My wonderland

I had once mentioned my dream of a cosy library.
I saw one such place today. The setting was different but equally charming. This house was on the 4th floor. Faces a lake. And a room in this house is alloted for books. A cosy chair and a plush deewaan was added to make it every hardcore bookworm's cosy nest. And the collection there was mind-blowing. They are also avid readers and since they have piled up this collection over a span of 25 years, it was my fantasyland. I had read some of the books and I wanted to read the others :-D So you understand why i was so excited.. some day ill have a house like this. hmmm dreamzz unlimited :-D And they lent me Orwell's 1984 :)


Amulet of samarkhand was very interesting. A cute djinn in it. Its a trilogy so looking out for the rest.
Memoirs of a Geisha was too good. Collector's piece. I dont mind reading it again after a few years.
Want to read Rushdie's Midnight's children. Heard a very good review of it.
Also want to read the Satanic verses (I said this earlier)... heard a review of that too.


Saw Pirates this friday. Slimier, funnier. Understood half of it. Depp as good as ever. Wil see it again sometime and understand the rest of it :-D And there's a 3rd part... And it seems Davie Jones is a mythical character. I mean stories abt him exist. Wil research this in greater detail.

Want to see Omkara.., saw interesting reviews about it..
Heard that Gangster is a good movie.. will watch it after my assessment.

By the way my assessment on 1st. Wish me luck :) Its at 9.30 am. I hope I reach the dept by that time... imagine if the panel is made to wait for the student !! Wish me greater luck :-D
Goodnite!

Amendment to my resolution :-D

What do I do? I have been faithful to my resolution for 7 days. But then everyone around me was tempting me.. So as a result, the books I have in my room are Zahir by Paulo Coelho, a fantasy called The Amulet of Samarkhand by Jonathan Stroud, and by this weekend Ill have a hard copy of Memoirs of a Geisha. So you see its very difficult to stick to my resolution. So the amendment to my resolution is that Ill read these books as normal people do and sleep at usual hours. Thats fine right! :-D

Ebook fair

The World ebook fair is a haven for all the book lovers. I downloaded scores of classics which I would like to read sometime. Although its a pain to read ebooks and I anytime prefer reading a hard copy, I was tempted to read every other book I saw there. Sometime in my life when Im happily jobless, Ill read these. For now, download kar liya :)

Feeling nostalgic. sighhh

I heard glad tidings about my friends from my Master's days and was feeling nostalgic. Actually, I wasn't great friends with them. Just passing acquaintances. But then you remember some people and some you dont.. Was very happy for them :-D It all seems so long ago...
Today was a very remarkable day. I met 4 (!) old friends who had passed out and were visiting campus. Couldnt they have come on different days !!! :-D It would have helped reduce the monotony to a large extent. And mind you, none of them were my classmates and yet I remembered them. So dare anybody talk about my bad memory (or cuppax memory as they say here) :-D

Life has moved on for so many and sometimes I feel mine has stopped for a while, or rather has slowed down a bit. Like I say often

Subah hoti hai shaam hoti hai
zindagi yun hi tamaam hoti hai :-)

( Hey I heard this couplet in the movie Pakeezah too! )
Maybe its just taking a breather for a while and will join the mainstream after this... :-D

Its six days since I have slept properly. Even at 3am, I just lie there and wait for the sleep to come. X-( And thats more terrible than anything else.

Yesterday night, there was a thumping sound as if somebody is jumping in the room above me. After I felt I have had enough, I went up to check on my nocturnal neighbour with few other friends who had just then returned from lab. It turned out the rooms on that floor nearest to me are vacant :-D It was 2.45am. We all got scared and slept in the same room. We found today that the sound was actually made by some idiot who was playing her music with heavy bass !!!!! (#$%&^%&*) There is a time for everything. x-( Anyway it was silly of us too.. All said and done ghosts dont exist right! Please dont say anything that negates this :-D

July the 13th

I read a really nice romance novel called How to marry a marquess (yupp u read it right ;-) ) by Julia Quinn. My friend Sanjana had recommended this. (I had been searching for this novel ever since and had failed. And suddenly two of my friends who didnt know I was searching for this got the book issued. Luck! Ok thats asides besides. ) The book is hilarious and very cute. So much that I finished it in 4.5 hours flat in one sitting. I burnt the midnight oil for this and slept at 4 (!!!!) Many people ask me when do I get the time to read. Well this is how I read. Crazy right!
So I have taken a resolution.

I will not read any novels till December.

Will I stick to it? My plight seems to be like the smoker who decides to quit. I had taken this resolution once before and had broken it but let me see if it works this time. If it does, Ill mention this date in my
thesis.

Hey by the way, on July 14th when I was in 8th std, I had presented a rose to the school captain :-D Silly na the way the brain remembers irrelevant trivia!! :-D

Mumbai blasts

Varanasi - Delhi - Bombay. The intentions of the bombers seems to be to incite riots. They have been failing so far and so I get a feeling that they will only get more desperate. The intelligence agencies of our country have been very active. They already had prevented many more such with their raids but India is so vast that its difficult to take care of everything. All we can do is help them. Be alert and keep an eye open for unclaimed objects etc. I remember when after the '93 blasts, we were in Delhi and the city was on high alert. First thing we used to do after getting into a bus was check for suspicious objects under the seats etc. We were kids so the enthu was more. But its logical now to never relax our guard.
These terrorists are not humans.
I wonder how they would face their deaths. In our religion, we believe that when Angel Izrail takes our lives, his appearance is according to the sins we have committed. (Atleast thats what mom said to me :-D). The death is more painful to the worst sinner. Oh I wish their life is a living hell starting from now.
Our prayers with the survivors and the kith and kin of the dead..

Zidane's exit

World Cup finals were ruined for me when Zidane was shown a red card. What a way to end his career! Throughout this tournament he had retained his composure. I was gushing about him as the Mr. Cool to my parents just the same day. Materazzi must have said something really nasty for him to have done this. It looked like a very deliberate act and not just a burst of temper so it must have been something lousy. There are speculations that he reacted to a racial slur (like here and here). Maybe maybe not. It will come out in a few days. I just know that I hate the Italian team with all my heart for this. And Zidane still remains my favourite player.

Races faces

Have you ever felt that the Portuguese look so much like us!! Maybe its the result of colonisation. India has a mix of so many ethinicities.
The Italians remind me of Asterix comics always. Julius Caesar's nose can be spotted without difficulty in the crowd.

Random thoughts

I hate it when people jump queues. I am not even talking about a family man here who always has to rush cos there is always something else he has to attend to, though even that doesnt justify jumping queues as there are others who also have something to attend to. I am talking about college students, who on one hand would go to a posh boutique and be at their politest best to the salesmen there, but would not show the slightest respect to the patience of those who have chosen to wait their turn in the queue.

France won :-D mainly cos of their luck and strong defence I think. I dont have any preferences for the finals as I have been supporting both the teams. But I think Italy has a better chance.. good strikers, good defence, and energy. Enjoyed the world cup :-) However, after it gets over, Ill have no more late-nights and will have more productive days. Enough of these hangovers :-D

I am reading a fantasy novel called Eragon by Christopher Paolini. Its about a boy who stumbles upon a legacy of Dragon Riders and is made a Rider himself. He starts on an adventure akin to Frodo's adventure in Lord of The Rings. The book is interesting and un-put-downable. Though, having read LOTR, I end up finding similarities and making comparisons. That is a disadvantage. Still, these days the book is the treat at the end of the day after crunching numbers :-D


I am yet to find a honest doctor. So no wonder I have zero zympathy for them.

Italy won :-D

La Italia prevails :-D
As you know the match starts at 1230am Indian time. So I stayed up that late for the semis. I have never stayed up this late for my research. So by the time 90 mins were over, it was 215am. Anyway halfway through the extra time, we have a power cut ( !!:-(( %&@#$#$#$^ ). And so we missed the goals. How unfair can things be!! Luckily one girl had a radio on her mobile. Thats how we knew that Italy won in the dying minutes. Before that, a friend (kutz) fooled me with 2-1 result in Germany's favour ( Never ever believe him. He is the devil incarnate. hmmphhhh )
It must be a mourning day in Germany. They played well throughout the tournament :)

ahaa

France won :-D I saw Zidane's magic for the first time.
My desired outcome..
Germany vs Italy- Italy wins.
France vs Portugal - France wins..
And WC goes to France :-D
Lets see.

FM, V and Evey

Its a long time since I have posted my tuppence on the blog instead of linking to other sites. So here's what I have read, seen and done these days for anyone who cares :-)

I read The Fifth Mountain by Paulo Coelho.

There is a passage in the book where he says that we can learn three things from children - to be happy for no reason, to always be busy in doing something and to ask for what one wants until he gets it. Why do we lose this wisdom when we grow up? Evolution goes backwards?
This book was about a prophet who has been entrusted with bringing the people back to the flock. In trying to do so, he faces many hardships, escapes to a different country, struggles, settles down, finds love, loses it, his world is destroyed, and he rebuilds it. This book says that God leaves it to us to make our decisions. But at times I wish I knew what path has been set for me beforehand. But the thrill of living life would no longer exist right? I waver between indecision, confusion and exasperation most of the time :-D
***********
Then I saw V for Vendetta

Remember remember the fifth of November,
the gunpowder, treason and plot
I know of no reason why
the gunpowder and treason ever be forgot.

This movie is set in the future and is the story of a girl called Evey who runs into a man called V, who wears a Guy Fawkes mask. He, like many others, had been tortured in a detention camp by a totalitarian government twenty years ago. He now plans his vendetta and kills everyone responsible for the crime committed against him and others and he also brings about an uprising in the people. Somehow I feel I am not doing justice to the movie here. But I can say this much - Dont miss this movie.

Fear, freedom and confidence are more than words, they are perspectives.

People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people.

Behind the mask, there is more than flesh. Behind the mask, there is an idea Mr. C and ideas are bulletproof.

These are the few dialogues I remember. There is an awesome dialogue when V introduces himself to Evey where he uses heavy-weight words starting with the letter v and its very beautifully and craftily put together.
V is played by Hugo Weaving (Elrond of LOTR). He is brilliant. Throughout the movie, he wears a mask, yet he is my favourite hero. Mind-blowing dialogue delivery and what voice!! He is such an impressive character without even his facial expressions to aid him.
Evey is played by Natalie Portman. She is as gorgeous bald-headed as she was in her blond curls. Superb acting.
This movie is actually an adaptation of a comic series by Alan Moore published in Britain in the 80's. Wiki tells you more about the comic. I am searching for this book now :-)

********

Italy entered the Qfinals. (Everything is fair ;-) :-D And France is through :-D Was thrilled to read about this the next day. Missed the match :-(
I am supporting France, Argentina, Portugal and ofcourse Italy in Qfinals. Looking forward :-)

Tread if you dare

Isnt there great fun sometimes in being a sadist too ? :-D We did some such thing today. There is a lawn in front of our hostel which is rumoured to have cost 1.5 lacs to the insti (come on even a land can be bought for that much! at least I hope so.. atleast in Jhumritalaiyya ... you see I havent built my blue castle yet) Anyway, eventhough we have been greatly tempted many a times to walk on that lawn, we have always followed the many instruction boards forbidding us from doing so (believe me it sometimes helps to be illiterate like it does to the dogs who have their afternoon siesta there). So what we saw today made us fume - three men on the lawn, relaxing on it Akbar, Jehangir style enjoying the evening breeze. So we set the security aunty behind them. Last seen she was standing there with a stick in her hand :-D

Foot(ball) falls :-D

Always look on the Bright Side of Life

Barkha dutt again

The English Divide

"A new breed of Indians who no longer look towards the West for self-affirmation, is making its presence felt. We like to call this a decline in quality. But actually, it's the rest of India waiting to get in."

Tip tip tip tip baarish shuruh ho gayi

Mausam hai aashiqaana..
ae dil kahin se unko
aise me dhoondh laana

It has rained here and its very lovely outside. And what a convenient time to lose one's umbrella. Ill have an excuse when I catch a cold later ;-)
When the climate is this lovely, we hostelites/grad students do only one thing - go out for dinner. Thursday nights are dosa nights and so we will go out and eat masala dosas. hmphhh what a waste of money on bland ghaas phoos!! All this for a friend who is a veggie :-(
I shouldnt crib as going out is the motto here :-D

Western ghats

My brother (F) and his friends trekked through this abandoned railway track in Saklespura in the western ghats. He will probably add a travel account of this trip. Ill edit this post if and when that happens. This whole area is so gorgeous!! See you keep humans out of the picture and the place retains its beauty.


See there's just this wooden railway track and nothing else. F tells me one could see the valley through the gaps in the track. They also came across a waterfall where they all refreshed themselves.

(You can even spot F here in the pic if you know him.)

Now you see why Im jealous. I have never been to a place like this. OK if not dangerous treks like this, I should atleast be able to see places like Munnar, Coorg, Humpy rt! My friend once told me about her trip to the point where Cauvery originates. All this sometime in my life :-)

Its a long day

Today is the longest day of the year

Why do Vogons remind me of our administrative block inhabitants!!

This is what Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy says about Vogons :

"Vogon Constructor Fleets. Here is what to do if you want to get a lift from a Vogon: forget it. They are one of the most unpleasant races in the Galaxy—not actually evil, but bad tempered, bureaucratic, officious and callous. They wouldn't even lift a finger to save their own grandmothers from the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal without orders signed in triplicate, sent in, sent back, queried, lost, found, subjected to public inquiry, lost again, and finally buried in soft peat and recycled as firelighters."

Applies very well to the Ad block creatures :-D
Hitchhiker's... is a very hilarious and intelligent science fiction written by Douglas Adams. Read it if you haven't read it yet.

Taj

( This pic is borrowed from Mohib's Aks:Reflection )

I saw Taj when I was 9 years old - hardly the age to appreciate it. Going there now is also in my wishlist :-)

My brother tells me about his wonderful trek through an abandoned railway track in Saklespura. I am so jealous of him ! Ill upload those pics soon. I am telling myself that Ill get to do these things someday :-D

Yet to start work. There is something listless about a Monday morning.