A very long way….

I checked. found out that we travelled 1555 Kms on the trip. Phew!

Wasn’t bored for a minute on the trip. Okay, so maybe i was a little bored on the first day. But that problem was solved completely by SKS on the second day when she started dancing. and wouldn’t stop. not when she knocked her head on something, really hard (this actually made her even MORE enthusiastic about dancing)….. maybe that hit destabilized her forever. cant really say.
seriously though, shes a hoot. and i love her. i love her for making us all dance like no one was watching the day we visited her house was particualry nice. the wind, the beach, the food! coming to think of it, i think that was the first of the characteristic “FUN!” days in feb.

if jan was a month of being “stressed and busy”, i’ve pretty much spent feb (so far) refining “relaxing” and “partying” to an exact art.

first there was S’s place. then the whole roadtrip extravaganza. and then 5 days after we came back – it was Marine Bio Day!!

phew!! There was so much planned for that day. i think everyone was waiting for SOMETHING to go wrong. but everything was pulled off without any glitches. hats off to the soc. right?

anyway, partying time is now over.

we had our last cruise today. it is officially crunch time for project work. i’ve come a full circle. back to back-breaking.

the break was totally worth it.

Regret

My life is filled with many happy things right now, big and small. I hold them close to my heart; I don’t want to reduce their value by listing them out.

You’d expect me to be smiling like a fool about it. And I was, for a good length of time. But that smile has gone away. The only thing i feel at the moment is regret. Because all these joys, they probably would have been with me sooner. If only I had allowed it.

“If only. Those must be the two saddest words in the world.”
– Mercedes Lackey

Wondering when the “if only” will stop ringing in my ear.

back, barely alive….

I got back last night. barely able to move my fingers even now….
Major trip, this was. I havn’t measured but i think we covered around 1500 kilometers in 6 days.

route: kochi–>kovalam–>kanyakumari–>tuticorin–>madurai–>mandapam/rameshwaram
–>kodaikanal–>kochi
THATS RIGHT! by road!!

are we crazy?? we might be…
did we have fun? HELL YEAH!!

highlights of the trip:
snorkelling around krusidai island (protected area under Gulf of Mannar NP). it was amazing, all those corals, anemone and fish. marine biologists’ paradise.

visiting 3 major temples within the span of 2 days – Kanyakumari temple & Madurai Meenakshi in one day and Ramanathaswamy temple on the second

worst moment:
spotting a sea snake swim less than 5 feet from AC… and then watch as he tried to provoke it with a stick
(background info: sea snakes are much more poisonous than land snakes. plus, there was a boat ride and atleast 10 kilometers on land between us and any medical attention. not that medical attention would have been much help. AC’d have been toast if he’d got himself bitten)
EVEN WORSE: i felt like an idiot when nobody else seemed too bothered by the presence of sea snakes in the water.

wierdest thing:
for reasons not known to me, i cant get the song “vasantha mullai” from pokiri out of my head

lots more to blog about
for now, though – hugs to everyone that travelled with me

Road trip!

Presently very little to write about.

I’m setting out to Rameshwaram on monday with my whole class. I wasn’t sure till yesterday wether or not i’m going. but now, im positive. we’re making stops at all kinds of places on our way – from beaches to temples.

Hopefully i’ll have something to write about when i get back. cheers!

an agnostic on faith

DISCLAIMER: this post will be lost on most of its readers. this one’s for people who know what “sastha preethi” means.

During vanchipattu this weekend, we were transported to another plane – into the presence of lord ayyappa.

aishu, who was sitting right behind me and megha, wanted to know if the lord really did come down to earth and take temporary residence in the body of a mortal. She was probably asking us because her mom wasn’t handy or because she assumed that me/meg being a few years older, would know everything. well, we didn’t.

i’ve always considered myself to be a “scientist” and i’m not particularly god fearing. but i wasn’t scientist enough to tell aish that it wasn’t real. i didn’t have any kind of explanation for what was happening to that nice mama there.

so, what did i tell her? i said “that depends on what you want to believe”. corny as it sounds, that what i said. megha was impressed by my answer too. she didn’t want to have to explain too much, either. partly because there is no explanation. and partly, as she pointed out, because in explaining, faith looses all meaning. it stops being faith.

am i saying that i am ready to believe blindly, something so profound? i’m not sure. i guess what i’m saying is – given the choice in this situation, i would much rather keep quiet, feel the power of the moment and not impress my p.o.v. on a 15 year old kid.

yup, i just said ‘power of the moment’. i say it because, despite being a scientist and an agnostic, i am a hindu. i’m not stupid enough to underestimate the power of an entire community coming together under one roof. each comes for his/her own reasons. but what we all find there is community spirit and unity amid widespread chaos, delicious payasam, yummy idichakka-thoran, mind-clearing music, witty banter (courtesy KS, meg and other sharp-tongued folk).

enough incentive for ANYONE to remain hindu, i think.

highs and lows of a very long january

It’s been a hectic January; and January isn’t even over yet. I’m falling behind on everything.

lows >>
chippy isn’t so happy with me right now. i’ve hardly spent any time with her for a month, i think. to top it off, i’m not making the trip around south india with her. *sigh*

I hate the new traffic regulations in kochi. you have to go all the way through thevara and cross the bridge there, instead of venduruthy! it zaps off whatever little energy you have at the end of the day. yesterday, i had the misfortune of travelling from kalamassery to mattancherry by bus. via menaka and then thevara. it took 2 hours.

the day before yesterday – i made the same trip.

heath ledger died. that just sucks!! it SUCKS!!

highs >>
Theres a sweet new used books place right off MG Road (on warriem road). it makes me smile every time i walk by it (and i walk by it atleast twice a day). The other day i went in and saw a copy of PS: I Love you. i hope its still there when gayathri (after reading this) runs frantically over to buy it.

speaking of books, i’m reading “the witch of portobello” by paulo coelho. its very impressive work. falling in love with it. the theme is very heavy but its so well written that you don’t realize. very easy to read.

its thekke madam shasta preethi this weekend!!! woohoo!! 3 days!! perfect way to recharge after weeks of tiresome toiling. its also the best way to fall further behind on work. and flunk SBN’s ecology test on tuesday. yay!

random stuff>>>
i had a dream the other night. that i rid the world of dandruff. if i went to a shrink, he/she’d tell me that this dream is a projection of my personal, deep seated desire to rid my own scalp of dandruff.

i was beginning to wonder if this blog’s name is any good. now, i think it sucks. thats the thing about me – i can never make up my mind. if i ever DO make up my mind, i change in anyway. maybe i should have called it “glorious indecision”.

i love sting.

Me in 2007

OK, First off, i should tell you that i DONT make new year resolutions and so, this post is NOT about broken resolutions. *flashing teeth*

Don’t you think “Past-Year Retrospection” is a far more prudent MO? You cant break retrospections, now, can you?

So, heres my own PYR 2007 – off the top of my head, in no particular order…….

In 2007, these are the books that i read and still remember (:D)
The Name of the Rose – Umberto Eco
Journey to the River Sea – Eva Ibbotson
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – J K Rowling
Cry, The Beloved Country – Alan Paton
Thud! – Terry Pratchet
How to be an Alien – George Mikes
plus lots and lots and lots of chick-lit and several mindless advneture novels(hehe)

In 2007, i watched the following movies and still remember them:
Donnie Darko, Casablanca, to Kill a Mockingbird, Crash, The Departed, The Seventh Seal*, Brokeback Mountain, 300 *grin*, Capote, A History of Violence, Casino Royale, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Heat, Chak De India, Akira Khurosawa’s Dreams*, Taare Zameen Par, Om Shanti Om (i grudgingly admit i liked more parts of it than i hated), Arabikkatha, Mozhi.
(WOW! that is a LOT of movies….)
On TV, i mainly just followed Grey’s Anatomy. Have stated watching The Closer too, though.

*Of these, I caught The Seventh Seal and Dreams at Lakeside Campus’s very own film festival “KALEIDOSCOPE“, which was a small but delightful event. Too bad i couldn’t catch the other
films that were screened.

In 2007, I mostly listened to these artists/singers/bands:
The Beatles, U2, Alexi Murdoch, Queen, Dire Strits, Counting Crows, John Lennon, Sting, Bruce Sprinsteen, Bob Dylan, Moby, Dido, Sufjan Stevens, The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin, Mukesh

Other sweet things in 2007-

Spending a lot more time with the 4R’s (you know who you are …) truly delightful thing, this!!
With all the reminiscing, movie-watching (accompanied by movie-pausing and middle-of-the-movie-discussing), gossipping and above all, the silliness that has carried on over the years. Love you guys!!

Attending an impromptou NPSK Reunion early in the year. We had a mellow and happy time, around 20 of us. That was nice

Turning 21. It felt profound for a while. That wore off, of course… but i thought i should mention it…..

Celeberating Onam like never before!
Sounds odd, i know- Seeing as i’ve lived my whole life in Kerala. But this years Onam Celeberation on campus was an awesome 2 day affair. It was well organised, un-lame (i know thats not a real word) and fun with traditional games, good natured contests, a delicious sadhya and genreal cheer. What i have to say about Onam this year could fill several posts, actually. You get the idea though – FUN ONAM!

Installing Ubuntu Fiesty all by myself on my PC and having a lot of fun with it. Then updating it to Gutsy without glitches

Working on our final year project – getting on a boat, collecting our samples, the whole hoopla.
Most people would hate sieving the mucky sediments, filtering the plankton and frantically taking physico-chemical readings….. but i LOVE IT! ….. I love walking around carrying the thermometer, salinometer, pH meter and even the lux-meter all at once and recording data at a frenzied pace while people try to knock you off the boat. lol.

The following things/people really grew on me over 2007 -
A certain paraniod, crazy fraud mallu chick; Lakeside Campus; Hindi and tamil movies (both to a very small extent); KIOS; Dr. Gregory House

Regrets 2007 (no, this is NOT the same as making a list of broken resolutions)
Didn’t travel much……….
Didn’t finish many books i started reading……..
Didn’t loose much weight………..
Didn’t conqour any part of the world in my quest for absolute power….
Didn’t *BEEP: THE REST OF THE REGRETS HAVE BEEN BLOCKED since they’re none of your business *

Happy New Year Everyone!

Taare Zameen Par

When I started working on this blog, I asked myself what my first post should be about. Then I went to watch this movie, “TZP” as they are calling it. I found my answer……..

Now, I’ve seen enough hindi movies to know that you must NEVER go to one with ANY expectations. In fact, I tend avoid hindi movies altogether. But watching the promos and knowing Aamir Khan had made this movie, I walked into the theatre hoping and praying that this one would be worth it …… hoping I wasn’t wasting an entire evening.

My prayers were answered by a brilliant script, a delightful cast and and insightful direction.

I could easily summarize by calling it an “emotional rollercoaster” or “tear-jerker” or use other phrases that crop up in movie reviews. I’m not going to do that. I’m not going to type out character sketches or a plot summary, either. I don’t beleive I need to.

The message of this film is simple – “Every child is special” and its on every poster. This message is bought to us in an absolutely honest yet subtle and sensitive way. There isn’t a single thing in this movie that stands out like it doesn’t belong. Every character, incident and emotion is genuine.

TZP hides nothing and makes no excuses. It is not a sad movie. It’s not a feel-good movie. It just is……

The animation, music and lyrics deserve special mention. But more importantly, there is no part of this movie that you have to ignore or block out in order to give it 5 stars – and that is saying something for a hindi movie.

Honesty and boldness apart, it is about finding your own silver lining. This is what makes it a true gem of a film.

It’s clear that this movie comes from the hearts of everyone involved. Taare Zameen Par is not meant for just parents or children or teachers – just people. Watch it.

I dedicate this first entry in my blog to Aamir Khan, the perfectionist. If he ever reads this, he should give himself a hug.