Shani is beautiful

Yaiyaiyaaaaaa I saw Saturn's rings and Jupiter's moon's today :-D

Our institute has procured this sophisticated 8" telescope called Celestron for the astronomy club. So, we had an informal session tonight.

I saw Saturn's rings. To the left, is one of the pics the club members took of Saturn's rings at an earlier session. What I saw tonight was not colourful. I think this particular image has been processed. Additionally, we could see a smattering of stars in the background too. It was beautiful and very unrealistic. After the many documentaries I had seen on TV as a kid, seeing the planet this close was an experience.


We also saw Jupiter. I could spot four parallel bands on this planet. I also could see a dark spot on one of the bands which is The Red Spot on the planet. The Red spot is actually a storm on the planet's surface and its diameter is supposed to be larger than the earth's diameter. The picture I have put up here is from a NASA site and you can find more details from there. I could also see four moons of the planet- three on one side and one on the other side.

Unfortunately, clouds covered up the sky and we had to discontinue the session. These clouds cover up Chennai's sky every day and then disappear without raining like Lagaan's kaale meghaas.

If I am so thrilled after one meeting, I can imagine the astronomer's thrill in his profession. But, I think the truth is that every profession at a smaller scale is monotonous. Occasional thrills make the job lively.

I am a regular stargazer albeit my stargazing is limited to identifying the constellations and planets with my naked eye and saying hi to the hunter, who I imagine is a handsome hunk waiting for me :-P . I am glad I attended this session.

Where is the outcry at the Palestinians' treatment?

"My family was among those displaced and, though a child, I vividly remember the panic and misery of that flight from our home in Jerusalem on an April morning in 1948, with the scent of spring in the air. Palestine by then had become a raging battleground as Jews fought to seize our land in the wake of the 1947 United Nations partition resolution. My parents decided to evacuate us temporarily. "We will return," they insisted, "the world will not let such injustice happen!" They were wrong: the world let it happen and we never returned."

The full article is here

Im sulking

I watched the movie Being Cyrus today. Its a good movie - slickly edited, good performances, and a good soundtrack. Have u heard the soundtrack of the movie Oliver Twist!! Thats good too. When is it releasing in India or has it already released?

I have been lost for the past few days again - distracted and wandering. But its a phase and Ill get over it like I have done too often in the past :-D

You know what bugs me about this place and this field? People lose interest even in the simplest of things here. Leave alone going trekking or sight-seeing occasionally- even when something good has been planned in their backyard (like an astro-club meet!!), they are not interested. I mean my source of misery is exactly this. I dont want to stop doing other things just because Im into research. And Im sure this is not the normal state of affairs in other research institutes either. I think its something about this place. I know Im cribbing and not being faithful, but I'm bugged. Come on!! Its not as if one doesnt waste time elsewhere. Pray show some life!!
hmphhhh

Scapegoat - Daphne du Maurier

I read this novel and Ill give an outline of the story here. ( This is a spoiler for those who want to read the book. For them, Ill say go grab the book. Too good. )

John is an Englishman, a professor of french history, teaching in France. He has no family and is detached from the world. Just when he loses hope in his life and decides to join an abbey, he meets his mirror image, Jean who physically resembles him but is the exact opposite in nature. Through Jean's trickery, John is forced to live Jean's life when he dopes John and runs away with his documents, clothes- everything that defines John's identity. John is therefore forced to go to Jean's chateau. Knowing nothing about the people he meets, he gradually discovers their relation to Jean, their problems and Jean's role in creating those problems. Hence, he, who is now playing the role of Jean, is made to feel responsible for Jean's follies. John hesitantly gets involved and to a large extent, in a fumbling manner, sorts out the tangles Jean left behind. Just when he has settled into the family he saved from destruction, Jean returns to take his rightful place. Meanwhile, Jean (as John) has destroyed John's systematic life - he has resigned from the university, sold the apartment, encashed his savings, even his cherished Ford car is now muddied and battered. And the story ends with Jean going back to live in the chateau and John continues on his way to abbey.
DdM is a writer par excellence. Her narrative style engages the reader completely. John's path of discovery in the new place with new people, his personal mortification in having to deceive the people of the chateau, his bumbling attempts to solve their problems - almost everything has been very magically described.
Her stories generally reach the depths of despair but always, as a rule, end on a hopeful note. But I have issues with this story. Its not fair at all. Jean has always dealt with his relations in a heartless and reckless manner, destroying their happiness and not even repenting about it. He choses to leave John to deal with them and escapes to nowhere. And just when everything has been set right, he returns to take his place. He always get the best deal and John gets the bad one. Not fair :-(( I hate the ending with all my heart. I wish Jean had died.

I, as a rule, avoid depressing movies as I generally get involved in the plot. Therefore, I avoid books with sad endings with a greater passion, as with books, one uses one's imagination to picturise the setting and so its a greater risk to read such books. And after the ending in this book, I now need a hug very badly..mummmmmmmmmmiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiie :-((

He he :-D
Happy weekend :-D

Books....

Books I have been reading recently-

• Valkyries by Paulo Coelho. This book is about getting in touch with your guardian angel. Ill confess most of it went above my head :-D But one good point I gathered from this book is to banish the second mind. I have this bad habit of parallel processing. At times, even when somebody is talking to me, I'll be thinking of something else at the same time. I do this while reading, working, etc. Getting rid if that habit will help me a lot in focussing :-D
  Something else was about not looking down and instead looking around while walking. I do that too :-D He puts it in more decent words viz. expanding one's soul :-D Many a times I have not seen my friends approaching me from the opposite direction, as I would have my head down and would be thinking about something . Those who know me just joke about it but those those who dont, think that I have deliberately ignored them. This book was more about philosophy and more spiritual and hence a bit (rather a lot) beyond me as Im mostly a I-me-myself kind of a person. No shame and no regrets about that :-D. I would like to read Devil and Miss Prym. I have heard a lot about that.
  

• A lovely well written romance novel. I don't remember the name :-D
  

• Currently reading Scapegoat by Daphne du Maurier. I have loved all her books that I have read so far. She is one of the authors who stand out for their story telling and engaging plots. Every book of hers is a delight.

What would I ever do without books!!

Im looking forward to seeing Fanaa (more for Kajol than Aamir in the movie). Ill never ever see Krisshhhhh. The songs look funny. Hrithik looks gay. Priyanka looks artificial as ever.

Chutti over :-(

My much talked about vacation got over and Im back here :-) As for whether I was bored or not, there were a few times when I did get bored :-D But overall, I had tons of fun. Ahh the bliss of doing nothing!!! I hope this semester is fruitful and the final one.
Things I did - attended a wedding, read two books Angels and demons by Dan Brown and One night at the call center by Chetan Bhagat, watched Ice Age 2, and ate and slept endlessly :-D

In between all this, I heard the shocking news abt the Gujarat riots. Pray tell me how can a 300 years old monument be an encroachment ?? It generally so happens that the cities develop around these. There wouldn't have been an issue if the demolished building was a mosque. As mosques can be built anywhere.. (err Babri masjid pops up in my mind but thats a whole different story) My point is that some people do have feelings attached with durgahs, they being places of hopes for a few plus its a heritage site even if its not officially declared a heritage site. This was an unnecessary teaser and it managed to fuel up people's anger plus one saw the huge bhaade ke mobs worsening the situation. Any little thing fires up people's anger. We have become this intolerant!!
This time when I went to my hometown, we couldn't get reserved seats owing to the heavy holiday rush and so we had to travel in the General. Its a learning experience :-D You know I just got this feeling there that deep down there is some resentment, anger, separation or call it what you want. One could feel a subtle hostility between the communities. It was related to very simple things like sharing seats. And what was disturbing was that this kind of feeling was among the younger people. The older ones were very friendly. Things were not this way few years back. We are becoming more polar. Tamil Nadu never had this as much as I know. I have heard of minor riots 3 decades back . But nothing serious and god forbid if something snowballs in future.

And hey I voted for the first time in my life :-D Im a proud citizen atleast for today :-D

Chutti hai !!!!

Im going on a vacation starting from tomorrow :-) Im sure within two days Ill scream Im bo..............red but then I need to get bored of something else to get back to what Im bored of now :-D
I guess I should change my naaraa (slogan) from Life is boring to Life is stationary or Life is monotonous or some such thing. :-D
So have fun but
be jealous of me
cos bored or not bored
its a vacation for me
:-D

Delusion angel

In Before Sunrise (sorry Im not over that movie yet :-D)

Daydream delusion.
Limousine Eyelash
Oh, baby with your pretty face
Drop a tear in my wineglass
Look at those big eyes
See what you mean to me
Sweet cakes and milkshakes
I am a delusioned angel
I am a fantasy parade.
I want you to know what I think.
Don't want you to guess anymore.
You have no idea where I came from.
We have no idea where we're going.
Launched in life.
Like branches in the river.
Flowing downstream.
Caught in the current.
I'll carry you.
You'll carry me.
That's how it could be.
Don't you know me
Don't you know me by now.

A nature trek in the backyard

A few of my colleagues and me went to the Guindy National Park (GNP) for a nature walk today early in the morning. I could still see the moon in the sky. It was that early !

It was a lovely experience. We took the nature trails that the forest offcials had already laid out. This is a longer trail and passes through the dense forest. GNP is a harmless forest. Atleast thats what I felt there today. I mean the fauna is mainly deers (spotted deers and black bucks), jackals and snakes, mongoose etc and a vast variety of birds. We didnt spot any of the dangerous animals on that list :-D
It has many varieties of flora though. The place was so untouched by humans that one could smell the greenery - you know when a tree is cut, it gives out a distinct kind of smell - that kind. Plus, we could smell the fragrance of the different flowers blooming there. Imagine no pollution, no odious deodorants, no orcs. Just pure nature. This must have been the way it was when Adam and Eve came here. God's way of compensation for chucking them out of heaven. But then, Adam carried the grudge on his mind anyway and destroyed this place as well. I'm digressing.

Back to this, there was this picture-book area which had tall trees and small and very green shrubs/ plants ( My zoology+botany sense is almost zilch). Colourful flowers were blooming on the plants. And sunlight was filtering through the leaves. I have seen such pictures on desktops and Natgeos. This was my first-hand experience of such beauty.

While returning, we went a little off-trail. There was this little valley-like area behind the bushes. This led to a very small pond with some water in it. The whole place had the leaf-laden tree branches as the roof. It was very peaceful there. One could sit there for hours just listening to the bird-calls. To complete the picture, a very blue kingfisher flew in and perched on a branch hanging above this pond. From there, instead of getting back on trail, my friends lead us through the denser forest. I was very sceptical but followed anyway (Im a ninny when it comes to adventures. I just dream of them). We saw some bones of deers too. We were joking that we would also be there if we cant find our way back :-D

Finally, we came out through a gate into the children's park (a mini zoo here) which officially opens to public at 9. We were in there at 8.30 :-D Anyway, we had special permission so that was ok. Many of the animals like spotted deers, blackbucks, monkeys and birds which were free to roam in GNP were in cages here. What's the purpose of zoos ? In this day and age, kids can very well see these animals online. Atleast the enclosures should be larger than what they are at present. A wild-life sanctuary makes more sense. He he I think, we being denizens of few square meter labs, are in a similar situation.

I don't have any pictures of this trip but I think this will stay in my memory - a beautiful trek in the backyard.

We were in Delhi when I was a kid. And I used to look forward to Chennai-Delhi trips in the summer. This route has awesome sceneries. But then, I think you travel anywhere in India, you get to see beautiful sceneries - every region with its own unique beauty. This particular route has mountains and very deep valleys (near Itarsi) , rivers, a very green Andhra.. So I used to (and I still) dream about
roaming around in those areas where no humans have gone before. Imagine a trek from the source of a river to its destination..
That would be lovely ...

Make hay in May

These past few days, many a times I have thought of something which could be posted here and then its gone by the time I login.. I feel equally blank now. So Ill take a break for a few more days. Meanwhile, May will be here soon and Im looking forward to the May flowers or the gulmohars - the best thing about May :-)

Its a wonderful life

Saw this good movie by Frank Capra called Its a wonderful life. Its the story of a man called George Bailey who has had ambitions and dreams but was unable to fulfil them because he was tied down by his responsibilities. So he has lived a normal life helping out others. He now faces a terrible crisis and is totally dejected and decides to end his life. An angel, yupp a real angel is sent down to stop him. The angel makes him realise that if he hadn't been there in first place, how different his town would have been, that one man touches everyone's life in so many ways and everyone plays a crucial role in the scheme of things. Its a black and white movie. James Stewart and Donna Reed play the lead. The movies ends on this note : No man is a failure who has friends :-)

Yummiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiie

I am a food freak. I try every cuisine. I love all kinds of food (ahem properly cooked food). I hate the dosa cooked in our mess but I relish eating a properly cooked dosa in a restaurant. Of all the dishes I have eaten, my mom's dishes are the best. She is a magician. When I was at home, I never used to value her culinary skills much. It was an everyday thing. And so I would take it all in stride when my friends used to gush about her cooking. One of my friend still remembers her gaajar ka halwaa. He says he can't forget that taste. He ate it some 5 years back!!! After 6 years of hostel life, I now realise her worth. It's a skill to mix everything and make it even edible. And if you add lots of love and affection to it, mannah can never even compete with it. She outperforms herself every other meal. When I am at home, I eat every meal as if its my last meal ever.
I know cooking. Agreed that I have a theoretical knowledge of most of the non-veg dishes but then I am a theoretician (psst.. I know what goes into biriyani :-D). And I have cooked too. These were on the few occasions when mom was out of station or she was not well. I love to see the hopeless miserable looks on my sibs' face then :-D I have been told that I cook well. But thats the crux you see. When I cook once in a blue moon, I enjoy it but if I have to do this day in and day out, I think Ill go crazy. My father has already given up on me. He looks at me with that tera-kya-hoga expression :-D U know when I told my pa that my life partner should be free-thinking, intelligent, and cheerful, he laughed !!!! Really. Do tell me. Are free-thinking-intelligent-cheerful men an endangered species ?? I hope not :-D
Anyway, my food-gushing originated here.
If you are a food freak you have to check it out. You can find recipes and delicious pictures there. In the last few minutes, I imagined myself feasting on all that :-D
Someday, Ill have my own kitchen where I will cook my own dishes for my own pleasure. Ill try these dishes out then :-D

My journey through...

Glimpses Of World History- by Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru.

Thats the book Im planning to read next. In this blogspot, I have ranted and raved, posted sense and nonsense. So my next venture is a small section on this book as I journey through it. I dont know how faithful I'll be to this mission and how interesting it will be to the readers of this blog who mainly have been my friends and family, who were too nice to let me rant alone :-D For me, this blog has become a habit.. a place to post my random thoughts, gossips and other adabadawadaa - a good escape route from my interesting research work which in the shorter time-scale becomes monotonous. :-D

Anyway coming back to the point or to the book, I have always wanted to read about the world history, more so the Indian history. errr it was a part of my school syllabus but at that point, history was a subject to which I paid attention only on the previous day (rather night) of the social sciences exam. I guess remembering all the dates made it a tedious subject. Maybe I would have paid attention to it if it was just a story sans exams. Therefore, later in my life, I have regretted being an ignoramus in this area. So when I saw this book with a friend, I was excited about it. Now this book is a collection of letters Pt. Nehru wrote to his teenage daughter, Indira. I was fascinated. Here is a man who talks to his daughter as an equal. Apart from the platitudes, he sort of has an adult conversation with her. The language is top-class. I was bowled over by Nehru, the father.
My first step has been to cover it up with a paper. As this book has been lent to me by a friend, and since I'm very scared about spoiling someone's books ( I hate it when people mess up my books), covering up the books has always been my first step. The newspaper I used is today's and has this pic..


Now apart from the fact that this was the first accessible bit of paper, I liked the idea of having this as the cover page :-D U see the guy with the black beard in the center ? He is Zulfi Syed :-D Now u follow my trend of thoughts !! Generally, I cant stand the hairy people but trust me he looks a million dollar without the extra hair. He is also 6+ :-D The lady next to him is gorgeous though in a proud way. This pic is from the movie Tajmahal. Taj looked awesome in this movie. I have happy memories of seeing this movie :-D We had a riot laughing over bits of it. And do you recognise the guy in the extreme right? He is Arbaaz Khan :-D He he we too thought he looked familiar.

Have a nice weekend :-)

Medha Patkar

Medha Patkar continues hunger strike at AIIMS

Development is necessary but not at the cost of so many families. What Medha Patkar is doing is very noble.
There was supposed to be a fast in Chennai too today to support her. I came to know about it only in the evening. I hardly think I would have taken the time out to go and give my support. Thats why what Medha Patkar is doing is so great. Its good that there is nation wide support for her andolan now. The middlemen and the red-tape that tag along with any government decision are also in a big way responsible for the poor man's sufferings.
By the way, how can an essential service like the SBI go on an indefinite strike like this?? Surely there are other ways of protesting. But then only these extreme measures get people's attentions. Thats the main issue I think. If the government would pay more attention to these vital issues in the first place, these services wouldnt resort to such drastic steps. Still I think, going on a strike like this when almost the whole nation has entrusted their savings to SBI, is unethical. Im not affected by it but what if somebody has an emergency and needs money immediately?
And hey this quota system should stop. 50% quotas in IIT/IIMs!!!! Those were the days when people had unequal oppurtunities. I feel now that everyone has the same exposure and same oppurtunities and its upto the communities now to avail it. Instead of giving quotas like this, they should remove the reservations in the institutes. Equal treatment to everyone. It makes sense to give quotas to below poverty line students. But not to a second generation SC/ST/OBC (Im an OBC since muslims are educationally backward. I hope this changes someday. We never used any quota btw) whose father has already availed himself of this and is now minting money.

Defense

Attended a viva defense of a friend today. Got psyched totally. Once we go on to the advanced topics, we do lose touch with the basics a little. His defense of the thesis went well but he did falter a bit in fielding the questions in the basics.
He is now Dr. ..... :-D Great moment for him :-) I guess this day is more memorable than getting the degree :-)
Its such a long process! After completion of work, comes the synopsis lectures, submittion of thesis, then viva defense. I have a long way to go. Before achieving something, I try imagining how it will be. Somehow in this case, I cant visualise myself giving my defense. Is the goal so distant or is it so tough or I just have a shaky confidence? Whatever it is, I hope its soon :-) Cant wait for a change of place :-D
I should start getting serious about my completion too.
Here's wishing good luck to me and all such fellow graduate students :-)

he he

I can take a lesson or two from Calvin :-D

Meena Kumari - the poetess

Did u know that Meena Kumari, the yesteryear actress of movies like Pakeezah, Sahib bibi aur ghulam, was also a poetess!!




Here's a sample..

yuuN terii rah-guzar se diivaanaa-vaar guzre
kaaNdhe pe apne rakh ke apnaa mazaar guzre

baiThe rahe haiN raaste meN dil kaa khanDhar sajaa kar
shaayad isii taraf se ek din bahaar guzre

bahtii huii ye nadiyaa ghulte hu’e kinaare
ko’ii to paar utre, ko’ii to paar guzre

tuu ne bhii ham ko dekhaa hamne bhii tujhko dekhaa
tuu dil hii haar guzraa, ham jaan haar guzre

diivaanaa-vaar : frenzied, mazaar : tomb, grave,
khanDhar : ruins, bahaar : spring, bloom.

More of her here.
Good poetry but her poems have a melancholic undertone..
Ghalib is my all-time favourite. Apart from a brilliant expression, his poems have a sense of humour too. There's one sher which goes as :
Kabhi hum bhi haseenon ke galay lagte the ghalib
Ye baat hai us waqt ki jab the hum faqt do baras ke

Im still learning to understand Faiz Ahmed Faiz's poetry :-) My knowledge of Urdu is limited to the bare essentials so things take time with me :-D

Before sunset

This weekend, I saw the sequel to Before Sunrise -- Before Sunset. The movie is equally lovely. For those who dont know about these movies, here is the brief outline.

Before Sunrise: These two strangers meet in a train and get talking to each other. They exchange ideas and share memories. The guy Jesse has to get down in Vienna and so he asks the girl, Celine to spend the day with him and catch the connecting train the next morning. So they spend a lovely day in the streets of Vienna. Next day morning, they both promise to meet each other exactly after 6 months in the same place and they go their separate ways. This movie was not about physical attraction. They both could understand each other, though each one belonged to a different school of thought.

Before Sunset: Both of them meet in Paris after 10 years. Both of them have met different people, and have had different partners. But they have always missed the rapport that they shared with each other. This movie was about catching up with each other's life and like the first movie, it leaves you to decide the ending :-) Me the hopeless romantic believes that they get back together :-D

Watch it. Its the most romantic movie (pair) that I have seen. Its definitely different from our King Khan type of movies. Pure, refreshing cinema.

Lucky?

We coexist with these endangered species - the black bucks.


Can expect an elf to walk in any moment :-D


The road to Bree ?


Courtesy pics: A very talented IITian :-)

We are lucky to live in a campus like this which is no less than a LOTR country. We have a lake, are surrounded by a harmless forest and lots of nooks and corners like the above where one can let one's fantasy run free :-D Plus the innumerable varieties of flora and fauna which are unique to this place. Wish I was educated enough to appreciate them more :)

Selective memories!

I was listening to the songs of Qayamat se qayamat tak. The songs always remind me of my childhood days spent at my granny's house. We used to spend most of our vacation there. I have a whole lot of cousins in my maternal side. Currently we are 23 in number :-D, those days we must be around 15. And I lead this bunch :-D. Since girls dont go out there, all our activities were confined to the terrace where we would play our own little games with the music running in the background. The terrace there has a room, a hall and an open air verandah. The windows in the room open into the verandah and one had to pass through the hall to go the verandah. So acting was one of our games. We kids would enact out movie scenes or stories in the room :-D And my hometown specialises in horror stories. Being a small village, spooky stories and total belief in them is abundant there. My uncle would often narrate such stories. So one day, we were enacting out Purani Haveli (this was a B-grade movie I think) . To create the ambience, we had closed the windows and made the room dark and gloomy. So while we were busy being the bhoots, my uncle sneaked up to the verandah and knocked hard on the closed window. The whole battalion ran out screaming and while going down we ensured that the terrace was sealed so that the bhoot/my uncle doesnt come down :-D

When people tell me that I dont have a good memory of my childhood, Ill say I have clear, vivid memories of few things and others which were irrelevant were forgotten :-) I remember going with my grandpa to the rivulet that passed our village, the rare trips to the plantations close to this stream, happy ramzans spent there, playing on the big swing in our house, childhood boyfriend (:-D who is getting married next month), and being pampered by all and sundry.
Thank god our brain chucks out irrelevant and unpleasant memories on its own. Else we would be in so much confusion and misery. Those were such carefree days!!
Koi lauta de mere beete huye din :-D