It took us around an hour for the meal. When we came out, to our utter surprise, the street outside, which happens to be the lifeline of the town, had been converted to a fruit market. That is Santa Barbara. A very relaxed town at the coast line of California. I have never been to such a small, beautiful and relaxed town as this one. The downtown has no building above two stories, rather too small for a person from Chicago. However it has a wide variety of restaurants and other stalls to keep you engaged. It has a lot of green. People can be seen loitering all around or just sitting on the benches. For a moment, I had to recheck if it was actually a weekday. Nobody showed any sign of a rush.

The co-existence of the hills and the ocean makes it a very scenic place. The pier offers a good view of the city. I went to the Goleta beach too which is closer to the university campus. However, the only disappointment was that the water wasn’t clean. I had to drop my plan of bathing in the sea. I had been to the university beach on the last day just before leaving. The water was clearer there but then I didn’t have the time to enjoy it. Our trip to the vineyard for the dinner on Thursday was a very noble experience. The hilly road by the side of the ocean and through the country side was awesome. We went through a Dutch town and farms of horses and ostriches to finally arrive at the winery. The dinner with fine wine and adequate supplements was perfect.

The University of Santa Barbara campus was very attractive too. The very well-defined campus is surrounded by the natural beauties all around. The campus itself is very green. The dearth of students in the summer made it all the more silent and serene. The over-all get-up of the campus, the trees, the abundance of bikes, entrance of the student halls, the buildings reminded me of the KGP campus. It was so unlike UIC.

The note will be incomplete without a mention of the airport. It is again so small. It is made out of a building which wasn’t meant to be an airport. These days I am so used to the big airports, I was actually confused there. It was easier to figure my way out in the LA airport then in Santa Barbara. And, the planes that flew between LA and SB, are pretty small. The American Eagle flights carry hardly forty people. It initially feels a bit uncomfortable travelling in these old style planes, but then the views from the top help you get rid of the worries and enjoy the journey.

Downtown

A view of the Goleta beach

New Day Dawns

The Vineyard

University Campus - silent and serene

The small plane

Belafonte - Paalkir Gaan

2008-05-31T17:37:00.002-05:00

I was listening to the so-called ‘banana song’ of Harry Belafonte. It is an adapted version of the traditional Jamaican song sung by the night-shift dock workers who load bananas on ships. They sing it at dawn when their work is almost done and they are eager to go home. The song is well sung no doubt. However, the reason I make this post is different. That song reminded me of ‘paalkir gaan’; the slower ending part of it, where the palanquin bearers are exhausted at the end of the day. The ‘heiyan-hei-re-hei-aha’ from the Bengali song resonates with ‘daylight come and me wan' go home’ of the Day-O lyrics.

http://www.musicindiaonline.com///p/x/64brI7OHQt.As1NMvHdW/ (Link to the Bengali song)

Indiana Dunes

2008-05-18T21:09:00.002-05:00

Good trips are always decided impromptu. Too much planning just leads to procrastination and never culminates. This was proved once again today as we had a very enjoyable trip to the Indian Dunes. Albeit a bit cold, it was a bright sunny day. Arnab and I were positive that we must go somewhere. 11am we started planning (that is when we woke up) and by 1 o’ clock four of us (including Bhujo and Swarnava) were off to Indiana. It was a drive of about an hour through I-90E/US-20. The place was amazing. Being just the beginning of the season, the crowd was thin. We had the beach to ourselves. It was refreshing to watch the waves break on the shore with the Chicago skyline evident on the horizon. The blend of colors of the water, the sky and the sand-dunes was fabulous. We braved the freezing water to take a quick bath. Though it lasted barely a few minutes as the skin was getting numb (the temperature was in forties), the fun was worth it. Besides, it was impossible to ignore the tempting waves. A walk down the 1.2 mile trail, climbing some sand dunes, cracking a lot of jokes (lame ones too), a fine 14’’ stuffed pizza in Michigan city and it was a perfect one-day-outing.

Proof that it was a perfect day for outing

Chicago skyline at the horizon

The trail through the green

The Blend of colors - the camera (or the owner) wasn't good enough to capture the real beauty though

The wooden trail through sand

We go off-route and up on a sand hill

The Nature again

Anti-Vibration Table

2008-04-24T19:11:00.003-05:00

This was an exhibit at MRS Spring Meeting 2008 from Halcyonics. I was pretty impressed with their performance. Watch the video. Notice the coins standing on the shock-proof table.

San Francisco

2008-04-01T20:58:00.007-05:00

The City and its entertainment

San Francisco was awesome. The city has a color of its own. The downtown area on the market street is like any other city but near the bay, it’s different. With its crooked roads, colorful piers and a wild combination of different people San Francisco is the perfect place for a short vacation. Fisherman’s Wharf is the place to be. Don’t forget pier 39. The Golden Gate Bridge was magnificent. The cruise ride under the bridge and around the Alcatraz was worth $22. You can take a ferry to the infamous prison from pier 33. But it takes a lot of time and make sure you book your tickets 3-4 days before your visit. There are several small entertainment places near the wharf. I visited the aquarium of the bay which required an additional $8 with the cruise ride in a combination package. It takes $15 for a separate visit. However, it wasn’t even worth $8. This place is not recommended unless you have small kids with you. There is a wax museum ($13) which is small and didn’t look interesting. Same with Ripley’s Believe it or Not museum ($15). I visited neither.

The Golden Gate Bridge

Alcatraz - the infamous prison

The City Skyline

Aquarium of the Bay

The Food

If you are a fan of seafood, you can try out a lot of things. Crabs are the specialty of the region. The Chinatown is typical. However, supposedly this is one of the oldest in the US. You can try the regular American-Chinese stuff there. There are two Indian restaurants New Delhi Restaurant and Punjab Kabab House right next to each other near the 5^th and Market crossing. Both were good. There is an Italian area too boasting Roman cuisine. Of course, you have the ubiquitous McDonalds and Subway.

Crabs - The Specialty

The Transportation

San Francisco probably has the widest range of transportation. BART is the long range railway service connecting several wide apart areas including the airport. MUNI is the local transport. It has the trains (which are like Kolkata trams), buses which run on electricity with electric poles sticking out on top and regular buses. There is also the heritage cable cars which are trams imported from Milan. Each ride costs $1.50 on regular MUNI transportation, $5 for cable cars. BART fares depend on distance. Daily, 3-day, 5-day, monthly passes are available and may be convenient and cheaper depending on how you plan to travel around the city.

A peek inside BART

Several Modes

John Denver

2008-02-27T21:18:00.005-06:00

I am not much of a music enthusiast. I can’t really spot the difference in them, no idea about what is rock and what is pop, what’s country and what’s folk, forget further subtleties like punk rock and stuff. All I know about a song is how much I like the tune and how appealing is the lyrics. So that’s what I will talk about.

I listened to a few songs of John Denver and for the fast few days I couldn’t stop listening. Some of his songs are marvelous to say the least. The depiction of nature with his music and the deep voice is bound to captivate your senses. You can feel his songs. My personal favorites are – Annie’s song, Country Roads, I am leaving on a Jet Plane, Calypso and Sunshine on my shoulders. Of course, there are many more you might like. I am putting the youtube links for some of them. Some quick facts about John Denver –

Real Name: Henry John Deutschendorf II
From: Doug Mundy, Monroe, North Carolina, USA
Adopted Surname: 'Denver' after the capital of his favorite state, Colorado
Peak of Career: 70's with several hits and awards
Death: in a plane crash he was piloting (Denver's father, Lt. Col. Henry John Deutschendorf. Sr. held three world speed records in aviation.)

Before I end, I must mention Anjan Dutta, a Bengali singer of recent times. I have been listening to his songs since long and after listening to John Denver, I can clearly see the influence of the later on the former. Anjan’s ‘Sunshine’ and ‘Purono Guitar’ are obvious inspirations from ‘Sunshine on my shoulders’ and ‘this old guitar’ of Denver.

Enough of my bullshit; listen to the songs -

Annie's Song

Country Roads

I am leaving on a Jet Plane

Sunshine on my shoulders

Lunar Eclipse

2008-02-22T23:17:00.006-06:00

On 21st Feb, 2008, the world witnessed the total lunar eclipsed which won't happen again before 2010. I had the chance to sneak a peek.

The Red Moon (it looks red because the moon is lit by the refracted light from earth's atmosphere which scatters the blue but lets the red through) courtesy NASA website

A slice of the moon through the branches of the tree on our porch

Stray Snaps

2008-02-12T18:23:00.000-06:00

The chief advantage of having a digital camera is your liberty to keep clicking. I remember my dad thinking twice before he took a snap with his Yashica, which by the way is still there but rarely used. Firstly, there was a chance that he might run out of reel. Secondly, what if it wasn't that good a take! He had to make sure that everyone in the group had a fair share of the snaps and at the same time cover the main attractions of the place we were visiting. And no outside pics in the dark. Guess why! Because the flash was an independent entity, which needed to be fixed to the camera and required a plug point to charge it before each flash. Well, those days are gone with the digital version coming in. With a high-capacity memory card and good batteries, it's a breeze taking photos. Here are some samples of mindless clicking. These are the ones that I can post on the blog and still expect you to go through it. There was actually a lot of crap, discarded. But who cares! That's the fun of a digital camera.

Bees finding a safe place on the roof of Buland Darwaja (Fatehpur Sikri)

Read the last line (in Hindi) - It reads 'Even if the visitors park their vehicles outside the parking place, still they have to pay for it" ... what the hell!! (Agra)

The Squirrel in the Agra Fort living inside history (Agra)

At the entrance to the Taj (Agra)

At the Lotus Temple (Delhi)

Can you spot the sleeping man? (on our way to Akshardham Temple - Delhi)

The gas tank reads "Water of Iraq" (on our way to Humayun's tomb - Delhi)

Too many on the same rickshaw. It has 3 adults and 4 children. I missed a better angle. (Delhi)

Through the window of the Rajdhani Express (Somewhere in UP)

Delhi Agra and Jaipur

2008-02-02T18:45:00.000-06:00

It was a bit hectic to squeeze in a week-long tour of Delhi-Agra-Jaipur in my 3 week vacation to India. However, it was worth the hassle. I will avoid the explicit details of the trip and rather emphasize on a few places and a few other aspects.

First, let me tell you about the travel. We went to Delhi by the Rajdhani Express and took a Kingfisher flight back to Kolkata. Both were really great. Otherwise, we had a rented car. And that is what I want to talk about, the roads. I happened to witness the extremes of Indian traffic. The roads which are part of the Golden Quadrilateral are just unbelievable. When we were travelling over Gurgaon on Jaipur-Delhi highway, there was no way I could differentiate it from a US expressway. However, inside cities, it was awful. The worst was the road that leads to the Tajmahal. There were cars, buses, motorcycles, bicycles, trucks all pressed against each other in a narrow road which had a huge pit right in the middle of it. Vehicles of all sizes and shape stood still inserted into every inch of the road in odd angles when God knows from where a herd of buffalos, a good 20-30 of them enters the scene. It was such a huge chaos. I think we spent at least an hour and a half to cover two kilometers.

Delhi was our first place of interest. We visited the Red Fort, the Jama Mosque, Qutub Minar, Humayun’s tumb, the Lotus temple, Rajghat the memorial to Mahatma Gandhi, Connaught Place-Palika Bazar and the Birla temple. They were all good. But what stole the show was the Akhshardham Temple. It was mind blowing. It was beyond all expectations. This mammoth structure with intricate sculpture and designs is bound to captivate your senses. There is a central monument surrounded by other smaller buildings and structures. The whole of the area is meticulously decorated. It is a free entry. However there are audio-visual shows and boat rides which can be experienced with a fee. Photography is not permitted in the complex. The following pics are courtesy cheetos.

Aksharsham Temple - Front View (Delhi)
Aksharsham Temple - Angled View(Delhi)
Agra was the next. In between we grabbed a brief visit to Vrindaban, the birth place of Lord Krishna. Well, in Agra, you know what the prime attraction is. The Taj was great. No doubt, it was splendid, but it failed to meet the expectation. May be we are so used to its pics and have heard so much about it, the expectations were really high. However, let me warn you; inspite of its grandeur, it’s a lackluster Taj. You can clearly see the yellowish spots on the white marble like teeth not properly brushed for long. River Jamuna is also only a shadow of what she was centuries back. However, don’t be misguided to the conclusion that it is not worth a visit. Even being lackadaisical compared to the true Taj standard, it is still marvelous.

The Taj (Agra)
The Agra Fort, Buland Darwaja and the darga of Selim Chisti at Fatehpur Sikri were good. But again there was a surprise at Sikandra, the tomb of Akbar. It was a calm and beautiful place without much fuss. The lawns teeming with peacocks and deer made it all the more serene. Following the short tunnel and paying homage to probably the greatest emperor India has ever seen: it’s a very solemn feeling.
Buland Darwaja (Fatehpur Sikri)
The Lawn at Akbar's tomb (Sekendra - close to Agra)
Jaipur visit was brief. The city palace, the Jantarmantar and the Hawamahal were good but nothing great. We paid visits to the only Brahma temple in the world at Pushkar and the famous darga of Ajmer. We had only a outside view of the Amber Fort while rushing to catch our return flight from Delhi.

Hawa Mahal (Jaipur)
A few points worth mentioning-
1> The North India cold wasn’t very bad as many had warned us earlier. It gets really cold at night but by then you are safe inside your hotel room.
2> Many places in Delhi remain closed on Monday e.g. Akshardham temple, Lotus temple and Red Fort. Keep that in my while planning your trip.
3> We spent around thousand bucks for parking and road tolls.
4> All traditional religious places are bugged with hundreds of people who are after your money, doesn’t matter which religion it is. I know it’s their living and many of them might be doing an honest business; but you better watch out on the streets and even inside the sacred place you are visiting. Don’t get too much carried away with your devotion. I had some very irritating experiences.
5> Cameras are not allowed everywhere, especially in religious places it’s an absolute no-no. Otherwise, there are entry fees for movie camers (yes, that includes your handycam) even for still cameras at some places.
6> Expect for the Akshardham pics, all others were shot with my new Canon Powershot A560 camera. It’s damn neat.

Blue Man Group

2007-12-17T19:24:00.001-06:00

Sunday, December 16^th saw us at the Blue Man Group show in Chicago. It’s amazing how they have combined music, color, theatre and electronic multimedia to create a unique entertainment show. The show began with a rather long interaction with the audience through electronic message boards, where people were asked read out the displayed lines congratulating some people for their recent feats or suggesting someone how to kill his headache. It felt a bit stupid to me but the enthusiasm, with which a large part of the audience reacted, may be it was a good stunt to gear up the viewers. Through out the show, the music was awesome. The common act of beating the drums was elevated to a superior level with different colors and strategically placed lights.

The mime was good. The visual presentations through different forms served well as breaks between the main acts. Audience interaction was a very important part of the entire show. They often came out to the general sitting area, connected to the people and selected individuals to be parts of their acts. An old lady was invited to their dinner table while a young man was used to make an ultra-modern art, which involved painting him blue and smashing him against a canvas. The lady must have enjoyed it. I hope the guy enjoyed it too. The most hilarious part of audience interaction for me was when someone entered the show late. The on-going show was halted; electronic sign boards declared that someone came late; one of the blue-men focused a light on the late comers; cameras tracked them and there was a background song saying “You are late … you are late” in an opera style. You should have seen the expression of the late comers. At a later stage, rolls of white ribbons were put on the audience along with a great show of lights. The moves of rock n roll were fun and exciting too. However, the best part for me was playing the pipes. Below is a video from the youtube. It’s from a different show, but it’s similar.

Overall, the evening was a delight. Even more as we got tickets for $30 instead of the normal rate of $60 being students. So don’t forget to take your student ID if you are one.

(The pics in the post are courtesy http://www.billhartzer.com/pages/blue-man-group-puts-on-incredible-show-in-las-vegas/ You are not allowed to take pictures or videos inside the hall)

Going Home, Hating Mondays

2007-12-16T23:09:00.000-06:00

In school, the holidays always started on the last day of the exam. We used to have the exam in the morning and by the time it was over, the campus was crowded with parents to take their boys home. If you were there in the hall till the end of the exam, you could hear the parents greeting their children or calling out loud a last minute instruction before they leave for home. It was tough seating there and revising your answers or even finishing the unanswered ones with the event of going home so close at hand. Naturally, the last exam was always a bit messed up. Things were a bit different in college since by then students went home on their own and no parents were to be seen (except for a few cases and those students inevitably were labeled as grown-up-looking kids). Still, you couldn’t miss the going-home-excitement in the air. Given the background, you can easily sense the thrill of going home after one and a half years, that too for the first time after coming to a place 7998 miles away from the home town. That’s something you feel just once in your life time. However, the sad part is that I booked my ticket quite late and all the people I know, have already left or will be leaving soon for India. Though it’s worth the wait, it’s kind of frustrating to watch people leave while you are stuck. Like the last exam in school, I don’t feel like working in these last two weeks before I fly home. Unfortunately, people in my research group aren’t going home. They got work for me. How sad :( It makes the Monday even more wearisome, even more unwelcome than a regular Monday. I will hate to wake up tomorrow morning.

Graduate Student after 3rd Semester

2007-12-09T22:42:00.000-06:00

The third semester of my graduate studies is almost at its end. I am going back home in two weeks after one and a half years. I have been out of home since I was nine, studying always in boarding schools. But it was never for such a long stretch. Naturally, I am excited. However, right now it’s not only the excitement creeping in my mind; it’s also the uneasiness of a graduate student in one’s second year. To be honest, I have no idea where my research is heading. In the past one year I have learnt things, understood concepts and become more confident. But I doubt my abilities to conduct research on my own. So far, whatever I have achieved has largely been a favor from my senior in the lab. Unfortunately, he is graduating soon and soon it’s going to be a one-man-show, that one man being yours truly. It has got sort of an uncanny feeling when you know that you got no one for ready support. As far the advisor is concerned, I think other than some lucky graduate students, it’s hardly a factor save for the final stages when you need contacts for a job. From an optimistic perspective, hopefully it will help me grow as an independent researcher. Well, let’s put it in different words. It will be a test for me whether I can be independent and whether I can be a researcher, because so far I have been neither.

Saawariya

2007-11-10T19:38:00.000-06:00

(Don't bother to watch)

Half an hour through the movie and we were out of the theatre. Well, that gives you the gist of what is coming. It was a massacre. Whatever story it was getting at, was punctuated with a song almost every seven minutes. The tunes were good but then you are at the movie for the story and not entirely for songs. How long can you stand that? The dialogues were rarely catchy and the build-up wasn’t good at all. I can’t vouch for the whole of the movie because, as you know, I had given up pretty soon. The movie was set in a picturesque background which looks like a fairytale. That was good; it was artistic and poetic in some sense. May be people who understand the nitty-gritty’s of photography or shooting might appreciate that but that wasn’t good enough for the common audience. I am not complaining about the acting, however. Rani Mukherjee, Salman Khan, and the newbies, both Ranbir Kapoor and Sonam Kapoor looked great and did a good job. It could have been passed as a good attempt for a new setting in bollywood by a new director. But, Sanjay Leela Bansali; we definitely expected a lot lot better .

Natyoshala- Free Bengali Drama (Bangla Natok) Audio, Scripts, Reports and More

2007-11-08T23:19:00.000-06:00

Natyoshala, a non-profit collective initiative, is an open source bengali drama portal that provides the unique setting to share your interest with other drama enthusiasts. Here Bengali Drama (Bangla Natok) enthusiasts will find bengali audio plays (bangla natok), bengali audio books, bengali drama scripts and bengali drama reports. However, the most unique part is the way you can contribute and participate as a passionate drama person. Present your recording of a bengali audio play or an audio book. Upload a bengali drama script that you composed or adapted from a story. Submit a report about a recent bangla natok, which you watched or performed, say at your parar pujo. Browse through different kinds of bangla natok contents, put your comments, rate the contents and discuss your thoughts about this website and bengali drama in general at the forum.

Durga Puja in Chicago

2007-10-20T22:35:00.000-05:00

We organized Durga Puja 2007 in downtown Chicago (in the west campus of University of Illinois at Chicago) for the first time on 13th and 14th October. We were excited to have such a big event which is so very close to the heart every Bengali. It was organized by students living in and around Chicago and we were overwhelmed with the support and enthusiasm bestowed by the student community. However, along with the young hearts, we were fortunate to have the experience of senior members on our side too. With the support of all, we saw a turn up of over 300 people in the event making it a huge success.
Here are a few videos from the event -
Pujo

Pujo

Ya Chandi Shloka

Bangla Natok by Natyoshala

Snake Dance

Dance on Dola Re

The Bahá’í and the Ramakrishna Mission

2007-09-29T15:12:00.000-05:00

Do you know of the Bahá’í faith? I guess most of you don’t. Well, do you know the famous Lotus Temple in Delhi? I guess you do. That temple is the worshipping place for the Bahá’í in Asia, one among the places they have, each in one continent. I visited the Bahá’í house of worship in Wilmette, Illinois very close to Chicago and was impressed by their thoughts. What was particularly interesting to me was the similarity with the Ramakrishna Mission movement, I am so familiar with.

Both of them started in the nineteenth century, the RK Mission with the teachings of Shri Ramakrishna (1836-1886) and the Bahá’í with those of Bahá’u’lláh (1819-1850). They flourished because of their liberal outlooks and their trend of accepting all sorts of people from varying background. They accept all religions to be true, all spiritual leaders as messengers of God and the humanity as one unique community. Both the religions were introduced to the western world at the World Parliament of Religions in Chicago in 1893 and have, since then, gathered large number of followers in all parts of the world. They have well-maintained hierarchical structures and have a democratic style of organization.

However there are differences nonetheless. I think the Bahá’í faith is more concentrated, as it seems, they have an official community with registered members. They accept donations only from registered members (which I consider to be justified enough to keep away political and other agendas out of the realm of religion) and as such that makes a very clear-cut definition of who is a Bahá’í and who is not. They are a more well-defined separate religion. On the other hand, Ramakrishna Mission is not a separate religion. Obviously there are monastic members who are like ‘registered’ members of the order, but you don’t have to be a RKMissionite or something like that to offer your financial help to the society. You can be a Hindu or a Christian or a Muslim and a member of the RKMission at the same time.

For more info check http://www.bahai.org/ and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramakrishna_Mission

(I am not an expert on either of the religious orders. My comments or opinions are my personal only and not targeted to particularly promote or defile any particular school of thought. I just found it interesting to note the similarities (and dissimilarities) of the two orders in a short span of time.)

Twenty-20 World Cup - A New Hope

2007-09-24T23:46:00.000-05:00

India winning the final of a big tournament; well, that's reason enough for a celebration. We had grown so accustomed to India losing out in the final (in case they made it till there), that this was a very welcome change. India won the Twenty-20 World Cup. More importantly, they did it without the big names. The young Indian side quite ably lead by Dhoni pulled off a rather unimaginable feat. They beat South Africa, Australia and finally Pakistan under such tight conditions, it has been an infallible testimonial to their never-say-die attitude. India, if you remember, is not quite recognized for that. Even with a favorable situation at hand, I have heard hardcore Indian fans not trusting their team until they really reach their target. My parents still recall when Pakistan was all out for 60 runs and yet managed to beat India or when Javed Miandad hit a sixer of the last ball to clench a sensational win. This victory is not enough to get rid of all the insecurity we have gathered over the years. But I sincerely hope that, it be the beginning of a new phase, when we will believe that Indian players can hold on to their nerves till the last minute and can win tournaments even with all odds against them.

Blog Topics in Mind

2007-09-23T10:20:00.000-05:00

Although I couldn't come up with a post in the recent time, it doesn't mean I wasn't thinking. Here is a list of topics I thought I would write about.

T20 World Cup - Now that India is in the final, any Indian would like to talk about it. However, what is really amazing is that in the final, India is going to face Pakistan; both of whom had a humiliating eviction from the regular world cup in the group level. What is even more interesting is that they both beat Australia on their way up. This tournament will redeem their reputation and boost their confidence a great deal, no matter what happens in the final.

Drupal - Anyone with a bit of web development experience is bound to know about Content Management Systems (CMS). These are basically web-based applications which help you present your content on the web without bothering yourself too much with the technology. They offer the backgroud coding; you need to worry about the content and its appearance. The Blogger itself is an example of a CMS. However, I was planning to write about Drupal. I have used other CMS like blogger, phpWebsite earlier, but the extent of features Drupal has, I think it is the best one.

The Bahai Faith - It is a relatively new order of faith originated with Bahaullah in Iran. It recognizes all religions of the world as one. What I found striking was its similarity in terms of ideology and otherwise with the Ramakrishna Mission movement. I have every intention to write about it in more detail.

Update

2007-08-19T19:26:00.000-05:00

It took me more than two months to break the pause ... seemed like a dead end but hopefully, this post will mark its recovery, I mean, the blog's which is already half-dead

Well, so what's new? There was nothing important about June 12th and it's the same for August 19th. More than what have changed in my life is what have stayed the same. The Koushik which landed on 9th August last year on the US was hardly any different than the Koushik today. Yeah, it is slightly over an year now since I came to this country.
This whole year revolved mostly around two points. The adviser and the qualifier. In both cases, I got what I wanted and that's pretty much as far as it goes. As for the progress in PhD, it's null, or delta positive to be precise :) There were plans to promote this noble cause of research in summer but there was hardly any in reality. Hope things get better in Fall.

As usual I wasn't that enthusiastic about the text books but managed to go through a few fantasies. "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" was awesome. I enjoyed the "Ptolemy's Gate", 3rd one of the Bartemeaus series too. I watched the 5th Potter movie. This was the first movie which I had read the original book. Well, the movie is no match for the book, it's nowhere close to the original thrill of the story.

I got the driving permit. That was the easy part. Now I need to learn driving and I don't know how. I have never set my hand on the steering before and quite naturally people are hesitant to lend me their car. As for the formal driving schools, the rates are way to high. I am looking for a cheaper option. Let me know if you know of one.

Last weekend was a bit different. Got to meet a few friends from college. It was nice. Sagnik drove and in spite of some initial problems, drove quite well. Shivanand and Bhujo were the chief navigators. Arnab and I were there too. There could have been six of us unless Rajshekhar had ditched us at the last moment. Well, on second thoughts it was really nice of him to come down to Chicago for just one evening to meet us. Our one day trip to Marshall park was great. Check my orkut album for the pics.

As such things are okay. Problem is that things are not good, at least not good enough. Be optimistic, man! Things can only get better.

Face it

2007-06-12T22:10:00.001-05:00

Life's a bitch !!!
so what ????

It was a comment made on my last post by Nakul. It appealed to me so much that I decided to give it a bit more importance. I promoted it to a post. The frustration in the beginning and the attitude that follows somehow resonate with my mental self. I like it.

Crap!

2007-06-05T21:49:00.000-05:00

It's been a while since this blog saw its last post. And that comes as no surprise! Those few limited souls who bother to browse through this page are pretty much aware of my (ir)regularity. It's not that I am out of ideas, but whenever my enthusiastic self gets to jot them down, there is this lethargic self which hardly allows to do that.
So what brings me back to the task? The simulation! Yeah, that's it. It's quarter to ten in the night and I have to send the results of two simulations tonight. Programs are set and run! But it will take the sloppy server a good one hour to complete. Once done I will have to FTP the output files to my lab PC which unfortunately doesn't have microsoft office (because I just have reinstalled Windows on it. It was dead slow with virus and spyware.). So email them to myself, and use the university labs to format and plot the data. Hello! Are you still reading? Are you nuts or what? Who else would go through the ramblings of a grad student writing blogs to pass the simulation time?

NYC

2007-05-20T00:35:00.000-05:00

Apratim and I reached Shatyaki's place at NYC on Friday evening. We went to the Empire State Building first to have dinner in a restaurant on the first floor of the building. The food wasn't good, not good enough for $35 each one of us had to pay. But the beer was awesome. Definitely something to try out if you are around. We went to the Times Square from there. It's was so lively. So many electronics sign boards with bright displays and so many people of so varying forms. It's one of its kind. The variety in people is something very prominent in NYC. When you are waiting to cross a road, just watch the crowd on the other side of the road and you will find Americans, African-Americans, south-Asian, Mexican, European, Chinese all mixed together. By the way, Indians and Chinese are everywhere, on all the streets, true for almost all cities in the US. However, NYC is more like our desi cities. It's dirty, not as much as Kolkata/Bombay but much more compared to Chicago. The rush in the trains, the crowd on the streets, the hawkers and stalls on the footpath, in a way it's closer to what we are used to. However, the buildings are much taller :). Once done with the Times Square, we went back to the subway station to receive Dipanjan. It will be unfair not to mention the subway of NYC. It is the lifeline of the city. The look of trains and stations are worse than that of Kolkata/Delhi. But it is massive. The number of lines and routes are just way way beyond what they have done in India.

On Saturday, since most of the people were asleep in the morning, Apratim, Shravan and I went for a walk. The office of the United Nations was the first stop. It wasn't that impressive and also we couldn't enter the campus due to security reasons. From there we went to the Grand Central to receive Shayak. Grand Central is like our terminal stations in Howrah or VT. It has a huge hall at the center. The stations are for both normal over-ground railways and also the subways. The platforms are distributed around the hall and along the passages towards the platforms or the exits stalls are located, mostly restaurants. It was also a very crowded and busy place, however remarkably clean. Shayak's train was a bit late (Yeah! Trains are often late in the US and not just NYC.) Once he was there we went back to Shatyaki's apartment. It really helped that his apartment was in the Manhattan (the rent is $3800/month cheap compared to Manhattan standards). Once all were up and ready, we went to a Pakistani restaurant to have lunch. The food was of of good amount and good taste. We went to the Central Park from there. It's another unique feature of the city. So much green in the midst of concrete jungle. The park is huge. I had already heard that it's difficult to walk around the entire park on foot. So never gave it a try. And anyway, we were full. So we just decided on a good place to sit and talk.

On Sunday, five of us went to see the Statue of Liberty. Since there was a problem in the subway, we had to use a detour to reach South Ferry station. We could see the statue from there but to get to the Liberty island, you need to take a ferry and there was a looooong line for that, majority of them were Indians I guess. There were so many saree-clad women. It was a bad decision to go there on Sunday morning. We would have to wait for 2-3 hours in the queue itself and then it would have taken around 2 hours for the visit. We concluded that it wasn't worth the hassle. We rather went to visit the famous Bull of the Wall street and then ground zero where the WTC stood before 9/11. It's now occupied by bulldozers and cranes and materials for the ongoing construction work. From there we headed for a Bangladeshi restaurant which had some amazing preparations. I sometimes wondered if we were more passionate about the places in NYC or the food. That night we had a very light dinner and went for a long walk by the river after we met two of our batch mates from IIT who are working there. It was a nice walk.

We got back at round 3am. By the time Apratim and I left at 7:30am to catch our flight, everybody else had already left the apartment. We made sure that Shtyaki was awake so that he didn't miss his office. He is doing an internship in Mckinsey and his office hours are 8am-11pm. We had asked him if regular employees also do the same. He said, “No! Regular employees work less number of hours. 11 hours a day, but 7 days a week.”

(will put the pics soon)

Quals over

2007-05-08T01:02:00.000-05:00

I have spent so many posts writing about pre-quals, it would be unfair if I don't let you know that I finally passed it; both subjects. It's a relief. Well, it was a relief after the exam itself. I knew that I had done reasonably good, but still you can't be sure until you get the final verdict. Passing the qualifier was all the more important because, as I reflect on my stay in the US so far, that is probably the only thing I have achieved (got away with). I got my advisor decided, only one month past the second semester beginning and there hasn't been much (I would rather say 'any') progress in my PhD work. Now that I have passed the quals, the university can't throw me out of the PhD program but then I might end up with no funding to support myself. No reason to be happy too much! I hope and I fear that I really get started this summer. Ahoy matey! Lots of work ahead!

Lucid Dream

2007-05-04T10:27:00.001-05:00

Have you ever had a conscious dream? A dream where you could take decisions, could influence the flow and most importantly, you knew that you were dreaming? If that sounds utterly impossible and confusing, you are not one of those kind, the people who experience 'lucid dreams'.

I found it quite perplexing when one of my roommates last year talked about it. I thought either he was exaggerating or just trying to trick us with an outright lie. There were occasions where I had realized that I was dreaming but those were experiences of split seconds before I actually woke up. I thought it would never be possible to go through a full-fledged dream like that. But I have to change my mind now. Last night I actually had a lucid dream. I remember quite a few details of it which I do not for a normal dream. We were a group of friends riding bikes on a road and I took decisions on what to talk about or which route to take. Similar things happen in a normal dream too but there we experience it as a helpless watcher just looking at what is happening and when it turns into a nightmare, we suddenly wake up and get relieved realizing it was just a dream. But this time I remember chanting to myself 'you are dreaming, wake up' and I woke up. It sounds like myth, like sci-fi movies and I wouldn't have believed it till today. But I do now. It's a bit funny and a bit scary at the same time. Tricky game of our mysterious mind.

Confidence

2007-04-25T23:22:00.000-05:00

This is one of the best videos I have ever seen. This is pretty much the definition of absolute confidence, just watch yourself ...

A Few Random Musings

2007-04-16T13:28:00.000-05:00

Qualifier is over. Yoyoyoyoyo … whatever the results; it’s good enough that it’s over and not gonna come back before another year. However, let’s still hope that we pass :D

It was Bengali New Year’s Day this weekend. Shuvo Nababarsho to all.

The quals had obscured all other pending problems and now that it is gone, all those aspects have popped up. Midsems, presentations, term papers, research all menace coming altogether, going to be a pretty hectic one this week.

I forgot to write about the trip to UIUC two weeks prior to the quals. It was a real treat. Got to watch the vast fields, and the green all-around, long time I was missing the peace in the city of Chicago. In the twelfth standard there was this poem on a city guy going to the country side and enjoying a sunny day in its serenity. I don’t remember the name, but I pretty much felt like that. A thank goes to Aranb. I was in half a mind to cancel the trip when he called and asked, “Will a trip to UIUC over the weekend have a significant effect on your chance of failing the quals?” I thought “Hell! No! If I am to fail, I am already doomed, two days aren’t too much.”

A Few Things to Enjoy

2007-04-08T19:40:00.000-05:00

Less than a week to go before the quals. No wonder what I am up to these days. Study and more study and yet with so many things left to study. It's pretty boring sometimes. Well studying was never exciting but it is even worse to study things only to pass a particular exam passing which is not going to achieve anything but failing which is going to be a real pain. I won't bore you with the acads. Just wanted to let you know of a few things I enjoyed in my study breaks -

1> 'The Seven Samurai' – An old (1954) Japanese movie by director Kurosawa. It's a real good movie. If you have time, watch it. It's rather long.

2> A BBC documentary named 'Space Race' – It has been shot like a movie in four parts starting from the end of WW-II to the journey to the moon based on the race between USA and USSR to conquer the space. It revolves around the work of the two engineers in the two competing camps.

3> 'Gmail Paper' – It says that google will print and send you all your emails that you request to get on paper along with picture attachments with no postage required. Well, not really! It was an April Fools' Day prank google. I was amazed by the announcement was wondering about a few things –

a> how google will handle such incredible amount of paper
b> no postage! That's too costly for the number of emails they have
c> “Photo attachments are printed on high-quality, glossy photo paper, and secured to your Gmail Paper with a paper clip“ - too good to be true for a free service
d> “Gmail Paper is made out of 96% post-consumer organic soybean sputum” - 'soybean sputum' that sounds fishy
Nonetheless, I looked for the gmail paper button in my gmail account. After all, it's google; they can do anything. As I couldn't find it in the location shown by the demo, i googled 'gmail paper april fool' and found the truth -:)

Life before the Quals

2007-03-13T17:13:00.000-05:00

I am going through what I would call a pre-qualifier phase. Last semester, I thought that I will study in December and then in December it was postponed for spring and now when there is less than a month remaining for the exam, I finally feel the heat. However, this is a strange phase. There is nothing actually dramatically unusual. It’s not that I am not getting enough sleep or not watching enough movies for that matter, but the difference is that there is always this little prick in the back of my mind that I might just fail in the quals on 13th. Yes, it is scheduled on Friday the 13th of April. Is that just a coincidence? Time will tell!

That date has occupied an eminent position in all pending plans. Where should I go for a holiday in summers … mmmm, well let’s decide after 13th; what are the things I need to for the research, to be decided after 13th …. My roomies are going for a trip to LA and LV, can I go with them …. nopes, not before 13th ….you should go to the gym everyday … yeah, I know but I have to study before 13th …. Hey, what’s up dude? How are things going? … It’s fine right now but I don’t know what’s gonna happen on 13th … It reminds me of the first few dialogues in ‘Y2K othoba sex krome asiteche” where the guy proposes a girl over the phone and the girl says that she can’t answer till the exams are over … silly crap!

It’s a post after quite some time on my blog and when will there be the next post? … Well, you know the answer!

Apple Cares

2007-03-03T16:05:00.000-06:00

I had bought a 20GB refurbished ipod for $100 in December; a pretty good deal, the only glitch was that it was ‘refurbished‘. Some people advised me against it but anyway I went ahead and bought it because the warranty period was the same as that of a new one.
About a month back, I started having problems with it. Some songs won’t play or pause or stop in-between. Finally around two weeks back, it just stopped working. I tried resetting, restoring, reinstalling whatever I could but eventually I gave up. On start up, it was showing an icon suggesting hardware failure. I thought I should have listened to the people advising me against a refurbished ipod. My only faith was in the warranty. So I booked an appointment with the genius bar of an apple store in downtown. You can do it from apple.com/retail for an appointment on the same day. Advanced booking can be done only by procare members. I arrived for the appointment 2 minutes late. Luckily, the lady in front had taken more than the stipulated time and I didn’t have to miss my turn. I went to the ipod bar, told about my problem and the person immediately confirmed that it was a hardware failure. He checked whether I was within warranty period (from their database, no need to carry your proof unless there is a mistake in their database) and replaced my ipod with a functioning one. The whole process took less than 5 minutes. I am impressed with the customer care of apple.

Snow! We had enough!

2007-02-18T14:47:00.000-06:00

It’s over. The craze for snow. I remember the first day it snowed and the excitement in people who had witnessed it for the first time. Yours truly was not that big an enthusiast to play with snowballs, dancing in the snow or taking a snap of the name written on snow and putting it up on the orkut profile, but it’s a fact that he was thrilled to see the snowed neighborhood nonetheless. However the zeal of the desi public has finally subsided and for good reason. Who likes to be out in a weather of -30C with the feet trapped in inches-deep show waiting for the bus which doesn’t show up in time! In addition, if you have ever slipped and fell on your back, while trying to move faster on the snow than you should, the snow-god had to bear the worst swearing ever invented by the people on earth. The welcome exclamations of “Wow! It’s snowing!” has been replaced with the cursing ones “WTF! It’s snowing again!”

Life as we know it

2007-02-11T18:58:00.000-06:00

It’s going very normal. Bit of problems here and there but overall cruising through. I received an email from the graduate committee chairman today. Finally, the switching of advisors is officially accepted. Good way to start a Sunday morning. End of an episode in my life, I suppose; I hope. Have two exams next week, one on 14th Feb, one on the day after; what a coincidence. Getting along with a lovely relationship with the profs :D I hate that. Got some work in the lab too, the ‘fun’ days are over as they say it. I have actually heard that term quite a few times in my last job. Thankfully the fun days were never actually over until I, eventually, decided to end it. The qualifiers are in April. We have to take the exams in two areas, I have chosen controls and solid-state. I wish there was something with electrical circuits excluding computer architecture. Unfortunately that is not the case and I have to go by that. It’s a written exam and should not be TOO tough, only thing is that I need to study because I literally know nothing about them. But you know the typical engineering attitude!! No work till the deadline is due tomorrow. All the best to me …

Chilly Figures

2007-02-04T19:45:00.000-06:00

This is what weather.com has to say about our area -
"-18°C

Feels Like
-28°C"

This is continuing for quite some time now and no hope of respite in near future.
The weather sucks.

I have heard that the lake has frozen. In summer, I had plans to visit the frozen lake. Now .... no way

Saraswati Puja

2007-01-30T21:40:00.000-06:00

It all started with a few extra pounds of mutton. Sounds odd as an introduction to a puja, but that’s what it was. The extra meat led to an invitation for dinner to a few people, who incidentally were on the same shuttle bus. Discussion spurted and led to what was more like an accident than a planned event. Saraswati puja has always been a special event for the students(due to different reasons, priorities are personal), but I didn’t have the slightest idea that it might be at my place itself before mid last week. It took the enthusiastic involvement of quite some people to finally materialize an incredible event. It was really unthinkable how smoothly everything was carried out considering the short planning period and the overwhelming turn out of around 60 people. Not too huge a number for a normal puja in Bengal, but for one like this, it definitely was.

The venue was at my place. It was an occasion, good enough, to finally clean our living room after a long time (may be the first time, I am not sure!) :D A few decorative plants, dupattas, some quick fine arts and it was hard to believe that the same place could look so nice. The most daunting (probably the most important too!) task, cooking for so many people, was shouldered by a number of people and they did a wonderful job. The menu included kichuri, alu bhaja, begun bhaja, alu-fulkopir tarkari, chatni and rasmalai. I feel sorry for those who missed it. While all was set in motion, there was still a key problem, the purohit, whose role was finally played quite ably by arnab(yes, bhalo arnab for those who know him). He was splendid in his work, as close as it can get to being a pro. With pushpanjali and prasad, it was a complete package of satisfaction. I hope we get more events like this.

(Thanks to Prajna, Saugata, Debashis, Ishita, Katha, Nilotpal, Swarnava, Kaustav, Sibendu, Tirtha, Rima, Amlan, Kohinoor, Shubhasish, Arnab, Nakul, Bhushan, Vinayak, Krushna, Joyeeta in no particular order. I thought twice before putting the names because there is always a chance that I miss someone. I am sorry if that is you.)

Ma! bhaloi bhaloi graduation-ta korie dao

etai shera samay!

The Group

Recent Past, Present & Future

2007-01-18T00:10:00.000-06:00

It has been some time since this blog saw a new post. Well, before anything else, a very happy new year to all those who are reading these lines (not a whole lot, I am sure). The winter holidays were fantastic. I enjoyed a lot in the one-month-long break. I didn’t go anywhere outside Chciago as most of my friends did but still made the most of it being in the city. I had decided to switch advisor and I was to start working with the new group only in January. So partying, eating out, going around the city, watching movies, visiting friends in near-by universities - it was all fun. This was the first time that I went to a church on Christmas eve. It was primarily because of three Italian guys insisting on going there, and also I must admit I didn’t like all about the long rituals, nonetheless it was a novel experience in the church. The New Year Eve at navy pier was also pretty nice. The festive mood was too hard to ignore. You can see a short video from you-tube here.

Now that the new semester has started, it looks like I got the time to write about all these. Things are again quite messed up, in fact it is messed up more than ever before. The details are just too complicated. It will be both difficult and stupid to put everything on this blog. I just hope that I finally end up getting a PhD.

Semester Ends

2006-12-19T00:55:00.000-06:00

Tomorrow as the grades get posted on the site, the final ritual of my first semester will be over. For the MS students that’s a major milestone, for people like me it’s just the beginning. More so for me as I have to start all over again with a new advisor. What I gained in this semester is the realization that things can go bad, and then they might become worse but finally you can find your way out. We, in the hostel of our school, used to say that the only good point about the food being so bad, is that we will never face any problem having any kind of food anywhere. Now I think I will be able to cope with bosses of any kind after working with my would-be ex-advisor. I don’t know if that sounds funny, but it wasn’t a nice experience after coming to the US of A.

However at the same time I must say that seniors were of great help. It was because of them that I could make decisions fast and effective. Thankfully, there are always people who are ready to help when some others are busy messing you up.

Once again ....

2006-12-09T18:56:00.000-06:00

The last one was on the last week of April 2005. Long time since then and once again a very similar situation. The end-semester, one of the most dreaded aspects of semester life. Last year, I remember talking to my friends and juniors who were still in KGP and were going through another ordeal of week-long nightouts, photocopying, mugging, giving up and then giving it a one last try and finally coming out of the hall, laughing, after being thoroughly screwed up yet again. That in a way made me feel better. Being in the professional life without facing the endsems was so nice (specially when there is no work-load). Right now, as I prepare for the exams next week (even though it‘s far less hectic than what we had to face in our third year), I miss my days in Mumbai.

The First Snow

2006-12-03T00:22:00.000-06:00

This time it was the real version. The first snow. It has snowed now and then in Chicago in the last one month but finally I got to see the white world. It looks nice. Mind the verb, it ‘looks’ nice. It sometimes becomes a pain to walk on it. With time, it gets dirty and looks nasty near the edges of the roads. It is like the replacement of our desi mud. Still, in spite of its occasional ugliness and the inconvenience it causes for commutation, it has its own beauty and charm. May be I will get bored with the snow in a few months, but the white world after your first snow is a real treat to watch.

Thanksgiving

2006-11-27T19:56:00.000-06:00

The thanksgiving was a nice break. It was getting too boring and add to that the chaos I was, or rather, am going through. Got to meet Dipanjan after a long time; I think first time after leaving IIT. On Wednesday, he arrived from Pittsburgh. From Jackson, we went to the University of Chicago campus from where one of the seniors of UIUC drove us to Urbana. It was around a 3-hour-drive. He dropped us at Podu’s. The apartment was nice. It looked like Podu was pretty comfortable with P.Bhora. Those who know him will understand how great an achievement this is. Well, I think Pratik is actually an improved person. The evening was great with Dipanjan’s enthusiastic cooking and scotch. The next day we had a brief tour of the campus. Since all (literally all) shops were closed on account of the Thanksgiving, Podu and I had to shoulder the cooking responsibilities as Dipanjan had an invitation for lunch. We were the only two to eat and were unanimous that the food was good.
We took the Amtrek train to reach Chicago that evening. We put up at BArnab’s (Bhalo Arnab!). With the fine culinary skills of Dipanjan (although all along he complained about not getting the right spices) and the accompanying beverages I think I gained a bit of weight on those few days. We went around the city, on one occasion ‘up the city’ to the 95th floor lounge of the Hancock tower. Debjeet too was there for a brief duration. Chanced to meet V.V.Chandrasekhar once. Arnab’s camera was in continuous action (Bhubanjyoti gets the credit for that). I will be uploading them soon. Dipanjan went back on Saturday evening and Podu on Sunday afternoon. I am again busy with assignment. Shit!!

Thanksgiving: Almost there

2006-11-20T23:43:00.000-06:00

Things are going all okay right now. Tomorrow is the last date for a proposal submission. So day after tomorrow should be free. And Thursday is the Thanksgiving. DD is coming on Wednesday. We will be going to Podu’s in Urbana together and will be back to Chicago on Thursday evening. We will go to Arnab’s and will stay there in the weekend. PJ and company are also coming, so weekend will be fun. All set. Hopefully there won’t be a spoil sport.

Umrao Jaan

2006-11-11T22:57:00.000-06:00

The first movie in theatre in the USA … ‘Umrao Jaan’. Still not quite American, you see. The multiplex wasn’t of any surprise, like any of those in our metropolitans. $9 ($1 concession for students -:) ). The movie was rather long. The first half specially I feel could have been shortened quite a bit. Overall, it was good. I have not seen the original one, so can’t make any comparison. But I think Aishwarya has done a good job. She looked gorgeous and delicate in the costumes and sets. Abhisek Bachhan, Sunil Shetty, the couple who took care of Umrao and others have played their part well. Sabana Azmi was elegant in her own style. The lyrics by Javed Akhtar was really good and that was an absolute necessity for the movie, umraao jaan being famous for the sher and shayari of Lucknow. Anu Malik has given a music which I think he is not very much used to, it’s in keeping with the mood of the movie. I would recommend that you watch it. However, if you are looking for fun and enjoyment, this is not the movie you should forward to.
By the way, the first two characters in the movie except Umrao Jaan (one who listens to the story of Umrao and the other whom he talks to in the beginning) sounded pathetic. Their dialogues just too mechanical. Who are they?

The Roller Coaster

2006-11-05T23:44:00.000-06:00

Well, well, well …………. So I got the laptop and the internet connection. But blogging just couldn’t be regular. Excuses are there, some might be a bit justified but still the main reason is plain, old lethargy. I can never be too busy to write a few lines.
So here is the update from my side. It looks like my stay in the US is riding a roller coaster. The first few days was all good. New place, new people …. Nice place, nice people. Soon that changed. Classes, exams, assignments …. all over again and add to that the TA labs at 8 in the morning twice a week, research works, no weekends (effectively ….) I felt overwhelmed. It took me some time to recover. I talked to old friends, made some new friends, got used to the TA burden (it actually is not a big deal), reintroduced me to the lectures, familiarized with the work and there I was, all set again. How long can lectures intimidate me?
But that spell has ended. In Mumbai, I had the money and the time and most importantly the people to have fun; here, painfully I realize, I have none. At least not the quality and quantity I need. But the worst part of the story is that I am right now in a very awkward position. I have a problem with my advisor. I have found the solution too; only, it needs some time to execute. And the solution is simple, I have to change my advisor -:) Yeah, I am decided. I am not going to discuss all the details here. Hopefully there won’t be a problem. But the situation is pretty delicate, I am not exaggerating. I am not being able to concentrate on other issues still this one is resolved. Let’s see, how things turn out to be. Hopefully the roller coaster will see a new high soon.

The Road to Laptop

2006-10-24T20:11:00.000-05:00

Finally I got it! The laptop!! Well, it didn’t come without its (what I think in a way is somewhat fair) share of hassle. I ordered one using the SBI Vishwajatra card online. I got a confirmation email and everything looked fine. But after 2 days I got another email stating there was a verification problem with the credit card company and my order had been cancelled. Well, I already knew there could be some problem regarding the billing address, so gave it another shot, this time using the debit card of a senior guy. Then I waited and waited for 5 days before checking the status. To my utter annoyance, the order had been cancelled again. The guy whose card I had used got a call for a confirmation of the shipping address. He didn’t know the address and gave my number for confirmation. This somehow convinced the company agent that it was a fraud order. I have had enough of ordering online and finally went to the store to pick up a machine on my own. So in Diwali of 2006, I got my first laptop. It’s a HP Pavilion 15.4” Widescreen Notebook PC (DV6119US).

The Call

2006-10-18T16:18:00.001-05:00

The scene is set in my room. Saturday morning. I am in deep sleep after a round of partying last night. Suddenly the cell phone starts ringing.

Voice: Koushik?

Me: Yes

Voice: @#@$$@!$ (I don’t understand & don’t reply)

Can I speak to Koushik? (Confused a bit)

Me: Ya, speaking.

Voice: Hi Koushik, this is Sudip here.

(I have a friend named Sudip but why the hell should he talk to me in English)

Me: Which Sudip?

Voice: Suuuudiiiiiip (He can’t believe that I don’t recognize him).

And then it strikes me …. Guess what? He is my advisor.

Me: Oooooooooo (I should have said sorry and apologized and all but I was unable to find the right words may be due to alcohol jamming)

Voice: Are you sleeping?

Me: Yes.

Voice: Sorry to disturb you on Saturday morning but I need your help. Can you come to the lab?

Me: Ya, sure!
(I wasn’t that sure but anyway I got up and what followed wasn’t interesting enough to write in the blog.)

First Snowfall

2006-10-13T19:36:00.000-05:00

Yesterday Chicago experienced this year's first snowfall, and I, the first one in my life. It was nice but only for a very short duration that too when I was rushing for a class. Not the perfect situation to enjoy! People are not supposed to forget the first experience of snowfall but this wasn't that good. May be, it's just a demo version. I will wait for the real one.

So it begins ...

2006-10-06T19:17:00.000-05:00

So it begins … yet another phase of erratic blogging. When I am not writing one, I feel like writing one and once I start, all my tempo vanishes. Still let me begin. May be it will be different, who knows. I wanted to give this a broader perspective, broader than what mumbaidays.blogspot.com was, so that I do not have to change my blog once I move to a new place :D I went through a whole lot of names, all my brain could come up with and blogger had just one answer
“Sorry, this blog address is not available
How about one of these?
kb-abcd
abcd-kb”

‘abcd’ stands for the different phrases I searched for. By the way, I just checked even abcd.blogspot.com is already taken. Tired, I tried the name some people had already suggested, chicagodays.blogspot.com, and you guessed it right. Someone who has posted just once stating “please check back after september 1st.” has already taken it. He forgot to mention the year though. Finally I landed up at this place. Hope to be regular this time though I am afraid whether I can fulfill that promise till I get my laptop. I have not yet ordered it, and it will take a while before I do, waiting for a right deal. Let’s see.