Cause and Effect..

it never struck me. the extent of that tsunami last year until exactly a year after. i don't know how or why but yesterday i was so grieved and then you read about survivors and their memories of the waves...it was disturbing to say the least.

and then i saw this song, an effort by usha uthup and other singers from tamilnadu...their way of showing support with those affected...but the lyrics of the song were pleading with the sea. how can you plead with nature? and just when a group of experts have surveyed the seabed and told us the faultline has yet to be fully corrected and when it does...tehre will most likely be another such earthquake near sumatra and trigger off another bout of the tsunamis.

well...i just wrote something..more to put into words my thoughts than anything else...


The morning after Christmas
The morning after a girl’s night out…
How different could it be?
How more eventful than those morns of past?
Sound asleep when the seabed changed position…
After years in one place, you would want to move…
If only by inches

Someone said there had been a mild tremor
Its happened before, and the roofs didn’t fall…
So what now?

Ripples of waves from the sea to inland waterways-
Geography though long forgotten the order of nature is assumed constant, usually..
Why then?

There are times to thank the media and
One such had come…roaring and tall…
The impact, the devastation- how else
Would I’ve known?
The terrible hand dealt to so many.
So many lives washed away unlived.
Homes and livelihood swept away,
The fury and spirit, the awe and splendor
Shadowed and shrouded by destruction and pain…

A year to the day,

Do we take and accept a scientific outlook-
Nothing untoward, just some tectonic plate movement.

Or do we deserve it?
Isn’t it just that nature vent her fury?
Fury and growth, that we’ve
Chopped and killed, cut and long curtailed,
Mercilessly and unrepenting.

Faults aplenty and with no atonement.
How benevolent can one be?
Even science advocates and agrees to
The theory of cause and effect.

How to then can we plead nature?
How to can one be guilty and pardoned?

And how can we expect,
If we don’t give?

do you want me to take you??

well....we just had our first chemical company turn up for campus interviews.

we knew a week in advance. but me being me prepared my resume the day before the actual event. i din't look through one book. din't read one jot. actually i went to sleep at nine, woke up at midnight..read a novel and then went to sleep at four. waking up the next morning at 7..i sure didn't feel like going..i mean really..what were my chances against the engineering bookworms? but i did..what did i have to lose..so i got there and like clockwork...everyone is revising..asking doubts..refreshing..and madam walks in like i have no care in the world..well yeah..

so ok..they give us a low down on their company and then take us through the procedure of how they'll pick less than five of us(not mentioned) from the 300 in attendance..so anyway..first the written..general aptitude and technical..verbal was a breeze..the numericals sucked and logic was ok..and technical..that which i did not prepare for..i actually did pretty well..and guess what..i got through that round..i mean everybody MUST have been worse than me!!

ok..so i go through to GD...a topic as mundane as automation in industries...really!!! how many points of view are there? and how many different points can you come up with? well whatever it was..four of us from that GD got called for the personal interviews..me included!!

ok the interview...i just walked in there again with not much prep at all..i know my basics but specifics of subjects...i'm pretty bad..and how many subjects can you revise overnight? so i just went ahead slept and got my beauty sleep...atleast i'd look fresh!! so i was there waiting to be called and grilled..and who comes and sits next to me???? this guy with an awesome voice and looks pretty good too..sorry..not naming him..ok what the hell..he was called tony..like the frosties tiger...and a nice too..so when your sitting next to a guy with an awesome voice and are discussing the refrigeration cycle with him..your butteflies just fly away...

so when my turn came...i walked in..four uncles..two of them smiling...and two a tad too serious..well they asked me to introduce myself..talk about what i like..din't like blah blah..when did i want to get married blah..why a chem company and blah...anyway that was the nice part..then came cooling towers..distillation columns..the number of plates you need..absorption and then NPSH and the types of pumps and how i determined the diameter of a distillation column...truly..i messed..i told the the basic process in each equipment..technically..i was blank...and no surprises..i didn't get through...

well i ain't in the least bit feeling bad..my dad actually thinks i didn't prepare for the interview..coz i didn't want soda ash manufacture and gujarat or fertilizers in UP..he's right.

well........

ok...looks like my comp's back on track and so hopefully my blog will have a lot more posts than it has had these past few months..

and i've got to say....there are few things during this time that i've noticed with some satisfaction..some with a little fear..some i've already forgotten but yeah..

• service...service as a whole has improved in most companies..the government ones included..
• the fact that the roadworks department repair roads in the dead of the night is quite heartening..i mean i never thought i'd see the day when public inconvenience was even considered...but then again...they did pile up tons of earth onto the road so they made quite a natural speed breaker coupled with a roller coaster..
• then airtel...kudos to sunil mittal...his company provides me brilliant service...comlaints are attended to within the day and so many cross checkings...it feels good!!!!!!! and let me hope i haven't spoken..or rather typed too soon..
• and then the no parking zones...i never actually realised they WERE no parking zones, until the cops came and locked up a couple of car tires...i wouldn't like it happening to me, especially not when i'm out driving on my own and have to go back to my dad for the cash...but i (i know its gonna sound stupid) like the locks they use...these huge iron squares with locks....yea well...if i go on anymore...
• rains...the kind i've never before seen in madras.. and scary in its wrath...sure we've all wanted a little more water down here but this torrential amount!!!! and water in houses...people displaced..the kind of thunder and lightning...dams being opened...water over the kotturpuram bridge!! yea well...i hope we've seen the end of them..
• the weather satellite images...i never ever have paid any attention to this black and white image on the paper...but these rains made sure i learnt to..
• tamil movies...i've watched more new tamil movies off late than i have ever before...sure mani rathnam movies are something i've missed but more due to the parents than my intrest in them...but now...there are actually some awesome tamil movies...
• ABHISHEK BACHAN in bluff master!!!! he's just unbelievably hot!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
• indian cricket!!! they have improved and thats an under statement...and dravid as captain just rules!!!!!!!! he is the best!! i don't wanna diss ganguly....but DRAVID!!
• exams....well my exmas just keep getting postponed due to the unprecedented rains that have taken to hitting madras off late...
• cross words....though no pro at it and frequently blank...i've taken to doing the crossies most days...and i do think thats a good thing..

and i'm bloody sleepy.......so.....

ghajini..

its been quite a while since i did blog...a couple of months actually...and i dont have any excuses for not posting anything...but then again i was busy...i know it doesnt make sense but yeah...it was one thing after another but not so rushed that i couldnt blog...well...bottomline..i didnt blog!!

anyway..friday night we had a girls night out..four of us drove down to mayajaal and watched ghajini. the tickets are a bloody rip off and the chaat u get there is stale!! i mean really!! u spend so much in petrol and then u pay 25 for a bhel puri thats soggy and the puris are old...really!!

but it was fun..its the first time my mom has said ok to a night show and that too not in the city and with us driving around on ECR at 1:30 in the night...so...

well...the movie..overall its brilliant...an amazing adaptation from memento! to have actually been able to get the basic concepts of memento and use it in a commercial tamil movie and make it work is work!! and kudos to the director!! surya is unbelievably cute and him and asin are so cute!!!! i mean all four of there were swooning over the guy man!! he is so so cute!!!!! th other woman-nayathara is gross!!! ugh!! all that fat on display is repulsive!! i dont have a clue wht kind of a guy would actually like her!!! yuck!! the villain was ok...nothing exceptional..and none of the songs are needed in the movie...they are just there for the people who'll come to watch the whole song-and-dance routine but really, so unnecessary!! finally...the violence...there is just so much of it!!! it gets to u after a point..so many fights..when u actually see memento having no fight sequence as such...and in bits u get a scare..such tactics as u see in every other movie but the direction and camera are real good here that u actually push back into ur seat with fright..overall.....its a good movie...u could watch it a couple of times(not 4 times and 5 times like friends of mine do!!)

after ghajini..i went to the landmark sale yesterday...oh its such a brilliant sale and i so didnt have enough money!!! books...i wanted so many of them and i ended up getting only 4..:( then dinner at cornucopia..lasange and mud pie..lunch at residency today..and if dont get off now...my mom will kill me!!!

passion...just something i thought about...

Passion….
Isn’t that what most of us look for in our lives? Look in the hope of finding that one thing in our lives that brings us such immeasurable amounts of joy? Don’t we all search to find the one thing that makes the world go round for each one of us?

Be it a loved one, music, the birds, nature, food, or for the more adventurous- bunjee jumping, paragliding, mud wrestling or for the more the eccentric and genius- math, atoms, ants and anything, just about anything you might be passionate about…..even designing bathrooms or repairing computers or whacking somebody even(if u really enjoy it…not necessitating the victim too though..).

There was a felicitation programme conducted for a Mr. kundrakudi vaidyanathan, a maestro violinist, that my grandfather was watching. While watching he happened to say that there were artistes, violinists better than him but none as a crowd pleaser or as entertaining as him. Most of the others, he says are almost mechanical.

I am of the opinion, as are many others, that music is capable of breaking barriers as no other one thing. But it is never just the music. The emotions conveyed through that music, by the artiste, the link between us and the experience, is only ten-fold more conducive to us enjoying that music. Passion for any one thing when witnessed by one can, if not make you so, move you to edges.

To live and breathe and become one and indistinguishable with that which almost symbolizes and sounds synonymous with you is something that cannot stay locked up in one person. It is an energy capable of wonders. It is so powerful that it can move you to tears, to make your stomach clench with emotion, a rollercoaster ride that tires you so but rejuvenates you even more. Such emotions are shared. They can never be bottled within a person. To cork and put up away such love would be equivalent to killing a part of oneself, to deny the world the chance to bear witness to something spectacular.

We have all gone through school not liking, literally hating, one subject, atleast. Ask for a reason, and its readymade to say ‘the teacher can’t make it interesting…she puts you to sleep…so monotonous…so unbearably dull’. Why? Math was never my favourite subject. If I did well it was because of hardwork and no hidden genius or latent love for the subject. It is true that once you do well in a subject, it is encouragement enough for later but it is never the same as having someone who loves the subject teach you. To want to make you love and understand the nuances of that tricky subject. To actually love tough problems.

I had a professor, Suchitra ma’m, last semester to teach me numerical methods. She loves mathematics. She doesn’t care too much for the respect you have to give her, she’d be happy if you just sat and listened in her class, and nothing made her so happy as students asking doubts. I suppose that is the mark of a teacher who considers himself/herself a advocate for the subject, taking it upon themselves to spread the joy of their subject to one and all. And suchitra ma’m actually got me to do work(homework!!!) because of the respect I had for her. She doesn’t treat you like a disdainful kid either, she treats you like a friend and doesn’t have even the tiniest qualms about saying ‘I am wrong’, of accepting improvisations on her methods, unlike most college professors.

To find something that would fill all your waking hours with joy is something beyond wonderful. The number of us who in our lifetimes will find such subjects that just engrossed us such that it gives us reason to live, a voracious appetite for knowledge, will, I’m afraid, be few and far between. But it is always the hope that this might be it, the one thing in your life that makes everything else fade into oblivion, that keeps each and everyone of us going…

It might not be a conscious quest, but it is a thirst, sub-consciously atleast….

are we sane???

i just finished chatting with a friend of mine...one of my school friends and one of my closest....it just occured to me that our conversation to someone else who would have read it would have been something that might you might hear between two people gone cracked...really...so much of mindless banter....leading to no conclusive or monumental end....

but then again isnt that what the best of friends are there for?? to provide the respite in life when everywhere else u are required to be polite and formal and tolerant and nice or atleast feign these dispositions instead of setting of waves of 'that arrogant girl' or 'who does she think she is' or any other remotely animosity radiating thought...

isnt it a fact that the most times we laugh...the most times we enjoy without a thought for whts to happen in the next five minutes....they are all with your closest friends..the ones who know you best.....the ones who look out for you....the ones who are gonna be there when u have moods when you dont want to talk to even person who is alive...when everything in this world schemes to test the limits of your patience...when you go all hyper over a cute guy...when you have this irrational wishes for going to the beach at 1 in the afternoon...when your dead broke....when in the process of becoming broke...when falling off the bike in the middle of the bustling road....when u go through a break-up...whining about weight....whining about the dearth of decent guys in the city...whining....just plain whining.... arent your friends the only ones who'll stick around? not judge you? let you be crazy mad old you...make fun of you but still be there for that hug when u need it....

it wouldnt surprise me to think that if people saw me and my friends walking down the road and thought we were loony...but those are times when i dont care wht the world thinks...so wht if we are loony? u are just jealous!!!! and know wht? i've caught myself seeing other bunches of friends do the same things and think man if i didnt know how it felt like to be where they are....i'd either be jealous or annoyed..

ok....so coming back to the title of my post....my mother personally thinks that when the bunch of us get together....we are just so much noise and so full of it....she thinks everybody on the road must think we are a bunch from the asylum out on parole....well it just struck me as to how true she might actually be..so hence the post... and well...let me not subject my intellectual skills for comment on this post...so all those of u planning on telling me how i am crazy....save it!!

Professor in Floaters..

i dont know to how many people this would make sense or how many people will see the funny side of it, but this had to be written about and so here i am doing my bidding!!

well the head of department of the Marine dept in college takes the same bus i do on most days. he is this really adorable roly-poly little man. plump and shorter than me. he is one of the few professors in college who does as he thinks is right and not as the management might like him to. he has opinions about most things and of what i have heard stands firmly by them. i was part of the team of editors of the college magazine that was doing this get-to-know-more-of-your-HODs thing last year. so we went to interview the marine HOD too. and i he is just too cute!! he was telling us of how he led his college and university in cricket and firld sports and bridge and all and that his biggest regret was not being able to hold his weight!! god u must have seen him saying that all seriously...and the three of us had to wait until the whole thing was over before we could laugh!!! yea well but he's a known disciplinarian too. thing is i think he went on an extended holiday this summer coz he got back only yesterday..and yesterday on the bus...i happen to notice that he was wearing reebok floaters! and then i started smiling to myself!! i seriously never thought he was the kind of guy to wear floaters!! but well the cute old man that he is!!!

ok i just had to coo about this....call me crazy..but can't help it!!!!

jeans-low slung and high raise!!

ok this post, the reason i'm writing this is purely AC's last post. about low waisted/low slung jeans. its just that it brought to memory this incident that happened a couple of months ago at the chennai airport. my aunt was flying back home to the states and we were there sending her off. also leaving were a family-mommy,brother and sister, daddy not in attendence( atleast not visible to me). ok so here was the family all ready and packed to take off but waiting at the foyer off the departure area for something. i have to confess that the guy was kinda cute, for otherwise i wouldnt have been watching..

so here was the mother checking all the papers and the sister playing with the trolley and our man just standing around..and then when finally they start to move...his pants realised they quite like that patch of mother earth, deciding to deposit themselves on her then and there!! poor boy!!! and i was laughing my head off!!! my mom scandalized...it was quite an incident!!!!

and if mr.whose-pants-fell-off...you do read my blog...sorry for having to mention the incident but...it was hilarious truly!!!!!thank u for a good laugh!!

low slung jeans are smart, if you can carry them off. but guys we'd rather not watch displays of anything that shouldn't actually be on display...i guess when it comes to women guys dont mind bending a few rules and visibility of anything is most often least offensive....i guess its ok as long as the women aren't repellingly fat or wearing granny's underpants..

The Half-Blood Prince....

I have to confess to being an ardent fan of J.k.Rowling and her brilliant characters and the wonderful world of magic(maybe not sooo wonderful).

i just finished reading the penultimate book in her series of seven today. did i like the book? i don't know..truly..the book makes sense in a way.. but kind of really kills you too...i dont want to spell out everything that takes place or who it is that she does away with this time around...i dont know how many of you read or like harry potter but on the off-chance that there might be atleast one of you who share my fascination and salute Rowling's imagination, i'll not get into details.but for a few..

harry dates ginny...ron and hermione don't...harry is quidditch captain....theres a new minister for magic...and voldemort does not make an appearence the whole time... the half-blood prince is most intriguing, and to me, a most unsuspected person....
the events occuring in the last few chapters kill you.... i love sirius black...and rowling killing him was most unforgivable..but she did...this time around she does away with another character that makes her seem cold-hearted almost...

i truly dont love the book, a i did the third-prisoner of azkaban- but its a book as rowling says has answers. harry ron and hermione grow up.damn...i'm bursting to discuss and talk about the big things in the book....so i'm going to stop this post right here with no regards for people ignorant of the potter world.....

ok i'm gonna go get some work done..so..

firsts...

today i did something i've been meaning to for a long time... my doggie for all his life hasn't been to the beach and this morning i woke early and drove him to the beach....it was swesome...nice weather and all...except it looked like half of madras was at marina!! anyway they were all on the pavement walking...so me and jojo walked down to the water with him sniffing the sand all the way there...and there he refused to get to the water...like most dogs!! but it was great...

and then the number of couples who meet at marina at 6:30 in the morning!!! god its crazy!! old people walking and couples all over the beach and at the waters edge!!!

anyway that...and then i got back home...did some chemical reaction engg and then me and mommy went to visit this organic sunday market they have down the road...it was pretty nice..an old house and lots of people with the vegetables grwon by them, the chappathis made at home, hibiscus juice with no preservatives and all that...lady's fingers' huge and fat...nice purple cabbages...a bit expensive but..healthy..well that was that!!

and then amethyst at 2:30 in the afternoon..it was no different from the other tims anyway..as many people and as many smoking...as bad service just nicer weather..and nice company i have to say..i met a fellow blogger...thanx venks for a nice time..and like i said chivalry does not extend to friends... so yeah...

thts been the day up until now....should get to the beach again...the weather is just brilliant!!!!

corrections...

ok my previous post was written in the moment..and with no second thoughts...so here's to clarify..

• friends dutch. no chivalry required there.
• chivalry is not a social necessity.
• and like mercury says it is only required of u when we are special to u.
• and not otherwise. and we dont want to ask for chivalry. if its around great..if not..we'll live..
• and no guy of mine requires my friends' approval...sorry if it sounded that way..
• he can be a monkey but my frnds shouldnt detest him..thts it...they should be able to respect him..

and if i need to be clarifying anymore..somebody please let me know!!!

spine...

till today...i assumed that when i did find the guy i liked..he would be one i respected...someone with quite a bit of spine, a decent amount of chivalry and someone who appreciates my friends...

a conversation i had today and another person i met today brought to my notice the jarring fact that not all male species on this earth adhere to the aforementioned qualities i look for ... and thats truly sad...

a certain amount of chivalry is always gonna win you points...c'mon man...there isn't a girl in town who wouldn't like to have her door held for her, her chair pulled out or the car door open...and dutching is great..but the first couple of dates...u pay...after which it isnt fair...

and spine man...self respect...a guy's got to have self-respect...some things you would never do...like starve rather than eat off your girl friends' friends...thats disgusting...at least not unless you know them so well and you know for certain that they aren't gonna mind that at all...

and getting along with my friends...thats quintessential...i dunno why but if they can't take you as you are...there's something wrong...and in this context...the spice girls' song wannabe comes to memory...

and seriously..a guy's gotta be able to afford himself before another person..seriously!! if i couldn't pay for myself..i wouldnt expect it off anyone else [except ofcourse, my parents...but thats ok..]...

i don't why but a guy who can turn face from one person to the next is beyond repulsive...i know i'm talking in the guy context here..coz thats wht i'm thinking off....i'm sure all this applies to loads of women folk too...but thats for some guy to post...i do have things about women that annoy me..but i'll save that for later..

and as abhin and i were having the discussion today..we were thinking if we were having too high expectations...i mean seriously...but they aren't insurmountable criteria!! sure we want the nice guy..good humour..charms..height(hey..we are tall women!!)..athletic skills...and the works with the aforementioned qulities being inherent...when i realised they werent all so inherent and ubiquitous as one may like to think...

fourth year of engineering...

even a few months back, had anyone ever said i'd be stressing myself out on what was going to happen when i walked out of college with a B.Tech degree in hand, i would have just laughed it off. seriously....college just reopened two days back and man are we stressed out already. campus interviews are happening and there are the ones that get selected and the ones that dont. u cant even offer them sympathies...that is so redundant.... and now i think i'll sit for wipro...but i dont want it...i want the experience of getting to the interview (if i do!!) and i'm thinking of telling the guy that buddy i'm glad i got here but no thanks...the thing is if it happens that i get a job with them then thats not a good thing because i want chemical companies..food industry and all that.. and if ever wipro decides i am actually ok for their company then i cant appear for the companies i want to for!!

ok i think i'm a little more clear headed now than i was in college today....but not so full of clarity either..but i know now that i have to go for the companies i want. wipro would be all nice and fine but thats my lifes direction. the thing i have to figure out now is whether i want to go take the test or not...like deepak said it should be pretty easy to not get selected...its the getting selected thats gonna be hard...hmmm... i should think on my own...thts why i hate having people around when i have to make up my mind....its irritating but you know that everybody is just giving your their view on it and its up to u to pick and choose....

funny thing is i dont want unwanted advice and opnions but i would still like u to comment on what i'm doing instead of keeping mum...contradicting myself aren't i?? can't help it!! ok now i think its time i went and figured out what chem companies i'd like to get into....thats another thing my mom and deepak agree on- that i have to many demands of a company that i'd work for but do i have what they want? i am quite the jack of all trades but am i master of none? atleast to the best of my knowledge i am no master of any technical subject i havent learnt till date!!

yea well....i am a bunch of contradictions and complexities one way or another and i'm becoming so haphazard every day now too!!! its crazy!! oh and i have to GRE prep too!!! guess i should be glad i'm not taking CAT and all....dunno what'll happen to me then!!!

i'll put a stop to this post of my unbelievably scattered thoughts here....just a last word....i'm reading FREEDOM AT MIDNIGHT by dominique lapierre and larry collins. its a must read for all book lovers. truly. its such amazing writing and he writes so well of gandhi and mountbatten and churchill and all....i'm not even close to half way through the book but i cant put it down either...if u like reading....pick it up...and dont give me crap of having already read about india's freedom struggle in your tenth...that is such a lame excuse!!

Miss Mitzi's Dance School

I've just finished watching Shall we Dance. I end up watching most movies late, except ofcourse, The Lord Of the Rings.

Shall We Dance is such an amazing movie. Its feel good without being unrealistic. Everybody has a day when their life, as they are living it, looks them in the face and asks if you are happy. It happens to all of us. In case of kids, the pangs are long gone with the presence of a new toy. In the case of adolescence, the finding of a new companion or the reiteration of a friend and confidante. At 20, to start something new. And there on forth, to relish spontaineity, to not lose focus, to live evry minute, to not regret( I am hoping that these are all you have to deal with! ).

And here you find Mr.Clarke (the gracefully ageing Gere), looking for a laugh when all the world around him is in a hurry. when all the people around him are caught up in their individual lives (thats something i've always wondered about, the individual lives in a family...but i'll save that for another post). And when he realises that, he tends to notice more about the people around him. The strangers around. And thus does he happen upon Paulina(Jennifer Lopez...and i have to say she is beautiful). Somewhere a lost smile.

So then we have a Mr.Clarke joining Ballroom dance classes. I don't know what it is about the movie, but it makes you smile. Its touches you and its a happy-happy story. The oh-so-nice relationship of the clerkes. The is-there-any-chemistry-here between Paulina and John. Miss Mitzi. Bonnie and Link. And M-ya doing a guest bit. The movie is so real. No frills and no stunts. Nothing out of the ordinary and such amazing camers work.

There are few movies that boast of having the camera affect the audience the SEabiscuit or Shall We Dance does. Camera work can be ostentatious, larger than life but rarely poignant and telling. That is the beauty of stills. Still pictures are alive in a whole new meaning, unlike videos and moving pictures.So rarely is the clarity and countenance.

The movie makes you want to dance. To want to feel the music. To move. To try Ballroom Dancing. To go latino. To hang up your inhibitions and to wear those dancing shoes and go tap tap tap.....

One of the OSTs of the movie is by Peter Gabriel...and it so fitted the situation and i loved the lyrics...so i found them and here they are...its called The Book Of Love

The book of love is long and boring

No one can lift the damn thing

It's full of charts and facts and figures and instructions for dancing

But II love it when you read to me

And you

You can read me anything

The book of love has music in it

In fact that's where music comes from

Some of it is just transcendental

Some of it is just really dumb

But II love it when you sing to me

And youYou can sing me anything

The book of love is long and boring

And written very long ago

It's full of flowers and heart-shaped boxes

And things we're all too young to know

But II love it when you give me things

And youYou ought to give me wedding rings

And II love it when you give me things

And you

You ought to give me wedding rings

And II love it when you give me things

And you

You ought to give me wedding rings

You ought to give me wedding rings

Theory of Pool Boiling

I just never thought I'd actually find a real time use for all the various theories and derivations I've learnt up until now at college. Truly. It sounds unbelievably cynical of me, but thats the truth. Whoever thought that every theory in chemical engineering has an application in one or the other domestic chore, whether or not it has one industrially.

I was boiling water this morning( no and my culinary repertoire extends beyond just boiling water! ) and i was just watching the bubble form at the bottom of the vessel and rise up one by one and leave the surface and then the increase in the number of bubbles with the increase in flame, and i found myself thinking of thePool Boiling theory that i just learnt this past semester. you have to understand two things, that it is an achievement in itself that i can still recall that which i studied the night before the exam in such a hurry to finish portions, more than a month later and that i never, never remotely thought i'd actually find myself reaching into the depths of the repository of my brain and actually come up with not just the name of the theory but actually recall and connect the theory and its application.

Damn...somewhere along the line maybe, just maybe the teachers might, just might have done a decent job...yea right...i'd much rather take the credit due to me for having studied a theory and understood correctly than give undue credit to minions on the svce pay-roll...hrrmph...the parents money no less...well there injustices in the world much bigger in magnitude and repercussions that go untended too, this is just another blip in the working order of the world...

Ok...now i'm actually going to put to written words the extent of my understanding of the Pool Boiling theory. I do hope none of the readers of this post are chemical engineers, or if you are, that you dont remember Heat Transfer or the theory of boiling, much less pool boiling or that you dont tag me as a nerd ( theatrically: with one's right hand palm's back to thy forehead and the body twisted with thy other hand at an angle replicating a Bharathanatyam dance pose: 'Oh! how could you? a fate worse than death! Oh ! how could you? ' ).

So braving all the possibilities of being found, i charge forth as only fools do or the most valient and valorous do,

The Theory proposed that as the temperature of a liquid increased, vapour bubbles start forming. they form at the bottom of the vessel and as time goes by move to the surface and then leave the surface. he says that at the beginning, the number of vapour bubbles formed are very meager. on further heating, the number of bubbles increase and with it the rate of vapourisation by bubble formation. further on, the number of bubbles formed increase largely, giving rise to bubbles calescing to the surface of the vessel and hence adhering to one another and thus forming a layer of bubbles over the vessel surface and thus increasing reseitance to heat transfer and evaporation. at this point the amount of vapourisation taking place drastically falls. further on, the bubble layer becomes unstable and starts breking up rapidly, giving rise to its leaving the liquid surface and facilitating further formation of bubbles.

so thats the theory and i happened to find a graph on the net, so those interested can go check it out...
http://wins.engr.wisc.edu/teaching/mpfBook/FIGURES/FIG5-1.html

Squeaky Shoes

i think its the defence machanism of the subconscious to look for little things and bring about memories with such clarity especially when you are most confused...

thats what happened today. i happened upon this little kid wearing squeaky shoes and running about on the road, while walking my dog. it was the squeaky noise those shoes made that got my attention. i think most of us have gone through atleast one pair of squeaky shoes as kids. when you would wear the shoes at home till the novelty of shoes that make noise, wears off. when there are no expectations off you. when there are no reponsibilities. when all the kiddie talk you talked enamored and captivated everyone and anyone. when all you would be wearing would be nappies and squeaky shoes and everyone would be whipping out cameras to take pictures of thou.

and then when you get to the point in life of making choices and having to be responsible for them and not knowing whether you are doing the right thing or not, you'd give anything to go back in time..

having to make choices in life when you are given varied oppurtunities and colourful examples, is on a whole different plane altogether from having to narrow down choices in a clothes store. it is truly scary. sure there are amazing and awe-inspiring examples and trend setters in ford and ambani and tata and bill gates and kishore biyani and just about everyone. but when it comes down to u.... its hard to certain..with all the what if's ...

why couldn't there be simple choices? why can't everything just be good? and everything you do be right?

i guess thats the novelty of squeaky shoes....if the effect was prolonged...it wouldn't be a novelty anymore..

each one to his own...

why is that when something is so important to some body, they'd make someone else do it? and it is rarely ever to their liking, when it is done? why is it that most people can't seem to do their own work? they just so need someone to do it for them or clean up after them?

when it comes down to me, i'd rather do something myself than let someone do it and have to find fault and correct it a trillion times before i get something just right. maybe its the virgin trait me to be a stickler for perfection, or anything close. it isnt of the effect of an obsessive compulsive disorder but i like things a certain way and its less troublesome to do it myself than have someone else do it and have to correct them, get frustrated and waste precious energy.

but it beats me..how people can stand to have someone else do things for them when every time, with rare exceptions, something is wrong, just like clockwork. especially men. and its a trait that just gets my goat royally. u know..beggars cant be choosers...and when u ask someone to do something for you, in a very twisted and funny way you are begging, you're at their mercy and i can't believe men have their macho ego take that...but then again i guess the whole process of getting somebody to your work for you is such a big ego trip for you that it obscures your own stupidity.

ok i will not scream and shout and say that my generalisation is to the dot (even though it is)..i'm willing to consider that there might be a few exceptions to this rule of nature, as there are to most. let me say this...my dad and brother are no good examples...if i were to go by them..and truly...if any guy out there feels the need to justify....your welcome to ..but trust its gonna take u quite a cartload to convince me..

you know times like these...i just know that women are just so much more superior..(and yes..i have a supercilious grin on my face) ..pardon me but i can't help it..

Bunty Aur Bubli

i watched the new abhishek bachan-rani mukherjee flick this afternoon. considering the fact that my hindi, over the past five years, has deteriorated to next to nothing, i did have fun. Abhishek Bachan is Eye Candy and if there is one thing going for the movie, that is it!!!
the movie is cute and abhishek bachan and rani mukherjee make one of the cutest couple i've seen in indian cinema. apart from these two, there's the big b who plays the only other significant role and there is aishwarya rai in a song. and the song of aishwarya's in the movie is one of the best!!! the woman tries to seduce old man amitabh in the process making a fool of herself and there is abhishek bachan who is the cutest cutest and most good looking hero i've drooled over in a while..(oh and shah rukh in his new movie 'paheli' is real cute too...the mustache does wonders for the man)..

on the whole...the movie is good fun...but i enjoyed the aishwarya-abhishek-amitabh song the most throughout the movie, of course thats the same way i enjoyed the g-u-j-j-u gujju song in kal ho na ho, the most in the movie. though i have to say bunty and bubli as a movie has a lot more going for it than kal ho na ho did.

the only saving grace of kal ho na ho was saif man....him and his comedy...and i got dragged to that movie twice!!!! seriously...

getting back to bunty and bubli...amitabh is just ok. and he looks so haggard its unbelievable...maybe thats what they aimed for in the movie...
the last movie i watched in that theatre was a shahrukh and rani mukherjee movie that was horrid!!! they only cried throughout the movie. and it was set in greece!!! and shah rukh cried more than mukherjee did...i'm all for guy's showing their sensitive side and crying once in a while but that..that was overdoing it royally...and compared to that movie bunty and bubli is a winner all the way!!!

the UNSC seat and india's worthiness???

ok...this is pretty much the talk of the town...literally...so maybe its time i put my thoughts down..

i believe India deserves her place on the UNSC. lets not get too scrutinizing here...then those on the SC should be subjected to the same...and well they'd be squirming... we need to have representation and better india than china anyday... as a country, i believe, we are more forthcoming with help, sympathy and a shoulder to lean on....and maybe this is my patriotism speaking...but, i'd vouch for india on the UNSC over any of the other developing nations...

now...the conditions of the people of the nation, the states over is pathetic and there are no reasons to justify such apologetic conditions. But lets not blame the center for that...at least not target them first. it is the state goverments responsibility to care for its people, thats why you have a separate govt for every state, if not we could have just done with one govt up there in delhi.

each state has ministers delegated work.and there are those at the centre with the same portfolios.why cant we leave the honchos at the centre handle our international ties and start targetting the lazy ministers at each state??
i mean, the whole govt set-up is that parallel to any industry. the main guy at the top, the comapny's face to the world. then the various ministers to take care of the various hitches within the company. like say a car company with numerous factories manufacturing each part to make the ride of the customer that much more comfortable and enjoyable. and each factory has its own head, its own personnel to deal with the varied everyday problems. why cant the indian govt be a well oiled and smoothly running operation as are so many companies in the country itself?? truth be told, the comcept of red-tape-ism is such an excuse as never before...its disgusting to know that theer are men and women out there who promised to make life that teeny bit better for you and then once they got elected, turned around for a nice big snooze with you paying for his air-conditioning,food,big car and flight charges through your taxes.... i mean seriously...

i sometimes that nothing short of dramatics like in mani rathnam's ' aayitha ezhuthu' can give this country its much need shot of energy....and i'm game.... i mean what could be better than educating the ignorant and helping the country grow as one??? i know that sounds pretty corny...but wht the hell!!! i mean it man...and i think anyone who does actually care enough to debate on india's UNSC chances has pretty solid views too...

its , to say the least, endearing....very...maybe we should form a youth-for-india group or something and make miracles happen.....and miracles no less they have to be....

what is right and what is not??

How do you know if your advice is right for the situation? how do u know how it is to be in a specific situation? and are you perfect enough to judge anyone? do we know what the other person is going through? how can we know thoughts of theirs?? how is it, that we judge another by our morals? are our morals right?? isn't it true that 'one man's bread is another's poison' ??

these are just random questions that popped into my head when a couple of us were discussing a friend of ours. she's nice and smart but there seem, to me, to be innumerable faults that just so shadow the good...see...i'm making a judgement here...and all of us have always passed judgements on her and her behaviour these past couple of years...

she went away to study,study abroad. now, she's coming back...and i dont know if i want to meet her....i dont know if i'm being a bitch here, for she has never done anything to annoy me or get me to hate her...but there are things she has done... to people i know and general things.. i don't think i respect her too much really.... but then again who am i to say if what she did was right or not?

maybe that is her way of reacting to incidents and happenings...all of us react in different ways to different things... maybe more complicated ways... and for her defence i'll say this...she's not had enough tragedies in her life... more than most people ,me included, can handle ... and i admire her for that.... for actually being able to get on ... though it has never been that simple for her to move on...

i just dont know... i like her...but there are also things i could never forgive or accept.. and yes these are my morals(values..whatever) talking....
its simple enough to forgive...but forgetting isn't so easy and more often than not...the thing that needs or wants forgetting is something big enough to modify your perspective, of the world and all its accompaniments....

well saying all this doesn't exactly resolve anything... but i think i'll go meet her anyway....she's a friend and she's got more substance than some and we all know that nobody is without faults.... isn't it about overlooking the faults that make a relationship???

Holi-Holi-Holidays

Exams just got over today...and i did well....i actually got 4 out of 5 sixteen marks right!!! and the feeling is so so so good!!! i mean its so rare for me to actually walk out of some exam and say hey i did that well, i'm expecting a 90...i think my parents would have a heart attack!!!!

it was like unbelievable that all my answers were right!!!!man u know how good that feels???anyway let me not go on rambling about my exams, now that they are over...until the results come!!

so.....its the holidays...i dont have to do anything remotely as killing as studying.....and it feels great to have that off my shoulder(like i did a load of it anyway!!!!)...
i think i've got the next one month mapped out though.....reading ,exercising ,maybe a stint training at some company lucky enough to have me, preparing for the almighty G-R-E....and catching up on some movies...and well....i guess anything else that comes my way and takes my fancy and maybe even roll out a couple of papers in the mean time and shock my HOD....hmmm...now thats a thought that makes u wanna move ur ass!!!!

anyway...i think i'm gonna catch up on some of the shut eye i missed while studying hard for my math paper...so...

OH MY GOD!!! she's wearing...she's..wearing..

Seriously haven't men in madras seen a pair of legs before?? haven't they seen women wearing shorts??? and i mean shorts man!!! it not like i'm wearing a bikini and strutting around town am i??

Its gross...its disgusting...i mean seriously...wearing shorts and walking around in madras turns SO many heads and its to lech..
and i swear that if anyone gives me crap about 'then maybe you shouldnt be wearing them', i'll whack them twice as hard as i want to whack the guy on the road...

but sometimes, i accept, its flattering...when u actually know that you can have that guy eating out of your hand.....gives u the hey-i've-got-u-by-the-ear feeling....

but its not just men either...women look at u like ur commiting a crime...pattis on the road avoid looking you in the eye and this morning at the airport,while dropping daddy off, two women there looked at me in my shorts and my doggie t-shirt and were looking and whipering till i drove off...its unbelievable!!!
you'd think i was some convicted murderer or something they recognised off television!!!

but then again no one till now has had the guts to do anything more than stop and stare at me...seriously man they are not gonna mess with a woman who'd actually walk around the city streets wearing a pair of SHORTS!!!!! it takes too much attitude....more than they can handle anyway...

for all the nice people in the world...and especially...

well...what can i say...this afternoon had me in one of my weirdest moods ever. i mean seriously. for no apparent reason i was all down and irritated and annoyed and bugged(i'm trying hard to find words to replace 'pissed' here).and it didnt help my mood that the blog i was typing then just went poof..and got lost....an hour's precious work. and then the fact that i should be studying and wasn't. add to that an email account that evades opening for you and when it finally does...gives you nothing new !! so all in all it was afternoon that was bad! and then came along our man. sweetie that he is....sat and listened and took all the crap i said for the next hour or so...i mean seriously, he didnt have to. but he did. and am i glad he did. he just hung around and made me laugh and cracked me up and well...he was being such a nice shoulder to lean on and blah..

i was so wound up that i know, that had i spoken to anyone who went around saying 'wht happ sweetie' and 'tell me whts wrong' and had let me whine..i'd have cried..i know it...and i feel so much the better for not giving in to that.

it was a pretty novel way actually....getting at each other and then actually being nice and then his advice on nuts!!

i know this is somewhat a senti-senti blog and all...and i might regret putting it up later...but what the hell!!! btw the sweet heart was archan!!!(i kinda hope i'm embarrasing him actually!!)
:)

indian women rule!!!

this is a mail i got, forwarded by a friend....they first part really turned me off...and i wanted to whack the woman.....but then there was the reply ....and it rules....seriously the guy needs a hug....a big one!!! and can u imagine it actually motivated me to write my blog....something i havent done in months!!


This letter was written in response to an article:

Dear Editor:

I'm sorry but I would like to challenge some of your Indian male readers.
I am a White female who is engaged to an Indian male, good-looking, educated and loving. I just don't
understand a lot of Indian female's attitudes about our relationship.

My man decided he wanted me because the pickings amongst Indian women
were slim to none. As he said they were either too fat, too loud, too mean, too argumentative, too needy, too materialistic or carrying too much excess baggage.

Before I became engaged, whenever I went out I was constantly approached by Indian men, willing to wine and dine me and give me the world

If Indian women are so up in arms about us being with their men, why don't they look at themselves and make some changes.I am tired of the dirty looks I get and snide remarks when we're out in public.

I would like to hear from some Indian men about why we white women are so appealing and coveted by them. Bryant Gumbel just left his wife of 26 years for one of us. Charles Barkley, Scottie Pippen, the model Tyson Beckford, Montell Williams, Quincy Jones, James Earl Jones, Harry Belafonte, Sydney Poitier, Kofi Anan, Cuba Gooding Jr., Don Cornelius, Berry Gordy, Billy Blanks, Larry Fishburne, Wesley Snipes...I could go on and on.

But, right now, I'm a little angry and that is why I wrote this so hurriedly. Don't be mad with us White women because so many of your men want us.

Get your acts together and learn from us and we may lead you to treat your men better.

If I'm wrong, Indian men, let me know.

Disgusted White Girl, Somewhere in VA.

> >----------------------------------------------------------------->>

The Response:

Dear Editor:

I would like to respond to the letter written by A Disgusted White Girl.
Let me start by saying that I am a 28-year old Indian man. I graduated from one of the most prestigious universities in Atlanta, Georgia with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Business Management. I have a good job at a major corporation and have recently purchased a house. So, I consider myself to be among the ranks of successful Non-White men.

I will not use my precious time to slander white people. I just want to set the record straight of why Indian men date white women.

Back in the day, one of the biggest reasons why Indian men dated white women was because they were considered easy. The Indian girls in my neighborhood were raised traditionally. They were very strict about when they lost their virginity and who they lost it to. Because of our impatience to wait, brothers would look for someone who would give it up easy without too much hassle. So, they turned to the white girls.

Nowadays, in my opinion, a lot of Indian males date white women because they are docile and easy to control. A lot of Indian men, because of insecurities, fears, and overall weaknesses, have become intimidated by the strength of our Indian women. We are afraid that our woman will be more successful than us, make more money than us, drive nicer cars and own bigger houses. Because of this fear, many Indian men look for a more docile woman. Someone we can control.

I have talked to numerous Indian men and they continuously comment on how easy it is to control and walk over their white women.

I just want to set the record straight. I want A Disgusted White Girl to know that not all successful Indian men date white women. Non-Whites like Ahmad Rashad, Denzel Washington, Michael Jordan, Morris Chestn!ut, Will Smith, Blair Underwood, Kenneth 'Babyface' Edmonds, Samuel L. Jackson, and Chris Rock all married strong Non-White women. And, to flip the script, there are numerous white men, in and out of the spot light, who openly or secretly desire Non-White women over white women. Ted Danson, Robert DeNiro, and David Bowie to name a few.
I just don't want the 'Disgusted White Girl' to be misinformed.

Stop thinking that because you are white that you are some type of goddess. Remember, when Non-White Egyptian Queens like Hatsepshut and Nitorcris were ruling Dynasties and armies of men in Egypt, you were over in the caves of Europe eating raw meat and beating each other over the head with clubs. Read your history!

It was the Non-White woman that taught you how to cook and season your food. It was the Non-White woman that taught you how to raise your children. It was Non-White women who were breastfeeding and raising your babies during slavery. It is the Non-White woman that had to endure watching their fathers, husbands, and children beaten, killed, and thrown in jail.

Indian women were born with two strikes against them: being Non-White and being a woman. And, through all this, Still They Rise!

It is because of the Indian women's strength, elegance, power, love and beauty that I could never date anyone except my Indian Queen. It is not just the outer beauty that captivates and draws me to them. It is not the fact that they come in all shapes, sizes, colours and shades that I love them. Their inner beauty is what I find most appealing about Indian women. Their strong spirit, loving and nurturing souls, their integrity, their ability to overcome great obstacles, their willingness to stand for what they believe in, and their determination to succeed and reach their highest potential while enduring great pain and suffering is why I have fallen in love with Indian women.

I honestly believe that your anger is geared more toward jealousy and envy than snotty looks. If this were not so, then why do you continuously go to tanning salons to darken your skin. If you are so proud to be white, then why don't you just be happy with your pale skin? Why do you continue to inject your lips, hips, and breasts with unnatural and dangerous substances so you can look fuller and more voluptuous? I think that your anger is really a result of you wanting to have what the Non-White woman has.

BOTTOM LINE: If I were looking for a docile woman, someone I can walk over and control, I would give you a call. But, unfortunately, I am looking for a Virtuous Woman. Someone that can be a good wife and mother to my children. Someone who can be my best friend and understand my struggles. I
am looking for a soul mate and; unfortunately, you do not and CANNOT fit the bill.

No offense taken, none given.

Signed,

Indian Royalty.

well...doesn't it want to make u give his highness, whoever stood up for us ...a nice kiss even!!!

and i'm back!!!!

well.....its been a while....and i'm back!!!! i've lost count of how long its been since i posted a blog...and so much has happened..nothing juicy, atleast not to me but generally lots has happened in the past couple of weeks..i have just about time to put up a poem i wrote in that time....and here goes....

You go someplace
Meet someone
Talk.

You find common interests
Get excited
Share.

You find maybe(?) , a potential friend
Swap numbers
Asta la vista.

You call one another
Catch a movie
Laugh.

You find things more fun with each other
Share books, music, clothes and company
Together.

You are friends, shared identities
Maybe alter egos
Great.

Your friend goes someplace
Meets someone
Talks.

You meet your friend
Talk about your friend’s friend
Pillar of strength.

You call to meet
But your friend’s got other plans
Second.

You do meet, but encounter conversational gaps
Secrets unshared
You and I.

You discover new dimensions to your friend
That you don’t relate to
Withdraw.

You keep busy, you keep quiet
Your friend calls
Hope.

You talk
About other people
Sidestep.

You are friends, you don’t talk
You never fought

Just Estranged.

so thats what i wrote.......and well its a personal experience...not a particularly bad one but it isn't something pleasant for anyone to want to go throught it all the time ....anywayz..thats that...

flirting with rain...

This is something I wrote right at the beginning of my initial travails of writing poetry. Funny thing about my writing poetry is about how, the poem comes to me..the actual subject of my poem would take root in my head, triggered of by some incident or the other, and it flows. I’m not trying to make it sound like I’m a literary figure to who poetry just occurs but the truth is that once I find a beginning of a poem in my head it usually just completes itself...sure I don’t always get it right the first time, I have to try various words, even look up some and try a few permutations-combinations to get exactly what I want..and then my end product..

Well..here’s one of the first couple I wrote..I kinda shocked myself actually but what the hell...and once I showed it to others to read, they were the ones who were so so shocked. I won’t give you excuses for this even before you have a chance to read what it is...so here goes..

FLIRTING WITH RAIN

There’s the growl
The roar from his throat
A sound like thunder but
Also a moan

There’s the spark
The spark of passion,
In his eyes
That’s as bright as lightning
And then, dark as dread

Then the bites,
Small and tiny,
Hands, legs, necks, legs,
Little pecks
A million of them
Like countless mosquito bites

Blowing hot, blowing cold
Drenched in sweat and feeling froze
Slow and gradual he takes you there,
Hot and humid, he’s got you there
Wanting....

There you are, thirsting,
Quenching is slow
Like flirting with rain
First inconsequential drizzles
Then the gradual build-up
Then the pelting, then the hail
Till you’re crying, till you wail !!!


Now...like I said people...its got its shock-value....

kitchen confidential

Kitchen Confidential….that’s the book I finished reading today. Its an autobiography by Antony Bourdain. I’d never heard of the guy till before I got my hands on the book.

Thing is, a couple of years ago I wouldn’t have ever considered reading an autobiography. I mean why would someone want to read something so boring??, Would have been my wonderful yet-to-be-truly-enlightened brain’s immediate response. And I might have still gone with that response of my brain if I hadn’t discovered the pleasure of baking and now, cooking. Though baking remains my forte and love, an autobiography of a man in a line parallel to my interest made me want to read it, get through it. And best of all, I enjoyed getting through the book. Once I got through the first couple of chapters, namely the appetizers, I couldn’t wait to get to each next course. And were they all good !!!!

The guy is so straight. No sweet talking, boot-licking for him. Sure, he dissed some, he praised some. He tells you about his drug-addicted, booze infested and dope years. He tells you of his love for all things that crawl, swim, creep, walk and just live (apart from homosapiens). Of his irritancy for vegetarianism. His numerous failures. Of what happens in most restaurants. Of the amounts of food recycled. Of what your brunch is made of. Of the not-so-endearing conditions in which your food is prepared.

The best part of the whole book is that Bourdain manages to bring through his love for meat, the absolutely unhygienic atrocities committed by various cooks and chefs while at the same time not annoying or upsetting ardent food-lovers who love eating out or vegetarians. But that is my view.

Everything said, Bourdain is truly refreshing, honest, humorous and gratifying.

One more time……

and so you’re waiting , once again
one more day of empty promises
is it worth it? is it not?
a question to be suppressed
for now , you think.
‘sorry sweetie ,got held up
things took a while
and couldn’t give up
i’ll make it up to you soon, you know i will’
nd things are back to normal
all’s well and good with the world
you say ‘one more time and……’
a day later comes one more time
and a call,
a friend who saw him
at your special place,
sharing a drink,
holding hands,
with another girl
stunned, speechless ,sad ,angry ,disbelieving
emotions like a flash of lightning
revenge ,you think,
but then again,
that sad pathetic idiot
isn’t worth your quiet
two hoots, you could give
but, crying over spilt milk?
That isn’t your style!!
Life will go on, that’s the course of things
But next time……..you’ll be ready
‘coz that pill ain’t going down your throat,
a second time buddy!!!!