A question

I heard an argument once about the reproductive system. We know the sperm has a formidable artillery to penetrate an egg.  The argument goes that when the male and female bodies are two distinct identities, how could the artillery in the sperm evolve, and hence it must be intelligent design.

But what if somewhere in the evolutionary cycle, the earlier organisms were bisexual or hermaphrodites. I have forgotten most of my biology, so maybe I should look up literature to see the sequence in the evolutionary history.

As so often happens when it comes to evolution, one gets stuck in the debate between religion and evolution. And many people have asked me this- how can you be a scientist and still believe in religion. Let me just believe there is a god, and leave the rest to science. It is a grey area, but one that I can ignore and carry on with my day to day life ;-)

School kids in parliament!

It is shameful to see the blatant chamchagiri at the top level of politics. When Sonia entered the field, Congress underwent a revival, and her role in it was commendable. But the kind of sycophancy that we see today is embarassing. More so, when the sycophancy is inherited by Rahul baba. I haven't seen him utter one sensible sentence over the last couple of years. Sachin Pilot, Jyotiraditya Scindia emerge as much better thinkers and orators. At least they can phrase their thoughts brilliantly, and their thoughts sound mature. At one time, when their fathers were alive, Congress had a much better appeal but when they all died (weirdly enough) in plane crashes, Sonia seemed the only savior of the party. I see only decline in Congress if things continue this way.

Then there is TMC. First Trivedi is removed for going against Didi. This whole episode looked shady to me. I think Mamta-di was aware of everything and wanted to score political mileage by sacrificing Trivedi. Then she installed her chamcha, who as soon as he takes office, wanted his office to be rearranged like how Mamta-di had it earlier. Is the railway minister's office to be enshrined in her name. For that matter, how long will that ministry stay with Mamta-di or even Congress. 

mann bole mann bole, mann se jeena..

Tum logon ki, iss duniya mein
Har kadam pe, insaan ghalat
Main sahi samajh ke jo bhi karoon
Tum kehte ho ghalat !
Main ghalat hoon toh phir kaun sahi (phir kaun sahi)
Marzi se jeene ki bhi main
Kya tum sabko arzi doon
Matlab ki tum sab ka mujh pe
Mujh se bhi zyada haq hai


I am plain crazy about the songs in this movie (Rockstar). It is rebellious and angry or rather angst-ridden.  I read somewhere that females have generally disliked this movie, and men have appreciated this movie. I lovvved it. Maybe I have a guy's soul in the wrong getup?! :-D But listen to other songs in this movie, the music is great and lyrics high calibre -especially hawa hawa , nadaan parindey, phir se udhh chala. Rahman stands out miles ahead in the current breed of music directors. 


I started reading Rushdie's Satanic verses. I love his writing, his language is versatile, vocabulary rich and his imagination wild. On a side note, my vocab is going downhill, I 'love' almost everything instead of using the apt word for the occasion. About the book, I am also curious about what started the controversy. In my personal opinion, there shouldn't be this much hulla bulla if anybody says something about the 'sacred'. Freedom of thoughts, freedom of speech and all that. I think prophet or any of the scriptures have enough stature to stand their ground against anything on their own. Ill also add that if a society has no qualms about comments against one community but resents against their own, it doesn't speak volumes about their openness either. Anybody should be free to say what they think, and everybody should have the tolerance to hear it and make their own judgement. Collective behavior these days has greater tendency of being harmful than constructive. 


Anyway, coming back to Rushdie and Rahman, imagine how it must feel to excel in some arena and to be miles ahead of their peers. Maybe they don't give it much thought. But I am guessing it must be way better than being mediocre. Personally, I have been on the mediocre scale. I have this urge today to get out of this rut. I hope this urge sustains for sometime and not fizzle out in seconds like it does usually ;)
 Away I go to create history. Adios amigos :)

Returning to blogspace :)

Two years is a long time, yet it passes unnoticed. Didn't we welcome 2011 just a few days back, and lo it is ending now. After debating many times if I should return to this space, and if I have anything new to write and whether what I write will interest anybody, I decided to return. Not because the criteria was met,  but because sometimes I used to write for myself. In those PhD days, this space was a break in the monotony of research.

In a nutshell, I am no longer in India though I miss it every bit, married (finally found a tall dark handsome educated liberated guy - stroke of luck, destiny, or simple record-keeping? ), and still keeping my career alive though with less enthusiasm and more distractions. How is life in pardes? Sometimes lonely, sometimes liberating and many times hassle-free. Here, face-to-face interactions are limited to a few people, countable on fingers. Work keeps you busy most of the waking hours. Like somebody wise said, you will end up alone here unless you make an effort to make friends. That however takes considerable energy, and one doesn't click with just about anybody.
Otherwise, life is lived online - something I have been trying to avoid with less success. I am consciously making an effort to not open the laptop after work hours, investing time instead in attempting new dishes in the kitchen, decorating the nest, reading a book, or just calling up a friend. I am as interested as ever in music and movies and books. So lets open up discussions on these once again. I welcome the few readers I have to give me suggestions on books, movies, food, music and just about anything.

Latest book read: Girl with the dragon tattoo, a thriller by Stieg Larrson. It was a gripping page-turner, I finished the 600 page book in two days. Otherwise I have been reading more Terry Pratchetts. I am still not fed up of this series, and someone told me I am yet to read the best of his books, so will be onto it in future days. I have developed a liking for Salman Rushdie's works. Recently, I found a box-full of books at home, and many of his books in it. Thankfully, my husband occasionally reads the interesting books as well. So I am looking forward to exploring the library at home. Notable movies in recent past: Children of heaven, Rockstar, Chillar party.

In music, I am trying unventured territories. I used to like instrumental hindustani and stay away from vocal. But I'm exploring those too these days. Love pakistani folk music- that country has many things going wrong for it, hope music doesn't fade away with it. Have you tried the pakistani coke studio? It is a brilliant fusion of modern music and folk music. India has an imitation where singers re-sing the Bollywood songs in a different way. That in short sums up why we don't hear alternative music in India much. Bollywood occupies all ear-space.  Any recommendations in other genres?

Me-brain on a stick! :-D

A new find- Alexander McCall Smith

Few months back, I was tagged by Sanjana, who had asked me to list five of my favorite book quotes. I have been thinking and thinking and nothing comes to mind, except Gone with the wind's "I'll think about it tomorrow" :-D
I guess what I retain are the stories and the sketches, and I forget dialogues.
There is another in Harry Potter series, where Dumbledore says
"Youth cannot know how age thinks and feels. But old men are guilty if they forget what it was to be young."
In fact, I think I would pick most of my quotes from the Harry Potter and Bartimaeus series. Sorry for breaking the continuity Sanju :-)

I have been reading this book called "The No.1 ladies' detective agency" by Alexander McCall Smith. And this book has a lot of quotable quotes. Mainly, it is a good story told in a simple style. Do check out. It classifies as a good read in my opinion.

Pot pourri

Hey there! My last post sounded as if I wouldnt materialise here before 2009 rang in, but then here I am. What to do! In a space of 3 hours, I had so much blog material in my grey matter, that I had to reappear here.
You know I should carry a recorder around or there should be a thought recorder (which after censoring ofcourse ;-)) records what I am thinking currently. Its easier to catalogue my blog matreial that way. I'll list my thoughts so it's more a pot-pourri than a coherent post.

1. The other day I heard somebody put an accent but what took the cake was when he looked at adai and called it paruppu dosai in american accent. This started off a discussion at lunch table on accents and I got a different perspective that anybody who has to teach in a US university has to get that accent to get the point across and over a period, this becomes their natural accent. Ofcourse there is a different class of people who fake their accent just for effects. This also reminds me of Arthur Clarke's comment in Space Odyssey (m so addicted), which says "we americans insist on speaking in english in mixed circles, we just are either chauvinistic or just lazy" That can be said for many of us Indians too ;-)

2. In my opinion, a foodie has to learn cooking. I learnt for the same reasons. When mom's loving touch is not within reach, I should be able to cook food to some degree of her magic. And occasional cooking is indeed therapeutic, believe me. You are creating something, and when your stomach appreciates that, bliss and pride cant be further away. So here's a recipe for rabdi, the instant coffee way.
Ingredients- Milk, cornflower powder , milk powder and sugar.
Boil milk, and add cornflower to it. After this is cooked, remove it from the flame, and add the milk powder and sugar and mix well. Voila!
On TV, I had seen somebody just cook milk till its thick and then add sugar to it. But then we lack the time and patience to do that. Hence the additives ;-) Yummmm

3. I forgot the rest. See a thought recorder is very much needed.

Last post, I sounded dismal and had the year-end blues. But today I am chirpy,chirpy and singing lolly lolly friday morning.
I guess it just has to do with the fact that I woke up early morning today! Yes thats an achievement for me considering the fact that my alarm rings everyday at that hour, I just dont hear it :-D Really, waking up early is good!!

Hasta la Vista! :-)

So long, farewell 2008

Don't you feel a kind of listlessness towards the end of any year ?
I certainly do. As if the world has shut shop and is enjoying the holidays, and meanwhile in India, we work though the services are down. Also, there is a feeling of impatience, that this year should get over soon and bring the new year. Albeit there is no big difference between the 31st and 1st, there is always a hope that the new year will bring more joy, more adventures, and more sanity to life.

The Mumbai attack affected all of us, more so because it brought the reality of what happened in Kashmir all these years right into our living rooms. Such audacious incursions and attacks must be pretty common in that beautiful state, it was just not lucrative news material for our news channels. We certainly did not see live coverages of their plight all these years. But the reality that any interior territory of India can be subjected to such an attack was a shocker. We did have bomb attacks, but they were silent killers. But, this was upfront warfare.
Subsequently, Pakistan army and its associates have been creating war hysteria, to deflect the world's attention from what it really has to do, namely clean up its backyards. Our media will do well in not assisting it in this cunning tactic.
Among the many positive signals arising out of this carnage, one was when the Muslims in Mumbai, refused to give proper burial to the terrorists. It sends a strong message to the local India-born terrorists even more than it does to those involved in this act.

Serious thoughts apart, I have not seen Rab ne Bana di Jodi yet. I am keeping that as my holiday treat. Though the movie features indigestibles, SRK rocks. I feel his success is more due to his genius in making you smile while escaping the real life for those three hours. Like a member of the previous generation said, "I hope he never ages".

I have been reading 2010 space odyssey lately. I had always heard about Arthur Clarke, but I am not much of a science fiction fan. My sci-fis have been limited to Michael Crichton, and Doug Adam's Hitchhikers (Of this Im a big fan). Reading space odyssey makes me feel as if Im actually setting off on a voyage. Interesting stuff.
Last good read was 'Curious Incident of the dog in the night-time' I was always afraid of reading this book. Insecurities maybe. But it is a good book. At no point does it dramatize, belittles or bemoans the kid's state. There is a quiet dignity associated with the kid. A must read I think. As necessary as it is to watch Taare zameen par.
Kalki's Ponniyan Selvan has been lying on my shelf for the past few days. I think it means Ponni's son, and is Ponni a river? Ill know more when I read it. Thats next on my reading list. This was highly recommended to me. I had read Kalki's Parthiban Kanavu (Parthiban's dream), which was beautiful, and which made me realise that our central board education system focuses more on the history of North India. I am told that Kalki's creations are mind blowing in its native language, Tamil. I don't read it fluently, so it is lost to me.

Wish you all merry Christmas and a very happy new year :-)

Khuda Ke Liye

Amazing intelligent movie and very relevant to the current times. Perhaps it is also in context with the kind of witch-hunting that today's generation is being subjected to. Dont miss Naseeruddin Shah's arguments at the end.

This is where you can find it.
http://www.videoduniya.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3347&Itemid=27

I create..

I believe I am most creative when I am in an extreme state of boredom. So recently I was attending a set of lectures, and some of them put others to sleep, while they put me to work, in other words, create. So, here I present to you my scribbles.
Do let me know if there is still merit in attending classes. ;-)

What a teacher expects
is a little respect.
Premonition berates
that your future awaits,
when its you who teach
see your students asleep.
---

Path to success
is work I guess
I toil and toil
but sleep foils
and puts to rest
my intentions earnest.
----

Route to chaos
are manifold.
World is filled
with tales untold.
But the common strain,
is when you entrain,
routes abound,
and confound,
you know not where
lies your lair,
until you get there
and despair
---

I'm upto this ..

On the books front, I have been busy with short stories of Ruskin Bond and more recently Chitra Banerjee Divakurni. I read somewhere, that short stories are tougher to write, as within a few pages, the writer has to catch the reader's attention, and make reading it worthwhile. Ruskin Bond's work conjures up beautiful images of the region around Nainitaal.

And finally, I got Rushdie's Midnight Children issued from the library. Having heard so much about his work, and especially this one, I am looking forward to reading this. In fact, his Haroun and the Sea of stories was very imaginative and I enjoyed it.

On my way to work, I get to see the beach everyday. I love this part of my journey. One can see the different moods of the weather reflected in the sea.

Seasons of life (a fwd)

A good forward I received recently:

There was a man who had four sons. He wanted his sons to learn not to judge things too quickly. So he sent them each on a quest, in turn, to go and look at a pear tree that was a great distance away.The first son went in the winter, the second in the spring, the third in summer, and the youngest son in the fall. When they had all gone and come back, he called them together to describe what they had seen.
The first son said that the tree was ugly, bent, and twisted.


The second son said no it was covered with green buds and full of promise.


The third son disagreed; he said it was laden with blossoms that smelled so sweet and looked so beautiful, it was the most graceful thing he had ever seen.


The last son disagreed with all of them; he said it was ripe and drooping with fruit, full of life and fulfillment.

The man then explained to his sons that they were all right, because they had each seen but only one season in the tree's life.

If you give up when it's winter, you will miss the promise of your spring, the beauty of your summer, fulfillment of your fall.
Don't let the pain of one season destroy the joy of all the rest. Don't judge life by one difficult season.

Or in other words : Picture abhi baaki hai mere dost ;-)

Ctrl C Ctrl V, , apart from perhaps getting the season pictures mixed up, is a bad way of resuming blogging I admit. I promise better posts when the inspiration strikes and time permits.
Au Revoir :-)

Dekho baarish ho rahi hai, its raining :-D

I'm singing in the rain
Just singing in the rain
What a glorious feelin'
I'm happy again
...
Come on with the rain
I've a smile on my face
I walk down the lane
With a happy refrain
Just singin',
Singin' in the rain

:-D Chennai has had a lot of rain this year. Infact, since it started raining in May, every month has seen intermittent rains. The climate is lovely and pleasant. Almost like Bangalore :-D

Let me wish you all a very happy new year at the outset. May you all (and me) have a great 2008. Between my last post and now, many things have happened and milestones passed in many fields. Hindi Cinema had many good films to offer in this period - Chak De, Om Shanti Om, Jab we met I have seen. Johnny gaddar, Life in a Metro, Taare zameen par, I would like to see. I'm also looking forward to Jodha Akbar, as we will get to see the handsomest Akbar till date, and its a Gowtriker movie to boot :-D

In books section, please do check out Khaled Hosseini's Kite Runner and Thousand Splendid suns, this author's works are worth keeping track of. Really good writing. I am trying to read Orhan Pamuk's My name is Red currently. A bit slow to start with. Maybe it will gain momentum by and by.

Good luck and cheers :)

Hangover and I-Day runups

Hi people, here I am back in India, safe and single :-) When I returned, I did not feel any difference, maybe I was just plain happy to see my folks. But as the days passed by, I started remembering the teeny-weeny things and then started the hangover of this magical fortnight. Excuse me for this little childishness, but many firsts were associated with this trip, I had a lovely time.

This trip has also helped me in a major sense. I have decided to stay back in research for another year and see if I survive alone. If I do well, I try again, and if I don't, I quit :-D So I will apply for postdocs and since my boundary conditions do not extend very far, I can maybe go as far as Bangalore or Bombay.

I loved the institute I visited (ICTP in Italy). This is a UNESCO funded institute and attracts researchers from all parts of the world. So imagine, in this one visit, I met people from Brazil, Morocco, Iran, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Iraq, Japan, China, Italy, Venezuela, Georgia, Croatia, Lebanon, France, Argentina, Algeria, Senegal!!! and saw people from many other countries. A lovely experience. One thing I noted is that everyone else is much well-versed in Geography when compared to me :-D Like my roomie said, she knows India's capital is Delhi, whereas I don't know where exactly her country is in Africa :-D India is very famous everywhere, and much of the credit goes to Bollywood - Shahrukh Khan is hot everywhere :-D
On our way back, we had some 12 hours stopover in Dubai. I roamed around in the airport to my heart's fill and line maarofied openly. (Many) Arabs are very handsome!! No wonder the western M&Bs have an occasional Arab sheikh as their hero. I met a very charming man on my way back to India, but unfortunately, I fell asleep pretty soon. I was cursing myself afterwards for this big blunder.
So ends my magical fortnight. Ill add little snippets to these posts as and when I remember :)
-----

In the run-up to the independence day, the news channels have been telecasting really good shows. Even Aaj Tak raised its level and had a show on "Hum nahi sudhrenge (we will not rectify ourselves!)" and showed all our(Indians) bad features like spitting and urinating on the roadsides, eve-teasing, corruption, jumping queues, etc etc. BBC has a series on India too. I am also looking forward to The Hindu's supplement on the I-Day. They promise a bunch of articles by eminent personalities and intellectuals.
---
My posts might not be regular until I get a good net connection and a healthier attitude :-) So here in advance are my wishes for a
Happy Independence Day :-)

Ciao Venezia

We finally visited Venice on Saturday after a long deliberation on whether to go or not to go. We even almost missed the train to Venice, barely got in two minutes before it started. The place is so full of beautiful age old architecture that we kept taking snaps. Tastefully done buildings. One thing I like a lot about this place is that lovely flowers dot every balcony.
From the train station, we took a vaporetto to one of the islands called Murano. This island is famous for glass blowing. We saw some beautiful creations made in coloured glass. I will upload some pics when I get them.
Next stop was the San Marco Island. This has the famous St. Marks Square. We first visited the Palace Ducale (Doge's palace), paid an awful lot to see this (13Euro!!) This palace had gorgeous expensive paintings on the walls. The Armoury had a variety of weapons on display, some swords even reaching my height. Those warriors must have been very tall to hold them! Such weapons are seen in Indian forts too.
We walked on the Bridge of Sighs and took pics in front of it. This is a bridge that leads from the palace to the other end of a canal. Apparently, the prisoners, after being sentenced, used to be taken through this bridge to their prisons. The prisoners used to look out of this bridge at their last rays of freedom and sigh, and hence it is called the Bridge of Sighs. This reminded me of Count of Monte Cristo, in which Edmond Dantes, fights for his freedom when he is taken to the dungeon. That book is a masterpiece, in which every passage made an impression.
The St. Marks square was full of thousands of pigeons. We fed these pigeons and took snaps with them.
The basilica in the square was closed by the time we reached, so we couldn't see that. Thats a big regret as we were told that it is a must-see, and now I might not get another opportunity like this.
We then went in search of the Rialto bridge. Apparently, this is also very famous. We just did not know where to find it. So we reached these streets, which are basically waterways, and gondolas were passing through these. We were told that gondola rides are very expensive, and are meant for honeymooners and those others who have time and money to kill. So we didnt take one. In one of the gondolas, a man was singing "Ciao Venezia" to the tune of an instrument. Thats when the beauty of Venice sank in. So far, it was nice architecture etc etc. But we experienced the charm on listening to that song. Those 5 minutes were very beautiful. Venice has to be lived in, to experience it completely. We saw the Rialto Bridge when we took the vaporetto back to the station.
Venice was truly an experience of a lifetime.
Another thing I like here is the music. I will learn to play an instrument sometime in my life.
I wish we had more time to explore. We caught the last train back, which takes a longer route. Halfway through, the next coach caught fire. It was controlled immediately though. Happening trip :)
Yesterday, we took a boat ride to the downtown city. Roamed around, ate genuine pizza with tuna fish toppings (I love Tuna fish now) and icecream (Yummmmm).
Lovely weekend. :-)

Magical fortnight ahead :)

Hi all, here I am in a new country and enjoying it thoroughly. The place is gorgeous and the food (especially the sea food) is delicious. On our way here, we stopped over in Dubai. The airport was posh and the guys handsome. Woww what great looks. It was also like a home away from home, with many Indians employed there as service staff. I plan to shop a bit on my way back.

The guesthouse in which I have been put up here faces the sea. Its my dream stay. We leave the doors open at nights. People play soft music here at the sea side at night and we fall asleep to the sounds of that. Guess what! Day before, they even played a hindi song. I couldnt believe my ears. My roommate is an African Muslim girl and is very gorgeous. She says India is very famous in her country as people there often watch Shahrukh Khan movies. I was amazed (and thrilled) at the outreach SRK has.. She speaks good french and bad english. My french doesnt go beyond Bonjour. But we manage well :-D I am learning a bit of Italian too. As far as the conference is concerned, it is all nice and good, but I have this thing that I cannot apply for post doc yet and that slightly gets me down. I mean I feel whats the use of all this for me :-D So I am maintaining a low profile here.

Ok so here full and final is my advertisement for a cheerful, educated, liberated Muslim guy who will let me live my life as I wish :-D Most desirable if he is 6'2" :-D ;-) Btw lots of handsome Muslim guys in the campus here too, mostly from west asia.. Umm but my mom objects to (even) north Indians, I dont think she ll like the idea of a foreigner :-D

Jokes apart, nice place, nice people and I plan to enjoy myself the rest of this magical fortnight.

Ciao to you and have fun :)
(wow i posted this post with italian instructions)

A new adventure

So I am leaving for Italy in two days after all. A new adventure and a new experience :) Looking forward to it and at the same time nervous about it. At the end of it, I will certainly have some new material for this blog :-D So long then. I have no idea about what after this.. but I do deserve a holiday and so will try to enjoy being jobless for some time.

Kafeel's terror attack had us all shocked. So far we had this perception that jobless, uneducated youth are easily brainwashed and they resort to these acts. This guy's act was shocking and condemnable. I would have written much much more about it but in a hurry.

Wish me :-D

I am Dr. T now :-D

Rains

Its been raining here since yesterday. Very pleasant climate :-) And I have been walking in the rains mindless of the aachoos which are bound to follow. I do take to water like a true Pisces

Notes from Bangalore

I spent this weekend at Bangalore. This was my first visit to the city. Visited my relatives. Met old college friends. I must say I seem to be the only one who has not changed at all in appearance. Everyone else has put on weight.
My impressions of the city! There are always goods and bads in a city and so its not even a good thing to compare. But then one does end up comparing.
The autowallahs are much much better there than in Chennai. I was surprised to find them following the meter rate to a rupee. The meter can be used in a negative way also as we found out in one case where this guy was taking us through narrow lanes and byways instead of the main roads just to increase the rate. We promptly got down 10 mins after getting in ( I was suspicious also as this guy covered up his face in the petrol pump, and avoided the main roads. Who knows if he is a terrorist. He he my imagination was on full drive. I digress.)
The bus service is lousy, Ill say. And the commuters are more lecherous (in my experience). I felt travelling there is difficult unless one has a personal vehicle.
It was so pleasantly cool there. After the sultriest few days in Chennai, this was very welcome. As it happened, it rained in Chennai too this weekend. Not fair. We missed 4 days of chennai rains :-(
We roamed around Garuda Mall. One can buy stuff in Spencers but not in Garuda Mall. Its indecently overpriced. I think Spencers caters to all sections. Anyway, we entered the Scary House there and got mighty scared. My cousins tell me that I apparently told one "bhoot" to not do what he was doing- scare me :-D He he I am jumpy by nature and I am scared of darkness too. So I got my money's worth of getting scared :-D Enjoyed max in all. I would love to return to Bangalore :)

There is big hype surrounding the movie Sivaji down south. Apparently people are even paying 1k to watch this movie! Its a crazy little world.