Mr. H G Wells, you have spend nights writing about an intricate machine that can take you back and forth in time. I have done very simple to achieve about half of all that. Just rolled my thumb over my ipod and closed my eyes. Jodha-Akbar songs just got me back to that wonderful/painful/joyful/sorrowful first quarter of 2008. I open my eyes and realize that Wesst Kinara (West Coast for the mango ppl) is far far away.
And the limitation that intervening in the past would take me to a different parallel universe (with possibly different outcome of events) still holds good. Einstein & Hawking would become furious otherwise.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Friday, September 26, 2008
Three Quarters & Chinese
That's a nice Chinese restaurant in Bangalore. In the middle of church street, next to Amoeba etc. And the best part is that they have a witty name. They claim to serve three quarters of chinese menu and one quarter of Awadhi menu (Lucknowi - for the tyros to the gastronomical world). Their biryanis and kebabs have earned a reputation for themselves as a real treat (comes second only to Hyderabadi Dum Biryani !)
Well that's not the point. The point is that Quarter is an important denomination in US currency. Get a ride from UCLA to SantaMonica beach, make a phone call to your girlfriend (and I've seen ppl banging their head after doing that), do your laundry etc etc. So that's the first quarter.
Quarter is a key thing in the california graduate education system. You fall down in Fall, shiver and curse yourself in Winter ( & buy a mac out of frustration & 'making most out of xmas sales') & Eventually Spring back in Spring. That's the second quarter.
Quarter is a significant portion of my house. That quarter of bedroom/bathroom/kitchen/hall for which I am the boss. Surrounded by brat frats. All they care about is Pop, Party & Pussy (no offence really to those amazing greek fraternities). That's the third quarter.
The fourth quarter is the chinese (and japanese, taiwanese, koreans, malaysians, indonasians etc etc...as you see my limited knowledge of geography). You find them all over LA. Customs & Immigrations, Parking lots, Research Labs, Pingpong tables & Everywhere else.
Well, as I finish a quarter of my life, I hope to embrace these other quarters into my life with heart wide open.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
US & USA
My journey to umreekaah started on a pretty glamorous note. Happen to bump into Tollywood's hot chick (Well! Not the latest, Really.) Illeana D'cruz ( http://www.idlebrain.com/movie/photogallery/ileana-pokiri.html ) at Mumbai Chatrapati Shivaji Airport. Took auto/photo-graph etc :-D (ob da!). Well there wasnt anything glamorous for a while after that. Sleepless for a night, we (krishna & me) finally boarded the flight. There was "Indiana Jones" followed by Red-wine, then "Kung-Fu Panda" followed by White-wine and finally "Sarkar-Raj" on the onboard entertainment set well punctuated by short spells of sleep. The 'toast' to america never happened all this while :-( Eventually reached LA, got picked up by a senior and was dropped at another's place.
Had some tough time on day zero night figuring out the inversion in the switch, the absence of the 'MUG' & the ready-made rotis.
Day one was going to campus, getting ID card, opening bank a/c (and talking to that moronic personal banking officer who 'actually' wanted to know what I plan specialize in), having a look at the dingy den that my roommates called an appmnt (for $1800 pm wohow!). The whole thing wasnt atleast as big as my swanky studio in bangalore. Then it struck to me that am in LA. Apart from this another thing struck me. Jet Lag + Fever! For two days there was a three second delay in my neuron network. Imagine having your head enclosed in an airtight glass container & you hear your voice after a delay of three seconds (approx the same round trip time LA-HYD-LA taken by your voice over a phone line). Your vision isnt doing great either. You try to reach for the dish tv remote, crash into the water jug which 'came in your way' & realise it after three seconds. Two days out of calender.
Jet Lags turned into Lets Jag. I woke up finally. Next two days are again out of calender as I went out for house hunting. Its still on. I am skipping all the routine stuff about what ppl write about us of a (neat roads, smooth traffic, courteous ppl, cereals for B/F etc etc).
I can't say it was a smooth landing in US. But it wasn't rough either. The desi seniors are pretty helpful (they dint charge me for that broken water jug & dint finish my mom's ravva laddoos), the univ building is awesome & the mild sunny weather with cool pacific breeze - Fantastic. Probably a beautiful place to watch the sunset sitting in your own sea-facing duplex flat. Smiling. Reassuring yourself why its great to stay single till you are 30 & rich.
Had some tough time on day zero night figuring out the inversion in the switch, the absence of the 'MUG' & the ready-made rotis.
Day one was going to campus, getting ID card, opening bank a/c (and talking to that moronic personal banking officer who 'actually' wanted to know what I plan specialize in), having a look at the dingy den that my roommates called an appmnt (for $1800 pm wohow!). The whole thing wasnt atleast as big as my swanky studio in bangalore. Then it struck to me that am in LA. Apart from this another thing struck me. Jet Lag + Fever! For two days there was a three second delay in my neuron network. Imagine having your head enclosed in an airtight glass container & you hear your voice after a delay of three seconds (approx the same round trip time LA-HYD-LA taken by your voice over a phone line). Your vision isnt doing great either. You try to reach for the dish tv remote, crash into the water jug which 'came in your way' & realise it after three seconds. Two days out of calender.
Jet Lags turned into Lets Jag. I woke up finally. Next two days are again out of calender as I went out for house hunting. Its still on. I am skipping all the routine stuff about what ppl write about us of a (neat roads, smooth traffic, courteous ppl, cereals for B/F etc etc).
I can't say it was a smooth landing in US. But it wasn't rough either. The desi seniors are pretty helpful (they dint charge me for that broken water jug & dint finish my mom's ravva laddoos), the univ building is awesome & the mild sunny weather with cool pacific breeze - Fantastic. Probably a beautiful place to watch the sunset sitting in your own sea-facing duplex flat. Smiling. Reassuring yourself why its great to stay single till you are 30 & rich.
Monday, September 8, 2008
So, lean legs!
"In mythical ages, sages had a single minded
devotion in pleasing the gods.
Their efforts were however, sometimes, grounded
by beautiful apsaras and dev-kanyas.
In modern days, grad students toiled
round the clock in pleasing their mentors.
Their efforts are however, always, foiled
by lovely ladies.
Walking slight fast wearing tight shorts;
Smiling rosy bright during cosy nights."
-An UCLA grad student (Circa 2008 A.D)
devotion in pleasing the gods.
Their efforts were however, sometimes, grounded
by beautiful apsaras and dev-kanyas.
In modern days, grad students toiled
round the clock in pleasing their mentors.
Their efforts are however, always, foiled
by lovely ladies.
Walking slight fast wearing tight shorts;
Smiling rosy bright during cosy nights."
-An UCLA grad student (Circa 2008 A.D)
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