tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29789104551909471632024-03-13T21:51:20.617-04:00Suhas says.....The 'Ekaangi'http://www.blogger.com/profile/05499923256888510519noreply@blogger.comBlogger70125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978910455190947163.post-89426645397599099282010-05-04T20:36:00.004-04:002010-11-15T16:15:04.751-05:00Social Freak!<p><span><span class="Apple-style-span" >I’m an average guy! My friends don’t think of me EVERYDAY! My cousins email me only when they have vacations. My family wouldn’t care to buzz me considering they’ll have to endure the video chat coming up every Saturday anyway! My advisor mails me once a month and my collaborator doesn’t even seem to have an ID of his own! I’m an average guy. Counting spam, looking-for-a-job-mails, the ‘n’ number of Science news updates I subscribed to when I was feeling productive and was planning to make it real BIG in my field and all the regular trash, I might get an average of 10-12 emails per day. That’s about one email every 2 hours!<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p><span><span class="Apple-style-span" >And yet…<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p><span><span class="Apple-style-span" >Yet, I HAVE to check my mail once every 36 seconds. I have to see my mouse pointer change to a sand-clock and then back to its original-self proclaiming that I have NO new emails … and I have to do this every 36 seconds. Why 36? No real reason… its an estimation.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p><span><span class="Apple-style-span" >This is how its with Gmail. I walk to the rest room. I run back - “Shucks! How many important messages have clogged my inbox?” I take the bus home – I’d think my laptop is screaming and teeming with new mails. I sleep for 8 hours. I wake up and run to my laptop even before I wipe my drool. I check my email … turn back to say Hi to the cute lab-tech … and immediately check my email … lest I dare miss that very important piece of information I have been waiting all my life for!<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p><span><span class="Apple-style-span" >So is it with Facebook. I religiously click all the links deeply assuming that its my only source of knowledge and ignoring them meant being ignorant about the world. Everyone’s status updates scream out at me asking me to comment. I may not give a DAMN to why there’s a “:(“ depressing smiley next to your status update, more so because I hardly know you but added you only to add to my ever-growing friends list, but I have to add my comment and show my loyalty. I know your status message is a rip off straight out of Bernard Shaw’s home page just for attracting compliments, but I HAVE to click on the ‘like’ button although I don’t even remotely like you for that matter!<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p><span><span class="Apple-style-span" >So is it with Google. You can Google anything. Including yourself; I trust Google to tell me more about myself than I really know of. I Google for temperature, time and location. I Google for formulae, protocols and recipes. I Google for shaving pimples and tooth aches and body posture. As you talk about a movie I have unheard of, I can Google about it and CONVINCE you that I’m cool and I know everything there is to be known about that movie, about the other movies of the same director, and the sequels and prequels of the movie that exist or yet to be released. I can do this as you talk to me with the click of a few buttons.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p><span><span class="Apple-style-span" >Sadly, I’m another of those Internet Syndrome victims! I’ve checked my mail thrice already from the time I have started writing this piece. And it has hardly been more than 5 mins. I also sadly discovered that there are no more status updates I can ‘like’ on Facebook as I have liked all of them already ;( And the darned Google home page never crashes … for some weird reason!<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p><span><span class="Apple-style-span" >I know I need rehab. The healing process has begun. I have done blasphemous things like shutting down my laptop during the nights. I have closed Outlook Express each time I was done using the system. I have restricted my logging onto Facebook – thrice is all I get during my work-hours. I have borrowed huge library books and downloaded lots of papers … Google can enslave me NO MORE!<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p><span><span class="Apple-style-span" >Darn! Why haven’t I got any E-MAIL from the past 8 minutes???</span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>The 'Ekaangi'http://www.blogger.com/profile/05499923256888510519noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978910455190947163.post-64502806079783188012010-05-04T14:12:00.004-04:002010-05-04T20:35:57.542-04:00Bheem.Inc!<p><strong>Scene: </strong>Bheem enters the forests near Ekachakra with a cart of food in search of Bakasur, the demon! Bheem calls out to Bakasur in a resonating voice - “heY Bakaa! I’m not getting signal here; AT&T really sucks! Can you hear me? Come out and eat your food!</p> <p><strong>Bakasur:</strong> heY you! What took you so long? Don’t you realize I’m starving? I’m surviving the whole of morning with just one glass of orange juice!</p> <p><strong>Bheem:</strong> Sorry dude! Traffic da! Ekachakra turnpike is jammed at this hour. I had to take SO many detours. Don’t even talk about it. Why can’t you get an apartment somewhere close to the suburbs?</p> <p><strong>Bakasur: </strong>Too expensive man! And hey! How DARE you call me by my first name? The villagers of Ekachakra are such ‘darpoks’ that they even fear coming close to the forest.</p> <p><strong>Bheem: </strong>Ok! What’s your surname then?</p> <p><strong>Bakasur: </strong>I don’t have one! Do you think that’ll become a problem during visa? I got an admit from Pitt dental school ;)</p> <p><strong>Bheem:</strong> I guess so. Awright! Eat quickly; I have to get back. I’m watching this new movie - “How to train your Dragon” 3D today evening</p> <p><strong>Bakasur: </strong>Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha ! You ain’t goin’ nowhere. Hey Bheem, why do villains always have an African-American accent? Why can’t they speak plain American or Brit?</p> <p><strong>Bheem:</strong> If you keep going to Wendy’s all the time. you’ll obviously get influenced right? Anyway, I present the menu to you sir:</p> <ul> <li>Chicken breasts from overfed chicken </li> <li>A can of rBST milk </li> <li>Beef from cattle feeding ONLY on corn </li> <li>Diet Coke with corn syrup </li> <li>Peanut butter sandwich with traces of Salmonella </li> <li>A can of Fiji mineral water whose potability is inferior to the normal tap water </li> <li>Pork from hormone-treated pig </li> <li>Apples injected with grape flavor </li> <li>Bagels and I-can’t-believe-its-not-butter </li> </ul> <p><strong>Bakasur:</strong> WTF ?</p> <p><strong>Bheem: </strong>Why? What’s wrong? Haven’t you watched Food Inc.? Smithfield, Perdue, Monsanto, Tyson – these are the dominant food giants. That’s where all this came from</p> <p><strong>Bakasur:</strong> Don’t you have anything organic?</p> <p><strong>Bheem: </strong>LMAO! Organic? Who are you? Some queer from the 1920s? Who grows organic these days? The corn syrup you find in batteries is the same corn syrup you find in Pepsi! </p> <p><strong>Bakasur: </strong>Don’t you have any home-grown food then?</p> <p><strong>Bheem: </strong>Did I not tell you? That soya bean you grow in your backyard – be careful … its a sure invitation to a legal battle. Monsanto has investigators!</p> <p><strong>Bakasur: </strong>Did I not tell you? The world shudders at the mere mention of my name. Lightning and thunder rumbles the earth at every step I take. The faint-hearted wither away at the sight of me. I am terror. I am vicious. I am … BAKASUR! </p> <p>(waves dash against the rocks; lightning strikes a tree; mild tremors occur; Eyjafjallajokull erupts again!)</p> <p><strong>Bheem: </strong>ROTFL! Narakasur said the same things. He grew soya bean in his backyard. Then he was booked for patent infringement. Unable to bear the legal costs, he had an out-of-court settlement with the giant for 25,000 USD!</p> <p><strong>Bakasur: </strong>Whaaaaat? Oh no!</p> <p><strong>Bheem: </strong>So you eatin’ or what?</p> <p><strong>Bakasur: </strong>Of course… Bakasur NEVER goes hungry. I shall eat you Bheem. You are organic. You are my lunch today!</p> <p><strong>Bheem: </strong>Lololol! You really crack me up dude. Don’t you watch the daily news?</p> <p><strong>Bakasur: </strong>No basic cable ;(</p> <p><strong>Bheem: </strong>Verizon?</p> <p><strong>Bakasur:</strong> Yeah. Its not really bad; family guy buffers most of the times. But its ok-ok</p> <p><strong>Bheem: </strong>Oh yeah… coming to the point. I am HIV positive. Thanks to Draupadi and her multiple sex partners !</p> <p><strong>Bakasur: </strong>Darn it! I thought you were gay</p> <p><strong>Bheem:</strong> I’m as gay as Krishna… if you know what I mean!</p> <p><strong>Bakasur:</strong> Isn’t Nakul and Sahadev…</p> <p><strong>Bheem: </strong>Totally gay. Gayishly gay!</p> <p><strong>Bakasur: </strong>Hmmph! So am I gonna starve for the rest of my life?</p> <p><strong>Bheem: </strong>No! Listen to me carefully…</p> <ul> <li>Eat Organic Food </li> <li>Chuck Giant Eagle & Wal-mart! Go to Whole Foods </li> <li>Visit farmer’s markets. There’s one in strip district. Vegetables are dead-cheap </li> <li>Buy non-rBST milk </li> <li>Try to cook at home. Don’t be a lazy ass </li> <li>Stay away from junk. Don’t even venture anywhere close to those vending machines in school </li> <li>Eat healthy </li> <li>Change the world with every bite! </li> </ul> <p><strong>Bakasur:</strong> Thanks da! I really owe you one. We should hang out sometime…</p> <p><strong>Bheem: </strong>You can come to the movie tonight. But you must promise to behave! </p> <p><strong>Bakasur:</strong> You won’t regret this! Let us do the GO!</p> The 'Ekaangi'http://www.blogger.com/profile/05499923256888510519noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978910455190947163.post-67782070336620978092010-03-25T09:00:00.004-04:002010-03-25T09:43:36.217-04:00There was this popular you-tube video: this big tall guy walks around the city, around traffic signals, around apartments and commercial complexes with a humongous number of people on top of him and the background score goes on to say "<i>I've got the whole world ... in my hands</i>". For someone the likes of me who's hands go sore the moment I lift up my little nephew for more than a minute, bearing the weight of the whole world was a little next to being whimsical. <div><br /></div><div>Anyway, that's not the point. I'm more intrigued by the "<i>its a small world after all</i>" anecdote. Its quite amazing when you realize it. Just like how your maid-servant effectively shrinks all your favorite dresses thanks to her fetish for strong detergents, the world apparently is shrinking in size, getting smaller as they rightfully say! </div><div><br /></div><div>Information travels so fast these days ... its no more like how it was in the days of my grandfather ... someone dies and a telegram is sent out to everyone announcing 'someone's' death ... a telegram mostly brought bad news (we have a habit of writing the word 'safe' on the top-left corner of our postcard/inland letter meaning things are fine ... don't find the word and be ready for some death material). But quintessentially, the telegram would reach the recipient much much after the dead man has departed from earthly abode and traveled to the nether world to watch the item songs of Lord Indra's item girls (of course, if he's a sinner, he'll go to hell where apparently there are item songs but homosexuals dancing for them). </div><div><br /></div><div>Today... with things like Google Wave, your recipients read as you type. Imagine how perilous this could be for us avid bloggers ... my readers would read things as I type and would immediately put up a spam filter against my email id. </div><div><br /></div><div>And the funny side of it all is, it doesn't take a super cool gadget or a raging technology to shrink the world. In fact, all these gadgets and computers end up doing is shrink the world but expand the paunches of people (if I spent the same amount of time working out instead of blogging, Sylvester Stallone would bum out looking at me)</div><div><br /></div><div>Listen to this:</div><div><br /></div><div><i>A friend of mine finds a cat and gives it shelter - only to find out that it was her friend's cat and the cops are out there trying to locate the cat burglar!</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>8000 miles away from home, on an uninhabitable place, where graduate students fight out snow blizzards to go to lab meetings, in Pittsburgh, I find a school friend on an airport train!</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>My good ol' Mauritian friend happens to be a good ol' senior to my room mate in college too!</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>I meet this new engineering student in this god-forsaken country - he not only happens to be from Bangalore, but also from a college where my friends studied, and also is the third member in the trio where the remaining two are my own friends!</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>I meet the great Shivaram Karanth's nephew in a bus stop!</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>Most of all my friends here were in Bangalore traveling in and around my locality; I could never invite them home back then coz i didn't know them. I wouldn't be surprised if I have seen them before. Some faces seem SO familiar. The brain rings a bell but doesn't come out with anything to recall or remember!</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>A friend and me here belong to the same native place; there is an extremely strong possibility (i'd say 999 times out of 1000) that we are related to each other through someone!</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>My brother and sister-in-law were strangers until they met each other; their horoscopes were written by the same person - they were meant to match!</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>It was a shock to see people colonizing Pittsburgh in the first place; I then went on to discover that not only do my relatives stay here, one of them also works in our university as an assistant professor right above my previous lab and therefore is into cancer research - and also follows me to the biomedical science towers the moment I move into them!</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div>And the grand finale...</div><div><br /></div><div><i>I had a problem of dialing '988' instead of '998' when I key in a cell phone number on a land-line phone. Each time, it would reach an annoyed guy who had to SCREAM into my ears that I have dialed the wrong number again. Two years later, I was busy attending seminars after seminars on 'education in the US' and met a guy over food and generally discussed with him. 6 months later, from the US, I dial a number (supposed to be my uncle's) and I bungled again. This guy picks up, recognizes my voice and says "Ain't you the guy always trying to dial 998?" Later on, I learn that he was the same guy I had lunch with during the US seminars.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div>Its a small world after all...</div><div><br /></div>The 'Ekaangi'http://www.blogger.com/profile/05499923256888510519noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978910455190947163.post-47648032220030376852010-03-24T16:57:00.005-04:002010-03-24T18:21:58.972-04:00So the thing is this: I have always felt that my brain is this BIG bucket; you know - not the kinda bucket you have in a potty house, that's a small one. Mine is a BIG one - the one that you'll see in your mom's native place. And my bucket, as in the brain bucket, is filled! Up to the brim, i.e. when I was born - fresh piece - virgin male - untouched by corruption or lead oxide pollution or university education (i see a homology here). <div><br /></div><div>It is filled with all kinda stuff -a homogeneous mixture of creativity, athleticism, intellect, big vacuoles filled with nothing, lots of shit and everything else that's a part of living. As years pass by, I begin emptying them. My athleticism wanes, my intelligence and awareness enervates, my creativity empties. This, I was always worried of. Creativity is my defense mechanism. Sarcasm is my weapon of mass destruction. If i use too much of it - I'm deigned to empty them off one day (they ain't like sperm count which multiply each time you flush 'em out). Then i'll be left with only vulnerability and mortality. Oh my God - I disgust myself when it comes to writing! Vulnerability and mortality??? What the heck is that??? What am I trying to be - the Family Guy? Mindless comedy huh?</div><div><br /></div><div>***************************************</div><div><br /></div><div>So once upon a time, I met this guy whom we'll call 'Upadhyay' for obvious reasons because that was his real name. I met him on a train on a boring solitary 5-hr journey to Bangalore. He descended straight down from Aristotle's lineage - Upadhyay's great grand-father's cousin and Aristotle's daughter made love to each other when her father was busy with taxonomy. Whatever! Basically, I'm trying to say that Upadhyay was into deep-rooted philosophy.</div><div><br /></div><div>We were talking about life. Rather, he was talking about life and I was smacking my lips because I love philosophy - I set really bad examples in that. I explained to him about my brain-bathroom-bucket concept and he took it rather personally. I'll use the letters "U, D. Phil" for Upadhyay and "S, D. Crap" for good ol' me!</div><div><br /></div><div><u>U, D. Phil:</u> That's so not true. In fact, I think every person is born with an empty bucket. It gets filled as time passes by. It reaches its peak when you are old and wise. That's when intellect reaches its pinnacle. In fact, I'd say everyone's born with a bottomless bucket. You can fill it all, but it never gets full. The brain's capacity is inestimable.</div><div><br /></div><div><u>S, D. Crap:</u> Imagine, if the bathroom bucket was bottomless. What would you do? I mean, you would literally need to sit under the tap. And technically, its impossible unless you prostrate on the ground - and that would be sick (giggles)</div><div><br /></div><div><u>U, D. Phil:</u> (unimpressed) Well, if you really want to know - you would use the water before it goes to waste. Everyday in life, man gets to learn so much, information is everywhere, love is everywhere - only when he learns to hold them in his hands and ingest them will he be able to get the benefit of it. </div><div><br /></div><div><u>S, D. Crap:</u> So, hey wait a min.! So you say use the water before it falls into the bucket. Because, it then goes to waste. Then, logically speaking, you suggest to use the information and knowledge and love before it reaches the brain - coz then it goes to waste. </div><div><br /></div><div><u>U, D. Phil:</u> Where did i say that?</div><div><br /></div><div><u>S, D. Crap:</u> Remember, the brain bucket comparison?</div><div><br /></div><div><u>U, D. Phil:</u> Oh! See - do you recall reading about the full cup?</div><div><br /></div><div><u>S, D. Crap:</u> Yeah I know, half empty is pessimism and half full is optimism. You know what I'd say if someone showed me half a cup of coffee and asked me what it is? I'd say, "<i>Hey, who drank my coffee again?</i>" This time, I laughed hard! Mr. Aristotle smiled at my pitiable earthly behavior.</div><div><br /></div><div><u>U, D. Phil:</u> No! So the teacher asks a student to fill a cup with anything he wants. The student fills it up with rocks. Its still not full. Another fills the remaining gaps with pebbles. Its still not full. Yet another fills it up with sand. It still ain't full. Yet another fills it with water. But its still not full. Imagine how much of air can fit in a tiny little gap. The brain is like that. But the order is important - fill a cup with sand first, and there's not much you can fill later on. Prioritize on what you fill your brain with - and its capacity is infinite.</div><div><br /></div><div><u>S, D. Crap:</u> I think I'd start with the pebbles first. If you tilt your head at the right angle and throw them into your nostrils with good force above the escape velocity, they'll hit the bottom of your brain bucket. Oh, did I fail to mention - our brain's bucket is reverse, the bottom is on top of our head, so its easier for the stuff in it to flow out. I think our mouths are like taps - open them and you can release your bucket's content. The eyes/ears/nose are inlet pipes which empty directly into the brain bucket.</div><div><br /></div><div><u>U, D. Phil:</u> I like your imagination. Now how do you explain this? Imagination doesn't come from the environment. Its inborn. They don't come through any inlet pipes. Its already inside your 'so-called bucket'. Who put 'em there? God? Why do everyone have varying amounts of imagination? Or do they? Is it an untapped potential in some? </div><div><br /></div><div><u>S, D. Crap:</u> Yes. So they are like these frozen vials of cells. They become viable only when you take them out of liquid nitrogen and thaw them. Or else, they stay untapped in the frozen state. They don't ever die out - they are just cryo-protected. Then probably the cerebrospinal fluid is like DMSO - a cryoprotectant. When you thaw them in the blood bath (or our standard water bath), they are utilizable. </div><div><br /></div><div><u>U, D. Phil:</u> Too technical for a banker like me; however, I think you agree with my statement that there are some untapped potentials within us which are not gained from the environment but which could be enhanced owing to external circumstances. Right?</div><div><br /></div><div><u>S, D. Crap:</u> Too philosophical for a college student like me; however I think you agree with my idea about the brain-bathroom-bucket? There are thousands of analogies I can give you, its fairly irrefutable a concept you know!</div><div><br /></div><div><u>U, D. Phil:</u> I said your imagination is good ... not that I agreed. There's been so much known about the brain - the least you could do is compare it to a bathroom bucket. Imaginative, but not intellectual.</div><div><br /></div><div><u>S, D. Crap:</u> Isn't philosophy imaginative? Why do you use so many analogies then? Haven't we learned from imagination? We imagined we could fly and we flew. We imagined we could reach the stars and we did. We imagined and we achieved.</div><div><br /></div><div><u>U. D. Phil:</u> The Wright brothers imagined alright. But they built a plane. From scratch. They didn't imagine how a plane would look like. They learnt about it from the environment - from the birds and the insects. If you think mere imagination would take you places, the world wouldn't be this bad - everyone would imagine it to be a paradise.</div><div><br /></div><div><u>S, D. Crap:</u> We could. Untapped potential my friend ... imagination isn't an art everyone have perfectioned. </div><div><br /></div><div><u>U, D. Phil:</u> I think you created a hole in my brain bucket. I feel all my intellect has just been hosed off and replaced with your gibberish concepts.</div><div><br /></div><div><u>S, D. Crap:</u> What did you say? Your brain bucket? So you believe me now... ?</div><div><br /></div><div><u>U, D. Phil:</u> Whatever! (pissed)</div><div><br /></div><div><u>S, D. Crap:</u> Someone draw the curtains please (bows)</div><div><br /></div><div>***************************************</div><div><br /></div><div><u>Note: This is a hypothetical conversation!</u></div><div><br /></div>The 'Ekaangi'http://www.blogger.com/profile/05499923256888510519noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978910455190947163.post-67403290085934466552010-02-09T14:02:00.012-05:002010-02-12T12:08:35.179-05:00After my gibberish talk about my encounters with the perilous McDonald's burger, lots of my friends/relatives probed into my sanity (or the lack of it) as to why an endangered pure vegetarian would want to trek through the chasm of pepperonis and bacons which form the crux of a McDonald burger !<div><br /></div><div>"Go to Subway you idiot" they said. "That's where all the veggies go when they are struck with malnutrition". </div><div><br /></div><div>Subway? </div><div><br /></div><div>You think that's an easy solution?</div><div><br /></div><div>Know what... I've been there.</div><div><br /></div><div>I walked into Subway after I found nothing in McDonald's sometime around the August of 2008. I felt pretty cool and sophisticated. I made a mental note to myself that I have to call some uncle/aunty of mine from Subway so that I can enlighten to my overcrowded family in India of my whereabouts. </div><div><br /></div><div>Me: HeY Uncle! HeY Aunty!</div><div>Uncle/Aunt: Can you call us back after 15 minutes?</div><div><br /></div><div>Me: Huh? (darn! no respect for ISD calls!) </div><div>Uncle/Aunt: Ok ok, so where R you calling from?</div><div><br /></div><div>Me: I'm here in the US; in Pittsburgh, its right below New York. </div><div>Uncle/Aunt: New York ? Wow !!! </div><div><br /></div><div>Me: Right now, I'm at Subway</div><div>Uncle/Aunt: What's that? Those underground tunnels where mugging is not that uncommon</div><div><br /></div><div>Me: (gasps!) No, the Subway. The cool restaurant</div><div>Uncle/Aunt: Oh Subway? Wow !!!</div><div><br /></div><div>Me: Ok! Bye! Need to go back to my cancer lab</div><div>Uncle/Aunt: Cancer lab? Wow!!!</div><div><br /></div><div>Of course, after this, uncle/aunty lynch their own kid for not growing up to the stature of me. </div><div><br /></div><div>Anyway, coming back to THE issue - Subway ... I walked into Subway. This time, I see this tall guy in the counter and he looks at me (not menacingly but) with a sweet smile. He looked safe. And gay. And the conversation started. The darned conversation - yeah - started again!</div><div><br /></div><div>Me: Can I have a sandwich ?</div><div>He: What size?</div><div><br /></div><div>Me: Medium? </div><div><br /></div><div>I sense that he might spit on me at any moment. </div><div><br /></div><div>Me: Ok what sizes do you have?</div><div>He: (not accustomed to such questions) 6" and foot-long</div><div><br /></div><div>Me: (I smile because I find the foot-long word amusing. I wanted to ask him if their sandwiches taste like feet. But sensing the hostile environment...) 6" sounds good</div><div>He: (waits... and then...) And which one?</div><div><br /></div><div>Me: (looks up at the plethora of boards above) A veggie sandwich</div><div>He: We have the veggie delight Sir, if you'd like that</div><div><br /></div><div>Me: (ahhhhh! sounds delightful). Sure ;)</div><div>He: Which bread would you like Sir?</div><div><br /></div><div>Me: Huh? (what in the name of lord !) What are my options?</div><div>He: Italian/Honey/Flat-bread ... they are all right here</div><div><br /></div><div>Me: Italian (huh! That ought to teach him a lesson ... Italian bread sounds neat. I'm sure by now he thinks I'm the inheriting son of a multi-billionaire business tycoon)</div><div>He: What cheese?</div><div><br /></div><div>This time I was stumped! Now I never consumed cheese in India, but thanks to my inquisitiveness about the outside world, I knew what cheese was. It is produced by the coagulation of milk protein Casein. But to me, cheese is cheese. Now how can a cow product give rise to varieties of cheese? A sudden fear struck me that they may have something meat-ish. I looked at their choices - they were of all colors and shapes. No! I am not gonna eat meat just a week after landing here. I am gonna be cautious and smart, at the same time. </div><div><br /></div><div>Me: Ok (raising my voice) Vegetarian cheese!</div><div>He: Sir?</div><div><br /></div><div>Me: Vegetarian. Nothing non-veg please...</div><div><br /></div><div>This time, he pauses, looks at me (with an expression of 'what's wrong with this guy' and gives me a foundation course in diary technology)</div><div><br /></div><div>He: Sir! Cheese is vegetarian. Its a milk product. </div><div><br /></div><div>Me: Oh! I dunno; here you add meat to everything (salvaging my pride which was never there in the first place). I'll have cheese</div><div>He: As in... cheddar, provolone...</div><div><br /></div><div>Me: Cheddar! (the first one is always the most recommended one)</div><div>He: Ok... do you want me to change my gloves?</div><div><br /></div><div>Me: Change your... what again?</div><div>He: You want me to change gloves?</div><div><br /></div><div>Go change your undies... who cares? Since when did I become his honorable master that he takes my permission to change his clothing accessories? I recapitulate and remembered that he passed on bread filled with some pig-stuff to the next person before he started handling my sandwich. Makes sense. I want to give myself a pat on the back for my almost-quick thinking but then I can't reach my back thanks to my little hands.</div><div><br /></div><div>Me: I would really appreciate it!</div><div><br /></div><div>One of my first lessons in American lingo... when someone's nice to you, appreciate it. Or even if you don't, say that you do. They'll be so happy that they might pledge their blonde daughter to you if you want them to. </div><div><br /></div><div>He: What veggies would you prefer? </div><div><br /></div><div>This one would be easy. I could identify the most basic vegetables. I knew what I wanted. There were labels. This would be one answer I'd give him with such triumph that he would apologize for causing any embarrassment to me through this entire ordeal.</div><div><br /></div><div>Me: Tomatoes, Lettuce, Cucumbers, Red Onions, Bell Peppers (I was still saving up my dollars and wanted to get the full return on my investments)</div><div>He: Anything else?</div><div><br /></div><div>Me: (there were more?) Oh yeah... jalapenos</div><div>He: What's that?</div><div><br /></div><div>Me: Jalapenos</div><div>He: You mean...</div><div><br /></div><div>I point out. Unfortunately, my finger hit the glass and they couldn't be zoomed in any further. But i think he got my point</div><div><br /></div><div>He: <i>a</i>lapenos?</div><div>Me: (English... darn it!) Yep!</div><div><br /></div><div>I consciously use 'Yep' when I have enervated the guy behind the counter and I need to uphold the integrity and respect of our motherland and firmly establish that even we are equally flamboyant when it comes to slang-talk. </div><div><br /></div><div>He: Any dressing ?</div><div><br /></div><div>Now I ONLY love ketchup in my sandwiches/burgers. But I see no ketchup bottles there. Hoping I could find it elsewhere and praying that I don't radiate more idiocy, I said...</div><div><br /></div><div>Me: Nah!</div><div><br /></div><div>I half expected that my lack of interest towards dressings would illustrate that I know what dressings are, what are the types and what are its nutritional constituents. Reality check: I had no frikkin clue what it meant - i kind of convinced myself that its like whipped cream which is used to decorate the top part of any food item (and now you know I failed to understand the purposes of whipped cream too)</div><div><br /></div><div>I bill my stuff. I made sure I took the receipt (when I was new to America I took the receipt everywhere and for everything. I was always afraid that they would take away my money, hide my sandwich under their shelves and then protest that I have already taken my sandwich away). I walked off to the nearest table to dissect my new born baby which I obtained after much pain.</div><div><br /></div><div>Now there are one of 2 things that are likely:</div><div><br /></div><div>a) These stories are too far-fetched and adding to this the variable of exaggeration which is the underpinning of my writing, all of this is a sham</div><div><br /></div><div>b) I'm slightly dyslexic and take WAY too much time to understand certain things. Funny things keep happening in my life and insanity rules my celestial objects. </div><div><br /></div><div>I assure you that its the second option; those who know me well would nod their heads at this point. Exhausted though I am, it is indeed memorable to walk into an American restaurant without the slightest clue of what to order. Its like the village idiot in a corporate environment ... nobody suspects ... everyone knows he's gonna screw up! I went to Panera recently, think its my first time ... life was easier there coz they had a veggie sandwich option and they didn't look at me as though I'm from the Mbundu tribes of Central Africa. </div><div><br /></div><div>So for all you folks who think my best bets are in Subway, remember one thing - its me they are dealing with. And in the path that I tread, insanity reigns!</div><div><br /></div>The 'Ekaangi'http://www.blogger.com/profile/05499923256888510519noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978910455190947163.post-41615439159074352382010-02-04T13:32:00.009-05:002010-02-04T14:23:58.242-05:00If you have watched the movie 'The Pink Panther' ... I can really crack you up when I say "I would like to have a hamburger". Little did I reckon that few days from watching the movie probably a 4th time, I would have to put myself in the same situation. Well, not exactly...<div><br /></div><div>1) I don't eat ham</div><div><br /></div><div>2) I'm not French and/or stupid</div><div><br /></div><div>3) I wasn't planning on smuggling the damn burgers out of USA</div><div><br /></div><div>So it was a usual Thursday noon when the mind was fidgeting between how unfruitful the week was and how welcoming the weekend is. I was starving; my meeting with my mentor wasn't happening; so what's the difference between a dementor and a mentor? As far as I know, both suck the soul out of you ;)</div><div><br /></div><div>Anyway, darn it! I get so distracted when I type. What was the main point? Oh! I was starving; my meeting with my mentor wasn't happening. I took off for lunch. But where do I go?</div><div><br /></div><div>a) Indian truck food: Eww! Too many times this week</div><div><br /></div><div>b) Scaife cafeteria: I'd rather pick and eat worms</div><div><br /></div><div>c) Somewhere in Forbes: Cool idea!</div><div><br /></div><div>I walked down Forbes Avenue and stood right in between Subway and McDonald's. Time for a quick mental analysis... logical algorithms at play:</div><div><br /></div><div>Subway has one veggie sandwich</div><div>McDonald's has none that i know of</div><div><br /></div><div>Subway - I can choose whatever I need... customize!</div><div>McDonald's - I might be able to but it ain't easy</div><div><br /></div><div>Subway - I won't make a fool of myself. I know what I want</div><div>McDonald's - High possibility of embarrassment</div><div><br /></div><div>And so I walked inside... the big red M towered above me!</div><div><br /></div><div>I guessed it right. No veggie burgers in sight. I cursed McDonald's and walked towards an old lady in the counter who looked menacingly at me. If I don't appear sophisticated, she'll put me into one of the subs and eat me off with mustard sauce. I stylishly flaunted my abilities to switch over to an American accent and the conversation began. The darned conversation began!</div><div><br /></div><div>Me: I would like to have a veggie burger!</div><div>She: You would like to have a ... what?</div><div><br /></div><div>Me: (adjusts my throat) I would like to have a veggie burger</div><div>She: Sir, what's that? I don't know what you are talking about</div><div><br /></div><div>Me: (huh?) I would like to have a vegetable burger! (Clearly understanding that her blank expressions haven't altered, I went on)... you know just the vegetables; no chicken; no meat.</div><div>She: ???</div><div><br /></div><div>I made flowery movements using my arms to describe how the lettuce looks like and how the onions and tomatoes are shaped. </div><div><br /></div><div>She: So you need just the vegetables. No meat. A small burger?</div><div>Me: Ok!</div><div><br /></div><div>She: What's it called?</div><div>Me: A veggie burger</div><div><br /></div><div>She: A what?</div><div>Me: (Oh no!) A vegetable burger</div><div><br /></div><div>She: Sir, we don't have a veggie burger. But we can make anything you want us to make. So what is it that you want?</div><div>Me: (world peace... can ya give it to me? Start off by pointing directions to the nearest subway or a mental asylum, whichever is closer) A burger with ONLY vegetables like tomatoes, onions and lettuce; no chicken or meat</div><div><br /></div><div>She: Ok. (She calls out to the manager and repeats what I said)</div><div>Manager: He gives us our meat back, so give him extra tomatoes</div><div><br /></div><div>She: You don't want mayo on it?</div><div>Me: No</div><div><br /></div><div>She: Cheese?</div><div>Me: Sure</div><div><br /></div><div>She: You want mayo but no cheese. Dairy ok?</div><div>Me: Yeah</div><div><br /></div><div>She: (stares at me with awaited expressions)</div><div>Me: (thinking i need to say something) Ketchup!</div><div><br /></div><div>She: (she looks aghast as though I just stepped on her toes)</div><div>Me: Ketchup instead of mayo</div><div><br /></div><div>She: Ketchup in your burger?</div><div>Me: (no, in your %$&*) Yes</div><div><br /></div><div>She: Ok. Sir, what do I bill your burger as? </div><div>Me: (stares blankly)</div><div><br /></div><div>She: (annoyed) She asks me if I need anything else</div><div>Me: Small fries</div><div><br /></div><div>She: Rice?</div><div>Me: Potato fries; small (i point to the chart with my little hands)</div><div><br /></div><div>She: Is that all sweet heart? </div><div>Me: (a moment's shocked expression) Uh...hmmm... yeah!</div><div><br /></div><div>Why the heck do all these people address me with "sweet heart", "honey", "kiddo" and all that? I'm doing a frikking PhD here, am not a low-budget child celebrity!</div><div><br /></div><div>She: Swipe your card in there son</div><div>Me: (son... I sure don't resemble you in any way) (swipes)</div><div><br /></div><div>She: You want you receipt?</div><div><br /></div><div>Now normally I don't take the receipt coz its useless anyway. Not like my mentor is gonna reimburse me for eating burgers during lab hours. But for some reason, for some weird reason, perhaps I was too tensed as too many heads had turned already and the whole thing was turning into one big scene, and the entire world had come to a standstill to watch the touring circus and the joker, I said:</div><div><br /></div><div>Me: Yeah</div><div>She: You want the receipt???</div><div><br /></div><div>This time her voice screeched as though I was asking for her breast size. But if I said 'no' now, I would look even more funny</div><div><br /></div><div>Me: Yes (i so damn need it now! I need it more than my burger)</div><div>She: Ok sir (taken aback by my persistence and conviction)</div><div><br /></div><div>I finally get the damn burger and out I ran with such great speed that even the fastest land animals would be humbled. I made a mental pact that I'll never ever step into McDonald's again even if there was a nuclear holocaust and the entire earth collapsed and McDonald's was the only place I could find food in</div><div><br /></div><div>I sat down and took a little bite of the burger. Music filled the air, violins played behind my back, spring was back in Pittsburgh and my eyelids fluttered like the wings of a butterfly. Damn you lady! I'm coming back for you... and i'll keep coming until you have the damn veggie burger up in your menu list. But presently, I chew on the burger and...</div><div><br /></div><div>I'm lovin' it!</div><div><br /></div>The 'Ekaangi'http://www.blogger.com/profile/05499923256888510519noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978910455190947163.post-7647809130018315792010-02-03T17:47:00.003-05:002010-02-03T18:04:10.775-05:00He didn't move an inch. <div><br /></div><div>Sweat trickled down his forehead. He felt his heart beat could be heard for miles. No one would find him here; but he wasn't taking chances today. He had left the computer facility long time ago. He will not be treading that path ever again. But he had to hide. Hide where he can never ever be located. <div><br /></div><div>He breathed only when he really needed to. </div><div><br /></div><div>"Things are gonna be ok" he kept telling himself. Flashes of past memories kept flickering in his mind ... "its all over ... its not gonna happen again" ... he kept convincing himself. It felt like it was indeed over. 2 months back things had looked so bad, there was no respite. Off-late, nothing much was happening. Things were quiet. Was it the silence before the storm? Doesn't appear so. Probably things were indeed ok. Probably he had no one to fear. Probably he could come out of his hiding place. And just when he decided to move an inch...</div><div><br /></div><div>It happened...</div><div><br /></div><div>...his phone beeped !</div><div><br /></div><div>There was a message. </div><div><br /></div><div>It wasn't over. It was coming back. It will never be over. </div><div><br /></div><div>All of mankind is doomed for eternity!</div><div><br /></div><div>He looked at the message again... and with a sigh of exasperation, he walked towards the computer facility.</div><div><br /></div><div>You want to know what the message was ? </div><div><br /></div><div>It said...</div><div><br /></div><div>"Please check <a href="http://down-in-the-pitt.blogspot.com/">http://down-in-the-pitt.blogspot.com</a> for latest blog updates!"</div><div><br /></div><div>I'm back!</div></div>The 'Ekaangi'http://www.blogger.com/profile/05499923256888510519noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978910455190947163.post-68868579715614979632010-02-03T16:56:00.003-05:002010-02-03T17:47:57.212-05:00Who's proud of their workplace? I know a person who is ... he's called 'everyone!' <div><br /></div><div>Almost everyone HATE work, but all love their workplaces - at least most of them wish they did; or had an awesome place to show off as theirs even if they hated their work more than they hated their own wives! </div><div><br /></div><div>Now being a researcher can be pretty cool (you conduct path-breaking drug discoveries wearing a hoodie and denims ... now who'd trust their lives on someone who wears converse to work?) because you get to work in really cool buildings. Now, the government thinks healthcare is one of the topmost priorities in today's world. This makes sense. The government also thinks we researchers are actually gonna bring a change to society by improving life quality and well-being. This doesn't make sense. All we want to do in a bunch of these five years are get a bunch of them publications and cool our heels in some low-wage fantasy central government research institutes where we can play solitaire during productivity hours (believe me... this happens!)</div><div><br /></div><div>Anyway... coming back to the point. So the government gives us a LOT of money to alleviate or cure diseases of public health concern. We use a fairly large sum of this money to build a LOT of cool skyscrapers with state-of-the-art infrastructure. After all, if you want the job done ... you better give me a good place to sit first. We graduate students who fall way down the scientific hierarchy in terms of funding, priority and respect at least get to enjoy the amenities offered in these places of research. This is precisely what I'll talk about - my workplaces !</div><div><br /></div><div>Now for safety reasons (concerning my own employment AND a means of earning my daily bread which I wouldn't want to put into jeopardy) I cannot specify the names of these buildings. Lets just say 'its confidential' and appear a lot cooler to the ignorant layman. </div><div><br /></div><div>One place I worked actually still gives me the creeps. Nothing of what I described above. Recall those places where the 'Saw' series of movies have been shot ... I'm sure one of them were shot or at least had the potential to be shot here. The endless corridors of doom ... that's what we call it - it was a typical place you'd want to lock graduate students up and force them to perform a series of endless experiments and the day they are rendered useless - you let them graduate!</div><div><br /></div><div>The second one was even worse! Irrespective of the fact that my lab was on the 17th floor (which was pretty cool actually), this place was also a clinic with zombie patients everywhere. It was a mental asylum (literally!). The only thing that encouraged me to redeem my sanity everyday was the project I got to work on - neurology - something I was always fascinated with. </div><div><br /></div><div>The path to success is filled with potholes and washed bridges; in my case, extremely depressing workplaces. It was then cool things began to happen. I got to spend some time getting trained in a brand new facility. Things were SO brand new, they literally had to be opened out of cardboard boxes. I even had to take my work seat out from a box and unwrap the plastic around it. It was the best! Downtown view from the window ... cemetery across another window (did I fail to mention ... cemeteries are tourist spots in the US ... they actually look pretty neat). Doors swing in and out automatically; cool IDs that I just need to flash and the whole building comes to life; lights have minds of their own; this felt like a country kid who was tending to buffaloes all his life has been put right inside the White House!</div><div><br /></div><div>If this wasn't good enough, I then went onto work in a center which was the most artistic research facility I had ever seen. It had fountains and gardens inside close to the lobby area. The entrance doors rotated 360 degrees and threw people like me into shock and awe. The labs were a little cramped but who cares! Its the place that counts ... we had a wishing well inside and we threw in a coin every time we conducted a BIG experiment. </div><div><br /></div><div>I currently work in a highly secure building (which has ion sentinel scanners and all that ... are you sweating already?) and it is at the heart of Oakland where I really need to be. Its undoubtedly a place everyone wishes they were in. The views from the 10th floor is swell! I can see the river from up here where I sit and type and gloat - all at the same time. It gets connected to every damn building I ever want to get into through overhead bridges - I can travel all over without even getting outside the building. Every floor does some of the coolest research ever (actually, they sound cool) - drug discovery institute; neuro-degenerative disease research; structural biology; neurobiology; zebra fish research and so on. There is 'supposed' to be some research relating to biological warfare going on somewhere here ... but that might be a speculation too. Everything's all so hushed up - that it appears pretty cool!</div><div><br /></div><div>So that's about it ... the stage is set for some groundbreaking discoveries to happen ... I've got my chair ... I've got my Mac ... I just need to write a program for a disease-free world. Sometimes all of these are good for the esteem of a student - the rate at which he's kicked around in lab, at least the amenities offer some degree of justice to why he needs to come to work everyday. And unlike most professions ... its not just our work places we are proud about ... its our work too! Why? Because ... its so damn cool !</div><div><br /></div>The 'Ekaangi'http://www.blogger.com/profile/05499923256888510519noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978910455190947163.post-29829356133498858132010-01-26T14:22:00.005-05:002010-01-28T15:27:03.376-05:00<span style="font-style: italic;">You know you are a scientist when you have no frikkin clue of what you are doing!<br /><br /></span>Back in college, I was privileged to meet a bunch of ignorant, scientifically illiterate, uninformed, unqualified, under-performing, unarguably un-apt and yet unimaginably beautiful acquaintances who called themselves our teachers. They haven't had the experiences of reading even a single scientific journal in their lifetime and yet they assertively describe every physiological process of the human body in a single breath.<br /><br />However, America was different. You couldn't mess with these folks. They knew their Sciences. When a researcher who has perhaps spent his entire professional lifetime in cancer biology authoritatively describes a cellular phenomenon to you, you need to think twice before questioning his conviction.<br /><br />My teachers back in India almost fell into a similar category - they were feminine, they were short, almost all were cute to look at, and could give a tough competition to digital voice recorders when it came to remembering and recalling comprehensive information from a textbook.<br /><br />Researchers here fell into several categories. It needs no mention that most are, in their own individual respects, fairly intelligent. They have set up home in one of the top medical schools in the US - they gotta know their Science. And know it well. However, in my last almost-2 years spent in the University amidst these varied species of researchers, I discovered categories - just like how bacteria and viruses can be of a variety of types based on their natures.<br /><br />There are the dorks - textbook scientists, lots of facial hair, no specific hairstyle, soda glasses falling on their noses all the time, they wear their pants up till their tummies, they burp, they snore, they make crude noises each time they laugh; their sense of dressing is humongously dismal; and they know all the biochemical pathways that exist on this earth BY-HEART!<br /><br />And then there are the studs - a cross-breed between Tom Cruise and Keanu Reeves, they make the chicks go crazy! They are charismatic, elegance defines their outlook, they make the best jokes on the planet and they don't worry about not bragging about their work. Their research may not be necessarily worth description, but they know to use the right words to attract gullible cheap-maintenance graduate students into their deceptive laboratories.<br /><br />There also are the third world professors - they are marvelously a wonder in their own little way. Chinese and Indians predominate this clan. Even God has his own difficulties in understanding the Chinglish (Chinese English) these guys speak - you wonder if they are choking or speaking actual sentences. They are slave drivers and do not understand the concept of holidays or vacations. The Indian counterparts carry a whip too and use them quite frequently to drive slogging graduate students out of their homes into their labs. They use the students for a variety of purposes - from accomplishing endless goals in their never-ending projects to getting coffee with '2 tea spoons sugar' whenever they are tired of making the students slog. Professors from both these clans are undoubtedly intelligent; they manage to get publications within their first year of induction itself and it does not take them much time to elevate from assistant to associate professors. Its another issue that they stand on the necks of wailing graduate students to reach greater heights.<br /><br />And then there are the sweet start-ups. They are professors coming from various parts of the world who survive on the university's start up money. Their dreams are big and they actually find solace and satisfaction in being scientists. They are super nice to you, more so because they are fresh out of labs themselves and they still manage to understand that students who eat macaroni and cheese for lunch and dinner need to be treated with respect and love. Its another issue that both respect and love vanish once they get tenured; then the lynching starts.<br /><br />There could potentially be various other forms of professors - their list grows by the day. There are hard-core business types, there are those who have been wedded to Science for eternity, there are those who work on application-driven research, there are those who work on the trivialest, mega-useless projects which does not mean a damn to anybody in this universe; some are on the verge of great discoveries and line up to win the big moolah like the Dickson and the Nobel prizes; some are already there gloating over their industrious past.<br /><br />Its funny how taxonomists all over the world are always busy classifying organisms into hundreds of different varieties but fail to classify themselves - mine is a humble attempt at discerning the strange 'scientist' species.<br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span>The 'Ekaangi'http://www.blogger.com/profile/05499923256888510519noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978910455190947163.post-1872500439400185322010-01-26T14:06:00.003-05:002010-01-26T14:21:50.807-05:00Failure is good. It shows your worthiness. It tells you where you went wrong. It leads you to unconventional paths. It lets you start again. It teaches you valid lessons. It hits your head with a brick and wakes you up. <br /><br />Failure is good. It tells you who your true friends are. It helps you distinguish between those who are curious to those who are concerned. It builds bonds. It builds better friendships. <br /><br />Failure is good. It destroys your pride. It shatters your vanity. It brings you back on the earth. It tells you how vulnerable you are. It gives you humility. It instills in you a drive to perform.<br /><br />Never be afraid to fail. Success doesn't teach much - an excess of it can be detrimental. Success might build your character, but failure reveals it. Failure is the only opportunity to begin again more intelligently (Henry Ford)The 'Ekaangi'http://www.blogger.com/profile/05499923256888510519noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978910455190947163.post-34106021631744001822009-10-13T23:37:00.008-04:002009-10-14T22:22:18.250-04:00<meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 12"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 12"><link style="font-family: georgia;" rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5CSuhas%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><link style="font-family: georgia;" rel="themeData" href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5CSuhas%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_themedata.thmx"><link style="font-family: georgia;" rel="colorSchemeMapping" href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5CSuhas%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_colorschememapping.xml"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> 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159 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; margin-top:0in; margin-right:0in; margin-bottom:10.0pt; margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} .MsoPapDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; margin-bottom:10.0pt; line-height:115%;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="">I wish...
<br />
<br />... that I would wake up to see Arya sleeping next to me
<br />
<br />... that my life goes in circles at this moment!
<br />
<br />... that my friends and me video chat on Skype
<br />
<br />... Pittsburgh and Bangalore were right next to each other
<br />
<br />... I could talk fluently in Sanskrit
<br />
<br />... I remain a teetotaler all my life!
<br />
<br />... genetic counselors remain pretty every year!
<br />
<br />... to show Pittsburgh to everyone I know
<br />
<br />... my stipend gets doubled and the weekend starts on friday
<br />
<br />... my advisor refers to me as a phenomenal grad student
<br />
<br />... that my friends at Pitt remain friends for life!
<br />
<br />... that I do not make any girl cry ever again from today ;)
<br />
<br />... our Indian educational system improves
<br />
<br />... cricket is played very rarely
<br />
<br />... I love American football someday (very unlikely!)
<br />
<br />... I owned an awesome DSLR camera
<br />
<br />... to see Kemmangundi!
<br />
<br />... to be treated normally when I go to India ;-(
<br />
<br />... to give dad the biggest hug possible
<br />
<br />... kids like me ALWAYS even if I'm whack!
<br />
<br />... to sit on M's tummy and play with his beard
<br />
<br />... to spend the entire night star gazing
<br />
<br />... I never cry in front of anyone
<br />
<br />... my wishes really really really come true!</span></p> The 'Ekaangi'http://www.blogger.com/profile/05499923256888510519noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978910455190947163.post-36772418597517725062009-10-13T22:48:00.004-04:002009-10-13T23:08:29.549-04:00<meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 12"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 12"><link style="font-family: georgia;" rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5CSuhas%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><link style="font-family: georgia;" rel="themeData" href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5CSuhas%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_themedata.thmx"><link style="font-family: georgia;" rel="colorSchemeMapping" href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5CSuhas%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_colorschememapping.xml"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> 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mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="">Blogging is not a sadistic passion I began pursuing recently; my days go back to 2006. So in 2006, a hotel in Saudi Arabia collapsed killing 76 pilgrims; a suicide bomber in Tel Aviv, Israel injured 20; more planes and buses crashed; Google bought Youtube; Saddam Hussein was sentenced to hanging; Sony PS 3 was released; Kannada actor Dr. Rajkumar dies; and RD Kornberg gets the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. That’s pretty much when I began blogging. Pretty eventful huh?</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family:georgia;">
<br /><span style=""><o:p></o:p></span></p> <u4:p style="font-family: georgia;"></u4:p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style=""><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style=""><u4:p></u4:p>That’s like the official date – February 2006. Unofficially, I began much earlier in 2005 – but somehow ended up deleting my own blog by accident – that’s a long story into which I wouldn’t want to get into.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family:georgia;">
<br /><span style=""><o:p></o:p></span></p> <u4:p style="font-family: georgia;"></u4:p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style=""><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style=""><u4:p></u4:p>I had a humble beginning like most great people … there were a bunch of readers including myself … in fact, just to get the ball rolling I would leave comments on my posts hoping that would trigger off the others into doing the same. I used to be narcissistic, I would read my own blog again and again and again. Comments trickled in but were hardly worth mention. Most were restricted to – “<i>Hey! I like your blog. Would you like to perform better in bed? Click this link</i>”.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family:georgia;">
<br /><span style=""><o:p></o:p></span></p> <u4:p style="font-family: georgia;"></u4:p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style=""><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style=""><u4:p></u4:p>Reverse psychology always works … on me! But when I try it on others – it bombs! I came up with my first threat to STOP blogging sometime in 2007. I knew what would happen. The world would be aghast. Everyone would throw their hands up in the air in helplesness. There would be a storm kicking in front of my house. There would be tears. Someone would set themselves ablaze somewhere (I’m reeeealllly stretching this too far, ain’t I?). But basically, I expected to get a barrage of mails requesting me to continue, an innundation of “<i>I love what you write!</i>” messages, and an assault of “<i>don’t you dare stop writing</i>” threats.
<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family:georgia;">
<br /><span style=""><o:p></o:p></span></p> <u4:p style="font-family: georgia;"></u4:p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style=""><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style=""><u4:p></u4:p>I looked at my inbox.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family:georgia;">
<br /><span style=""><o:p></o:p></span></p> <u4:p style="font-family: georgia;"></u4:p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style=""><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style=""><u4:p></u4:p>It was silent as ever…</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family:georgia;">
<br /><span style=""><o:p></o:p></span></p> <u4:p style="font-family: georgia;"></u4:p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style=""><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style=""><u4:p></u4:p>What the heck? So it doesn’t even matter to anyone. Perhaps, if someone sends a mail saying <i>Suhas is dead</i>, nobody would turn up for my funeral service too! This was exactly like that; the blog was officially dead, and people wouldn’t even bother to respond to the funeral service. It was mortification to the extreme! I was exasperated to even bother writing anymore.
<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family:georgia;">
<br /><span style=""><o:p></o:p></span></p> <u4:p style="font-family: georgia;"></u4:p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style=""><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style=""><u4:p></u4:p>I checked my mail again.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family:georgia;">
<br /><span style=""><o:p></o:p></span></p> <u4:p style="font-family: georgia;"></u4:p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style=""><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style=""><u4:p></u4:p>Still nothing.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family:georgia;">
<br /><span style=""><o:p></o:p></span></p> <u4:p style="font-family: georgia;"></u4:p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style=""><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style=""><u4:p></u4:p>Suddenly, the system beeped. I clicked. The mail read…</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family:georgia;">
<br /><span style=""><o:p></o:p></span></p> <u4:p style="font-family: georgia;"></u4:p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style=""><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family:georgia;"><i><span style=""><u4:p></u4:p>Order degree certificates. Its as easy as clicking</span></i></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family:georgia;">
<br /><i><span style=""><o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <u4:p style="font-family: georgia;"></u4:p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style=""><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style=""><u4:p></u4:p>Order certificates? Why on earth did I slog it out for the 3 +2 years to attain my degrees!
<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family:georgia;">
<br /><span style=""><o:p></o:p></span></p> <u4:p style="font-family: georgia;"></u4:p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style=""><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style=""><u4:p></u4:p>Another beep. I casually looked.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family:georgia;">
<br /><span style=""><o:p></o:p></span></p> <u4:p style="font-family: georgia;"></u4:p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style=""><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family:georgia;"><i><span style=""><u4:p></u4:p>I like the way you write. I’m gonna miss your blog a lot</span></i></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family:georgia;">
<br /><i><span style=""><o:p></o:p></span></i></p> <u4:p style="font-family: georgia;"></u4:p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style=""><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style=""><u4:p></u4:p>WTF? Yeah, I know … the mail still did not talk anything about stopping me from stopping the blog. But it had all the ingredients in it to make my day! That was it! The fingers were back on the keyboard.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family:georgia;">
<br /><span style=""><o:p></o:p></span></p> <u4:p style="font-family: georgia;"></u4:p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style=""><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style=""><u4:p></u4:p>By and by, I tried nurturing a habit not to be too bothered with how many comments I receive. I started deeming it to be too trivial to break my head over. And it made sense too. The whole phenomenon of writing for myself and using blogger as a platform to vent my emotions seemed so logical. I grew up. I wrote for myself.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family:georgia;">
<br /><span style=""><o:p></o:p></span></p> <u4:p style="font-family: georgia;"></u4:p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style=""><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family:georgia;"><i><span style=""><u4:p></u4:p>I don’t give a damn </span></i><span style="">thought I. Should I care if people read what I write? Nope. Should I care if I get comments? Nope. Should I care if its too personal? Nope. Should I care if its helping me get things out of my system. Yep! That’s the only damn thing I’d care about. Pretty much, that was the time I even stopped sending out mails to people asking them to read my blog. It was my liberation movement; the moment of enlightenment; of totality!
<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family:georgia;">
<br /><span style=""><o:p></o:p></span></p> <u4:p style="font-family: georgia;"></u4:p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style=""><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style=""><u4:p></u4:p>This mode of mine went on for a pretty long time. I would say that there were times when I thought of quitting – maybe when I got a writer’s block, maybe when I did not find time at all, maybe when my posts were too monotonous and were following a strict pattern or maybe when there were not enough things inside my system to get them out.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family:georgia;">
<br /><span style=""><o:p></o:p></span></p> <u4:p style="font-family: georgia;"></u4:p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style=""><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style=""><u4:p></u4:p>Then began this new mode of mine – the new genre – I wrote for the mass! Inspite of all the gabble that I was so fond of writing, I at least gave it a proper package so that it could be presentable. And I slowly figured it out, when the package looks pretty, people don’t give a damn to what’s inside. There … I gave out a big secret to how I write what I write … make the package pretty!</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family:georgia;">
<br /><span style=""><o:p></o:p></span></p> <u4:p style="font-family: georgia;"></u4:p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style=""><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style=""><u4:p></u4:p>On a more serious note, blogging did help me develop. It wasn’t discernible, but I started feeling that I had begun developing a broad-minded perceptive about everything in life. Things became more clearer in the head once it fell in the form of words on page. My opinions, principles and ideologies, my decisions, justifications for my decisions, my ambitions, my beliefs – I developed a large portion of these by writing. That’s the sole reason I always uphold reading and writing – 2 things I always endorse people to do. It builds personality.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family:georgia;">
<br /><span style=""><o:p></o:p></span></p> <u4:p style="font-family: georgia;"></u4:p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style=""><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style=""><u4:p></u4:p>Now back to my gibberish normal self. So where was I? Yeah, I wrote for the mass. Once the head is clear, the system is clean. Ergo, there is no scope for venting your emotions. At least, not so much. That’s when the gobbledygook intensified. I have read blogs that preach, that ask you to modify your behaviors, your perceptions about life; I have read blogs that write about issues; that write about sentiments – love stories, heart breaks, teary poetry; all these in terms of standard and quality are way above mine … but I figured its not really what people want to read. It makes sense if these people are writing these for themselves… the genre I was in around 2007. But otherwise, it made one really gloomy. Who wants that? I wanted to write things people would read, laugh, think I have gone whacky, and then forget about it. Somehow, I did just that.</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family:georgia;">
<br /><span style=""><o:p></o:p></span></p> <u4:p style="font-family: georgia;"></u4:p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style=""><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style=""><u4:p></u4:p>When it comes to writing, I am somewhere around average. I’m being unpretentious here… I have read what others write and sometimes I’m appalled about my own ignorances about what’s happening around me. One feels I am totally lackadaisical about everything that needs importance. Maybe a little more solemnity, maybe a little more emotion, maybe a little more rationality might improve the standards of my writing. But somehow I haven’t been able to get myself into that mode at all. Its so easy for me to ramble on about senseless things, the thing I’m most comfortable doing, that I feel like just continuing this until someone burns out – the reader or me!</span></p><p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family:georgia;">
<br /><span style=""><o:p></o:p></span></p> <u4:p style="font-family: georgia;"></u4:p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style=""><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNoSpacing" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style="">I have had a mixed journey. Strangers have walked up to me and introduced themselves saying that they have read my blog. My own good friends have swore at me and forced me to take their ids off my mailing list threatening me not to send a single blog update ever! Nevertheless, writing feels good. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <u4:p style="font-family: georgia;"></u4:p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-family:georgia;"><span style=""><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <u4:p style="font-family: georgia;"></u4:p>The 'Ekaangi'http://www.blogger.com/profile/05499923256888510519noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978910455190947163.post-19881766841266383282009-10-12T16:15:00.006-04:002009-10-13T23:13:15.511-04:00<meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 12"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 12"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5CSuhas%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><link rel="themeData" href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5CSuhas%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_themedata.thmx"><link rel="colorSchemeMapping" 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mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">This is my first attempt to bring stupidity into story-writing. Where can stupidity not venture into? Its really really long for my blogging standards and I’m sure to make more enemies than already in the process. But who cares?</span>
<br />
<br /><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">It was a really cold night. The breeze rumbled so hard, leaves were dropping from the trees like raindrops from the sky. Not a single soul braved to go out in such weather. The nights were usually cold, but that night was exceptional – the ravaging gushes of wind swept everything in her path. The student was glad to be under the protection of his apartment. His own apartment, for which he was paying about one-third of his stipend money. He wasn’t that upset to be on the lowest level in the pay-chain. Graduate life eventually takes over and masquerades the impoverished lifestyle one’s living.</span>
<br />
<br /><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">There were sudden flashes of light. Late undergrad partygoers often were found driving their cars in unearthly hours with glimmering lights that would creep into the rooms of every apartment and disturb everyone’s sleep. But this was not a mere flash of light, it was more like beams of light being focused on his room. With inquisitive eyes, the graduate student pulled his blinds up and peeped outside. His eyes widened. Heart rate doubled. He would shriek, only if his voice came out. And before he got back to his senses, he felt himself being pulled out of his bed, across the window and thrown into the frigid sky with force. He was sucked into the spaceship. That was when he blanked out.</span>
<br />
<br /><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">In other places, more people were picked up in this way. The same beams of light. They too blanked out as they were being sucked into the alien craft. The darkness seemed eternal.</span>
<br />
<br /><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">“Is this America?” said the President as he scanned his surroundings. The place looked dismal. Craters, darkness, desert-like, not a soul to behold. “We must be in Texas. That’s America!” said he to himself again.</span>
<br />
<br /><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">And then, it walked from one of the craters.</span>
<br />
<br /><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">As the President prepared to launch a “Yes, we Can” speech at this extraterrestrial in order to fight it off, the strange creature stood up on both its legs, as though it was human. It was pretty hairy, fat glasses, unkempt hair and a shirt that would never match with the trousers. “Are you American?” asked the President. “Yes of course. I was just working on my grants when I suddenly felt air-lifted. I tried to finish off the remaining sentences, although the phenomenon of being air-lifted posed certain technical glitches to my progress. The next thing I remember is waking up here in this place, which according to my calculations based on the speed of my airlifting, the diameter of the spacecraft and the classic features of this place, is our natural satellite – the MOON” said the advisor, with impressive hold over his vocabulary. And disturbed by this verbal bantering from the advisor, more people walked out from the craters – the lab technician in the thong, the dangerous NRI uncle and finally, the graduate student himself.</span>
<br />
<br /><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">The President stood on one of the bigger rocks. He tried to adjust his tie only to realize he was still in his mickey-mouse pajamas. He started off his emphatic speech.</span>
<br />
<br /><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Its apparent that five of us have been selected by someone or something to live on this place we call Moon. Whatever that selected us did so for a reason. Because the five of us represent the heart and soul of America. The advisor whose research brings bigger problems to society, the lab technician whose drinking habits build our economy and hence more employment opportunities, the NRI uncle – the shrewd engineer who knows where to get the cheapest deals in this dire time of recession, the graduate student – cheap labor from whom we can get anything done, and me, your President of course, the Nobel laureate, the messiah in distressing times, especially during these times when cafeteria burgers have become dearer by 36 cents. </span></i>
<br />
<br /><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">“You lie!” screamed the graduate student. His voice thundered across the moon and stunned everyone. “No its true!” retorted back the President. “Burgers are dearer by 52 cents. That’s why I have been eating a lot of Ramen these days” screamed back the student. If anyone closely observed, they would find tiny drops of tears emering from his eyes.</span>
<br />
<br /><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">The President continued…</span>
<br />
<br /><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">As I was saying, we have been thrown into this challenging environment. America always chooses to use challenges as an opportunity to build itself. Its because we can!Yes, we can! The NASA probe has shown to us that moon has water. At least, we won’t be thirsty.</span></i>
<br />
<br /><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">“Anyone for a drink? I know this really good place right around that corner behind that big rock. Drinks are half-priced around this time” smiled the confident lab-technician. One of two things were true. She had gone bonkers after her experiences in zero-gravity or she had no frikkin clue where she was. The advisor, who was finishing up his grant proposals by etching the moon floor with sharpened pieces of rocks, glared at the technician. She sat down with a grimace. The student was fast asleep. His concentration time of exactly 15 minutes had surpassed. He was dreaming already, of being a post-doc and coming to lab whenever he wished and yet being able to have his own Mac in the lab.</span>
<br />
<br /><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Undeterred by the disturbances being caused by the rest of the troupe, the President moved on…</span>
<br />
<br /><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">So lets build this place from scratch. Because we can! Yes we can! For ourselves. For America. But let us not bicker and quarrel with each other in the process. I intend to keep this nobel peace prize for a while. The advisor can write a paper on what we need to do in order to build a society from scratch. The student can do all the labor. The NRI uncle can be in charge of exploration to find anything worth using here. The lab technician and me will be in charge of building a good population around here. She’s our only hope for civilization. </span></i>
<br />
<br /><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">And then the wild party just started. The NRI uncle went on a wild goose chase to search for stuff he deemed would be worth auctioning if he could ever get back to earth. Or he could do it there on the Moon as soon as the Moon currency went into circulation. The advisor broke into a series of calculations, and although he came across a brilliant plan to sustain their existence on the Moon, he deicded to collect some preliminary data, get a couple publications and then implement them. The graduate student of course was flabbergasted to have found signal even at such great distances away and had begun using facebook on his iPhone. His status updates read – “I’m in moon. Check out my new youtube video where I do the moonwalk”. And somewhere behind the big rock where the lab technician’s hypothetical bar existed, Obama and the tech were taking a walk.</span>
<br />
<br /><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Very soon, all hell broke loose. It was the shrewd NRI uncle who found it first. The abandoned spaceship. The source of hope to return back to earth. Upon inspection, it was found that the spaceship was a prototype of NASA’s crafts running on Windows Vista. It came with the standard 4-seats in the cabin. One person had to be dropped out of this mission. The mission to earth!</span>
<br />
<br /><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">The spaceship took off after a couple of restarts and running a few spyware scans. The graduate student watched in awe as the craft lifted off leaving darkness and silence.</span>
<br />
<br /><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">He looked at his watch. It was 9pm; March 12, 2014. Something was to happen around this time. He racked his brains but couldn’t figure out. He scanned through numerous web pages and came across an article – India successfully launches Chandrayaan 3 – the first manned mission to Moon. And in the distance, he could see a speck of light coming right towards the moon.</span>
<br />
<br /><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">2 weeks later…</span>
<br />
<br /><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">He had quite a story to narrate. The youngest person on Moon. The graduate student was enveloped by an ocean of media personnel. His return to earth on Chandrayaan 3 was a pretty eventful one. Everyone wanted to know his story. He was winning acclaims and awards. He was winning fellowships. He was winning cash prizes. He was on Broadway. He was on Time magainze. He was everywhere!</span>
<br />
<br /><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Meanwhile…</span>
<br />
<br /><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">The ruckus created by the President’s “Yes, we Can” speech, the advisor’s (mis) calculations on the trajectory to earth, the NRI uncle’s moon-rock collections (through which he intended to make a lot of money) adding to the weight of the craft, the lab technician treating the entire craft as a party hall and the blue-screen-of-death on all the monitors of the spaceship shifted its path towards the rings of Saturn.</span>
<br />
<br /><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">The graduate student opened his eyes. He looked around. A pile of papers covered his study table. He didn’t even remember if it was a wooden table. His breakfast dish from yesterday was still beside the window sill. He woke up reluctantly. Brushed his teeth. He didn’t utter a word. Grabbing his cellphone and backpack, he slowly walked towards his lab thinking, “Only if dreams came true!”</span></p> The 'Ekaangi'http://www.blogger.com/profile/05499923256888510519noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978910455190947163.post-27992907333590264642009-10-05T23:10:00.004-04:002009-10-13T23:27:56.373-04:00<meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 12"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 12"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5CSuhas%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><link rel="themeData" href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5CSuhas%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_themedata.thmx"><link rel="colorSchemeMapping" href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5CSuhas%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_colorschememapping.xml"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> 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mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; margin-top:0in; margin-right:0in; margin-bottom:10.0pt; margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} .MsoPapDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; margin-bottom:10.0pt; line-height:115%;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">There came a time in my life when I had to choose between the pen and the pipette. I choose the latter. I thought I made that choice. Not destiny. I did. And I was sure my choice was right. I had to justify it. Because it was my choice. Life, now, has pushed me into making that same decision again. The pen or the pipette. Time’s changed now. I have changed. I wouldn’t believe in destiny. Now I am too confused not to. Is destiny giving me another chance to take the right decision? Or is life trying to test my determination? </span>
<br />
<br /><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">I think I know the answer…</span>
<br />
<br /><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">I shall write about the pipette. I think that’s the right choice. My choice. Destiny’s choice. </span>
<br />
<br /><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">PS: Don’t think too much of this post. Its just introspective…</span></p> The 'Ekaangi'http://www.blogger.com/profile/05499923256888510519noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978910455190947163.post-5783225950152348592009-10-05T18:04:00.002-04:002009-10-13T23:28:34.039-04:00<meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 12"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 12"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5CSuhas%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><link rel="themeData" href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5CSuhas%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_themedata.thmx"><link rel="colorSchemeMapping" href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5CSuhas%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_colorschememapping.xml"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:trackmoves/> <w:trackformatting/> <w:punctuationkerning/> 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div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">One of the pleasures of coming to lab early is the freedom you get – every equipment has your name written on it, every bench eagerly anticipates that you’ll keep your samples on them, every hood welcomes you with open arms and every Mac waits for you to open facebook or read PhD comics in them.
<br />
<br />One of those days…
<br />
<br />I had my experiment running from 7-45am. I knew the day would go by pretty smoothly without any hitch. We generally have to schedule our time to use the tissue culture hood (in laymen terms, the hood is where we play around with cells) because we have one hood and five people. But what’s the hurry? There’s no one around. Heck! No one’s gonna be around till 9. And so I immersed myself into the magical world of farmville and other facebook games.
<br />
<br />Folks started streaming into the lab. Ahhh… they just came now; they have to still talk about how much whisky they had over the weekend (Americans!), some incomprehensible conversations about the Steelers game (the Steeler fans defy rationality) and about some fancy new restaurant that serves awesome salads with extra lettuce. And thus, I refused to schedule my hood-time.
<br />
<br />My advisor started using the hood first. He deserves it … after all, its his. His money. Go for it buddy! When he was out, post-doc walks in. And me thinks, “hmmm… maybe I’ll go book a slot”. And the rest was history!
<br />
<br />It was overbooked! Till frikkin 9pm. I come to lab at 7-30am, and now I gotta hang around till night? Hunter to the hunted… I went around begging co-workers for 10-minute slots. But apparently everyone had such important experiments to carry out in the hood (as if everyone were on the verge of a great discovery), that my requests kept bouncing all over. I propose, they dispose!
<br />
<br />I walked up and down the lab corridors hoping someone will yield. Thankfully and surprisingly, the villain of my life – my lab technician, yielded. She gave me my ten minutes at 5pm and hence my freedom by 6pm.
<br />
<br />And I always laughed at the stupidity of the hare who couldn’t win over the tortoise…<o:p></o:p></span></p> The 'Ekaangi'http://www.blogger.com/profile/05499923256888510519noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978910455190947163.post-81289225217752224892009-10-05T17:59:00.003-04:002009-10-13T23:30:38.587-04:00<meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 12"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 12"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5CSuhas%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><link rel="themeData" href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5CSuhas%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_themedata.thmx"><link rel="colorSchemeMapping" href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5CSuhas%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_colorschememapping.xml"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> 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div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Blew another Friday off watching an action flick – Transformers this time, yet again. We just can’t love this movie enough. Roomie and me discussed how things would be in our lab if it was shot like an action movie.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <u4:p></u4:p><u5:p></u5:p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><u5:p></u5:p>9am … somewhere in the Cancer Center, Molecular Virology Lab</span></b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></p> <u4:p></u4:p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><u5:p></u5:p>Advisor: </span></b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">We are all here because the time has come to choose … to choose between what is easy and what is right. The SV-40 viruses are causing tumors in mice and soon plan to attack humans and take over the universe. But we are Americans. And if true American blood runs in our bodies, we are sure to kick some virus butt today. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <u4:p></u4:p><u5:p></u5:p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Grad student, do the pull-downs. Secure the beads and prepare for washing.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <u4:p></u4:p><u5:p></u5:p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Grad student: </span></b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Pull-down process engaged. Everyone, hold onto your butts. Ultracentrifugation begins in T -5 seconds. Sir, I advise you to stay in your bunker. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <u4:p></u4:p><u5:p></u5:p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Advisor: </span></b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Good luck grad student. Make me proud (retires to his chamber)<o:p></o:p></span></p> <u4:p></u4:p><u5:p></u5:p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Post-doc: </span></b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Mayday! Mayday! The Mac’s frozen. Does someone know how to operate this? <o:p></o:p></span></p> <u4:p></u4:p><u5:p></u5:p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Grad student: </span></b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">There is only one person who can do this. Our lab-tech, who spends most of her hours on google talk. Jennifer, proceed 10 steps to your east and take care of the Mac you see in front of you. Centrifugation steps complete. Washing steps engaged. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <u4:p></u4:p><u5:p></u5:p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">And suddenly, out of nowhere…<o:p></o:p></span></p> <u4:p></u4:p><u5:p></u5:p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Advisor: </span></b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Team. Report status.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <u4:p></u4:p><u5:p></u5:p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Grad student: </span></b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Washing steps will be completed asap. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <u4:p></u4:p><u5:p></u5:p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Advisor: </span></b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">What<b> </b>the heck is that? Roll in 0.5% NP-40. I repeat … alpha … roll in 0.5% NP-40. Switch on the hot plate. Proceed to boil in sample buffer. Start loading gels from 9 O’clock west. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <u4:p></u4:p><u5:p></u5:p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Grad student: </span></b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Samples incoming! Lets use our two-five-zero-kb marker. Bring the standard protein ladder.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <u4:p></u4:p><u5:p></u5:p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Lazy undergrad: </span></b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Attention all units. Ground team requesting Seeblue protein standard.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <u4:p></u4:p><u5:p></u5:p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Grad student: </span></b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">All samples loaded. Prepare for transfer in T-60minutes. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <u4:p></u4:p><u5:p></u5:p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Advisor to lab-tech: </span></b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Bring the student home. Get him state-side right now and de-briefed in 15 minutes.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <u4:p></u4:p><u5:p></u5:p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Lab-tech: </span></b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Calling lab-tech to grad-student, do you hear me. Lab-tech to grad-student, return to home base. Sir, I think we lost him. He must have gone to Qdoba. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <u4:p></u4:p><u5:p></u5:p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Advisor: </span></b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Grad student, return to base at once. If you do not comply, your India trip vacation will be cancelled. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <u4:p></u4:p><u5:p></u5:p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Grad student: </span></b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Reporting to base at once sir. Preparing for transfer. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <u4:p></u4:p><u5:p></u5:p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">And the rest of the day continues in this confusion…….<o:p></o:p></span></p> <u4:p></u4:p><u5:p></u5:p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Grad student: </span></b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Back off! We are under attack from non-working Santa Cruz antibodies. Bring in Invitrogen, bring in Abcam, bring in Covance, bring in everything you have. Do I have orders to abort mission professor?<o:p></o:p></span></p> <u4:p></u4:p><u5:p></u5:p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Advisor: </span></b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Orders to abort mission denied.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <u4:p></u4:p><u5:p></u5:p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Grad student: </span></b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Proceed killbox 1 alpha. Borrow antibodies from adjacent lab. Use deadly force if necessary.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <u4:p></u4:p><u5:p></u5:p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">And in course of time, with results in hand…<o:p></o:p></span></p> <u4:p></u4:p><u5:p></u5:p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Grad student: </span></b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">I did it ! Crazy son-of-a-bitch, I did it! Mission accomplished professor!<o:p></o:p></span></p> <u4:p></u4:p><u5:p></u5:p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">Advisor: </span></b><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">All ground units to be evacuated at once. It is time to go home. It has been an honor working with all of you. (To grad student), report to duty on Saturday and reproduce this experiment. The war is not yet over. The end is just the beginning. There is more to it than meets the eye. I am the principal investigator and I send this message to all the surviving graduate students taking refuge somewhere. I am here, and I am waiting. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <u4:p></u4:p><u5:p></u5:p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">(Dialogues credited to Transformers)<o:p></o:p></span></p> <u4:p></u4:p><u5:p></u5:p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <u4:p></u4:p>The 'Ekaangi'http://www.blogger.com/profile/05499923256888510519noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978910455190947163.post-44324295025829445062009-09-29T16:02:00.004-04:002009-10-03T17:36:11.920-04:00Common conversations in a laboratory setting:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Monday<br /><br /></span><span style="font-weight: bold;">Advisor: </span>Are you sure you spun down the samples?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Grad student: </span>Yes<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Advisor: </span>Are you sure the tube had samples when you spun them down?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Grad student: </span>Yes<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Advisor: </span>Are you sure the centrifuge was working when spinning down the samples?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Grad student: </span>Yes<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Advisor: </span>Are you sure that the centrifuge was plugged on?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Grad student: </span>Yes<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Advisor: </span>Ok. Do this experiment again<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Tuesday</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Grad student: </span>I do not know why this didn’t work<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Advisor: </span>It worked last time when Jennifer (lab technician) did it<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Grad student: </span>Maybe we need to order fresh antibodies<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Advisor: </span>It worked last time when Jennifer used the old antibodies<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Grad student: </span>Maybe there is no true association<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Advisor: </span>Maybe you are stupid<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Grad student: </span>Pardon me?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Advisor: </span>Ok. Do this experiment again<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Wednesday</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Lab technician: </span>Hey, pick the trash<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Grad student: </span>I am in the middle of an experiment<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Lab technician: </span>Hey, prepare the buffers<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Grad student: </span>But I had prepared them just 2 hours back<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Lab technician: </span>Hey, do my Western. I’m going home<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Grad student: </span>Hey !<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Advisor: </span>Bye (to lab technician). You are coming this Saturday right? (to grad student)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Thursday</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Post-doc: </span>Myc family of transcription factors contain <span class="mw-redirect">bHLH</span>/LZ domain and through its bHLH domain can bind to DNA, while the leucine zipper domain allows the dimerization with its partner Max, another bHLH transcription factor.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Grad student: </span>Whoa! What the heck?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Post-doc: </span>This is my desk. Get off<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Grad student: </span>That’s your desk. This is mine.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Post-doc: </span>Now both are mine.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Grad student: </span>But I love my Mac<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Post-doc: </span>My Mac. Use your laptop<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Grad student: </span>Sniff!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Post-doc: </span>Are those my pants you are wearing?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Friday (afternoon 3pm)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Lab-technician: </span>Bye<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Grad student: </span>Bye<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Post-doc: </span>Bye<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Grad student: </span>Bye<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Advisor: </span>Bye<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Grad student: </span>Bye (and starts his experiment)<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />Saturday (in lab)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Grad student: </span>Is anybody there?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Sunday (in lab)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Grad student: </span>Is 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mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; margin-top:0in; margin-right:0in; margin-bottom:10.0pt; margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} .MsoPapDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; margin-bottom:10.0pt; line-height:115%;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">I just hit half a century with over 50 posts in Pittsburgh. The journey has been great … you have all been incessantly stopping me from not blogging … I applaud your masochistic attributes. Looking forward to bomb you with more posts in the days to come. Thanks again for everything!<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> The 'Ekaangi'http://www.blogger.com/profile/05499923256888510519noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978910455190947163.post-89333072425112617722009-09-22T12:42:00.002-04:002009-09-22T12:44:00.345-04:00So Julia Roberts was shooting for this movie called ‘<span style="font-style: italic;">Eat, Pray, Love</span>’ and she had priests performing a <span style="font-style: italic;">hawan</span> to ensure the movie does not bomb at the box office. The hotel she resides in has a unique Yoga center; and on the first day of the shot, she wore Indian attires and ate Indian food with her bare hands. She finds Gulab Jamun the most amazing of all (atleast Julia and me have similar and good tastes). She thinks “<span style="font-style: italic;">India is really amazing</span>” (Courtesy: Rediff.com)<br /><br />And this news becomes an article in most of the Indian newspapers. So the Indians are happy that she thinks India is amazing, the Hindus are happy because she’s performing sacred rituals, the media is happy because they captured an event that can sell. As usual, I’m the one who’s not happy. And as for Julia Roberts, she probably doesn’t even know that an article was written about her in an Indian newspaper.<br /><br />Lets say the King Khan – Shahrukh came to Pittsburgh and ate a pepperoni pizza using a fork and a knife. He wore a hoodie which read ‘Old Navy’ and he wore GAP denims. Can you picture an article in the post-gazzette which reads ’<span style="font-style: italic;">Indian actor dines in American restaurant; he wore an American hoodie and jeans; ate using knives and forks; and he thinks Pittsburgh is a great place to be</span>’? I would love to see something like that.<br /><br />It certainly is a wonderful thing to know that someone 8000 miles away thinks our country is great. But that certainly shouldn’t be the source of our patriotism, right? That is not the only reason why we should feel proud about our country. Why wait for some <span style="font-style: italic;">gora</span> or <span style="font-style: italic;">gori</span> to groove on our Indian cultures and then bask in glory for belonging to that country? I really think the newspapers should get their priorities right.<br /><br />I hate to preach. So I’ll make this as short as possible. If someone tells you that they think India is a great country – just tell them you know it already. But do not run around everywhere announcing that an X or a Y thinks India is great. That’s precisely what our newspapers are doing right now.The 'Ekaangi'http://www.blogger.com/profile/05499923256888510519noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978910455190947163.post-88965558663968744692009-09-20T02:00:00.002-04:002009-09-20T03:03:48.416-04:00Far far away, on a mystical land where the sun rose in the east and set in the west, where stars twinkled, where graduate students toiled for free food and western blots continuously failed, there lived a great graduate student called 'Ram'. He lived in Ayodhya Apartments which was managed by Lobos - promising realtors who tried everything in their might to prevent the death of their tenants (especially due to bathroom flooding). <br /><br />His advisor Dr. Dasharatha (MD/PhD) was a great man who collaborated with evil principal investigators like Dr. Kaikeyi to whom publications were more important than the funding of graduate students. On the day Ram finished his lab rotation, Dr. Dasharatha crowned him with the most coveted GSR position much to the irritation of his collaborator. Dr. Kaikeyi then reminds Dr. Dasharatha about the contractual agreements of the collaboration and sends Ram into an endless journey of finding protein interactions using Westerns and CO-IPs. Meanwhile, Bharata, the new post-doc enjoys all the limelight, the new lab coat, the personal cubicle, and more such amenities while Ram struggles with just granola bars for lunch. <br /><br />Sita, the lab technician and Lakshman, the annoying undergrad accompany Ram in this perilous adventure where dangers like Santa Cruz antibodies and wrong buffers could ruin their lives. After traversing through the chasm of death filled with take-home-exams and paper discussions, and slaying the two demonic journal club presentations, Ram finally comes to face Dr. Ravana and Co. - his thesis committee! <br /><br />Dr. Ravana has everything in him to make the lives of graduate students miserable. His presence and aura gives self destructing attributes to the students; Dr. Ravana himself and his army (from other departments) were all set to launch a brutal attack on Ram. Lanka Hall, the new conference room in Scaife Hall would be the battlefield. The battle has begun. Ram dodges, bends, ducks, moves, retaliates, fires, and finally emerges out of the battlefield, hurt, hungry, tired, insulted, injured, exasperated, and yet victorious and relieved !<br /><br />Baratha personally comes to receive Ram and gives a piece of his half-eaten pizza to him. Back in the kingdom, Dr. Dasharatha is happy to have his graduate student back, qualifiers cleared, and looks forward to put him through another infinite years of frustration and lab bench maintenance.<br /><br />Thus ends the greatest epic of all times - the Ramayan - the journey of Ram - a true story depicting the ideal advisor, the ideal graduate student, and the ideal committee, the duties of life, the duties of relationships, and the duties to be performed during incubation times (checking gmail, playing farmville, updating status messages, and for people like me, blogging!)The 'Ekaangi'http://www.blogger.com/profile/05499923256888510519noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978910455190947163.post-36292769719262528922009-09-20T00:57:00.006-04:002009-09-20T02:00:12.746-04:00At the end of the academic year, there is something you have to do which you'd detest to the core of your heart and yet you oblige to with an innocent smile. It forces you to dig deep and distill out your creativity until you are mentally drained. To push things for the worse, you have to do this not once, but again - and again - and again and again! Neither am I talking about examinations, nor am I talking about writing the eternal love letter to your (in)significant someone. I'm talking about filling in the slam books!<br /><br />One question that often stumped me was about what my most embarrassing moment was! I would be petrified at this question - not because I could not recall any particular incident; I just do not know how to prioritize and place the worst moments of my life in order. They are so many and I need to attach supplemental sheets along with the slam book!<br /><br />For the cartoonic life that I lead, I don't necessarily get embarrassed by what I do. To top it all, I have a room mate who complements me in every single way. Yet, I have put myself into certain awkward situations wherein I have realized, anything I say would make the situation much much worse!<br /><br />Maybe I should write about the crazy elevator ride. Being in a country where at a given time, millions of people are on elevators all over America ... I find the elevator journey the most boring of all especially when I travel alone. Especially in Western Psych, I had to go all the way to the 14th floor - the journey would get so tiring that I'd have jet lag at the end of it. It was believed that the 14th floor fell under a different time zone but it was debatable. I had to entertain myself with a few somersaults, scratching my nails against the sides of the walls, and breathing out air into the CCD camera which was as dead as a dodo. Or so I wished. The camera was in perfect condition and the receptionist would have a great time everyday watching her personal cartoon network channel. She had 6 television screens and I was on her most favorite one every morning and every evening. I was even considering doing a ballroom dance with my laptop when the receptionist lady finally told me how amusing I was to her. That was the end of my dancing days - then on I stood so still that she must have mistook me for a cardboard cutout.<br /><br />Maybe I should write about my great adventures on my palace on wheels. One thing I was sure about - no soul would care to bother me in a cancer lab late nights. There was this football match that day - Americans would be kicking away towards obesity and vocal cord damage. My samples were running across the gel and I had time to kill. One premium advantage of working in an American research lab is - their chairs have wheels. One could conveniently lie flat on his/her stomach over the chair and glide away across the room at 15 miles per hour. And glide away I did ... nothing was more exciting than that. Its true when they say that research is interesting - the incubation times are when most breakthroughs happen. Wasn't that when I figured out that I could garner more speed if I took a run up before falling flat on the chair and roll away to the end of the lab? I did it. Speed, I did garner. And also some shocked expressions from an advisor who had just walked in to grab some of his sheets. It worries me to put myself in his shoes - a respectable advisor who believes in doing Science for altruistic purposes sees a graduate student, tummy pressed to the seat, rolling away knocking against expensive instruments along his wonderful journey.<br /><br />Maybe I should write about my fine observation skills that made quite a lot of heads turn. It so happened that I was way too early in the Atlanta airport and was passing away my time by rating girls as they passed (i'm generally lenient - the lowest I gave that day was 7 and only because she had too much hair on her eyebrows). The exasperated lady next to me decided to let go of some body fluids and requested me to look after her luggage. Being the two goody shoes (and secretly hoping she's a queen who'll give me half her kingdom and her daughter's hand for marriage for my good deeds), I gladly agreed. Not even two minutes had passed, there came a woman trying to tug her luggage off to a different place. Would I let her? I made it my responsibility to save the luggage from unscrupulous hands. If this stranger crazy lady wanted to steal away the luggage, she'd have to do it over my dead body. I tried to convince her that this luggage belongs to someone else and she tried hard to convince me that she herself is that someone else. I remembered her black overcoat. This lady does not have a black overcoat. I still held on to her luggage in one hand, a little confused myself. Heads were turning, people were looking up from their newspapers, there was a bit of awkward expressions on our faces. She won the staring competition. Unabashedly, she pulled away her luggage from me, wore the black overcoat given to her by her little daughter who came dancing like a daisy from the nether world and walked away and sat a good distance away from me. I wouldn't have been surprised if people moved their personal bags closer to themselves after seeing this weird me who denies people what rightly belongs to them. <br /><br />What's my most embarrassing moment? When I slid on the bus on my bottom, or when my friends caught me for the possession of compact powder and a fairness cream? When i bowled my first leather ball which took 13 pitches before it reached the batsman, or when I strongly argued that the sacred cow was masculine with my coach? When i wore a semi-transparent dhoti in front of about 250 relatives, or when I lost in a running race (a relay actually) only because I ran in the opposite direction? It is said that the rate at which a person can mature is directly proportional to the embarrassment he can tolerate. I think I'm not doing that bad in this arena...The 'Ekaangi'http://www.blogger.com/profile/05499923256888510519noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978910455190947163.post-63474158982255219092009-09-20T00:49:00.003-04:002009-09-20T00:56:03.421-04:00<meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 12"><meta name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 12"><link rel="File-List" href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5CSuhas%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_filelist.xml"><link rel="themeData" href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5CSuhas%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_themedata.thmx"><link rel="colorSchemeMapping" href="file:///C:%5CUsers%5CSuhas%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_colorschememapping.xml"><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:worddocument> <w:view>Normal</w:View> <w:zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:trackmoves/> <w:trackformatting/> <w:punctuationkerning/> 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mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]--> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">The journey was to be short. Words, if at all spoken, would be very few. There was no time to make new friends. We knew we’d be going separate ways. It was highly unlikely I’d run into the same person again. Even if I did, it wouldn’t matter. We would fail to remember each other. That didn’t matter either. Some friendships last forever; some last only a minute.
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<br /> <!--[endif]--><u4:p><o:p></o:p></u4:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" face="georgia"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">It is pretty interesting to note how many strangers we meet everyday. Some end up as friends. Some remain mere passer-bys. Well, we all know how great our friends are (even though they fail to give you the money that they owe you) and we have taken their existence for granted (as in a regular part of our lives). What interests me more are these passer-bys. Their life is probably completely different from yours; perhaps they have encountered hundreds of incidents and circumstances in their lives that would really surprise or amuse you; and yet we will never be able to experience anything; just because they would remain mere passer-bys in our lives. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <u4:p></u4:p> <p class="MsoNormal" face="georgia"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">I met Katherine on an elevator (I generally prefer not taking names; but I have presumed I wouldn’t be meeting her again). Our conversation would be limited from the 6<sup>th</sup> floor to the ground floor. Conversations between strangers are generally initiated because of an accidental ice-breaker. Katherine persistently pressed the button for the 6<sup>th</sup> floor failing to notice that she was ALREADY on the 6<sup>th</sup> floor. A burst of laughter and our short conversation began. In the 2-minute talk that followed, I learnt a bit about her crazy nature of changing majors ranging from theater to community health sciences. She had to go to the commons room while I had to catch a bus home. We smiled at each other and that was it. We never talked to each other again.
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<br /> <!--[endif]--><u4:p><o:p></o:p></u4:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" face="georgia"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">I met Chris in the Atlanta airport. Few minutes before I left to my friends’ place. Chris was waiting for his boyfriend to pick him up … he was going to Vegas. They would fly to Denver and drive to Vegas with another bunch of friends. Chris had just found a new job in one of the casinos where his boyfriend already works. He was brimming with joy at the thought of going there. I had to leave. I may never meet him again.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <u4:p></u4:p> <p class="MsoNormal" face="georgia"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">I had this random call from a random person. She had just decided to jumble up her own mobile number and see where the new number leads to. It led to me; on the day I was alone at home and finding it hard to pass time. She talked a lot of random stuff. To me, it was just another wrong number. But if I could talk over 2 hours on phone with my friends incessantly, I could talk at least for 30mins. with a wrong number. Moreover, she had this uncanny practice of bursting into regional songs on the phone. This went on for a while after which both of us unanimously decided that we better hang up. Today, I don’t even remember what that number was. I don’t even remember if I ever asked her what her name was. I don’t even know where she is or what she’s doing. I don’t think I’ll ever have such a conversation with her again.
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<br /> <!--[endif]--><u4:p><o:p></o:p></u4:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" face="georgia"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">I have had such short conversations - with people in the bus from Centre Avenue to 5<sup>th</sup> Avenue; on a flight from Dallas to Pittsburgh; on the train from Thiruvananthapuram to Bangalore; during the 90 minutes of a boring seminar; during the 30 minutes spent playing flip cup! It is abusrd to even think about whether a relationship was developing – sometimes it was never meant to be! <o:p></o:p></span></p> <u4:p></u4:p> <p class="MsoNormal" face="georgia"><span style="font-family: "Georgia","serif";">To me, one of the favorite things in life is to know people. Every person has such fantastic stories to reveal. Every person is a walking story book. I feel privileged that I get to read new stories every single day. I think I can learn so much about myself talking to these so-called ‘strangers’. In essentiality, I eventually become less of a stranger to myself! <o:p></o:p></span></p> <u4:p></u4:p> The 'Ekaangi'http://www.blogger.com/profile/05499923256888510519noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978910455190947163.post-86611535877342218092009-09-01T15:13:00.004-04:002009-09-02T13:17:08.994-04:007th std. gets a little frightening. The entire class stood in a line. It would be a random blast. Anybody could be picked. It could be him. Or the one next to him. It could be her. Maybe the girl next to me. Heck! It could be me too. It was that time of the year in school where you could not pick the person with whom you want to sit next to ... everything would be pre-determined ... by the class teacher of course.<br /><br />7th std. gets unconventional. With the class strength being small, and the number of girls being relatively higher, it would naturally be one guy sitting in between two girls. Up till 6th standard, I would have probably puked at this idea... somehow in 7th std., something had changed. I had stopped looking at the opposite sex as something slimy and sluggish and one that needs to be gotten rid off with immediate effect. Something had changed within me.<br /><br />7th std. gets flakier. Most of the girls knew where their seating was. The guys had to be picked. Maybe I'd be put next to 'A' - she was a lethal combination of beauty and brains. Maybe I'd be put next to 'M' ... heavens! I'd be ridiculed for the rest of my life if I was put next to 'M'. And as I tried to determine what games fate tried to play with me, my name was called. A ringing sound ... loud and clear ... "Hey you! Get your bag and go sit between P and G". The rest was history...<br /><br />7th std. gets me too flipped out. Amidst all my calculations... I had totally forgotten about 'P'. She was the heart throb of the class! I was way out of the league to sit next to her ... and yet here I am ... dragging by bag full o' books and walking towards her. It took some courage actually to sit down ... what if she screams ... what if she gets up and shouts that she doesn't want to be seated next to me ... what if she cries ... she did nothing of that sort ... except smile and said a 'Hi'. 'G' whom I hadn't really talked to before... at least not so much... would later go on to be absolute fun and I cherish the one year sitting next to her too. At the same time, I'm sure I made quite a few enemies sitting next to 'P'.<br /><br />7th std. gets more ludicrous. That's when the shorts have gotten the shortest... reaching their threshold. Dads usually say... "Listen, its just one more year... then you'll have pants from 8th... manage this year son". 'Manage' they say... but sitting in between two girls, one of them who's drop dead gorgeous, how would it feel to hang around with tiny little shorts ... long enough not to be called an underwear ... and short enough to expose your bare hairy legs with bruises (that you got from playing football with the high school team) ?<br /><br />7th std. still gets whackier. What's with the broken voice? And hair below the nose? And on other unmentionable places? I roughly estimated that I must have about hundred hair follicles in my mustache region... so if I can pluck off three hairs a day ... in about three months ... I should be mustache-free! "Just shave it off" you say... but its taboo-ish at home!<br /><br />7th std. gets barmier. Its the love season. Crushes with class-mates and junior girls are more than common. The species whom until then we classified along with the nematodes and insecta, now appear extremely cute (especially when they laugh... boy! They can surely floor you with their smile).<br /><br />Its a weird phase of life after all... a mix of puberty and liberty...<br /><br />7th std. eventually gets memorable. In all of our lives...The 'Ekaangi'http://www.blogger.com/profile/05499923256888510519noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2978910455190947163.post-54838321536907435592009-08-30T17:00:00.010-04:002009-09-14T14:56:33.512-04:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://ksuhasu.googlepages.com/moonshine_skytofe_final.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 269px; height: 405px;" src="http://ksuhasu.googlepages.com/moonshine_skytofe_final.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />There was a tea shop. Then there was a tea shop owner. There was a man in love. There was a woman who swore she wasn't in love. There was a card sharping father. And then there was the village pickpocket. There were two quirky love stories. There was Moonshine. And then there was Skytoffee.<br /><br />On 28th, 29th and 30th of this August, at the New Hazlett Theater Pittsburgh, Sandhya Krishnan weaved her magic and showcased the interwoven love stories 'Moonshine and Skytoffee'.<br /><br />Originally based on Vaikom Muhammad Basheer's work, the stories are about two unconventional love relationships - one between Kesavan Nayar and Saramma, and the other between Zainaba and the infamous Muthapa.<br /><br />Kesavan Nayar (played by Christopher Cussat) is a pure romantic ... the 1940s black-and-white lover who could give his life to prove the unblemished nature of his love. But Saramma (played by Monica Jogi) seems to have no regret in taking away Kesavan's life. And herein lies the problem. Love's labor lost. Saramma reciprocates to Kesavan's poetic outbursts in very ungrateful manners.<br /><br />However, for Zainaba (Jackie Omotalade) and Muthapa (Arvind Suresh), it was love at first sight. How could Zainaba protect herself from the titillating pickpocket's charms? It would have been a walk-in walk-out love story had not the unforgettable Otakannan Pokker (Sam Nicotero) stepped in between. How could a card sharper, a master at his art, who had amassed enough money to have any son-in-law he wished for, give his beautiful daughter away to the village scoundrel?<br /><br />But very few understand the boundaries of love ... because it has none. Neither the Pokker, nor the 'playing hard to get' character of Saramma, or any other circumstance prevent this flow of love. And the love flows on... be it when Saramma blows the hand fan ensuring her Kesavan gets a good night's sleep before 'their' journey the next day ... or when the shrewd Muthapa beats the Pokker out of his own game (thanks to Zainaba actually) pushing the Pokker into yielding to this wedding.<br /><br />The acting was fantastic; the use of variable shades of lighting did a lot to add to the moods of the scenes. Zainaba and Saramma were classic; you couldn't help feel for Kesavan with his mystical abilities to move mountains for his love and yet fails to impress his counterpart. Muthapa was a treat to watch ... his uncanny abilities to convince you about how pickpocketing is a selfless art must have made a lot many in the audience seriously re-consider their professions. Pokker, as I keep saying, is unforgettable.<br /><br />Two adorable love stories ... two adorable couples ... one tea shop ... the unforgettable Pokker ... Moonshine ... Skytoffee.<br /><br />It was a jolly good show!The 'Ekaangi'http://www.blogger.com/profile/05499923256888510519noreply@blogger.com3